I looked up at Jeff. “What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I followed you; I didn't go with my mom and dad,” he said. He looked over at Eric. “He’s very handsome. I forgive you, but I’m still going to have to kill him.” Jeff raised a gun and pointed it toward Eric.
“I moved forward to grab the gun away, and I heard it go off.
I jerked back.
“What the fuck’s the matter with you?” asked Eric.
I was breathing heavily. Jeff was not there. I held my head. “These fucking dreams; they are so real.”
“Maybe you should talk to a shrink,” Eric got out of bed and grabbed a robe.
“I’ll call one in the morning,” I chuckled. “It’s just stress, I’m sure. I should head home. When can we do this again?”
“I’m going undercover for a month. Can I call you when I get back?”
“Sure.” I put my number in his phone and headed home.
I was in bed when I got a call from Jeff. He was back home with his mother and brother. The mugging turned out to be a crazy employee at his job who had threatened the employees and had beaten Stewart with a cane. Steward had four broken fingers on one hand and five on the other. He had cuts on his head and face and was going to stay with them until his hands recovered.
“The entire way back, Stewart was either complaining about how much pain he was in or talking about how lonely he was. He dates a new guy each week, but he has no real friends and hasn’t fallen in love with anyone. Then my mother mentions that you’re back in town and that we went out to play tennis, and he starts talking about you, and I start thinking that he still has a thing for you. I am wondering whether we can be friends, Jake. Stewart is crazy, and you’re going to avoid this house, I know it.
“And you’re not going to believe this; Rose was here when we got back. She decided not to wait. It’s a madhouse. Will you meet me at the bench tomorrow at 10:30?” asked Jeff.
“Sure. Shall I bring burgers and fries?” I replied.
“Just you.”
“Are you OK?” I asked. I didn’t even wait for an answer. “You’re not. Do you want me to come to get you now?”
“You would do that, wouldn’t you? No, I don’t. I’ve taken some Advil P.M. and I’m going to lay down. Hopefully, I fall asleep before Stewart comes in here. Yeah, we’re sharing a bedroom again.”
“Well, hopefully, it’s not for too long.”
“Unless he moves back permanently to be near you. I’m going to bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Sleep well.” I waited for him to hang up. I wondered what it would be like if he were snuggled up next to me. I could rub his head and help him relax. I thought about what I had done that afternoon. I felt guilty about it as if I were cheating on Jeff. One more thing to stress me. Of course, in my dream, Jeff had forgiven me… right before he tried to kill Eric. For a second, I wondered whether I was developing mental illness. But the truth was that I wasn’t being honest with Jeff. If I just told him, I wouldn’t have to hide the truth. But if he couldn’t deal with it, I’d lose our friendship. I know he’d accept my being gay; I could tell from how he had accepted his brother. What I didn’t know was whether he would be cool with my having sex fantasies about him. Fuck, who was I kidding, I was in love with him. I’d fallen in high school, ignored it in college, and now it was hitting me directly in the face.
Maybe I’d tell him tomorrow. I closed my eyes. Then again. Why was I such a flake?
I got a text in the morning. “Rose wants to come to the lake with me.” I went straight to Steven.
“You have to come to the lake with me. I’m meeting Jeff, and his sister is coming. You have to occupy her so we can talk.”
“I’d love to see Rose again. I remember her from high school. I even asked her out once. So, are you going to tell Jeff?” asked Steven.
“What?”
“That you're completely smitten, head-over-heels, this is probably the guy I want to marry, in love with him.”
I was speechless.
“Let me hear you deny it,” Steven said with raised eyebrows.
“It’s complicated.” I shook my head. “He’s not gay.”
“Have you asked him?”
“No,” I replied quickly. “You don’t understand.”
Steven just looked at me. “I’ll go with you.” He hugged me.
I texted Jeff to let him know that Steven would take care of Rose.
Steven and I beat them to the bench, but Rose and Jeff showed up just a few minutes later from another direction. Steven and Rose said hello, and after some brief hellos, they headed off on the walking trail.
Jeff sat on the bench, clasping his hands and looking at the ground. “I already feel calmer.”
“I don’t usually have that effect on people,” I smiled. I wanted to grab him and hold him. I wanted to tell him that I’d help him get through whatever was stressing him. We continued to sit there without saying anything.
Jeff had started staring toward the water. He leaned forward and stretched; turning to me, he said, “Want to go for a walk?”
At that moment, Steven and Rose walked into view. “Did you tell him?” she asked.
I looked up at Steven. “Neither of them has said anything,” said Steven.
“They’re both idiots,” announced Rose.
“Maybe,” I replied.
“Rose, don’t,” said Jeff.
Rose turned to Steven. “Can I slap them both?”
“May I,” Jeff and I said in unison.
Jeff looked at me, and we both started to laugh.
“They’re both members of the grammar police,” said Steven.
“The rainbow police,” announced Rose.
Jeff went pale and stood up. “I can’t believe you did that.” He started for the trail. I could tell he was hurrying, but his movements were awkward.
“What just happened?” I asked.
Steven looked at me. “She outed him for you, bro. Did you suddenly go brain dead?”
I looked over at Rose and back at Steven. Then I turned toward Jeff; he was already quite a ways ahead. I started after him. “Jeff!” He didn’t stop. I ran faster. He cut off the trail and headed away from the lake. “Jeff! Stop!” I went into the wooded area he had gone into. I got closer to him. “Jeff! Please don’t run from me.”
He turned to look at me, and I saw him fall. I caught up with him and sat next to him so we faced one another.
“There’s no way to escape this, is there?” he asked.
“You mean talking about your being gay?” I looked at him, but he was looking at the ground.
“Before I moved here,” Jeff began, “I told my best friend that I was gay, and he stopped being my friend. I tried to talk to him, and he called me a fag and told me to get away. I don’t want you to go away.” He looked at me; his eyes filled with tears.
“I’m not going away, Jeff. I care about you.”
“But you don’t understand, Jake. I’m in love with you. I have been since high school.”
My heart was flooded with a happiness I hadn’t known since Cameron. I stared at Jeff in disbelief.
“You’re in love with me?” I croaked out. I didn’t wait for him to acknowledge me. I leaned in and kissed him. “I’m in love with you, too. I can’t believe this.” Tears began to fill my eyes as well. “I’m so happy right now, I think my heart will explode.”
I saw Jeff’s lips quiver. “Kiss me again so I’ll know it’s real.”
“It’s real.” I kissed him again. Longer. More passionately. I let my tongue probe his mouth. He responded in kind. I touched his face and ran my fingers through his hair. Finally, we sat there with our foreheads touching, catching our breath.
I wanted to pull his pants open and suck him. I wanted to feel him fill my mouth with his cum and to swallow his seed. I wanted to share every possible intimacy with him, but I knew that this wasn’t the place for that. I kissed him again. “Let’s go get lunch and figure out what we want to do next.”
“Is it too soon to pick out curtains?” He smiled. Another tear ran down his cheek. I kissed it away.
I stood up and pulled him up with me. He wobbled, and I held him. I saw his face turn white, and as I looked down, I saw that part of his right leg and foot had fallen off. I looked back at him. “I was hoping that my kiss would knock your socks off, but I didn’t expect this.” I continued looking down at it.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “A man drove his car onto the sidewalk where I was walking. It severed my leg just above the ankle and crushed my foot so they couldn’t repair it. That’s why I don’t play tennis very well. They kept telling me I was lucky because he killed two other people. I didn’t feel lucky. I lost my scholarship.”
We stood quietly for a moment. “How do we put it back on?”
“It should slide back on and make a clicking sound. It came loose when I caught it on that branch.”
“It’d be easier if you would wear shorts, you know.”
“But then everyone could see,” said Jeff.
“Who gives a fuck? They’d just see my sexy man with an artificial leg. Which is kind of fucking sexy in its own right.”
“I was worried that if people knew… I don’t know.”
“Jeff, you don’t need to explain. I understand. Some gay people want to stand practically naked on floats with their dicks covered by a thong but their balls hanging out. Some of us just want quiet, ordinary lives. Some want to remain hidden all their lives, and most, I would bet, want something in between.
“Let’s get your foot back on and find your sister.”
We struggled to get Jeff back together and walked back to the bench where we found Rose and Steven with the lips locked together and their hands exploring the southern regions of their bodies.
“Get a room,” I demanded. “Really, the youth of today.”
“Yeah,” agreed Jeff. “It’s embarrassing, the way they behave.”
“Do you really want to dissect behaviors, Jeff? Do you?” asked Rose.
I put my hand into Jeff’s. “I think we’re big enough men to forgive you for your past behaviors, Rose.”
“That’s true,” nodded Jeff. “Steven doesn’t need to know about what happened at the birthday party when I turned ten.”
“That wasn’t my fault,” she said.
“I think I should hear both sides,” Steven said rather diplomatically.
“Yeah, well. We don’t have time for that,” I said. “We’ve got curtains to pick out, and I’m hungry.
Get up, Steven. I need the car keys.” I let go of Jeff’s hand.
Steven came up to me and whispered, “You know you have the keys.”
“Where did you go for privacy?” I whispered back.
“Emily’s parents had an RV behind their house.”
“That’s not going to help me.”
“What are you guys whispering about?” asked Jeff.
“Jeff, do you have shit for brains? He's asking if Steven knows a place where you two and go and fuck.”
“Rose!” Jeff growled between clenched teeth.
“Well,” she replied. “You want to, don’t you?”
“Mom and Dad won’t be home this afternoon. I’ll stay away, too,” Steven said with a smile. “You can christen your bed.”
“You mean you’ve never fucked anyone in your bed?” Rose laughed.
“Only his hand,” replied Steven.
“The double wedding is off,” I snarled. “Come on, Jeff. Let’s get something to eat.” Rose muttered something, but I didn’t hear it. “She loves to razz you, doesn’t she.”
“Yeah, she does, but she’d be the first person by my side if there were trouble. And she’s only crude like that when no one else is around. She must be pretty comfortable with Steven.”
“He must be pretty comfortable with her,” I added. “She had her hand down his pants.”
“Maybe we’ll both be uncles.” He laughed.
“Maybe I’ll get you pregnant,” I said.
“Yeah? What if I get you pregnant?” Jeff replied.
“Then we’ll need curtains for a baby’s room.”
We made another trip to Whataburger and then headed to my house. “I’m kind of nervous,” admitted Jeff. “My only experience is letting a guy on the tennis team blow me. He loved sucking cock, but he never wanted to do anything else. And I was happy to let him.”
“I’m sure you’ll do fine. You were great at kissing,” I told him.
“That’s because I was kissing the right person.”
I parked the car in the driveway, and, as we were going into the house, we ran into my parents as they were leaving. “You remember Jeff Perkins from the high school tennis team?”
They both nodded that they did.
“We’ll be gone until late evening, so we won’t be here for dinner,” said my mother as she got into the car.
My father turned to us as he went around the car. “Remember, boys, that’s an old bed. Take it easy.”
I felt my face turn blood red.
“Fuck,” said Jeff under his breath.
“It was a shot in the dark,” I sighed, “and I gave it away. Who the fuck cares? They’re going to know that I love you soon enough. I want to finish my sandwich and make out.”
“Will your bed be strong enough to make it?”
“Yeah, but I’m going to tell my dad that he made me worried about the bed, so we fucked in his bed. I ought to rumple the sheets and leave a wet washrag with lotion on it.”
“My father would kill me.”
I looked Jeff directly in the eyes. “Your father doesn’t brag about his dick size.”
Jeff looked confused.
“I’ll tell you later.”
I’d finished eating and taken Jeff to my bathroom so we could shower together. I’d had shower fantasies going back to high school. I was amazed at how well Jeff balanced on one leg. We kissed and cleaned, and I sucked him just a little. He was concerned about getting back up if he got on his knees, so we toweled off and kissed some more before heading to my bed.
“I have crutches at home to help me get around when I’m not wearing my foot.”
“I wish I could carry you to the bed.”
Jeff started to laugh. “Your skinny ass can barely carry you.”
“Listen, Hop-Along, once you plunge your dick inside my skinny ass, you’re going to wonder how you got along without it.”
“I already know I never want to be without it.”
I felt my eyes get misty as I helped him down onto the bed. “You know, Jeff, the first time I thought about you and did anything about it was in this very bed.”
He leaned back and pulled me on top of him. I kissed his lips then his chin. I moved my head down and grazed his hairy chest with my tongue. “Pull yourself more into the middle,” I commanded. As he did, I licked his hard cock and moved my tongue against his balls. I pushed his legs up and exposed his tight hole. I leaned forward, placing my lips against his pucker. I forced saliva into his hole as the tip of my tongue danced across the surface of the sphincter.
The moans told me that Jeff enjoyed what I was doing, so I continued. “I want to do that to you.” I looked up to see Jeff looking at me. He was breathing heavily. I spun myself around to place my hole against his chin, and I began to slide my mouth up and down his hard penis.
Jeff grabbed my waist with his hands as he began to rim me. The fun of sucking his cock while he stimulated my ass was beyond anything I’d imagined. That was before he began to finger fuck me. He immediately hit my prostate. “Fuck,” I squealed as my body tensed, and I came, squirting my load between my belly and his chest.
“Wow,” exclaimed Jeff. “That’s a lot of cum.”
“What do you mean? You did that to me. I think you emptied both of my balls.” I was still breathing heavily as I turned around to face him. “I want you to lube your dick with my cum and then fuck me.”
He grinned as he rolled over onto me while scooping my seed from my belly. Rubbing it over his dick while I spread my legs to expose my hole to him, he leaned down to kiss me. He pushed his cock-head against my pucker and pushed. I bore down and his erection penetrated me.
“Oh, fuck, Jake. I’m inside you.”
“Fill me, baby,” I cried as he pushed himself the rest of the way. I moved my legs to give him complete access.
Jeff was only able to last about half a minute before I felt an incredible pressure inside me. I wrapped my hands on his ass and pulled him as tightly as I could. I felt Jeff’s weight on me as he relaxed. We remained like that as Jeff slowly softened and slipped out of me. We rolled on our sides and continued to kiss and hold one another.
My dreams had come true. I was happy.
The future
Jake’s mother became pregnant with twins. The birth was a difficult one, and she and Jake’s father doted on the two girls as though they were their grandparents. Steven complained that he and Jake never got away with most of the things the girls did.
Jeff and Jake married and eventually moved out to his grandparents’ place. They adopted and raised Nicholas and Matthew with the help of Rose and Steven.
Rose and Steven married and have five children of their own. Emily’s baby turned out to be an unmarried cop who worked with Eric.
Eric quit the force and opened his own detective agency.
Stewart returned to Houston. He met and fell in love with a shrimper who owned his boat and was into fisting.
Charlie went into politics.
I apologize for the length of time that it's taken to submit this last chapter. Usually a last reread and a few changes are all it takes to make the final copy presentable.
However, I've had difficulty even attempting to polish this last portion after receiving an ugly email accusing my characters of being right-wing fascists bent on undermining our current President and even our democracy.
While I knew I had to develop a thick skin to accept criticisms of my work, I was not expecting a personal attack in this manner. I consider myself a moderate, and the characters I create are usually moderate as well, some leaning a little on the conservative and some a little on the liberal side of things. I challenge anyone to give me specific examples of how any characters I've written are trying to undermine the United States.
Thanks for allowing me to vent. --Danny
