Friends

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” ― Elbert Hubbard

“The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.”  - Ulysses S. Grant

Percy swung gently in the hammock watching the other boys build a fire while the fire inside of him burned with his lust. Bryce brought another arm load of branches gathered from the surrounding woods, while Nick and Carlos added small limbs to the flames beneath the stack of larger wood. Percy watched them, classmates since kindergarten, and fellow graduates of high school, struggling with his attraction toward them. Ever since eighth grade he has felt a longing toward the other boys, a desire for them that had grown more intense over time.

“Hey Bryce, can you go with me back to the car for that box of paper plates and cups?” asked Emily.

Percy looked to his left and saw Emily, Sharon, and Lisa were at the picnic table preparing to set up for dinner. To their right, the charcoal in the grille was still aflame and the coals just beginning to turn white at their edges. He saw the girls, knowing the beauty of each one, but it wasn’t something he felt. He wondered, as he had done obsessively over the years, what it would be like to desire them. To really desire them. To want to have sex with them, like the guys talked about all the time when not in their presence.

“Yes, I’ll go with you,” Bryce replied.

Percy looked back to Bryce, seeing the smile, the one that spoke to so much going on between Emily and him. It was no secret Bryce had wanted to go out with her since the tenth grade, but she had been seeing Owen up until last summer, before their senior year.

Owen. Percy pictured him. Blonde, freckles across his cheeks and nose, and a boyish face that made him look younger than the other boys. Despite his boyish looks, Owen had been confident in his masculinity. Percy wondered if it was because Owen was hung. Really hung, to the point the other boys picked on him about it. The derogatory comments involving donkeys and horses, and snide, jealous comments suggesting Owen probably sucked his own dick. Percy imagined it in other ways and had avoided Owen in the showers when they had P.E. together. It had been hard enough not to steal glances at Bryce, Nick, Carlos, and the others, but Owen would have been his downfall, for he found himself, more than once staring at the long flaccid cock, the uncut skin covering the head so seductively.

He wondered how Owen was doing, having moved away with his mom after his parents divorced. They were living somewhere outside Birmingham, but exactly where, no one was sure. Owen had stopped communicating with everyone just before they left, no doubt devastated by his circumstances at being forced to move prior to his senior year.

Percy watched Bryce stroll over to Emily, then the two of them head down the trail to where everyone had parked. The trail curved and they disappeared in the woods. Laughter, and he turned to watch Carlos and Nick standing back from the fire as it flamed up. Carlos with his black hair, dark skin tone, and dark brown eyes tugged at his desire, then there was Nick. Brown hair, light to the point of almost turning blonde with sun exposure, and rosy cheeks, and goatee that made him look older than eighteen, and even though they were in shadow, he knew the eyes were green.

And in the tent napping after having been up late the night before, was Aaron, and down at the lake’s edge stood Steve, casting a lure along the break in the bottom, seeking to add to their day’s catch. Percy considered how he found each one attractive. How each one’s masculine nature was the source of it, and he felt his loneliness for he knew each one was straight, or straight enough not to ever consider sex with someone like him. He lay back, staring up at the sky that was changing as the sun moved toward the western horizon. There was one boy not among them that fueled his desires like none of the others. A boy he had only seen two times in the last three years, but it was enough. Each crossing of paths was enough to take his breath away and fuel his fantasies like none other. He remembered each time, and how the boy changed over the three years, much like himself. To go from a fifteen-year-old to an eighteen-year-old was a big transition, not the least of which is the sense of independence and an awareness of one’s sexuality that only became more inflamed with his desires and fantasies.

Percy found himself reliving their first encounter. The first time he laid eyes on him. It was May, right in the middle of wheat harvest, and he was with his dad. They had stopped early for lunch, knowing they would finish the last field that afternoon. They had gone into Camden to pick up a prescription from the vet and had stopped on the way for a drink. As he and his dad walked from their truck to the entry, another pulled in next to one of the pumps.  The truck was towing a boat, indicating a time of fishing or the simple pleasure of boating on the river. 

Percy remembered how events unfolded, and he felt the stirrings of his wants and desires as he pictured the passenger door swing open…

Percy sat on the passenger side, arm resting on the open windowsill feeling the warm humid air swirl into the truck cab. Behind the wheel, his father was on another of his rants about how he needed to get an education. He needed good grades, his English grade unacceptable, for a ‘C’ was too low.  He heard fragments of what his father was saying, for he was more obsessed with his increased attraction toward other guys, especially the boys a year older obtaining a driver’s license. The temptation of the freedom a driver’s license provided fueled his fantasies of what could happen…if only the other guy was willing. So, he sat in the hot truck cab watching the passing familiar landscape while thinking of it, considering different guys in his school.

“…you can do anything you want if you just…”

‘Anything I want’ Percy repeated in his mind, not hearing anything further of what his father was saying. If only, he thought, for what he wanted more than anything was to be able to be open about being gay. He had no misconceptions about his sexuality. He knew without a doubt he desired another guy. But he also knew coming out to his parents would be a difficult thing, but no more so than coming out to his friends. Worse would have others of the community knowing. He would be judged harshly, for he had heard the sermons by preachers pounding pulpits, the politicians catering to the community with sanctimonious proclamations of marriage sanctity, and classmates making the ugliest of derogatory slurs at each other. Every time he heard ‘fag’ he feared it was aimed at him. 

“…you’re my son and I want you to be happy…”

‘Happy’ meant what exactly? He had moments of happiness. Hanging out with friends and joking around. The days he could just ride his bike mindlessly across the countryside or sit down by the pond when the fish were biting. Or the special days like Christmas or his birthday, like his last one when he got the Felt adventure bike. But he knew what his father meant. A life that despite its ups and downs, was at its core satisfying. A life with someone, like the one his parents possessed. Could he really have such a life?

“Let’s stop for drink,” his father said as he slowed, preparing to pull off at the convenience store on the outskirts of Camden. They were heading to the vet to pick up medicine to give to two cows that were ill. The illness was not severe, obvious in how his father was in no rush. They had been driving along slowly and were now taking the time to stop.

Parked at the edge of the gravel lot, Percy climbed out and followed his dad toward the store. There was a truck at the pumps and to the side of the building two more trucks with an old Pontiac wedged between them. As they neared the pumps another truck pulled in, this one towing a boat. Percy looked at the fishing boat wishing they had one like it. A boat they could go up to Millers Ferry or down to where the Alabama River snaked east then back west below his family’s farm. He saw a man, much like his father, climb out of the truck. As they drew near, the passenger door opened, and a guy slid out. Tight jeans and shirt unbuttoned all the way revealing a teenager’s body. He looked at it, the flat chest and stomach, then up to the face and his own burned with embarrassment at being caught staring. 

Jet black hair curling out around an old worn ballcap pulled low, shadowing the face. Despite the face in shadow, the eyes were visible, dark brown and looking back. Percy felt his desires, the pull toward this boy. One that looked his own age, just a teenager, but still masculine in nature. The lean torso and the jeans that bulge in the crotch. He looked away, down to the ground as he followed his dad under the canopy. As they went inside, he looked back once, daringly, needing to see the boy one more time.

The boy was coming around the boat and heading toward the door, and he quickly ducked inside. He moved down the aisle across the front to the drink reach-ins where his father was holding out a soda. 

Soda in hand, Percy turned and found himself face to face with the boy. Rosy cheeked, dark brown eyes staring at him, then a smile.

“Hey, can I get to the cokes?” the boy asked.

“Percy, you want to help at the grill?” asked Emily.

He sat up and looked over at the smoking grill. “Yeah, sure,” he replied as he swung his legs over the side of the hammock.

Moving across their campsite, he was still lost in thought, trying to remember if he had said anything back, or had he simply moved to the side, mute from the turmoil of his desires. But he remembered the days that followed, how he pictured that boy with his black hair and fair skin, rose red cheeks, and eyes so dark brown they looked black. He had touched himself imagining it to be the boy. He had imagined fingers not his own touching and stroking and manipulating until he was spent and gasping for breath.

Lisa set condiments on the picnic table, then came to stand beside Percy and Bryce, the two of them flipping the burgers and rolling the hot dogs over the hot grill. Percy saw her look at him, smiling as if she knew a secret. It made him nervous, for the only secret he had was one that could cause many of them to reject him.

“What is it?” asked Percy.

“Nothing really. Do you know Marie Suarez? She lives in Monroeville,” said Lisa.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“She’s Carlos’ cousin and will be here soon. She had to work before coming up.”

“And? You’re not trying to fix me up, are you?” Percy asked, suddenly nervous at what Lisa might be suggesting. Lisa and Bryce both laughed at his reply, as she shook her head.

“No, Percy, I’m not trying to fix you up with Marie. I just wondered if you knew her.”

“Why?”’

“She’s bringing a couple of her friends, and one of them said they knew you.”

Percy looked at Lisa to see if she was joking around but saw she was serious.

“I don’t know anyone in Monroeville.”

“What about Frisco City?”

“Huh? No…I don’t think so.”

“Oh, okay,” Lisa replied, strolling off before Percy could ask further about this person.

Percy watched Lisa go to the firepit where Aaron and Nick were listening to Sharon play her guitar. The scene looked like something out of a movie, friends sitting around a campfire playing some old songs.

“Hey, Percy, Emily said you’re going to Auburn in the fall,” said Bryce.

“Yes.  You’re going to Mississippi State, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Things will really change after this summer, won’t they?”

Percy looked at Bryce and saw him staring at their friends at the firepit. He knew what Bryce was hinting at.

“Yes. Everything will be different.”

“I guess you’ll find it better.”

“Better? What do you mean?”

“It’s just…well…nothing Percy. I’m just babbling about nothing,” Bryce replied as he turned his attention back to the grill. “These dogs are done. Grab that plate and we’ll take them up and put more on.”

Percy sat to the side, a little separation between him and the others. A physical reflection of how he felt. He at slowly, deliberate with each bite, as he listened to the banter of his friends. The idle gossip of teenagers, and he wondered if he was ever the topic of conversation. The one who didn’t date anyone. The virgin who imagined sexual intercourse in the most vivid detail. Sex with another guy. Details lurid, reimagining scenes he had daringly found on the internet, man on top of man, cock pumping inside a mouth or an ass. He knew he was being foolish, for not one of his friends could know what roiled inside of him.

He felt his time in this place drawing to an end, and the missed opportunities came to him. Those opportunities that could have made him feel more confident, more a man, than some boy unsure of himself. He pictured him. The dark wavy hair that would curl around a ballcap. The dark brown eyes that had stared at him, the first time in that convenience store, and the second time was at the game. He remembered how hot and humid the night had been, bugs hovering in the glow of every bank of lights illuminating the football field and the bleachers on each side. His high school, Wilcox High, was the visiting team, playing Excel on a Friday night in the middle of September.

“…Excel lines up at the line, the quarterback moves up behind the center, and…”

Percy is only vaguely aware of the announcer’s play calling as he strolls along the fence. He is thirsty so he heads to the concession stand at the east end of the football field, placing it behind an end zone. He passes the twenty-yard mark, then the ten, passing a few classmates coming back from the concession stand or the toilets. The lights do not illuminate the area outside the fence well, so it is dark, everything in shadow. He circles around the end of the field, seeing the concrete block structure with its asphalt shingled roof sitting low to the ground. Others are in line at the concession stand, the plywood panels raised up as a canopy, held in place by small chains and he sees the tallest man duck underneath as he calls out his order to someone within. 

Percy moves to the back of the short line nearest him. There are only three in front of him, and the one at the counter moves away with a hot dog and soda. He looks over at the other two lines and realizes it must be Excel parents and friends of their team for he recognizes no one in them. Looking to the side of the opening, he scans the menu board, reading down the list of items served just to occupy himself until it is his turn to order. Hot dogs, peanuts, popcorn, candy, and sodas, water, and energy drinks, the same fare that their high school serves, and probably all the others in the region.

The person in front of him steps up and orders four hot dogs and four sodas. Percy watches the staff within work with a calm efficiency, taking four pre-made hot dogs from a warming oven and filling four cups with ice then soda from the dispenser. He waits patiently, no hurry to get back to the stands, for Excel is beating them by ten, and from the cheers from their side of the field, the score is probably worse. There is movement behind him, a shift in the light or a shadow over the ground, and he looks back, intending it to be a quick glance, one where he appears to be looking for someone, just so he can see who is behind him. Instead of turning away quickly, he finds himself staring. Standing right behind him, closer than usual, are two dark brown eyes staring back. He looks older, more mature, and Percy realizes it has been two years since he saw him at the convenience store. The black hair is cut short on the sides, left slightly long on top where it has the perfect tousled look of guys he has seen online. The guy smiles back, and Percy realizes he is staring, and he turns around quickly.

“What can I get ya?” a woman in the concession asked and Percy realizes it is the second or third time she has asked.

“Just a coke…medium,” Percy replies, feeling his face burn with his embarrassment.

He hands over his money and takes the drink. He grabs a straw and moves to the side to remove it from the paper wrapper. He hears the husky voice, the request for a coke, then he sees him turn his way.

“Hey, hold up a minute, will you?” the guy asked.

“Huh?”

“Hold up.”

Straw stuck into his cup, Percy moves back from the concession stand and away from the others, not sure he wants them to hear anything the guy has to say. He fears it’ll be an accusation, some derogatory slur. ‘You a fag?’ or ‘Why were you staring at me?’ He can’t help it, fearing the worst, for he can’t imagine it being otherwise.

The guy takes his drink, grabs a straw and as he tears the paper off, comes over to where Percy waits. They are at the edge of the light, away from everyone, and the guy moves up close, too close, and Percy fights the urge to step back. 

“I know you from somewhere,” the guy says.

“I don’t think so. I’m from outside Camden.”

“Camden? But we’ve crossed paths before…I’m sure of it.”

“Maybe,” Percy replies, wanting to tell him yes, yes, they have crossed paths. Two years ago, outside the convenience store. He wanted to admit to seeing him, shirt unbuttoned and wearing a ballcap. And his black hair longer, curling out around it.

“Do you go up to Millers Ferry? If so, maybe we crossed paths on one of your trips up.”

“That could be it. I’m Wesley, by the way.”

“I’m…I’m Percy.”

“Percy? Like the poet?”

“Huh…no. Like a great-grandfather.”

Wesley laughs, then leans in closer.

“What are you and your friends doing after the game?”

“We’ll go back to Camden. No one will want to do much after you guys beat us so badly.”

“Oh, yeah…sorry about that. I don’t know why they need to just keep piling on the points. It’s a stupid ga…I mean…it just seems too self-important to me is all.”

“Yeah…I know what you mean.”

“Hey, do you like gaming; playing video games?”

“Yes. I have Chorus and Eldest Souls and play them all the time.”

“Chorus! I love Chorus and Blue Fire. Have you played Blue Fire? Maybe…”

“Wesley! Wesley!”

A couple of girls and a guy rush over, one girl hugging up on Wesley.

“We’ve been looking for you. Come on, we’re going to head up to the Mexican place. The game is boring. Wilcox sucks,” the girl hugging Wesley said, looking at Percy as she did so.

Percy wasn’t sure, but it looked as if Wesley was disappointed, embarrassed even. 

“Hey, we’re going…”

“You guys have fun,” said Percy, stepping back a few steps, and as the girl drags Wesley away, he turns and heads back to the visitor’s side. He sees the bleachers are half empty, the score now 32 to 0, and knows the game is over, despite there being more than eight minutes left to play. 

Percy considered it, the sad fact of their losing and his disappointment at meeting Wesley again, only to have him dragged off by what had to be his girlfriend. He turned toward the parking lot and heads to his old Jeep. He feels tired, worn down, and just wants to be alone. For a minute, it seemed like Wesley was going to invite him over to play video games. Or maybe he was just projecting into the conversation his own desire. He replayed their conversation, then the girl rushing up and hugging Wesley, a possessive gesture, one that crushed his hopes for more. 

That was last fall, and yet he clung to the memory of it. How this person he didn’t know had approached him. Friendly, quickly finding a common ground that could have led to them hanging out together. He had imagined so many scenarios where events unfolded differently. A real fairy tale story he created to give himself an opportunity to be like everyone else. To go out on dates, to have someone to explore his sexuality. Simple things like kissing and touching, fingers caressing skin or lips touching it wetly. Then he imagined more. One moving on top of the other.

“When is Marie getting here?” asked Bryce as he looked across the fire at Emily.

“She had to work until seven, but they should be here soon.”

“You don’t know who she is bringing?” asked Percy, looking at Emily, then over to Bryce.

“Just that it is a couple of friends,” interjected Shannon.

“Oh, I see. Shouldn’t we have waited for them?”

“No, Marie said to go ahead and eat, and get the party started,” replied Lisa, as Bryce pulled out a couple of bottles.

Percy saw one was bourbon and the other he wasn’t sure. It was either vodka or tequila. He smiled at the way Bryce held them aloft, like some religious relics to be worshiped.

“Name your poison!” Bryce exclaimed as he carried the two bottles to the small table set up as a drink station with a cooler of ice and sodas.

“The mixers are in the bag behind the table,” said Aaron.

“Percy! What’ll you have? Bourbon or vodka?”

“Bourbon,” Percy replied, wondering if either would be wise.

Everyone was halfway finished with their first drink, sitting in a circle around the fire. Percy had grimaced with the first couple of sips of his drink, Bryce being heavy on the pour, but after a few more sips, the bourbon was smooth going down. He had slid down to where his ass was at the seat’s edge and his long legs stretched out in front of him. He listened to his friends, with their banter going back and forth, and at times wondered if they were up to something by the way he caught one or the other looking his way.

Across the lake, moving around it on the access road, they saw lights coming around.

“I think Marie and the others are here,” said Emily, drawing everyone’s attention to the approaching vehicle.

The vehicle came around the lake then disappeared behind the trees. A few minutes later they could hear car doors slam shut nearby, then voices coming up the path. There was giggling, two girls joking around about something, then a male voice reply, but all were too far away to be heard clearly.

Percy looked at the place the path came out into the open, not realizing his friends were watching him. He saw two girls come into view, one of them raising her hand, holding another bottle. She had been the other girl at the game.

“Are we ready to party?” she yelled out, causing some to reply or just yell out.

Percy didn’t reply, made no sound, for he sat stunned to silence, for behind the two girls, Wesley followed. As they came into the light, he understood the girl named Marie had been one of the girls from the night at the concession stand, but not the one who had hugged Wesley, then dragged him off. He watched Wesley follow her to the edge of their campsite, hand Bryce the bottle. Marie then took Wesley by the arm and led him around the fire.

“You’re Percy,” said Marie coming to stand in front of him. “You know Wesley already.”

“I…yes…”

Marie laughed, then looked over at Emily.

“You’re right; he’s so shy…and cute.”

Percy was glad for the darkness, the only light coming from the fire, for he felt his face burn with embarrassment.

“I’m Marie and that is Becky, and of course, this is the person you want to see,” pulling Wesley to come stand next to her.

“I don’t understand,” Percy replied, looking up at the three of them, then over to his friends.

“Percy, we’ve been really worried how you have been pulling away from us. More and more often you have turned us down on doing something,” said Bryce.

“We knew it was bad when you turned down the trip to Destin,” added Steve.

“But…”

“It took us a while to figure it out, but…” said Bryce.

“I saw your search history that day I came over to get that virus off your computer,” said Carlos. “I wasn’t going to say anything, but Emily kept asking around if anyone knew what was wrong. I know I shouldn’t have seen your searches and I probably shouldn’t have told Emily, but…Wesley you were getting…you were…so sad all the time.”

“You had been since last fall,” said Aaron.

“It was Marie who put it together,” said Emily.

“I don’t understand; how?” Percy was stunned, how everyone seemed to know everything.

“Wesley told me,” replied Marie.

“If April hadn’t interfered that night, the night of the game between our schools, I might have been bold enough. I was really nervous, but…”

Marie broke the silence after Wesley seemed to struggle for what to say.

“He remembered you from some trip to Millers Ferry. Said you guys crossed paths at a convenience store, but you didn’t remember it. But he held out hope that maybe you were like him. It was something about the way you looked at him.”

“But I thought I was wrong by the way you told us to go have fun and walked off when…”

“I thought she was your girlfriend,” Percy interrupted, beginning to see how everything had played out with their misunderstandings.

“She wanted to be his girlfriend. Boy, did she want Charles Wesley Honeycutt,” joked Marie.

“Charles?”

“I prefer Wesley,” he smiled in reply.

“You remember the convenience store, and that girl wasn’t your girlfriend?”

“Yes, and no.”

“How did Marie find out?” asked Aaron. “About you being gay?”

“I told her,” Wesley replied, turning to face the group. “I wasn’t happy and keeping the secret was too much. I had to have someone I could talk to about it, so I came out to Marie two weeks ago.”

“And he began to tell me how he had almost met someone, crossing paths with them and admitting it was Percy here, the guy I saw him talking to at the game last fall,” said Marie. “Then you told me of a friend that was gay and closeted and how miserable he had becoming,” she added looking at Emily.

“I showed you a picture of Percy and you practically deafened me, yelling ‘that’s him’. I couldn’t believe it at first, but I remember Percy had gone for a drink and didn’t come back, so I knew something had happened that night. It all fell into place when Marie and I talked,” said Emily.

“Can I sit down here,” said Wesley, pointing at the empty chair next to Percy.

“Yes,” Percy blurted out.

Wesley eased down in the chair, and they smiled nervously at each other, knowing most of the others were watching.

“Marie says you’re going to Auburn in the fall,” said Wesley.

“Yes.”

“Me too.”

Their pace was slow, unhurried, as they walked the park drive around the lake. It was late, most other campers turned in for the night. On the entry side and the area of most campsites, there were still some out, sitting around fires talking among themselves. Wesley and Percy strolled past, staying silent until far enough away they could not be heard. While walking their hands touched, bumped from time to time, as they walked along talking about nothing of import for the longest time. Along a remote stretch coming back into a section of woodland, the road winding through the trees, Wesley slowed even more, and Percy followed suit, keep abreast of him.

“When did you know?” asked Wesley.

Percy knew what he meant, and he tried to think of the exact moment he knew he was gay. But there was no exact moment. It dawned on him gradually, going from his being drawn to males more than females, until finally understanding it as an attraction, sexually driven.

“I’m not sure. Fourteen, no thirteen years old and realizing my infatuation with boys was more complicated than I had imagined.”

“So, you knew when we saw each other about three years ago.”

“Yes.”

“I thought so. The way you looked at me. I saw this longing that…at first it amused me, made me feel wanted. But once back in the truck with dad and my older brother, I panicked. I knew what it meant and had for a while tried to suppress it.”

“Did you go out with girls? Maybe April?”

“God no. Never, and I guess it became a bit obvious to Marie. She was half right about me coming out to her, but she left out the part where she came to me first, telling me if I wanted to talk about something, anything, she was there for me.”

“Did you know what she meant?”

“Yes, but I couldn’t admit it the first time.”

They turned along the east end of the lake, the tree canopy heavy over the road, leaving it so dark Percy turned on the small LED flashlight he had been carrying. The beam was narrow, barely illuminating the park road, but the whiteness of the light seemed too harsh, and he wished they didn’t need it to see.

“Percy?”

“Yes.”

“I know we barely know each other, but do you really like me? I mean…its not just me being someone that you know is the same.”

“I’m drawn to you, think about what it might have been like if we had been able to know each other better. Like how it could have been if we were in the same school. We could have gone on dates and got to know each other. I thought of it…a lot.”

“Yeah.”

They strolled along another hundred feet or so in silence, neither sure what to say. A trail head to a campsite came up on their right and before Percy knew what was happening, Wesley was pulling him along it.

“Kill the light,” Wesley whispered.

Percy shut off the small flashlight and soon saw they were coming to the edge of the woods. The lake spread out before them and to their left, the fire light from their campsite. It was too far away to hear voices or see clearly.

Percy looked at the glow of the fire and how it reflected off the waters of the lake where the shoreline curved outward between them. Then he realized the site they were at was empty. No campers were on the other two nearby. It was the primitive sites that didn’t even had a hose bibb or grill. Just a firepit and a timber frame set in the ground with sand within it for setting up a tent, and off to the side at the edge of the woods a picnic table.

They were alone, concealed in the darkness of night.

“Percy,” Wesley whispered.

Percy sensed him, up close, right behind him. He felt a touch on the back, then arms coming around his waist pulling him back a step and against the body. Lips touched the back of his neck, moved around it, then grazed the ear.’

“Please don’t make me stop,” Wesley whispered.

Percy felt the lips move along the side of his face as the hands held him tight. A repetitive push against his ass made him push back. His arousal increased, cock stirring in his cargo shorts. One hand moved up over his stomach and chest, until the fingers held him by the throat, tilting his head back. The other hand moved down. Past the waistband and over the crotch, fingers quickly manipulating his cock. He moaned as he grew hard. He pushed back with his ass wanting to feel the masculine nature of Wesley. To feel a man’s cock against his ass. Wanting the hardness to touch him, arouse his desires even more. Reaching back, he dug his fingers into each thigh as they flexed with Wesley’s movement.

“Don’t stop,” Percy uttered as he daringly slipped a hand between them, searching, seeking, fingers digging into the front of the jeans until he felt it. He felt the shape of it, and with fingers moving along its growing length, sensed its girth. He moaned at the feel of it and squeezed down on the head. Hot breath caressed his neck as Wesley moaned.

Wesley turned him around and he watched the dark silhouette descend. He felt hands slide down his sides, then move to the front of his shorts. A tug, then another, and the shorts loosened around his waist. He felt the tug at the button, then the zipper. Then he felt them slide downward until puddled around his ankles.

A mouth pressed into his crotch, hot exhales going through the thin fabric of his boxers. Lips moved over his cock, then a tongue tortured the head. He bucked against it, pushing forward desperate for an increase in the pleasure of the touch. Another’s mouth was manipulating his cock, and he grew so rock hard his cock ached.

Fingers took the waistband, and he felt his boxers slide down. The warm night air caressed his exposed skin and his cock angled out rock hard. Lips touched his cock, from the shaft up to the head. They encircled it and pushed down. He shuddered at the feel of a man’s mouth on his cock. The sweet slick heat enveloping it. He held onto Wesley’s shoulders and shivered with the manipulation.

“Fuck…please don’t stop,” Percy uttered, then moaned, unaware of how loudly he did so.

Percy sensed the recklessness of their sex. The desperate rush of it, how Wesley didn’t hold back, lips locked tight around his cock as they moved from head down to near the base. He began to work his hips, eventually gagging him. Hands held his narrow waist, controlling his movements as Wesley kept up his oral ministrations.

“Wesley…Wesley, I’m going to…OH…I’m…” Percy stammered, his release surging through his cock. He came, shaking and jerking with each ejaculation. Shoving forward with each ejaculation, he gagged Wesley and filled his mouth with cum. With each ejaculation, his cock flexed in the hot mouth until he was spent.

Wesley nursed Percy’s spent cock, held the still hard cock in his mouth, milking out every drop of cum, then he fell back on his heels and looked up at the dark silhouette.

Percy was breathing hard, his cock still hard, sticking straight out, as he reached down and pulled Wesley to his feet. No longer timid, fearful of not being good enough. He leaned forward and kissed him, soon tasting his own cum. He pushed against him feeling his cock rub over soft denim then felt it pinned between them.

“Do me,” Percy uttered as he moved against Wesley.

Wesley pulled back and tugged his t-shirt off, tossing it on picnic table. He undid his jeans and with more daring, stripped himself of boxers and jeans. He stood naked, cock angled out, thick, hard, and leaking. He guided Percy to follow as he backed to the picnic table until the bench hit the back of his legs. He eased down, sitting on the bench, and he leaned back against the top guiding Percy to follow.

“Will you sit on it?”

“Yes,” Percy uttered breathlessly, moving onto his knees on the bench, straddling him. He pushed his own wet cock up the smooth chest leaving a trial of slick. Reaching back, he took Wesley in hand, fingers feeling the slickness of the head. He moved down to it, rubbing his ass over it. He felt a push upward as Wesley moaned.

“Percy,” Wesley uttered.

Percy held the thick wet cock to his opening and eased down. He shuddered at the pain as the cock stretched him open. He cried out and hugged Wesley against his chest as he slowly took inch after inch. He began to move up, then down, working his tight opening on it. As he did so, he took more and more, until he was dropping all the way down. He felt the fullness of the penetration and it aroused him to full erection. His own cock leaked and rubbed with great sensitivity over Wesley’s chest.

“Fuck…take me,” Wesley uttered as he leaned back and held the narrow waist. It moved up and down and he felt it around his cock. The tight opening squeezing his cock as it moved down then back up until the head nearly slipped free. He was so aroused he didn’t know how long he could hold back. He took Percy in hand, stroking the wet, slick cock, making him cry out and move faster on his cock. Soon Percy was fucking at a furious pace. The bench squeaked and rocked beneath them as Percy rode his cock.

“I’m close…I’m…going…to…cum,” Percy uttered as he moved on Wesley.

“Do it. Come for me. Shoot it on me,” Wesley exclaimed, admitting to his like of feeling cum rain down on his chest and stomach, even though in the past it was always his own.

Percy leaned back, and Wesley kept stroking him as fast as he could. Percy jerked, thrust forward, shooting wad after wad of cum. The first hit Wesley in the face, the thick wad running down his cheek and over his lips. The next hit his neck, then he felt it rain down on his chest. Percy jerked and shuddered as he kept stroking the slick, slimy cock. It dribbled the last of its load and he smeared it down the shaft.

“Stop…stop, please stop,” Percy exclaimed as he kept moving up and down.

Wesley couldn’t hold back any longer. The feel of his cock buried in Percy and the smell of cum that hung in the air around them made physical their sex. He sat up, hugging the lean body against his own. He let Percy move up and down a few more times, then he held tight, pulling him down all the way on his cock as he came.

The campfire had died down to glowing embers and only Aaron, Bryce, Emily, and Marie were still up. Percy was self-conscious about walking into the loose circle. He felt as if there was something about him that would speak to what Wesley and he had done and he wasn’t sure he was ready to be kidded about it, like the guys did each other when they hooked up with a girl.

“Hey, you guys are back,” said Bryce.

“You want something to drink? Last call before turning in?” asked Aaron.

“No, I’m good,” Percy replied.

“I just want a water,” replied Wesley as he went over to the cooler.

Percy eased down in a chair opposite everyone, the four of them on one side of the fire. He listened to them talk about college and what they expected in their classes. Wesley came back and sat next to him, and he noticed no one made a point of noticing. He smiled, feeling like he was just one of them. That he had not been off with Wesley having sex, then he realized it really was no different than one of the guys going off with one of the girls.

“Hey Percy, you all set for Auburn?” asked Aaron.

“You’re going to Auburn?” asked Marie.

“Yeah, and I think I’m ready,” Percy replied.

Marie laughed and Aaron and Bryce turned to her.

“What’s so funny?” asked Bryce.

“I’m going too,” said Wesley.

Seven Months Later

Percy held the umbrella aloft keeping the drizzling rain off him. It had been raining for days and seemed like it would never stop. He avoided the deep puddles as he navigated the sidewalks from his classes heading back to the dorm. It was spring semester and he found life on campus so much better than he could ever imagine. Fall had been an eye-opening experience and a trial too, for Wesley and he had kept their dorm room assignments, sharing rooms with someone else. It hampered their ability to get together, but both had feared sharing a room after only dating for such a short time. But near end of the fall term, they had worked out a change that allowed them to share a room. It felt like a big step, the constant companionship between them, sharing meals, helping with assignments, and even just laying around watching a movie or playing a video game.

He entered the building, shaking off his umbrella and crossing the lobby. There was a group of guys in the lobby watching television and at the elevator he fell in next to Joon and Conor.

“Hey Percy, we’re going for pizza later. Wesley and you want to come?” asked Joon.

Percy knew everyone on the floor knew Wesley and he were more than roommates, and except for a few guys, most treated them like anyone else in the dorm.

“I’ll ask him when I get to the room and let you know.”

“We’re planning on going about seven,” said Conor.

The elevator door slid open and the three of them entered. It was a slow elevator, creeping up to the third floor.

“It’s supposed to stop raining by Friday morning,” said Joon.

“Thank god. I’m sick of it. Every pair of shoes I have are wet,” said Conor.

“It’ll take us a week to dry out,” added Percy.

“Tell me about it,” replied Conor.

The door slid open, and Percy let them exit first, watching them go right, then he headed left to his own room. Easing the door open, he saw it was dark, only the dim light of the cloudy sky illuminating it. He expected to see Wesley napping, but saw the beds were empty. As he moved into the room, dropping his backpack on the floor, the bathroom door swung open, and Wesley came out and grabbed him from behind.

“What took you so long? I’ve been waiting,” said Wesley, pressing his face into the back of Percy’s head.

“I ran by the bookstore after class,” Percy replied, realizing Wesley was naked, and hard, and wanting.

“I need you,” Wesley uttered as his fingers worked blindly at the buttons of Percy’s shirt.

Soon, Percy was naked too, and he eased down on the bed they shared. Wesley held his ankles, spreading his legs. He felt the first touch, then another, as slick leaking cock raked over his ass. He reached around his thigh and took Wesley, guiding him to his opening, where he felt an initial push. He threw his head back, closed his eyes, and pushed back. Wesley stretched him open and eased into his depths.

Their movements were fluid, one on top of the other. Each touch was arousing, every point of contact hot, the skin quickly sweating. The room seemed to grow warmer as it closed in around them. Soon it was just the bed. Just Wesley on top of Percy, the two moving in unison, as Wesley thrust into Percy’s depths.

“Fuck…keep going…don’t stop,” whispered Percy as he grabbed at the bed.

Wesley slipped his hands down each leg until holding them behind the knees and soon each was pressed into Percy’s chest. Folded in half, ass angled upward, he took Wesley’s fuck. Every thrust inward as the pace of it increased. Soon the bed squeaked and rocked beneath them, and Percy felt the urgency of their fuck. The hot exhales on his neck, the kisses that trailed along it, then down his jaw until their lips were pressed together. Wesley kept up a furious pace until sweat rained down on Percy, then he slowed, grinding hips against ass as cock was pushed all the way into Percy’s depths.

“Come for me…do it,” Percy whispered.

Wesley rose on his hands and began to fuck with renewed vigor. Soon he was hammering cock into Percy’s depths. His pace was too much, and soon he shoved inward and cried out as he pumped out his load.

Percy was aroused from their sex. He felt it in his cock, which flexed, bobbing up and down over his stomach as slick pooled on it. He watched Wesley move down between his legs, then take his cock. He shuddered at the manipulation by fingers, then he cried out by the manipulation by lips. When he felt the hot mouth envelop his cock, he shuddered while clinging to the bed. It didn’t take long, and he was bucking upward, thrusting his cock to the back of Wesley’s mouth, filling it with cum.

They lay naked, skin glistening wetly from their exertions. Wesley held Percy, spooning up against his tall, lean body. Percy felt fingers swirling in his pubic hair, then trail ticklishly up his stomach and around his chest. It was his favorite time with Wesley, the exhausted aftermath of their sex, the two of them just laying together. He was about to drift off to sleep when he remembered.

“Oh, Wesley, Joon and Conor are going for pizza at seven. You want to go?”

“Sure. By then, I’ll be starving.”

Percy reached down picking up his jeans from the floor to retrieve his phone. He typed a quick text message to Joon and Conor, then set it on the nightstand. Wesley pulled his arm back and held tight, relaxing him letting sleep overtake him.