Tim

Summer Fun 9

Disclaimer: This story is a continuation of the story of Kevin Foley, Rick Mashburn, and their "sons," Tim Murphy, Kyle Goodson, Justin Davis, and Brian Mathews that started in "Tim," continued in "Justin" and "Kyle," "Kyle, Part 2," and "Kyle, Part 3."  It now continues in "Summer Fun."  It is about gay men and gay boys living and loving together as a family, and it contains descriptions of sex.  The sex is never intergenerational, though.  If you are offended by descriptions of gay sex, or if the law in your area forbids you to read them, please exit the story.  Otherwise, I hope you enjoy it.  I appreciate feedback, and you can send it to me at brew_drinker23@yahoo.com.

--Brew Maxwell

Summer Fun

Chapter 9

(Kevin's Perspective)

We had a phone call from Seth on the main household number around one o'clock.  He had just pulled off the Interstate, and he wanted to double check directions.  Getting to our house from where he was was a little tricky because it involved back roads, but I listened as he ran through the directions.  He had them right.

"That was Seth on the phone," I announced to the people in the room.  At that moment they happened to be Jeff, Tyler, and Rick.

"Where was he," Rick asked.

When I told him, he said, "About another hour."  We had driven home that way from New Orleans so many times, we knew every pine tree along the way.

"I told him to call us when he gets to the beach.  I'll go find him and lead him back here," I said.

"I'll go with you and drive his car," Rick said.

"Okay," I said.

The other guys had been out in the boat.  It wasn't clear to me what they had been doing, though, since that hadn't been skiing.

"Hi," they all said when they came inside.  

Trixie was with them, and she was wagging her tail like she hadn't seen us in a week.  She didn't lick anybody, though.  I liked her better, now that Kyle's no-lick policy seemed to be in full force.  The boys all had on shorts, tank tops, baseball caps, and deck shoes, and they looked great with their tans. 

"Hi.  What's up," I asked.

"We set out some crab traps," Kyle said.  "We're gonna have us a fine mess of crabs by tomorrow."

"What's a crab trap," Ty asked.

"They're these wire cage things.  You put bait in them, and the crabs go after the bait.  Trouble is, once they're in the trap, they can't get out," Kyle said.

"What did you use for bait," I asked.

"A litter of puppies," Justin said.

"We did not," Brian and Tim said in unison.

Kyle and Jus laughed hard.

"Kevin, last night Kyle and Justin were teasing us about using puppies for fish bait and to bait crab traps," Tim said.  "They made Brian and me cry."

Kyle and Jus got looks of astonishment on their faces.

"We didn't make you cry," Kyle said.

"You're lying through them perfect teeth, Bubba," Justin said.

"We really didn't cry, but we did just get them last," Tim said.

"I was blindsided just now," Justin said.  "I wasn't expecting anything like that.  I'll get your ass, Tim.  Never worry.  Or always worry, maybe."

Everybody was laughing.

"But really, what did you use for bait," I asked.

I was waiting for them to say road kill, or something.

"Chicken necks and chicken backs," Kyle said.

"Where did you get those," I asked.

"We bought 'em," Kyle said.  "They package them special  in the grocery store for crabbing.  Haven't you ever seen them?"

"I've seen those," Rick said.  "I was wondering if people really ate those things."

"Some people do," Jus said.  "You can make a pretty fine chicken stew out of them.  Add some giblets?  Mighty fine served on mashed-up cornbread or rice.  Thinking about that is making me hungry."

"What are you going to do with the crabs," Ty asked.

"Eat 'em," Kyle said.

"How do you cook those," Ty asked.

"We boil 'em, Ty.  I'll teach you how to open them and pick out the meat," Kyle said.  "It's easy for most people."

He stared at Tim when he said that last line.  The last time we had had boiled crabs, Kyle had  ended up picking Tim's for him and feeding him the meat off his fingers, which I was sure Kyle didn't mind one bit.

"I'll get the hang of it," Tim said.  "Besides, I thought you liked me to suck your fingers."

"I do, but I'd rather you . . ."

"Kyle.  Tim," I said.  "Whoa."

"I knew that was getting close," Justin said.  "I saw what it did to you, too, Kyle.  Remember?"

"Okay, guys.  Let's move on, shall we?"

"Yeah, but I just want to make this one point.  Y'all think Tim and Brian . . . oh, never mind," Kyle said.

"What were you going to say," I asked.

"Well, y'all think me and Justin are the only horny ones.  I know you do, but . . ."

"You were right the first time, Kyle," I said.

They all laughed.

"So what are you going to do with the crabs you catch until you have enough to cook," Rick asked.  "Aren't they supposed to be alive when you boil them?"

"Yes, sir, that's the best way to do it," Kyle said.  "I've got a holding trap that's tied to the dock.  I set out eight traps, and it shouldn't take more than a couple of days to get a mess of 'em.  Maybe even just one day, if we're lucky.  Let's go check 'em, boys."

They left to check the crab traps.

"Those guys are amazing to me," Tyler said.  "Are they ever in a bad mood?"

"Not very often, but it happens occasionally," I said.  "Justin used to be pretty moody sometimes, but he hasn't been since his surgery last December."

"What kind of surgery did he have," Ty asked.

"I'll tell you about it," Jeff said.  "We had a hard fall last year, didn't we?"

"I'll say we did," Rick said.  "There's been a lot of laughter in this house, Ty, but there's been a lot of tears, too."

"I guess like every family," Ty said.

"Yeah," I said.  "Just like every family, only in some there isn't much laughter."

*****

The crabbers came back in about twenty minutes, all excited.

"How many," Jeff asked.

"Two dozen," Kyle said.  "We'll go out in about two hours, and we should have a lot more."

The phone rang, and it was Seth.  He had reached the spot I had told him to call from, and he was ready for us to go get him.

"We'll go," Kyle said.  "Let's take the Wrangler."

"One of you drive his car back here," I said.  "Take the Parkway.  Don't take the beach road."

"Do you think the Parkway will be quicker on a Saturday afternoon in the middle of tourist season," Kyle asked sarcastically.

"Get your asses out of here," I said.

They all laughed hard.

(Kyle's Perspective)

I'm glad I remembered about those traps.  Me and Clay used to run them all summer long back when my daddy still had a boat, and we had fresh crabs anytime we wanted them.  To me, the only thing out of the water that was better than a crab was an oyster, but you couldn't eat those in the summer time.  Something about the month had to have an "r" in it.  Now that we had a boat again, we were going to be eating good.

Another thing I really like is lobster.  They say that Florida lobster isn't as good as Maine lobster, but they sure taste good to me.  I still had my SCUBA gear and certificate, although it probably wouldn't hurt me to take a refresher.  Maybe we could all take SCUBA lessons and go get us some lobsters. 

Scallop season didn't open until July first, and I would definitely have us some scallops when that happened.  You had to snorkel to get those.  That's another seafood I like a lot, and we could get us some of those easy.  We could ride over to Cape San Blas after work, scoop us up a mess of scallops in about an hour, and be eating them by seven o'clock that night.

 Everybody thinks shrimp are so good, and they are.  But you have to go way out to get any good shrimp of any size, and my boat wasn't big enough to handle a shrimp net.  We'd have to buy those.  I knew some Vietnamese shrimpers that would sell them to me for a dollar fifty a pound, and that was for twelve-counts, where the shrimp were so big you only got twelve to a pound.  That was heads-on, of course.  Those big ones were the kind I liked.  They were good boiled or on the grill.

I loved driving or riding in Tim's car with the top down, and that's what we were doing that afternoon going to get Seth.  We passed a convertible with four girls, each with long hair, and it was blowing out behind their heads.  They saw us and flirted with us, and we flirted our asses off right back at them.  You don't have to be straight to flirt with girls and to have fun with them doing it.

The traffic on the Parkway was nothing like the traffic on the front road, but it sure wasn't light.  We got to the service station where Seth was supposed to meet us, and he was standing out, leaning on his car.  Tim started blowing the horn as we pulled up, and ole Seth was grinning and waving at us.

"Hey, buddy," I said, when we all got out.  I grabbed him up in a big hug.  He smelled good, like aftershave or something.  "How was the trip?"

"It was good.  Why is there so much traffic here?"

"It's just summer traffic," I said.

He shook hands with everybody and hugged everybody, too.  I had forgotten how skinny he was, but he looked pretty good.  I scanned his face to see if I could see any difference, and there was some difference.  He wasn't going to be anybody's model any time soon, but he wasn't so dog ugly anymore, either.  The thing was, though, he was so nice you didn't care what he looked like.  At least I didn't.

"We're going to have us a good time, son," Justin said.

"I know it, Jus," he said, grinning big.  "Thank you all so much for having me."

"It's our pleasure," I said.  "And Jus is right.  We are going to have a good time."

"Whose Jeep is this?"

"It's mine," Tim said.  "I got it for my birthday."

"Awesome," he said.

We were standing in the sun, and I was starting to break a sweat.  We could visit a lot better back home in the air conditioning.

"Let me drive your car.  There's a lot of traffic, and I know one or two short cuts," I said.  "Come on and ride with us, Jus."

The three of us got in his Mustang.  That was a real nice car, and I had never driven one before.  It was dark green, and it had this really cool decal of a mustang pony right above each front wheel.

We talked about this and that on the way home.  We told him about him having a job at the hotel with us, and he got pretty damn excited about that.  He had never had a job before, and he really liked the idea.

"I think you'll probably start Tuesday because there's paper work and all, but you can come in with us on Monday so we can show you what to do," I said.  "It's not that hard."

"Cool," he said.  "Any cute guys around?"

"Several," Justin said.  "Kyle, do you know that Cody guy in valet?  Stephen told me Friday he's gay."

"Are you shitting me," I asked.  "Cody's gay?"

"That's what the man said.  I don't know how he knows, though.  I'll bet you Cody ain't getting it on with him," Jus said.

"Seth, this Cody guy is major cute," I said.  "If you could hook up with Cody, you'd have you something good, dude.  He's kind of shy, though.  I've only talked to him a few times, and now that I think about it, Jus, he does look at you pretty thorough when you talk to him.  I'll bet you Stephen's right."

"He said he knew it for a fact," Jus said.

"We'll get after Mr. Cody, if you want us to, Seth.  Jus, that ought to be our challenge for the summer, if Seth wants.  You, me, and Jeff hook Seth and Cody up," I said.

"How would you do that," Seth asked.

"Aw, you know.  Be nice to him, talk to him, rub his dick a little when he ain't paying attention."

Seth busted up laughing.

"We wouldn't do that, of course, but if he's gay and looking, we can make him look your way.  We'd have to out you to him, though.  Would you have a problem with that," I asked.

"It's got to happen eventually, I think, don't you," Seth said.

"Absolutely.  You ain't going to get a boy in bed unless he knows you're gay," I said.

Listen to you, I thought.  How the hell would you know what to do?  You ain't no Romeo, Kyle.  I smiled at what I was thinking.

"Do you think Cody's had a lot of experience," Seth asked, "because I haven't had any."

"Shit, no," I said.  "He's a virgin, if ever there was one.  He just graduated from my high school, and nobody there thought he was gay.  Hell, I didn't even know it.  I'm telling you, though, this boy is hot.  Do you like the muscle type, 'cause that's what he is?  He wrestled for our school."

I glanced over at Seth's lap, and he had him a big one.  Tell you the truth, I was a little plumped up myself, and I figured Jus had him one, too.

"Yeah, I think muscles are hot.  You've put on some, haven't you," he asked.

"Yeah, we've been working out.  We got a really nice gym for Christmas, and we use it pretty much every day.  Not so much on weekends, though," I said.

"That's what I need to do," he said.  "Maybe then I wouldn't be so damn skinny."

"You're fine, man," I said. 

Lie.  You need to work out, I thought.  We'll take care of you, though.  You're going to leave Emerald Beach a man.  I was going to see to that.

"Well, here we are, such as it is," I said.

"Such as it is?  Man, this is a fantastic house," Seth said.

"I know.  My dad always says that, though, about our house.  We just passed it.  It was the one with all those colored-leaf flowers in the yard," I said.

"I noticed that one.  That's a nice house, too, Kyle," he said.

"That one back there is my official home, but this one is my real home," I said.

*****

Tim and Brian pulled in right behind us.  Kevin and Rick, and Jeff and Ty welcomed Seth like he was some long-lost brother, and he ate that up.  We got Seth's stuff up to his room.  He didn't unpack, though.  I saw him eying Brian's computer in that room.

"It's on a cable modem," I said.  "Fast download, and no timing out."

"Oh, wow," he said.  "I'm still on a dial-up at home."

"This house is on an Ethernet network, and Jeff is in the process of setting up a Web server.    When he figures it all out, we're going to run our Web page from here," I said.  "The modem has a static IP address, so we can do that, we think."

"Stop it with the geek talk," Jus said.

"I'll get your geek to talk," I said, and I groped his crotch.

Seth thought that was hilarious.  Justin and I did stuff like that to one another all the time, and we didn't think anything of it.

"Let's go check the traps," I said.

Everybody went on that trip, and that boat was riding low in the water.  We got an even four dozen on that pass, and that was getting close to being enough.  I re-baited the traps, and I moved four of them to places where we hadn't had them before.  There weren't any other traps in our section of the lagoon that I could tell, so we were going to get all the crabs that wanted to be got that day. 

It was already four o'clock, and I knew we had Mass at five.  It would stay light till eight or later, though, so I knew we could make another pass after we came home from church. 

"Let's have a party tonight after church," I said.  "Let's invite Jerry and Pat, if they can come, and Sam and Fred, and Chad and Gage.  I'll call my Vietnamese boys for some shrimp.  They'll bring them to church for us, I'm pretty sure."

"Kyle, what are you talking about," Kevin asked.

"I'm talking about a small party to celebrate our new brother, that's what.  Monte and Terry, too.  I forgot about them.  They've got to meet Seth, too," I said.

"You do it, Bubba," Rick said.

"Okay.  I will.  I want them here for seven.  We can do this, now that we've got a decent ice machine."

They all laughed.

They had all ridden me hard about wanting a good ice machine, but, by God, we had us one.  They could tease me about it all they wanted to, but they were going to know the truth, one of these days.

"Do you like clear ice or cloudy ice," Jus asked Seth.

"I think the clear ice is prettier," he said.

"You damn queer," Jus said.

Seth got a little red and looked embarrassed, but everybody else who was in on the joke laughed.

"Seth, don't listen to his bullshit.  He thinks only queers like clear ice.  But you know what?  Ain't nobody here queerer than him," I said.  "He's been teasing me about wanting clear ice for weeks."

"Y'all are going to have to help me out with stuff like that," Seth said.

"You'll catch on," Jus said.  "Kyle, I think he's one of the smart ones.  We're way outnumbered, Bubba."

"I know," I said.

Everybody else laughed, but Justin and I knew it was true.

We unloaded the crabs into the holding trap, and they were frisky.  Trixie was barking at them, like that was going to make them behave. 

"Pull her back, Tim.  Don't let one get her nose," I said.

I had once seen a crab get on a dog's nose, and that was not a pretty sight.  I didn't want our puppy getting her nose eaten up by some damn crab.

Once I got them in the holding trap, I started calling people.  I called my Vietnamese boys first, and they could meet us at the church when Mass was over.  They were Catholic, too, but they went to some other church.  They had the big ones, and that's what I was after.  I also told him I wanted ten pounds of potatoes, three dozen ears of white-and-yellow corn, shucked, and five pounds of onions.

He asked me if I wanted artichokes, and I had to ask him to repeat himself three times before I figured out what he was saying.  I told him I wanted three dozen when he finally got through to me what he was talking about.  I told him we needed a ton of crab boil, too.

I next called Jerry and told him what was up.  He could come, and he thought Pat could, too.  He asked would it be all right if Pat brought a date, and I said sure.  Hmmm.  Pat's dating, I thought.  That was a good sign.

Monte said he and Terry had just been talking about us, and they would definitely be there.  Sam said all four of his would be there.  Chad and Gage were actually working in gift shops for Goodson that summer , but we hadn't seen them since school was out.  It was going to be a good party; I just knew it.  It was thrown together pretty quick, which wasn't at all my style, but it was going to be good.  Ice cream or coke floats for dessert.  Ice cream always goes good after seafood.

There wasn't much we could do before church, but there was going to have to be a lot of action after we got home.  I got plates and cups and silverware set up outside.  I set up the two gas grills to hold the pots of water to boil the stuff in.  Jus, Tim, and Brian got the patio looking good, especially moving tables so we could more or less all eat together.  There were going to be nineteen of us, but we had the picnic tables to handle that many.  Jeff, Ty, and Seth got the clubhouse set up for games.  They made sure there were fresh sheets on the writing pads on the walls to record stuff, cards on the game tables, CD's to dance to, and anything else we might want to do.  I was very proud of my brothers.

We went to church for five o'clock Mass.  Jerry was the priest, and the story from the Bible that night was about Jesus multiplying the loaves and the fishes.

Shit, I thought, when I heard that.  I forgot about the damn crackers.  I had the fishes part covered, but I didn't have any crackers.  People want crackers when they eat crabs and shrimp.  They don't want loaves.  Maybe they used to, but not any more.

Jerry talked about the importance of celebration.  I didn't usually pay much attention to what he said in the homily, but I did that night.  Man, I thought, you're saying this for us.  And I knew he was.  I just wished I had some damn saltines.

When we got home after Mass, I hauled ass, I'm telling you.  I was out in that boat grabbing up those traps in no time.  I didn't even bother to count 'em on that pass, but it was a lot.  We must have had ten dozen crabs, at least, by then.  Tim and Brian helped me get 'em squared away.  I couldn't have done it without those boys, that's for sure.

Justin got the grills going while we were gone, and the pots were both boiling when we got back with the crabs.  I put equal potatoes, corn, onions, and artichokes into each pot, along with the crab boil, a lot of salt, and the seafood.  Crabs in one, shrimp in the other.  All the crabs didn't fit into that pot at once, so I had to end up cooking them three dozen at a time.  It only took a few minutes to cook them, so we were on schedule.

The vegetables took longer to cook, and I left them in the hot water after I took the crabs and shrimp out.  A lot of people like to eat boiled seafood hot, but I rather it be cold, or at least cool.  It's easier to peel cold, for one thing, and I think it tastes better, too.  If anybody wanted it hot, I'd dump it back in the hot water for a minute or so before they ate it.

We always had plenty of beer, wine, and soft drinks chilling in the refrigerator in the clubhouse.  Rick set out some bottles of whiskey on the bar for those who wanted that.  A drink of whiskey before dinner is good, but I personally think an ice cold beer is the best with boiled seafood.  Everybody has different tastes, though.  

I put out a hunk of cheddar with some fancy crackers, some nuts, and a big bowl of pickled okra for Jus.  That boy loved pickled okra better than anybody I ever knew, and I teased him about liking those little slimy green dicks.

"Yep, the slimier the better," he said.

I couldn't help laughing at that.  Truth be known, I liked 'em pretty slimy myself, and he knew it.  Not green, though.

*****

Everybody was there by 7:15 or 7:20.  We hadn't seen Chad and Gage since the day school let out, and it was good to see those boys.  We had lunch with them every day during school, but we hadn't had time to do squat with them yet that summer.

Jeff was busy introducing Tyler to everybody, and it was pretty obvious they were a couple.  Somehow you can just tell when two people are just friends and when they really like each other.  They really liked each other.

I introduced Seth to Chad and Gage.  They all shook hands, and Seth and Chad struck up a conversation.  They sort of walked away from us.  Gage pulled me aside.

"Kyle, who is that," Gage asked.

"That's Seth.  That's the guy from New Orleans that we got to know at Mardi Gras.  We told you about him," I said.

"Yes, I remember.  But you didn't tell everything.  My God, Kyle, the hair!  That boy needs a total make-over immediately.  Let me see if Antonio will see him tomorrow."

Gage whipped out his cell phone and pressed a button.  I didn't know who he was talking to, but I heard what he said.

"Antonio, if you saw him and had any kind of conscience at all, you would drop everything and get over here immediately," Gage said.

Pause.

"Tomorrow really isn't soon enough, but if that's the best you can do, so be it."

Pause.

"No.  First thing.  Say, one o'clock.  I'll have him there."

Pause.

"Definitely highlights.  'Mousy' is way too kind to describe it."

Pause.

"Yes, a shave, too.  If he shaves at all, he doesn't do it often enough.  Eyebrows, too, Antonio.  Definitely eyebrows.  I'm going to put him totally in your hands, sweetie.  You have to make him look good.  I demand it."

Pause.

"Chad and I love you two.  Say hello to Sid for us.  Bye, baby.  See you tomorrow."

"What the hell was that all about," I asked.

"That was all about making our new friend Seth presentable.  Seth is a diamond in the rough, Kyle, and my job is to chip away the rough.  Your job is to lead.  My job is to enhance."

I laughed when he said that.

"Laugh your jock ass off all you want to, but this guy's gonna look better when I finish with him," he said.  

I noticed he didn't use his usual effeminate voice just then.

"Sweetness," he said, switching back.  

That really made me laugh.  He could switch back and forth for comedy.  What an incredible guy, I thought.

The big surprise of the evening was Pat's date.  It turned out to be Mr. Lawley, my trig teacher.  Oh, shit, I thought.  I actually liked the guy, and I had made a B in the course.  It was dual enrollment, which meant I got college credit and high school credit for it.  My guidance counselor had talked me into taking college algebra first semester last year, and that was dual enrollment, too.  That meant all my college math was under my belt, doing what, I don't know, but it was down there somewhere.

"Hi, Kyle," Mr. Lawley said.  He was all friendly and even shook my hand.

"Hi, Mr. Lawley," I said.  "Glad you could make it."

"Call me Mike," he said.  "Here, anyway."

"Okay, Mike," I said.

"I hear you've been busy today," he said.

"Yes, sir.  I caught the crabs, and I'm cooking everything.  Would you like something to drink?  We have just about everything," I said.

Pat came over with beers for him and Mike.

"Hey, Kyle.  I see you've met Mike," Pat said.

"Yeah.  I already knew him, though," I said.

"Really?  How was that?"

"I don't want to get off on that tangent."

Pat looked at me kind of strange when I said that, but Lawley laughed his ass off.

"What's so funny," Pat asked.

"I taught this guy trigonometry at Beachside High School last semester," Mike said.

When Pat heard that, he laughed, too.

"I should have figured there was a pun involved.  Mike, these guys are incredible when it comes to puns.  They'll keep you laughing, but you've got to pay real close attention, sometimes," Pat said.

"You know he's going to be student body president next year, don't you," Mike said.

"I think my brother mentioned that," Pat said.  "Congratulations, Kyle."

"Thanks."

"You should have heard his speech, Pat.  It was a masterpiece.  He had everybody laughing, and then he launches into tolerance for gay, lesbian, and bisexual students.  It was very short, but it was very effective," Mike said.

"Hi, Mr. Lawley.  Hi, Pat," Gage said.  "I heard what you were talking about, Mr. Lawley, and I felt like I was on the top of the world after that speech.  You should give it again tonight, Kyle."

"No way!  Are you out of your fucking mind, man?"

Then I realized what I just said.

"Oops.  Sorry about that," I said.

Mike just laughed, so I knew he was okay with what I had said.  I didn't curse in front of grown-ups that I wasn't real close to, and that had truly just slipped out.  I knew to watch myself better than that.

"When are we gonna eat?  I'm hungry."  That was damn Justin.  He handed me a drink when he said that.  It was bourbon and coke, and it was my first of the night.

"When it's ready, that's when," I said.

"This stuff smells so damn good, it's making me digest my stomach," he said.

"Go eat you some okra," I said.

"I ate it all," he said.  He had a huge grin on his face.

"You ate all of it," I asked.  I had put out two large jars of it, and it was damn sure all gone.

"Well, somebody else might have stolen some, but I ate most of it," he said.  "I crave it, Kyle.  I can't help myself."

He and I were laughing so hard we had to lean on one another, just to stand up.  

"You're the okra pig."

"I thought Okra Winfrey was the okra pig," he said.

"Oh, that is soooooo low," I said, but that didn't stop me from laughing my ass off.

Pat, Mike, and Gage were laughing, too.

"Mike, I want you to meet my brother and best friend, Justin Davis," I said.

"Hiya, Mike," Justin said.  

They shook hands.  Then Justin shook hands with Pat, too.  He hadn't said hello to him yet.

"I'm serious, Bubba, those potatoes have to cook for another fifteen, at least.  You don't want to eat no crunchy raw potato, do you?"

"No, I reckon not, now that you put it that way.  What do you need help with?"

"I'm doing real good," I said.  "How about if you put a couple of CD's on that are just music, instead of that shit-kicking stuff, while we eat?  Would you do that?  Nothing too fast.  Get Jeff to help you pick it out."

"Kyle, this is unbelievable that you put this party together so fast," he said.  

"You're learning how to do it, too, aren't you," I said to Justin.

"Yeah, from watching you.  But how'd you learn it?"

"Total trial and error," I said.  "One of these days it's gonna fuck up in my face."

"I doubt it."

"Mr. Lawley, I'm sorry man.  I've been cursing like a sailor here.  I don't usually talk like that," I said.  "It's just been slipping out."

"Bull_shit_," Justin said.  "He talks like that all the damn time.  We all do.  Well, maybe not everybody, but him and I do."

"Kyle, it's okay.  Lighten up, dude.  We're just friends here.  I'm not your teacher anymore," Mike said.

"He was your teacher," Jus asked.

"Yeah.  Trig," I said.

"Did you pass?"

"Hell, yeah, I passed."

"He did pretty well, in fact," Mike said.

"That's math, ain't it?  I didn't think your dumb ass could pass a math course," Justin said.

"I didn't, either," I said.  "I just had this really good teacher."

"Now it's really getting thick," Pat said.

"I'll say," Mike agreed.

*****

The food was really good, if I do say so myself.  Those crabs had plenty of meat in them, and they were fat, too.  I showed everybody who didn't know how to peal them, and Tim finally caught on.  I let him suck some meat off my fingers a time or two, and I got rock hard when he did it.  I had on shorts, though, so I don't think anybody saw it.  Now why would him sucking my fingers make me hard like that?  I put that in the back of my brain to experiment with later on.

After dinner Rick and I put the food away.  We had a lot of crabs and shrimp left over, and there were a whole lot of vegetables, too.  Cooking those vegetables in that seafood water, with all that salt and crab boil seasoning, made them really good.  I was the kind who could get a handful of shrimp, a cold potato, a cold ear of corn, and a cold artichoke for a little snack and be perfectly happy.  I wasn't too keen on biting into a cold boiled onion, but some of them loved that, especially Justin.

When Rick and I went outside after we had finished, most of them were naked in the pool.  Seth wasn't, though.  He was sitting off to the side by himself.  I went to him right away.

"Hey," I said.

"Hi, Kyle.  Dinner was really good."

"Thanks.  I'm glad you liked it.  How come you're not in the water?"

He got this real shy and embarrassed look, and I thought, No way, Bubba.  You ain't ever hurting in this house, I don't care what.

"Are you shy about getting naked," I asked.

"Yeah," he said, and hung his head a little.

"Well don't.  Let's go find you a suit," I said.  "I've got a dozen or more here.  Come on."

"Won't they make fun of me, if I come out in a suit?"

"Not in this house, Bubba.  Not at my party in your fucking honor, they won't.  It just won't happen.  I'll wear one, too, if that will make you feel better," I said.

"Will you really do that for me?  I've seen the pictures on the Web site, and I know you never wear a suit."

"Hell, yes, I'll wear one.  I'd like to see them make fun of me for wearing a suit," I said.  "I'll pull their dicks off."

He laughed.

"Let's go get suited up.  I'm so nasty from cooking, eating, and putting away all that food, I need to get in the water."

We went upstairs to our room.  I had a damn drawer full of swim suits, of all kinds.  Most of mine were Speedos, but I had some trunks, too.  I knew he had brought a suit or two, but they were still packed in the other room.  I gave him a pair of trunks to put on that were so baggy they would conceal an elephant's hard-on, if necessary.  He had to pull the string really tight at the waist, but he kept them on.  In the hip department, I'm like a snake, but that boy was like a piece of spaghetti.  I got him fixed up, though, and we went downstairs.

Nobody said a word when we went out to the pool.  We both jumped in and got right into the splash fight that was going on.

"What are you doing with a bathing suit on," Kevin asked me.

"I wanted to wear one tonight," I said.

"Why?"

"Because I did, that's why," I said.

"Seth didn't have anything to do with it?"

"So what if he did, man?  He's new, you know?  Just shut up about it, okay?  He'll be all right."

"Kyle, you're wonderful, you know that?"

"Don't say that.  Man, that pisses me off.  I'm not wonderful.  I'm just a kid.  A cute kid, maybe, but just a kid."

That was all it took.  He jumped on my ass and dragged me to the bottom.  Trixie was barking her head off at him when we finally came up.  It was like she was going to eat him up for drowning me.  Dogs are so funny.  They only know to love you, but they don't know when somebody else loves you, too.  In the rough and tumble of our house, Kevin was showing me how much he loved me by dragging me down, and I knew it.  Trixie didn't have a fucking clue.

"Lick," I said to her, but she didn't. 

Kevin laughed.   

(Mike's Perspective)

When Kyle Goodson came up to me at that party, I almost dropped a load in my pants.  I had heard the rumors at school about him being gay, but I figured that was all they were.  Rumors motivated by jealousy.  He had spoken out in his election speech about gay, lesbian, and bisexual students, but I figured that had been noblesse obliges.  He came from what was probably the richest family on the beach, and nobody would be willing to stand up and confront him about what he said.  But there he was at a party of all gay men, and it turned out he was the host.  My God!

And a very good host he was.  He told me that he had caught the crabs we ate that night and that he had done all the cooking.  I knew Kyle was smart as hell, but his math skills weren't the best.  He had come to every after-school session I had held, though, and he honestly pulled out a B on his own.  I don't give points, even if your daddy does own half the beach.

There were some very interesting people at that party, and most of them were extremely good looking.  Kevin and Rick, who actually owned the house, were stunning looking.  They were both big shots in Mr. Goodson's empire, but Pat wasn't really clear on what they actually did.  

Justin was pretty "country," but Kyle introduced him as his brother and best friend.  Justin was a very good looking man, but Kyle seemed to be more attached to Tim.  Gage Franklin was there, and he and Kyle were obviously good friends.   I just didn't get it.

"Did you have a good time tonight," Pat asked me when he dropped me off.

"I had a great time tonight," I said.  "Thank you for taking me."

Pat and I had been dating for several weeks, but thus far there hadn't been any sex.

"Do you want to come in," I asked.

"No.  I'll call you tomorrow, though, okay?  We'll do something."

"Okay," I said.

We kissed goodnight on my doorstep, and I tasted his tongue for the first time.

That was encouraging, and I was willing to wait as long as it took.

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