Cottagecore: Road Trip Chapter 2 - Bryce By Jon McGee, cottagecore.stories@gmail.com
I spent most of the first few weeks after I left home exploring Utah's national parks. I mountain biked the slickrock trails around Moab and hiked more than 100 miles through Canyonlands, Bryce, and Zion. I snagged a back-county permit on a last-minute cancellation and was able to spend 2 days in Reflections Canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante.
The geography was like nothing I'd seen. It gave me second thoughts about going to A-Ham, which had great history and biology programs, but a lackluster geology program, while Harvard's is world class. Too late now, I sighed. Anyway, it's too early for regrets, right?
Reflections Canyon was amazing. It was a hard ten-mile hike each direction, so I drove out and slept in my truck at the trailhard the day before. I started hiking before the sun was fully up. There was no trail to follow, just open land, sagebrush, sand, and then slickrock. I followed the landmarks the rangers had suggested, bypassing the slot canyons that enticed me to explore, and pressed on to the bay.
I was the first backpacker to arrive so I took the best spot, on a promontory overlooking the water. I secured my tent as best I could, anchoring it with the gallons of water I'd brought in case the river was inaccessible. After a quick lunch, I pulled out my tripod and took some photos of the canyon in the late morning sun.
After lunch I began to explore the bluffs. I found a hidden slot canyon I'd read about on a bulletin board, which took me to a drop ten feet above the river. I'd brought some climbing gear, so I rigged up a rope system to get back up to the canyon. Soon I was in the cool green water. As the sun dropped lower, I pulled myself up out of the river and headed back to my campsite so I could photograph the sunset.
I was pissed to find that my perfect, isolated campsite was now surrounded by a set of four identical two-man tents, which appeared to be crawling with people. Well, maybe ten people, but out here in the middle of nowhere, my campsite seemed overrun.
I approached my tent wearing nothing but my wet bathing suit, my daypack, and water shoes. As I walked through the other tents, a man asked, "can I help you," in a voice that suggested I was intruding.
"I'm just heading to my campsite," I nodded toward my tent, "you know, where I set up my camp first."
"Oh," he said, taking my point. "The boys got here before me. I didn't realize."
"I'll move in the morning," I said, trying not to get irritated. I didn't carry 4 gallons of water across the desert to camp in the middle of a pack of Cub Scouts of whatever was going on. "It'll be dark soon and I don't want to miss the sunset." I didn't wait for his answer, just headed to my tent.
I also didn't concern myself with modesty when I changed. I wasn't going to get my sleeping bag wet putting on a dry pair of shorts out of their eyeshot. While I kept my back to them as I stripped out of my bathing suit and put on dry clothes, they got a nice view of my ass if they were looking.
I set up the tripod and took another series of pictures as the sun sank lower in the sky and finally dropped below the horizon. Distant clouds were blood red in the sun and the sandstone cliffs vibrated with color. It was as stunning as the backpacking magazines claimed.
I kept my back to the intruders, trying to ignore them, as I made dinner. My tent was the closest to the cliff. The evening breeze blowing in my face snatched away most of their chatter. However, it seemed like the group was made up mostly of rambunctious high school boy not Cub Scouts. They were impossible to ignore completely.
After dinner, I'd bundled up and was lying on my back marveling at the darkening sky. It was the night before the new moon and the nearest light sources were hundreds of miles away. The entire Milky Way opened above me. I'd seen something like this during trips to other dark sky parks, but the sky here seemed even bigger and the stars even closer. No matter what setting I tried on my camera, I could never capture what I was seeing, so I lay on my back and tried to imprint it on my memory.
Out of the darkness, a voice said, "hello, friend. Would you like to join us for some fellowship?"
What the fuck is fellowship, I wondered? Does anything you've seen from me look like I came to the middle of nowhere to be surrounded by a bunch of bickering teens? "Give me a few minutes," I said trying to be polite. "I don't know if when I'll ever have the chance to see a view like this again."
"Especially with those clouds building," said the voice.
I sat up. The forecast included the possibility of thunderstorms, but the chance of a storm were supposed to be remote. But looking south, sure enough, a black wall of clouds blocked out the night sky. "I'm glad I brought my rainfly," I said, getting up to safeguard my tent against the rain. It's a good thing there were mesas above us by to draw off any lightening.
Once my tent was battened down, I walked into the light cast by my neighbors' lanterns. "Welcome," the man's voice said with a little too much cheer. "I'm Gary, this is Joe," he said, pointing to the other adult, "and these boys are our Senior Youth Leaders. We're from the Beacon Church in Yucaipa, California. Please, join us!"
I almost turned around and went back to my tent then and there. I wasn't interested in being saved. I was damned sure not going to spend a night under the most beautiful dark sky I had ever seen pretending to care about somebody else's religion. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with others' beliefs, but I don't have time for people who want to change what I believe.
Joe sensed my unease. "Sit down, join us, we're not out to convert you. We just wanted to say hello and apologize. Gary and I didn't realize the boys had set up around your site."
"Thanks," I said, sitting down. "Have you seen the Milky Way?" I asked, gesturing up. "You should turn off the lanterns and see the stars." A few of the boys shared glances, rolling their eyes and snickering. "At least, before the weather rolls in, right Gary?"
"Well, about that," Gary said. "We have a favor to ask. Pretty big, actually. You see, the boys left one of our tents at home and we're a little tight for space. We didn't realize it until we got out here, but we have four tents and there's twelve of us. The little guys can go three in one tent, but we can't really all fit into the others. It's asking a lot, but would you mind if one of us bunks down with you?"
What the fuck, I thought. "I'm not going to make anybody sleep in the rain," I said, "but you guys keep forgetting to give me a choice in these things." I didn't want to be a dick about it, but I wasn't getting what I planned out of this trip. "Who doesn't snore?" I said, betting the teens would do my work for me.
A gabble of voices filled the air, "Gary snores!" "Gabe talks in his sleep!" "Not Jake, he sounds like a chainsaw!" After a little more bickering, one of the boys said, "I don't snore." Not so much of a boy, actually.
"Sold!" I said, before anybody else could speak up. "If that's okay with you guys," I added, since I didn't know what the leaders really had in mind.
"Does that work for you, Bryce? Do you mind sleeping in . . ." Gary looked at me, "his tent," he finished nodding in my direction.
"Jon," I said, "I'm Jon McGee."
"Bryce, do you mind sleeping in Jon's tent?"
"Why me?" he asked. He was hot as fuck, with dark blond hair, or maybe it was light brown, and light brown eyes. A few days stubble. Athletic build. A spray of freckles across his nose. "Jake's the one who forgot then tent, I'm all set up and everything." He was a little whiny.
Joe spoke up. "This isn't punishment, son. We need to make space so everybody is safe in this storm. And Dave's right, Jake snores like a trucker. That wouldn't be fair to Jon, who's offering us space. Plus, if I'm right, his tent is going to do a lot better in the storm than ours."
He was right. My parents had given me a rugged four-season backpacking tent for Christmas that year, while these guys had single-ply grocery-outlet models best suited for summer car-camping. They were in for a long night.
That go Bryce's attention. "Sure," he said.
"Let's get you moved," I said, looking at the fast-moving clouds, "that storm isn't so far away."
The wind picked up as we carried his gear to my tent. As I watched him from the rear, I was glad Bryce would be sleeping with me, even if he was the pastor's son. He was just shy of six feet tall, with broad shoulders. I don't normally notice guys' butts, but Bryce's was perfect, muscular, tight, and firm.
The rain hit in sheets just as we reached my tent. We dived in and pulled the rainfly shut. It was warm from the afternoon sun. We both pulled off our damp shirts, which I hung from clips I'd rigged on the tent's ceiling.
We heard thunder in the distance. "Do you need to say goodnight to your dad? I don't plan to go out again until morning."
"I'm fine. My dad told me to stay put once I got settled. It's already pouring, anyway."
"Good thinking," I said, as wind and rain suddenly lashed the tent. "It's going to be a wild night. So Pastor Joe's your dad?"
"Yeah, pastor for the church. I hate this camping shit but he makes me come every year. This is the worst so far."
"Mmmm," I said, since it hadn't occurred to him that I came out here alone, by choice. "Want some hot chocolate?"
"Really? That's great."
I poured him a cup from the thermos I'd made at dinnertime. I had planned on drinking it watching the stars wheel across the dark sky, but if sharing it with Bryce meant I didn't have to spend the night with a whiny sourpuss that was okay too.
"What's your deal?" he asked after a minute. "You seemed pretty pissed when you found us here."
"I'm not going to lie, Bryce. I was looking forward to spending a couple of days in isolation, no people, no noise, just the wind and rocks and river and sky. You guys setting up camp around me fucked that up a little."
I wasn't sure how religious he was, but Bryce didn't flinch when I swore.
"Sorry, some of the younger guys thought this was the campground. They were all set up by the time my dad got here to tell them they could camp anywhere."
"Well, if it keeps you guys safe and more comfortable to share my tent, it's no big deal. So you're not into backpacking?" I asked.
"No, I was supposed to be at baseball camp this summer but my grades were too low in the spring. So I have to be Youth Pastor' and help watch the snotnoses as they go on Dad's manbuilding' adventure."
"So you guys are out here to prove how tough you are?"
"Yeah, Dad finds the gnarliest trips he can to show the younger Youth Group guys what it means to be a man. Last year we climbed Mount Whitney, the year before it was Yosemite Valley to Tuolumne Meadows."
"You hiked up to Tuolumne from the Valley? It's uphill almost the whole way, like 30 miles" I said. It was a nice hike in the other direction, but you mostly lost elevation on the way down.
"That was the point," Bryce said grimly. "For Dad and Pastor Gary, hiking isn't about the destination, it's about the journey. `The harder the journey, the better the trip' is what they say."
"No wonder you hate backpacking. I'd hate it too if it was a character test."
"Are you some kind of hippie or what?" Bryce asked after a minute of quite, as the storm raged around us. We could hear thunder in the distance but based on the time between flashes and booms, the electric storm seemed many miles from us.
I laughed. "Do I smell like sandalwood or patchouli oil? Do you see any crystals hanging in the tent? No, I'm about to start college at one of the most uptight colleges in the country. I'm driving east and stopping in places I've wanted to see. I just like the outdoors."
We were silent for a time while the storm blew around us. "So have you picked up a lot of girls on your roadtrip," Bryce asked suddenly.
"No, that's not really my thing," I said. How much of my business did I want to let Bryce into?
"Saving yourself for marriage?" he suggested.
A month ago, I've have deflected the question, but I just said to Bruce, "No, I'm gay." I didn't want to make him uncomfortable, but I need to get used to telling people who I am.
"Oh," was all he said for a while. "Can I ask you something?" he said finally. I took a sip of my hot chocolate, wondering what was coming. "Maybe it's too personal and you don't want to answer. How did you know you're gay?"
Lots of answers worked but which one? How I didn't have any interest in sex with women? Did I tell him how much I love to suck cock? How I loved the smell of Dan's balls? We were going to spend the night together in my tent so maybe none of that.
"I fell in love with my best friend when we were 14. I didn't realize that's what it was then, but when I figured it out, I knew."
More silence for a while. "Did you tell your friend?"
"Yes, a few weeks ago. He's gay too, I didn't know until I told him about me. I just wish we'd known sooner how we both felt. He's leaving on his mission before I'm back from college, so it's going to be two years before I see him." My heart was breaking just saying it out loud.
"How did he know?"
"He told me that he knew he was gay when he realized that he only thought about me and other guys when he jacked off."
More silence. I realized that Bryce was blushing. He had a fair complexion and the apple of each of his cheeks was rosy.
"I'm sorry, bud. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"What?" he asked, flustered, "I'm not uncomfortable. I just . . .."
I let the silence linger. Did I really want to have this conversation?
"I don't know how to jack off," he said quietly.
"Oh, shit," I said.
"My dad says it's a sin. I've been nervous to try, but I'm so fucking horny all the time. . .."
"How do you get any relief?"
"Wet dreams, sometimes, but mostly I don't get relief. I'm hard all the fucking time."
"I don't know," I said. "It feels too good be a sin if you ask me." I didn't tell him that if I hadn't been able to jerk off I might not have realized I was gay so soon. Dan was right, accepting my fantasies really helped me figure out that it was okay.
"What do you mean you don't know how to masturbate?" I asked?
"I've just never tried it. I understand what it's supposed to be like, I just haven't done it."
"Do you want to try?" I asked.
"Yes," said in an instant, not even embarrassed.
"Are you sure, bud? I'm can show you what I do, but I don't want to make things complicated for you."
"You'd do that?" he pleaded. Shit, I'd just volunteered to put on a show. "Please, I don't know where to go. Everybody I know is in my church and says the same as my dad. My school, my ball team, Youth Group, everybody. My parents watch everything I look at. I can't even go to the library alone. Maybe some of the other guys do it, but they all swear they don't. If I said anything to anybody, it would get back to my dad, I know it."
I dimmed the flashlight lantern hanging from the roof of the tent. With the storm raging around us, plus the tent and rainfly I doubted there'd be an incriminating silhouette visible to the other tents, but I figured Bryce would be in big trouble if he got caught watching me beat off.
I rolled onto my left side to face Bryce and slipped my shorts down below my knees. I'd grown pretty hard during the last part of our conversation. I gripped my balls with my right hand and started rubbing them. "I need to get really hard first," I said. Maybe he knew that. Bryce was plenty hard.
I started to stroke my cock, slowly running my hand up and down the shaft. "This feels really good," I said. I didn't know if he wanted me to narrate. He said show me how not tell me, but it turned me on to talk him through what I was doing.
"My nuts are really sensitive, so I like to stop and squeeze them a little, not too hard." My cock waved at him as I played with my balls. I wondered how far this would go.
"I'm uncut, see," I asked as I pulled back my foreskin, flaring my shiny purple dickhead. A little precum had leaked out of the tip of my dick. "Precum makes good lube," I added, rubbing my thumb through it and then down my shaft. "Hand lotion works great too, or conditioner if you're in the shower."
I started to pump my shaft again, sliding my hand all the way up and down. "My dickhead gets a little sensitive so I keep my foreskin up most of the time. Dan told me that guys who were circumcised as babies don't worry about it as much."
As I slid my hand up and down my dick, I pulled my foreskin partway down my glans with each stroke, exposing the head and letting more precum drip out. A strand dripped from the tip of my cock all the way to my sleeping pad, hanging like gossamer.
"I like to switch hands every now and then. A sex advice column I read said that if you jerk off too much with the same hand, that's the only feeling you get used to so it's harder to cum any other way. I don't know about that, but I like to use my left hand sometimes."
I lay back and switched hands. As I stroked my hard cock with my left hand, Bryce stayed propped on his elbow, watching from less than a foot away. The tent smelled of our sweat and the hot smell of my sex.
"When I jerk off, I mostly think of things I want to do with guys, or what I want guys to do to me. Sometimes I think of people I know, sometimes I make up situations I'd like to be in. Mostly I've been thinking about sucking Dan's dick, him jerking me off. Us cumming together."
Bryce's cheeks were flushed, his breathing shallow, his eyes rapt on my cock. I'd oozed more precum. My shaft and balls were wet, my strokes made a wet, sloppy sound. I was really turned on to have this ripped jock staring hungrily at my cock. I picked up the pace, stroking from top to bottom, circling my slimy gland with my thumb every few strokes.
"I switch back to my right when I'm getting close," I said through labored breath. "Fuck, bud, I'm going to cum!"
"Yeah!" he said, leaning in closer.
"Oh fuck!" I moaned, trying to keep quiet despite the raging storm, "Bryce, fuck yeah!"
I shot jet after jet of cum up my chest, thick white ropes that filled the tent with my smell. I continued to stroke my cock long after I stopped cumming. "Some guys get really sensitive, Dan told me. Some guys go soft after cumming." I said. "Not me, not most of time."
I propped myself up on my elbows, cum starting to slip off. I grabbed my damp shirt from the ceiling and cleaned away the cum, leaving my dripping cock for last. Bryce's eyes had hardly left my tool. I took my time, cleaning my hand first, then my shaft. Next, I pulled back my foreskin so my dickhead flared like a cobra. I wiped below my glans, then slowly cleaned the head. Finally, I slipped my foreskin back up and cleaned away the last few drops of cum from the tip of my cock.
I sighed with contentment. "That was intense. I've never had an audience before. What do you think?" I wanted to get him talking.
"I . . .. I mean . . .. That was . . .. I mean . . .. Wow!"
"Do you want to try? Or do you want to wait until you're alone?"
"I'm never alone. I share my room with my little brother, we've got a clear glass door on our shower. Even if I stayed awake until he was asleep, if he woke up and caught me he'd tell my dad for sure."
"I can turn away if you don't want me to watch."
"I don't mind. Maybe you can give me some pointers." I was starting to wonder if Bryce was really just looking for suggestions, or maybe he wanted more.
"Bryce, how old are you? Can you wait a little longer and just move out?"
"I turned 18 last month." Bingo! "My parents redshirted me in kindergarten in case I could get a better baseball draft, but it means I'm stuck under their roof until next June at least. I can't wait that long."
"I just want your first time to be memorable."
"In a tent, in a storm, with a guy? Buddy, I'll remember this for sure!" With that, Bryce whipped down his basketball shorts and boxer briefs at the same time. A nice looking cut cock pointed towards his forehead. He had a wild thatch of dark blond pubic hair. His balls were already drawn up and tight. His dick glistened with precum.
"Like this?" Bryce asked as he started to stroke his cock. He grabbed the shaft under his glans, with just the head poking out of his fist, and started to slide his fingers up and down. He was ignoring the head, which continued to seep precum onto his knuckle.
"Don't forget about the head, even if it's sensitive. Rub it with the inside of your first finger on the upstroke, just a little higher. Yeah, like that, just be gentle." He moaned and picked up the pace.
"Massage your balls. When I'm getting started sometimes they bunch up, want to creep inside. Pull them down, stretch them out, yeah. Like that." Bryce moaned again, louder.
"Are your nipples sensitive? Reach up and rub one. Lick your finger and rub it again. Try some of the precum that's leaking out of your cock. Does that feel good, bud?" He spurted a little precum as he pinched his nipple, so it must have been good.
"Rub your thumb across the top of your dickhead. Yeah, like that. Get it good and wet. Keep your thumb on your dickhead, back and forth, just keep going. Yeah, just like that." I could tell Bryce was already getting close.
"Back off for a second. Let go of your cock and take a couple of deep breaths." He did. "Now switch hands. I know you want to cum, but bring yourself to the edge a few times first."
Bryce looked at me like I was crazy. "I've wanted to do this for like five years and you want me to take my time. Fuck that!" he grinned. He grabbed his balls with his left hand and his cock with his right hand and started stroking harder, massaging his nuts. He started to squirm and moan. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh man, oh fuck, oh fuck, I'm going to cum, oh fuck Jon, oh my god, I'm cumming!"
Bryce's first shot was a laser. If he hadn't thrown his head back it would have hit him in the eye. As it was, Bryce's chin and throat took the first shot. By the time he was done, his chest and hard abs were drenched. "Keep stroking, bud, it feels awesome."
Bryce lay on his back, writhing, as he continued to stroke his cock and squeeze his sack, moaning. I watched the whole time, hard as a rock and dripping precum.
"Damn, bud, that looks like it was worth the wait!"
Bryce lay still, his eyes closed, still breathing hard. "Here, bud, get cleaned up or your going to have to explain why you have stains all over your sleeping bag." I plopped my damp shirt on his belly. "Wipe yourself off before you start to drip all over the place."
Bryce didn't open his eyes but he started to wipe himself down. First his belly, then chest, chin, and finally his still-hard cock. "Thanks, bro," he said to me when he was done, "I wish I'd learned to do that sooner.
"I'm not going to lie. That was hot as fuck. I'm going to jerk off again and then get some sleep while we can. Who knows what this storm is going to do tonight."
Before I turned out the light, stroked out another load, watching Bryce stroke his still-hard dick as I did. It was a fast orgasm, I was really turned on. Bryce watched my intently, his eyes never straying from my cock. He came again too, another fast drenching orgasm. Afterwards, I unzipped the tent and wedged my cum-soaked tee shirt under a rock where the rain would wash it clean overnight.
By the time we woke up, the storm had blown itself out. I could tell by the light coming through the tent's fabric that it was still early, but there were no clouds in the sky. I quietly unzipped my sleeping bag and started to stroke my cock, which was rock hard like most mornings.
The tent got hot in the night and Bryce had unzipped his sleeping bag. He was lying on his back, his hardon tenting his shorts. I couldn't help but stare at him as I started to stroke my dick. Suddenly, I realized he was watching me. I smirked, a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, bud. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind," he said. "I'm going to join you."
"This may be too much, but can I give you a hand?"
Bryce blushed. "You can't let anybody find out."
"Deal," I said. "Just lay back, you don't have to touch me if you don't want to." Bryce raised up his hips and pulled his shorts and underwear down to his ankles. He lay back and shut his eyes. "Can I use my mouth?"
"Fuck, would you? I mean . . .. I mean . . .. I don't know, dude."
"Don't worry, bud," I said, "it's too much this fast. Just lay back, I'll take care of you." I really wanted to suck his cock, but I didn't want him freaking out on me.
I reached out with my right hand and wrapped it around his cock. It was harder than I'd imagined, iron wrapped in velvet. I slid closer to him so I could use my left hand on his balls. I started slowly, stroking his cock, using his precum as lube.
I focused on Bryce's shaft, only occasionally touching his head with my thumb. I used the inside knuckle of my index finger to tease his leaking slit. He moaned, not loud but not soft. I leaned close to his ear and said, "Quiet, bud, no storm this morning." He nodded and stated to thrust against my hand.
I shifted my weight and grabbed his nipple with my left hand, tweaking and twisting and pinching. He caught himself as he moaned again and we both started giggling.
I could tell he was getting closer so I picked up the speed, twisting my hand around so my thumb was sliding up and down the base of his dickhead. Bryce continued to thrust into my hand. I felt his cock swell and watched as he shot another monster load. No facial this time, but another thick coating of his chest and belly. Bryce watched as I licked his cum off my knuckle, licking his lips as I licked my fingers clean. "Dude . . .." he said softly.
I lay back and took my cock in my right hand and Bryce's slimy hardon in my left. I continued to stoke his dick as I pumped out my load. I came in record time, the feel of Bryce's hard dick sending me over the edge. We both lay there, covered in cum, breathing hard, for a few minutes before I grabbed a towel from my pack.
"Thanks, bud," I said as I cleaned us both up. "I'd love to suck your cock, but no pressure. It's a lot, especially coming from where you started last night."
"Dude . . .." was all he said.
I pulled a pack of wet wipes from my pack tossed a couple to Bryce. I cleaned myself up, got dressed, and unzipped the tent and rainfly. I emerged into a brilliant, crystalline morning. The sun hadn't broken the horizon so I reached back in for my tripod and camera.
Bryce stumbled out of the tent and sat down cross-legged on a low rise of sandstone a few yards from the tent. A light breeze ruffled his hair as he sat, blinking like an owl in the rising sun. He was looking away from me, not quite back-turned, but not engaging. I wondered if we'd gone too far.
I put away my camera, fired up my stove, and brewed a pot of coffee. Bryce was still looking off into the distance, deep in thought. I broke his concentration when I offered him a cup of coffee. "Thanks, man. Long night, huh?" he smiled.
"Yeah, bud. A lot going on. You okay?"
He looked back at his dad's tent, where his people were starting to stir, and nodded. "Better than okay. Thanks, man."
I spent the morning after breakfast exploring some of the slot canyons above the river. Bryce stayed with his group, which had a long, cold, wet night. They weren't interested in any day hikes, notwithstanding Bryce's dad's tough-guy ideas about making men of the boys. Wet sleeping bags do that.
By the time I got back to my tent at lunchtime, the temperature was in the 80s and Bryce's group had dried out. Bryce and his dad came over as I finished my lunch.
"Will you join us?" Pastor Joe asked.
"Thanks, I'm just finishing up. I don't think I told Bryce last night, but yesterday before you set up camp I rigged a rope down to the river. I know you guys had a rough night, but if you want I can show you how to get down to go swimming."
"That would be great, thanks," said Bryce.
"I'm going to sleep a bit, just wake me up when you guys are ready to go," I said, laying back on the slickrock and pulling my hat down over my eyes.
An hour later I led Bryce and his group down the slot above the river. I re-rigged the rope with figure 8 knots every foot or so to help the smaller guys climb out, and tossed the rope back down. "Have at it."
It was fun at first. Predictably, the high school boys ended up competing to see who could jump the furthest, from the highest point, to make the biggest splash, or whatever. After a while, I got tired of the noise and competition so I climbed out of the drainage and headed further up the canyon to explore some more. I loved the quiet, the smell of damp stone and sage.
That evening, I was the first back to the campsite. I thought about moving my tent further down the canyon rim but decided against it. I had a great time with Bryce and the entire group seemed respectful, to the extent a pack of high school boys can be.
I was stiff from hiking, so I changed into a pair of short, tight yoga shorts—square-cut Speedos, almost—and began to move through my routine, just above the canyon rim. I focused on breathing, moving slowly and pushing into the stretches rather than connecting the moves like I do when I want an aerobic workout. When I was nearly finished, I heard noise behind me and realized that Bryce's group was coming back to camp. I shut them out and finished my routine, breathing heavily and sweating hard.
After a few minutes collecting myself and getting my breathing under control, I turned to see Bryce and a few others watching me like I was an alien creature recently arrived from Mars. I could feel my dick clearly visible down the leg of my shorts and wondered what Bryce and his friends thought about that.
"What?" I asked with my eyebrow raised.
"What were you doing?" asked Bryce. The gleam in his eyes made my hopeful I'd have some more fun with him tonight.
"Stretching." I said, "yoga. The hike in yesterday put some kinks in my back. How was the river?"
"Awesome," said one of the other kids. "I jumped from the highest rock." Some of the other kids joined in to brag about what they'd done or rag on somebody else for exaggerating. Yap, yap, yap.
I tuned out the chaos and asked Bryce, "what do you guys have planned tonight? It's a new moon. There won't be any light pollution. Unless we have another storm, the view will be amazing. You guys didn't seem too into it last night, but the Milky Way should be visible, plus some constellations that aren't visible in California. There are a few meteor showers going on too."
"I need to see what Dad and Pastor Dave have in mind. We normally talk fellowship on the middle night of these trips, but most of the time it's just us, not any outsiders."
I shrugged. "I won't get in your way. The sky here is big enough for your fellowship and my stargazing."
I made a fast dinner, brewed another thermos of hot chocolate, and sat down on the canyon rim to eat. The sky changed from blue to golden to orange and finally, a fiery red as the sun sank below the horizon. Like last night, the breeze in my face blew away the noise from Bryce's group.
In the gathering dark, Joe approached and asked if I'd join them.
The group was seated around a pair of solar lanterns. Some had camp chairs, but most sat cross-legged on the bare stone. I looked to the pastors to see what they had in mind.
"Jon, we'd like to thank you for your help last night," said Pastor Joe. "You gave Bryce shelter, which gave the rest of us more room. The swimming rope gave us recreation and entertainment. We thank you."
I nodded, "glad to help."
"Bryce may have told you, this is our Youth Group retreat. We like to spend some time talking about what makes us strong, how we these fellows change from boy to a man. Would you like to join us?"
I couldn't think of a way to say "hell no" without being rude. "I'm not sure how much I can add," I said. "I just turned 18 in May so I've only had a month or so of being a man. But sure, thanks for including me."
"I though you were older," said Pastor Joe. "Would you tell us about yourself? Just so we can get to know you a little?"
"Sure," I said. "I grew up near Kings Canyon in the Central Sierra. I'm starting college in New York in August and spending the summer driving across the country. I've been in the Southwest for a few weeks, I'm headed to New Mexico next and then on to the Great Plains. I like to spend time in the outdoors."
"What about your parents, are they worried you're out here on your own?"
"They trust me. My dad is an auto mechanic. He helped me build out my truck so he knows I'll be safe. I sleep in the back when I need to and camp the rest of the time. Mom and Dad were nervous when I told them what I wanted to do, but we spent enough time talking through the details that they said okay to my plan."
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Pastor Gary asked. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Bryce flinch.
"No, the price of getting into the college I wanted was that I pulled back from a lot of friendships. My high school was small and didn't offer a lot of strong academic options. I dropped all my electives, took two independent study classes, and just barely got in. By the time I got the letters of acceptance, most of my friends had moved on. I'm looking for a fresh start in college."
"Where are you going?" Bryce asked.
"I was trying to get into Harvard," I said. "I did, but at the last minute, I decided to go to A-Ham instead when they offered me a full ride."
Pastor Gary looked at Pastor Joe and laughed. "Jon here goes backpacking to see nature, does yoga, is a vegetarian by the looks of his meals, and is headed to the Ivy League or whatever A-Ham is, ultra Ivy League I guess. He's everything we're supposed to shun. But he doesn't seem to be such a bad guy."
Joe seemed to agree. "There are exceptions to every rule," he said. "You said your dad fixes cars for a living. What about your mom?"
"She's a judge," I said. "A liberal judge," I added with a wiggle of my eyebrows. "Kidding, she just calls balls and strike." The pastors laughed along with me. "I am sure we disagree about plenty of stuff, but you don't need to turn me into some bogeyman because I do yoga. And I'm not a vegetarian!"
Everybody laughed again. Joe and Gary led a discussion over the next few hours about self-reliance and supporting our fellow men and keeping a stiff upper lip and making sure women knew their place. It was hearty and sexless and more than a little misogynistic. It was clear they just assumed everybody there was was straight. By the time they were done, it was full dark and the perfect time to see the night sky.
"There's no moon tonight," I said. If you turn off the lantern, you can see the Milky Way. I'm not the best astronomer, but I've attended dark sky programs in Death Valley and Joshua Tree over the last few years and might be able to point a few things out. If anybody's interested."
These guys were nothing if not polite. "Lay back and look up." I narrated what I could, pointing out the visible planets first. Jupiter was a day or two away from the best viewing of the year and Saturn was clear as well. I pointed out the constellations I could identify, and Pastor Gary named a few others. Then the meteors started to fall. I couldn't remember the name of the showers, but it didn't matter. For more than an hour, we watched as many as ten shooting starts streak across the sky per minute. The teens were reduced to toddlers at a fireworks show.
As midnight approached, I announced I was going to bed. "Bryce, I'll leave the rain fly open to keep the tent cool, but please zip it up when you come in, just in case another storm blow through."
"I'm falling asleep," he said. "I'll go to bed too." Everybody else started packing it in.
Once we were settled, I pulled off my shirt and lay back on top of my sleeping bag in the stuffy tent. "How are you doing, bud?" I asked Bryce. "Are you okay?"
"Fine. Horny. Maybe confused a little bit."
"Sorry if I pushed things too far."
"Don't worry about it. That was pretty hot."
"Really hot," I said.
Bryce was rubbing his package through his boxer briefs. "I'm going to jerk off again."
I laughed and turned the lantern to its lowest setting. "Me too," I said as I shucked my off my shorts and underwear.
We both started to stroke our cocks. I was watching Bryce and he was watching me. I switched from my left hand to my right to give him a better view. He exhaled hard, excited, so I decided to put on a little show.
First, I squeezed my nuts with my left hand to make my cock stand up straight. Then I pulled back my foreskin all the way, exposing my fat purple dickhead. I'd oozed a little precum, which I smeared over my glans with my thumb. I continued to stroke my cock slowly, all the way up and down, rubbing my dickhead with my thumb.
Bryce was beating his cock hard, his eyes fixed on my dick. He pinched and tweaked his nipple with the other hand. He was panting almost. I picked up my pace too. I was pretty sure I'd cum when I saw him shoot and he was obviously close.
"Cumming," he moaned, and shot a thick rope of cum onto his belly. He continued to shoo and then dribble, whimpering and moaning, and continued to stroke his slimy cock. The sight of Bryce's cum shot, plus his red and swollen cock covered in cum, sent me over the edge. I came too. It was a fantastic orgasm with a cinematic, arching cum shot.
Bryce and I continued to stroke our hard cocks as we came down from our climaxes. "You didn't ask to help," he said.
"I didn't want to pressure you. I was worried about this morning."
"I said it was okay. I was looking forward to it."
"Round two?" I asked with a grin.
"Yeah, man. Use your mouth, okay?" I couldn't get any harder.
I turned off the lantern. The silver rainfly should reflect the moonlight to give us all the privacy we needed, but for Bryce's sake I wanted to be extra safe.
"Do you need a minute to recover?" I asked.
"I don't think so," he said with a shrug.
I used one of my socks to clean the cum off my chest, and then wiped Bryce off a little too. I wouldn't have minded licking him clean, but I didn't want to go too far too fast.
I reached over and began to stroke Bryce's cock. It was as hard as this morning, like bone. He moaned lightly as I cupped his balls and pulled his dick upright. "Yeah," he breathed as I sank down on his tool.
At first, I just licked his glans, running my tongue under its tip and then along the ridge of his dickhead. I used my lips to stroke his head, swirling my tongue along his slit and down the bottom of his shaft. Bryce moaned and pushed his cock deeper into my mouth.
As I licked his dickhead, I stretched my jaw to take in his girth. Bryce's dick was like a barrel, as thick at the head as at its base. After a couple of passes, I was sucking it top to bottom in long, slow strokes.
Bryce had cum fast every time so far, so I wanted to take things as slowly as possible. Not much pressure, not too fast, I just slowly slide my mouth up and down his iron cock, savoring the taste of his precum and the smell of his balls. He moaned softly and rested his hand on the back of my head.
I had Bryce's cock controlled with my mouth so I reached out, left hand on his nipple and right hand on his balls. He arched deep onto my throat as I pinched his nipple, pushing my head down onto his tool.
Too soon, Bryce's breathing got heavier. I could tell he was close. "I'm going to cum," he whispered urgently, trying to pull out.
"Cum in my mouth," I said before devouring his cock again.
"Oh god," he moaned pushing deeper into my throat. "Cumming, cumming!"
His cock swelled as he shot his load, nearly blowing the back of my head off. He kept shooting and I kept swallowing. Even after he had stopped shooting, Bryce continued to fuck my throat, gently holding my head in place while he slid his cock in and out of my mouth, base to tip.
While Brice fucked my throat, I reached down and started to jack my cock. I was laying on my left hip, stroking my cock with my right hand, sucking Bryce clean. As I got close, I pulled off and said, "I'm going to shoot!"
"Cum on me," Bryce said. Whoa, okay, sure! I raised up on my knees, straddling Bryce. I grabbed his slippery cock with my left hand, gave my cock a few hard strokes with my right, and shot a massive load onto Bryce's belly and chest. I continued to stroke our cocks, panting, amazed at what I'd just done.
I bent down, gave the tip of Bryce's cock a sloppy kiss that I wouldn't have minded turning into another blowjob, and rolled onto my back next to him. "Holy shit, bud. That was intense."
"I don't mind backpacking so much anymore," he said.
We fell asleep naked on top of our sleeping bags.
The next morning, I sucked Bryce off again. I still had his dick in my mouth when his dad called, "Bryce, son, you need to get up. We're hitting the trail early to beat the heat." I continued to suck his cock as I jacked off, cumming on Bryce's balls like he asked. I gave Bryce's cock one last suck before pulling on a pair of shorts and stepping into the morning light.
Bryce and his group were gone within an hour. Fir the first time, I was sad to be the only person left at Reflections Canyon.
Next: Cottagecore: Road Trip Chapter 3 – Carlos
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