Miles from Home

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Late May, Senior Summer

"Ugh, this rain sucks!" Eddie groaned as he closed the door to the balcony of the small condo in Guerrero where we'd been spending the final days of my visit to Mexico. "I can't believe we're stuck inside on our last night at the beach."

"I don't really mind staying in," Pete snickered, and a mischievous glint sparked across his hazel eyes when they caught mine. Pete's head was resting on my chest, and we were sprawled out on the couch after the stormfront had cut short our final day of playing around in the crashing waves of the Pacific.

"Well of course you wouldn't," Eddie sighed, flopping down onto the opposite end of the couch from me near Pete's feet. "You have entertainment. But what am I gonna do tonight? Just watch TV with the volume on blast so I don't havta listen to your sex noises again?"

"We could try to keep it down," I offered sheepishly as I felt my face flush hot at the confirmation of how little privacy there actually was here in this condo that belonged to the family of a friend Eddie had made in Mexico City this semester. The apartment only had one small bedroom, and I'd already suspected the walls weren't thick enough to prevent sound from traveling out into the living room to where Eddie had been crashing on the couch.

Pete laughed out loud as he evidently picked up on my embarrassment.

"Well I know this is our last night together with you too," Pete said, sitting up and turning to Eddie. "So we can hang out for a bit before Max and I... uhh... you know."

I nodded in agreement to that. I'd only known Eddie for a week now, but it already felt like we'd become fast friends during my visit to Mexico to kick off the summer. And so I was glad he'd been able to come along with us from the city for this beach weekend too. Eddie's quick sense of humor meshed seamlessly with mine and Pete's, and he'd been remarkably patient with being our third wheel all week. Getting to know Eddie had turned out to be a real bonus highlight to this trip I'd been looking forward to all semester.

Pete got up from the couch and looked glumly out at the pouring rain still pelting the balcony. "But it doesn't look like this is gonna let up any time soon, so we'll have to find somethin' to do in here."

Then Pete walked over to the small bookshelf on the other side of the living room and scanned its contents for inspiration while he sipped from the beer he'd been drinking.

"Hey, we could play a game!" he exclaimed as he held up a deck of cards he'd found on the shelves.

"Do you know how to play poker?" I asked Eddie.

"Sure," Eddie shrugged. "But I've always thought it's kinda boring though. We'd need to do something to make it more interesting."

"You mean like a bet?" Pete asked, fishing his wallet out from the pocket of his shorts and then frowning as he thumbed through its contents. "I don't really have any cash left. Just enough pesos to get to the airport tomorrow."

"Same," I agreed after I'd pulled out my wallet and checked mine too. "But maybe we could make it into a drinking game and finish the rest of that bottle of tequila we got?"

"Yeah, obviously," Eddie laughed, getting up from the couch now too and then taking the deck of cards from Pete. "We shouldn't waste that. But a drinking game's not gonna be very interesting either since we already know I'm the lightweight here."

"So what would be interesting then?" Pete asked Eddie, turning the question back to him.

"Well we could always play strip poker," Eddie replied. And his tone was so even that it was impossible to tell if he was joking or not.

"You're serious?" I asked Eddie after I'd registered from my seat on the couch the surprised look that flashed across Pete's face at his proposal.

"Yeah, it'd basically just save you two some time before you ditch me to hole up in there again," Eddie cocked his head back towards the apartment's small bedroom. "And I've already seen you guys mostly naked out on the beach for the last few days anyway, so it's not like you've got anything to be shy about."

I quickly took stock of what we were all wearing as I considered this idea. We each had on just the T-shirts and shorts we'd changed into after we'd come in from the beach when the stormfront hit the shore earlier this evening. Eddie was the only one who had sandals on too since Pete and I were both barefoot.

"That'll be a pretty quick game," I predicted.

Eddie shrugged that aside. "It's not like it's gonna be long before you two horndogs ditch me anyway. So come on. Let's do it."

I looked over at Pete and raised my brow to silently ask him what he thought of this suggestion. He looked amused and also a little bit tipsy as he took another swig from his beer.

"Yeah, why not?" he laughed. "You're right that we've already been practically naked all weekend."

"Fuck it," I smiled back at Pete and then turned to Eddie as I rose up from the couch with my beer too. "Interesting it is."

We grabbed some shot glasses and the bottle of tequila we'd bought earlier on the trip before settling into the seats around the small round table at the end of the living room near the kitchen. Pete was seated on my right, and Eddie was on my left.

Eddie shuffled the deck and then dealt us each a hand for our first round of the game.

"So since there's only three of us, here are the rules," Eddie announced as he distributed our cards. "We'll deal a completely new hand in each round, and whoever gets the weakest one hasta take off one thing."

"But what if there's a tie for the bottom?" Pete asked.

"Then you both havta strip," Eddie replied, taking a quick sip from his beer.

"So then how do you win?" I asked Eddie.

Across the table, I caught Pete rolling his eyes at my question. But at least he somehow resisted the urge he probably felt to make yet another one of his endless digs about my competitive streak.

"Easy," Eddie grinned, putting down the deck and then picking up the cards for his first hand. "If you get the best hand, you win the round and get a shot of tequila. And then the last one who's not completely naked is the one who wins the game."

I nodded in confirmation to that, but then I think my face probably sank when I picked up the cards Eddie had dealt me and realized that my first hand was a complete bust.

Pete and Eddie both laughed out loud at the sudden change to my expression, so that probably meant I'd done a lousy job of masking my dismay too.

"You're goin' down, babe," Pete grinned, his knee pressing against mine underneath the table.

I took a large, gulping swig from my beer as I tried to play it cool. "We'll see about that."

"Okay, show `em," Eddie announced, and we each put down our cards on the table.

I had nothing. But Eddie had a pair of fours, and Pete got three Jacks, which made him the winner of this first round.

"Rules are rules," Pete grinned at me expectantly, and he pushed his knee harder into mine.

"Just stop gloating and collect your winnings," I retorted, pouring out a shot from the bottle for him. Pete downed it quickly, scrunching his eyes closed as he swallowed.

"Now strip," Pete commanded me, coughing a little from the tequila stinging his throat.

"Okay, okay," I rolled my eyes with deliberate exaggeration before taking off the stopwatch I'd been wearing on my wrist. "So impatient."

"Cheater," Eddie heckled me from my other side.

"That counts!" I insisted, turning to him to defend my move. "It's something I was wearing."

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" Eddie needled me. Evidently, it had only taken Eddie a week to get comfortable calling me out.

"That was just like a practice round anyway," I replied to him, drinking from my beer again. "My luck's gonna kick in starting now."

"Whatever you say," Eddie laughed as he picked up our cards, shuffled the deck again, and then dealt out another round.

This time, I had the winning hand, Pete came out in the middle, and Eddie lost.

"Told you so," I gloated to Eddie after we'd put our cards out on the table.

Eddie flashed me a middle finger as he reached for the bottle to pour me my shot.

"No need to brag," he retorted. "This game is all luck and no skill."

I gulped down the shot Eddie handed to me, trying to keep a straight face as it burned its way down to my gut.

"Okay, okay, no more shit talking," I conceded to Eddie. "But now it's your turn to strip."

Eddie leaned over to his side and slipped off the sandal from one of his feet.

"Boo," Pete scoffed at Eddie from over on my other side. "I think you're both cheaters."

"I'm just playin' by your boyfriend's rules," Eddie protested, holding up his hands.

"What happened to making this interesting?" Pete groaned, drinking from his beer again. "Let me deal this time."

Pete scooped up the cards and dealt us a new hand. This time he lost and Eddie won.

"Looks like that really worked out well for you," Eddie quipped at Pete as he took the shot Pete poured out for him.

"Whatever," Pete replied coolly. "It's been gettin' kinda stuffy in here anyway."

Then Pete scooted his chair away from the table, leaned back and peeled off his T-shirt to reveal his chiseled torso. Eddie gave an exaggerated whistle of appreciation as Pete dropped his shirt down to the floor.

"Whatever," Pete repeated, trying to sound nonchalant. But I could tell he was blushing slightly at the attention while he pulled his chair back up to the table. And I also noticed Eddie's dark brown eyes were still lingering on Pete's muscular chest too. "Nothin' you haven't seen out on the beach all week."

"And I'm not complaining about getting to see it again," Eddie replied, smiling across at Pete and making him blush an even darker shade of red.

Under the table, I reached over and placed my hand on Pete's knee and squeezed it briefly. He pushed it up and into my hand as he took another quick swig of his beer.

I felt a stirring in my dick too as I looked over at Pete showing so much skin. That view was ushering in memories of all the ways we'd been making up for lost time this week, and I had to consciously force my attention back to the game before I got even more distracted by thinking about all the things I really, really wanted to do with Pete right now too.

"My turn to deal," I announced, scooping up the cards from the table.

Except that didn't do anything to help my luck: In the round I dealt, I came up with nothing. But Eddie's hand was also a wash, which made Pete the winner this time.

"That's more like it," Pete grinned in relief, pouring his own shot from the bottle. "Now you both havta pay up," he added to me and to Eddie after he gulped down the tequila.

Eddie and I looked at each other, and a silent conversation passed between us since I think he'd also picked up on the signs that Pete was feeling slightly self-conscious at being the least dressed among us now. We nodded to each other, and then we both leaned back from the table and tossed off our T-shirts in unison.

"Alright, now we're gettin' somewhere," Eddie laughed as his eyes swept over my now naked torso. I stole a lingering glance over at Eddie's broad shoulders, sculpted chest, and tight abs too. I'd seen it all before now out on the beach, but my eyes still couldn't help but take it in again. And when I looked over at Pete, I caught him doing the same.

Eddie was still grinning as he picked up the deck to deal out the next round.

Under the table, I felt one of Pete's hands rest on my thigh, and he squeezed it while Eddie shuffled the cards. I smiled over at Pete and dropped my hand under the table to place it on top of his. Pete turned his over, threaded his fingers through mine, and squeezed my hand. Hard. His fingers curled inward and started massaging my palm as he kept our hands clenched together while the game continued.

Inside my shorts, I felt my dick stiffening even more, and I snuck a furtive glance across the room towards the door to the bedroom. Pete's eyes followed mine, and he grinned at me mischievously.

"You good?" I whispered over to Pete. Eddie paused in the middle of shuffling the deck for the next round to wait for Pete's reply.

"Yeah," he nodded slowly. "But I think things are definitely more interesting now."

"But that still doesn't mean you need to go and rub it in our faces that you're winning," I joked.

I was glad to hear Pete laugh in response to that since it felt like a tension was crackling in the room now. Eddie seemed to relax a bit too, and he finished dealing this hand after a quick nod from Pete cleared him to keep going.

I was the winner this time, and Pete lost.

Pete only had his shorts and underwear left at this point, so that nervous flush bloomed across his face again as I took my winning shot.

"Well, shit," Pete laughed as he unclenched my hand underneath the table and then ran it through his sandy blond hair before standing up from the table.

Pete's waist was right at eye level for both me and Eddie as he stood over us and hesitated another moment before he hooked his fingers under the waistband. Eddie's eyes darted over to mine, and he smirked.

"So...?" Eddie prompted him.

"Ummm..." Pete exhaled slowly before he pushed his shorts down until they dropped in a puddle around his feet, getting him down to just a pair of white boxer briefs now. And judging by how full the bulge was in his front pouch, I knew Pete had to be rocking a semi just like I was.

"Sorry," Pete mumbled as he kicked the shorts off his feet before sitting back down quickly. "If I'd known we were gonna be playing this game, I woulda worn my special Superman underwear today."

"Babe, you don't have any Superman underwear," I said, reaching over and massaging his bare shoulder for a few seconds since he looked so uncharacteristically self-conscious.

"Yeah, that was just a stupid joke," Pete looked across the table at Eddie and explained hastily. "I don't actually have any cartoon underwear."

"But why do you need to make a joke?" Eddie cocked up an eyebrow at Pete. "You look damn good in those."

"Uhh, thanks," Pete mumbled, but his eyes dropped down away from Eddie's as he did so. "It just feels..." Pete breathed out slowly before taking a long sip of his beer. "... I don't know, more intimate being naked alone in here instead of outside on the beach, ya know?"

"You okay?" Eddie asked. "We can stop now if you want. This was just a dumb idea I had."

Pete looked over at me and pressed his knee into mine under the table again. He exhaled another long breath, and his eyes were studying mine.

"Babe," I said softly, placing a hand on top of his knee under the table and rubbing soft circles across his skin with my thumb. "It's okay. If you wanna bail now, I won't even give you any shit about how I beat you at this game."

Thankfully, that joke got another modest laugh out of Pete and broke the tension of the moment.

Pete looked relieved, and he leaned across the table and kissed me softly. Under the table, his hand reached for mine and pulled it along with his to rest in his lap. And just as I'd suspected from how full his bulge had looked, Pete's dick was already half hard where it was trapped inside his underwear.

Pete leaned back into his seat after that kiss, but he kept my hand on his dick. I felt it growing even harder under my touch now too. And inside my shorts, my own dick was pulsing harder right along with it.

"You're crazy if you think I'm ever gonna let you win something that easy," Pete smirked at me. Then he pushed the deck of cards across the table to Eddie.

"You can deal this round," Pete said to him.

Eddie picked up the cards, shuffled them, and dealt us all a new hand. And this time, I lost and Eddie won.

"And now I'm suddenly feeling better already," Pete grinned at me. "I'm so glad I didn't tap out before you lost your shorts too."

I rolled my eyes at Pete and did my best to seem nonchalant as I rose up from my seat, unbuttoned my shorts, and pushed them down to my ankles.

Like Pete, I was wearing a tight pair of boxer briefs, but mine were dark gray instead of white. And I didn't even have to look down to know that the bulge in the front of them probably looked pretty full right now since feeling Pete's erection in my hand under the table had already gotten me completely hard.

"Nuh uh," Pete scolded me when I started to sit down hastily after I took a glance down and confirmed just how far my hardon was tenting out the front of my underwear right now. "Rules are rules. Those havta come all the way off."

"Ugh, fine," I grumbled, looking down at my shorts pooled around my ankles on the floor. "But Eddie still hasta drink his shot too."

I leaned across the table and poured out a shot for Eddie from the now nearly empty bottle.

"Drink up," I said, handing the glass to Eddie. "Oh, and my eyes are up here by the way," I added as I caught Eddie's gaze fixated on how my hard dick was straining against the waistband of my underwear.

"What??" Eddie laughed as he took the shot glass from me. "You're giving me shit when the whole point is to make this game more interesting?"

"Just tellin' you to keep your mind outta the gutter," I retorted, stepping out of my shorts and kicking them away from my feet.

Eddie tossed back the shot, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and then very deliberately locked his dark brown eyes onto mine.

"Shit, dude, it's not gutters that I'm thinkin' about right now."

I felt my face flush hot at that.

And my dick twitched even harder inside my underwear too.

Pete laughed out loud from my other side, so I broke my staring contest with Eddie and turned my head to look at him.

"What's so funny?" I asked.

"It's just..." Pete took a long drink from his beer before he completed the thought. "I actually was thinkin' about gutters just now."

"Huh?" Eddie asked from across the table, evidently as confused by what Pete had meant as I was.

"These ones..." Pete answered, leaning across the table towards me. And then with one hand, he brought his fingers up to graze my bare skin at the bottom of my ribcage. Then, slowly, his hand traced a lingering path downwards across the grid of my abs, gliding along the lines of muscle to follow them as they plunged in a V into the waistband of my boxer briefs that was most definitely losing the battle against my straining dick.

... Which was rock hard now.

Not half-hard.

Fully hard.

Fully and very obviously hard.

Because, damn it, the touch of Pete's hand on my bare skin combined with the equally palpable feeling of Eddie's eyes following its journey across my body was making my dick fucking throb right now.

I abruptly dropped down into my seat to hide the incriminating tent in my underwear.

"Uhh," I cleared my throat that suddenly felt dry as I looked over at Pete. "Gutters?? What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Never mind," Pete blanched before sinking back into his seat and drinking another hasty sip of his beer.

"Never mind, shit," Eddie insisted from his end of the table. "You gotta explain yourself."

"Cum gutters," Pete mumbled, his eyes suddenly downcast as the color in his face went bright red.

"Cum gutters???" I repeated back to Pete, not sure if I'd actually heard him right.

Eddie erupted into gleeful laughter on my other side.

"What??" I asked again, feeling like I was missing out on some inside joke. "Pete, I've never heard you say that before."

"Because it's just something stupid I heard in a porn once," he explained. "And I guess it stuck with me 'cause I've always thought that it kinda describes your..." he gestured vaguely towards my abs that I was now hiding under the table.

"Huh?"

"Like when I... uhhh..." Pete's face burned even brighter. "... On you. It does..." Pete cleared his throat. "...Run down your-..."

"...- Cum gutters," Eddie completed the thought for Pete to spare him since it was starting to seem like he'd never be able to get it all out on his own.

"Oh," I nodded, glancing down at my abs and suddenly feeling self-conscious about them. "I... umm..."

Eddie giggled out loud again, sounding pretty tipsy from all the shots and the beer he'd had by this point.

"Sorry," Pete said, his eyes sheepishly meeting mine. "I'm just being stupid."

"It's okay," I reassured him. "I guess I'm still learning new things every day about you and your secret porn vocabulary."

I leaned across the table and kissed Pete, softly, on his lips.

"Hey!" Eddie protested finally after that kiss stretched on for more than a minute because Pete had threaded his hand through my hair and slipped his tongue into my mouth. "Easy now, cum gutters, we still got a game to finish."

"You're not seriously gonna start calling me that, are you?" I groaned, settling back into my seat and reaching under the table to readjust my throbbing dick in my underwear.

"'Cum gutters?'" Eddie smirked at me as he shuffled the deck again. "Nah, that would be way too confusing since I could really call you both that."

I looked over at Pete and considered the tight grid of muscle on his abs. "Good point," I agreed.

In the next round, I won and Eddie lost.

When I took my shot this time, the bottle was just about empty. But that was probably a good thing since my head was starting to feel soupy. Or maybe it only seemed that way because all my blood was flowing away from my head and straight down to my throbbing dick at this point.

Eddie locked eyes with me as I drank my shot, and he leaned over and removed the sandal that remained on his other foot. That left him in just his shorts and underwear now.

"Figured we could use an intermission," Eddie explained as he pushed the deck over to Pete to deal the next round.

I got a pair of sixes this time. But Pete and Eddie each had nothing in their cards, so they both had to strip.

"Well I guess this means you're the first loser," Eddie smirked across the table at Pete.

"Or the first winner, depending on how you look at it," Pete retorted.

"Exactly," Eddie replied without missing a beat. "Rules are rules, so that means you havta let us look at it now."

Pete exhaled slowly, and his eyes met mine warily across the table.

"It's just a game, babe." I looked over at Eddie quickly to back me up. "So only if you want to."

"For sure," Eddie agreed.

"Uhh..." Pete hedged. "You go first," he nodded at Eddie. "And then I will."

Eddie shrugged, then he got up and pulled down his shorts in one fluid motion.

He was wearing a pair of small black briefs. They looked tight on him where they hugged the rounded bubble of his muscular ass and what looked like the outlines of a full hardon stretching out the front above his chiseled dancer's thighs.

It had gotten noticeably quiet in the room while Eddie was stripping off his shorts, and that seemed to rattle even Eddie's seemingly unshakeable bravado.

"Okay, your turn," he nudged Pete as he sat back down.

Pete rose up from the table and stood. His white boxer briefs were tented even further out in front of him than before.

He hesitated.

"It's just..." he laughed nervously. "I'm hard right now. And no one except Max has ever seen me when, uhh... when I'm like that."

"Only if you want to..." I reassured him.

"Yeah," Eddie nodded in agreement, even though his voice had gotten breathy and he was visibly struggling not to keep his eyes glued to Pete's telltale bulge. "It's cool. We're all hard right now, so whatever."

Pete exhaled again and scrunched his eyes closed.

And then in a motion that was hasty and wobbly enough that he almost toppled over, Pete hooked his thumbs under the waistband and pushed his underwear down to the floor.

And Pete was, in fact, fully and gloriously hard right now. So much so that his long, thick dick audibly thwacked against his abs when it was finally freed from his underwear.

"Fuck," Eddie muttered under his breath in appreciation at the sight.

Pete's eyes snapped open at that, and he abruptly dropped down to his seat and scooted his chair back up to the table. He reached for my hand and found it under the table again. I squeezed his, threading our fingers back together.

"Damn, dude," Eddie grinned across the table at Pete. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Pete asked.

"That you're fucking hung."

"Wait," I interjected, quickly looking over to Eddie. "How exactly did you know that?"

"'Cause he's got these tennis shorts he wears around the dorm that-..."

"-... Oh, you mean his gray ones?" I cut Eddie off before he could even finish because I knew exactly which of Pete's shorts he was probably talking about.

"Yessss!!!" Eddie drummed his hands against the table in excitement.

Pete was flushing bright red again now on the other side of the table. "They're comfortable," he protested.

"And basically pornographic on you," I added.

"Hell yeah," Eddie reached over and high-fived me.

"See," I smirked at Pete. "I told you so."

"Okay, I'll get rid of them," Pete muttered, still embarrassed.

"But no one's asking you to do that," I said, reaching up and massaging his shoulder for a few seconds with my hand that wasn't holding his under the table. "You always look really fuckin' hot in them."

"Fuck yeah," Eddie agreed quickly.

"So are we done with this game now that I lost?" Pete asked, trying to change the subject.

"You lost, but no one's won the game yet," I pointed out.

"And if it makes you feel weird to be the only one with your dick out, then I can just join you..." Eddie offered.

And then before either of us could even reply to that, Eddie stood back up from the table and peeled off his black briefs too.

Eddie's dick was bobbing hard in front of him as he bent over slightly to finish kicking off his underwear. He was big and uncut, just like me, and Eddie flashed a smirking grin across the table at us as he caught us both staring at his dick now.

"You too," Eddie prompted me. "Don't just leave us hanging here."

I considered telling Eddie to back off, but then I figured it would be pretty fuckin' silly to be shy at this point. We were all hard, and it wasn't like the tent in the front of my boxer briefs had been leaving much to the imagination anyway. So, I took another swig of my beer, rose to my feet, and complied.

"Damn," Eddie whistled when he saw my dick finally freed from the confines of my underwear. "Good for you."

"Who?" Pete asked.

"Both of you."

"Uhh, thanks," I muttered, dropping back down to my seat again.

"So do you wanna keep playing?" Eddie asked us, evidently picking up on how both of our eyes were darting back to the bedroom again now.

"Uhh, isn't the game over?" Pete replied to Eddie.

"But it's still early," Eddie shrugged. "How about we play one more game before you ditch me for the night?"

"What game?" I asked Eddie.

"How about we keep playing with the cards and just switch to truth or dare now?"

I looked over at Pete to try to gauge what he was thinking. I was having fun hanging out together, but then again I was also feeling more than ready to hustle back to the bedroom so Pete and I could finally do something about how fucking horny I felt right now too.

"Fuck it," Pete laughed after his eyes met mine. "We can play a few more rounds."

Pete leaned over and kissed me. And my dick throbbed under the table when he grabbed it in his hand too.

"Whatever you say," I laughed, my head taking a hazy spin as Pete's hand lingered on my pulsing dick.

Eddie shuffled the cards and dealt us each a hand. "So this time, the loser of each round gets to pick between doing a truth or a dare, and then the winner gets to decide what their challenge is."

"No more tequila though," Pete added, shaking the now empty bottle.

"And that's probably a good thing," Eddie laughed as we each picked up our cards and inspected our hands.

Pete won this first round, and I lost.

"See, I knew we should keep playing," Pete grinned, releasing my dick from his hand under the table and leaning back in his chair as he gloated. I caught Eddie watching Pete intently as the sculpted muscles in his torso flexed with that stretch.

"So what's it gonna be?" Pete asked me.

"I'll do a dare," I answered.

"I dare you to..." Pete drummed his fingers against the table as he considered it for a few more seconds. "I dare you to go out onto the balcony and do ten jumping jacks."

"But I'm naked though!" I protested.

"Exactly," Pete laughed. "It's pouring outside. So anybody who's out there deserves to get a show."

I sighed as I resigned myself to the challenge, and both Pete and Eddie whistled lewdly at me when I rose up and took my naked walk across the room to the balcony door.

I flashed a defiant middle finger back to Pete while I braced myself for the downpour, and then I opened the door and stepped outside. The rain pelted down on my bare skin as I quickly went through the ten jumping jacks with my hard dick bouncing wildly in front of me the whole time.

I was soaked by the time I stepped back inside, and I dripped a wet trail on the floor behind me as I returned to my seat at the table.

"You're such an asshole," I grumbled at Pete while I wiped the water out of my eyes. But he leaned across the table and kissed my cheek as he tousled my wet hair.

"Be a good sport," he laughed. "You'll get your turn too."

"I don't know, I think I kinda love this game already," Eddie giggled at us from across the table.

Eddie lost the next round to me though, and he picked a dare too.

I thought back to Eddie's dance performance that I'd seen on my first night here and came up with an idea for him: "I dare you to show us one of your favorite dance moves."

Eddie grinned in relief at that challenge: "Easy."

His big dick was still rock hard as he rose from his seat, and Pete and I both got a full view of the powerful, rounded muscles of Eddie's ass as he walked across to the far side of the room.

"You watching?" Eddie asked us with a smirk on his face.

"Yes," we both answered in unintentional unison. Pete's hand rested on my wet thigh under the table again, and he squeezed it in anticipation.

Eddie's face went serious as he concentrated on finding his balance. Then, he took a bounding leap that propelled him across the room in a soaring mid-air split before he hit a graceful landing a few feet away from us. Then Eddie pushed up onto his toes, the motion highlighting the definition in the muscles in his legs and his ass as he held the position for a few seconds before he started spinning. He made it through several quick rotations before he picked up one leg and held it outstretched behind him in a perfectly straight line that showed off the rounded curve of his ass and the bob of his still hard dick in front before he spun to a stop.

Pete and I both clapped as Eddie took a bow and then returned to his seat. His face looked a little flushed now though.

"Sorry, that was so bad," he smiled. "I can usually do way better than that."

"Well maybe it's because your dick is throwing off your balance," Pete guessed.

"Definitely my focus at least," Eddie laughed in agreement as he reached for the deck to deal us another round.

I won this time, and Pete lost. Pete picked a dare too.

I was still dripping wet from my time out in the rain, so inspiration for Pete's challenge came to me pretty quickly: "I dare you to go get a towel and then dry me off."

"Done and done," Pete grinned at me. His hard dick was bobbing in front of him as he got up from the table and walked towards the bathroom to get a towel. Eddie's eyes briefly caught mine as we both appreciated the view of Pete naked and on full display.

When Pete returned with a towel, he pulled me up from my seat so I was standing with him. And then he proceeded to take a deliberately slow and thorough approach to running that towel over all of my body to dry me off. He even dropped down to a catcher's crouch in front of me and took even more time with his task when he got to my ass and then to my throbbing hard dick.

I'd been so hard for so long now that I had to force myself to look away from Pete's eyes looking up at me as he tended to my dick. I had to just to hold back my impulse to guide my dick into Pete's mouth that was a mere couple of inches away. But then when I looked up, my eyes caught Eddie's watching us, and...

... And the expression in Eddie's dark brown eyes looked just as fucking dazed as I felt right now too.

My head took another hazy spin as Pete rose back up to his feet in front of me and tossed the towel over to the couch behind us. Pete leaned in and kissed me, just briefly, but long enough for it to feel like my legs were losing their balance underneath me. Then Pete slapped my bare ass a little as he broke from that kiss, nudging me back to my seat at the table.

Eddie won the next round that he dealt out for us, and Pete lost again.

"I'll do another dare," Pete said to Eddie. "But I get to deal next time since I'm starting to think this deck is rigged."

"Fine," Eddie laughed. "But I dare you to do ten pushups right over here where I can see," he gestured to his side of the table where Pete would be in his full view.

Pete complied, the solid muscles in his back and shoulders flexing with each one. Eddie whistled and clapped as Pete quickly banged them out.

When Pete dealt for the next round, he won and Eddie lost. And then Eddie decided to break the streak we had going and opted for a truth this time instead of another dare.

"You're still gonna be my friend after this semester, right?" Pete asked him. "Like, it'll be cool if I stay in touch after tomorrow?"

Eddie snorted at Pete's question. "Of course we will, fool."

"Okay, good," Pete smiled in relief, and then he pushed the deck over to me to deal this time.

Eddie won the next round, and I lost. I picked a truth too.

"So you really hadn't ever been into any other guys before Pete?" Eddie asked me after taking a beat to decide on his question for me.

"Yeah," I smiled across the table at Pete as I thought back on it now. "I was so straight I was ridiculous back when we met."

"And you're still into girls too, right?" Eddie asked me.

"I'm still attracted to them, yeah," I shrugged as I turned to look at Eddie now. "But it's not a threat to what we have. I'm so fucking happy with Pete that I'm not gonna do anything- anything- to fuck things up."

"Damn," Eddie chuckled wryly at that reply. "You guys have got it so bad for each other."

"Damn right," Pete grinned as he reached over and rubbed my forearm that was resting on top of the table. "And I don't mind that at all."

Pete lost the next round, and I won. He picked a truth this time too.

"Have you ever felt like you were into Eddie?" I asked Pete after thinking about all the furtive glances I'd caught between the two of them since we'd lost our clothes tonight.

Pete looked me directly in the eye and squeezed my forearm with the hand he'd left resting on it: "And I quote: 'I'm not gonna do anything- anything- to fuck things up between us.'"

"I appreciate that," I nodded. "And I believe you. But that wasn't exactly an answer to my question though."

Pete flinched. "I mean..." he looked over at Eddie across the table to where he was sitting, naked and hard, listening intently to this exchange with a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Pete looked back at me after a few seconds. "... It's not a threat to what we have, but he is hot." Then Pete looked back across the table at Eddie again to address him directly: "You're hot."

"Thanks," Eddie replied simply, and his smile grew wider. There was something glinting in his eyes as he looked across the table at us now too that was tilting away from the jocular mood of the night towards something else. And under the table, my dick throbbed again, reminding me of just how hard I still was right now.

Pete won the next round of the game, and Eddie lost this time. He kept the truth streak going.

"Be honest: what was your first impression of me back when we met?" Pete asked him.

"Stud," Eddie stated bluntly.

"That's it?" Pete raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, I kinda assumed you were gonna be just like all the popular jocks who'd make fun of me or beat me up when I was a kid too."

Pete looked crestfallen at that. "Really?"

"But that was before we ever really talked," Eddie explained. "I figured you were just another straight frat boy who came to Mexico to party for a semester."

"And then what?" Pete asked.

"Nerd," Eddie laughed. "But still a total stud though."

"I guess that's better?" Pete replied, relaxing a bit now.

"Definitely," Eddie affirmed, reaching for the deck to deal the next round.

Eddie won this time, and I lost.

When I picked another truth, it didn't take long for Eddie to come up with his next question for me:

"So how did you get off all semester while Pete's been away?"

And unfortunately for me, I'd gone to take a drink from my beer right as Eddie posed that question, so I practically snorted it all out of my nose when I heard it.

"Excuse me?" I stammered over the stinging in my sinuses.

"I'm serious," Eddie laughed at having flustered me. "I know you guys would jerk off together on camera, but it wasn't just that, was it?"

I glared over at Pete across the table, and his face burned bright red.

"Sorry!" he exclaimed and held up his hands defensively. "But I kinda had to tell him to explain why I needed that go-go dancing tutorial before your birthday."

I rolled my eyes at Pete and then turned back to Eddie.

"Seriously, that's your question?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I'm serious," he nodded. "Like, did you watch a lot of porn or what?"

And now it was me who was suddenly burning bright red. "Uhhh, yeah. Of course."

A smile started tugging at the corners of Eddie's mouth again as he pressed on: "What kind?"

"Different kinds," I evaded.

"Gay stuff? Straight stuff?"

"Both," I answered, stealing a glance over at Pete who was following along intently from his side of the table.

"So do you ever watch porn with threeways in it?" Eddie asked.

And, objectively, I knew nothing had actually changed around us when Eddie asked that question, but somehow it still felt like the room became much, much quieter suddenly.

I looked over at Pete again, but he just leaned in closer to the table, waiting for me to answer Eddie's question too.

And the thing of it was, I knew for a fact that I shouldn't be embarrassed because Pete had seen a lot of porn too- cum gutters and all. He'd told me so himself. And I also knew I'd told Pete already that I looked to porn to help me figure things out about myself. But I hesitated nonetheless because we'd never really gone into the details of what kind of porn we'd been into, so I didn't quite know if my answer now would come as a surprise to Pete.

"Sometimes," I finally admitted after a few extra beats of silence.

"Girls and guys?" Eddie pressed on with his questions. "Just girls? Just guys?"

"Umm," I stammered, feeling the weight of both their eyes locked on me. "All of the above."

Eddie nodded again, and that cocky smile lighting up his face stretched a little wider. "And what did you think?"

"What's to think? It gets me off," I replied. And then to get out from under the scrutiny I was feeling I hastily added: "You know you're asking way too many questions for just one turn."

"Okay, fair," Eddie relented, leaning back into his chair now.

I looked across the table at Pete. And much to my relief, he didn't seem upset or scandalized. But I still found myself wishing I could actually read his thoughts as he settled back into his chair and took another drink from his beer though.

Under the table, I pushed my knee against Pete's. And, thankfully, I felt him returning the gesture as Eddie dealt out another round.

This time, I won. Eddie lost, and then he chose another truth.

I still felt like I needed to get out from under the spotlight that the last round had cast on me, so I landed on a question I hoped would turn the tables on Eddie: "So since you're apparently so interested in the subject, have you ever done a threeway?"

"Yes," Eddie smirked. And as soon as he said that, I noticed Pete's eyebrows arch up in surprise just like I'm sure mine were too.

"Really??" I asked since I hadn't been expecting that answer. In my sheltered world, I'd always thought that threeways were something that only happened in porn or in adolescent fantasies, not ever in real life.

"Just once though," Eddie elaborated. "It was with this couple I met at the bar where I work."

"And what did you think?" Pete interjected with a question of his own.

"What's to think? It got me off." Eddie repeated my line as he looked back and forth between me and Pete. "And it was fucking fun too."

Pete shifted in his seat, and that made his knee press into mine a little harder under the table. I wondered if his dick was aching just as painfully as mine was right now too.

Pete scooped up the cards from the table and dealt out the next round. This time, Eddie won and he lost.

"Truth," Pete prompted him, keeping the streak alive.

"Do you think I'm too much of a slut?" Eddie asked him bluntly.

"No," Pete furrowed his brow at the question. "Why do you even ask?"

"Because you've been there to see it every time I've gone home with someone I met when we were out this semester. And even though I know why you'd never do anything like that yourself, I have wondered if you were ever thinking it was bad that I do."

"So what as long as you're having fun?" Pete shrugged that off. "You're single, so why shouldn't you go for it if you meet someone you're into? I wasn't ever judging you, if that's what you're worried about."

"Not worried," Eddie shook his head. "Maybe just wondering if you've been worrying about me."

"Nah," Pete assured him. "You're a big boy. You know what you're doing."

Pete won the next round, and Eddie picked another truth when he lost.

"So I guess speaking of things that we've wondered about, do you think all those gay guys who joke that I act too much like a straight boy are right?"

"Nah, fuck those guys" Eddie shook his head at Pete's question. "I think you're just being yourself, and you shouldn't let what other people think get to you."

"Sure," Pete agreed. "But hearing that over and over this semester did make me wonder if maybe I really am too straight-laced."

"Well, do you ever feel like there's parts of you that you still stop short of expressing?" Eddie asked him.

Pete went quiet for a few seconds as he considered Eddie's question.

"Not when I'm around you guys at least," he answered finally before starting to laugh under his breath a little. "I mean, I'm never gonna have your style or your talent, but just look at me now. I never thought I'd have one, let alone two, friends who I could be so comfortable doing shit like this with."

Eddie laughed. "So is that your cheesy way of saying that I've corrupted you?"

"Nah," Pete smiled back at him. "Just my cheesy way of saying I feel really fucking lucky to be your friend."

"Ughh," Eddie groaned at Pete. "And now I know you're just tryin' to bait me into being as cheesy as you are."

Pete smirked at him across the table. "But you can only bait the willing."

"Okay, fine," Eddie rolled his eyes at Pete as he reached for the deck again. "I'll bite and actually talk about my feelings for once: I feel lucky too... Happy now?"

"Yes," Pete grinned triumphantly. "Very."

"Good," Eddie smiled back at him. "Now let's please shut up about it and keep playing."

"Deal," Pete laughed smugly.

Pete lost the next round to me, and he picked a truth again.

I decided to use the opportunity to stick with the serious turn our questions had taken: "Are you ever envious of the kinda things that Eddie gets to do since he's single?"

"Do you mean envious like I wish I were out there hooking up with different guys?" Pete asked me.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Nope," Pete replied without missing a beat before leaning across the table to kiss me. "I have exactly what I want."

Pete won next, and Eddie lost. He picked a dare this time, breaking the truth streak we'd been on.

"I dare you to show us how you go-go dance at your bar," Pete challenged him.

"Alright," Eddie shrugged as he rose up from his seat. His dick was still bobbing at full mast in front of him. "But didn't you already see that when I won that contest though?"

"Yeah," Pete nodded. "But Max wasn't there. And you weren't naked either."

"Okay, good point," Eddie laughed. He walked over to the stereo on the other side of the room and put on some music so he'd have something to dance to.

Eddie danced in perfect sync with the beat for a few bars of the song. But it quickly seemed like his hardon bouncing in front of him was making him self-conscious, so he turned around and danced with his back to us, treating us to a full view of his naked ass instead.

Pete and I exchanged some quick glances with each other, but our eyes always went back to Eddie. And under the table, I felt Pete's hand reaching for my hard dick again. I had to bite down on my lower lip to hold back a moan when he took it into his hand and ran a fingertip over my throbbing head to scoop up a drop of the precum that had been leaking out of my slit. My eyes locked back onto Pete's as he released my dick and then brought that finger up to his lips and licked it clean.

I leaned over and kissed Pete.

I just fuckin' had to right now.

And I couldn't hold that moan in any longer once I tasted myself on Pete's soft lips either.

Eddie turned around when he heard that sound escape me.

"I guess I'm done now?" he asked us.

"Yeah, dare complete," Pete agreed, which Eddie took as his clearance to get back to his seat at the table.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you by having you do that," Pete said to Eddie.

"I'm not embarrassed," Eddie shook his head. "It just feels kinda strange doin' it out of the context of a club. And also when I'm this hard."

"Do you like your job dancing there?" I asked Eddie.

"It's alright," he shrugged. "But it's still a job. And even though It's not great practice for the kind of dance I actually wanna do, it does pay the bills way quicker than what I could ever make at some work study job on campus."

"But do you ever get sketched out by the guys there?" I asked.

"Every now and then there's a guy who gets too handsy, yeah. But it's a public place and there's security, so it's easy enough to deal with. And I actually kinda like the attention most of the time. It's a nice ego boost since I never liked how I look growing up."

"Really??" Pete interjected, evidently as surprised as I was to hear Eddie say that.

"My nose is too big," Eddie shrugged. "And I'm not all built and muscley like you are. And I always wished I had some scruff like Max."

"I call bullshit," Pete huffed. "You've always got guys drooling over you anytime we go out."

"And what's wrong with your nose?" I added. "It's perfect the way it is."

"Thanks," Eddie flushed. "But I was always just a scrawny kid. It still surprises me when hot guys actually like the way I look."

"Then you better get used to being surprised," Pete replied before picking up the cards to deal out another round.

Pete won and I lost this one. I picked a dare.

Pete locked eyes with me for a few seconds, considering his options. Then a smirk started tugging at the corners of his mouth before he spoke:

"I dare you to make out with me," he said.

And I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that challenge.

"That's a complete waste of a turn," I grinned. "You don't have to dare me to do that."

"No," Pete's eyes stayed locked onto mine with a serious glint to them. "I dare you to make out with me right here. With Eddie watching."

I scooted my chair out from the table as I felt myself smirking back at Pete now. "Well then get your ass over here then."

Pete got up from his chair and then took a seat in my lap with his muscular thighs straddling my waist. And then when his hardon pressed into mine as he leaned his head in and found my lips, he sent a shiver rippling through my entire body.

We kissed, and Pete threaded both of his hands through my hair as our tongues found each other inside my mouth. My hips bucked upward, trying to mash our dicks closer together where they were trapped between our abs. I felt the muscles of Pete's chest laboring against mine as we ran shorter and shorter on oxygen, unwilling to break from this kiss that felt so fucking good because it was finally releasing some of the pent up lust that had been boiling inside us all night.

I completely lost track of where we were until my lungs were screaming for air so much that we finally had to break it off. Pete's fingers kept their grip on my hair though, and he held our heads together while we both took in a few gulping breaths. With my eyes still pressed closed, I pushed my hips up again. A desperate whimper escaped me when I felt how hard Pete's dick was as it pressed into mine.

Pete relaxed his hold on me though, and I opened my eyes when I suddenly remembered we weren't alone right now. He rose up from my lap, and returned to his seat by my side.

I looked across the table at Eddie while I tried to regather my senses, and I noticed that he'd dropped both of his hands underneath the table now.

A tense silence lingered among us after that round.

It seemed like no one knew quite what to say right now, so I tried to break the awkwardness by reaching forward for the deck and dealing out the next round to keep the game going.

Pete won again this time, and Eddie lost.

But we'd all remained uncharacteristically- and unnervingly- quiet as we'd played this hand, so Eddie finally had to break the silence after we all put our cards out on the table:

"Dare," he prompted Pete.

I looked over at Pete and caught him shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

He ran a hand through his hair as he looked across the table at me and then at Eddie, taking a long minute to think about it before he finally answered Eddie:

"I, uhh..." Pete exhaled slowly before he could finish his thought. "... I dare you to kiss Max."

From across the table, I saw Eddie's eyebrows knit closer together. He scrutinized Pete's expression for a few seconds before he looked over at me and locked his dark brown eyes onto mine.

But I was so surprised by Pete's prompt to Eddie, I felt like I was absolutely frozen under Eddie's gaze. After a couple more seconds of thick silence crackling between us, Eddie leaned across the table and gave me a dry little peck on the lips.

... And just like I was, I saw that Eddie was watching Pete's reaction out of the corner of his eye the entire time.

"No," Pete spoke up again to interrupt Eddie when he quickly started to retreat back into his seat. "Like for real."

I raised my eyebrows at Pete, even more surprised now.

"... I mean, if you're okay with that," he added to me hastily.

"It's your turn," I replied, my voice sounding thick and raspy even to my own ears. "And if this is how you wanna play it, then that's the rules of the game."

"I..." Pete swallowed thickly. His voice was getting husky now too, so he took another sip of his beer before he finished. "... I think I wanna see that."

Eddie and I caught each other's eyes again. He'd remained suspended where Pete had halted him in a half lean over the table. I could sense us both trying to calibrate exactly what we should do with this prompt from Pete.

"Okay," I said finally. And then Eddie leaned back in to close the distance between us again.

Eddie's lips found mine.

They were soft, and they rested tentatively on mine before the impulse to press my lips into his kicked in and took over.

I felt Eddie's hand reach up and cup my cheek, pulling me into the kiss. His lips parted, and I slipped my tongue inside his warm mouth to find his. And as soon as our tongues met, I felt an electric spark completely incinerate any lingering inhibitions that I had left to keep my horniness in check.

My tongue got much bolder, and so did Eddie's.

They wrestled together, and I felt the rumble of a pent-up groan escaping from me and vibrating out into Eddie's mouth right before we had to break for air.

I opened my eyes just in time to catch Eddie's hand dropping from my face down to tug on his hard dick as he settled back into his chair across the table.

It didn't seem like Eddie was even trying to hide what he was doing anymore though.

I quickly turned and looked over at Pete.

Pete's hands had disappeared under the table now too, and his hazel eyes had this fucking dazed expression clouding them.

I reached for him under the table, and I had to brush Pete's own hand out of the way before I could take a hold of his rock hard dick and give it a squeeze.

Then from across the table, I heard Eddie laugh, and the sound broke through the crackling tension that felt thick around us.

"Okay, you were definitely right," he said to Pete.

"Huh?" I asked Eddie, not sure what he meant by that.

"Nothing," Pete said quickly, and I noticed his chest looked flushed and a little sweaty now too.

I looked back at Eddie again with a silent nudge to explain himself.

"Just..." he grinned at me. "As advertised."

"Oh, umm," I looked down now, embarrassed and suddenly wondering if I'd gone too far with him and shoulda held back more on our kiss. "Thanks, I guess."

Eddie picked up the cards again and dealt out another round.

He won, and I lost this time. I picked another dare, and it didn't take Eddie long to come up with his challenge for me:

"I dare you to watch me kiss Pete."

A massive lump gathered in my throat as soon as I heard Eddie say that.

My chest felt tight.

My heart was pounding.

But my dick spasmed, and my balls ached.

... And, somehow, I managed to gulp down that lump and squeak out: "Okay."

Eddie leaned across the table and pecked Pete on his lips, just like he'd done with me. They were both looking over at me the whole time, though, visibly gauging my reaction.

And I felt...

I felt...

... Like I was just way, way past the point of being too fucking horny to think straight.

"No," I managed to squeak out finally, even though my throat felt so dry right now. "Like for real."

Eddie leaned in and kissed Pete again, his hand reaching up to Pete's face and holding him steady, just like he'd done with me.

It was like I was watching an instant replay of what I'd just felt when I kissed Eddie, and the combination of this visual with that sensory memory made my dick and my balls fucking ache with how hard I was right now.

When they finally broke for air and leaned back into their seats, I tried to make sense of the tension I felt knotting up my gut right now. But I couldn't pinpoint if there was any other feeling mixed up in it other than just being blindingly horny.

I couldn't even think right now.

I could only feel like I really, really fucking needed to get off.

Soon.

I had to fight the urge to drop my hand down to my dick and stroke it because I could feel Pete's and Eddie's eyes still scrutinizing me right now, looking for clues to my reaction to what I had just seen.

Pete reached over and squeezed my hand under the table. But it brushed up against my hard dick as he was seeking it out, and even that accidental contact from Pete sent a shudder through my entire body from how much it made me throb.

So I leaned across the table, and I kissed Pete.

Our lips parted as soon as they met, and my tongue raced forward into his mouth and found Pete's. It was impossible to tell where the moan I felt vibrating through our mouths was coming from, but eventually the sound of Eddie's voice interrupted us:

"Hey, no cheating!" he admonished us.

I pulled back in time to catch Pete flipping a middle finger over at Eddie. But he was grinning now too.

"I'll allow it," Pete said before leaning in and kissing me again.

"Are you good?" he whispered to me as his lips stayed hovering over mine.

"Yeah," I responded. "You?"

"Yeah," he agreed, letting out a pent up breath before sitting back into his seat.

I followed suit, and Eddie dealt us another round.

I won this time, and Pete lost.

"Dare," Pete prompted me, his hazel eyes locking onto mine.

My heart was pounding inside my chest again, hammering away like I was running a race. I felt sweat breaking out on my brow as the seconds ticked by while I considered what to do.

But I really was so fucking hard I couldn't think.

All I could focus on was how much my dick was twitching under the table and how much my balls were aching for some kind of release.

I looked back at Pete.

He was completely flushed now in that telltale way, the crimson color tinting his bare skin all the way from his chest up to his throat to the redness burning in his cheeks.

It was so fucking clear that Pete was teetering on the edge of being right there.

And then I looked across the table at Eddie.

He was sweating too, his hands disappeared under the table and holding his breath as he stared us both down awaiting my answer to Pete's prompt.

Pete nudged my knee with his under the table.

"Do we need to start a shot clock?" he asked me.

"I don't know!" I stammered, closing my eyes for a second and weighing out what to do about the fact that we all very clearly needed to cum one way or another before this night was over.

Fuck, I could even feel precum leaking out of me already. My dick was so fucking hard right now I could pound nails with it.

But even with my eyes closed, I could still feel Pete and Eddie waiting for me to say something.

"Ummm..." I began. "I dare you to..."

I opened my eyes again and saw Pete arching his brow at me and holding his breath.

But the palpable tension in the room was smothering me- including the tension I could sense simmering between Pete and Eddie. And I kept thinking about how I really did believe Pete, without question, that he'd never do anything to cross a line with me. But then I also kept thinking about how Pete had always had to suppress everything he really wanted and had never had the same chances to explore in the ways that I had with girls before we'd met.

And, eventually, the weight I felt pressing on my chest grew so heavy I couldn't stand it anymore:

"I dare you to do whatever you want to with Eddie," I breathed out slowly.

I watched both of their jaws instantly drop open in surprise as soon as I said that.

"... For sixty seconds," I added quickly, picking up my watch that I'd discarded onto the table what felt like eons ago at this point. "I'll set a timer."

The sound of their chairs scraping backwards across the floor broke the heavy silence in the room as Pete and Eddie both got up from their seats. But I still felt the weight of them both eyeing me cautiously as if they expected me to freak out and change my mind as soon as they stepped towards each other.

"... And let me watch," I added.

Pete grabbed my shoulder, and then he bent down and kissed me.

Hard.

"You're okay with this?" I asked him.

Pete's mouth dropped open, but he couldn't actually form any words to respond. So he just nodded in reply instead.

Eddie took that as his cue, and he stepped up to Pete. They were both standing over me as I pressed the button on my watch and the beep signaled the beginning of their time.

But neither of them moved for several seconds.

They were just locked in a staring contest until eventually Eddie reached a hand up and threaded it through Pete's hair. He guided Pete's lips back to his, and they kissed again.

Tentatively at first.

But not for long.

I watched as their kiss got deeper and deeper.

Pete lifted his arms and wrapped them around Eddie, hugging their naked bodies together.

I heard the groans smothered by their kiss when their bare skin and their hard dicks pressed together.

My own dick throbbed when I heard that sound.

Eddie hugged Pete back, flexing his arms and pulling him in tighter.

They never broke from that kiss.

And Pete's arms eventually started to drift lower and lower down Eddie's body until his hands found Eddie's muscular ass.

Eddie moaned at that touch, pulling his mouth away from Pete's to breathe right as the beeper on my watch blared out again.

Immediately when they heard that sound, Pete and Eddie sprung apart from each other like two magnets charged to the same pole. They sat back down at the table hastily, Pete wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Okay next round," Pete said, quickly reaching for the deck and avoiding my eyes now.

It wasn't just him, though. Eddie also seemed cowed by the tension of the moment, and he wouldn't meet my eyes either as Pete dealt out our cards.

And when we all put our hands out on the table I had won this time, and Pete lost.

Pete's eyes finally lifted back up to mine again when he saw the results of this round. He looked like a deer trapped in the headlights.

"Truth," he whispered.

"What did you think?" I asked him.

Pete broke his eyes away from mine and looked across the table at Eddie helplessly.

We both watched Eddie slowly swallow something down in his throat before Pete looked back at me.

"What's to think? It was fun," Pete answered softly.

But then he quickly added: "... And I still really, really fucking love you."

"Gremlins?" I pressed.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Eddie gave us both a strange look from across the table when I said that.

I figured Pete must never have called it that with Eddie then.

Pete slowly ran one of his hands through his hair. He chewed on his bottom lip, considering it, before he answered my question: "No, I don't think so."

I nodded. I couldn't think of anything else to say.

Pete reached across the table and grabbed my hand. He squeezed it.

Hard.

"Gremlins?" he asked me.

"It's not your turn," I smirked, feeling like I needed to do something to lighten the tension crackling across the room.

Pete only looked worried by that response though, so I squeezed his hand back as I added:

"But, no, I don't think so."

Pete relaxed back into his chair after that reply, but he still kept my hand in his.

"I'll deal the next round," Eddie chimed in from across the table.

And this time, Pete won, but Eddie lost.

Eddie picked another dare.

Pete's eyes traveled back and forth between the two of us for a few seconds before he answered Eddie's prompt.

"I dare you to do whatever you want with Max for sixty seconds," Pete said slowly before hastily adding: "... If he's okay with that."

"You're okay?" I asked Pete because I couldn't quite read his dazed expression right now.

Pete just swallowed dryly and nodded.

I exhaled slowly and looked across the table to Eddie. He nodded at me too, so I handed my watch over to Pete.

Eddie and I rose from our chairs and stepped towards each other. We were towering over Pete, our erections almost jostling against each other when he started the timer on my watch.

Eddie leaned in and kissed me as soon as the opening beep sounded this time. But his soft lips just rested cautiously against mine, waiting to see what my next move would be.

I ran my tongue over Eddie's lips and nudged them open. His tongue pushed forward and met mine again, inside my mouth this time.

We made out, and I felt one of Eddie's hands reach up and cup my chest. He ran it over my muscles, digging his fingers into one of my pecs when I started to moan.

I lifted my hands and placed them on Eddie's hips, holding him steady as he ran his hand slowly down from my chest over my abs. And then when Eddie grabbed ahold of my throbbing dick, I had to break my mouth away from that kiss so I could breathe.

"Fuuuckk," I gasped as my dick spasmed in Eddie's hand.

I gripped tighter onto his hips, this time to hold myself steady. I started to fan my fingers out to cup Eddie's rounded ass in my hands, and-...

-... I heard the beeper from my stopwatch blare out again.

Eddie immediately relinquished his hold on my dick. And my eyes snapped back open just in time to see Pete shut off the timer and then hurl my watch across the room.

It hit the floor behind us with a thud, and Pete rose up to his feet.

Eddie quickly stepped backward away from me, and Pete threaded one of his hands through my hair and pulled me into a kiss.

Seconds later, I felt Pete's other hand squeezing my dick that was sandwiched between us now.

"Unnghhh," I groaned again, struggling not to cum right then and there because of how fucking good it felt to have Pete touching me.

"No more playing," Pete panted into my lips through labored breath.

"I'm sorry!" Eddie exclaimed, and he was holding up his hands when I opened my eyes and looked back over at him. "I didn't mean to get carried-..."

"...- It's cool," Pete cut him off. And then his hazel eyes met mine again. "But I just really, really need Max to fuck me right now."

I just smiled at Pete in reply. He was still holding onto my throbbing dick, and I was too fucking breathless to form any words.

Pete started to lead me by my dick back to the bedroom, but then he stopped himself and looked back over at Eddie.

"Do you wanna watch?" Pete asked him.

Eddie inhaled sharply and his eyebrows shot up in surprise at that.

"Really?" he asked.

Pete's eyes returned to mine as he replied: "We've always had to be so careful not to get caught. So I think it could be really hot to not hide for once."

My dick was still throbbing inside Pete's grip, so I nodded in agreement to that before I looked back at Eddie and finally found my voice again: "I don't think we've left much to your imagination at this point anyway, so why not?"

The uncertainty on Eddie's face broke into a smile, and he took a step towards us. "Fuck it," he started grinning and gave his hard dick a tug. "I've been so horny all weekend. It's been torture watching you guys always touching each other."

Pete took my hand and led me back to the bedroom with Eddie trailing a few steps behind us.

I pushed Pete down onto the bed as soon as we got in there, too fucking horny for any finesse at this point. Pete landed on his back with his legs hanging over the edge. I quickly dropped down to my knees between Pete's muscular thighs and took his hard dick into my mouth.

"Maaaaxxxxx!" he bellowed out as soon as my lips closed around his dick and worked their way down his thick shaft.

My own dick throbbed when the taste of Pete's precum smeared across my tongue.

I completely lost track of where Eddie was because Pete's tight abs immediately crunched up in my face as he sat up and threaded both of his hands through my hair, holding my head in place with his dick buried in my throat.

"Holy shit," Pete gasped, struggling for breath while I massaged his shaft with my tongue. "Max, you're gonna make me..."

I pulled off his dick and then wiped the wet spit from my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Pete..." I gasped for air too as I grabbed onto both of his thighs and dug my fingers into the powerful muscles of his quads. "... I need to cum so fuckin' bad."

"I want it," Pete replied, urging me back up to my feet. "I want you."

I rose up, towering over Pete now, bringing my twitching dick inches away from his lips. He leaned in and licked off the drop of precum that was pooled up on my slit.

"Unngghhh," I gasped again, grabbing onto Pete's shoulders to keep my knees from buckling underneath me because of how fucking good Pete's tongue felt on my dick.

"Mmmmfff," I heard Eddie groan off to our side. I looked over now and saw that he was sitting on the other end of the bed, biting down on his lower lip as he stroked his dick.

Eddie's eyes met mine right as Pete took the rest of my dick into his mouth, and the shockwaves I felt rippled through my entire body.

"Fuuuuckk..." I moaned, closing my eyes and tensing up so I didn't trip over the edge and cum right there.

I pulled my dick out of Pete's mouth and took a couple of steps back, burying my face in my hands and taking a few long breaths, trying to hold back.

When I opened my eyes again, Pete had scooted backwards further onto the bed so he could lie back, but he was propped up on his elbows watching me.

His chest was flushed.

He was sweating.

And his throbbing dick was leaking again.

I stepped forward and scooped up that precum with my index finger.

I heard Eddie whimper again off to the side when I brought that finger up to my lips and tasted Pete on it. But my eyes stayed locked onto Pete's again for a few seconds as I sucked that finger into my mouth and got it wet.

I dropped down onto my knees on the bed between Pete's legs. He bent them up on either side of me, lifting his ass up a little to give me access. I traced my now wet finger in a slow circle over Pete's hole. I didn't push inside yet though, just teasing it as the rise and fall of Pete's chest quickened even more.

"Please, Max" Pete panted.

I grinned, and I leaned in and kissed him. Pete moaned into my mouth when I started pressing my finger harder against the bud of his hole.

"Hey, can you hand me our lube?" I looked up and said to Eddie after that kiss, nodding my head back towards the nightstand behind him.

Eddie stopped stroking his dick and reached behind him to find the bottle. Then his fingers grazed mine when he handed it to me.

"Hey," I said again, stopping Eddie as he was about to retreat back to where he'd been staying on the other side of the bed. "Do you guys wanna kiss while I...?"

Pete and Eddie's eyes locked onto each other as they both nodded in unison.

"Then go for it," I said as I opened up the lube and spread some out over my fingers.

I reached down and pushed my index finger into Pete.

"Fuuuuckkkk," I groaned out loud at how hot and how tight Pete felt on my finger.

Pete was moaning now too, but it was smothered by Eddie's mouth as they kissed.

I kept my eyes locked on them the entire time as my finger pushed deeper and deeper into Pete.

Then I leaned in and took Pete's pulsing dick into my mouth too.

"Fuuckk, Max!!" Pete roared, breaking his mouth away from Eddie's now.

My eyes darted upwards across Pete's huffing chest to meet his.

Pete propped himself back up on his elbows and looked down at me planted between his legs.

"You really gotta stop that," he grinned at me. "I don't wanna cum before you-..."

-... But my finger found Pete's prostate and a guttural groan escaped him before he could finish the thought.

I pulled my mouth off of Pete's dick to give him some relief though.

"Are you ready?" I asked, getting back up on my knees between Pete's legs again.

"Please," he panted, still smiling at me.

Eddie rolled onto his back by Pete's side now, making room for us. He dropped his hand back down to his big dick and started stroking it again while I poured some more lube out onto my dick and spread it over my head and the length of my shaft.

I leaned over Pete and kissed him, our tongues finding each other inside his mouth as Pete lifted his hips into position.

"I fucking love you," I whispered into Pete's neck, kissing my way across his collarbone.

"I love you too," Pete said, threading his fingers through my hair again.

"Ummmfff," Eddie gasped by Pete's side, increasing the pace of his strokes.

"You okay?" Pete looked over and asked him.

"You guys are so fucking hot," he replied.

I leaned in and kissed Pete again as I guided my dick into position.

Pete let out a long groan into my mouth as I finally started pushing my dick inside him.

I slid in just a couple of inches at first- both to let Pete adjust to the girth of it and to hold myself back from the edge because of how fucking warm and tight and amazing Pete's ass felt on my dick.

"Fuck, you feel so good," I gasped.

Pete lifted his hips up a little more, and then he grabbed onto mine and pulled me further into him.

"Fuucckkk me," he groaned.

I couldn't hold myself back anymore anyway.

I slid all the way in and kissed Pete again.

"Peetteee," I moaned into his mouth, completely fucking overwhelmed by feeling him all around my dick.

"Fuck," Eddie groaned out loud by Pete's side.

I looked over, and he was stroking furiously now, the muscles in Eddie's chest and arms straining with the motion as a sheen of sweat covered his skin.

Pete had turned his head at the sound too, and he found Eddie's lips again.

They kissed, moaning into each other's mouths.

I pulled my hips back and then fell into a rhythm, fucking Pete slowly as he made out with Eddie.

"Mmmmmmmffff," Pete moaned out, breaking his mouth away from Eddie's after a minute.

And then Eddie leaned up and kissed me too.

Pete grabbed my hips and held me in place, balls deep inside him, as Eddie and I kissed now until we couldn't breathe either.

Pete sat up when we broke apart for air.

"I wanna..." he said, then he nudged me to roll over onto my back. Pete rolled along with me though, keeping my dick still lodged inside him with him on top of me now.

Pete leaned down and kissed me again, his ass pushing back down the length of my dick.

I moaned loudly into Pete's mouth. It just felt so fucking good to have my dick buried inside him.

But Pete was moaning just as fucking loudly too.

He broke away from our kiss, gasping for air again. Then Pete leaned back and treated me to the spectacular view of his throbbing dick bobbing over my chest as my hips pushed my dick inside him as far as it could go from this new angle.

I heard Eddie moaning by my side too, so I turned my head and kissed him again.

Then Eddie sat up and kissed Pete too.

"Please, can I...?" he asked, his eyes dropping down to Pete's dick.

"Yeah, but I really can't hold it much longer," Pete groaned as my hips pushed up into him again. "I'm so fucking close."

"Just tell me when you're about to cum," Eddie replied.

Pete nodded, and then Eddie leaned in and took Pete's dick into his mouth right as I buried the full length of my shaft inside him another time

"Unggghhhhhhh," Pete practically shouted, almost collapsing backwards at the sensation. He had to grab onto my quads behind him just to hold himself steady.

"Oh fucckkk," Pete's chest heaved as I pumped my dick in and out of him while Eddie's mouth worked its way as far down his shaft as he could manage from that angle.

"I'm gonna..." Pete began, and I could already feel his ass tightening up on my shaft.

Eddie pulled his mouth off of Pete's dick just barely in time.

The first rope of Pete's cum rocketed across Eddie's chin before the rest splattered over my chest and my stomach.

"Peeettee..." I moaned, finally letting myself go too.

I wrapped my arms around Pete and hugged his body tight against mine as I unloaded shot after shot of my cum into him.

"Mmmmmfff," Eddie groaned.

I opened my eyes again and saw that he'd collapsed back onto his back. Eddie was stroking himself by my side with Pete's cum still streaked across his chin.

Pete's eyes met mine.

I nodded up to him, still breathless, still dazed.

"Can I...?" he asked Eddie.

"Fuck yeah," Eddie grinned.

And then with my dick still lodged inside him, Pete leaned over and took Eddie's big dick into his mouth.

"Oh shit," Eddie gasped.

I leaned over and kissed Eddie again, but this time I felt Pete's cum smearing wetly across our chins as they met.

"I'm gonna..." Eddie wheezed, breaking his mouth away from that kiss after just a few seconds.

Pete quickly pulled off of Eddie's dick.

Then Eddie reached down with his hand and gave himself a couple more strokes before he unleashed shot after shot of his cum blasting out across his torso.

We were all a sweaty fucking mess now.

And my dick still felt painfully hard and painfully sore where it was still buried inside Pete.

We all gasped for breath.

Pete leaned down and kissed me again.

"Are you okay?" he whispered to me.

"Yeah?" I panted. "You?"

"Yeah, I think so," Pete said, and then he let out a long, slow breath as he gingerly slid my dick out of him.

We turned and looked over at Eddie.

"How about you?" Pete asked him.

"I'm good," Eddie said before letting out a wheezing cough. But then he smiled at us. "That was way better than jacking off in the shower again."

"A lot more messy though," Pete laughed weakly.

"Oh, uhh," I sat up. "I'll get you something."

I walked over to the bathroom and returned with some towels. My legs felt wobbly, and I was lightheaded now that I was standing up.

I handed one to Eddie and another to Pete before I dropped back down into the bed by Pete's side.

They wiped themselves off, and then Pete handed me his towel so I could clean myself off with it too. I rested my head onto Pete's chest, listening to his heartbeat as it started to slow back down.

The room felt eerily quiet again.

"Umm..." Eddie began as he sat back up after a minute of silence. "I guess I'll head back out to the couch then."

"If you want to," Pete opened his eyes and met mine. I nodded in affirmation. "... But you can stay here too."

"Thanks," Eddie smiled at us. "It is way more comfortable here."

Then he rested his head on the other side of Pete's chest, reaching out and draping an arm over me too.

Pete's arms wrapped around us both, and I quickly drifted off to sleep to the sound of Pete's heartbeat.

The rain passed during the night.

At dawn, bright sunlight from the clear skies flooded in through the shutters and woke me. And as soon as my eyes fluttered open, I realized that both the arm slung across my chest and the leg tangled up with mine belonged to Eddie, not to Pete.

Pete was gone.

His absence after what we'd done last night worried me, so I quickly extricated myself from Eddie's outstretched limbs and slid out of the bed to check all around the apartment. But Pete was nowhere to be found inside.

When I returned to the bedroom, Eddie was starting to stir too.

"Where's Pete?" he asked, his voice thick with the sleep he was still shaking off. Eddie sat up in the bed, and the sheets pooled down around his naked torso while he rubbed his eyes.

"Gone," I replied as I pulled on my swim trunks so I could head outside to continue the search. "But I think I can probably guess where he went."

I didn't waste time bothering to get any more dressed than just my trunks before I hurried outside, but I did pause at the door to the bedroom for a moment to look back at Eddie.

"Last night...?" I cleared my throat and then stumbled over the rest of the question I didn't quite know how to express: "Umm, are you okay?"

Eddie squinted his eyes against the sunlight shining in through the window. "I think I'm a little hungover."

"But what we did...? That wasn't too weird for you, was it?"

"Nah, it was fun," Eddie shook his head and smiled at me before he added: "And you really don't need to go hunting for problems that aren't there. Just go find Pete."

I nodded in reply and headed out the door.

Outside, it didn't take long to confirm that my hunch was right: I spotted Pete sitting alone out on the stretch of beach in front of the building where we were staying.

Pete was posted on the edge of the dry sand just beyond where the tide was lapping at the shore, far away from the handful of other early risers who were already scattered out on the beach too. Like me, Pete was dressed in only his swim trunks, and the bare skin of his broad shoulders glowed golden in the morning light.

Pete was staring out at the white capped waves breaking in front of him, looking completely mesmerized by the water. In fact, he was lost so deep in his thoughts that it seemed like he didn't even register me approaching him until after I'd dropped down to a seat in the sand right by his side.

"Hey," he said quietly when he finally turned his gaze away from the water to greet me.

But Pete's eyes didn't quite meet mine though.

They stayed downcast, landing somewhere around my bare chest rather than my face.

"You left," I stated evenly, taking stock of what already seemed like a stark shift in Pete's mood. The somber expression I saw weighing on his face this morning was a far cry from the manic excitement that had animated him all through our days together in Mexico up until now.

"I was awake early, but I wanted to let you guys get some more sleep," Pete explained. And while that sounded logical enough, it worried me that he still wouldn't quite meet my eyes.

"But are you okay though?" I asked directly, figuring it was best not to tiptoe around the solemnity I was picking up on from Pete.

His shoulders slumped slightly at my question, and then he finally lifted his hazel eyes to level them with mine. And the expression I saw in Pete's eyes this morning really did look troubled, so an anxious knot started to tangle up in the pit of my stomach.

"Are you asking because you're worried I'm having some kind of crisis of conscience about what we did last night?"

I nodded in assent, holding my breath while I waited for Pete's answer.

"I think I'm fine," he replied simply.

"Really?" I pressed, still skeptical. The tension evident in Pete's body language this morning certainly didn't make it seem like he was fine today.

"Really," Pete reiterated. "I never expected something like that to happen. And honest to God, I wasn't secretly angling to make anything happen with Eddie either. But I'm okay with it- as long as you're okay and we're okay."

"I think so," I nodded again. "I didn't expect that to happen either, but I'm not gonna go spiraling off on a gremlin crisis about it if you're not."

"No, I'm not," Pete affirmed. And then he exhaled heavily and dropped his eyes down to the ground where he was starting to dig his toes into the wet sand just beyond where we were sitting. "I'm done with feeling ashamed of what makes me happy. Because I think I'm..." Pete lifted his eyes back up to meet mine once again. "... I'm just so fucking done with all that shit."

I nodded to acknowledge that, but I didn't speak. I sensed there was still something more on Pete's mind, and I didn't want to interject and risk breaking his train of thought.

"... I mean," Pete continued after a beat. "How many times have I had to listen to my dad brag about his wild nights in college over and over again? He's never been ashamed of anything, so why the hell should I be if I'm not hurting anyone?"

"But then why are you really out here?" I asked even more bluntly this time. "It did make me worried that you were just gone when I woke up."

Pete flinched and turned his head to look back out at the water again, avoiding my eyes and letting my question hang unanswered. I waited for him, but the sound of the waves crashing onto the beach was the only thing that filled the heavy silence that stretched on between us.

And so it was torturing me now, the creeping sense that something really was off today and that there was more that Pete wasn't saying. But I had to know what it was, especially since we had so little time left before we had to catch a bus to the airport this afternoon to part ways for the rest of the summer.

As that loaded silence dragged on, Pete eventually scrunched his eyes closed and buried his face in his hands. His whole body went even more tense until he was practically curling himself into a ball next to me.

"I can tell that you're upset about something," I nudged finally, resting a hand on his shoulder. "So I'm not gonna let this go until you tell me."

Pete lifted his head back up and finally looked at me again.

All the color had drained out of his face, and he looked ashen.

The twisted knot in my stomach wrenched itself even tighter.

"It's not even about last night. There's..." Pete's voice caught in his throat. "There's something else I need to talk to you about before we leave today."

"What then?" I asked, my heartbeat starting to jackhammer against the walls of my chest.

"I never cheated on you while I've been down here, but I have been breaking a promise I made to you though."

A cold, clammy sweat immediately bloomed all over my skin.

"What promise?" I croaked.

"I promised I'd always be upfront with you and tell you if there's something about us that's bothering me."

"And...?" My whole body tensed even more now. "... What is it? You're scaring me, so just say it."

Pete grimaced, his face twisting in anguish.

"I've wanted to. But I've put off saying anything about this for months now 'cause I feel like it's somethin' we should talk about face to face. But then I know that's only an excuse. 'Cause the real reason I haven't brought it up yet is that I've been so..." And then Pete trailed off there, maybe because his voice had been getting more and more shaky as he spoke.

"Pete." I said firmly, grabbing both his hands and holding them in mine when he was about to hide his face in them again. "Talk to me."

"I'm trying," he insisted, but then he pressed his eyes closed, unable to keep looking at me. "I even had this whole big speech planned out for what I was gonna say when I got to see you again this week. And I thought I was ready to go through with it `cause I could take it, no matter what you might say back to me. But..."

Pete opened his eyes to look at me again as he continued: "... But that's just bullshit too because I'm still so fucking scared to talk about this." He gulped something down in his throat as his voice kept getting thicker. "... And, God, I just wish I'd had the balls to bring this up earlier this week. But I kept wussing out 'cause we've been having so much fun here. And I really didn't want to ruin that for you. But now it feels so messed up to talk about this right after what happened last night."

I noticed how short Pete's breath had become as he trailed off again. His chest was huffing, almost like he was on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Pete. Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'm here."

Pete's mouth dropped open silently, and his hazel eyes locked onto mine. They were filled with a bottomless, aching fear that gutted me even more than any of his words had.

"Am I just like Juliana?" Pete blurted out finally.

And then I heard my own breath catch hoarsely in my throat as soon as Pete asked me that question.

But the strangled, inarticulate gasp that escaped from me only made the lines of worry etched across Pete's brow crease even deeper.

I couldn't help it though.

Pete's question had knocked the wind right out of me.

"What??" I finally managed to squeak out.

"I know that you were in love with her too," Pete said tightly, audibly choking over the words.

"Yeah, I was," I agreed, even though I still wasn't following what Pete was trying to ask me.

"But then when you graduated, you just moved on to your next thing. Without her. Because that's..." Pete's voice cracked. "... That's what you've done every time you've had to move on. No one ever goes with you when you start over somewhere new."

Oh.

It was finally dawning on me now what this was actually about, but Pete went on talking before I could say anything in reply:

"... And since you never talk about it with me, I've been wondering if that's the reason why."

"Talk about what?"

"About what's gonna happen after graduation," Pete winced. "Like all semester, you've always talked about next year when we're gonna be back together at school again. But that's as far as you'll ever go. It's always just been next year...,' next year...,' `next year...'" Pete swallowed roughly since his voice had been getting hoarse again. "... But you've never said anything about what you want to come after that. And so I've been wondering if that's because... if we're gonna be just like how it was with you and Juli, and you're going to-..."

"...- Pete-..." I tried to cut him off there. But he was so agitated that he kept on talking over me:

"... -And I'm sorry I'm being so stupid right now. And I know I'm probably not making any sense. Because I don't even know what I'm really asking you. And I definitely don't know what kind of life I could even offer you after graduation either. But I really don't think I can keep on doing this anymore."

"... This?" my chest seized up in fear.

"Not knowing. Not knowing what you're thinking about what happens after next year is over. Because if that's how it's going to be... If I'm just a college thing to you..." Pete shuddered. "... And if you're going to be done with us, then I think I need you to just tell me that now before I get any more carried away with... with how..." Pete trailed off there and finally fell silent as his eyes squinted closed once again.

"Can I talk now?" I asked, waiting for Pete to look up at me again.

Pete nodded, but his eyes opened and met mine warily. He looked like he was bracing himself for a sucker punch.

"You're right. I know I haven't talked with you about what happens after graduation. But that's not because I haven't been thinking about it too. I have been. A lot, actually."

Pete's whole body tensed even more. "... And?"

"And I've been scared to bring it up with you too," I admitted. "Because every time I think about it, it seems like there's all these ways that us still being in college makes it way easier to pull off being together without anyone else knowing about us. But then after that... when we go out into the real world... I think it's gonna be a lot harder to not have people start to figure it out."

Pete opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but I pressed on before he could interrupt me:

"... And I know how complicated all that shit is for you with your dad and everything, so I haven't ever brought up anything about after graduation because I didn't want you to feel like I'm pressuring you to come out or to do anything that could put you into an even worse bind than what you're already in. But you're right, Pete. We do need to start talking about this `cause graduation is only a year away now."

Pete gulped and just nodded in agreement.

"So let me be clear about something then: You're not Juliana. And I need you to put any comparisons to what happened between me and her outta your head `cause this is about you and me now."

I grabbed Pete's hand that was closest to me and squeezed it in mine. He nodded, and his expression looked like it was starting to relax, just barely.

"... So when you've thought about it, do you already know what you want to happen after graduation?"

My question hung in the air between us for a crackling minute. I could see sweat breaking out on Pete's brow now too.

"Yeah, but it's stupid though," Pete hedged finally.

I felt my jaw set in frustration at that response from him. "Dude, we've been over this. It's not stupid to want what you want. And it's not stupid for you to say whatever it is out loud either."

"Yeah, but I know everyone always says that you shouldn't decide what you're gonna do after graduation based on a relationship 'cause it's foolish to build your future around anybody else's plans." Pete paused there and exhaled slowly. "... But..."

"... But?" I nudged him to continue.

"... But every time I think about what I want to happen after next year... it ... It always starts with you, Max. Because it's YOU. You're what I want. More than anything. So I don't care where I move to or what job I have nearly as much as I care about whether or not you're gonna be there too. And... well, I know that probably is foolish, but it's what I know would make me happy. And, God, for once in my fucking life I wanna just do the foolish thing that makes me happy because that's reason enough."

I lunged forward and kissed Pete.

Hard.

My front teeth even knocked against Pete's because I caught him so off guard just going for it like that out here in the open.

But I didn't fucking care where we were right now.

And I didn't care how many other people could see us out here or what they might think about two guys kissing each other out on this public beach.

I couldn't stop myself.

I was just so fucking relieved to hear that's what Pete wanted too.

"Same," I panted out simply after I had to come up for air from that kiss.

"Really??" Pete asked, the tension on his face finally dissolving into a smile stretching across his lips.

"I'm not done with us," I shook my head and smiled back at him. "And I'm not gonna be done with us either `cause this isn't just a college thing for me."

"Really?" Pete repeated, starting to genuinely smile now.

"I can't do what I had to do with Juliana. Not again. It hurts too fucking much to let go of someone I love. And I couldn't do that with you anyway, Pete," I grabbed his hand in mine and held it tightly in my fist, pressing it into my chest right over my heart. "... Because you're in here so deep that I... I couldn't let you go without it fucking breaking me, even if I wanted to. But I don't want to. I want you, Pete. And so what I want- more than anything else- is to still be with you after next year too."

"Oh thank God," Pete leaned forward and rested his forehead against mine as he exhaled a long sigh of relief.

Then Pete's lips found mine, and he kissed me again.

"So thank you for bringing this up while we're here," I smiled, threading my fingers through his hair and keeping his head pressed against mine. "Because I don't think I coulda kept on doing this either."

"Doing what?"

"Having to say goodbye to you all the time, even if it's only temporary. I hate being away from you for every summer and for every break that we have. It always fucking hurts how much I miss you when we're apart."

"No shit," Pete leaned back to smile at me. "`Cause I want you to be with me for all of it. The birthdays and the holidays and the summers. Even if it's just a normal Monday. Because it doesn't ever matter what it is. I know it's always way better with you there."

"Yeah, no shit," I agreed, laughing in relief now. "And even having to say goodbye today for another whole summer already feels way better now that I know it's only gonna be temporary. That we're gonna figure out whatever comes next together."

"Together," Pete grinned along with me.

And then he kissed me again, continuing the spectacle we were putting on for all the other people out there on the beach this morning.

"Max?" Pete asked when his lips broke from mine.

"Yeah?"

"I think you're right. People are probably gonna start to wonder and maybe even figure things out if we move to the same place after we graduate."

"Probably," I agreed.

"But the thing is... I think I want people to know."

"The truth?"

"The truth," Pete nodded. "Because I can already tell it's gonna suck so hard to havta go back to just calling you my roommate again after getting to be real about us down here this semester. And I don't wanna go backwards like that. Not forever."

"No?"

"No, being your boyfriend is the best thing I've ever done in my life, and... And I'm proud of it. So it's been really fuckin' nice to not have to hide it here."

"So does that mean you're ready to...?" I arched an eyebrow up in surprise.

Pete flinched a little. "Well, almost ready. We still havta be smart about this. So I meant once we graduate and that's all in the bag and there's nothing left that my dad could possibly pull to mess that up for you... If you'd be okay with that?"

"Well," I smiled. "It's been really fuckin' nice to get to be your boyfriend out loud this week. So, I'm in. And I'm in even knowing that means I'll havta finally have the talk with my family before we graduate too. Because I do want my parents to know what you really are to me, Pete."

A big, gorgeous smile stretched across Pete's lips now, and he was silent for a few beats as he just grinned at me. All the fear and tension that had clouded his face earlier this morning had dissipated now.

"What?" I asked, smiling back at him.

"It's just... we're doing it. Like, really doing it."

"We've been doing it," my grin stretched even bigger. "And I'm just so fuckin' happy that you want to keep doin' it. With me."

Pete was lit up now. There was no other way to say it with the giant smile beaming out from his face. And then he opened his mouth to say something else in response, but he caught himself and stopped short.

"What??" I nudged him.

The skin on Pete's chest flushed red a little bit, and he hesitated still.

"... You said you had a whole big speech planned out for me, so does that mean there was somethin' else you wanted to say?" I pressed.

"Well, yeah, there was more to it," Pete admitted. "But I don't think the rest of it even matters anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"The whole point was just to tell you that I want us to still be together after graduation. But I was also gonna admit that you were right about something too."

"I was right?" I lifted an eyebrow. "About what?"

"About how I needed to do more this semester than just mopin' around about missing you. Because, honestly, it has been good for me to be out down here and to finally make another friend who actually knows me like Eddie does now."

"Good," I smiled. "I'm glad."

Pete laughed under his breath. "And, no joke, if it weren't for being friends with Eddie, I don't know if I ever woulda been brave enough to finally ask you the question about what you were thinking."

"What do you mean?"

"I never brought it up before because I wanted you to be able to answer me without feeling pressured to say `yes' if that's not what you actually want. I needed you to know that you could be honest with me, whatever you were feeling."

"But what does that have to do with you being friends with Eddie?"

"I felt like if I was gonna ask if you wanted a future with me, then I also needed to be able to say with a straight face that I knew I could be okay even if you said `no.' I wanted you to know that you do have a real choice here since you wouldn't necessarily be sending me all the way back to zero of having no friends and nobody who really cares about me if we were gonna be over."

"But `okay' isn't good enough for you, Pete."

"No," Pete snorted under his breath. "It isn't- even though I woulda killed for 'okay' for my whole life before I met you. But now...? Now I want to be good. And good is with you."

"And good is what you should have," I insisted.

Pete nodded at that before he continued: "But I also wanted you to know that I can see now that staying with you is a choice that I actually get to have too. So I was gonna tell you that I want a future together because of how much I fucking love you... And that means it isn't just because my stupid gremlins still make me believe that somehow you're like the one and the only person on the entire planet who could ever love me if they knew the real me."

"But it's not just me though."

"No," Pete nodded again. "And being down here and being friends with Eddie made me finally see that I'm not gonna havta always hide who I am if I want to have people who really care about me. And I know now that the whole world isn't gonna come crashing down if I let myself just be real with people."

"Good," I squeezed his hand. "Because I want you to get to be yourself with more than just me."

"And you deserve that too," Pete agreed, squeezing my hand back. "Like as much as I appreciate how patient you've been about my whole situation, I want you to be able to have friends who really know you for who you are too. And I don't want you to havta keep on choosing between being with me and being honest about your life like you've had to do so far."

"And we won't have to. Not after this year."

"Right," Pete agreed. "Because once we're done with school, I can see now that there actually is a real world out there where we can just... be. Like, finally, just be."

"Damn right," I grinned back at him.

"And I really, really want to be with you in that world."

"Me too." I agreed.

"But I also want you to have more than just me around in that future too," Pete went on. "So I want you to be able to have friends who really know you. And I want you to find a job that you like. And I want you to get to live in a place that actually feels like it's home to you again too."

"And I'm just so fucking relieved that it's all gonna be with you though," I smiled at Pete. "Because nowhere's ever gonna feel like home to me now without you there. And I really want you to have the chance to have all of that in your future too."

"Me too," Pete agreed, pulling me into a hug that pressed the warm skin of his bare chest against mine. "But everything else is just like the cherry on top of the sundae of gettin' to still be with you. So that whole speech I'd planned out...? The point was to tell you that being together after graduation is what I want because I really do want it- and it's not because I'm just scared of being out on my own. And I wanted you to know you really get to have that choice too, without feeling guilty about me."

"Well, for the record then," I pulled back so I could look Pete in the eye again. "I want you to know that my answer is yes because I just really fuckin' love you, Pete. Simple as that."

"Even after last night?" Pete's brow lifted slightly. "Like, I was even more freaked out about bringing this up today since I never thought we'd end up talking about this right after we did something like that."

"And so what if we did?"

"Fooling around with someone else didn't change anything for you?"

"Why would it?"

"You finally got to hookup with another guy who wasn't me- at least in a way that wasn't kinda messed up. So I was worried this morning that it would maybe make you realize that you wanted to explore more since you've never really had that chance with other dudes."

"But the same goes for you too though," I pointed out.

"I asked you a question first."

"I'm not ashamed of what we did last night either," I shook my head. "And I don't regret it. It was a fun night that just kinda happened, so I'm really trying not to overthink it."

"For once," Pete smirked.

"Hey, you do that shit, too," I rolled my eyes. "And you really did have me worried this morning with how upset you looked when I first found you out here."

"I was upset because I just really, really didn't want this conversation to lead to you breaking up with me."

"Well, I've got some pretty bad news for you then: I think you're stuck with me."

"Perfect," Pete laughed.

"But are you really okay?... About last night?" I insisted. "Eddie warned me this morning not to go looking for problems that aren't there, but I also don't wanna just ignore it if there is anything bugging you about it."

Pete just laughed. "Maybe Eddie's a good influence for both of us 'cause I'm really trying not to overthink it too. Mostly, I just don't want it to make anything weird with me and Eddie staying friends after this, but I don't think it will."

"But did you think it was fun though?" I pressed. "I mean, you've never hooked up with anyone but me before, so...?"

Pete laughed again. "You're not seriously worried that I'm about to go and dump you for some other dude after the conversation we just had, are you??"

"No," I flushed when I heard out loud how ridiculous that sounded. "Not when you put it that way. I'm just curious what you thought of being with someone who isn't me."

"Well, you were there to see the whole thing, right?"

"Yeah, but I'm serious. You can tell me. I won't be mad."

Pete was thoughtful for a beat before he responded:

"What was it that you said to me about how hooking up with Marissa made you feel?"

"That it pulled my head out of my ass," I remembered, thinking back on it. "And it made it clearer for me to see what I really felt about being with you."

"Exactly," Pete nodded. "And maybe I really get that now."

"What do you mean?"

"It was fun with Eddie," he shrugged. "And it got me off. Like, clearly. But being with you just feels like it's..." Pete's chest started to flush red again as he fumbled for how to finish that thought.

"... Different?" I guessed.

"... Like home." Pete smiled.

"But do you wish you had more experiences with other guys besides me? Or would you maybe want something like last night to happen again?"

Pete just laughed at that too.

"What?"

"Dude, before about twelve hours ago, I never woulda thought anything like last night could ever happen to me."

"Yeah," I nodded. "Same."

"So I guess maybe that should tell me to never say 'never,' but I wasn't looking for anything like that before last night. And I don't feel like I need to go out and start searching for it now either. Because, honestly, the whole thing just made me even more convinced than ever that I'm-..."

But Pete abruptly stopped himself short there, hesitating over the rest of his thought.

He was still smiling at me, but there was suddenly something sheepish about it now.

"Hey, why does it seem like there's something else that you're not saying?" I called him out.

The skin on Pete's face turned red now too as that incriminating flush spread upwards from his chest.

I took that as confirmation.

"... Just say it," I insisted. "I know all your tells by now. And you already know I'm not gonna let this go until I find out whatever it is."

"I was just remembering something I was gonna say in that big speech I had planned out for you," Pete admitted.

"Oh??" I felt a smirk tugging at the corners of my mouth. "What was it?"

"Something, uhh... Something that's way, way too sappy. So just forget about it."

"Babe," I shook my head, grinning even wider now. "Just spill it. You already know my deep, dark secret that I actually fuckin' love all the sappy shit with you."

Pete's face flushed an even deeper shade of red though. And then he abruptly rose up to his feet and wiped the sand off of his hands onto his muscular thighs. He exhaled a long breath, meeting my eyes shyly as I smiled up at him.

"Just forget it," he repeated finally. "It's more than I've ever said out loud. And it's probably way too much anyway."

And then, before I could press him any further, Pete turned away from me and dashed off into the water in front of us, wading out into the waves until they were up to his chest.

I sprung up to my feet and chased after him though.

I still wasn't nearly as good of a swimmer as Pete was, but there was no way in hell I was gonna let him off that easy.

I grabbed one of Pete's arms when I finally caught up with him out in the water, and I used it to pull him into a hug. Pete's wet skin felt slippery against mine, but I held onto him tight as the force of the tide pushed against us.

"Dude," I grinned at him. "When are you gonna get it through your thick head? You're not too much for me."

A wave swelled up in front of us, and then it crashed over our heads before Pete could reply. But I hugged him tighter through the wave and didn't let go.

And Pete was smiling at me when our heads came back above the water.

"Okay, fine," he relented. "I was just gonna say that I feel like I'm-..." Pete started, but then he tilted his head in closer. His lips found mine, and he kissed me while the undertow from the wave that had just crashed over us pulled the water around our waists back out into the next one building off the shore.

"Quit stalling," I hugged him tighter after that kiss. "You know I love you. And I'm not scared of anything you're gonna say."

Pete still laughed nervously though. And then just as he opened his mouth to speak again he was interrupted by another even larger wave that crashed down on top of our heads.

Pete's muscular arms flexed around me when we were submerged into the wave this time. He held me steady against him as the water almost knocked me right off of my feet.

We were both sputtering for air when our heads resurfaced again.

But Pete was smiling at me.

And then he rested his forehead against mine so I could hear him when he finally spoke it out loud:

"... Tuyo soy y siempre sere."

And as soon as I heard that from Pete, a hot burst of adrenaline went rushing through my entire body.

Because with those words, Pete just laid it all out there, right in front of me. The very thing I'd spent my whole life thinking I would never have:

Siempre.

... Because for my entire life I'd always believed right down to my core that absolutely nothing and no one was forever.

... But then, somehow, here it was.

Right here.

... And it wasn't just buzzing through my ears in the sound of Pete's voice speaking those words to me either.

No.

I felt it welling up from inside me too:

Siempre.

I tried to tighten my arms around Pete to hug him even closer to me. But Pete's whole body was rumbling with laughter now- the same cathartic, endearing laugh that he'd erupt into after he would cum.

So my lips found Pete's, and I kissed him again.

Another wave crashed over our heads.

And then the undertow dragged more and more sand out from beneath our feet, hollowing out the very ground on which we stood.

But we still held each other steady.

And we kissed.

And we kissed.

And we didn't let go of each other because there was absolutely nothing that could tear us apart.

And then, still smiling, I hovered my lips over Pete's ear so he could hear me say it right back to him:

"... y siempre sere."

To be continued.