WARNING: If it is illegal for you to be reading these stories or you find them disgusting or immoral, please refrain from reading further. Must be 18+ to read! Any characters, places, or people depicted in this story is entirely in the fantasy and imagination of the writer and are in no way meant to portray anyone in real life. Any people, places, or actions depicted in this story that reflect real life events or situations is entirely by accident or coincidence.
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Chapter Seventeen
Old Friends
Danny took Robbie and James home Saturday afternoon; Jason was going to drive JJ and I home Sunday morning. I know I had promised mom and dad I'd stay with them the last couple of weeks, but due to our early return from Europe that meant more like a month. I didn't know how I was going to handle being away from James that long. It was a long trip. Jason and I never really clicked so other than the low volume radio and the hum of the tires nothing broke the monotony. I sat and thought about Venice as the world passed by outside the window. At a gas stop Jason came out grumbling about `some fruit in the bathroom sneaking peeks at his junk'. I wonder why I never get those.
We finally got to the house around 2pm. I hate to admit it, but after this trip I was glad to be home. After hugs and welcomes I lugged my stuff up to the barn apartment and took a shower before going back to the family. I noticed the Mule was gone when I got to the bottom of the stairs; I guess JJ was already off to see his friends. I went inside and talked to mom for a little while. She was canning stuff for the winter.
"Alex Morton is home too" she said out of the blue. Alex was my best friend in middle school but I hadn't seen him in ages.
"Home from where?" I asked.
"He's going to Georgia Tech down in Atlanta" Mom said.
"Huh, I may go over and see him for a few minutes while we're both around" I replied. She nodded and shoved a jar at me saying "try this". It was some homemade apple butter, pretty tasty. I gave her a thumbs up and a smile. I almost put the spoon back in the jar but she grabbed my hand and relieved me of it to throw it in the sink.
"Where'd JJ go?" I asked.
"Out to the back, he said he was going to see if anybody was up at the pond" she said.
"Think I will too. I hope I can remember how to saddle a horse" I chuckled as I walked out. Mom just rolled her eyes and went back to her preserves.
The appaloosa gelding was closest to the barn so I led him over and got him saddled up and took off toward the pond. It was hot as hell so I only had a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt on. The rhythm of the horse between my legs was making me think of other things and I was tenting up. I was hoping that would go down before I met up with other people. I could hear the group at the pond before we were even close; rowdy sounding crew. I slowed Domino down and walked up just to the tree line, dismounted and let him roam while I walked the rest of the way up. There were a half-dozen kids JJ's age in the pond naked as the day they were born. A little back in the shade I saw Alex Morton sitting watching the chaos. I walked over and sat beside him. Boy, puberty had been very kind to him. When we were in middle school Alex was a little chubby like me, maybe more; but now he was drop dead gorgeous.
"Hey, Teddy!" he smiled at me "You haven't changed a bit."
"Can't say the same for you" I said. He blushed. "You really...uh...blossomed."
"I guess. Maybe" he said looking down at the clover. I could tell I was embarrassing him so I let it go.
"So, what are you studying at Georgia Tech?" I asked. He looked puzzled. "Mom filled me in" I said.
"Electrical Engineering, for now. I'm hoping to get into nuclear power" he said.
"Wow! Not only super-hot, but a brain to match!" I chuckled. He didn't. He was blushing again.
"Hey, you can't tell me you didn't know how good-looking you are?" I said, "Very popular with the girls on campus, I guess."
"Not really" he said, blushing again. I was beginning to think I knew what the problem was.
"Anyway..." I continued "After middle school, when your parents divorced and you left with your mom, I was friendless for a while. I tried to fit in with the crowd, but it never really happened. All the guys like Devon and Ryan were big into sports and chasing tail. It's when I figured out that I was gay. I couldn't care less about the girls. Once I started coming out, I lost a bunch more friends, but then...I started gaining some."
"Wait...You're gay?" he asked. I nodded and he started to kind of chuckle.
"Another thing we have in common" he finally said. I knew it!
"I guess that explains the rocking body?" I asked.
"At my mom's new place, I didn't know anybody so all I did is work out. When mom started running to get back in shape, I tried it with her and eventually this is what I got out of it" he said pulling up his shirt to show me his tight stomach.
"Okay. New question" I said. "I guess you're really popular with the boys. Atlanta is loaded with sweet meat."
He shook his head and looked like he was thinking about what to say before coming out with "If I could get pregnant, I'd have been knocked up so many times now..." then started laughing like he used to when we'd tell each other dirty jokes back in middle school.
"Anything serious?" I asked.
"Kinda-sorta. I'm dating a guy named Nacio. He's from Argentina though, not sure how that would work long-term" he said. I nodded. "How about you?"
"James. I think he may be my soul mate. We've been apart a day and a half and it's driving me crazy" I said. Then as an afterthought "His mother is Ellen Ballard."
"The author Ellen Ballard?" he asked.
"Yeah. The very same" I asked, thinking about the psychological grilling I'd gone through with her.
"I've seen her on the talk shows. She looks kind of stiff" he said.
"Yeah, you could say that. But Garrett knows how to keep her reeled in" I replied, thinking about the times he saved me from her interrogations. "Garrett is an executive at some mega paper company."
"Superior Paper Products" Alex said, "according to the internet data he is the 23rd most wealthy man in America."
"Oh, so you've heard of him?" I laughed.
"Rich people are a passion of mine since I want to be one someday" he answered. 23rd richest man, I was thinking. So, add his wealth with the Ice Queen's and no wonder their estate is so fancy. My thoughts were broken by Alex's next line.
"I thought I was lucky just finding some big, brown, uncut cock to play with..." he trailed off.
"Well, to be fair" I said in my best Letterkenny impression, "there's a lot to be happy with when you have a big, brown, uncut cock."
About that time JJ and his friend Mike came over from the pond with their peters bobbing up and down as they walked.
"I'm getting' hungry. Is it getting close to dinner time?" I picked up my phone and looked at the time, it was 6:35. I know dad likes to eat at 6pm.
"I think we may be late already" I said. I said my goodbyes to Alex and we exchanged numbers so we could hang out some while we were both here, then I whistled for Domino and JJ shook off the excess water and pulled on his shorts and started back on the Mule. Domino wasn't crazy about the noise and smell from the UTV so I waited a minute until he was out of hearing range before starting back.
On the way back, my phone started vibrating. It was a call from James.
"I miss you too much, I don't know if I can make it till school starts back" he said.
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder" I said. "Just keep it in your pants and no cheating on me."
"Didn't even cross my mind. I hope it's not crossing yours either" he said, sounding a little perturbed.
"I love you" I said simply.
"Love you too" he said, "what are you doing anyway?"
"Headed back to the house, I was up at the pond watching JJ and his friends make fools of themselves" not sure why, but I didn't say anything about Alex. "How's Robbie doing?" I asked.
"He's better. He's definitely ready to go back to school. Mom's been `counseling' him" he said. I laughed.
"Bless his heart" I said through my laughter. I was coming into the paddock and got off Domino and started taking his saddle off. I brushed him down a little, then went inside. "Well, lover, it's dinner time here so I'll call you later, okay?"
"Sure thing. Tell your mom and dad I said hi" he said.
We hung up and I went in and washed the horse off before sitting down to eat.
Unwound
It was Monday, the last one in July. I woke up back on my old pattern for some reason at 5am. I pulled on a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt and quietly made my way over to the big house so I could make some coffee. I sat quietly at the table while it brewed. As it was finishing up, I guess the sputtering woke Mom up and she came in stretching and yawning. I poured us both a cup and sat the milk on the table for her. We both seemed to have the same idea at the same time and we went out to sit at the patio table on the back porch to watch the birds as the sun rose. She had bluebird houses at the edge of the yard and feeders everywhere.
"Other than the obvious, how was your trip?" she asked.
"Good" I told her "Venice was amazing!"
"I've always wanted to travel but we could never afford it" she said "what was Venice like?"
I spent the next 20 minutes telling her all about the canals, the architecture, the restaurants and the friends we'd made (I left out the illicit parts).
"If everything works out with James and me, we're planning to go back there for our honeymoon" I said. I saw her eyes change expression just a little. I think she was happy to hear me making plans for the future, even if they didn't include grandkids.
"Don't rush through life, baby. Savor everything. Before you know it, you'll be mine and dad's age and feeling like it's, all flown by you. Whatever you decide to do, be happy" she told me. I reached over and took her hand in mine.
"If James and I get married, you're going to Venice. I don't know if you can convince dad to get on a plane though" I said. She smiled at me and poured some more coffee. We sat together for a while just catching up until she had to go inside to start breakfast. I went back upstairs to take a shower and get dressed for the day.
JJ left after breakfast to go hang out with his friends. Mom and dad were both gone to work. I was sitting by myself watching daytime television and wishing I was with James. I figured it was him when my phone dinged, but it was a text message from Alex telling me he was bored shitless. I told him I was too. He suggested we meet up and find something to do. We made plans to meet at Franklin's store and I went out and cranked dad's old Honda motorcycle he was letting me use while I was home and went on over. Alex was sitting on the tailgate of a 1970-something Ford truck chugging on a can of cheap ass Budweiser.
"Damn, dude. Are your taste buds dead or what?" I asked.
"Cheap fix" he said laughing as he held a can up offering it to me. I took it, at least it would be cold.
"You want to go take a dip in the pond?" I asked.
"Nah, too many kids there" he replied.
"You got any ideas?" I asked.
"Wanna fuck?" he asked.
"No, man. I'm taken, remember?" I said.
"Yeah, yeah. Story of my life" he replied, feigning dejection. I suspected I wasn't really his type anyway.
"Wanna ride over to Big South Fork?" I asked.
"Sure, can we take the bike?" he asked. I glanced over and saw dad had the other helmet strapped on.
"If this will fit your big head" I joked. We got our helmets on and left his truck at the store. I took off to Stearns, I figured we could kill some time at Blue Heron. We listened to the park ranger's spiel and walked the old coal tipple across the river. Up inside one of the side exhibits that looked like an old coal mine entrance Alex cornered me and tried to steal a kiss. I pushed him away again, he was getting annoying to be honest. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then started back toward home. On the curvy roads getting back to the interstate I could feel his hardness pressing against me. I made a decision to steer clear of him the rest of the time I was home. He was too cute and, frankly, I didn't trust me. I had a good thing with James and I was not about to mess that up. I dropped him at his truck and took off.
Back at the house, I saddled Domino and went back to the pond. Nobody was there but JJ and Mike, both naked as the day they were born laying out in the afternoon sun. For a 15-year-old Mike was pretty hung and about half hard. When they heard Domino, they both scrambled for their shorts until they saw it was just me.
"Did you come for a swim?" Mike asked.
"Just came to get away from the house mainly" I answered, "but I might take a dip while I'm up here. How'd you rate the privacy?"
"Some kind of party going on that neither of us wanted to go to" JJ answered.
I dismounted and pulled my tee-shirt off and laid it on a bush, then dropped my shorts and put them there too. I was commando today as I still hadn't done laundry since getting back from Europe. I walked into the water and floated on my back. I closed my eyes, just enjoying the sensations of the water and the sun beating down on me. The two punks took advantage of me. I didn't even hear them coming until they were pulling me under. I popped up spitting out pond water and started chasing them around the pond until we all were pretty much worn out.
I got out and pulled my shorts on before laying down on the grass. Just because we were the only ones here right now didn't mean it would stay that way. I mentioned that fact to the guys but they just shrugged; I guess all of them had seen each other naked so often it really wasn't an issue. When the sun started down in the sky I got back on Domino and headed to the house. Mom said dinner was self-serve tonight so I rummaged in the fridge and found a pack of lunch meat and some cheese and made a sandwich. Then I grabbed a Mt. Dew to go with it. It was semi-cool or at least not stifling hot so we all sat outside and ate as night fell. I was getting so sleepy listening to the whippoorwills and katydids. After a while I excused myself and went up to my room. I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed when I got a text message from James.
It seems that Ellen was going to be on Oprah shilling her newest book and Garrett was going on a business meeting to Japan. Robbie had decided since they were being left, he was going to go on back to school. So, James was about to be by himself in that rambling house.
"Why don't you come over here and stay with me?" I suggested.
"Do you thing your parents would be okay with it?" he asked.
"More than likely. When you roll in, we'll go buy mom some extra groceries and they won't have much to complain about" I said.
"Sounds like a plan" he replied.
"One stipulation" I said.
"What's that?" he asked.
"You can't play with yourself until we're together" I joked.
"Damn! I guess I better pull my shorts up" he said, laughing. "Seriously, run it by your parents just to make sure."
"Okay, I'll call you back in a few minutes" I said.
I ran back downstairs and found them still on the back porch. Mom said she'd be happy to see him again. Dad said sure. I texted him back and told him to get his fine ass up here first thing tomorrow. He texted "if not sooner, LOL". This time when I went up, I actually went to bed.
After talking to James, I couldn't get to sleep. I tossed and turned for a couple of hours before exhaustion finally took over me. When I finally went to sleep, I was dead to the world. I kinda halfway woke up and took a bleary-eyed look that the alarm clock. It was still only about 4am so I grabbed James's arm and pulled it closer around me. Wait...James's arm...I was suddenly awake. I flipped on the lamp and looked over to see him smiling back at me.
"What the?..." I stammered.
"I was already packed when we were talking. I hopped in the car and headed this way" he said just above a whisper. I killed the lamp and went back into spoon position. Now everything felt right.
Lambodara 5/22/22
As usual, always glad to read any comments! The rest of their summer is probably going to be fun.