1
Noah lay in bed staring up at the ceiling, the shadow of the blinds cutting across it where the early morning sun was shining in. He was trying to process everything that was happening, plans that had been in the works for over two years. He had his high school diploma and at the start of the week after next he was starting classes at Virginia Tech. Just a little over a week away. A college far from Vicksburg.
Vicksburg, Mississippi. A place that clung to its past like a dying man. The town had a casino on the river next to the interstate. It was supposed to bring much needed revenue to the town, but as far as Noah could see, it was not coming to his part of town. His family was just as poor as they had been before the arrival of the casino.
Noah rolled to his side and saw the certificates for his good grades wondering what it would mean in a year from now. The private Christian school hadn’t been too bad, but it had been a struggle for his parents to pay the tuition, something his devote mother was adamant about doing. His sister went to the public school for she was expected to get married and have babies, but he was put in the private school for his mother had aspirations of him being a preacher or a missionary, spreading the good word. It made his stomach knot up with how close she came to getting her wish for him to attend one of the religious colleges, her sights set on the one in Pensacola.
He tried to imagine it, being stuck in some small Christian college where he had to keep putting on his mask, pretending to be someone else. A devote Christian who didn’t believe a word of it and scoffed internally at the church’s teaching of creationism and some physical manifestation of good and evil.
Then he thought of his uncle, his mother’s brother, she had disowned because he was a liberal, someone who didn’t follow the teachings of the church. John Myles Thompson lived outside Arlington, Virginia, somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and at one time owned his own tech company but sold it a few years ago, and from what his mother derisively said every time his name was mentioned, for a lot. Enough for Uncle John to retire. And that was the extent of what Noah knew of the man until two years ago when Uncle John came to Vicksburg for his mother’s, and Noah’s grandfather’s, funeral.
He remembered how most of the family avoided Uncle John, had little to say to him, his mother the worst, saying only the most derogatory things to him. As everyone finished a late lunch after the service, Uncle John stood to leave when he overhead Noah’s mother make some comment about him fighting her on going to the Christian college in Pensacola. She blamed the liberal media and the Catholics (who ran the private school in Vicksburg), but she was going to make sure her son didn’t end up like some others, at which point she looked right at her brother. It seemed to have been the thing that made Uncle John react. He had sat back down and crossed his legs showing he was prepared to stay for the duration. Noah replayed the conversation, one that changed everything.
“What’s wrong with Noah going to an accredited university, one that would benefit him in his future?”
“What’s wrong with him being a preacher or a missionary doing God’s work?”
“What if that is not what he wants to do.”
“I think I know what’s best for my son.”
“I doubt that. Look around you sister, you’re barely getting by, and you’ve become so bitter and judgmental…I bet most people find you’re intolerable.”
“How—”
“Noah, what do you want?” said Uncle John, cutting off Noah’s mother.
“I…”
“I know what’s best—”
“Noah, what is it you want to study?” said Uncle John, cutting off Noah’s mother again, not even looking her way, just looking at Noah with a calm demeanor as everyone in the room turned to him, waiting on his response.
“Architecture,” said Noah, admitting to his uncle what he had not admitted to anyone else. It was too far out of reach to consider seriously.
“A tough program, and not always an easy life but if that is what you want, you should pursue it.”
“How?” said Noah, cutting off his mother before she could speak.
“Take a walk with me,” said Uncle John, coming to his feet.
The walk had taken them all the way to the Yazoo River just before it dumped into the Mississippi. They strolled the ugly concrete walk, then back into downtown. By the time they were strolling along Washington Street, with its brick pavers, it was after five o’clock, and Uncle John took him into his first bar located inside a restaurant. He looked at the menu, shocked at the prices, knowing it was too expensive for his family, and his mother would never tolerate the serving of alcohol.
They sat at the bar, Uncle John nursing a couple of bourbons and Noah a couple of sodas. When they came out, the sun was low in the western sky, and there was a plan, one that let Noah study architecture with Uncle John paying for it.
I have no children, and I feel a responsibility toward you. Some need to do this for you, Uncle John had told Noah after protesting that it was too much.
It still seemed like a dream, one where he would wake up and find himself going to that Christian college and not Virginia Tech. But he looked at the stack of documents on his desk and the poster of the college on the wall, all signs it was not a dream. His uncle had made all the arrangements, got him the documents to fill out and sign, arranged for him to visit the university back in the spring then again in the summer to finalize his arrangements. The new Civic spoke to his uncle’s generosity, knowing Noah had no means of getting a vehicle and his mother wouldn’t do anything to help him go to any university that wasn’t the religious one in Pensacola.
It all seemed so easy for his uncle, and Noah wondered if the day would come it would be like that for him. He sat up, swung his feet to the floor, feeling like that day was just around the corner. He went to the window and saw his mother weeding a flower bed, something she did whenever she was angry or upset, and something she had been doing a lot for the last few weeks. He wondered what she would do if she knew his secret, one he had not told to anyone, not even his uncle.
2
Tuesday morning arrived cloudy, rain threatening, and Noah was packing his car. The rear hatch was up and both rear doors. He put the two suitcases and the satchel in the back, leather pieces from his uncle as a graduation present. He slipped the Chrome Industries backpack next to the satchel, then he put the garment bag, a matching piece to the luggage, over the top. It was all too nice, something no one in his family could possibly afford, except for his uncle. Every time he looked at the car or the gifts of luggage and backpack, or the shocking cost of tuition, he wondered what his uncle was worth.
He placed a box of his favorite novels in the back seat, books he had found in yard sales, the Goodwill store, and at the library where they were sold as discarded books to raise money for it. At twenty-five cents each, he had wondered how much the library could possibly raise. On the other side, he placed the box with the new laptop in it and the components to go with it; a mouse, mouse pad, a nicer keyboard to plug into it, and a separate hard drive and flash drives to save assignments. He checked the glove box once again making sure his check book for his account in Blacksburg was in it.
Noah saw his mother come up to his car. She had still harbored hope he would change his mind, and in doing so, had done things to make his leaving difficult.
“Your grandmother and Aunt Evelyn will be here for lunch, and they want to see you before you leave. Maybe you can wait until tomorrow—”
“I’ll leave after lunch,” said Noah, cutting her off. He wondered if she really thought delaying him would stop him from going. He shut the doors, locked the car and walked past her heading inside. “I’ll check one more time to make sure I got everything.” What he really wanted was to go to his room and close the door to all the distractions and just wait impatiently for lunch to be over.
At two thirty, with drizzling rain falling, Noah pulled out of the drive and drove away. He was upset how his mother dragged out lunch, until there was no way he could get as far as he hoped. He wanted to get to Knoxville or even further so he could arrive on campus before noon the next day, having time to check in and get his dorm room key. He would have to drive until ten o’clock or later to get that far, so he was resolved to just take his time, get to campus by Thursday morning. He would make it a road trip, maybe stopping along the way if something caught his interest.
He got on Interstate 20 heading east and sped up to the flow of traffic. It would be an eastward direction until he got to Alabama, then the interstate would turn to the northeast, taking him toward his destination.
It was nearing six thirty and Noah wasn’t sure if he was still in Alabama or if he had crossed the state line into Georgia. He had been zoned out, just driving along behind some big black Audi since somewhere east of Birmingham. He checked his fuel gauge again, seeing the needle between a quarter and empty. He still didn’t know how far he could push the car and had no interest in finding out. He sat up and began to watch for an exit with a gas station.
After a couple of miles, there was a sign for a gas station, one for cars and big rigs, and Noah pictured one of those new stations, with pumps for cars up front and big rigs in back, and between them a convenience store and some fast foot joint sharing a building. He had passed a few that were visible from the interstate, and expected the one advertised to be the same. When the exit came into view he flipped on the turn signal, then merged onto the exit ramp, slowing down as he approached the stop sign. He looked for the station but there was nothing at the interchange. Just trees on all four corners. At the stop sign, a billboard sat across from him for the station. An arrow pointed left and said the station was a mile down the road.
Noah started to get back on the interstate, but he needed to piss, and the gauge was lower than he was comfortable, so he turned left.
He drove past a barn, a church more run down than the one his mother made the family attend, then maneuvered around a sweeping curve to the right. When the road straightened, he saw the station. It was old, really old, and run down with faded and peeling paint and a canopy that was sagging in places. Out to the side of the building, a long canopy stretched out long enough to have pumps for cars, then pumps for big rigs. There were a couple pickups and three big rigs at the pumps.
Noah pulled to a pump and filled his car, then pulled it to the building so he could use the bathroom. A pickup pulled in next to him, an old Chevy, and a young guy climbed out, ballcap tilted back on the head revealing an attractive face and a muscle shirt revealing nice arms. The jeans were worn and frayed and fit nicely around the ass. The guy looked his way, giving him a slight nod and smile, then headed to the entry.
“Nice,” Noah uttered as he watched the guy go inside. The country boy played to his secret; one he had done everything to conceal back in Mississippi. But at this isolated service station, he felt less afraid. He climbed out of his car and headed inside.
The interior reminded him of some of the old markets on the edge of Vicksburg. An interior in need of renovation and old fixtures with a faded red painted finish. Overhead rows of old fluorescent fixtures, some with bulbs burned out, leaving some areas dimly lit. To his left, the check-out counter with tobacco products on the back wall. On the right wall, lines of reach-in coolers filled with sodas, water, and beer, which filled most of them. In the center, aisles of candy, chips, sodas, beer, and miscellaneous automotive products. The space was smaller than expected, then Noah saw signs for restrooms and showers in the back, being reminded it was also a truck stop. Then he realized the young country boy wasn’t in the store and Noah assumed he was in the restroom, which he headed toward to relieve himself.
The toilet was large, three sinks, two urinals, then three stalls. Through a door opening to the left, he saw lockers and could hear a shower running somewhere. Noah went to the second urinal and took out his cock and sighed with the relief as he pissed. He closed his eyes for a second then opened them to see a hole in the stall wall. One that would allow someone in it to see his cock.
Someone could see his cock. It intrigued him, made him feel a bit bawdy. He shook the last drops from it then just held it wondering if someone was looking at it. Movement in the stall and he saw a shadow on the floor of the person. He put his cock into his jeans and zipped up. As he turned the door to the stall squeaked open and suddenly, he was face to face with the country boy, cock hanging out of his jeans, curved upward and partially erect.
“Hey,” said the country boy.
“Hey,” Noah uttered wondering what to do.
“You want to go in there,” indicating the doorway to the locker and shower room.
Noah looked at the guy, at the attractive face with its brown eyes, shaggy brown hair sticking out around the ballcap. He noticed a tattoo on the left bicep, something he had not noticed before.
“You want to go in there with me?”
“Yeah,” the country boy replied, stepping closer. Noah stared into the eyes as he felt a hand grope him.
Noah followed the country boy who had groped his crotch. He followed the country boy that had shown him his own cock. He followed the boy into the locker room and to the corner suddenly wanting whatever the boy was offering.
“We can put our clothes in this locker. It’s mine,” said the country boy holding up a key.
“Okay,” Noah replied, not believing he was going to get naked with this boy and in a public place. He could hear a shower running and someone say something. They wouldn’t be alone. “There’s someone in there.”
“I know,” the country boy replied, smiling. “Come on, take off your clothes,” he added as he started undoing the buttons on his shirt.
Noah tugged his T-shirt off and roughly folded it, put it in the locker, then he undid his jeans and worked them off as the country boy did the same. He hesitated to remove his boxers, but he saw the cock was still protruding through the fly of the country boy’s boxers, so he pushed them down and stepped out of them.
The country boy pushed his boxers down and stepped out of them. “Nice,” he uttered when Noah stood before him.
Noah smiled because it was the first time someone had said that to him.
“Come on,” said the country boy, holding out a hand.
Noah took it and let the boy lead him into the shower room. He knew someone was in there but nearly stumbled when he saw it was two men, one bent over getting fucked. They were older, mid to late thirties, the one fucking with a lean build that revealed his muscular form with his exertions as he hammered cock in the other’s ass.
“Fuck, take me,” the man uttered.
“That’s Roy and Brian. They hook up whenever they are passing through at the same time,” said the country boy, then he turned to Noah. “I’m Wyatt; what’s your name?”
“Noah.”
“Noah, I’m glad you want to hook up with me,” said Wyatt as he pulled Noah to the back corner and turned on a shower.
The water ran warm, and Noah backed up underneath it letting it hit his shoulders and cascade down his body. Wyatt stood in front of him, and they stared at each other until smiling. Wyatt took him by the back of the neck and pulled him into a kiss while taking his cock and manipulating it.
“That’s hot,” said the man from across the room.
Wyatt pulled back and stooped before Noah. He bent his head down and captured the growing cock with his mouth and moved on it, making Noah shiver. He sucked it, worked his lips along its growing length, tongued the head, while tugging on the nut sack.
Noah leaned back resting his back on the cool tile and pushed outward with the hips, giving Wyatt every inch, relishing the feel of the mouth. He was so aroused, his need for release building, his toes curled under.
“Wyatt…I’m going to cum.”
Wyatt worked his mouth on Noah’s cock with greater urgency, then he took the base of the cock in hand and stroked it while sucking on the head. It was obvious Wyatt wanted Noah to pump a load into his mouth, and Noah shoved forward into the mouth and came.
Wyatt drew out every drop making Noah push him off his cock. “Stop, please; I can’t take anymore.”
Wyatt sat back on his heels and looked up smiling. “That was nice. Will you do me?”
Noah reached down and helped Wyatt to stand, then turned him to the wall for he wanted to suck Wyatt’s cock. He wanted to feel a man’s cock in his mouth. To know what it was like and how it felt to take a man’s load. He stooped before Wyatt and held the cock moving his lips to the head. He took it in his mouth and did the things Wyatt had done. He worked his lips down it, he tongued the head, and he circled the nut sack with his thumb and index finger and tugged it down until Wyatt pushed forward at the hips.
“Fuck; tug on my nuts. Tug on them harder,” Wyatt exclaimed.
Noah tugged down until he saw the thighs quivering as he worked his tongue over the head of the cock. It erupted, shooting a rope of cum across his face. He captured the head in his mouth and took the next ejaculation and the next until Wyatt was spent and he was drawing out the last of the cum.
When Noah stood, without thinking he took his own cock in hand, realizing he was still rock hard. He slowly stroked it as Wyatt leaned against the wall, breathing hard. Wyatt pushed off and moved around Noah into the middle of the room away from the shower and bent over. He looked over his right shoulder.
“Come on Noah. Stick me.”
Noah looked at Wyatt, the muscular back down to the round ass. The ass he was going to fuck. He moved to it, rubbed his cock up and down it, then a hand came around and took his cock, putting it the tight opening.
“Don’t tease me; jam it in. Shove that cock in me. I can take it,” said Wyatt.
Noah pushed, feeling the ass stretch open letting him get the head of his cock and a couple of inches of the shaft into Wyatt. He watched the back shudder, and the head tilt down.
“Fuck,” Wyatt uttered.
“Fuck Wyatt. Fuck him hard; that’s how he likes it,” said the man across the room.
Noah looked up to see them heading to the lockers. They would no longer have an audience, and he wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but he turned back to Wyatt, held the waist and fucked. Fucked his first ass with wild abandon, pushing in all the way until his hips were against the ass.
“Fuck me, fuck me harder,” exclaimed Wyatt.
Noah tightened his hold on the waist and hammered his cock in the ass. His hips smacked against it, the sound echoing in the room. He fucked until he was breathless and had to slow. He worked his cock all the way inward, then tugged outward until it slipped free. He punched it back into Wyatt, sinking into him until his hips pressed against the ass. The slow pace was unsustainable. He had to fuck faster, fuck Wyatt harder, fuck the ass to cum. He built up his pace until once again hammering it.
“Goddamn, fuck me,” exclaimed Wyatt.
And Noah fucked Wyatt. Fucked him until sweating and muscles burned with his exertion. He fucked until his fingers were digging into the waist and his body tightened. He shoved into Wyatt’s depths, all the way, and came. As his cock ejaculated each wad, he jammed his hips against the ass. Then he fell still with his spent cock buried in it.
“Fuck…that was nice,” uttered Wyatt.
Noah stood straight and eased out of Wyatt wondering if Wyatt would want to fuck him. He knew he would do it, but when Wyatt stood up and turned, and he saw the cock was flaccid and dripping. Wyatt had gotten off while being fucked.
“Do you come through here often?” said Wyatt.
“No, not really,” said Noah.
“That’s a shame. I could mess around with you some more,” said Wyatt as he moved to the shower. “Come on, get cleaned up.”
“I do need to get back on the road.”
“Most guys I meet here do.”
Noah hit the interstate at seven thirty wondering how far it would be before he got to a cheap motel. He wasn’t tired, far from it. He was ramped up after fucking Wyatt, that country boy that challenged his initial perceptions of him. As he motored up the interstate, he felt like he could drive all night.
Sometime later, Noah circled around Chattanooga where he picked up Interstate 75 after a short drive on Interstate 24. He motored along, finding traffic was moving well above the speed limit, allowing him to make good time.
Somewhere between Chattanooga and Knoxville, the rush Noah had felt dissipated, and he began to look for a place to pull off to get a room for the night. He glanced at the clock and saw it was nearly nine, knowing if he stopped now, he could grab something to eat before crashing for the night.
He passed a sign for a motel, one advertising cheap rooms that had been refurbished, and he took the exit. He turned right as directed by the sign and found the motel just beyond some trees to his right and next door a convenience store, and nothing else.
At the convenience store, he bought some snacks and a drink, then pulled to the motel. There were some white vans and trucks in the parking lot, all contractors of one sort or another, one van had ladders stacked on top. He pulled into a parking space, and went into the office, having to ring a bell to be let in. An older man unlocked the door, someone who looked like they had been asleep when he rang.
“Do you have a room?” said Noah.
“Yes; how many nights?”
“Just one.”
“Seventy bucks. Just write in your information, and no pets allowed.”
“No pets,” said Noah as he took the pen.
Noah pulled his car to the end of the building because his room was three from that end on the ground floor. He climbed out of his car; got a suitcase he had packed for stopping overnight and went to the sidewalk where he could pull it along. The first door was closed but light illuminated the curtains. But what captured Noah’s attention was the person standing in the next door. A young Latino man, shirtless revealing a lean upper body with dark smooth skin. Nylon gym shorts sat low on the waist and Noah saw the right arm move, bring a beer to the man’s lips. The man smiled as Noah drew near, and he smiled back. As he passed the door, he saw another young man on the nearest bed in just red boxer shorts watching television.
At the next door, Noah slipped his key in the lock and gave it a turn as he looked back seeing the young Latino watching him. He smiled back, then as he went into the room, he saw him tug on the front of the shorts.
Standing in the room, he knew it was plain, just painted concrete block walls, two beds with ugly blankets and on the floor a carpet that was the color of dirt. He tossed the suitcase on the low table by the television, went to the bathroom, and once back in the room, thought of the guy next door. He was attractive and Noah imagined messing around him and maybe even his friend. He wondered how Wyatt would approach them, knowing that country boy would probably just go over and ask if they wanted to fuck around. He could see it, then he wondered if he could do it. He pictured the way the guy in the door tugged on his cock.
Noah opened his suitcase and took out a pair of old gym shorts, grey cotton things that had been sweatpants until he cut the legs off, a bit too short for his mother’s liking. Perfect for what he intended to do. He stripped, even his boxers, and slipped the gym shorts on. The worn fabric was soft against his skin. It felt so good, and his thoughts were so bawdy, his cock stirred within them. He opened the soda and went out the door, leaning against the wall between it and the window, body angled back, pushing his hips out. His cock was plainly visible. He took a slow drink, then looked over at the young Latino who turned up the beer bottle and emptied it, then set it on the floor just inside his door.
“You lonely?” said the Latino.
“Yeah. You want to keep me company?” said Noah.
The young Latino smiled while tugging on his crotch. “Yes.”
“What about your friend? Does he want to keep me company too?”
“Mateo, vamos a la puerta de al lado.” The young Latino turned back to Noah. “I’m Angel.”
Yes you are, thought Noah. “I’m Noah.”
“Noah, do you think I look nice?”
“Yes,” said Noah backing into his room as Angel, then Mateo followed him in. Mateo closed the door and locked it. Noah pushed his shorts down and stepped out of them, standing naked before the two men. He saw them smile then watched them do the same until the three of them were naked, tugging on hardening cocks. Mateo and Angel had uncut cocks, Angel’s a darker skin tone than the rest of his body.
Noah wondered how things would begin and if he should get on the bed, but then Angel and Mateo came to him and went to their knees. Angel took his cock in hand and the two of them shared it, worked their lips and tongues on it, one sucking it into the mouth, then the other, and Noah shivered with the feel of it. He became rock hard.
Mateo ran a hand up Noah’s stomach then across the chest. He pinched the right nipple, and the pleasure/pain was a rush up the spine and Noah’s cock flexed in Angel’s mouth.
“Fuck!” Noah exclaimed as he watched his cock disappear in one mouth then the other. Then he felt a hand on his ass, fingers working between the cheeks until touching him. A rub up and down, then a push against his tightness. Noah moaned when the finger penetrated him.
“You like?” said Angel.
“Yes,” Noah replied in a breathless voice.
As Mateo sucked, Angel stood and kissed Noah, passionately, eventually pushing tongue into Noah’s mouth. Angel kissed down the neck, then over to the right ear.
“Can I fuck you?”
Noah pulled away and backed to his bed, pulling Angel to follow. He climbed on it and scooted back, giving room for Angel to knee walk up between his legs. He held his legs up and Angel took them, held them to the chest and kissed his right foot, licked along the side of it. Angel then scooted closer, slapping Noah’s ass with the hard cock as Mateo climbed on the bed moving up to Noah’s head.
Noah turned to Mateo’s cock and let it slide through his lips as Angel penetrated his ass. The guys moved fluidly, erotically, bodies working cock into his ass and mouth. He reached out to Mateo, put his hand on the back of one thigh and moved it up the smooth skin and over the flexing ass cheek. Then he began to rock with Angel’s fuck, steadily, a rhythm that spoke of it.
Mateo pulled back and lay next to him, cock in his face and a hand taking his cock, then a mouth sliding down on it. Noah took the cock in his mouth and sucked as Mateo sucked him, and Angel continued to fuck. Noah closed his eyes and allowed himself to focus only on the feel of it. The feel of cock fucking his ass. The feel of cock in his mouth as he moved his lips and tongue on it. The feel of his cock being sucked. And the feel of his legs against a warm body and a hand moving over his stomach and chest.
Noah came in Mateo’s mouth, shuddering with each ejaculation as he felt the mouth swallowing his load. Then he felt Mateo’s cock swell thicker and flood his mouth with cum. He swallowed it, every wad, for the cock didn’t seem like it would stop ejaculating.
Angel cried out, shoved into Noah’s depths and kept jamming hips against his ass while pumping a load into him.
Noah lay on his side watching Mateo and Angel make out, kissing and touching with such intimacy and desire, he wondered what it is was like to be so comfortable with one’s sexuality. He watched Mateo move over Angel, over the lap, then down on the cock. Mateo moved up and down on it, working his body, undulating to push his ass down on it. Mateo looked at Noah and smiled as he ground his ass down on Angel’s cock, then he turned his head until they could kiss while he kept moving his ass, up, down, then grinding it down on the cock.
Noah got on his hands and knees and crawled up between Angel’s legs and sucked Mateo’s cock into his mouth. He held his head up so Mateo could keep moving on Angel, and it worked the cock into his mouth, at times pushing into his throat nearly gagging him.
He ran a hand up Mateo’s chest and pinched the nipples as Mateo had done him and he felt the cock flex in his mouth and the ass move faster. He twisted the left one and Mateo cried out and shoved upward into his mouth and came again. Then Angel uttered something in Spanish and began to pump his hips upward, fucking Mateo until he too shuddered and jerked with release as Noah swallowed Mateo’s load.
Mateo lay on the other bed. “Fuck him. Fuck him,” he repeated.
Noah had his cock buried in Angel’s ass and was fucking him so hard the bed banged into the block wall. He worked his hips, used the power in them to piston his cock inside Angel, pushing inward with every inch. He held the legs to his chest feeling their smoothness against his skin. The heat with them that spoke of blood coursing through the body, the blood that engorged the cock drooling on the stomach.
Noah fell still, breathing hard, and he kissed the right foot, down along the ankle, then he took the legs behind the knees and pushed forward and down. He buried the knees into the bed either side of the torso angling the ass up perfectly for their fuck. He moved his hips, swinging them upward until his cock slipped free, then he punched it back into Angel and began to fuck again. He hammered the ass, smacked down on it noisily, physically, making Angel cry out and beg to be fucked. To be fucked harder.
“Joder!” Mateo exclaimed for the other bed, and Noah looked over seeing him stroking his cock.
Noah bore down on the legs, held them pinned to the bed as he fucked. As he worked his hips, pumping his cock in the upturned ass. Sweat began to rain down on Angel for Noah was burning up, almost feverish from their sex. His body glistened in the dim light as his ass flexed with each shove into Angel depths.
“Fuck! I’m going to—” exclaimed Noah as he buried his cock in Angel and jerked with his release. Every ejaculation shuddered him, made him raise his head and grunt with the exertion of it. Then he fell on top of Angel and kissed him as his cock began to go flaccid in the ass.
Noah lay on his back, legs wrapped around Mateo’s waist as the hips pumped cock into his ass. They kissed and rubbed hands along the other’s body as Mateo slow fucked him. The bed rocked and Angel eased down next to them and kissed Mateo then Noah. It was intimate, arousing, to feel the lips against his own as cock moved inside him. He relished the fullness of the penetration, the feel of the body on top of him, sweaty skin sliding against sweaty skin.
Noah had no idea how long this last fuck went on. He didn’t care. It could have gone to daybreak because he didn’t want it to end. The plain hotel room was nothing, just a space, closed in and safe, hidden from prying eyes.
Mateo slipped arms underneath his legs and shifted, bringing them up and over. His thighs pressed down on his chest and Mateo increased the pace of their fuck, hammering hips against his ass. When Angel went from his lips to his neck, kissing and nipping at the skin, Noah cried out.
“Don’t stop; keep going.”
But Mateo couldn’t keep going. He was too aroused, pushed to the limits of his endurance. And he fucked Noah with a physicality that once again had the bed banging into the wall. Then Mateo shoved into Noah’s depths and gasped as he pumped cum into it.
Noah woke at nine, the alarm in his cellphone going off. He rolled out of bed naked and stumbled into the bathroom to piss and shower to wake up. He didn’t know when Angel and Mateo slipped out, but he knew they had to be satisfied for the three of them fucked until their cock just drooled out their last loads.
Showered and dressed, Noah zipped up his suitcase and left the room, seeing the parking lot was empty except for his car. He smiled at the idea of Angel and Mateo having to get up early to get to some job site after being up so late.
3
Noah looked around the dorm room that he would be sharing with one Olivier Tremblay, a French-Canadian from Montreal. He looked at how Olivier had his side set up, books lined across the back of the desk, laptop centered in it, and on the wall, a flag for the Montreal Impact soccer team. He looked at his side, with the used books, but a new laptop and nothing on the wall and saw how it spoke of his life, one in transition, not yet figured out completely. A work in progress.
Olivier was down the hall playing video games with Giovanni and Jordan in room 312, and Noah pictured the guys, especially Giovanni, imagining what he would be like in bed. Across the hall, he pictured Keith and Miguel, the latter reminding him of Angel, and he wondered if Miguel could fuck and take a fuck like Angel had done the night before. His thoughts of sex were getting to him. He felt his cock stir and he knew he had to do something to relax. He changed clothes, put on the cargo shorts and a tank top his mother didn’t know about, and headed out for a stroll around campus. He would search out the buildings he had classes that started on Monday, then just take in the rest of the campus. Someone had mentioned that the library was on the upper end of the drill field in the middle of campus and to its south, Duck Pond. He would check these out as well, thinking it would be a good long walk, which he needed after being in his car from the afternoon the day before until about two hours ago.
After strolling through part of the campus coming out on the drill field, he turned toward the lower end heading for the pond. He moved along the sidewalk that ran along the road that circled the field until he came to where the road cut toward Campus Drive. He crossed the main road following the sidewalk and a stream. It was a short walk that came to one that circled the pond. About halfway down there was a wood deck extending out to the edge of the pond. He went to the guardrail and looked over the water and to the traffic driving along the other side. He leaned on the rail and found his attention drifting down into the water wondering if there were fish in it.
“It’s a nice pond, isn’t it?”
Noah looked around and saw a guy standing a few feet away. Strawberry blonde, rosy cheeks and just a hint of a beard trying to come in around the chin and upper lip. The eyes were green and letting his eyes scan downward, saw a lean body concealed by a western shirt and loose fitting faded jeans. Then he saw the cowboy boots.
“Yes, it’s nice.”
“You come here often?”
It seemed an odd question, until Noah realized the guy was trying to figure out his age. “First time here. I was on campus back in the spring and summer getting set up to start this fall, but this is my first time really checking out the campus.”
“Me too.”
Noah looked around and saw something he recognized. The nervous shyness of someone that was not yet comfortable in their own skin. He stood and turned toward the guy. “I’m Noah. Noah Gilmore, and I’m from Vicksburg, Mississippi.”
“Henry Phillips and I’m from Americus, Kansas.”
Kansas: it explained the attire. “You grow up on a farm?”
“Yeah, but I’m not going to be a farmer. My two older brothers can do it.”
“What are you majoring in?”
“Architecture.”
“Really?”
“I know how it sounds. Some dumb cowboy trying to—”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Vicksburg is a small town, and I grew up on the wrong side of it,” said Noah, chuckling at his confession of his poor background. “But with the help of my uncle, I’m going to major in Architecture too.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
Henry smiled and looked across the pond. It seemed he wanted to say something but was too stoic to do so. Noah found his shyness enduring and he wanted to get to know him, even if he was straight.
“I’m going to check out the library. You want to go with me?”
“Sure. I was going to find it and the architecture building.”
“I think we can swing by it on the way to the library.”
They strolled along the pond, past the historic house, then back on the main campus. They took a walk away from the drill field moving between two older buildings then past the auditorium until they could see the architecture building behind it. As they walked, they talked about starting classes the next week and which dorms they were in, Noah finding out Henry was in a nearby dorm, room 409 that he would be sharing with a guy majoring in political science, something Noah found unappealing. As they approached the library, their conversation began to have long silences, neither knew what to say next. For Noah, he wanted to know if Henry was gay, or if he was straight. He found himself looking at him with desire, one that scared him, for he didn’t want to be wrong.
“You have a girlfriend?” said Noah.
Henry scoffed and looked away, shaking his head. “No.”
“Me neither.”
“You think you’ll meet someone on campus?”
“A girlfriend? No.”
Noah responded too quickly. He saw the look Henry gave him, then he laughed.
“What’s so funny?” said Henry, laughing too despite not knowing why.
“I think I admitted something.”
“What?”
“I don’t want a girlfriend.”
“You want a boyfriend?”
Henry asked without judgment in his voice. He was sincere in wanting to know. There wasn’t even a pulling away. Noah knew he was about to out himself and if wrong about Henry, then Henry could go back and tell some in his dorm and no doubt it would be on his floor before classes started. But he realized he didn’t care. He remembered what his uncle had said that college was the place to be yourself and not to let others define him.
“Yes. Henry, I’m gay. Do you have a problem with it?”
“No.”
“I hope to meet a nice guy, someone who wants to date. I’ve never got to go out on dates. You know, just do the things considered normal. Dinner, a movie, maybe a play or see a band play, or…hell, anything two people like to do together.”
“Sounds nice.”
“What about you?”
Henry was silent for a long time. They were going up the steps to the main entrance when Henry finally responded.
“I’d like to find a guy who would go out with me too.”
Noah opened the door and stood to the side holding it open for Henry to enter. When Henry was right in front of him, he replied. “Would you go out with me?”
Henry took one hesitant step, then ducked his head but not before Noah saw the smile. “Yes, I’d like that.”
Thursday night, the first night Noah was on campus, and he was sitting in a restaurant eating burgers and fries on his first date. Noah relished the experience, his first date and on the night of his arrival. He wondered if the rest of the semester could be as nice. Across the table, Henry was talking about how his parents had first responded to him when he told them he wanted to come to Virginia Tech and major in architecture. His oldest brother laughed at him and his father and mother looked worried, as if such a thing was unobtainable for someone like him, but his youngest brother had thrown an arm around his neck and told him to go for it. Someone in the family should do something different with their lives.
Noah listened and when there was a silent moment thought of how much he wanted to take Henry back to his room, knowing tonight wouldn’t work. Olivier probably had some of the guys in their room watching a soccer game. It frustrated him that he would have little time alone with Henry. As Henry began to talk again, he was distracted by how he was being thwarted by getting Henry alone.
“Noah? Did you hear what I said?”
“I’m sorry, what was it again?”
“I said, my roommate is going with some guys to camp over the weekend, leaving Friday morning and coming back on Sunday. They’re going to do a section of the AT trail.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“You’ll have your room to yourself Friday and Saturday night?”
Henry blushed then smiled. “Yes.”
Noah leaned over the table, closing the distance between them. He lowered his voice until it sounded conspiratorial. “Are you going to let me come over?”
4
Noah pulled Henry’s shirt open down the front, the snaps releasing quickly with the force of his tug. He pushed the shirt over the shoulders and as he slid it down the arms, leaned over and kissed the neck, up to the right ear, along the smooth jaw until near the chin where he felt a little stubble, then he kissed the lips as the shirt fell to the floor. He worked the belt buckle undone, tugged the button loose on the jeans, tugged down the zipper and he got his hands down inside them. He worked his fingers through sparse pubic hair and along the cock until his fingers were toying with the head of it.
Henry moaned and pushed the cock against his hand.
Noah stooped and tugged the jeans and boxers down freeing the cock. He sucked on it, worked his mouth on its growing length until he wanted more. He tugged the sneakers off; thankful Henry didn’t wear his boots. He pulled the socks off, then worked each foot free of the jeans and boxers with Henry’s help. He rose, capturing the cock in his mouth, sucking it, working his lips and tongue on it until fingers pinched down on his shoulders and the cock was pushed into his mouth nearly chocking him.
Hands tugged Noah to stand, and he stood in front of Henry and looked at the lean muscular body and the cock sticking out. Then he looked into the green eyes as they focused on the buttons of his shirt. It slipped off his shoulders and down his arms and Henry moved to him tentatively, kissing his chest, then up his neck until pressing lips to his own. He felt the hands undo his jeans and push them down. Fingers manipulated his cock through his boxers until he was hard, and Henry went down on knees and Noah watched him bury his face in the boxers. Noah felt the hot exhales, the mouth moving over his cock, then the tongue snake through the fly touching it.
“Henry,” Noah exclaimed feeling his cock flex with his arousal.
Noah felt his jeans and boxers slide down his legs until his cock flopped out free and Henry angled his head to it, capturing it in his mouth. Noah shivered and moaned and put his hands on the head, fingers combing through the strawberry blonde hair feeling the head moving on his cock.
“Fuck,” Noah uttered as Henry sucked.
Henry slipped off the cock and stood. He kissed Noah and hugged their bodies together. “Can I?” Henry whispered.
Noah smiled, realizing Henry wanted to fuck him. “Yes.”
Noah led Henry to the unmade bed, pulling the covers to the foot of it, and lay on his back. As Henry climbed onto the foot of it, he raised his legs for him to take. Henry suddenly seemed more aggressive, more determined, as if released from his fears and timidness. Hands grabbed each leg behind his knee and held them up and spread wide apart. He felt his nudity, the complete exposure of his body to Henry and he reached over his head and took the cross rail of the head of the bed and pushed against it.
Cock slapped his ass, back and forth, then pressed against his hole. He tightened his hold on the rail as the cock pushed against his tightness, then stretched his ass open, letting the cock penetrate him. He shuddered with it, moaned as he felt the cock slowly sink into his ass.
“Jesus,” exclaimed Henry when he was halfway in Noah’s ass.
Noah felt Henry tug outward, push back in, slowly working into a steady rhythm, fucking his ass, sinking deeper and deeper until hips pressed against it. The hands tightened their hold on his legs, and he pushed against the rail working his body, arching his back and pushing his ass on the cock as it pushed into him.
“Fuck me. Fuck me, Henry.”
Noah looked at the tousled hair, the flushed face, and the eyes that were watching the cock move inside him, then they looked up staring into his eyes.
“Noah.”
“Fuck me Henry, fuck me harder.”
His legs were pushed up and over until his knees were pressed into the bed and his ass angled up. Henry held his legs and pushed up, hovering over him, and began to fuck harder, faster, hammering his ass.
“Fuck my ass. Fuck it. Fuck me,” exclaimed Noah as Henry shuddered him with every shove into his depths.
Henry kept fucking until sweat dripped down on Noah. Noah reached up running the back of his hand over the stomach and chest feeling the hot slick skin. He felt how the body was moving, undulating with their fuck. He looked up into the determined face, the eyes staring back and the mouth open, Henry gasping for breath.
Noah ached for release. His cock flexed and drooled on his stomach. Henry’s fuck took his breath away, shocked him at the physicality of it. How Henry was battering his insides until he saw stars. The quiet shy Henry aggressive in bed, fucking him with such a fury, he threw his head back, closed his eyes, and moaned.
“Noah,” Henry uttered breathlessly, then shoved into Noah’s depths and tried to jam cock deeper, hammering his upturned ass as cock shot wad after wad into him.
Henry lay next to Noah, body glistening in the dim light and cock still half hard and dripping with the last of his cum. Noah was painfully erect and took his cock in hand and slowly stroked it, wondering if Henry would help him get off, if there was something Henry would do for him. A hand knocked his away, taking his cock. It stroked him slowly.
“Does it hurt?” whispered Henry.
“Just a little when first penetrated,” Noah replied, realizing Henry was nervous about it. “I can loosen you up if you want to try,” he added, rolling to his side and running a hand down the warm slick chest, over the stomach and over the cock. He stroked it, getting it fully erect, then he moved to the nuts, working them around in the sack until Henry spread his legs and shivered from the manipulation.
Noah sat up, moved between the legs, and took the cock in his mouth. As he sucked, he rubbed his fingers down below the nuts. He rubbed along the ass until touching the tight opening. The legs moved, knees coming up and spread wide apart. Noah rubbed the tight opening then he penetrated it. One finger, two, then three, stretching Henry open, working his fingers through the tightness until he felt it loosen.
“Noah, do it,” uttered Henry. “Put it in me.”
Noah came to his knees, took the legs and spread them wide apart as he shifted up to the ass and pushed against it then rubbed his cock across it. He felt Henry push back, and he centered his cock on the tight opening and penetrated it, slowly, gently, easing just the head of his cock into Henry. He held still for a short time, then pushed deeper, inch after inch until over half of his cock was inside him. Then he began to fuck. A slow steady fuck, working his cock deeper and deeper until pressing against the ass. He let go of the legs and Henry took them, holding them up and spread apart as he leaned back, stretched his torso feeling his masculine nature and he pumped is cock into the ass. His pace increased, until rocking Henry. He pumped his cock into the tight ass until he was so aroused he wanted to cum. He shifted position again, moving over Henry. He slipped his arms around the neck and pulled the head up, bent forward, curling Henry up beneath him, and he held him tight. He cradled the lean body against his own and fucked until he couldn’t hold back. He pushed all the way inside Henry and shuddered with his release.
They lounged in bed. Kissed and touched and caressed smooth skin, toyed with nipples, nut sacks, and cocks. They aroused each other until fucking, Henry forever an aggressive top making Noah so aroused he would flip the spent Henry to his back or stomach and fuck him, slowly, making it last as long as he could.
By Sunday morning, waking up intertwined in Henry’s bed, they woke with flaccid cocks, too spent even for a morning woodie. But they were happy, happier than either could admit. Classes hadn’t even started but their new lives had done so.
5
Noah entered the cafeteria starving. It was always such with his class at noon, making him wait until afterward to have lunch, and this day he was later than usual, having gone by his English instructor’s office to discuss the latest assignment. He crossed the room and got in line.
He picked up a tray and looked ahead for what was being served when he saw one of the guys working look up and say something to another guy while pointing across the room back toward the main entrance. Noah, naturally curious, turned to see a man and woman enter the cafeteria. The woman he knew only from photos was the provost and some other position, he couldn’t remember exactly what, but the man he knew. It was his uncle and as he stared across the room, he saw the two of them look his way and his uncle wave him over.
“Excuse me,” said Noah, laying the tray to the side and heading across the room.
“Uncle John, what brings you here?”
“Your uncle has agreed to speak on campus and make a donation to the Architecture department,” the woman replied quickly, making John smile.
“Speak?” Noah uttered, wondering why the university would want him to speak.
“Noah, while I was here, I had to check on you. How are classes going?” said John.
“Good. I’m doing well in all of them.”
“Good, good. How about your social life? I’m worried—”
“It’s good,” Noah interjected, finding himself smiling at the thought of the last three weeks with Henry.
“Have you gone out with anyone? It’s important you not just study and keep up with your classes.”
“I…” Noah stammered, and he looked at the provost then back at his uncle. “Can we talk about this somewhere else.”
John smiled, nodding his head, then he looked at the provost. “Thanks for showing me where to find Noah but would it be too much to ask to let us have some privacy?”
“Oh no, not at all. I have things I need to be doing back in my office. I’ll leave you with Noah,” she replied, stepping back. “Come by my office anytime if you need something, and I’ll email you the arrangements for next month.”
“I’ll watch for it.”
She exited the cafeteria and John turned to Noah. “It’s late and obviously you hadn’t had lunch yet. You want to go grab something and I’ll get us a place to sit.”
Noah nodded, then headed back to the line grateful to see it wasn’t as long. He picked up a tray and slid it down to the section with the entrees. “I’ll have the baked chicken,” said Noah. He saw it was the guy who had first noticed his uncle and the provost, and he appeared to want to ask Noah about them.
“Baked chicken,” said the guy as he handed it over the sneeze guard. “Hey, can I ask how you know John Myles Thompson?”
It threw Noah for a second hearing his uncle’s full name. “He’s my uncle and the person who helped me get into architecture. Why? How do you know him?”
“Are you kidding. His book was a life saver for me. Do you not know he is an activist for the LGBTQ community and has written two books?”
“No. We haven’t talked much over the years for he and my mom don’t get along.”
“Man…I don’t know if you’re gay or not, but if you were…” said the guy, looking across the cafeteria.
“Excuse me, but can we move along,” said the guy behind Noah.
“Sorry,” said Noah, sliding his tray along to get a couple of side dishes.
Noah walked toward his uncle wondering what else he didn’t know about him. All he had known was his mother disliked him, and he had sold some tech company for a fortune, retiring to a place in the mountains outside Arlington. But what the guy said, this other person, one he should know, was a shock to him.
Noah set his tray down and sat across from his uncle.
“Looks good. I’m glad to see you don’t always eat junk food,” said John.
“There are times I live on pizza.”
John laughed. “Well, most students do at one time or another.”
John let Noah start to eat, who tried to think of where to start. He had so much to learn about his uncle, realizing this was the first time they were together, not planning his future and getting enrolled at the university.
“That guy in the serving line said you saved his life with your book. I didn’t know you wrote a book.”
“I should have told you sooner, but I wanted you away from your mom first, for I know how she thinks of it.”
“She is judgmental,” whispered Noah.
“Before I sold the company I had began to support certain causes that were important to me and Louis.”
“Louis?”
“My partner for the last fourteen years.”
“Oh, I had no idea.”
“Nor did I expect you to know. I realize we should have had this conversation before now, but I got caught up in this book tour for my new book and…just let the time get away from me.”
“What books did you write?”
“You’re not shocked by my telling you I’m gay and have a partner, instead ask about the books?”
Noah smiled, nodding his head.
“Noah, at dad’s funeral I thought I saw something in you. Something I recognized, and it made me worry about you. Was I wrong? If so, I apolo—”
“You’re not wrong.”
“And you’re dating someone already?” said John, grinning in a knowing manner.
Noah felt his face flush hot, and he smiled back. “Yes.”
“We have much to discuss. First the books. The first was a novel, a story of a young man finding his way in a community unaccepting.”
“There was no way mom would let me find out about that book.”
“Definitely not and living in Vicksburg made it easy for her to isolate you. I know it was tough.”
“And the other books?”
“The second one is meant to give people like yourself hope. It’s a book about activism and the strides that have been gained and those lost. But I went back through history, showing that for every setback, that societies eventually move forward, sometimes with big leaps, sometimes with small steps.”
“I’ll have to look for it.”
“I’ll send you a copy if you want it.”
“Yes!” Noah exclaimed, knowing he responded far too enthusiastically. “What is the new book about?”
“Another fiction. It seems to be the best means to educating people to be more tolerant and showing others a way forward.”
“Especially for someone stuck in a small town.”
“As we both know all too well. Now tell me about this boy you’re dating.”
“Noah?”
Noah looked up over his uncle seeing Henry approaching. He smiled, then looked to see his uncle smiling at him.
“I assume he’s the boyfriend,” said John, then turning to see Henry approaching. “He’s cute.”
“Yes, he is.”
Noah and Henry waved as John pulled out of the parking lot heading home. There were introductions, talk about Henry’s life and the similarities to John and Noah’s. When they finally exited the cafeteria, John asked Noah if he was going home over the holidays.
I don’t think so, Noah replied, knowing how it sounded.
John invited him to come to stay with Louis and him and they could get to know each other better, then he told Henry he was invited too.
As the black Mercedes drove away, Noah wondered if Henry could come after Christmas and spend the last part of their break with him at John and Louis’ place.
“Henry?”
“Yes Noah.”
“I know you want to go home for the break but…do you think you would want to come back to my uncle’s place after Christmas?”
“I’d love to, but was your uncle sincerely inviting me?”
Noah looked at Henry with a grin. “Of course.”
“That would be nice,” said Henry, slipping his hand into Noah’s. Henry had been more affectionate, willing to do public gestures over the last week, and this new gesture, holding hands, Noah knew, was a new effort to show his caring, something Noah dared not call love, not yet. “My room mate is playing football with some guys this afternoon.”
Noah knew what he meant and smiled. They had an opportunity for privacy. “Let’s go.”
6
Henry tugged Noah’s T-shirt off, roughly, quickly, then he kissed him with passion while working Noah’s jeans undone. He stripped Noah, got him naked as quickly as possible. He manhandled Noah to the bed, playfully pushing him down on it.
“You want to suck this?” said Noah, waving his cock at Henry.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to fuck me?”
“Yes.”
“Get naked.”
Henry stripped as Noah watched. The shirt, shoes, socks, jeans, and finally boxers. His cock was half hard, and his body showed someone horny, flushed with desire. Henry looked at Noah with longing, stroking his cock getting it to start to become erect.
“Henry,” said Noah.
Henry moved to the bed and down between the spread legs. He sucked Noah, took the cock, moving on it with such a familiar way that made Noah moan and shiver. He fingered Noah’s ass, tugged on the nuts, and kept sucking the cock.
Noah was soon feeling so aroused he wanted to cum, and Henry came off his cock, leaving it flexing with his arousal. As Henry moved over him, he raised his legs wrapping them around the narrow waist as cock pressed against his ass. A push by Henry, and he felt his ass stretch open taking the cock. It pushed inward slowly, until he felt the full penetration. Henry held still letting him loosen to it. Then Henry fucked. Fucked with a steady rhythm.
Noah relished the feel of it. Henry moving inside him and on top of him. His senses were consumed by Henry, perceiving nothing else. Just the heat of the body rubbing against him, how the legs rubbed along is own, and the way cock piston inside him.
Henry rose to his knees, took Noah’s legs and spread them apart, and renewed their fuck, only faster, hammering cock inside him. He fucked until sweating, gasping for breath and Noah was stroking his cock to the point of release. Noah came first, shuddering with his release, cum raining down on his chest and stomach as his ass spasm around Henry’s cock.
Henry shoved into Noah, jamming his hips against the ass as his cock pumped out his load.
Henry lay on his stomach, Noah on his back working cock into his depths. An arm around the neck, and Noah pulled his head up, kissing the neck, around the ear and along the side of the face, never slowing the working of hips, of fucking cock into him. Their fuck would last a long time, with positions changed until Noah was sitting against the wall, sideways on the bed, Henry moving on his cock while they kissed. Noah stroked Henry’s cock while Henry’s ass moved up and down on his cock. Henry cried out and the cock flexed in Noah’s hand then sprayed cum over his stomach.
As Henry came, Noah banged his head against the wall and erupted inside him. The ass moved up and down on his spurting cock until he couldn’t take it, and he pulled Henry down on it all the way and hugged him, burying his face in the crook of the neck.
“Fuck,” Noah uttered breathlessly.
Before Henry’s roommate returned, Noah slipped out of the room to head back to his dorm. He pulled the door closed and turned to see the guys from across the hall at their door looking at him. Noah looked from Zhiyu to Ethan and smiled back at them.
“Hey Zhiyu. Ethan. How’s it going?”
“Not as good as ole Henry and you.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Noah replied, brushing them off as he headed down the hall. He heard them laugh, it diminishing down from them going back into their room.
Going across the lawn, Noah wondered what it would be like at his uncle’s house over Christmas, then he wondered what he would tell his mom and dad, knowing that no matter what they said, he was going to Uncle John’s.
Epilogue
Noah stood on the balcony overlooking the drive where it curved up from below and across the front of the house nestled in the woods on the side of the mountain. The sun was below the western ridge and long shadows stretched across the front yard. The front of the house was lit with Christmas lights along the eaves and LED candles in each window. Noah looked back inside as his uncle and Louis stirred in the kitchen, preparing seafood for dinner, a break from the turkey and ham of the last few days. The kitchen sat behind the family room, a large space with exposed timber framed roof. Centered in the room a large leather sofa and an Eames lounge chair. To the side of the room, a Christmas tree that had to be twelve feet tall, something Louis was adamant about putting up when John said Noah was coming for the holidays. Below it, opened gifts lying in their boxes. Sadie and Winston, their two border collies, crossed the room with their tails wagging. It was a perfect scene. There had been no arguments or disparaging comments, just a loving family, something Noah had begun to wonder if existed.
He heard a car approaching and turned to see Henry coming up the drive. He leaned on the railing watching the old Cherokee ease up the gravel drive and to the front of the house. Henry climbed out and looked up smiling.
“You made it,” said Noah.
“Yep.”
“I’ll come down and let you in.”
“Okay,” said Henry. “OH, Noah.”
Noah stopped at the French doors and went back to the railing to look down. “Yes.”
“Merry Christmas.”
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