Here's chapter 6--please let me know what you think about the story so far (I know there isn't much yet), and if I should keep it going. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! (glenwoodbronco@hotmail.com)
This story is not meant to imply anything about the sexuality of anyone or anything...if you are underage, then just be happy that most of you don't have to pay rent, or work full-time, or pay bills. However, you are not supposed to be here, but that is a small price to pay for being underage. :)
Mile High Meeting-Chapter 6
We finished eating, and pulled out my credit card to pay. Nick immediately started to protest, and I reminded him that the employees here were much younger than at the art gallery, and they would surely recognize his name, especially when they saw someone that looked like him signing the receipt. He reluctantly conceded the argument, and after we had paid, we left the restaurant.
I looked down at my watch, and realized that it was almost time for our horseback ride, so we walked quickly toward the stables a few blocks away. I wanted to get there early, as I was planning on making a special request, and I didn't want a big crowd around for Nick's sake.
We walked up to the main building, and the two of us went inside. There was a young girl behind the counter who almost immediately recognized Nick. Surprisingly, she remained fairly calm, but words were not coming easily to her.
"Hello there," I said. "I called earlier and made a reservation for a ride at 2."
I gave her my name, and she eventually found my reservation. She kept looking at Nick, and he smiled back at her, only flustering her that much more.
"Ma'am? I was wondering if you had any advanced rides, where we could just go out on our own? Nick was hoping to have some privacy, and he doesn't want to detract from the other riders by drawing attention to himself."
"I would really appreciate it if you could do that for me. If you give me your address, I can send some autographed pictures, and CD's to you," Nick said, trying to persuade her.
"I think I can arrange something for you. There is an old trail that we don't use anymore that I can let you use. I have a map here, but I can't guarantee what condition it is in. You guys will have to sign some waivers saying that you understand the risks, and you won't hold us responsible for any injuries," she said; glad that she could accommodate Nick.
"That won't be a problem. Just show us where to sign," I said with a smile. She smiled back at me as well. Apparently, Nick wasn't the only one who could pour on the charm.
She pulled out some paperwork, and showed us where to sign. I asked her how long we were allowed to be out, and she told us that since we weren't with a group, we didn't have an actual time limit, but she asked that we try to be back before 5 if possible. We agreed, and soon we were shown to our horses.
The guide gave us a map of the trail, and asked us to please stay as close to the trails as possible. Nick and I then mounted our horses, and we began down the trail. The terrain was gentle at first, as we were in an open field, but soon the trail took us into a forested area, where we began to climb relatively quickly. There wasn't enough room for both of us to ride side-by-side, so Nick said he would go first, which gave me a great opportunity to watch him. He looked back at me often to see if I was still there, and to tell me how beautiful the scenery was.
After a while, we began to level off again, and our path followed a beautiful mountain stream. The water was moving fairly quickly, but it wasn't stirring up any dirt or mud as you could clearly see the rocks in the bed of the stream. We continued until we came into a clearing, and I was able to ride up next to him. As soon as I had caught up, we both stopped to take a look at the view around us. We could see forever, with tree-covered mountains all around us, and the higher, more rugged mountains off in the distance. There were still patches of snow on some of them, and the sun reflected off them to create a breathtaking image. I was truly in heaven. Not only did I get to see this tremendous view, but I also got to enjoy it with Nick.
"This is absolutely amazing, Cam," Nick said, looking at me. "It's about the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."
I just smiled, and rode closer to the stream, motioning Nick to join me. As I got close to some trees that looked sturdy enough, I dismounted, and tied up my horse. Nick followed suit, and I took his hand in mine as we walked over to the stream, sitting down on the bank.
"Bet you don't get to do this everyday, eh Nick?"
"I certainly wish that we could, but it seems like we are always too busy to take the time for something like this."
I sighed, and looked downward as he made that comment, realizing what he was saying. His lifestyle left little time for 'something like this,' and that also meant that he wouldn't have much time for a relationship either. He noticed that I wasn't thinking pleasant thoughts, so he put his arm around my shoulder.
"What's wrong, Cam?" Nick asked.
"I was just coming to the realization that you really don't have a lot of free time; free time that you could spend with, well, someone like me. You will probably be back on the road soon, and there really won't be time for a relationship. I am normally the optimist, but I can't see how this is going to work."
"So, you think that the five of us have always been single, and we've never had a relationship before?" Nick asked.
"Well, no, but..."
"But what? We are human. I think all of us would have went crazy by now if we had been single this whole time."
He had made a good point, and it bothered me because I hate it when people prove me wrong, so I didn't want to just concede the point that easily. However, I was at a loss for words at the moment, and couldn't think of anything clever to say, so I just nodded slightly, and then looked back down at the water.
"I guess you have a point," I admitted. "But..."
"Would you stop with that already? I thought you were the optimistic one. It's not going to be easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. All I know is that I want to be with you, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that happens. You mean too much to me for me to just give up easily."
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"For what?"
"For saying that. I guess I wasn't thinking it through. I am glad to hear that you want to be with me as much as I want to be with you. Now that I know we are on the same page, it makes me feel a lot better."
"I know something that will make you feel even better," Nick said, leaning toward me.
"What's that?" I asked.
Just then, he leaned in and kissed me. "Yeah, that certainly helps," I said, smiling. I then leaned in as we kissed again, this time much more passionately. Our lips parted, and our tongues began exploring, and soon, I was lying down, with Nick on top of me.
My hands began roaming up and down his back, as we continued. His arms supported his weight as he reached down to me. I then grabbed his sides, and rolled him to my left, climbing on top of him, our lips never separating. We stayed in that position for a long time, making out as the water ran by.
Nick's hands began roaming more freely, and he was soon his hands were pulling at my shirt, pulling it up my chest. He was soon unbuttoning my shirt until it was hanging down freely from my body. He began to move his hands around my sides, and onto my back, feeling my bare skin as we continued to kiss. As much as I wanted him touching me, I didn't want to rush things, so I broke the kiss, and sat down next to him.
"Is everything okay?" Nick asked, concerned.
"Couldn't be better," I said. "I just don't want us to do anything that we will regret later. I want to take this slowly."
"I do too...I wasn't planning on doing anything else. I guess I just got a bit ahead of myself," Nick admitted, looking upset.
"Don't worry about it. I just didn't want us to get carried away. Plus, we don't want some park rangers searching for us, finding us in this position." I said, looking at my watch. "We should be heading back soon anyway. It's getting close to 5 o'clock."
"Yeah, you're probably right. That would be a little hard to explain," Nick said, laughing.
We both stood up, and I started for the horse when Nick grabbed me by the arm to stop me. He then walked in front of me, and started buttoning my shirt. "My mother always told me to clean up after myself," Nick said, smiling.
"She's a smart woman," I said in passing as he finished, giving him a quick kiss before walking back to the horse.
We both got back on the horses, and began our way back down the trail.
"Speaking of your mom," I started, "How did your parents take the news about you being gay?"
"Actually, everyone took it really well. In fact, my guess is that they weren't all that surprised by it. Of course, they worried about me, but they also knew that there wasn't much that I could do about it. The guys in the group took it pretty well also. Brian had the hardest time dealing with it, but I think he valued our friendship too much to let it come between us."
"Brian seemed really glad to see us getting together. He even gave me a thumbs-up when we were out on the deck that first night." I informed Nick.
"He really likes you, Cameron. We talked about it on the walk back to our condo last night. He kept telling me to not screw this up," Nick said, laughing. "He is a really good judge of character, so if he approves, you've got no problems."
"I am glad to hear that I am 'Brian approved.'"
"The rest of the guys will love you too. They will probably be relieved that I have a boyfriend, so I will stop bugging them about it. I have been told that I can be quite a pest."
"I can't imagine," I said sarcastically.
Nick just laughed briefly, and soon we were silent again as we rode side by side. That was another thing I really enjoyed about being with Nick: we could just be together, not needing words to fill the dead air. Just being with Nick made me feel very comfortable and safe, feelings I hadn't had in a very long time.
As we descended, the terrain once again became far more rugged, and we could no longer ride by each other. I went first down the mountainside, barely looking ahead at all as I was enjoying the scenery around me too much. I should have been paying more attention, as my horse approached a tree a bit too closely, catching my foot behind the tree as we passed it. I let out a yell, which scared the horse a bit, making him move faster still. Fortunately, I was able to get him stopped, but not before some damage had been done.
"Cam! Are you okay?" Nick asked as he dismounted and ran up to me.
"I think so. My ankle hurts pretty badly, but I don't think anything is broken. Let's just try to get down the mountain, and take it from there," I said calmly.
"Are you sure you can ride down?"
"I don't think I have any choice. I don't think I can walk on it right now, so let's just get down the hill."
Nick agreed, and got back on his horse to finish the ride. I smiled a bit as we started back down, thinking about how quickly Nick was down here to help. We finally made it down to the stable, and my ankle was hurting more than I let on, and I knew walking was going to be painful. Nick came over to help me get off the horse, and I could hardly put any weight on it at all. However, I didn't want to let the girl that helped us see that I was hurt, because I didn't want her to feel bad about letting us go on that trail.
I tried to walk as normally as possible, but it wasn't going to work. I asked Nick to help me walk until we were out of sight, and I put my arm around his shoulder to support me until we couldn't see the stables. I then let go, and sat down on the fence surrounding the property.
"I can't walk any further like this. If I give you the keys to my car, can you come pick me up?" I asked.
"Of course, Cam. Are you going to be okay by yourself?"
I smiled. "It's just an ankle, Nick. I'm not having a heart attack. I drive a black Navigator, and it is in the main parking lot near my condo. It has Hawkeye plates, so it is easy to spot."
"Okay, Cam. I will be back in just a few minutes. Stay put," Nick said as planted a quick kiss on my cheek before running off.
Silently, I cursed myself for my stupidity, all the while hoping that this wasn't something serious. I wasn't going to let this stop me from doing everything I had planned for us to do.
It seemed like only a few minutes had passed when my Navigator pulled up, with Nick running out to help me to get in. He helped me sit down, and then lifted my left leg up, trying not to move the ankle, then helping me with the other leg. He then shut the door, walking around to the other one, putting it in drive once he shut the door.
"How does it feel? Should we go see a doctor?" Nick asked.
"I think it will be fine," I said. Nick started to protest, but I cut him off. "I am going to see what happens tonight, and if it still hurts this much in the morning, I will get it looked at."
"We will get it looked at," he said, putting his hand on my leg.
"I stand corrected...well, I sit corrected," I said, joking.
We got back to my condo, and I got out, not looking forward to the two flights of stairs I would have to climb to get inside. Nick helped me walk to the stairs, and before I got the chance to start up the first step, he got behind me, and lifted me up, carrying me up the stairs.
"Nick! You don't have to do this...I don't want you to hurt yourself too." I was impressed that he lifted me with such ease.
"You aren't that heavy, Cam." I weigh around 200 pounds, so I guessed that he worked out quite a bit to handle me that easily. "Give me the key," he said as we approached the door.
I laughed as he got the door open, carrying me into the condo. "I hope no one saw that," I said. "They may really be wondering about us."
"Who cares?" Nick said. "Let them think what they want," he said as he sat me down on the couch, putting a pillow on the table in front of me before lifting up my leg to place it there.
"Thank you," I said, looking up at him.
"No problem, Cam. I'm going to call Brian, and tell him what happened."
"Okay," I responded, not knowing what he was about to tell Brian.
He picked up the phone, and dialed. "Bri, it's Nick...Cam hurt his ankle today, so I am going to be staying here tonight to help take care of him."
I sat up at that remark, getting Nick's attention. "I'll be fine, Nick. It's just a sprain."
"Forget it, Cam. We'd still be on the first flight of stairs if you tried to walk. I'm staying," he said with authority. I decided not to argue, as he looked determined. He turned back to the phone. "Yeah, that would be great...anytime would be fine...sounds good. Okay, see you then. Bye."
Nick hung up the phone, and came over to sit by me. "Brian is bringing over some things for me, so you are going to have a guest tonight."
"I could think of worse people to be spending time with," I said, leaning my head onto his shoulder.
"Well, I am going to fix you a drink," Nick said after a few minutes, walking over to the kitchen.
I just sat there watching him as he began to pour a drink. 'This is certainly going to be interesting,' I thought to myself, looking out the window. 'Very interesting, indeed.'
Well, that's it for Chapter 6-hope you all enjoyed it. It may be a few days before the next chapter is out, for those of you who are actually reading this! :)
Until then...thanks for reading!