Justin's Rock
Justin's Rock
by tim mead
Chapter 3
The weather on commencement day was perfect, sunny and mild with a light breeze. On nice days the ceremonies were always held in the stadium, with the gym as backup in case of rain. Justin couldn't help thinking of his father, and how proud he'd have been to see his son walk across the stage and get his diploma. But even without Larry he had his own cheering section. Moira was there, of course, along with Grandma Mary who'd come out from Toledo, and he'd been able to snag tickets for Brody and Dave as well.
He and Gary had gone to a graduation party at the home of a mutual friend that night, but it was noisy and there was a lot of drinking. Neither of them was enjoying it, so they went back to Justin's house and spent their last night together.
Now graduation was over and Gary was at Interlochen for the rest of the summer. It was Justin's first day on his summer job. As he dressed that morning he'd taken the studs out of his ears. No flamer, he nevertheless was quite open about who and what he was. But he didn't want to call attention to himself the first day on the job. He grinned at himself in the mirror. `I look just like any other seriously sexy eighteen-year-old jock,' he told himself.
He drove the Rav 4 his folks had bought used for him on his 16th birthday to the Cromer storage building on the west side of Colby. A pair of hunky young guys smiled and said "hey" as they came out of the building. Once inside, he saw two men, one a thirty-something, he guessed, and the other closer to his own age, probably a college student.
"You must be Justin," the older guy said.
Justin grinned and said, "That's me."
"I'm Ed Johnson, the foreman of the work crews, and this here's Ty. He's not gonna be your regular partner, but he's gonna show you the ropes today." Ed offered a calloused hand, which Justin shook. Then he shook hands with Ty.
Ever one to register the salient details, Justin took in Ed's 5'6" stature, his dark brown hair, brown eyes, tanned skin (how'd he get a tan so early in the summer?), and bulging muscles. Always relieved not to be the shortest guy in the room, Justin figured Ed either worked out regularly or else did hard physical labor year `round. Ty was more interesting, perhaps an inch taller than Justin, with dirty blond hair, green eyes and a jock's build.
"I see you wore work boots like you wuz told to," Ed said. "Here are three Cromer Landscaping tee shirts. Put one of `em on now. If you want more, we'll sell `em to you at cost. But you gotta wear them and jeans or denim or khaki shorts to work. No cutoffs. And no working with your shirt off. Company rules. Now, Ty's got your work list for the day, and he'll show you what to do and how to fill out the work sheets. Any questions?"
"Nope, not yet. And I'm sure Ty can take care of any I come up with."
"Okay, then you guys get out of here. Oh, Quinn, don't forget to put on one of them tee shirts before you get to the first client."
"Right."
There were other guys coming into the parking lot singly, and a truck with the two guys he'd seen before was pulling out. Ty waved or spoke to most of them.
"How long have you been working for Dave?"
"This'll be my third summer. I just finished my second year at Toledo and I live in Colby."
He unlocked one of the green GMC pickup trucks. Justin noticed that it had a walk-behind mower, a weed whacker, a blower, and some garden tools in the back. Justin changed tee shirts, putting the one he'd started out with and the two new company ones in his Rav4.
Once they were in the truck, Ty said, "So, how about you? Where you from? How do you know Dave Cromer?"
"I live in Higgins, just graduated from high school. And I know Dave because his partner, Brody Cox, is a good friend of mine. And we all played on the Higgins Hammers baseball team last summer."
Ty started the truck and they drove out of the gate and down the street. "I was surprised to hear that Dave had gotten divorced and come out since last summer. I've never met his friend."
"Brody's an ex-Marine, and he's a cool dude."
"An ex-Marine. And he's gay?"
"Yeah. Does it bother you that the boss is gay?"
"No, not really. I never would have guessed about him. I've just never been around gay guys – at least not that I know of. Looks like I've got a lot to learn."
"Well, Ty," Justin said, a little smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, "if you have any questions, just ask."
"Ask? Oh, you mean you're gay, too!"
"Yep. And I'll be glad to introduce you to the rainbow world."
Ty looked at Justin out of the corner of his eye and grinned. "Was that a come-on, Quinn?"
"Only if you want it to be. You're pretty hot, you know."
"Fuck, man. I've never been, what is the word, cruised before. I think I'm flattered."
"You should be. I've got high standards."
Ty laughed. "Well, sorry, man, but I'm not interested. Thanks for the offer, though."
"You're a cool guy, Ty, even if you're straight. Ed never told me your last name."
"Oh, sorry. It's Hodges."
"Well, I think I'm gonna like working with you."
"After today, we'll see each other around the garage, but we won't work together much. If you and your partner make the grade, that is. Today I'm showing you what to do and your partner is out with another guy who's been around. Starting tomorrow you and he will work together."
"What's he like? What's his name?"
Ty chuckled. "I dunno. Ed didn't tell me. Looking for somebody else to pick up?"
Justin laughed. "Well, ya never know."
Ty explained that for commercial/industrial clients and residential clients with large lawns the two-man crews had a riding mower. One man did the mowing and the other did the trimming with the weed whacker and cleaned up with the blower. They took turns with those jobs, since most of the guys preferred running the small tractor. For most residential clients a walk-behind mower was used. "They do a neater job and they're easier to get around in the tight spaces," Ty said. "And, again, you and your partner can trade off using the mower. Except in this case, the weed whacking and blowing are easier work."
Justin thought about making a comment about blowing, but decided not to.
He enjoyed the day's work and found Ty a pleasant and helpful teacher. Not to mention the fact that he was seriously cute.
When he got home that evening, he was hot, sweaty, dirty, and tired. On top of that he had a bit of sunburn, since he'd forgotten to use sun block. But he was eager to get back to work the next day.
At the equipment building the next morning Ed introduced him to his partner for the day, perhaps for the summer if they both worked out.
"This here's Todd Nielsen."
Justin looked at a guy exactly his height, with sparkling blue eyes and short, black, curly hair, wearing the dark green Cromer tee and denim shorts that came just below his knees. He had a small black stud in each earlobe, obviously chosen to complement his black hair.
Justin put out his hand. `This might be a better summer than I expected,' he thought.
"Hey, Todd. 'Sup?"
"I'll tell you when we get out of here," Todd said, grinning.
Ed gave them their work sheets for the day, a map of the county, and the keys to a truck.
"You wanna tell us which truck these are for?" Justin asked. He had a point since all of the trucks were painted the company green and all were GMC's, though of different model years.
"It says on your work sheet what truck you've got today, kid."
"Oh, my bad," Justin said, grinning. "C'mon, Todd, let's roll!"
"Okay," the other boy answered, "but tomorrow is my turn to drive."
"Cool."
When they got in the truck, Justin asked, "Okay, where are we going?"
"2504 Putnam Circle, Higgins."
"Oh, I know where Putnam is."
"Great. So, how long have you known you were gay?"
Justin looked at the grinning guy sitting next to him. He was used to saying things that put others off kilter, but seldom was it done to him. He still wasn't wearing his studs, so it couldn't be that.
"Who says I'm gay?" This was weird. He was the one with the gaydar.
"Oh, come on, Quinn. You're gay and you don't seem to be the kind that's shy about it."
He'd suspected that Todd was gay from the fact that he wore earrings in both ears, but he knew that some straight guys did that. It was the right only stud that was supposed to be a signal.
"Okay, you win. I'm gay. But how the fuck did you know?"
"My gaydar's never wrong."
Now Justin was really amazed, since he'd used the same words to describe his own.
"Fuck, man, it must be pretty good."
"Fuck? You wanna fuck? Sounds good to me. Where? When? Think we can find a place to park the truck? We could do it back there."
Justin was actually nervous. Here was a guy who reminded him so much of himself that he was stunned. And his palms were sweating. He couldn't study Todd as he'd like to because he had to keep his eyes on the road.
"So, tell me, Todd, where are you from? How'd you happen to be working for Dave Cromer?"
"I'm from Cincinnati, but my folks wanted to get me out of the house. They don't think having a gay son enhances the family image. So they shipped me off to spend the summer with my uncle. I'm going to Kenyon in the fall."
"Your uncle lives in Higgins?"
"Colby, actually. They sent me to him because they thought he'd be a good role model. He's Thomas Nielsen."
"Isn't that `Pinky' Nielsen?"
Todd grinned. "Yeah, Uncle Pinkie. Poor guy's been stuck with that all his life. He's pretty cool, actually. And right now he's got a really great-looking boyfriend. Guy name of Adrian Lynch."
Justin laughed.
"What's funny?"
"I'll tell you some other time, maybe. How old's your uncle?"
"He's my dad's younger brother. I'd guess he's about 32."
Justin was thinking that it wasn't typical for Adrian Lynch to be running around with a guy his own age. Brody hadn't told him why he and Adrian had broken up, but Justin had heard enough gossip to know that Lynch liked college age guys.
"Pretty cute guy, your Uncle Tom?"
"Not really. He's a cool dude, and I really like him, but he's not all that great to look at. My mom's got the looks in the family – and I obviously inherited them from her."
"You're modest, too." Justin said, chuckling.
"Modesty is an over-rated virtue."
"You don't look like a Nielsen. Isn't that a Scandinavian name?"
"Yep. But my mom's family came from Italy back in the day. I got Dad's eyes, but the rest of me takes after them."
As they worked together, Justin had ample opportunity to admire his partner's muscular calves, his great butt, his well-developed biceps and, through the green Cromer tee, his pecs as well.
Todd told him he'd played soccer at Cincinnati Country Day and that he would be going to soccer camp two weeks before classes began at Kenyon.
Justin had developed the knack of keeping others off balance when he wanted to. He'd used it on Brody when they'd first met the previous summer until he'd been told by Sheila, who worked in Petal Pushers with Brody and Justin, that his cockiness was making Brody dislike him. After that he'd toned things down a bit. Now, however, he had trouble being comfortable with his work partner. He never knew what to expect.
As the day went on the black-haired cutie began putting his hands on Justin at times when he least expected it. As he bent over to clean out the underneath side of the mower, he felt a thumb running up the crack of his ass. Todd occasionally tweaked Justin's nipples, or rubbed his crotch. Justin was no prude, but he did worry that the homeowners where they were working or their neighbors might see. And he had the added embarrassment and discomfort of sporting wood the rest of the day.
In self defense, he began to retaliate, so by 4:30 when they loaded up the truck to go back to the garage, both were hard. Their tee shirts were soaked with sweat, but their bulges sported wet spots of a different kind.
"You bastard," Justin said to the grinning Todd, who was driving, "I'm gonna have to go home and jack off."
"Yeah, like you wouldn't do that anyway."
"Maybe so, but you're really pushing things. I'm gonna find a way to fuck you, Nielsen, just you wait."
"Promises, promises. Besides, I think you're the one who's gonna get fucked."
They were still bantering and still sporting hard cocks when they got back to turn in the truck and their work sheets.
Justin was relieved that Ed didn't say anything, and the other guys who were checking out didn't seem to notice. As he was about to get into his Rav 4, Todd pulled up behind him in a Mustang convertible with the top down. Justin, who'd been proud of his little SUV, looked enviously at Todd's egg-yolk yellow car.
"Tomorrow, Quinn, we're gonna find some place private. And then your ass is mine, baby."
Before Justin could offer a retort, Todd spun out. Justin stood there shaking his head.
Later, at home, he stripped off his clothes and threw them into the hamper in the laundry. Since his mother wasn't home yet, he walked naked to his room, his hard cock wagging from side to side. He flopped into his computer chair, closed his eyes, and visualized the saucy face of Todd Nielsen as he began to pump his dick.
When he'd finished his wank and had a shower, he went to the kitchen. He found a package of ground beef in the meat drawer of the fridge. He began cutting up onions and mincing garlic. He opened a can of tomato sauce and a can of diced tomatoes. He browned the meat with the onions and garlic, added it to the tomatoes along with basil, oregano, and bay leaf. By the time Moira got home, he had a spaghetti sauce simmering, much to her delight.
As they ate their supper of spaghetti with freshly grated parmesan and Italian rolls which he'd found in the freezer, she asked him about his day. He described his new partner in some detail, though he didn't mention the sexual play, or Todd's cute ass.
"It sounds, my son, as if you may have met your match."
Justin chuckled. "Well, for sure it's not going to be a dull summer."
"Why don't you invite him over for dinner? Woops, I guess I shouldn't suggest that since you seem to be doing the cooking these days."
"No, Mom, it's cool. I'd like to have him over. Maybe he'd help me fix something."
"There are steaks in the freezer. You could cook outside, and we could have a salad. I'll pick up some potato salad from the deli on the way home."
"Well, I don't know when he'd be free, but I'll ask him tomorrow."
After that the conversation waned for a few minutes as they ate. Then Justin remembered something he'd been meaning to ask his mother.
"Mom?"
"Yes, dear."
"This summer you and Dad were gonna start that new house you two designed, weren't you? What do you plan to do about that?" He knew his parents had dreamed for years of building a house they had designed together.
"Oh, there's no point in going on with that now, dear. I don't need a place that big. In fact, I was thinking of maybe moving into a condo."
The Quinns had only lived in their house for two years, but to Justin it felt like home. "Mom, promise me you'll think about that a little longer. Since I'm going to Colby, I'll be around. I promise I'll keep the lawn cut and the shrubs trimmed and stuff. And I'll be able to come back here on weekends and do things around the house if you need me to."
"But I'd feel as if I were rattling around in this place all by myself."
"Well, just think about it, okay?"
She put her hand over his. "Of course, sweetie."
The next day Justin and Todd's first job was in Gilmore, a small town 20 miles the other side of Colby. After they had finished the job, loaded the mower in the back of the truck, and buckled themselves in, Todd looked over at Justin and said, "Take out your dick."
`Okay,' Justin thought, `we're playing head games here."
"Only if you will."
Todd grinned, unfastened his belt and the top button of his shorts. Then he pulled down the zip. He wasn't wearing underwear, so it was easy to flip his hardening cock and his balls out of the shorts.
"Freeballing, huh? It figures."
"I'm not starting this truck until you haul out your tackle."
Justin complied, smirking when it became obvious that he, too, wasn't wearing underwear.
"Do you always go commando, Quinn?"
"Nope. I just figured something like this might happen with a horndog like you around."
Todd started the truck. When they were on the highway headed back toward Colby, he put his hand on Justin's cock, shoving Justin's hand out of the way. Justin put his left hand on Todd's cock, which was already getting moist with precum.
As the two began to jack each other slowly, Justin worried a little about being seen, but they were in a truck, so about the only way they could be seen was if a semi passed them, and on this two-lane highway that was unlikely. Nevertheless the thrill of what they were doing added to the great feelings Todd was giving his cock.
Neither said anything as they cruised down the road slowly pumping each other's increasingly slippery tools. Before long Justin knew he was about to explode. Not wanting to cum before Todd, however, he did his best to hold it back. Finally, he could feel that the cock he was stroking was on the brink. And they came together. Their little contest had ended in a draw. But now they both had the white sticky stuff all over their pricks and hands.
Justin laid his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes for a moment. Then it occurred to him that Todd might do that. He was relieved to note that Todd's eyes were on the road. And he was smiling.
"That was pretty cool, wasn't it?"
"Yeah. But what are we gonna do about this mess?"
Todd simply licked his hand clean. "Now, you do the same."
Grinning, Justin used his tongue to clean Todd's spunk from his hand.
"Good man! I didn't know whether you'd do that or not."
Justin opened the dash compartment and looked around.
"What are you doing/"
"I was hoping there'd be some Kleenex or something in here."
"This truck is driven by guys, not women. So here's what we do. We just fasten up and leave the cum in there."
"Ooohhh, kinky!" Justin said, grinning. He shoved his sticky dick back into his shorts and buttoned up. When they came to a four-way stop, Todd did the same.
As the day went on, they continued to try to arouse each other when no one could see them, so they were constantly hard. And since they were sweaty all the time except when they were in the truck, they reeked of sex all day.
"I love the way you smell," Todd remarked. Justin sniffed and said, "Yeah."
"But I'm still gonna fuck your ass, Quinn."
"You better not bend over, or I'll get you first."
Justin couldn't help noticing that Todd's shorts kept slipping down, so that he was often showing a little cleavage in the back. He always managed to hitch them up if one of their customers was around, but when it was just the two of them working, his ass was peeking temptingly above the top of his shorts. Justin refused to play his game and kept his belt cinched so his own shorts stayed somewhere in the vicinity of his hip bones.
Despite their constantly teasing each other, the two worked well together and the time passed quickly.
As they were driving back to the Cromer garage, Justin said, "Wouldn't we be able to get a lot more done if we had two mowers?"
"Yeah," Todd replied, "I see what you mean. One of us spends a lot of time waiting for the other guy to get done with the mowing. With two mowers, we'd finish sooner."
"Wanna tell Ed about it?"
"Why not?"
So, when they got back to home base, they raised the idea with Ed.
"I dunno guys, we've always done it this way. I dunno if the boss would be willin' to buy another mower for each crew, but I'll ask him. Now you boys need to go get a shower. You smell."
"Come on, Ed," Todd said with a big grin. "All of us are pretty sweaty by the end of the day."
"You're right, stud, but you boys smell like a whorehouse."
As the two teens walked together to their cars, Justin said, "I hope the cab of that truck doesn't smell like cum."
"So what? That'll give whoever uses it tomorrow something to wonder about."
Justin laughed. Then as they were about to get into their cars, he remembered.
"Hey, Todd. Mom says you should have supper with us some evening."
"Aww, gee, Quinn, you're taking me home to meet your mother already. I didn't know we were boyfriends yet." A huge grin made it clear that he was being facetious.
"Oh, we're not boyfriends yet. I just want to get into your pants and thought maybe a good meal would soften you up."
"You never soften me, dude." He put his hand to his package and hefted it. "But seriously, I'd like to meet your mom. Just tell me when."
"Why don't we say this Saturday? That way we could do something together after supper. You could even stay over."
Todd waggled his eyebrows. "And I could fuck you. Sounds cool. I'll tell Uncle Tommy I'll be out for dinner and the night."
"Cool! But we'll see who fucks who. See ya tomorrow, hot stuff."
The next morning Todd said, "I can be there for dinner Saturday. But why don't you come back afterward and spend the night with me? Uncle Tommy and Adrian are going to Chicago for the weekend, and we'll have the place to ourselves."
"That could be interesting," Justin said, grinning. "I'll run it by Mom, but she trusts me." He paused. "If only she knew!"
"She doesn't know you're gay?"
"Oh, yeah, sure she does. I'm just not sure she's thought much about what two gay guys might do."
Todd chuckled. "Yeah, I'm finally gonna fuck you."
Justin gave him a hip bump. "Dream on!"
When they went inside, Ed handed them their work sheets.
"I've put an extra mower on your truck. And two extra lawns on your list. Before you start cuttin' with them mowers, make sure they're set to the same height. If you don't, you're gonna make the yards look like shit."
"Dave okayed this, then?" Todd asked.
Ed looked uncomfortable. "No, I didn't mention it to him. This is just a kind of experiment. We'll see what time you boys get back here."
"Thanks, Ed," Justin said, "for letting us try it out."
"Like I said, hotshot, it's just an experiment."
With both of them spending most of their day behind lawnmowers, they didn't have time to talk much, nor to paw each other. When they were in the truck going from one job to the next, Justin asked Todd things about his family, and they compared notes on their favorite video games, groups, clothes, sports teams, and such.
They had done all of the lawns on their list by 3:00 and they got back to the garage at 3:30.
"Jeez, you boys back already!" Ed exclaimed when he saw them.
"Yep."
"Dave's gonna shit bricks when I tell him this."
"What's wrong?" Justin asked.
"Well, if every team that's using walking mowers can get through their jobs this fast, we could lay off one of the teams."
"Oh, shit!" Todd said.
"Yeah," Justin agreed, "we're not gonna be very popular with the other guys if that happens."
"You two smart asses ain't figured it out yet, have ya?" Ed asked.
"What?"
"You're the two newest guys on the crew. If we have to let anybody go, it'll be you geniuses."
TBC
_If you liked this chapter, I'd love to hear from you. Email me at t.mead76@yahoo.com. Please be sure to put the name of the story in the subject line so I'll know it isn't spam. Thanks. --Tim
_