1
Jasper came out of his English class, still processing the fact he had made it to high school. He was a freshman; a ninth grader at Christopher Stallworth High School. He moved down the hall, seeing older students he had not seen in one or two years and some that were unknown to him. He rushed to catch up with Evan and Cheryl, who were coming out of their Spanish language class. Evan had been his best friend since kindergarten and Cheryl since the seventh grade.
“How was Spanish,” said Jasper, coming up next to Cheryl, putting her between Evan and him.
“Sucks,” said Evan.
“You’re just not paying attention,” said Cheryl to Evan, then she turned to Jasper. “It’s fine.”
Jasper knew fine meant a lot of things but never something good. It made him worry about his class in French.
“Shit, here come the assholes,” uttered Evan in a low voice.
Jasper looked up and saw it was who he expected. Cole, followed by his gang of two, TJ and Steve. They were infamous for their bullying and for their barely passing grades. He thought of them as neanderthals.
Evan led them to the wall between two banks of lockers where they stood with backs against it. Cole knocked Harry’s books from his hands, then TJ kicked them down the hall. The three boys laughed as they shoved Harry to the wall as they continued down it.
Cheryl stepped forward and Evan held out a hand. “Don’t. You know they’ll bully you just as bad.”
Jasper felt himself holding his breath and looking down at the floor. He could see their feet as they came upon them, the first turning toward him.
“Jasper Cline, you pussy. Hey guys look, it’s the cocksucker and his bestest friends,” said Cole with such sarcasm Jasper had to look up. He saw it in the eyes, something broken, twisted by meanness.
Jasper heard TJ and Steve adding their own commentary, but he didn’t notice what they were saying, instead he was focused on Cole Bailey, realizing he was taller, making him look up. He stood taller to emphasize the difference knowing it was the wrong thing to do, but he was sick of Cole’s bullying and didn’t intend on enduring it in high school
“What are you looking at,” said Cole, getting in Jasper’s face.
Jasper knew Cole was standing on his toes and it amused him. He looked into the grey eyes and smiled.
“Fuck you,” exclaimed Cole, grabbing Jasper by the shoulder strap of his backpack and swinging him around. It happened too fast, and Jasper lost his footing and went down onto the floor. He looked up at Evan and Cheryl, shaking his head, then up at the three guys coming toward him.
“Stop!”
Everyone looked down the hall seeing Tyler, Alexander, Sara, and Emily coming down the hall. Tyler was in front with a serious expression that was focused on Cole.
“Beat it, Tyler, this doesn’t concern you,” said Cole.
Tyler came up to Cole and it was obvious he was now over six feet tall. “Leave him alone.”
“What do you care about some ninth grader?”
Tyler stepped closer, less than a foot between them, but he didn’t lower his voice, instead he spoke louder. “Because he’s mine!”
Silence. Not a sound in the hall. Everyone stood in shock, looking at Tyler and Cole, then down at Jasper Cline. Was Jasper Cline, only thirteen years old, Tyler Hughes’ boyfriend? Tyler was a junior. Sixteen years old, and no sixteen-year-old would go out with a freshman. Would they? And was Tyler gay? No one believed it, not for a moment. Tyler was an athlete, the captain of the track team. He was tall and muscular, and he was attractive, and dated girls, and…there was no way.
No one doubted it more than Jasper.
Cole uttered “fuck you,” then took off down the hall with TJ and Steve in tow. Tyler turned to Jasper, holding out a hand to help him up.
“Come on, Jasper.”
Jasper climbed to his feet on his own and looked at Tyler like he was crazy. Insane to open himself up to the gossip that was sure to occur. “Why did you say that?”
Tyler smiled. “To make him stop. If he keeps messing with you, come find me or one of the guys,” motioning toward Alexander and a guy Jasper hadn’t noticed before. “You know Alexander, and this is Ian. He went to Hillbrook Middle,” referring to the school north of town.
“Alexander. Ian…nice to meet you,” said Jasper not sure how to feel about everything or to respond to this sudden civility.
The bell rang for the start of the third period, and everyone rushed to get to class.
2
The cafeteria was crowded, with students coming from the serving line, and a few who had gotten there early, taking their trays to the conveyor belt. Jasper came from the serving line, tray in hand, and scanned the room until he saw Cheryl waving to get his attention. Making his way across the room, he passed the tables with some of the seniors, then one with football players. He zig-zagged across the room, passing eleventh graders, a table with the Goth crowd, then one with the geek squad, one of them sketching something with four others looking on intently as their food was getting cold. Then he hesitated, almost turned around to go another way, for before him there was Tyler, Alexander, and Sara on one side of a table and Emily, Ian and two others opposite.
Jasper felt eyes upon him, waiting to see if there would be an interaction between him and Tyler. This is insane, Jasper thought as he continued making his way to pass them.
“Hey, Jasper, you okay,” said Tyler. Everyone looked at Jasper, even those at nearby tables.
“Yes, I’m fine,” Jasper replied, speeding up to get to Cheryl and Evan and away from Tyler.
He sat next to Cheryl with Evan opposite, more conscience than ever about appearances. The last thing he had wanted was to draw attention to himself. He glanced around and saw everyone had turned their attention back to their friends, talking among themselves.
“What did Tyler say?” said Cheryl.
“Just asked if I was okay.”
“Well, don’t freak out about it. Everyone is saying Tyler was just being Tyler and trying to make Cole and his thugs leave you alone.”
“That is some way to do that,” said Evan.
“Tell me about it,” said Jasper as he began to eat.
Cheryl turned to Lisa and Debra who sat opposite and picked up their conversation about volleyball, the three of them planning on going out for team. Jasper listened to them until his thoughts about Tyler distracted him, and he began to think about it. Thinking about what would happen if he came out. He had planned to do so last year but chickened out when that protest happened at the library. He had checked out most of the books they were wanting removed and he worried his name would be revealed as one who read them.
He glanced over at Evan. Would Evan be okay with finding out his best friend was gay. He knew Cheryl would be supportive, his one-person support group. Looking across the table, he felt like their other friends would be too. But Evan he worried about. They had slept together as kids, seen each other naked, changing clothes or skinny dipping in the Ackerman’s pool when they were gone on vacation. They wrestled around and roughhoused. Would finding out he was gay give all that some meaning not intended. Would Evan distance himself from him.
Looking across the cafeteria, Jasper considered which groups would ostracize him and which would be supportive. He searched for Bobby and Jackson, two who had come out. Bobby was in the tenth grade and Jackson in the eleventh grade. Jasper expected them to be sitting together but saw Jackson sitting down at Tyler’s table next to Sara. He looked around to his left and found Bobby sitting with classmates, laughing at something someone said. It all looked normal, and he smiled.
“What’s so funny?” said Lisa.
“Nothing,” said Jasper, smiling even more, knowing it would frustrate her to think he was hiding something. And he was hiding something that seemed dumb as hell when he thought about it.
“Jasper…hey Jasper.”
Jasper and everyone else at his table turned to see Brian Williams coming to their table. Jasper sized him up, having noticed how much Brian had changed over the summer. Brian had the dark brown skin tone of his father and looks inherited from his mother. He was tall, at least six feet tall with a lanky build and could be found most often on a basketball court, so it was no surprise he was captain of the junior varsity basketball team.
“Brian, what’s up?” said Jasper as Brian sat down next to him.
“You’re coming out for basketball, right?”
“What? No. I can’t play basketball.”
“Dude, you’re taller than I am. You just need to practice.”
“And work out?”
Brian smiled. “That too.”
“Go on, Jasper, sign up. You know your mom will be thrilled if you play,” said Evan, knowing his mom played in high school and college.
“We have a team meeting after school, and if you need a ride home, I’ll take you,” said Brian.
“What if I’m not good enough?” said Jasper.
“Shit, Jasper, you play with your mom, and she can probably beat most of the guys here,” said Evan.
“She certainly beats me a lot,” uttered Jasper. He had considered it, even mentioning it to his mom. Evan was right about her being all for it. But he had sucked at Little League and refused to play on any team sports since then, but he had been playing basketball at home, with his older brother, Luke, until he left for college, and with his mom and dad. He had improved the last year, and finding himself at six foot one, the layups were definitely easier.
“Jasper?” said Brian.
“I’ll need to call home and let them know—”
“Hurry up and eat and we can go to the office and call before the bell rings,” said Brian grinning ear to ear.
4
Jasper was going down the hall not paying attention, for he was trying to process all that had happened his first week of ninth grade. He was on the basketball team, and once the coach (and he) found out how good he was compared to the others, he was made a starter. His mom was thrilled and said they could practice on the weekends, and she’d show him some moves. Then there was Cole, TJ, and Steve. They had avoided him all week, once they even went into the library to avoid crossing paths. He wondered if that was their first time being in it. And yesterday he did it. He had stammered and forgot everything he had prepared to say, but he had done it, came out to his friends. It had been better than expected because Evan had just smiled then told him how he knew something was going on. Over the course of the day, word spread through the school until Bobby said hello to him when they passed. Despite all that was happening in the country, in his small-town school it seemed he would be okay.
Then there was Tyler Hughes. All six foot three inches of him (Jasper had looked at his stats online for the varsity basketball team) made him feel breathless. He wasn’t sure if it was what Tyler had said the other day or if it was because he found him attractive and was using him for some nocturnal fantasies.
“Hey Jasper, congrats on making the team,” said Tyler coming up beside him throwing an arm around his neck.
“Thanks Tyler,” said Jasper feeling trapped, like he should be pulling away.
“Those assholes haven’t tried anything have they?”
Jasper knew who Tyler meant, and he shook his head no.
“Good. I think you can handle yourself, but if they gang up on you, let me know.”
“Why? What will you do?”
“I’ll go into the principal’s office and make a scene!” Tyler exclaimed.
Jasper found Tyler’s foolishness funny, and he laughed as they moved down the hall with some staring at them.
“Tyler, maybe you shouldn’t—”
“Shouldn’t what?”
“Have you heard I…I…”
“Came out? Yes. So, what?”
“But people might think you’re gay…you know, after saying what you did the other day.”
“Maybe I am gay.” Tyler laughed, then released Jasper. “I do need to hurry. I’ve got Mrs. French’s history class, and it is in Coleman Hall.”
Jasper watched Tyler rush down the hall until he caught up with Teresa. He slowed to her pace, said something, making the two of them laugh, then they rushed down the hall to their class.
“He’s not gay,” uttered Jasper, finding the whole notion funny.
Jasper sat behind Evan as the teacher began. Cheryl and the others were in a different class, so it was just the two of them to endure another reading of the next chapter. He tried to listen to the dull drone as the teacher read from their textbook, but he began to think of Nathan and Chris from basketball practice, the two of them in tenth grade. Were they being friendly because he was good at basketball or was there another reason. He tried to picture Nathan as gay, then Chris, something even harder to visualize. He considered Johnny from his English class, who sat behind him, legs stretched out either side of his desk. Johnny was attractive in a disheveled, tousled haired way. Hey, have you ever listened to Ministry or Skinny Puppy? Johnny had asked that morning. Who? he had replied, honestly never having heard of either. But he was curious and intended to look them up when he got home. He thought of Keith, whom he only shared the bus ride to school, never after what with basketball practice. But since coming out, Keith seemed friendlier, even sitting next to him the last two days. He wondered what would happen if he put his hand on Keith’s leg. Would it freak him out, or reciprocate, giving his leg a little squeeze.
Then there was Tyler. He was gay, then not gay, then maybe he was bisexual. Jasper didn’t know what to believe, but he thought about it all the time. The varsity team had practiced on the court while the junior varsity worked out in the weight room then ran laps outside on the track that circled the football field. They had arrived at the locker rooms together. Until that moment, Jasper had been able to play it cool, not look at the other guys, or not in an obvious manner. He knew most of it was just checking out the other guy, and he had seen the others do it. But with Tyler in the room, bare torso glistening with sweat and the shorts then boxers dropping to the floor, he looked. Fuck how big would that get, he wondered when he saw a cock nearly four inches long hanging flaccid over the nuts. He eventually forced himself to look away, then looked back once to see if Tyler had noticed. Tyler smiled at him as he flipped a towel over the shoulder heading to the showers.
“Fuck,” Jasper uttered turning to face his locker.
A towel popped his ass and Tyler strolled by. “Hurry up, Jasper, or you might have to take a cold shower.”
Jasper heard the guys chuckling and Brian came up next to him, naked with a cock as big as Tyler’s hanging right there in his sightline.
“Man, Tyler does like to fuck with you,” said Brian as he gave Jasper a gently slap on the back. “Grab your towel and come on. Let’s get cleaned up.”
In the showers, a room with open stalls down two sides, Jasper took the first one, the one furthest from Tyler, and began to shower. He faced the wall, not turning until he had to, and he came face to face with Tyler standing at his shower watching him.
“W-w-what?” Jasper stammered.
“For a ninth grader, you really have a nice body. No wonder you’re so good on the court.”
Then Tyler was gone, leaving Jasper to stand there wondering if he heard right, then realizing it might have been a bit of a backhanded compliment.
5
The year passed quickly, one day after the next, making weeks pass, then months, until Jasper was walking out of the school finished with his freshman year. He saw Tyler drive away wondering about him. How when least expected, Tyler would show up making some comment, but everyone had long since considered it just him joking around. But that morning Jasper found himself being led down the hall, arm around his neck as Tyler leaned in close. What are you doing this summer? Are you going to do anything fun? Not too fun, you have to save yourself for me. Then a grin that made the comments a joke. They had to be, but then Jasper remembered when he went to a movie with Cheryl, Evan, and Bobby, how Tyler cornered him the next Monday. Did you go on a date with Bobby? You didn’t lose your virginity, did you? You know you’ve got to save that for me. Seriously, did you have fun? Jasper laughed at him, shaking his head. We just went to a movie, but what if I had messed around with him. He’s gay after all. A test, a little push to see if Tyler would admit to being bisexual.
It was a running joke. Had to be.
But it didn’t stop him from fantasizing about messing around with Tyler.
The summer was filled with trips to the beach with his family, to the lake with his friends, and hooking up with them in town to stroll in the dying mall or hang out at a coffee shop or the café/bakery. Evan and he hung out with some other guys playing video games, a past time that he knew took up far too much of his time. And he worked out, jogged, rode his bike, at times with his brother who pushed him. Made him exert himself until a sweating fatigued mess.
As August arrived, Jasper came into his bedroom from the bathroom to get dressed. He tossed the towel over his chair and headed to the chest of drawers for boxers. He stopped when he saw himself in the mirror. He realized he had not been looking at himself until he was dressed for weeks, not looking at his body since sometime in June when he felt his body wasn’t changing. All his working out had seemed futile. But now he saw his body had changed. Changed a lot. He flexed his bicep seeing the muscle bulge larger than before. His stomach was flat, and his chest was gaining definition. Nothing like his older brother but he knew at only fourteen there was no way he could be.
He faced the mirror and raised his arms and flexed the biceps again, smiling at the change. Then he looked at his torso, then his cock, seeing it flex as he thought about some of the guys seeing him naked. He felt attractive, masculine, something new to him, but he realized it seemed so natural.
His door swung open, and Luke walked in. “What are you doing?” he asked in a joking tone.
Jasper started to cover himself, then he just turned to the mirror again. “I’m looking at the changes.”
Luke dropped down into the desk chair and slowly spun around. “The working out is starting to pay off, but little brother, you’ll never be this pumped,” he said holding up his right arm and flexing the huge bicep.
“Gym rat.”
“Jealous.”
Jasper turned to his brother shaking his head. “At one time, yes, but I’m satisfied to just have a nice build.”
“You’ll get hit on a lot if you stop wearing all that loose shit. Wear something tight, like a white T-shirt. Or maybe a loose tank top. And tight jeans; show off that Cline ass.”
“Dress like you?”
“Yes.”
Jasper finally slipped on boxers, followed by the cargo shorts that were on top in their drawer, then he sat on his bed. “Are you dating anyone seriously?” He wanted to change the subject, and this was something they had never talked about.
Luke shrugged, “nah, nothing serious. I’ve got two more years at university and it’s no time to be in a serious relationship. Besides, I’m having too much fun.”
“Perv,” Jasper uttered, trying to suppress a smile.
Then a silence fell between them, and Jasper could see Luke was wanting to say something.
“Jasper, can I ask you something?”
“Yes.”
“I ran into Paul and his younger brother, Tyler at the Burger Shack.”
“Yeah,” Jasper replied, sensing this was it. His brother knew he was gay.
“Paul asked me what it was like to have a gay brother. Tyler jumped in and denied it, said Paul was just repeating rumors from their school, but…” Luke looked up at Jasper, his expression serious, “it’s true, isn’t it?”
Jasper’s initial intuition was to deny it, but that was the old Jasper, the one that lacked confidence. He smiled at Luke, making him smile back as if a joke was passing between them. “Yes, it’s true.”
Jasper was sweating and breathing hard, but he maintained his pace, pedaled with every ounce of energy he could still summon, feeling his strength and the stamina that had him beating his brother for the first time. Luke was behind him, a good thirty or forty feet back.
“Okay, little brother, you’ve proved your point. Slow down,” yelled Luke.
“Come on, pedal!” Jasper replied, standing up on the pedals to maintain his pace, climbing the last hill before they could coast back into their neighborhood.
Nothing had changed between them, or maybe everything had changed. Luke was more open about his relationships, giving advice, and asking how Jasper was dealing with being gay. Was it something that really changed things or did he feel the same?
The next week Luke would leave to go back to university and Jasper would enter the tenth grade. To their mom’s excitement, Jasper knew he was on the varsity basketball team, and he had to admit to Luke he was looking forward to it. What he didn’t say was he wondered what it would be like to be on the team with Tyler Hughes.
6
Jasper came down the hall, falling in next to Evan. They had been back at school for two weeks and already there were papers to write, exams to study for, and more assignments than they were used to.
“You want to study together this weekend?” said Evan.
“Sure. My place or yours?”
“Yours. Your mom always has the best snacks.”
They slipped around Sara, Emily, and Ian huddled up in conversation. Jasper noted there was no Alexander or Tyler, and he couldn’t help but notice Ian smile at him.
“Shit,” uttered Evan.
“What is it,” said Jasper turning from looking back at Ian. “Oh.”
Cole, TJ, and Steve were coming down the hall. They had avoided the three bullies until now, but they would soon come face to face. Jasper noticed how Evan bristled, expecting the worst.
Cole came up behind Carlos, a ninth grader, and knocked his backpack to the floor.
“Why don’t you go back to Mexico,” said Cole.
“I’m not from Mexico, asshole,” Carlos replied.
Jasper was glad to see Carlos standing up to Cole, but he knew the smaller boy didn’t stand a chance. Cole shoved him to the wall, putting a hand on the throat choking him.
“Stop!” yelled Jasper, so loud it silenced the hall.
Cole turned to him, sizing him up.
Jasper moved up to Cole, real close, getting into his face. “Unless you want the whole school to see a gay boy beat your ass, let him go.”
TJ began to move on Jasper, but Jasper grabbed Cole, jerked him away from Carlos and swung him around pushing him into TJ. They stumbled against each other, nearly falling, then stood up ready to rush him. Then they stopped, looking up wide-eyed.
Tyler and Ian came up next to Jasper, Ian cracking his knuckles.
“We told you to leave Jasper alone,” said Tyler.
“He came at us,” Cole exclaimed.
“After you were bullying Carlos,” said Jasper.
“You don’t get it,” said Tyler stepping closer. “You are not to bully anyone.”
“Afraid your boyfriend will get hurt,” said Steven from behind TJ and Cole.
“No, I’m afraid he would have to go the principal’s office to explain why he had to whip all three of your asses.”
Carlos laughed and Cole turned to approach him.
“I said leave him alone,” said Jasper.
“He another faggot,” said Cole.
Tyler put a hand on Jasper’s chest stopping. “Let it go; he’s not worth it.”
Jasper relaxed, then looked at Carlos worried the ninth grader would be embarrassed or hurt by the reference. Carlos was smirking, shaking his head at Cole.
Cole, TJ, and Steve shoved past and went down the hall with everyone looking at them with disgust. Tyler turned to Jasper and slapped his hand down on the shoulder.
“He’s such an asshole. I would tell you to call me if he tries something, but I’ve seen you’ve been working out. Nice bod by the way,” said Tyler, who turned to look at everyone around them. “Hands off; he’s mine! Mine I tell you.”
Everyone laughed, knowing Tyler was joking around. Jasper felt his face flush red despite it being a joke, then turned to Carlos. “Don’t let them mess with you.”
“I’ll call you if I need help,” said Carlos, grinning at Jasper.
“Alright,” said Jasper, then he motioned for Evan for they had to get to class.
Tenth grade was nothing like Jasper expected. It was all to do with him on the varsity basketball team. Over the course of the season, they won game after game. They were a 2A school and had to play 3A schools, and even one 4A school, and yet they kept winning, losing only to two 3A school and the one 4A school. Jasper was suddenly popular in a way that made him nervous, so he clung close to his friends.
They lost at the state championships to the school that won it all, but the team was thrilled just to go, for it had been nearly a decade since their last trip to the state level. Jasper smiled every time he thought of Tyler grabbing him in a bear hug as they celebrated their arrival for the state competitions.
Then the end of the school year was approaching, and Jasper was busy with exams, hanging out with his friends when he could, and found himself going out with a boy from one of their rival schools, one he had played against. They dated a few times then they moved on, the distance too great for two fifteen-year-old boys.
7
Jasper became a junior, a starter on the varsity basketball team, and a more confident person. But school was different, and he knew it was Tyler, and even Ian and Alexander, no longer there, having graduated from high school. But oddly, and when it happened, he wasn’t sure, but Evan and he took on the roles Tyler and his friends had filled. How many times did Evan, and he must warn Cole, TJ, and Steven to back off he wasn’t sure, but it was far too often. The three boys didn’t challenge them, probably because Jasper was six foot three and pushing one hundred and ninety pounds. He towered over the three boys, especially Cole, and had at least twenty pounds on him. Evan had told Jasper a few boys told Cole he would get his ass handed to him if he messed with Jasper.
Jasper found it slightly amusing, this notion he could be a brawler, but then again, the sight of Cole tormenting some younger boy made him think it.
Jasper had come out to his parents before the start of school, something not totally surprising. It seemed word had gotten back to them, and they were waiting for him to come to them. It allowed Jasper to be open about it, to go out on dates with boys his age, or for Halloween, that senior from Madison County High. The small town and surrounding region offered few opportunities, but Jasper didn’t feel lonely or left out. He took the opportunities afforded him, knowing college would be different.
He was filling out applications for college, and it put him in the frame of mind to think of it. He considered what it would be like, on his own in such an atmosphere. Luke told such stories of his antics, Jasper wondered what it would be like for him.
Summer arrived blistering hot, and a calendar filled with plans. A trip to the beach with Evan and his family, a trip to the mountains for a family vacation, and a camping trip to a lake with Luke and a couple of his friends. There were long evenings playing basketball against Luke or some of the guys from his team, nights with Evan watching movies and playing video games, and Saturday nights just hanging out.
It was normal. Simply normal, and Jasper felt content as the days passed until he was strolling into the high school for his last year.
Jasper stayed busy with basketball, preparations for college, assignments, and spending time with his friends. He finished his last year of basketball, turned eighteen, and began to look to the future, thinking time had slowed for graduation seemed so far away.
On a Friday evening, just after seven, Jasper came out of the Bad Bull Pizza. He had met Evan and Cheryl there for dinner wondering whether to go home or cruise around town for a bit. He had not done so in some time. Who knows, he might meet someone he amusingly told himself as he started across the asphalt lot behind the restaurant. He stopped to let an old Land Cruiser pass, one he considered ancient, 1980s model, for his grandfather’s neighbor had one. He looked at his cellphone waiting on it to pass, but it pulled up next to him and stopped.
He looked up to see Tyler Huges behind the wheel.
“Hey, Jasper, how have you been?”
“Good. Is this yours?”
“You like it? It belonged to this old guy down in Bluff Springs. When he died, his son sold it to me.”
“Isn’t it a bit…old?”
“Noo, it’s great. Come on, hop in and I’ll take you for a ride.”
“Are you fucking with me?”
“You want me to?” said Tyler, grinning mischievously.
“Give it a rest; Jesus,” said Jasper as he circled around the front of the Land Cruiser and climbed into the passenger seat. “Okay, show me what she’ll do,” he joked.
Tyler put the Land Cruiser into gear and eased around the parking lot heading to the street.
“Shouldn’t you be at college?” said Jasper as Tyler maneuvered around the restaurant.
“Spring break.”
“No wild hedonist partying in Fort Lauderdale?”
“Nah., I got you for that.”
“You know there are still some in high school that think you’re gay.”
“Really.” It was stated so flatly it was obvious Tyler didn’t care.
“Are you?”
The question hung in the air as Tyler pulled out onto the road and accelerated. A short distance up the road, he swung right heading toward the park.
“Let’s say I’m flexible.”
“Bisexual,” said Jasper, then he turned to Tyler. “So, you have fucked around with a guy. Anyone I know?”
Tyler laughed. “No, no one from around here.”
Tyler drove past the middle school, then turned into the park, driving past the parking lot at the tennis courts where some congregated, and around to the parking at the baseball diamonds where the lights were out and the lane through the park dark. Tyler backed into a parking space so they could see any passing cars.
“Tyler?”
“Yes?”
“Do you like me?”
“Of course.”
Jasper looked at Tyler, leaned back, head against the headrest just staring ahead. “Not as friends and not even that when I was in ninth grade.” It was stated as fact.
“I just wanted to make that asshole leave you alone.”
“You did that,” Jasper replied, chuckling at the memory of Cole avoiding him afterward.
“You know, I was a senior and…you came back to school so different. You were, what, tenth grade, and suddenly you were so tall and starting to fill out. Jesus, do you realize how cute you were…are.”
“People told me that and getting on the varsity team, it made me realize…it gave me confidence.”
“Jasper, we all have our moments of doubt. We just need to push through them.”
Jasper turned, bringing his left leg up on the wide passenger seat. There was no console blocking him from doing it. He stared at Tyler who cut his eyes over to him.
“You know there were times I fantasized about you. God, I felt like a goddamn fool doing it, thinking there was no way someone two years older would want anything to do with me.”
“That two years was huge when we were in school.”
“I’m still in school.”
“Smartass. Not for long you’re not.”
“Did you know I turned eighteen two weeks ago?”
“So?” Tyler replied in a sarcastic tone.
“Fuck you,” Jasper replied, laughing.
Tyler put a hand on Jasper’s knee. “Do you really want to?”
“Huh?”
“You know. Fuck me?”
The hand slid up Jasper’s thigh getting closer to his crotch.
“In the worst way.”
“God, that sounded like something Ian would say.”
The hand got closer, and Tyler had to sit up to reach all the way. Jasper moved his left leg over until against the back of the seat and he was turned to Tyler.
“Have Ian and—”
“No, not in that context.”
The hand was right at Jasper’s crotch squeezing the thigh.
“Touch me, Tyler.”
Fingers rubbed over Jasper’s crotch, searched for his cock, finding it stretching out.
“I’ll do what you want,” whispered Jasper.
Tyler smiled then sat up starting the Land Cruiser.
“Where are we going?”
“My place. My folks are gone for a couple of days.”
“I have to be home by eleven thirty.”
“Plenty of time. We’ll go back to your car, and you can follow me.”
“Okay,” Jasper replied, holding his breath for a minute afraid to say something that would cause the moment to come to an end.
Jasper sat next to Tyler on his bed. The whole house was silent, just the dull sound of air being pushed through the ductwork, a white noise that drowned out the noise of passing traffic except for the pulpwood truck that motored by struggling with its load.
“This is crazy,” Jasper whispered.
“What’s crazy? Do you regret coming?”
“No, no, I…” Jasper stammered, the fell silent. Four years have passed since ninth grade. Four years for a lot to change, realizing the biggest change was himself. “I get the age difference was a big thing, and you weren’t sure about…you know, you’re preference, but you said you had found me cute in tenth grade, and…and I don’t know what I’m trying to say.”
“You’re not sure why now. Why have I brought you home with me now.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I think I know myself better than before and the time seemed right.”
“Is this just a hook up? A one-night stand?”
“I wish it weren’t the case, but I know our lives will get pulled in different directions at some point. Should we just hang out—”
Jasper put his hand on Tyler’s leg stopping him from talking. “Shut up Tyler and kiss me.”
Tyler leaned to Jasper who closed his eyes waiting. They kissed, gently, simple little kisses that quickly became more passionate. Tyler reached between Jasper’s legs and touched him, ran fingers along the cock as it stirred with Jasper’s arousal. Then Jasper was touching Tyler, moving his fingers over the cock, squeezing it, feeling along its growing length. Tyler stood and held out his hand to help Jasper stand. He kissed him, then took the hem of Jasper’s T-shirt and tugged upward. Jasper raised his arms, and Tyler pulled the shirt off and tossed it onto the floor. He leaned forward, kissing the neck, across the right shoulder, then down the chest until he could tongue one nipple then the other. On the right one, he flicked his tongue across it, then light bit down on it making Jasper shudder. He stooped before Jasper, undid the cargo shorts letting them drop to the ankles as he buried his face into the crotch. He felt the cock against his cheek, and he turned to it, mouthing it, working his lips and tongue over it until at the head and he sucked on it through the thin fabric of the boxers.
“Tyler,” Jasper uttered.
Tyler tugged the boxers down until they fell on top of the shorts, and he captured the cock in his mouth and moved on it until the head pushed into his throat.
Tyler sucked and manipulated the cock until it curved upward, erect, and glistening wetly. He looked up at Jasper. “What do you want?”
Jasper wasn’t sure how to just say it. That he wanted Tyler to fuck him, but he also wanted to fuck Tyler, the two options looking up at him. He backed up to the bed and eased down on it, rotating around. Tyler quickly stripped and followed him, eased on the bed at the foot of it about to lay on top of him, but Jasper held his legs up.
“Tyler, do me. Do me first.”
Tyler held the legs watching Jasper hold his cock aligning it with the ass. He pushed against the tightness until seeing it penetrate Jasper. He shivered by the feel of it, how it squeezed the head, then the shaft as he slowly pushed inward until half of his cock was inside him.
Jasper arched his back pushing down on the cock, taking nearly all of it, as he worked his body with his arousal. It was his first time, and he clutched at the bed and worked his ass on the cock, then lay still looking up at Tyler. “Fuck me.”
Jasper shuddered as cock bore into his depths. He stared at Tyler, watched how it affected him, this shared intimacy between them. He watched the familiar body, one so different now that it was working cock inside him, the tug and push that quickly became a fuck. Jasper threw his head back and fell into the sensation of being fucked. Cock working inside him, touching something within him that made his own cock begin to drool on his stomach. He took in hand and stroked as Tyler fucked. They built up their pace, Tyler fucking harder, faster, while Jasper’s hand became a blur.
Jasper came first, raining cum over his chest and stomach. He shuddered with his release. The hands holding his legs tightened, then pushed them forward and down until his thigh pressed against his chest smearing his cum.
Tyler hovered over Jasper holding the legs down, and he fucked. Fucked with the desperate need to cum. Hips smacked against ass until Tyler cried out, shoved inward all the way and shuddered with his own release.
The shower ran hot enough to steam up the bathroom as Jasper and Tyler bathed each other. They caressed the other’s body, soaping it up, as they kissed and giggled and whispered intimacies to each other. As the soap rinsed from the skin, the warm shower cascading down their bodies, they toyed with each other’s cocks until once again erect.
Tyler turned to the wall, with his head under the shower, and spread his feet as much as the shower allowed him. Jasper didn’t need to be told what to do. He moved up to Tyler, smacked the ass playfully with his cock, then put it between the cheeks Tyler was holding spread apart. He pushed until his cock squeezed into the ass, and he had to hold still, shivering with the feel of it. Then he watched Tyler push back on his cock until nearly every inch was inside him.
“Fuck me, Jasper…fuck me,” said Tyler, his voice trailing off.
Jasper held the waist and began to move, to work his cock in the tight ass until it loosened to his penetration then he fucked faster until smacking against the ass.
“Jesus; don’t stop,” Tyler cried out.
Jasper leaned forward and kissed Tyler between the shoulder blades and up to the neck as he fucked. He slipped a hand around the waist and over to the cock, taking it in hand. He stroked it while never slowing, keeping up his steady pace.
“Fuck,” Tyler exclaimed, and Jasper felt Tyler’s cock flex in his hand. Tyler was coming.
Jasper slowed his fuck, long dicking the ass as it spasm around his cock. When Tyler was finally spent, he released the cock, wrapped an arm and Tyler’s neck and pulled upright and back against his chest. He fucked him. Physically. Hips slamming against ass making Tyler’s half hard cock flop around.
“Tyler,” Jasper exclaimed, shoving into Tyler’s depths then shuddering with release.
Jasper followed Tyler out of the parking lot to the street. The night was beginning to settle down, the traffic lessening. He followed Tyler until he needed to turn to get to his home. After the turn, he glanced in the mirror seeing the old Land Cruiser heading on down the road and he felt it was unfair. He was eighteen but still in high school he had a curfew and therefore could not stay the night with Tyler. If only…
He dared not to think of it, turning up the radio to drown out his thoughts.
It wasn’t long term; it couldn’t be with them at different universities. Then there was the factor of time, Tyler halfway through his four-year degree and Jasper just starting. Two years could put a lot of distance between them, and they knew it. So, they took what the summer gave them, at times just dinner at a restaurant somewhere nearby. They spent a long weekend at the beach, and many afternoons in a hotel room. It was their summer fling, a reference that made them laugh, while burying the bittersweetness of it.
Come that August day, when Tyler was driving east and Jasper north, heading to their universities, they listened to music, daydreamed about what lay ahead, trying hard not to think what they were leaving behind.
They stayed in touch, Jasper sending photos via text messages of his dorm room and the roommate, Charlie Hudson of Birmingham with the caption #fuckingdoable. Tyler sent photos of him on campus, at restaurants or coffee shops, and one of him at his desk at some late hour struggling to finish a paper. Through fall and half of spring semester they didn’t bring it up, but as summer approached, Tyler broached the subject. He had one more summer at home and could they, maybe, if Jasper was agreeable to it, could they have another summer together. One more summer fling.
8
Jasper rushed out the back door and to the old Land Cruiser idling in the drive. Behind the wheel Tyler sat with the window down.
“Come on Jasper, let’s go.”
“I’m coming,” Jasper replied jovially.
Jasper and Tyler rode around town, just enjoying a pleasant night. The windows were down, and some old Rolling Stones were playing over the stereo. They had spent the afternoon at Tyler’s place since his parents were out of town on business, returning the next day. After exhausting themselves in bed, they cleaned up and came into town for dinner, and now they were just cruising around. They drove past old haunts, talking about what it had been like before college. The new coffee shop that opened on Main Street in the old hardware store came into view with its new sign bright among far too many dark storefronts, and they saw people milling about in front.
“You want to stop?” asked Tyler.
“Sure; let’s check it out.”
Tyler held the door open, letting Jasper enter first into a surprisingly crowded room.
“What do you want?” said Tyler leaning close to Jasper’s ear.
“Just get me an iced tea,” Jasper whispered back, relishing the intimacy between them, one some noticed.
“Coming up,” said Tyler as he went to get in the short line while Jasper looked for a place to sit.
An hour later they came out to a quiet that only a late night can possess. The coffee shop was about to close and as the last business to be open, the rest of the street was dark except for the streetlamps. They walked side by side heading to the Land Cruiser parked just around the corner. Jasper was tempted to take Tyler’s hand, but he held back. Not because of what others might think but because it seemed too intimate. It was after all, only a summer fling, one more before Tyler finished college and moved on.
They turned the corner and split up, Tyler to the driver’s side and Jasper to the passenger’s side of the Land Cruiser. They were about to get in when a car pulled, some grey thing of indeterminate make and model. The passenger window went down, and Jasper saw it was Ian.
“Hey guys, what are you doing?” Ian called out.
“Going back to my place,” said Tyler.
“I think there is something you should see first.”
“What?”
“First let me ask you guys something. You guys are a thing, right?”
Tyler looked through the Land Cruiser toward Jasper who shrugged.
“Yes,” Tyler replied.
Ian smiled, then motioned them to come closer. Tyler and Jasper stood by the car bent over so they could face him.
“You remember Bobby Gilmore,” said Ian, looking at Tyler.
“Of course. He was in our class.”
“You remember he’s gay.”
“Yes.”
“I ran into him and this guy from Montgomery. It seems Bobby likes to have his fun.”
“And how does this involve us?” said Jasper.
“Bobby called me a while ago and said two of those bullies from the year behind us were at a hotel room with him and some other guys.”
“Cole, TJ, or Steve?” said Jasper.
“Yes, but I’m not sure which two Bobby was referring, but he asked me if you were in town Jasper. Said you should see them.”
“I don’t—” Jasper began to reply, but Tyler interrupted him.
“Which hotel? Do you know the room?”
“Just a minute,” said Ian, picking up his cell phone and making a call. “Hey, I found Jasper and Tyler… Yes, they’re together…what hotel and room...okay.”
“Well?”
“Bobby said to call when you get there. It’s that hotel that used to be a Holiday Inn. It’s some independent thing now.”
“I know it, the one up at the interstate interchange,” said Tyler.
“Yes, and the room is 212. Here’s Bobby’s number.”
Jasper followed Tyler down the open balcony that ran along the second floor, passing rooms with curtains closed, lights out, and some with the lights on and two with doors open as Latino contractors were sitting up watching some football game. Tyler called Bobby as they drew near room 212.
“Hey, it’s Tyler. We’re coming to the door now.”
They stood only a few seconds waiting for Bobby to open the door, and Jasper felt nervous about what was going on inside the room. What was he going to see? He had heard of men hooking up in hotel rooms. He remembered the posts online of men looking to make arrangements, shocked back then how it was all around him, even in their small southern town. Now he knew better, for it happened everywhere, especially in the south.
The door swung open, and Bobby stood in it with a towel wrapped around his waist. He leaned out, looking at Jasper, then back to Tyler. “You realize we’re having fun and you’re going to see us naked?”
“Yes, we’re not naïve,” Tyler replied, grinning at Bobby. “Are those two assholes still here?”
“Oh yes, and you’re not going to believe it even when you see it,” said Bobby swinging the door open to let them enter.
The room was dimly lit and as they entered, they saw two men from the back, naked, sweaty, and obviously toying with each other’s cock. Bobby led them past the bathroom and into the room moving around the two men where a king size bed dominated the room, and the side that had seating, the two chairs and side tables were shoved to the wall to make space for a sling.
Jasper looked around shocked to see what until then he had only seen online. Two men were at the sling with another in it, naked, legs and arms trussed up. One man was fucking, and one was getting sucked, and the one in the sling was Cole.
“Fucking hell,” Tyler uttered.
Jasper looked at the man fucking Cole. The man was huge, six foot five or six inches tall, thick muscular body, and a thick cock slamming into Cole’s ass. The other man was average height but with a cock just as thick, stretching Cole’s jaws wide to take it. Drool covered the mouth and the cock as it pumped roughly through the lips.
“He’s gay!” Jasper uttered, for all he was witnessing, it was the one thing that dominated his thoughts. That fucking asshole was gay and had bullied others over it. He looked at the sweaty bodies using Cole, then he looked at Cole. The body was covered in cum and sweat and grim, even the face was filthy with it. Cole looked as if he crawled across the floor on his stomach, and Jasper knew he had probably done so with the scene that was happening before him.
“Take it, bitch, take it,” said the guy fucking Cole’s mouth, and soon Cole was choking on the man’s load.
Jasper didn’t care to see Cole enjoying himself and he turned to the person that was at the wall. He realized it was TJ and smiled at the sight. TJ was stripped from the waist down and his T-shirt was nothing but tatters hanging from his lean body. But the thing that stood out the most was the black tape used to secure TJ’s arms to the wall. Then there was the big black guy fucking him, hammering his ass so hard the sound of it echoed around the room.
Jasper remembered some of the racist shit TJ used to say in high school as he looked upon the craziness of how the worst bigots and racists can be the first to be submissive to those they berate. The black guy was fucking the shit out of TJ and when he was getting close to release, grabbed TJ by his hair and roughly tugged the head back.
“Fucking whore,” the black guy exclaimed as he slammed into the ass, fucking to come.
Jasper walked closer to the sling and TJ. With his head pulled back and turned, TJ saw him approach and grew wide-eyed.
“J-j-jas-per,” TJ uttered as he rocked with the black guy’s fucking.
Jasper turned to Cole and smiled, because Cole saw him. Looking up with cum dripping from his mouth, Cole was mute.
“Asshole,” said Jasper, then he turned and headed to the door. “Come on, I’ve seen enough,” he said as he passed Tyler. He glanced on the bed at the tangle of arms and legs where Bobby was between two guys. A look of recognition passed between them, one between two gay guys who understood each other, then Jasper led Tyler out of the room.
Back at Tyler’s place, Jasper held Tyler’s legs wide apart as he pushed into his depths. He fucked slowly, gently, wanting their sex to be different from what they had witnessed in the hotel room. An intimacy he dared not speak of, as he kissed the right foot, then down along the ankle as he kept working his hips, pumping his cock inside Tyler.
He wanted to be closer to Tyler, to be able to kiss him on the mouth, and he held the legs behind the knees and pushed them forward and down, until the knees pressed into the mattress. Hovering over Tyler, he pumped his hips working his cock inside him as he leaned down closer. Tyler raised his head, closing the distance between them, bringing their lips together.
They kissed and fucked, and Tyler held the narrow waist feeling Jasper’s movement.
“Jasper,” Tyler uttered as Jasper increased his pace as the need for release built.
Jasper fucked just fast enough to push his arousal to the breaking point, then he pushed into Tyler all the way and shuddered with release.
They lay next to each other, Tyler kissing Jasper as Jasper toyed with his erection. Jasper wanted to maintain control of their sex, the pace at which they did it, and he moved back over Tyler, this time straddling the waist. He held Tyler’s cock, rubbed his fingers over the wet head, then lowered his ass to it. He rocked back and forth over it letting it rub his ass until he was breathing hard and desperate to feel its penetration. He let his weight carry him down, inch by inch, until seated on it. He ground his ass down on it as if he could get it deeper inside him, then me moved on it. Up. Down. Over and over, working his ass along the cock until he felt Tyler holding his waist tightly and pushing upward.
Jasper leaned back against Tyler’s chest feeling the sweaty skin against his own and worked his ass on the cock. He undulated seductively, moving his ass to bring them pleasure. He worked it up and down on Tyler’s cock as Tyler kissed the side of his mouth, and still moving his ass, he turned to Tyler so they could kiss. It was passionate, intense, and Jasper was gasping for air.
Tyler rolled him to his stomach and moved over him. He pushed upward with his ass as Tyler pumped cock into his depths. The contact between them was fiery, slick, flesh gliding over flesh, and he clutched at the bed as Tyler moved inside him, over him, seeming to engulf his entirety in the moment.
Tyler began to fuck faster, and Jasper moved with him, pushing him to the point of release, then he lay beneath him as Tyler shuddered and jerked with it.
Tyler lay heavily on Jasper, and he laced their fingers together and held him. He kissed the neck, up to the ear and with lips grazing it, he whispered, “stay with me.”
Jasper knew Tyler meant for the night, for more than that wasn’t possible.
9
Jasper found the drive back to university even more bittersweet than last year. There would be no summer flings with Tyler. Tyler will graduate next year and pursue his career. Where he ended up, only time would tell. Jasper wondered how long it would take him to move on, start to date other boys more seriously, at least for a few weeks in lieu of the desperate hookups that never lasted more than a few days. He hoped he had a roommate as nice as Charlie, one who wouldn’t freak out to learn he was gay. Charlie and he had become friends and hung out together, going to see bands, or just sit next to each other at one of their desks, one helping the other with some assignment. It made him chuckle to think that maybe this year’s roommate would be gay, and they could fuck around all year. Fuck around to forget.
Passing a SUV loaded with luggage, he saw a family inside it. Dad and mom and two kids, brother and sister. A perfect family, something he would never have, not as society envisioned it, then he tried to imagine college for the next year. The determination to move on from Tyler. To forget what it meant to him.
“Forget…hell,” said Jasper aloud as Twenty One Pilots came on the radio. He turned up the volume and sang along with the song, not caring he was off key.
Jasper found his roommate had beat him to their room, and as he made his bed and got set up on his side of the room, Joshua McConnell lay on his bed asking Jasper about his life while telling of his own.
Joshua was the youngest of two boys, and lived outside Bowling Green, Kentucky where his father worked in the GM factory building Corvettes. His mom worked at the hospital as an administrator. He was majoring in engineering, electrical, and liked to ride his bicycle, hoping Jasper did too.
Jasper told him of his hometown, of his major, how he did like to ride bikes, and play basketball, then he turned to him, sitting on his bed.
“And Joshua, just so you know, I’m gay.”
Joshua looked surprised, then he sat up bringing his feet to the floor. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
“Wow. No one ever admitted that to me before. I mean, yes there was a guy on my floor last year, but he came out to some of the others first. I think I was the last to know. Tom said they thought I might have a problem with it.”
“Do you…have a problem with it?”
“No, no, I good.”
“Thanks Joshua.”
“Yes, of course, but Jasper, I’m not gay.”
“I didn’t think you were,” Jasper replied, smiling.
Despite Tyler and he having said they should move on, they texted each other constantly. In the mornings before class, between classes, after classes, and during the weekends. It was obvious neither of them was moving on. Tyler sent photos of him hanging out with others, always in a restaurant or bar or at a game. But nothing of an intimate nature with another guy.
Jasper would text back No boyfriend and smile when Tyler texted back No, not yet.
Jasper lived day to day, doing his assignments, riding bikes with Joshua and some of the other guys, and in the afternoons found himself on one of the half courts near the dorms playing basketball with some of the guys. He loved the physical nature of it, the pushing and shoving and trash talk while exerting himself until exhausted.
Days passed, then one month, then the next were in the past and soon Jasper was taking exams. It had seemed only last week he was driving to campus when he found himself driving home for the holidays.
The house was decorated, every room with some arrangement or wall hanging. The tree took up a huge area in the living room for it seemed his mother got a larger one each passing year. He thought of the first tree in his memory, a small three-foot thing on top of a table. It was to prevent him from messing with it. A couple days after getting home, he was outside with his dad, putting the lights up along the eaves as his mom supervised them. A vehicle turned into the drive and Jasper saw it was Tyler’s old Land Cruiser. It pulled up close and Tyler climbed out.
“Hey, looking good,” said Tyler as he came up next to Jasper’s mom.
“Thanks,” she replied.
“Is Jasper free for a long weekend?”
“We’ve no plans, why?”
“I thought we could go to the beach for a couple of nights. If that is alright with you?”
“It’s up to Jasper.”
“When do you want to leave?” said Jasper from the ladder as he held out a string of lights to his dad.
“How about around two o’clock. We can get down there in time to check in and grab dinner before it gets late.”
“What are you boys going to do at the beach? It’s going to be in the forties all weekend,” said Jasper’s dad.
“Just hang out,” said Tyler.
10
The wind blew off the waters of the Gulf cold. Seagulls flew around, using the wind to glide before diving down to the water’s surface for some eatable thing. Strolling down the beach, Jasper and Tyler moved playfully around each other. The sun was just below the horizon, and they were checked in and had dinner at a restaurant down the street from the hotel.
Jasper ran up and jumped on Tyler’s back. “Giddy up,” he joked, and Tyler held his legs and took off at a jog, the two of them laughing. Setting Jasper down, they fell into a slow stroll next to each other.
“This isn’t working,” said Tyler.
“What? What do you mean?”
“This moving on thing we keep telling ourselves to do.”
“Oh,” Jasper replied, afraid Tyler was going to really end this thing between them, then smiling at hearing Tyler’s response. “What are we going to do about it?”
“I don’t know that there is anything to do,” said Tyler, head down searching for the words for what to say next.
“Tyler, why can’t we see if this will work between us?”
“Are you willing to try?”
Jasper was surprised. It was the first time he thought Tyler had ever sounded unsure of himself.
“Of course. Isn’t it obvious I can’t move on, and I know it is the same for you.”
With the curtains still open and the last of the day’s light shining into the room, Jasper and Tyler stood at the foot of the bed and kissed. Clothing was removed, skin kissed and caressed. Cocks were fondled, manipulated, sucked. Tyler guided Jasper to the bed. Jasper crawled on it, then dropped to his elbows and looked over his shoulder as Tyler came up to his ass and rubbed it, then up his back.
“Tyler.”
Tyler gently penetrated Jasper. He pushed through the tightness and slow fucked until the two of them were moaning. He held the narrow waist and fucked with desire and need and want. He leaned over the long back and kissed the soft skin, then nipped playfully at it while continuing to work his hips, driving cock into Jasper’s depths.
With a hand on the back, Tyler guided Jasper down to his stomach, and he maintained his penetration moving down over him. He lay on the back feeling its heat and smoothness against his own skin. He slipped an arm around the neck and hugged him while never slowing their fuck.
“Fuck…fuck me,” Jasper uttered breathlessly.
Tyler held tight to Jasper, held their bodies together as he fucked. He increased his pace until pushing against the firm ass with every thrust. He fucked until he felt a need for release, and he didn’t slow but kept pushing his body wanting that release. He wanted to feel it in Jasper. This connection between them, and he fucked until the need built to the point of no return. He hugged Jasper tighter while shoving cock into him.
Tyler shuddered as Jasper cried out, then he nipped the shoulder as he came, shuddering with every ejaculation.
Tyler faced the tile wall as the water ran hot enough to steam up the small bathroom. Jasper was inside him, cock buried in his ass and arms around his waist, one hand tugging on his still hard cock, the other rubbing over his nipples, then toying with them making him cry out and push back on Jasper’s cock.
Jasper worked his hips, pumped his cock into Tyler’s depths, never wanting it to end. He wanted him in ways he couldn’t put into words. He ran his hands up the long torso until he could hold the shoulders keeping Tyler tight to his body as water cascaded over them. He kissed the back of the neck and gasped for breath as he kept up his fuck, driving cock into Tyler. Then he pushed into him all the way and cried out as he erupted.
Tyler had Jasper folded up beneath him, thighs tight to the chest. He held him in a tight embrace, as he fucked the turned-up ass. He worked his cock into it with a steady pace, hips bumping against it. Jasper moaned and grunted and pleaded with him to fuck harder, faster, this fuck one of unbridled lust and desire.
And Tyler fucked harder, hips smacking down on the ass, until he could not hold back, and he slammed his cock into Jasper and shuddered with his release.
Friday night turned into Saturday, and they strolled the beach, ate at a seafood restaurant on the beach, and had sex until exhausted. Saturday night they went back into the city to see a movie they both wanted to see, then they strolled along the beach using a flashlight to see what came in on the low tide to feed or mate.
Back at the hotel they turned in, both still exhausted, and slept intertwined, lost to their dreams.
Tyler woke sometime during the night and for a long time he looked at the silhouette of Jasper next to him. He got up and used the bathroom, then slid the glass door open and stepped out onto the balcony to a calm night, only the sound of low waves crashing on the shore. He felt the cool air against his bare skin and felt aroused by it. He knew he shouldn’t be on the balcony naked, but it was some ungodly hour of morning and still dark out.
“What are you doing?” said Jasper in a sarcastic tone.
“Just listening to the waves.”
Jasper came out and hugged Tyler. Tyler felt the naked body against his own. It aroused him and he pushed back against the cock that was getting erect. A hand moved down to his cock stroking it. He exhaled heavily and worked his hips, pushing back against Jasper’s cock, then pushing his own through the fist.
“Put it in me,” whispered Tyler.
Jasper was at his opening, pushing against its tightness. He shivered when he felt the cock penetrate him, pushing into him slowly, gently, until hips were pressed against his ass.
“Fuck,” uttered Tyler, and Jasper began to fuck. Holding Tyler’s waist, Jasper worked his cock into him slowly, tugging outward until nearly slipping free, then pushing inward, all the way until hips pressed against the firm ass.
The eastern sky began to lighten, the darkness pushed away from the horizon, as Jasper came inside Tyler.
The weekend over, Jasper drove Tyler’s old Land Cruiser north, moving through pine on both sides of the road. Tyler fiddled with stereo, complaining about the stations they could pick up.
“You should replace this old stereo for something with satellite radio,” said Jasper.
“It’s the original unit that came with the vehicle.”
“Okay.”
At the state line, Jasper had to make a couple of turns to stay on the highway that would carry them north. Tyler sat up and turned to face him.
“I may not have any vacation time next summer to come home.”
“I’m pretty sure you won’t just starting a new job.”
“Can you come up?”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe. Don’t you want to see me?”
“Yes, and I try not think of the next year and half.”
“I’ve got a good in with a company in Atlanta.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Next year we’ll only be about an hour and a half away from each other.”
“I could come up some.”
“Yes, every weekend you can get away.”
“When I graduate, will it be the same?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well…we see each so infrequently, when we are together, I feel the passion between us, but when we are living together, it’ll be different.”
“Yep, I’ll wake up with you by my side and I’ll have you get up and make my coffee and breakfast and bring it to me in bed.”
Jasper looked over at Tyler, incredulous at the suggestion. “You’ll be bringing me breakfast in bed.”
Tyler smiled. “How about we just fuck in the mornings then go out for breakfast.”
“That’s more like it,” Jasper replied laughing. Then he grew quiet as he navigated the old Land Cruiser through the rural countryside. “Summer after next, just one more year and a half.”
“Yep,” uttered Tyler as he settled back and watched the road ahead.
11
Tyler came out of the kitchen, having checked it one more time, then looked around the living and dining area of his apartment making sure everything was in place. His heart was racing because he was too excited for words. On the dining table was a gift neatly wrapped and next to it, laying with his keys was the printout of a gift card for one of the nicest restaurants in town, a gift from his parents. He looked at his watch again, seeing only four minutes had passed since he last checked it.
He started to go to the window but realized that it was foolish because the car park was underneath the building and there was no way for him to see anyone drive up. He started for the bedroom to check it one more time when the doorbell rang out.
He swung the door open, revealing Jasper standing at it, a duffel bag slung over one shoulder and a suitcase standing upright, handled extended, next to him.
“I made it,” said Jasper with a smile.
“Get in here,” Tyler exclaimed, pulling him in, taking the duffel bag from the shoulder and tossing it on the floor, then he hugged him, tightly, not sure he believed Jasper was truly there.
Jasper unwrapped the gift box and held up the key ring with two keys on it and the new wallet. “What are the two keys for?”
“The apartment and my Land Cruiser.”
“So, this makes it official,” said Jasper looking at Tyler with a smirk.
“Not yet.”
Jasper laid the keys down to look at the wallet and found it had a debit card and a few bills in it.
“Tyler?”
“It’s just a hundred and the debit card is for emergencies. You’ll not get paid for three weeks or so.”
“So, now we’re official.”
“No, not yet,” said Tyler, grabbing Jasper around the thighs and picking him up. He carried him to the small hall and ducking through the door, went into the bedroom. He playfully dropped him on the bed and moved over him.
Tyler unbuttoned Jasper’s shirt and when Jasper sat up, he worked it off. He pushed Jasper to his back and kissed the chest, up the neck, and to the mouth. As they kissed, Tyler undid Jasper’s jeans and slipped a hand down inside them. He manipulated the cock, toyed with the sensitive head until it was pushing up through the fly of the boxers. Tyler kissed down Jasper’s neck, over the chest, across the undulating stomach, then put his lips to the head of the cock and pushed down until his nose was buried in the boxers.
“Fuck,” Jasper uttered.
Tyler moved on the cock until Jasper was gasping for breath, then he worked the jeans and boxers down and off each leg. He stood on his knees between Jasper’s legs and removed his own clothes as Jasper watched. He stared back as he tossed his shirt to the floor, then his cargo shorts and boxers. His cock was erect, and he slow stroked it. Jasper watched his every move, mimicking him, stroking his own cock.
Tyler moved over Jasper, sat over the hard cock pinning it between the stomach and his ass. He rocked back and forth relishing the feel of the thick cock rubbing him, inflaming his arousal. He rose and held the cock up, then eased his ass down on it, slowly, stretching to take the head, then inch after inch of the shaft. He moved slowly on it, up and down, descending further and further until going down all the way. He leaned back, resting on his hands and worked his ass on the cock with greater urgency.
Jasper held Tyler’s ankles as the ass moved on his cock. He watched how his cock came into view then disappeared in it. Tyler moved steadily until he struggled with his arousal and began to push upward, then Tyler moved faster, slamming down on his cock. Jasper was at the point of release and he shoved upward as the ass slammed down on him and he jerked and shuddered with release.
He sat up and between Jasper’s legs. His cock was wet, drooling its slick and he started to take it in hand, but Jasper was up and moving to him. Facing him, Jasper straddled him and eased down on his cock. He kissed the neck, the hollow spot below it, then the lips as Jasper turned his head down to him. Jasper moved on his cock, and he felt Jasper’s cock dragging up and down his stomach. He hugged Jasper, gently, allowing him the freedom to move on his cock. Up. Down. Jasper moved on him.
“Jasper!” Tyler exclaimed and he hugged Jasper tighter and pulled him down on his spurting cock.
11
Tyler led Jasper to a table on the sidewalk in front of the pastry shop. They had made a loop around the park, then strolled the shops in Little Five Points, Virginia Highlands, and Decatur. Jasper had been with him for two days, and Tyler still felt like it was a dream. It had been a long journey from high school to college, and now after Jasper finally graduated, the threshold of a new phase of their lives was before them.
“I heard from Bobby,” said Jasper.
“What is he up to?” said Tyler.
“Still getting settled. I’m surprised he moved all the way to Portland.”
“I’m surprised he moved away from home at all.”
“Is Emily still coming in July?”
“Yes, with that boyfriend in tow.”
They picked at the pastries before them while giving each other knowing smiles.
“Are you ready to start your job on Monday?”
“Yes, but I am nervous about it.”
“No doubt.”
“Tyler? Hey funny running into you here,” said a woman coming up to their table.
“Judith, hey, are you enjoying this nice day?” said Tyler, then turning to Jasper. “Jasper, this is Judith. We work in the same group.” He turned to Judith and motioned across the table, “this is Jasper, my partner.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Judith.
“Same,” said Jasper.
“So, this explains why none of the women at work can get your attention,” said Judith looking back at Tyler, and Tyler and her laughed.
“Would you like to sit?” said Tyler.
“Just for a minute,” said Judith pulling out a chair and sitting, shifting closer to Jasper. “My, you are a cutie.”
Jasper felt his face flush hot, embarrassed by the reference. He was 22, six foot three inches tall and weighed one hundred ninety-two pounds. He didn’t consider himself cute, but he knew what she meant, and he grinned in reply.
“How long?” asked Judith.
“We’ve known each other since grade school, although I was two years older.”
“Two years is a lot at that age.”
“Tell me about it,” said Jasper.
Judith nodded, putting a hand on Jasper’s. “You just finished college,” she said as a matter of fact.
“Yes.”
“And now you’re all shacked up with what many had assumed was our office’s most eligible bachelor.” Judith laughed, shaking her head.
“Hey now,” said Tyler.
“I can see the two of you are very happy.”
“We are,” said Jasper.
“What are you guys doing next Friday?”
“Nothing,” said Tyler.
“A friend of Tom’s is having a gallery opening. Why don’t you guys join us. We can meet after work and go to that Thai place on Commonwealth,” said Judith, and she turned to Tyler, “you know the one we were talking about just the other day.”
“Yes, Basil.”
“That’s it. We can grab dinner, then go to the opening.”
“I’d like that,” said Jasper.
As Judith and Tyler talked, he sat back with a feeling that had been rare in high school, and he didn’t begin to feel until college. He felt normal. Just another person out with the one he loved, socializing with someone on a pleasant Saturday afternoon. He watched a couple stroll past, then someone came out of the shop, cellphone wedged between their head and shoulder giving directions to someone.
“Jasper. Jasper?” said Judith.
“Oh, yes, Judith.”
“Tyler says you guys will get married.”
“What?” Jasper replied, looking across the table at the grinning Tyler. “He hasn’t asked me yet.”
“Tyler? I thought you said he’s the one; you haven’t even asked him yet,” Judith joked with him, winking at Jasper. “If you don’t treat him right, he might have to see other guys.”
“Not happening. He’s mine,” Tyler exclaimed. He leaned back and even louder. “He’s mine!”
Jasper laughed, as those around them looked over amused.
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