Date: Fri, 1 Jul 2022 21:07:28 +0000 From: Douglas DD Subject: Emerald City Boys Chapter 20 Greetings and welcome back. Trajan has gone from not knowing anybody other than his cousins to being very and busy and to making new friends. He isn't the only one who is kept busy as the month of June moves along. Please donate to the Nifty Archive so that Nifty can keep you busy as well. Your emails are always appreciated. thehakaanen@hotmail.com Douglas CHAPTER 20 MAKING FRIENDS SATURDAY, JUNE 13 Trajan sat up at the sound of the alarm. "Fucking shit, Tony! Am I gonna listen to that fucking thing every goddamn morning?" he shouted at his cousin. "I told you I was setting it," Tony said lamely. "And I told you it was gonna be a busy morning when I set it." "I get the feeling that every morning is fucking busy to you. Or don't you believe in sleeping in?" "It's nine o'clock." Tony was starting feel anger rising in him. "It's not like it's the crack of dawn." "Maybe some of us are used to sleeping in until the crack of noon sometimes." "Whatever. I'm gonna go shower and you can get your beauty sleep, because believe me, you need it really bad." Tony rose from his bed and stomped out of the room. Trajan didn't bother looking at his cousin's bare ass. All he wanted to do was go back to sleep. "Trajan, you gotta get up," Tony said when he returned to the room. Tony had awakened Trajan from a snooze, making him even more unhappy. "Is it noon yet?" He was facing the wall, not caring if Tony heard him or not. "No, but Liam and his mom are gonna be here at ten-thirty, so you need to shower, and we need to get breakfast and talk to mom about if we're going to the workshop and you gotta talk to her about lacrosse." "What are you, my secretary now?" Trajan opened his eyes and turned over on his left side. Tony was standing naked between the two beds glaring at Trajan. Tony's hands were on his hips and his uncut dick hung over his testicles. "You're the one who wanted to talk to her and her son, he told his cranky cousin. "Well, now maybe I don't want to," Trajan squawked. "And if taking that class means getting up early every morning for a whole week, maybe I don't want to do it." "Fine, I'll tell mom you're not interested. But I think I'm gonna do it." Tony turned around, grabbed a pair of white briefs that he had set on his bed, and stepped into them. "Never fucking mind. I'll get up and shower. At least Marco spent the night with his bed buddy, so I don't have to worry about him walking in...and I know you set rules, but still..." Trajan started out the door and then stopped. "When did you start to become a snarky little shit?" "About the time you started sleeping in my bedroom," Tony huffed. Tony was starting to see the cousin who wouldn't return his phone calls. From what Tony had overheard at various times, he was certain that Trajan's father had told his mother that Trajan had a lot of problems that had to do with not behaving properly. Trajan walked naked into the hall and headed to the bathroom. This time his shower was a quick one. Being pissed off kept him from having any desire to jerk off. Since he wasn't thinking about sex, his mind went off into a dark corner and he found himself thinking about his behavior with his cousin. `Why do I always start screwing up when good things happen to me?' he wondered. `How come I can't take the good things and run with them? What the fuck is wrong with me?' These thoughts were still running through his head when he came back to the bedroom. Tony wasn't there. Even though they hadn't talked about it, Trajan was certain Tony had dressed completely since company would be coming soon. After donning an East Harbor lacrosse t-shirt and a pair of jeans, Trajan went out to the kitchen where Tony sat waiting for the pancakes Marne was cooking up. He saw four link sausages on a plate next to the griddle. `This is my kind of breakfast,' Trajan grinned to himself. "Do pancakes and sausage with a tall glass of milk work for you, Trajan?" Marne asked. "It's perfect, Aunt Marne. Where is Uncle Luigi?" "He's in his office dealing with paperwork, the bane of every small business owner. He'll be leaving soon to get the restaurant prepared for lunch." Luigi's had a full lunch menu on Saturdays and Sundays but served only pizza for lunch on weekdays. The restaurant was closed on Mondays. As soon as she placed three pancakes on Tony's plate, Marne poured pancake batter on the griddle for Trajan. Trajan looked at his cousin pouring syrup on his pancakes and thought about how sexy cute he was—for a tween anyway. He wondered briefly if he should apologize to his cousin for being snarky when he woke up and then remembered what he'd heard more than once from a couple of his friends in East Harbor. "Real men don't say they're sorry." "With the way it's been raining all morning I don't think Marco's going to be playing his game today," Tony told his mother, ignoring the fact that Trajan was sitting next to him. Marco's baseball team had a game scheduled for one o'clock at the Lake City Park against the Queen Anne Royals. Tony had hoped Trajan would go with him to watch his brother play. It looked like that wasn't going to happen. "I told your brother to call as soon as he found out, which should be soon." Marne said. "You know how good he is about things like that," Tony pointed out sarcastically. "Yes, I do. He's as good as his older brother." Marne's comment caused Trajan to have to swallow a chuckle. It was nice to know that Tony wasn't as perfect as he made out to be. Trajan took a deep breath and dug into his pancakes. Luigi left for the restaurant a little after ten o'clock. Arlene Hanson and Levi arrived a few minutes before ten thirty. Trajan got the door after hearing the doorbell ring. He smiled when he saw Levi, who was just as cute as the day before, if not cuter. For some reason his red hair and freckles looked positively sexy. "Hello, Professor Hanson and Levi. Come on in." Levi grinned and led his mother into the house. Trajan showed them to the living room and invited them to sit on the couch. He was exhibiting the polite behaviors his mother kept drilling into him; Arlene and Marne were impressed. Even though they had only spoken on the phone once, the two mothers greeted each other as if they were long lost friends. Marne handed Arlene a file folder "I have the paperwork for the workshops filled out for Tony and Trajan. I included a copy of our guardianship papers for Trajan if you need them." Before she could say more, her phone rang. She saw that it was Marco, who was using the burner phone they let him use under certain conditions. Marne and Luigi weren't going to give Marco his own phone until he turned ten. "Excuse me. It's my youngest and I need to answer this." After some quick chatter back and forth, Marne disconnected. "It's official, the game's been rained out," she announced mainly for Trajan and Tony's benefit. "Before Levi's mother and I talk about how we're going to work out transportation and so forth for Tony and Trajan, we need to talk about Trajan and lacrosse." Before he got out of bed Trajan had been set to tell his aunt that he wasn't really interested in the geology workshop or in auditioning for the lacrosse team. But now that crunch time had arrived, he decided that getting involved in something sounded better than clearing tables in the restaurant. "Coach Vincent is cool with Trajan trying out at Monday's practice, although he said he wasn't guaranteeing anything," Levi said. "Practice will start at four on Monday. Our field is near Green Lake. Mom will give you the directions. My friend CJ's mom is going to take me to practice with CJ and she said she was cool with picking you up if you needed a ride," he informed Trajan. "Trajan is going to need rides if he makes the team, but I can take him on Monday since the restaurant is closed," Marne said. "I would like to meet the coach, plus I want to give him all the necessary paperwork. Just tell me which field the team is practicing on and I'll get him there. Marco has a baseball game on Monday, so I need to know what time practice ends." "Practices usually go for an hour and a half, but sometimes they're only an hour. Coach lets us know in advance if we're having a shorter practice." "With Marco's game starting at 5:30, I will need help picking Trajan up." "Practice is rain or shine, by the way," Liam said. "I'm good with that," Trajan said, although since rainy days weren't common in East Harbor neither were rainy day practices. After discussing a few items, Arlene said she was ready to go home. "You're welcome to stay for lunch," Marne told her guest. "I appreciate the invitation, but I will be having lunch with a couple of friends in my book club this afternoon," Arlene said. "How about me, can I stay for lunch?" Levi asked. Arlene went into her pedantic mode. "I believe you are perfectly capable of staying here for lunch," she informed her son. "But, if Mrs. Deluca is willing, then you may stay for lunch if we can work out how you'll get home." "I will be happy to give Levi a ride home," Marne said. "It's nice to see Trajan getting new friends." Trajan felt like crawling under the couch after listening to the two moms working hard to embarrass their sons, but he kept still. "As soon as your mom leaves, I want to pick your brain about lacrosse," Trajan told Levi. He ended up doing just that after Arlene left. Trajan was impressed by Levi's knowledge of lacrosse and some other topics, like geology and local history, that they started talking about. Tony was happy to see Trajan in a lighter mood. He knew that this visit wasn't about him and was soon on his phone chatting with Logan. By the time lunch was served an overnight had been arranged at Logan's house. Tony knew from Logan's hints that there would be sex involved. After lunch Trajan and Levi sat in the cozy little den. Trajan started out by asking Levi about lacrosse equipment. "Between me and CJ I think we can take care of you to start," Levi replied. "We're all about the same size and we can mix and match." "I don't know why, but I packed my cleats and my gloves. I mean I knew I wasn't going to play but I still packed them." "I know what you mean. It's like my lax gear is a part of me." Trajan liked that Levi used the shorthand for lacrosse. For him it was proof that his new friend was a serious player. "I talked to Coach about equipment. He said he'll be able to come up with everything except gloves and cleats, so he'll be happy to hear you packed them. You and CJ are about the same size and he has an extra set of shoulder pads. I'm sure one of our unis will fit you. I think we're going to make this work." "Are your teammates pretty cool dudes?" "They're great, that is all but Jack. He's kind of an asshole, but the rest of us keep him in line plus Coach Victor doesn't put up with much bullshit." "You need to know I wasn't a regular starter on my team. I was just a player, and sometimes I didn't suit up for a game. But I loved practicing and working out as much as I did playing." Trajan didn't bother mentioning that there were times his attitude got in the way of his playing. He liked blaming the coach for that, but he was trying hard not to screw up a good thing, so he kept his mouth shut. Trajan then led Levi to the sewing room where he kept everything outside of his regular clothing. His practice gear, gloves, and cleats were on an old couch that was against the wall. "Looks like you're almost ready for Monday," Levi said. "I'll only need equipment on Monday. My stick, and helmet, and pads are packed in a box that's being shipped UPS and should be here on Tuesday, which I guess is a little late for my first practice. Oh, and I should mention I have my cup in a drawer." "Like I said, Coach probably has some pads and a stick you can use, but as far as a helmet goes, those are kinda personal for obvious reasons. You must have thought you were going to be playing lacrosse if you have all that stuff coming here." "I just had to have it. I told my mom I'd feel naked without it. I figured she was going to tell me something like, `Live with it.' Instead, she suggested shipping it UPS because who knew what might happen. So suddenly between my lacrosse stuff and a bunch of other shit I have two boxes coming. "And trust me, when I got on the airplane and had time to think about it, I felt kind of stupid having the lacrosse gear shipped here when there was no way I'd be playing on a team. I was hoping I might meet somebody I could at least practice shit with. And now I'm looking pretty smart, even if I can't help but wonder why my mom went along with it." "What did your dad say about it?" "He just nodded and said for her to give me what made me happy and told me I was paying the return shipping home if I didn't find a way to use the gear." "Looks like Coach Vincent can save you a lot of money then," Levi chuckled. "Him and you both, dude. Him and you, both for sure. Thanks for what you're doing for me." "Not a problem. It's what friends are for." Trajan felt a warm glow shoot through him when Levi mentioned being his friend. "Well, then, thanks loads...friend." They went back downstairs where Trajan learned more about the Falcons. Even though Trajan thought Levi was one hot boy, he didn't make any attempt at saying anything of a sexual nature. Broaching the subject with a boy who was essentially a complete stranger was something he had never had to do before. Back in East Harbor, the subject just came up naturally. He wondered how long he would be able to keep from hinting at something. Marne coming into the room brought an end to those thoughts. Levi looked at the time. "I guess I'd better get going home," he told Marne. "You're welcome to stay for dinner," Marne grinned. "Thanks for the invitation, but I'm sure my mom is expecting me to have dinner at home tonight. But maybe some other time." "And maybe you can even spend the night," Trajan said. As soon as he'd said it he wondered where that thought came from. "That's something the Falcons like doing is overnights. Let's plan on it, maybe even at my house. I mean we're going to be seeing a lot of each other soon what with lacrosse and geology." "Yeah, I guess we are." That suited Trajan just fine. If nothing else, Levi was great eye candy. Trajan and Tony went with Levi on the ride home. Trajan wanted to see what kind of house Levi lived in and Tony didn't have anything better to do. What they saw was a nice house in Seattle's Green Lake District. "Well, there's home," Levi grinned. "And, as you can see, there's plenty of room for sleepovers. Thanks for the ride and I'll see you Monday at practice." Levi exited the back door and dashed up to his house where his mother was waiting at the front door. He stopped, waved, and watched the car drive away. "Dinner's in an hour," Arlene told him. "I'll be there," Levi told her before he went up the stairs to his bedroom. After entering his room, he sat back on his bed and yanked down his jeans and dark blue boxers, revealing his hard 4.5-inch cock. He went hard to work jerking it off bringing up images of Trajan in his mind. He wondered if the California boy would be willing to play the way he and CJ did. He wished there was a way he could find out. With CJ, messing around with each other had happened spontaneously when they were eleven. And with the teammates he messed around with, well, that was just stuff that teammates did together. But how would he get a kid he just met to join him in a jerk off session? And would a studly high school kid like Trajan even be interested in a thirteen (almost fourteen) year old who didn't even have pubes yet? He wished he knew. He quit thinking, concentrated on the face of the straight-laced California boy, and mentally undressed him until he shot a load of cum on his smooth, white belly. JUNE 14 Rather than deal with parking in town or down on the waterfront, Mike the Donkey drove Ryan the Dawg, and Justin the Dawgkey to a parking lot in Lake Union area. They then took the SLUT (South Lake Union Transit) into downtown. South Lake Union Transit was the official name for only a couple of days and was quickly changed to the South Lake Union Line when the acronym was discovered. Nobody remembered what the official name was but everybody remembered the acronym. The streetcar stopped on First Avenue just a couple of blocks from the waterfront Seattle Aquarium where they viewed the fish, seals, otters, sharks, octopuses, and other sea life. After enjoying the aquarium they walked south on Alaska Way to Ivar's and entered the restaurant at their reservation time. Ryan's birthday dinner was exactly what the family had hoped for. Good food, fun conversation, a seat with a view of Elliot Bay, and wonderful service, right down to the wait staff singing "Happy Birthday dear Dawg." Justin was proud that he had been able to help pay for his Papa Dawg's dinner, even if it was a minuscule percentage. After finishing dinner and dessert (cake and ice cream of course) they walked uphill for two blocks and caught the streetcar to Lake Union. After arriving home, they sat in the living room reliving the day. "Thanks, Papa Dawg," Justin said as he sipped on his lemonade. "You're welcome, Justin, but what are you thanking me for?" "For having a birthday." "Well, having one definitely beats the alternative," the Dawg chuckled. "So, I take it you had a good time." "Yep, I got to see sea food swimming in the aquarium and then I got to eat sea food in the restaurant." Justin had ordered what Ryan ordered, the grilled halibut. The Donkey was happy with a plate piled high with fish and chips. "I take it you liked the halibut," Mike said. "Yep. I ordered it because my Papa Dawg ordered it on for his birthday dinner and it was really good. The potatoes were good, too. The broccoli—not so good. I wish Granma Amy could have come." "They were having a party at the retirement home, and she wanted to attend," Mike reminded Justin. "She was part of the planning committee and they all put a lot of work into it." Mike knew that Amy would have come if he had insisted on it, but she told him right away that a big reason she wasn't going to attend was because she felt Justin needed to enjoy a Daddy day, and one of their birthdays was a perfect time to do it. "She said we'd all get together for a dinner sometime next month." Justin and his dads played Uno until Ryan said it was time to do some reading. The little family then sat quietly with their noses in books. When reading time ended, the Donkey quizzed Justin on what he had read. Justin told him about what he learned in his book, titled "Moonshot". Justin had hoped it would be about a boy who liked to pull down his pants at school and places and moon people. Instead, it was about the flight of Apollo 11 to the Moon, which was almost as good. After being tucked into bed by his dads, Justin thought about what a kick ass day he'd had. The day had tired him out, but "going out" with his dads for a birthday was special—very special. He was a calm and happy little boy when he dropped off to sleep. MONDAY, JUNE 15 The Lake City Jammers had a game against the West Seattle Orcas Monday evening. The teams were tied for first with 7-2 records. Justin thought it would be great to have his best friends from the Jammers come over for lunch. Marco was there fifteen minutes after disconnecting the call. He brought his uniform, bat, and glove with him. Joey, who spent the day at the house of the neighbor across the street on the days his mother was working, was happy Mrs. Forester was willing to let him go to Justin's house. Her two kids were ten- and eight-year-old girls who were fun to play games with but not much else. He wished he could spend his days at Justin's house, but his mother didn't feel it was a healthy place for him to spend the day. Mrs. Forester, on the other hand, could see that Joey was much happier being around other boys than with her daughters, which she understood. "Just be back by three o'clock," his sitter told him. Karl's father dropped him off in front of Justin's house. Karl left the car with his equipment bag containing his uniform and glove in his right hand and his bat in his left hand. He would be going with Justin and Marco directly to the game. Since the weather had cleared up since Saturday, they would definitely be playing the game. The boys had a lunch consisting of sandwiches and apple cobbler made by Ryan the Dawg. They then went outside with Mike the Donkey and gathered at the baseball corner of the yard where they played catch, fielded grounders, and caught pop flies. "This is like the warmup for the warmup we'll have before we have the warmup on the field before the game," Justin said knowingly, earning looks of confusion from his friends as well as nod of appreciation from Mike for the great use of donkey logic. After they tired of their pre-warmup, they played chase games and climbed around the monkey bars Ryan and Mike had set up. Joey left just before three o'clock so he could be home on time. At three-thirty Mike warmed up the mac and cheese cooked up as a pregame meal by Ryan. He liked the idea of cooking up a meal with carbs to kick in some extra energy for the game. After eating, the three boys went to Justin's room and started changing into their uniforms. This included donning their cups and jocks, which gave them an opportunity to show off their wares. Justin and Marco were impressed when Karl showed them two tiny dark hairs growing on one side of his cock. They were hard to see against his dark skin, but each boy rubbed them with a couple of fingers to authenticate them. "Awesome," Justin cooed. "You not only got hairs now, but you squirt cum, which means you're in puberty." Justin and Marco pranced around the room without pants or underpants on and played with each other's little boners. "You guys are gonna have a hard time getting your dicks into your cups if you don't quit giving each other boners," Karl pointed out. "He's right," Justin said, bringing the prancing to a stop. They sat on Justin's bed and watched Karl dress. Because the boys were barely on the edge of puberty it didn't take long for their cocklets to go limp. They dressed and went out to the living room to tell Mike they were ready so he could get them to the field on time. They stopped to pick up Joey and made it to Lake City Park fifteen minutes before they were supposed to meet and be ready to play the game. Ah yes, the game. After the real warmups and infield practice, the Jammer starters took the field for the game against the West Seattle Orcas. Justin was the starting pitcher, Marco started at shortstop, Karl was at first base, and Joey started at catcher. Because Coach Wood's philosophy was that the boys on young teams like the Jammers should get as much experience in the game as possible, some of the starters would shift positions as the game progressed. Justin pitched the first three innings and left with a 3-1 lead. Karl started the fourth inning on the mound and Justin went to shortstop in Marco's place. The score was 6-1 after five innings and Cole Richards came into the game to pitch the sixth and last inning. Karl moved to catcher for the inning. Cole gave up two runs as the Jammers held on for a 6-3 win which put them into first place. The win was especially satisfying since West Seattle had won the first game between the two by a 10-4 score. Karl went home with his dad and Justin rode with Marco's parents to Marco's house where he would spend the night. Marne arrived at Green Lake well before the start of Trajan's first lacrosse practice. He saw Levi on the field flinging a lacrosse ball around with a half dozen other players. "I don't know what your coach looks like," Marne said. "Well, I don't either," Trajan reminded her. "But Levi does and I'm sure he'll take care of you meeting him. Do you mind if I join those guys until then?" "I'll be waiting. Have fun." Levi ran up to Trajan and welcomed him to the Green Lake athletic field. He gave his new friend a hearty welcome hug, and then introduced him to what he hoped would be Trajan's new teammates. Trajan had been surprised by the hug but loved how tight it was and how sincere it felt. He had no doubt he had found himself a good friend. Now all he had to do was manage not to screw it up. Levi made the introductions; Trajan noted that he introduced CJ as his best friend. "I brought my extra stick with me for you to use until yours gets here. It's an old one and a defensive stick, but I kept it in good shape." "I usually play midfield," Trajan said. "Cool, we need a good midfielder. And my stick will work anywhere in a practice emergency. Well, it kinda will." "I understand." Trajan changed from his trainers to his cleats and joined the boys in their impromptu lacrosse practice. After five minutes of running around, Trajan noted a pickup truck coming into the parking lot. "That's Coach Vincent," Levi told Trajan. "Come on with me and I'll introduce you." The coach climbed out of his truck when he saw Levi trotting over with who he assumed was the California boy. He had seen the new boy mixing it up with the players and was pleased by how quickly he seemed to be fitting in. Marne saw Liam and Trajan running over to the man who had just entered the parking lot and surmised that he was Coach Vincent. Liam made the introductions and then left to join his teammates. Three more players had arrived while the introductions were being made. The coach handed some paperwork to Marne and went over the team rules with Trajan, which he was happy to do with his aunt listening to what they were. "I know Levi told you that we have a couple of roster openings. I'll see how you look in practice and probably decide if it looks like you have the skills to play for the Falcons. No promises, even if you are good enough, since I will be looking at attitude, too. And be aware, if you make the team, you'll have to participate in two more practices before you can play. League rules stipulate a player has to attend three team practices before he is eligible to play." Marne thanked Coach Vincent for his introduction and said she had to go because her son's baseball game would be starting in less than a half hour. She told the coach CJ's mother would give Trajan a ride home. Trajan said he understood. Coach Vincent took him around to the back of the truck and pulled out a chest that contained some spare equipment. "Here's some pads. I don't have a helmet for you, but there won't be much contact in today's practice since we have a game tomorrow. I'll keep you out of the few contact drills I'll be running. Just return it all at the end of practice. We'll deal with your uniform once you make the team." Trajan noticed an athletic looking man approaching them. "The young man approaching us is Coach Patrick, my able assistant," Coach Vincent said. As the man approached, Trajan noticed that he was indeed a young man. "Pat, this is Trajan Deluca, the boy from California Levi told us about." Trajan held out his hand and the assistant coach squeezed it with an ultra-firm handshake. "Pleased to meet you, Trajan. I hope you find our level of lacrosse comparable to what you're probably used to down in the Golden State." "We were a pretty good team, but I didn't play much. I love the sport though." "It's probably a good idea that I confuse you a little with our names," Coach Vincent said. "Vincent happens to be my last name. Coach Patrick, who's a sophomore at Seattle University and an outstanding lacrosse player, goes by his first name. I'm okay with it as long as you emphasize that word `Coach' when you address him." "I see you have a stick," Patrick said. "Is that yours?" "No, it belongs to Levi. My gear should be arriving tomorrow." Coach then sent Trajan off to join the Falcon players who were now all at the field. When he joined the team, Liam introduced him to the players who had arrived while Trajan was talking to the coach. One of them was Jack, the boy Liam had told him could be an asshole. Jack didn't bother with the first bump. He stood still with his hands on his hips. "I don't see why we need any more players on our roster. I don't give a fuck what state you're from and how good you think you are; this is our team." "Vacations is why. Most families take them after the season is over, but not everybody can do it that way," CJ said. "Right now, we only have 14 players and that's when everybody can come to a game." A lacrosse team had ten players on the field at a time. "Yeah, whatever. That doesn't mean I have to like some funky dude from California who thinks he's doing us a big fucking favor by turning out for the Falcons. The Falcons are from Seattle and not from Lala Land. So why don't you..." "Hey, Jack, why don't you shut the fuck up!" Denny Wolfe barked. "Don't interrupt and don't talk to me like that mister fucking team captain." Denny was a big African American teen who had been voted team captain by his teammates. He was a talented player, strong and quick. This wasn't the first time he and Jack had butted heads. Denny turned to Trajan, ignoring Jack's final rant. "Trajan, I apologize for the team. This is not the team we want to be. We like to think we're cool dudes. Even Jack can be cool when he doesn't have a hair up his ass. Wait until you see him during a game; he is Mr. Team Player all the way. Sometimes he even knows how to apologize to dudes." "Fuck, you piss me off sometimes, Denny. But, okay, I apologize to Trajan. Are you happy?" "We'll all be happy when you say it like you mean it Jack," CJ said. "Yeah, how about being part of the team for once," Levi added. Jack was ready to get off on Levi, but knew he was on thin ice with Coach Patrick for calling Levi the "team faggot." The coach had told him that the next time he would tell Coach Vincent who would probably send him packing, which probably would have happened if he had told him this time. Patrick didn't think that kicking Jack off the team was a bad idea, but he hoped he might be able to help the boy get his act together. Plus, with the team being a little shorthanded he decided to cut him some undeserved slack. "Hey, I told Hollywood I was sorry. Why don't you let him accept it or not?" Jack told Levi." "And why don't you do what Denny told you and just shut up?" Mitch Murphy said. Mitch Murphy was the usual starting goalie. "Hey, everybody, thanks for having my back," Trajan said. "It's all cool with me. Let's get ready to practice." Trajan held up his fist for Jack to bump. Jack's fist bump was more a soft touch than a bump. Trajan had silently taken everything in. He found the team dynamics interesting. Everybody seemed to get along with each other and like each other, apart from Jack. He decided that the best thing for him to do would be to accept Jack's apology and let things work themselves out. It meant a lot to him that Denny, Levi, Mitch, and CJ had stood up for him. At that point, the coaches, figuring everyone had had enough time to introduce themselves, joined up with the team and got them started on the standard warmups and stretches. Both Coach Vincent and Coach Patrick couldn't help but wonder how Jack had reacted to the presence of Trajan. They knew that unless a player said something to them, which wasn't likely to happen, they weren't going to learn anything—at least not yet. Patrick decided to have a chat with Jack after practice. Trajan found the practice to be organized and fundamentals oriented. He liked the coaches, and, except for Jack, he liked his teammates. The thought of getting to know Jack better crossed Trajan's mind. After all, Trajan did have an attraction to bad boys. After practice ended, Coach Vincent took Trajan aside and told him he was impressed with his hard work as well as his obvious knowledge of the game. "Consider yourself a Falcon," he told his new player. "Thanks, coach," Trajan grinned. "I'll do the best I can." "It looks like the members of the team like you." "And I like them. They seem like great guys." He left out any mention of Jack's unwelcoming attitude. "We have a game on Wednesday, which you're expected to attend, even if you can't suit up. And then your second practice on Thursday and another game on Saturday. I'm going to check with the league and find out if there is any way I can count your being at Wednesday's game as a practice." "That would be cool if I could, Coach. Then I could play on Saturday, right?" "If it's possible. There is something about it in the league rules, but it's pretty vague, so I want to get a ruling from the league commissioner." On the other end of the field Patrick had a chat with Jack. He asked how Jack liked having a new player on the team. "I dunno, he seems okay, but I don't think we need a new player," Jack waffled. "The rest of the team seems to like him." "Good for them. Is that all you got to say?" "For now," Patrick said. "Just do your best to make him feel welcome." "Whatever." Jack turned and walked away. As Patrick watched the boy retreat, he wondered if he would make it to the end of the season. The only reason he was still on the team was that he not only was the best player on the team, but his father was an attorney and a member of the Seattle City Council who liked to throw his weight around. The best thing that could happen to the rest of the Falcons, who were a great group of kids, was for Jack to find a way to get himself kicked off the team that nobody could disagree with. He wished he had told Coach Vincent about Jack's remarks, but what was done was done. Trajan rode with CJ's mom, sharing the backseat with Levi. CJ rode in the front seat. Trajan was dropped off at Lake City Park, where he went to the field where Marco was playing. Tony saw him arrive and left the bleachers to greet him. They sat near Marne who asked Trajan if he had made the team. She was pleased to learn that he was now a Falcon, even though it would keep her busier than ever. When she and Luigi had agreed to take in Trajan for the summer, they wondered how they would keep Trajan busy outside of helping in the restaurant. Instead, the issue was becoming how they would find the time to keep up with his suddenly busy schedule. Although Trajan didn't care much about baseball, he found himself enjoying Marco's game. He recognized Justin and cheered for him and Marco. He also enjoyed chatting with Tony about how his first practice went. Although he hadn't planned to, he told Tony about Jack's attitude. "Do you think you'll end up getting in a fight with him?" Tony asked. "I hope not since that could get me kicked off the team," Trajan answered. "Even if it's not your fault?" "Coaches don't like their players fighting with each other, and since I'm the new dude and Jack's supposed to be their best player I'll probably get blamed for starting it. So, I'll just try to mind my own business." He was interrupted by his phone. He wondered if it was an East Harbor friend. Only one of them had called him since he left. But then, he hadn't called any of them either. He saw it was Levi and answered it. "Hey, are you busy?" Levi asked. Trajan told him what he was doing and promised to call him back when he got home. "I thought home was in California," Levi chuckled. "It is, but for now the Deluca house is my Seattle home, so I'm calling it home." "Sounds good to me. Talk to you later." Before Trajan knew it, the game was in the sixth and last inning with the Jammers holding on to a 6-3 lead to win the game. "Wow, thanks for being at my game," Marco said when Trajan congratulated him on the win. "I saw the last three innings is all. But you played a good game and so did your team." "Did you make the team?" Trajan told him that he had. "Awesome." Justin walked up to them and greeted Trajan. "Justin is spending the night," Marco told Trajan. Trajan called Levi after getting home. Levi wondered if Trajan would be interested in spending a night with him or with him and CJ. "It should be a lot of fun." "Hey, I did a lot of overnights in my real home. I think doing it with you will be a blast. You're becoming a good friend. And I can see why you and CJ are good friends; I like him a lot. So, all of us together would be radical." "Let's see what we can do next week," Levi said. "That will give you time to get a routine going." "Sounds like a plan. See you at Wednesday's game." Pierce and Drake were having an evening chat on the phone. "How was your practice?" Drake asked. Pierce's baseball team had practiced for a little over an hour on the Lincoln High School baseball field. "I'm sure it was better than your practice. I got to play some baseball and be with my bros while all you did was run in the park." "At least I wasn't wasting time chasing baseballs for over an hour. What if I told you I ran into Taylor and Dayne in the park and went jogging with the college dudes?" "I'd tell you what I always tell you, that you're full of shit." "Well, this time it's true. We ran together for a couple of miles before they broke off and headed for wherever it is they lived. They asked about you." "You're serious, aren't you?" "I swear this is total no bullshit. But we didn't talk much. And they didn't ask where my boyfriend was, they just asked where my friend was." "Maybe we need to educate them if we're going to have sex with them when we reach magic sixteen," Pierce said. Their research had confirmed that the age of consent in Washington was sixteen. "While we were jogging, Dayne said, `Oh, by the way, you can stop staring at Taylor's crotch—he really is that big.' And, incidentally Pookah, who said anything about having sex with them?" "We did. But, yeah, I know, they didn't but I think they'd like to. But it's nothing we can talk about for six months until I hit sixteen. Now that we got that fantasy out of the way, how's the little bro?" "Awesome," Drake replied. "The little critter speaks three languages fluently now." "Okay, now the bullshit meter has gone from fluttering around halfway into the middle when you told me who you ran with in the park to spiking in the red zone when you tell me what kind of genius Mr. Lincoln is." "This is no lie," Drake insisted. "He speaks fluent `I need my diaper changed', flawless `feed me I'm hungry', and very articulate `I want to be held and cuddled.'" "Wow, and you used a big four syllable word showing you speak sorta good English." "You'll be able to use big words too when you turn sixteen." "You never said anything about speaking `I'm tired and want to take a nap.'" "Oh, he'll learn that in middle school. Right now, he doesn't have to say anything, he just closes his eyes and zonks out." "I'm surprised Fido doesn't teach him to speak dog," Pierce said. "I bet the dog's giving him lessons when there's nobody in the room with them." "I wouldn't bet against it. Fido's pretty smart for a mutt." "And Lincoln takes after his big brother by being a very intelligent little fucker. And there's another four-syllable word for you. And now I have something I want to ask before I check on somebody's diaper." "Keegan's wearing diapers now?" Pierce asked. "You're sick. You know that, right? Totally and absolutely sick." "I know it and am proud of it. Now, what was your question?" "What's your schedule like for the week? I'd like to come over for an overnight and maybe we can even have Trajan come for a day visit so we can get to know him better." "Tomorrow, I have a game. But you know you can come over and cheer me on from the bleachers. Wednesday, I have nothing that I know of unless dad puts me to work on something." "But I couldn't stay the night since I work Thursday morning." "And you've got your mom to thank for that." "Hey, it's cool. It's only two days a week and I like the money." "Well, you could come after work on Thursday since it's another open day for me." "No practice or anything?" "Nope. Coach has some family thing going on and we don't play until Saturday. I don't know what Trajan has going on, but if he's busy there is always another day. Let's make it Thursday with an overnight unless the `rents say no." "Sounds good, Pooka. We'll figure out the details on Wednesday and be ready to go on Thursday." "I'll be looking forward to seeing you Duck, four syllable words and all." "I love you." "I love you, too." Logan sat on the beanbag chair in Madison's bedroom. "Your hair's still blue," he said to Madison. "It's my summer blue—it's literally just like the sky," Madison said. "I thought it was about our blue uniforms." "That's what my toes are. How can you be, like, gay and not know shit about, you know, fashion? Our uniforms are light blue and my hair is dark blue and my toes are, like, light blue. Got it?" "I've got it," Logan replied, even though he felt totally clueless. "Are you sure Tony's all, like, cool with you spending the night with me and us having sex and shit?" Madison asked Logan as they wolfed down the pizza they had ordered. Madison's mom had left them plenty of money for pizza and soft drinks. The boys were sitting naked on the couch watching the Mariners on TV. "Well, first of all, we're not married. I mean, yeah, we're boyfriends, but we're both cool with the other guy messing around with somebody as long as we don't keep it a big secret. I learned that's how Aiden and his boyfriend do it. Chase and Dillon are a little stricter, especially with fucking, but they're old dudes," Logan explained. "Yep, old is right. He's literally got all that gray hair and everything." "What about you and Curt?" "Fuck kind of question is that? We just, like, mess around and shit. Curt's got his boyfriend Donovan, so what's to ask?" "Besides, Curt's not gay," Logan said. "Like we're supposed to believe that. You ask him and he goes, `Oh, I just like to mess around, but not a lot.' Whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean, you know?" "You're still a virgin, right?" "That's for me to know and you to find out. But, if you, like, fucked me, it would be epically radical." "Who said anything about fucking?" "Hey, dude, you're the one who literally used the F word," Madison pointed out. "I was just wondering since Curt told me you guys came close." "He rubbed his dick over me and got me all cummy like. I guess that's like fucking." "Whatever, I see you have a boner." "And so do you, so BFD that I got one." "Can I touch it?" Logan asked. "I thought that's what we're here for." Within seconds both boys were jerking each other off. "Remember when you licked my ass?" Madison asked. "You've got a nice ass. Even Curt said that." "For real?" "For real. He said it and I'm saying it, too. Want me to eat your ass again?" "It's called something, but I forget what." "Rimming. So, let's go to your room and do it." "Hey, my mom's on a date with some girlfriend, so no reason we can't literally do it here." "I think it will feel better on your sheets than on these cushions," Logan told him. "What you're saying is bed is like totally made for sex and couches aren't." "Exactly." "Okay, but I gotta piss first," Madison said. "So do I." They had no problem heading into the bathroom together to piss. The two tweens were not shy around each other. "Should we, like, do it side by side and do it together?" Madison asked. "We could, or we could do it in the shower and if we happen to miss the tub and hit each other, no biggy," Logan answered. "Damn, I hope when I get a boyfriend, he'll be just like you." The two tweens got into the shower tub and faced each other. They forced their piss out of their hard dicks and soaked each other's torsos until they'd emptied their bladders. They watched the urine drip onto the tub floor. Madison reached over and smeared his piss around Logan's belly. "What am I supposed to do now, lick it off you?" Madison asked. "Nah, you do that with cum. Licking piss sounds beyond gross. We just turn on the water, wash ourselves, and go back to your room." When they got on Madison's bed, Madison received what he really wanted, getting his butt rimmed by Logan. He couldn't believe how good it felt and wondered if getting fucked felt as good. He decided it had to and probably felt even better. "Let's hump," Logan said as his mouth and tongue got tired. Madison rolled over on his back, Logan got on top of him, and the two went right to kissing and dry humping. Madison wondered what humping like this would have been like if they hadn't showered after pissing on each other. No matter, this was pretty good, and the two middle school boys were soon shooting their clear emissions over each other. The two boys slept naked in Madison's bed. Before falling asleep, Logan thought about how much wilder and crazier Madison was than Tony. But he also thought about how he and Tony fit each other so closely. He almost wished he could have two boyfriends. But since he couldn't have two boyfriends, he wished he could think of a good boyfriend for Madison, who deserved one. After an evening of games with Tony, Trajan, and Marne, Justin and Marco retreated to Marco's room for their own games in bed. Those consisted of getting some kissing in, feeling each other's bodies, especially their asses and genitals, and finally, Justin and Marco were lying on their sides facing each other and rubbing their hard cocklets together until they had their dry orgasms. There was no sucking this time and after they finished, Marco wanted to know if they were ever going to give each other blow jobs again. "Yeah, we will," Justin assured Marco. "It just worked out this way today. We should do whatever we want to do without planning it when we start doing stuff instead of planning it when maybe we want to do something different." "Cool, I think. That means next time we might suck each other or we might not since we won't know until we do it, right?" Marco asked. "That's what I said. So, now let's kiss good night and go to sleep." Which they did as the two nine-year-olds cuddled, each grateful he had such a wonderful boyfriend. Tony wondered if he and Trajan would jerk off together again. He soon found out the answer when Trajan fell asleep not long after climbing into bed. Tony jerked off thinking of what Marco and Justin were probably doing. He hoped they were doing a sixty-nine, or at least sucking each other some. He knew Marco loved doing oral, but from what Marco told him, Justin was just starting to get into it. No matter, he was certain they were messing around on Marco's bed. His thoughts turned to Logan and Madison and what they were doing at Madison's house. In their case, he wondered if they were fucking and hoped they weren't. He didn't want Logan to fuck Madison until he and Logan had fucked. Tony knew he couldn't control Logan. All he could do was tell Logan what he hoped for and then leave it up to Logan. The boyfriend thing was getting complicated. He also wondered what he and Logan would be able to do together when Logan came over to spend the night. They might need to have all their sex at Logan's house. He also wondered how he and Marco would mess around with Trajan living with him. As a fantasy, Tony conjured up an image of Marco and him having a sixty-nine while Trajan watched from his bed and jerked off wildly. TUESDAY, JUNE 16 Tuesday was going to be a busy day. Madison and Logan would be playing a baseball game for the Stampeders. Tony had a game with the Guardians. Chase, Dillon, Pierce, and Nathan had a game with the Rainiers. On the lacrosse front, Trajan had nothing going on and wondered what he could do to stay busy. He didn't have to wonder long. Once Luigi found out that Trajan was free on Tuesday, he thought it would be a great day for him to get some training in the restaurant. Next: Busy, Busy, Busy