The day after Christmas, I caught a ride with Dad when he left for work. Besides my bike and a large duffel bag packed with enough clothes for the week, I carried a package for Cutter. Mary met me at the door.
“Daniel's still asleep,” she told me as she headed back to the kitchen. “He let Cutter out earlier and I put him out in the yard. He's probably ready to come back in if you want to let him.”
I held out my newspaper wrapped gift. “This is for Cutter,” I said. “It's the bone from our Christmas ham.”
Mary frowned. “I'm not sure dogs are supposed to have pork,” she said “I seem to remember hearing that somewhere. “Maybe we better put it in the fridge until we ask Roger. But it's sweet of you, Sean.”
I let Cutter in the back door. The big black lab was always friendly, but he seemed particularly interested in my hands. I decided I should have rinsed the ham smell off first.
Cutter followed me back to Daniel's room. I quietly closed the door behind us and Cutter went to his rug.
Daniel, sleeping naked, was sprawled on his stomach, only one leg under the bedcovers. I sat down on the bed next to him and lay back to admire the view. Immediately, Cutter sprang from his rug and put his head in my lap, hoping to be petted by ham impregnated hands.
Daniel groaned. “It's vacation. You should be sleeping.”
“Well, hi to you, too! At least Cutter's happy to see me,” I said, scratching behind Cutter's ear. “Of course, I brought him a big bone from our Christmas ham.”
Daniel reached over to put a hand on my leg. “Well, did you bring me a big bone? Maybe then I'd be happy to see you, too.”
“Ha!” I rubbed his bare shoulder. “I always have a big bone for you.”
“Is it a meaty bone?” Daniel mumbled into his pillow. “Us predators love meaty bones.”
“You? A predator? You've gotta be kidding. You're a pussy cat.”
“Predator,” he said. “I'm a tiger.”
“Pussy cat.”
Daniel made a low rumbling growl and pushed slowly up on all fours, all loose in the shoulders like a slinky cat.
Cutter's head popped up, alert.
Daniel growled again and moved a knee toward me.
Cutter barked.
“Oh, oh,” I said, spying Daniel's hard cock wagging under his belly. “Morning wood! Morning wood alert!”
Daniel growled again and Cutter jumped back, barking. I laughed and Daniel pounced on me, straddling my hips and pinning my arms behind me. I laughed as he buried his mouth in my neck and growled.
Cutter went crazy, jumping with a whimpering bark.
“It's OK, Cutter,” I said reassuringly. “He's just… Oh, geez,” I gasped as Daniel's tongue plunged into my ear.
Cutter cocked his head.
Then Daniel dragged his tongue down my jaw line and out toward my chin.
Cutter took a tentative step forward.
I started to jerk my hands out from behind my back, but Daniel held them firmly, moving more weight onto them.
“If he licks me,” I warned, “you're going to be sorry.”
“What? Like this?” Daniel asked and then licked over my cheek.
“Oheee… man you're as bad as the dog.”
Daniel licked my lips and I moaned. He smiled, and licked them again. And then he rubbed his erection on my belly.
“Damn,” I said as he licked my eyebrows and then eyelids. “I'm gonna be here all week. You don't have to rape me the moment I walk in the door.” I squirmed and wished I could rearrange my pants.
“Yeah, I have to do this, so you know what to expect all week,” he said with a lopsided smile.
Cutter's muzzle was suddenly beside my face. He licked my cheek before Daniel chased him off. “Go to your rug, Cutter. This one's mine. Go find your own prey.”
“Prey, huh?” I asked, squirming. Then he pinned me with a kiss, and held it until I relaxed enough for Daniel to pull my arms from behind my back and pin them again, above my head. Then he scooted his body down on me to rub his hard cock over the hardness in my pants. He kissed me, pressing his weight down on me, grinding.
Just when I thought my cock would break in my pants, he scooted forward again, moving up my body until, straddling my chest, he rose on his knees to put his cock at my mouth. With his weight still pinning my hands over my head, he wagged his hips, rubbing the tip of his cock over my lips.
I held out my tongue and let him brush it, and then I caught him, capturing the end of his cock with my mouth. He shuddered and bent over me.
When he did, I freed my hands and grabbed him by the hips. Holding him firmly, I sucked hard and growled. I'd show him who the predator was.
I didn't return to my house until New Years Eve. Then I was back to Daniel's again for the first four days after New Years day. And with the exception of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, we rode every day and made love almost every night.
It wasn't like we had the distractions of a big gay scene. It was just the two of us. We were best friends, bicycling companions, and increasingly intimate and knowledgeable lovers. Underlying it all we had a deep and strengthening affection. We were in love, and had moved far beyond infatuation, if it had ever been as simple as that. We were steadfastly bonded, and consummated that bond virtually every evening.
Our bodies were young, beautiful… and resilient. We were at a peak of physical condition and it carried over to our lovemaking, and to the delight we shared in each other's body and the pleasure we could give.
We were constantly together over those holidays. Some nights, we slept in each other's arms. Other nights, we simply slept side by side. On those nights, I'd wake, and feel for him beside me, then sleep again.
When school restarted, our nights together were largely restricted to weekends, but we were in school together every day and rode every morning or evening, or sometimes even took a quick ride during the lunch break. People commented on our constant togetherness, but only Stef and Aaron guessed the true nature and depth of our relationship.
Valentine's day fell on a Friday. I thought it would be too obvious if I took Daniel out to supper or a date. But that evening, in his room, I gave him a gold neck chain. A chain suited to a guy. He gave me black bikini briefs.
“Where the hell did you get those?” I asked, wondering if they'd stretch enough. “Where can I keep them? What's my mom going to say, finding these in the wash?” I asked, laughing.
“Never mind where I got them,” Daniel answered. “And we'll hide them here. But after seeing you in a black Speedo, I wanted to see you in these.”
“Put them on me?” I invited, grinning.
Daniel smiled and undressed me, slowly. By the time he had me naked, he also had me on my back atop the bed and had kissed and sucked half my body. “How am I supposed to get those on if you get me all hard?” I gasped, as I felt his teeth on my nipple. “I'll stretch them out of shape.”
I pushed him off me and sat up. “Let me put my present on you.”
I wanted to see the neck chain on his naked neck, so I sat him up too and took off his shirt. My cheek pressed his as I looked over his back to fasten the chain. He shuddered when my breath traveled down his neck.
And I was still hard.
“I want to see you in that underwear,” Daniel said, huskily. “And I know how to get you ready.” He pushed me onto my back once more, and drew his tongue down my belly. Then he took my cock into his mouth.
If his intention was to get me off quickly so that I'd be soft to try on the underwear, I disappointed him. I enjoyed what he was doing way too much to hurry. And when I did finally come, I softened little. I thought a piss would help and stepped into the john.
When I returned, Daniel was sitting on the edge of the bed, shirtless, leaning back on his elbows. “Model for me,” he commanded.
With what I hoped passed for a seductive grin, I pulled on the briefs. They felt sexy. There was hardly a side seam at all. I filled the pouch, and the top of the briefs barely cleared my pubes.
The way Daniel looked at me started a whole new erection. Turning on the radio, I danced. Trying not to get any harder as I danced, I danced as erotically as I knew how. I swiveled my hips and thrust them forward and back. I turned my back to Daniel and wiggled invitations with my barely covered ass as I looked back over my shoulder at him.
His eyes were bright and his mouth, slack. I moved to the bed and knelt astride his lap. I watched his eyes and I danced on him, grinding myself into the hardness in his pants. Daniel's eyes fixed on were I rubbed over him. My eyes were fixed on his lean torso and the way his muscles flexed slightly. He let me do the work, barely moving until he thrust his head back and all his neck muscles went rigid, and Daniel came in his pants.
Roger and Mary took us out to eat most Friday nights, and Roger taught us how to play bridge. Mary made the fourth and we would play when we returned to the Reese house after eating out. On three Saturday nights, my family (twice without Colin) came to the Reese's home for supper. And once, the Reeses came over to our house.
I even began going to Daniel's on weeknights so that we could do homework together. His dad helped us. Roger was particularly good at history and science.
Colin still hopped into bed with me, generally on Wednesday or Thursday nights. Looking back on it, I think he was always on the straight side of bi, but jumping into bed with his brother to get his rocks off was a damned easy way to satisfy hormonal urges.
My hormonal urges too, since my lovemaking with Daniel was so often confined to weekends. Once, Daniel and I tried a quickie in a school john, but it was too risky. And our bike rides were usually too intense.
Our Saturday rides became longer and longer. We made a couple of overnight rides; one to the beach, one to a state park. And the weather began to warm.
We ordered panniers (bicycle saddlebags) and racks for two side bags each, a handlebar bag, and a bag for the top of the rear rack. We had the bike store put fittings on our bikes for extra water bottles. We ordered two ultra light mummy sleeping bags that could be zipped together for sleeping and stuffed into small nylon bags for rides. We also ordered light bed foam to put under our sleeping bags for comfort and ground insulation.
The area of south Texas where we lived was absolutely flat, and we needed to prepare for hills. We had practiced riding into the breeze off the gulf (which in March and April meant strong winds) believing it would help us prepare for riding uphill.
By early April, we were ready to attempt a fully loaded ride to the beach. Besides wanting to get the feel of being fully loaded, a ride to the beach would be into the wind, all the way down.
Uncle James said we could stay with them and dropped by with Austin, Ryan, and Jeremy on the Friday night before to let us know they'd be at the beach house as well. But he assured us that Daniel and I could have use of the third bedroom.
James had other things to discuss with Roger and while they talked, Ryan and Jeremy knelt to play with Cutter while Austin drew Daniel and me to one side.
Daniel didn't give Austin a chance to say a word. “No way,” Daniel said. “We are not going to do any messing around while your parents are there.”
“Why not?” Austin asked with a grin. “We do.”
“Hey,” Ryan called from the floor. “Can we take Cutter down with us? He'd like the beach.”
Daniel shrugged. “Sure.” Then he grinned and elbowed Austin. “He can stay in the room with you guys. And then we'll see what you guys do.”
The day of the ride was particularly windy. We weren't even a third of the way there before we talked about a major stripping down of our planned hill country packing. In fact, we wondered if we could get by with just the rear top pack. Fully loaded and into the wind, it felt like we were fighting every inch of the way. It was like riding with drag chutes.
Though we left early, it was early afternoon before we pulled up to the beach house. James and his sons were out fishing in the boat, so Daniel and I collected Cutter from his aunt and took him across the island to the beach.
Despite the wind, it was a pleasant day and there weren't many people on the beach. Cutter ran at the edge of the surf, chasing Sea Gulls and Sandpipers while Daniel and I ambled slowly behind, stretching out bicycling soreness.
Cutter ran out into the surf and looked to be having so much fun that Daniel and I started to wade out in our cycling shorts. “Oh, shit!” I gasped as a wave washed over my feet and halfway up my calves. “That's cold!”
Daniel laughed as I hopped out of the water. He kept walking in it.
“You and Cutter are both crazy!” I yelled.
“Wimp!” he yelled back.
I took a threatening step in his direction and Daniel crouched defensively. I considered going after him, but decided staying dry was a better option.
And then Cutter spotted a sand crab. He chased after it, frustrated when it vanished down a hole.
Daniel came up beside me to watch Cutter try do dig up the crab. He put his arm around my waist. We were watching Cutter so intently, and his gesture was so natural, that neither of us realized how it looked in public. That is, until an older couple walked by.
As they passed, the man averted his eyes while the woman stared with open hostility.
We froze and I expected Daniel to pull his arm away. Instead, he held me snug by the waist and bent close. “Screw them,” he said. “I love you.”
The lady looked back in our direction, so I laid my hand on Daniel's butt and smiled at her.
Back at the house, we rinsed Cutter off while waiting for Uncle James and the cousins to return. Using dishwashing liquid we borrowed from Daniel's aunt, Daniel scrubbed Cutter while I rinsed him. In minutes, the three of us were soaked.
And then, when we were all done, had dried Cutter, and were cleaning up, he ran out along the dock.
“You don't think that dog's gonna…” I started to ask but didn't finish as Cutter leapt into the water.
We showered and rested and left Cutter to clean himself. That evening, Uncle James grilled for us all, and sipping on a couple of sodas, Daniel and I began to recover from the day's ride. We locked our door that night, expecting to sleep soundly until morning.
But Austin knew how to open that kind of bedroom door lock with an ice pick.
In the middle of the night, I woke when I heard a scraping sound at the door. It opened, and two shadowy shapes entered. With a few quiet giggles, I saw the shadows slip off their briefs. Then Austin climbed into bed with Daniel on one twin bed, and Ryan climbed in with me.
He found me frowning back at him.
“We don't have to do anything,” he quickly whispered. “I knew you wouldn't want to, but Austin thought maybe Daniel would and wanted to try. You aren't mad are you?”
I looked past Ryan to the other bed. Daniel had been sleeping on his back and Austin lay on him, wiggling and talking. When I saw Daniel's hands move to Austin's butt, I figured they were going to 'do it,' and laid my head back down on the pillow.
Ryan smiled hopefully at me and touched my cheek.
It wasn't as if we were back home. If we did anything, it didn't mean that we would have to do it on Sundays when Ryan came over. It wasn't like it would mess up our friendship if just this once…
I rubbed his shoulder and smiled. A grin spread across Ryan's face and he scooted forward. He pressed his lips to mine and molded his smaller body to me.
The kiss began tenderly enough. After all, we were good friends now. But in moments, the fire of our first lovemaking returned with a vengeance, fueled by months of suppressed desire.
I rolled Ryan to his back and covered his body with mine. He wrapped his legs over my waist and laid his hands on my shoulders. Ryan's eyes watched my lips, waiting for me to kiss him. But first, I shifted my hips so that my cock and balls rested on his and ground gently on him. He gasped, and his eyes rolled, before they returned expectantly to mine. Then I held his eyes until our lips met.
I was only vaguely aware when Daniel and Austin finished and Austin left for his own bed.
Afterwards, I held Ryan while we slept until, with sun streaming into the room, I woke Ryan, and with a gentle kiss, sent him back to his room.
The ride wasn't much easier going back, even with the wind. All the gear made for hard work. We jokingly talked about packing zero clothes and buying food on the road when it was time for our tour.
Back then, we had no Spring Break and Dad wanted me home for Easter, so that spring, the longest trips we made were overnighters. However, we began riding harder every day, except on Sundays.
Our lovemaking became more experimental. We made love on the bed, on the chair and ottoman, on the floor, standing up, in the tub, in the shower, even on Daniel's worktable. We learned what pleased each other and were delighted when we discovered something new that the other one liked.
For example, I discovered that if I concentrated on Daniel's cock crown, sucking and swirling over it and the end of his cock with my tongue, Daniel liked it a lot better than when I tried deep-throating him. And if I really wanted to drive him crazy, a finger up the butt while I sucked worked great.
He discovered that I loved having my balls played with, caressed, licked. That could drive me crazy.
But mostly, we liked it all.
We did well in school. Our families loved us. Summer and our bike tour were fast approaching. Everything was perfect.
It was on the second Friday in May that Roger announced to Daniel that he had accepted a position as Dean of the Psychology Department at a university in Houston. He would begin spending time in Houston starting at the end of the month. The family would move toward the end of July.
Roger met me at the door when I arrived for my sleep over so that he could tell me personally. “It was sudden, Sean. It was just last week that they called. They needed to have an answer quickly so that the new Dean, whoever they got, would have time to prepare for the fall. Mary and I just decided two days ago. We wanted to wait until today to tell even Daniel, because we knew that once Daniel knew about the move, he wouldn't be able to keep it from you, and we wanted to tell you ourselves.
I was stunned, and I guess I looked it.
For the first time ever, Roger hugged me. And he held the hug. I just stood there, stiffly. Roger stepped back and put his hands on my shoulder. “Sean, you have become a second son to us. Honestly, I'd take you with us if I could.” His eyes suddenly watered, “Hell,” he said, turning away and wiping his eyes, “Mary and I almost turned this job down because of what you… and your family mean to Daniel and us.”
I'd never seen Roger show much emotion. I put my hand on his shoulder. Roger turned and hugged me hard again. Then he stepped back, and I asked, “Is this a good move for you, sir?”
He looked at me, surprised, “Why yes. It is a very good move.”
I held out my hand, “Then congratulations, Dr. Reese. I really am glad for you.” I tried to smile.
A sudden look of appreciation passed over Roger's face. He took my hand, and standing straighter to look me more in the eye, Roger said. “I'm grateful that you are my friend, Sean. And I am grateful that you are Daniel's.”
I nodded.
Still holding my hand, he said, “Sean, I really am sorry.”
I swallowed hard. “I'm sorry,” I said, wiping a sudden tear from my cheek. “I really am glad for you, Dr. Reese. I really am. And after all, Daniel and I have only been good friends for a few months.”
“I've heard of lifetime friendships being made in the course of a few hours, Sean. You and Daniel are like brothers. You know my Mary has damn near adopted you,” he smiled, and while he held his smile, his eyes filled again, “You know,” he said, holding my gaze, “I've damn near adopted you myself.”
Then he glanced away and sighed. “Mary didn't want to be here when I told you. She's back in our bedroom, probably crying. I better get back to her. Maybe we can go out to supper later.”
“We should,” I said determined to sound cheerful. “To celebrate.”
He smiled and left for his room. I walked back to Daniel's room.
Daniel was standing at his window. He turned when I entered the room. His eyes were red.
We met in the middle of the room and held each other tightly.
“It's a good move for your Dad,” I said.
“Yeah, I know.”
“You won't get away from me as easily as moving to Houston,” I declared.
“You know I don't want to.”
“We can still do the tour?”
“We can still do the tour.” He rubbed my back. “The shorts came in.” (We had ordered some nylon running shorts to pack on the tour. They would be light, cool, and quick to dry.
“I'd like to see you in a pair,” I said.
“I'd like to see you,” Daniel countered.
“Have you thought about staying? Maybe move in to our house?”
Daniel smiled. “Would you move to Houston with us?”
I shook my head.
He patted my back and I patted his. It seemed unreal. Daniel was in my arms, here and now. And that's all that mattered.
“Let's try on the shorts,” I said. “But we may not have much time. Your Dad might want to take us out for dinner… I'm sorry. I told him I thought we should, to celebrate his new position.”
Daniel gave me a hug, stepped away, and began stripping. “Maybe later,” he said, “we can celebrate with a few new positions of our own.”
Once each of us was dressed only in the new cycling shorts, we paraded for each other. Daniel looked incredible. And suddenly it hit me; that he was leaving. I grabbed him, hugging his neck. Tears wetted my cheeks, my cheeks wet his. I held him closely and rocked him in my arms. He took a shuddering breath and I realized the tears weren't all mine. “Daniel,” I whispered. “Have I told you that I finally decided? I decided I am gay.”
He chuckled, and cleared his throat. “Of course you are,” he whispered.