Two Friends by the River

Joe and I had been friends since fourth grade.  We’d spent many summers together riding our bikes around town, playing in some of the abandoned buildings, and swimming in the public pool.  The summer after graduation was going to be different.  In two months, I’d be going to trade school to begin my journey of becoming an electrician.  Joe would start a job at his grandfather’s factory in Arkansas.  

I was looking forward to a last hurrah type summer. I pulled up just before noon in a beat-up Corolla. Joe laughed at the bright green color, but he admitted that he was jealous that I had wheels. We drove to Sonic, got two burgers, and then parked under some trees by the river. We just sat, ate, and watched the water flow by.

I wanted to spend every possible moment with Joe. He didn’t know it, but I had fallen in love with him. It might have been a crush in middle school. He was strong, athletic, and handsome. I was geeky; I didn’t want to admit it but I still was. I had no girlfriend, and I didn’t want to pretend to have one.

Joe dated a few girls during high school, but he’d always said that girls get guys in trouble, and he wanted to stay out of trouble until he’d worked his way to a good position in his grandfather’s factory. That had always been his goal.

My goal was to get my license and hopefully find someone like Joe to spend my life with. Every day this summer would be precious.

Imagine my heartbreak when Joe broke the silence of the afternoon. “Brian, I’ve decided to do some backpacking. I want to hike to my grandparents, but my dad’s against it. I’m going to talk to him again tonight; will you come to dinner and help me convince him.”

“But, Joe, is it safe? To go all that way?”

“That’s what Dad keeps saying. I just need to get away from here. I’ve only been to my grandparents one time in my whole life, and I’ve never gone anywhere else except to Austin on that field trip for choir when we were in elementary school. I’m going to explode if I don’t get out of here.”

He turned and looked at me. “You don’t get it, do you?”

“I do get it. I’ve wanted to run away from here more times than I can remember.”

“But I thought you wanted to get a job, get married, have kids, and live in that house on the corner of Third Street and Lamar.” Joe smiled.

I bit my lip. “That’s never going to happen.”

“Oh, yeah it will. I’ve put a downer on the afternoon. Sorry about that.” He sighed deeply.

“No, you haven’t,” I told him.

He laid back on the grass and looked up into the trees.

I studied his contour, his strong chin, muscular chest, flat stomach, the slight bulge between his legs, and the muscular legs that made me want to touch them.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked.

“Jumping in the river and doing some swimming. What do you say?”

“Haven’t wanted to swim in the river since that diamond-backed water snake incident.”

Joe started laughing. “Is that the official title?”

“Fuck you.”

“It didn’t even bite you.”

“I had to throw those pants away.”

He sat up. “I know. You shit yourself so hard, the river smelled for months.”

“Fuck you twice.”

“Yeah, I’d probably have dropped dead.” He looked over at me with a big smile.

I remember how he’d held me afterward. He kept telling me that I was OK. His arms were so strong.

“Tell me your deepest, darkest secret,” I turned to look at him, “or I’m going to tell everyone how you ran and screamed like a girl when you saw those snakes.”

“What if that is my deepest darkest secret?”

“I call bullshit,” I was laughing now.

“Tell me yours.”

“I asked first,” I said. I wasn’t going to tell him mine until that last second before he left town. “I bet it’s about Arlene Ross.” I smiled really big. “You know she says you were a lousy lay.” I could hardly catch my breath because I was laughing so hard.

“That bitch. She was already pregnant when we went out. She kept trying to slip her hand into my pants. I kept telling her that I wasn’t ready for that. She punched me in the arm. I had a bruise for over a week. Then she said she was going to tell everyone that I raped her.”

“So you never fucked her?”

“Shit, Brian. You’re a smart guy. Figure it out.”

“What the hell are you talking about? I knew you weren’t the father. And, I knew she said that because she’d been after you since ninth grade, and you weren’t interested. I’m not even sure why you decided to go on a date with her.”

“You don’t want to see it, do you?” he asked. “I did it so people wouldn’t wonder about me.”

I looked down at my feet. What was he doing? What could he be trying to hide? He couldn’t be like me. He had a girlfriend named Kelly. He met her at his grandparents' place two summers ago. They still wrote to each other. I’d seen the letters or at least the envelopes the letters came in.

I straightened the blanket I was sitting on. “I guess I don’t understand what you’re getting at.”

Joe got to his feet and stepped toward me. I wanted to touch those muscular legs, rub my face in his crotch. He squatted down next to me. “Brian, have I done such a good job hiding it that even my best friend doesn’t realize that I’m gay?”

“What?” I squeaked. Tears filled my eyes. “What!? Fuck.” I became angry, but not angry with him. “All this time!”

“Shit,” said Joe. “I was worried that you’d react like this. Anger. Hatred. So many times I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to lose my best friend.”

“I’m a fucking idiot,” I said.

“No. No. I was trying really hard to hide it. It’s not your fault you didn’t know.”

“But what about Kelly? Does she know? You talked about her like you wanted to marry her. Fuck.” I couldn’t believe it. He was afraid to tell me, and I was afraid to tell him. But he couldn’t be gay.

“Kelly’s a guy,” admitted Joe. “He’s gay, and he told me, and I told him, and we’ve been writing since then, but I’m not in love with him or anything like that.”

“Joe,” I grabbed his shirt. “I was afraid, too. I was afraid you’d hate me.” I looked into his eyes. “Joe, I’ve been in love with you so long, I can hardly remember when I wasn’t.”

“What the fuck,” he said. “You’re gay?” He grabbed me and hugged me. “You are a fucking idiot, but then, so am I. All this time? But what about the wife and kids and shit?”

“It was my cover. It’s what you’re supposed to want, but all I’ve wanted was you, but I knew I couldn’t have you.”

Joe sat on the blanket next to me and looked out at the river. He reached over and held my hand. “You know, one of my jerk-off fantasies starts like this.”

“With our holding hands on a blanket?” I asked.

“Yeah, and the river is splashing, and the sunlight kind of sparkles on it. I turn and look at you,” said Joe.

“And what do I do?” my cheeks reddened and I smiled at him.

“You kiss me.”

“Like this?” I positioned my head and pressed our lips together. I parted them slightly and pushed the tip of my tongue forward just enough to touch his lower lip. His mouth opened, and he pulled my lower lip between his lips. I’d seen such kissing in movies, but I couldn’t believe I was experiencing it--and with Joe. He pulled me between his legs, and my hardness pushed against his. I started to hump him; it seemed to just happen spontaneously.

Joe’s breathing became more rapid. “Fuck that feels good, Brian.”

I moved my hand down and pushed against him. I could feel his dick. I could tell that it wasn’t completely hard. “I want to suck you, Joe. Unzip your pants.”

“Someone might come by,” he said. “Someone might see us.”

“I’m not hiding anymore.”

“But we could be arrested, and we’re grown-ups now,” he insisted.

I kissed him again and squeezed his dick through his pants. “Where do you want to go?”

He moaned softly again. “I don’t know. Oh fuck it; just do it.” He unzipped and pushed his pants down, freeing his penis. It was semi-hard and went to a full erection rapidly.

I’d seen his dick before when we were changing clothes or getting ready to swim, but it had never been this close. I wrapped my lips around the head and my fingers around its base and moved up and down the shaft. I tried to move my tongue against it. I’d dreamed of doing this so many times, but I didn’t quite have the finesse that I had in my fantasies.

Joe didn’t seem to mind. He continued to moan and gasp and expel expletives as my mouth jerked him and my hand pulled on his scrotum. He leaked precum, and I noticed a change in the viscosity of the fluid in my mouth as well as the taste. I released his balls and moved my hand to his ass crack. I wanted to rub my fingers across his hole. Joe reached for his cheeks and spread them apart. “Stick your finger in my ass, Brian. Fuck me with it, please.”

I pushed my finger up and into him.

“Fuck, yeah,” he said forcefully.

And then he came in my mouth. I sat back with a mouth full of cum. Joe grabbed his dick and jerked it. He ejaculated again; most of it landed on my legs. I swallowed the salty seed and sat back breathing heavily.

Joe started laughing. “I’m not going on that hike. I’m spending the summer with you, you hot stud. And we need to find a place because I need you to fuck me.”

I was happier than I had ever been. “It’s your turn,” I said as I stood up. That’s when I noticed Cameron Johnson watching us from the road. Just what had he seen?