NOTE: This is the fictional coming of age story of Jake Grimke as he matures through high school, into college and eventually into adulthood in the Baltimore, Maryland region. It contains and embraces accurate representations of life in Baltimore and its suburbs; Maryland's traditional sport of lacrosse and the career path a firefighter might follow in his profession. All of the characters in this story are fictional and resemblance to any one person whether dead or alive is purely coincidental. If you liked this installment, please send me some feed back; I got a rough idea where this is headed but I am always open to some suggestions. Needless to say, if you are offended by handsome athletic young men growing up gay and the obstacles they will encounter as well their personal triumphs, you should use the BACK button on your browser forthwith.
Now it all began to click in Will Hurley's head why Jake Grimke had been asking all the gay questions on the way home from the interview at St. Michael's not long after Thanksgiving break. Jake hadn't asked any real specific questions and Will hadn't volunteered any real specific answers but a new question lingered in Will's mind and he brought it out to Jake very pointedly. "So, if you are gay, or think you are gay, then what was with bringing Anna to the Holiday Dance last night and then to Beecher's for the after-party?" Will demanded to know if he was going to guard Jake's secret; "tell me that and I'll tell you how to ask out Jose."
"It was all Jackie's idea; the Pences are Anna's co-sponsors while she is here on the exchange program. Jackie wanted her to have a date and nobody else from the football team had ponied up to ask the "fraulein" out to any of the school functions so she weaseled Evan into asking me to ask her out," Jake explained, "I felt miserable the whole night, especially when I looked over at you, like I was part of some big conspiracy. The saving grace is she has a boyfriend back home in Munich and hopefully I wont have to do it ever again."
Will blushed a little, "you were looking at me? Like you did in the locker room earlier in the week?"
Jake nodded yes, hung his head and smiled a little, "yeah, busted."
"Listen, you don't have to do this alone, there's plenty of people ready and willing to help you through this," Will offered followed by, "who else knows?"
"Mom and Dad, told them about a year ago," Jake replied.
"Anybody else?" Will followed up.
"Evan of course; sneaky little devil twisted it out of me back in August," Jake recalled the day hiking a few months back, "and now you."
Will Hurley appreciated the gravity of the situation he was in; probably the most popular guy in the graduating class at Severn High coming out to one of the lesser popular guys of the same class. Jake continued, "I appreciate your advice about `ringing and un-ringing the bell', it makes a lot of sense and I promise to follow it."
"You and Evan ever....?" Will bravely advanced.
"Nope, don't even go there," Jake warned, "my wingman is straight as a pin."
"You ever do anything at all?" Will asked?
"Well, one time at lacrosse camp," Jake started with a smile as he remembered Bryant, "I met a dude, Bryant, Bryant Williams. He was couple years older than me. We were in the showers after a canoe trip and he showed me how to jack off but nothing happened between us."
"And now?" Will continued with his line of questioning.
"I jack off a lot, sometimes in some lacrosse gear. Hell, after you left the other night I was so mad horny I shoved my old lacrosse stick up my ass," Jake recalled and then looked over and saw the pained look on Will's face.
"Dude, did that hurt? Sounds awful," Will said with a cringe.
"You know, I'm not sure, not sure what any of it is supposed to feel like," Jake said staring him in the eye.
Will took his cue and moved closer to Jake and first put his hands on Jake's shoulders before Jake put his own hands on top of them and nodded that it was okay to proceed. Jake felt the cold on Will's hands as they stood in the unheated garage with Jake's parents out Christmas shopping and guided his hands under his hoodie and on to the warm skin of his smooth abs making Will smile.
Jake smiled back and Will leaned in and began to give him little kisses on his neck and cheeks while he worked his hands up to Jake's firm pecs. Jake let a moan out as Will played with the defined pec muscles shrouded under the layers of sweat shirt and jersey material as Will's lips moved onto Jake's lips for a longer kiss. Jake tried to keep his eyes open for his first erotic kiss but closed them as soon as Will's tongue dove into Jake's mouth for a swim. Jake proved to be a quick learner and pushed his tongue into Will's mouth to return the favor while Will's hands worked to liberate Jake's chest from the confines of his hoodie and jersey underneath.
With Jake's chest in the open, Jake put his hands on the placket of Will's shirt and began to undo the buttons and pushed it back until it began to fall off his arms and shoulders. He yanked up the white tee shirt and exposed Will's less defined chest and began to kiss on each pec before returning to Will's mouth for a longer kiss while his hands felt and learned Will's upper body until Will grabbed them and stuffed them down into his crotch.
They broke the kiss and Jake stared at his hands inside of Will's khakis and underwear while Will kicked off his dress shoes and fumbled with the belt, button and zipper all at once. Goose bumps formed immediately as Will fell backwards onto the old cold sofa in the garage and Jake collapsed on top of him with Will now working to get Jake's Nikes off followed by his jeans and underwear, all the while kissing each other.
Will, the more experienced of the two gained control of the situation and put the brakes on Jake, warning him to slow down as he knelt in front of a now standing Jake. Jake looked down and watched as Will's mouth opened towards his cock that was jutting out perpendicular from his body. Will glanced up into Jake's eyes as he took the jock's dick in his mouth and gently eased it back until his nose was in Jake's bush while Jake gently held his hands on the back of Will's head and looked up the and out the garage windows facing the street.
Jake looked just in time to see the Honda turn into the driveway and start the climb up the long modest incline, noticing the shapes of his parents belted into the front seats. "Fuck! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Jake exclaimed with hushed urgency.
"You close?" Will asked, backing off his cock long enough to ask in a single breath.
"No, my parents are back! Get dressed, now!" Jake sad as he heard his dad set the hand brake on the commuter car and watched the car doors open.
"Damn your parents have a helluva sense of timing," Will said already on the floor and into his white briefs and socks as Jake slid commando back into his jeans.
"Dude, get dressed fast," Jake said, glad that he still had his socks on as he slipped into his still tied Nike Shox. He watched his parents look at the SUV on the driveway and could hear them wondering out loud who it belonged to as Will finished buttoning his shirt and started stuffing his feet back into his dress shoes.
Jake saw his own black boxer briefs still on the floor and kicked them under the old sofa in the garage as John and Emma walked towards the side door of the house. Jake and Will laughed briefly together that they had gone undetected and high-fived each other then followed with a hug and a quick kiss just before John Grimke flipped on the garage lights remotely from inside the house.
Will saw John Grimke about to enter the garage from the side door and had a hearty "Hi Mr. Grimk...uh John, how are you tonight?" as the door swung open.
"Hey Dad,' Jake chimed in, "you remember Will don't you?"
"Sure do Jake," John said after a hugging Jake and offering his hand, "how are you tonight young man?"
"We're fine," Will volunteered, shaking Mr. Grimke's hand, "we were just finishing putting the stuff away from the concert. Sorry if my car was blocking the garage, I can move it if you like."
"No rush," John said looking around, not sure if anything was out of place or not, "how did the concert go Jake?"
Emma walked out and put her arms around John and John reciprocated as Will and Jake took turns sharing the details of the concert to Jake's parents. "I already had a phone call from Dr. Pearce on the Vestry," Emma said, "where did you boys get that money?"
Will answered up for Jake, "it was Jake's idea to make the school concert a fund raiser for the show at Children's, he didn't tell you?"
John just shook his head no while Emma smiled and listened to Will's slightly embellished version of the events of the week. Jake, not wanting too much attention focused on him realized the Saab was gone and asked, "Where's the Saab?"
"I took it to the mechanic, your Mom said it wasn't running right yesterday," John started, "you know anything about that?"
"No sir" Jake answered when interrogated by his father, "ran fine all week for me. The stereo still sucks on that thing...who still listens to cassettes?"
"Well, they are going to look it over but it may not be back before Christmas, you might have to rely on Will here and Evan and your other friends for a few rides `til we are a two car family again," Jake's dad warned.
Emma asked, "What do you boys have planned for tonight? Jake are you still going to Jackie's party? Will are you going too?"
Jake looked at Will, "you wanna go? I got to make an appearance but we can do something after that if you want."
"And you are not going out like that Jake," Emma began getting all maternal, "get out of that grungy sweat thing. Everybody knows you play lacrosse for Severn, you don't need to dress that way 24/7. Why don't you put something nice on like Will here. You got a closet full of nice stuff we've bought for you."
Jake knew this was not a time to whine and just sucked it up while Will basked in the compliments and secretly laughed inside that their son's cock had been jamming the back of his throat only minutes before. Emma finished with, "you can have a pass on church tomorrow since it's Christmas Eve on Monday night and you will have to be there early with me for the final rehearsal and all. And remember, it's your Dad's swing day on Christmas Eve."
The `swing day' was the twenty four hours between the end of the last day of day work at 5:00 p.m. and the start of the night work tour at 5:00 p.m. the next day. John smiled at Emma and then Jake, "listen to your mother, go get cleaned up and be home at a responsible hour. I'll see you before I leave for work in the morning, okay?"
"Alright Dad," Jake resigned himself to getting showered and changed for Jackie's party. With the rule what it was and is, Jake said to both of them, "Will is going to be up there with me okay? Maybe he can help me put some clothes together for tonight, don't worry, the door will be open."
This statement elicited a quizzical look from Will that Jake began to explain once they hit the second floor. "Mom and Dad have a rule that I am not allowed to have any guys up here unless they are home and even then, the bedroom door has to be open."
Will connected the dots, "Ah, that's why I was whisked out of here so fast the first time I was here."
"Yeah, sorry, I wasn't 100% honest with you about that," Jake said apologetically, "don't worry, no more secrets, no more surprises."
"It's cool, your parents seem pretty cool and laid back," Will observed, "mine are total control freaks but they've gotten better since I haven't tried to attract so much unwanted attention on myself.
They're much happier now that I am on the track team, in the Honor Society and veep of the senior class. That's what parent's get off on, not what I did before. It wasn't wrong to do, it just wasn't the right time in my life to do it."
"Take a look in the closet and see if you find something in there for me to wear tonight," Jake said feeling Will's eyes on him as he undressed, keeping his jeans on until he walked into his own bathroom as Will prattled on about his own coming out experiences.
Jake left the bathroom door open just wide enough for Will to get a look while he turned on the shower water and took a long piss in the commode. While Jake showered, Will surveyed the room, seeing the gauntlets of the lacrosse gloves slid down the shaft of a lacrosse stick in the corner. Will wondered if that was Jake's surrogate as he opened the closet and paired together a charcoal v-neck sweater with midnight blue jeans, short black slip-on boots and a short black leather coat that Jake must have forgotten he owned.
The water down the hall shut off and Jake wrapped a towel around his waist and headed back to his room. Inside he reached into a dresser drawer and pulled out his favorite Under Armor black boxer briefs which he slid up his muscled legs almost to the waist before shucking his towel. With the towel dropped he reached in and adjusted his semi-hard cock while Will pretended not to be interested and just looked at the spines of the books on the shelves.
"Really, this is what you think I should wear?" Jake asked looking at the mostly black ensemble.
"Trust me, you will pull it off, you won't be all Goth-like," Will said with confidence.
Jake sighed and finished dressing with Will watching each step. Jake started to comb his hair like he normally does forcing Will to say, "got some gel?"
"Yeah, but I almost never use it," Jake added, stopping himself before saying it's so gay.
"Get it," Will ordered, "I'm tired of seeing you as Mr. Uber-Preppie Jock"
Jake walked down to his bathroom and came back with the hair product and handed it to Will. "Face me," Will commanded, "don't look in the mirror, just trust me on this."
Will dabbed some clear gel on his finger tips and worked them through the jock's hair until it appeared to be an organized mess at best. When Jake saw it in the mirror he winced at first and then smiled, seeing his friend in the mirror next to him, "It's cool, let's roll."
John and Emma were enjoying a glass of wine and watching a favorite movie on the big flat screen in the family room. Emma nudged John when she saw Jake all dressed up saying "Awww Jake, you look so, so, awwww, handsome."
John did a double-take as the boys got ready to leave and nodded his approval, reminding Jake to be home at a responsible hour which meant 1:00 a.m. at the latest.
Will and Jake walked in together to the party at the Pence's. The usual crowd of seniors were there, girls from the cheerleading squad, members of the Show Choir and guys from the football and lacrosse teams. Evan was there, having weaseled his way out of hanging with his father all night. And Will was already chatting up everybody he knew at the party until he ran into Ernie Holst and Chord Michaels.
"What, you have to bring your bodyguard with you now?" Michaels snarked to him before Ernie jumped in.
"Or is it a date for you two?" asked Ernie trying to escalate the situation.
"Guys, just leave us alone, I don't want any problems tonight. Can't you two just be civilized at Jackie's party?" Will asked them.
"Just answer the question," Chord pressed, "is he your bodyguard or your date?"
"Inquiring minds want to know," Holst added.
Jake scanned the room looking for Will and saw Joey Gardner's eyes fixed on his team mates and started heading towards the encounter. Jake tapped Evan as he headed for Will's side who then got the attention of Beecher and Syms. The four lacrosse players peeled off almost in formation from the group they were in and headed towards the foyer where Joey had just arrived to intervene.
"Shut your pie-hole Ernie, now!" Gardner barked at the second stringer.
"Hey, we just were wondering if Grimke here was his date or his bodyguard. It was just a question. We weren't going to lay hand on the little flower," Chord added, knowing that football season was over and there would be little repercussion from Coach Dase.
The rest of the Mohawks arrived at Will's side seconds after Jake stood next to Will listening to Chord and Ernie's juvenile locker room banter as their team captain tried to get them to shut up and not ruin the party. But Michaels and Holst knew that Joey Gardner and Coach Dase had no real power over them anymore and they persisted.
"Ah, did little Will do Jake-i-poo's hair tonight, it looks so special," cooed Ernie.
Jake bit his lip, he knew he was safe in numbers while the rest of the party grew silent and began to focus its attention on what was happening in the foyer. Gardner tried once again to diffuse the situation which Chord and Ernie enjoyed escalating, Chord telling Gardner to "go piss off, football is over, you're nobody now."
Joey looked at the Mohawks and at Will and everybody in the room and tried one more time, "I think, we think it's time for you guys to leave."
"Fuck off Joey, you're just Coach Dase's bitch boy." Ernie added defiantly.
Jake squeezed Wills hand and held it, and then flashed Evan with a nod yes that Evan nodded yes back to and asserted himself, "Yeah, so what; I'm Will's date, why is that a problem?"
The room remained silent and grew tense as Jake stared them down and waiting a long pause, he asked them again, "Why is this a problem Ernie? Chord? What's the problem?"
They stared at Jake holding Will's hand, Will lifting it up just enough for the second stringers to see that their eyes were not playing tricks on them as the lacrosse players tightened their body knot around Will and Jake. "Leave guys, c'mon, this is a no-win situation for you guys; this isn't the locker room," Joey said one last time.
Chord looked at Ernie, then looked at Joey before looking at Evan, his arm around Jake's shoulder, Beecher and Syms behind Evan, Jake and Will, their arms outspread over the three men in front. Seldom heard Aaron spoke next, "These guys are my friends, you come after any of one of them, WE come after you, got it? Just leave, the party's over for you guys."
"Ditto for me," said Erik, "Make everybody's holiday happy and leave now."
Evan picked up on cue after Erik, "You guys already had one run-in with just one of us that didn't turn out well, I don't think you can handle four. Jackie and I and the rest of us just want you to leave quietly. Now."
"Faggots," Chord said as he turned towards the front door.
"Cocksuckers," Ernie said as he turned with Chord.
For the first time in his life, Jake Grimke heard those hateful words hurled directly at him; making him boil with rage. Will squeezed Jake's hand as hard as he could as the second stringers swung the door wide open and swung it as hard as they could to slam it shut on their way out while the rest of The Mohawks tightened their grip around Jake and Will until the immediate urge to pummel Holst and Michaels subsided.
As the giant group hug ended Jake looked at Will, then Evan and said hoping for a small laugh, "Well, that went well."
Will looked at Jake, "Uh Jake, you rang the bell pretty early dude, you can't un-ring it now."
"Maybe we should go too, I think we've caused enough of a disruption here," Jake said to Will at first and then to Jackie Pence who had taken station at Evan's side.
"Don't you dare leave Jake Grimke," Jackie laid in to him, "don't you dare leave! Your friends are here Jake, all of us are your friends and we're Will's too. Your team mates just circled the wagons around you two, you can't leave them now, not after what I just saw."
Jake looked almost guilty into the eyes of Aaron, Erik and of course Evan and the other athletes there. Evan stepped in and hugged Jake and then drew in Will and the rest of them all hugged in a huge huddle until Erik did the traditional team countdown, "three, two, break" and then they all shouted "SEVERN forever!"
As Jake wiped the tears up from his cheeks he turned to Evan, "Sorry, bro, the coming out timetable got moved up a little bit due to unforeseen circumstances."
"It was a bit of a shock, but, what give's with Will here?" Evan asked politely.
"I'll fill you in later, let's just enjoy the party," Jake said, "thanks wingman; always and forever."
"Always and forever" replied Evan as they bumped fists.