A dangerous game

Tyler woke late that morning, slowly stirring in his narrow bed, his arm moving in an arc at his side feeling the cool sheets, finding the bed empty. Tyler sat up and looked around his small apartment, through the open door to the bathroom, the dark room empty of anyone's presence and he realized Jacob was gone. He got up and went over to his small dining table where he found the note. He wondered if Jacob had gone out for breakfast, or maybe he just had to get home; it was his hope. He opened the folded piece of notebook paper and read:

"I'm sorry, Tyler. I just don't know. Jacob"

That was it; all it said, but Tyler knew what it meant. Jacob still fighting his own character, who he was inside, and still trying to be something others expected him to be. Tyler sat down and stared at the note a long time, his thoughts all fragmented, confused. Should he call him and he realized he didn't have Jacob's number and he knew no one he could trust to call and ask for it. He knew he could call Jacob's home, probably get one of his parents on the line but there was something about it that wasn't right. He had planned to go home the next weekend and he resolved if he had not heard from Jacob by then he'd look for him while he was there.

***

Jacob drove aimlessly through the countryside, passing through one town after the next, heading roughly toward home. He'd left early that morning, before the sun came up. He didn't know what else to do. When he had woke in the middle of the night he panicked, worried about what others would say if they found out about him and Tyler, saw there was more than some odd friendship, knew Jacob liked Tyler, liked to touch him, feel the contact between them, the sexual nature of it and he laid awake barely able to breathe. He finally eased out of the narrow bed and put his clothes on and slipped out of the door and now he found himself driving down some two lane highway with pastures, barns and old home sites on both sides and he knew he was doubling his drive time not taking the interstate and using all the back roads, but he didn't care, preferred it even, regardless how it'd be late in the night before he got home. Late enough that no one would see him drive back into town where they couldn't see the fear on his face.

The next three days were exhausting, for he couldn't sleep at night and during the day at his job he could barely stay awake. Each evening he would stop at the only fast food restaurant in town and get some greasy burger and fries, something he didn't have to prepare and a way to avoid sitting at his parent's table, trying to have a conversation with them, deflecting the usual questions of available girls in town, and why he wasn't more serious.

***

Tyler came home from classes late on Monday, his mind unable to get Jacob out of it, struggling to focus on his studies and he had spent hours in the library thinking he could focus better there rather than his apartment and he finally managed to get his course work complete, but it was late and he hadn't had anything to eat since lunch. He was going to prepare a sandwich when he got in his apartment, something quick and simple, and then he was going to try to get some sleep. He was walking down the balcony to his door when the door to the adjacent unit opened and the guy some of the others call Bull came out. Tyler had avoided Bull, considered him crass, thick, and the way he treated even his friends made Tyler wonder about the nickname and whether or not it was short for bully.

"I heard you the other night" Bull stated, his tone menacing.

"What?" Tyler not understanding what Bull was talking about at first.

"You and your boyfriend" and the way he spit out boyfriend Tyler knew Bull was going to be trouble. "I heard that fucking you faggots were doing. Disgusting."

"I don't know what you're talking about" Tyler replied, his voice rising in a panicked tone.

"Yeah you do, ya little cocksucker" and Bull walked up close to Tyler, jabbed his fingers into Tyler's chest as he spoke in a low threatening voice, "and don't let me hear that shit again."

Bull turned and went back into his apartment slamming the door and Tyler stood there for a moment as he tried to collect himself. When he finally got inside he moved around cautiously, afraid to make a sound. He sat up a long time staring at the wall, wondering how he was going to live next door to someone like Bull, and more importantly to him, how he was going to get back in touch with Jacob.

***

Jacob left work on that Wednesday afternoon a little early telling his boss he felt like he was coming down with something and by the way he looked, so sleep deprived, his boss believed him, told him to get out of there and get some rest. Jacob got into his Jeep and drove toward home but he turned at a side street, a sharp sudden turn that made the tires squeal and he headed out of town. He just drove, trying to tell himself he didn't have a destination but over and over he thought of going to the Bradford's place, of getting Tyler's phone number from them and maybe that night he could call, just talk, the distance between them making it safe. He drove in silence, not even the radio was turned on and he soon came upon the Bradford's place and he slowed, wanting to turn in, but he eased on by, grateful no one was outside to see him as he drove by their place. He went on down the road over the old bridge and when he came to the old trail road that led to the abandoned logging camp, he remembered that day with Tyler, out in the creek, how it felt to have Tyler in his mouth, the feel of it, and he turned down the old rough road. He found two pickups parked at the camp site and when he got out, he tugged his dress shirt off, leaving him in a tank top and took off his shoes and socks, rolling up his pant legs. He ambled down to the creek and saw it was three teen boys, diving and wrestling around in the water. They all looked so young to Jacob, not old enough to drive, and he watched them for a moment, hearing their banter back and forth, the silliness of it. He turned and made his way downstream, through the underbrush along the bank till he came to the spot where he had seen Tyler. He remembered how he had watched Tyler, saw him push his trunks down and take his cock in hand, tugging on it, getting it hard and then stroking it. And he remembered his foolish angry reaction.

He sat on the wet sand near the water's edge and watch the slow moving current, the little swirls and ripples and he thought of his life so far, how he wasn't happy, and what it meant. He wondered how others would really respond if they found out he liked men...if he was gay.

The sound of the teens splashing and yelling echoed down the creek and Jacob sat, not really aware they were still there, and he grabbed up a rock and threw it as hard as he could down the creek and he watched it as it arched up and back down and when it hit the water it made a small unsatisfying splash. Jacob stood up and he bowed his head down trying to sort his thoughts, put them in order, what was important and what was not.

"FUCK" he suddenly yelled, loudly, his voice so deep and reverberating that it was eerily quiet afterwards, not even a sound from the teens upstream. He turned and made his way back to his Jeep and along the way he heard the teens began to horse around again, heard their banter as he got near but he avoided going by them, instead cutting up the embankment and over to where they were all parked. He didn't care his pants were wet and covered in sand as he got in, and he started up the Jeep, backed up to turn around, spinning the rear wheels in the loose sand. He raced the motor as he shifted into second, skipping first and he took off. Soon he was back on the road, driving.

***

Tyler couldn't believe his bad luck. He had been able to avoid Bull ever since he moved in, but now that Bull had overheard Jacob and him, he had been confronted by the bully each morning and each evening. Bull had made threatening comments last night when he came home, comments about hating faggots, not wanting to live next to one and so many other mean cruel things he found himself hiding in his apartment during the night, not even playing the TV or his music. He even left the blinds closed all the time. If he had been on campus in a dorm he would have had a means of filing a complaint, of trying to find a way out of the situation, but in the apartment complex off campus he felt trapped.

It'd only been a couple days since their initial confrontation and Tyler couldn't imagine how it could get worse. As he had for the last two nights he found himself coming home late, it nearly midnight when he walked up the sidewalk to his building. He saw it was quiet, most apartments dark already, but he noticed right away Bull's apartment was all lit up, the door open and the blinds up. 'Fuck' he thought as he watched the apartment looking for Bull, trying to see him, gauge the way he was acting tonight so he could prepare himself.

He hadn't made it to the stairs when he felt the hand come down on his shoulder, hard and fast, jerking him around.

"Where do you think you're going, faggot?" Bull spit out at him, his words slightly slurred and Tyler quickly smelled the alcohol on his breath.

"I'm just going to my apartment, okay?" he replied, trying to sound calm, casual, hoping his tone would become Bull's.

"I think not...it's time you got lost" and Bull punched him in the stomach, hard, the breath forced from his lungs and he doubled over unable to breathe, and Bull jerked him back up and hit him in the face, the right cheek below the eye, and his vision went dark for a moment as he collapsed on the ground and curled up still trying to get his breath. What he heard, the sounds, all seemed far away, his vision unfocused, but slowly he began to hear the voices plainly, the sounds right above him.

"Leave him alone, asshole" and Tyler recognized Jacob's voice, the menacing tone, the anger in it frightening, and he heard the punches, first one that caused Bull to cry out and then one that sounded hard, flesh on flesh and Tyler saw Bull land by him, his nose and lip bleeding and he saw in that instant the fear, the way the tables had been turned.

Tyler felt the arms reach around him, lift him up and he finally was able to focus on the face near his own and he saw Jacob, saw the concern on his face mixed with anger, and he glanced back down and saw Bull lying on his side looking up at them, the fear etched on his face showing how he was cowed.

"Come on Tyler, you'll be okay, come on, let's get upstairs" and Tyler walked unsteadily on his feet as Jacob helped him into his apartment.

Jacob helped Tyler to sit in a dining chair asking him where he kept a medical kit. Tyler watched Jacob move confidently around his apartment, getting the medical kit from under the sink and then going into the bathroom and wetting a bath cloth. Jacob was soon sitting next to him, wiping his face, cleaning the small cut under his eye.

"The son of a bitch got in a good punch. I'm afraid you're going to have a black eye by morning but the cut isn't really all that bad" Jacob whispered, soothingly, his hands working gently applying ointment to the cut then placing a bandage over it. Jacob began to undo the buttons on Tyler's shirt, gently sliding each button through their holes. "Let's see if you're going to be bruised on the stomach. I can see you're breathing okay again" and Jacob smiled at Tyler as he pulled the shirt open looking at his stomach.

Tyler had sat quiet, trying to get his breath, trying to process what had happened in the last few minutes and he looked down at his stomach and noticed a slight discoloration and knew it too would be bruised by morning. "What am I going to do?" Tyler asked and Jacob knew he meant about living next to that bully.

"He won't bother you again. I'm going to talk to him in the morning and put him on notice. He's just a bully and bullies always take the cheap fights, not the ones that can get their own butts kicked."

Tyler shook his head he understood and he reached up and felt the bandage on his face, felt the slight swelling of his cheek and the fear he had been holding in, his frustrations with Jacob, all of it rose to the surface and he began to cry.

"Whoa, Tyler, it is okay. I'm sorry, come on, don't cry" and Jacob leaned over and kissed him softly on the lips. Jacob dropped down on the floor on his knees and he hugged Tyler to him, just held him for a long time, feeling the soft lean body in his arms as it relaxed into him.

***

The medical kit lay on the table next to the wash cloth. Tyler's shirt was draped over the chair, his jeans and boxers on the floor nearby. Jacob's khakis, his boxers and tank top were scattered along the floor to the bed where in the sliver of light from the bathroom, its door slightly ajar, lit the two bodies intertwined, moving together, gently, Jacob cautious with Tyler.

Jacob held Tyler in his arms, he on his knees on the bed and Tyler hugging him as he pushed down on Jacob, took him inside, let Jacob enter him. Tyler moved in Jacob's arms, up and down his lean body slipped through them, his body taking Jacob, all of him, deeply, and Jacob kissed Tyler on the neck and along his upper chest, feeling the smooth soft skin against his lips, the way it shivered at times when Tyler went down.

Tyler's cock rubbed against Jacob's stomach and when Jacob moved his arms out, let Tyler lean back, his hips pumping up and down, his long lean torso stretched out before him he leaned over and ran his lips over Tyler's stomach as he took Tyler's cock, it hard and wet, and stroked it slowly, his grip firm as he felt the hard shaft, slick with pre-cum slip through this fist. Tyler was breathing hard, his body working up to a faster pace, and Jacob held Tyler's cock, letting it pump through his fist as Tyler worked his hips up and down taking Jacob's cock. Tyler rested back on his hands, holding his body up, angled back away from Jacob, forcing Jacob's cock up allowing it to hit within him in a way it made him want to cum, made him see stars every time he slammed his hips down and he began to cry out, grunt with every downward swing of his hips. Jacob's hand on his cock letting him fuck it through his fist, the way Jacob's cock was hitting his inside and Tyler pumped harder, faster until he cried out.

"I'm going to cum" and he slammed his hips down as he felt his cum surge up and shoot out, spattering Jacob on the chest and as he shot out the last of his load, it dribbling down Jacob's hand and his shaft. Jacob pushed up with short stabbing jabs as Tyler came, thrusting his thick cock into his depths. He had felt Tyler come, felt his hole spasm around his cock and he couldn't hold back any longer and he shot his cum deep into Tyler.

Sometime in the middle of the night, after sleeping for a while, Jacob stirred, moved up next to Tyler, manipulated is cock, getting his hard. He moved on top of Tyler, whispering to him how he wanted it and he kissed Tyler, ran his lips over Tyler as they moved slowly with each other. Jacob sat up over him, took his hard cock and held it up, and he eased down till he felt it touch him, press against his hole and he rocked is hips back and forth, rubbing the sensitive head making Tyler cry out. Tyler opened his eyes, looked up at the dark silhouette over him as he felt his cock sink into Jacob's hole. Jacob moved his body slowly at first, letting his hole loosen, relax to the penetration and as he felt the pain give way to pleasure he moved faster. Up and down he moved, as Tyler's cock slide through his tight opening pushing deep into him on ever downward move.

"I'm sorry Tyler" Jacob said as he rose up, his big muscular body rocking the bed as it moved over Tyler. "I won't leave like I did last time" as he moved down taking Tyler deep in his hole. Jacob rode Tyler, getting faster and faster and when he took his own cock in hand, began to stroke it he leaned forward and worked his hips harder. "Damn that feels good...you in me like this" and he stroked harder, worked his body faster, the bed rocking, slamming against the wall as neither cared how loud they were and Jacob slammed down hard, threw his head back and cried out.

Tyler felt the cum hit him on the chest and then the stomach, warm thick liquid spattered over his skin, and he felt Jacob's hole spasm with each ejaculation, squeezing his cock and he shoved up, pushed in as far as he could and he came.

Exhausted, the two of them lay side by side. Tyler ran his fingers through Jacob's cum, scooped it up on two fingers and he held it to Jacob's mouth, touched Jacob's lips with his finger tips and Jacob opened them, letting Tyler slip his fingers into his mouth. Jacob cleaned them off and leaned over and kissed Tyler gently on the side of the face near the bandage. He settled back down, his arms wrapped around Tyler as he rested his head on Tyler's shoulder.

"I was thinking I should quit fucking around, wrap up classes at the community college and get enrolled here next term" he whispered quietly in the dark.