by Zane Menzy
Maybe after tonight I won’t ever think about him that way again.
It may have been wishful thinking but it was a definite possibility. Tess could actually save him from an infuriating crush that had been doomed from the moment it began. Tonight Keegan would join the club, Liam would pick up the hottest chick at the party—like he always did—and everything could go back to normal.
Keegan stood, clutching Tess’s arm, while talking with Tony and Skippy. The flames of the bonfire licked high in the sky, the blazes heat throwing itself around generously.
“So are you gonna be heading into town and go clubbing after here?” Tony asked. He sculled back on his RTD bottle of Coruba rum, then rubbed his jiggly belly. He looked like a fat Christmas tree, in his green shirt which clashed terribly with his red hair and freckly face.
“I don’t think so,” Keegan said. He squeezed Tess’s hand and gave her a smile which she promptly returned.
Tony frowned. “Are you for real? You’re finally 18, Keegan. You can actually get into the clubs now; you do realize that?” The chubby Tony glared at him like he was a Pillich before looking up at his tall mate, Skippy, who towered over all of them at six-feet four.
“He doesn’t need to go to town, Tony,” Tess said, and whacked his arm playfully. “He has me, so please don’t encourage him. I know there is only one reason you all go to town.”
Skippy erupted with a thunderous laugh. “Yeah, you’re right Tess, we only go to town looking for one thing.” The way he said it made him sound like he had been clubbing for years and not just a few months since his own eighteenth.
Tony tapped Keegan on the arm. “So what did you get for your birthday?”
Keegan wished he could tell the guys what Tess was giving him but that could wait ‘till tomorrow. He began rattling off the list of small gifts from his family. “New shoes, the latest Stephen King book, gift vouchers for EB Games, some money—”
A whack on his back caught Keegan by surprise as a drunk voice slurred, “And a birthday wish!” Keegan spun around and saw it was Liam—swaying side to side—well and truly pissed. He leaned his weight into Keegan’s shoulder to keep himself steady. “Don’t forget your birthday wish.”
Keegan put his arm around Liam’s waist, gripping him at the hip, hoping it would help keep the drunken teen from falling. “Yep, can’t forget the birthday wish.”
Tony and Skippy both laughed under their breath at Liam’s wayward state.
“You all right there, Liam?” Tony asked cheekily.
Liam stared at the pair and raised his finger, shaking it slowly in front of the two boy’s faces. “I’m fucking maaarvelous, how about you?” Liam’s head drooped forward, he raised a hand to his mouth as he let out a fizzy burp.
Skippy grinned from ear to ear. “Yep, we’re all good. Probably not as good as you, but still good.”
“Maybe I should use my birthday wish to get you a bucket.” Keegan waggled his eyebrows.
“No. That wish is for you and pfft, I won’t need a bucket.” Liam’s mouth echoed out another burp.
“What’s this bloody wish he’s going on about?” Tony said, talking as if Liam wasn’t even there.
Before Keegan could answer he felt his face ravished by Liam’s wet tongue licking his cheek. Everybody laughed as Keegan wiped his face into Liam’s shoulder, trying to dry his face. “Cheers for sharing, Liam.”
Liam slumped his shoulders. “Sharing is caring.”
“I think someone will definitely be needing a bucket come tomorrow,” Tess said, almost cackling.
“Who’s gonna need a bucket?” called out another voice. They all turned their attention to the figure in the shadows, approaching them with brisk strides. When the mystery voice finally got close enough to the glow of the fire, Keegan saw it was Damon, he had gotten changed and looked like he was dressed for a big night out. A fancy pale blue collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up his forearms, hugged his fit physique, his legs were squeezed into a pair of expensive looking jeans that flattered him in every way imaginable helping him look more like 27 than his true age of 37.
Oh great, here we go. Keegan had managed to avoid Damon since Tess had arrived and he had hoped that his mother would have entertained him up at the house ‘till he would tire of the get together and go to town like he always did. Still, Keegan wasn’t surprised to see the cocky Damon turn up. The man tried infiltrating every social situation, it was a habit that came naturally to such a desperado.
Tony was the one who called out, “It’s Liam here who will need a bucket.”
Damon came to a standstill in front of Keegan and his friends. He leaned forward comically, studying Liam’s relaxed face and sniggered. “You are one mightily trashed individual, Liam Corrigan.”
Liam grunted an indecipherable response as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his eyelids shuttered. Keegan thought his mate was about to tumble over, so he raised his hand up from where it still rested on Liam’s hip and placed it under his armpit to catch him if he fell. Liam though was not ready to coma, he swiftly peeled open his eyes, shaking free of Keegan and marched off in the distance with sloppy steps.
Keegan shook his head and called out after him, “Are you gonna be okay?”
Liam raised a hand in the air, not looking back. “I’m off to find a fuck, see you cunts later.”
Tess gasped. “What a dick.”.
“He’s just drunk is all.” Keegan knew what Liam could be like after having a few drinks—or in this case, way too many. The guy’s abundance of confidence became outright arrogance, yet Keegan knew this probably wouldn’t stop him cashing in on his looks and snagging a partner for the evening.
“Ah, to be young, dumb and full of cum,” Damon said.
Tess, Tony and Skippy all laughed. Tony held his hand out towards Damon. “Hi, I’m Tony and this is my mate Skippy.”
Damon seized Tony’s hand and gave it a firm shake before doing the same to Skippy. “Evening, gents. I’m Damon.”
Tess whacked Keegan’s arm. “You didn’t tell me your uncle was in town.”
Keegan shot her an awkward look. “Damon’s not my uncle.”
Damon laced his hands behind his head and pushed his chest out. “I dunno about that, K dog. You and me are pretty much family. Shit, I’ve known you since you were swimming around in your old man’s nut sac.”
Keegan cringed at the spoken image of his father’s balls, while the others laughed at Damon’s supposedly hilarious reference.
“You look amazing tonight, Tess.” Damon lowered his arms, honing his attention in on Keegan’s girlfriend. “Seriously, Keegan’s damn lucky to have scored you.” The words came out striking the perfect balance of humor and compliment.
Tess smiled at the praise. “Thank you. And yes, he is.” She squeezed Keegan’s hand tenderly.
“Your hair looks good like that. You normally have it up don’t you?” Damon asked, he had only met Tess a handful of times but his memory appeared sharp to her appearance.
Tess nodded enthusiastically like she was flattered he remembered her. “I normally do wear it up but I was wanting to try something different tonight being Keegan’s birthday and all.”
Keegan nearly choked when he saw the sleaze step forward and reach a hand out, brushing her hair gently to the side. “Well, it certainly does suit you.”
Are you fucking kidding me?
A loud shriek hurtled through the summer night air, piercing Keegan’s eardrums.
“What the fuck was that?” Skippy blurted.
They all looked over towards the fire and saw a group of people huddled around someone rolling around on the ground with flames coming off of them. Holy shit! Keegan stood frozen at the horrific sight. Damon shoved past him and ran over to the stricken person.
“Give me your jacket,” Damon yelled at a boy standing there in shock. The boy took off his jacket, Damon promptly snatching it from him. He immediately began belting the person on the ground with it; just as quickly as t
he saga had begun it was over within four whacks and a smothering from the jacket.
“Fucking hell,” Tony mumbled.
Damon began asking on repeat if the person was okay.
Keegan let go of Tess’s hand and rushed over to see the damage. He was expecting the worst but when he got beside Damon, he looked down and was relieved to see the incident hadn’t been as bad as he had suspected. It was a young guy who Keegan didn’t know. A mate of Liam’s perhaps. The boy looked unharmed other than one pants leg of his jeans was smoking and charred from where the flames had licked up his leg.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Damon asked, full of concern.
The boy nodded, he still seemed in shock.
Damon turned and handed the crispy jacket to the boy it came from and asked, “What happened?”
The boy looked pale and shocked, taking a while to answer. “He… he was walking around the edge of the fire and I dunno…a spark or ember caught the bottom of his pants and VROOOM it just fucking spread.” The boy shot his arms up at the sky wildly, impersonating the ignition of flames.
Damon hunched down on the ground, inspecting the boy’s leg. “You’re fucking lucky, matey,” he said with a shake of his head. He turned around and looked up at Keegan. “Take…” Damon looked back at the boy. “What’s your name?”
“Garth,” the injured boy replied.
“Take Garth up to the house and put him in the bath and run water over his leg. But not too cold.” Damon’s eyes bulged impatiently. “Now, Keegan! We don’t want it scarring.”
“Yeah, sure. Of course.” Keegan knelt down and helped Garth get to his feet. He was expecting to drag the poor guy all the way up to the house but Garth got to his feet and other than a few gingerly steps, seemed capable of walking normally. Keegan led the way through the paddock, up the small hill to the home’s front yard. He opened the garden gate for Garth, leading him across the front lawn and up to the front door.
When they entered they found Keegan’s mum and grandparents sitting in the dining room.
“Is something wrong?” his mother asked. She got to her feet and balked at the sight of Garth’s burnt jeans. “Oh my god, is he okay?”
“I’m fine,” Garth said. His voice came out deeper than Keegan had expected. “Honestly it’s nothing to worry about.” The casual response soothed Keegan’s mother’s expression.
“We’re just gonna go run some cold water over his foot,” Keegan informed everyone.
“Not too cold, that’s not good for the burn,” she barked, reiterating Damon’s instruction. His mother went to follow after them but Keegan glared at her, letting her know to sit down and stop fussing.
When they got into the bathroom Keegan went straight to the cold tap, turning the handle ‘till it spewed out a gushing flow. Garth carefully removed his smoky sneaker and peeled his sock off, his face grimaced in pain as he tried rolling his jean leg up. Keegan could see that the boy’s ankle and lower leg were stinging red. Garth hooked his foot over the side of the long, deep bathtub and placed his burned ankle under the water. “Fuck that feels good,” he said. His face screwed up funny like he was about to shoot a load in his pants.
Keegan couldn’t help but laugh. “You look like you’re enjoying it.” He watched as Garth tried rolling more of his jeans up to expose more of his leg to the water. Keegan stepped forward, tapping Garth on the back. “Maybe you should take your jeans off, just so you can get more water on the skin.”
Garth nodded. “Good idea.” He withdrew his foot from the bath and proceeded to take his jeans off, handing them to Keegan. Garth wasted no time in getting his bare leg under the tap, letting out another groan of relief at the feel of cool water.
Keegan stood back watching this stranger nurse his wound. He only now started to take in details of Garths appearance. The guy had shaggy, brown hair that was crying out for a haircut; he was skinny, a similar height to Keegan but had rangy limbs. He obviously hadn’t intended on anyone seeing him with his pants off, since his undies were unflattering blue Y-fronts with two holes in the back that showed off his lily white arse cheeks. Keegan found himself staring a little too hard. He willed his sneaky eyes to look away from the boy’s trim, perky behind.
I thought Liam was the only guy I fancied. Keegan shook his head, surely it was the booze making him check out another guy that wasn’t Liam.
“So are you the guy whose party it is?” Garth asked, he swiveled his head around to face Keegan.
“Yep, that would be me.”
“Oh cool, sorry for making a scene, bro. I didn’t expect to catch on fire like a fucking wicker man.”
Keegan chuckled. “No worries. I guess it will give everyone something to talk about tomorrow.”
“Indeed. You’ll be able to say you had a human barbeque for your birthday dinner.”
“Tasty.” Keegan slipped his tongue out, licking his lips like he was Hannibal Lecter.
Garth laughed. He jerked forward to get his leg under the tap some more, his shirt raised up exposing his lower back that wore a tattoo of Chinese symbols.
“Cool tat, man,” Keegan said, fixing his gaze to Garth’s inked skin.
“Thanks.” Garth nodded. He pulled his shirt up even higher so Keegan could get a better look. “I haven’t a fucking clue what it means but I think it looks pretty cool.”
Keegan was able to now see more of the tattoo but also more of the boy’s sexy smooth skin. Keegan found himself wanting Garth to take his shirt off entirely, or all his clothes for that matter. Fuck, I’m just too horny. He couldn’t wait to get back down to Tess. She would be able to take care of the problem for him and he would not have to be so desperate as to rely on checking out dudes.
Keegan fidgeted with Garth’s jeans in his hands. “So, umm, I think it’s safe to say I don’t know you, so who is it that you know here?” Keegan worried this sounded rude so quickly added, “Like I don’t mind, anyone is pretty much welcome.”
Garth kept his head down, too focused on watering his wound. “I work with Liam’s brother, Joel. I got a lift here with him.”
“Is Joel here?” Keegan turned his head around, half-expecting to see Joel in the room.
Joel was four years older than Liam, and worked at one of the mechanic workshops in town. He had the same dark hair and steely blue eyes as Liam but he wasn’t quite as tall as his kid brother or as fun. Joel was a serious silent type, the opposite of the goofy, attention loving Liam. Growing up, Keegan hadn’t been a big fan of Joel, who liked nothing more than to bully and mock Liam and his friends. Even though they all got along now, Keegan had never really forgotten the stupid bullshit Joel would do.
Garth turned the tap pressure down and answered. “He was here for all of ten fucking minutes but his booty call texted him saying they needed a lift to town.”
“Ahh, I see. No surprises there,” Keegan said. Both Corrigan brothers—Liam and Joel— had good looks and fucked around like it was going out of fashion. Garth still had his back turned, Keegan seized the opportunity and checked out his arse again.
“Yeah, bloody, Joel. He’s meant to be my lift home.” Garth sighed, clearly annoyed. “But he promised he will be back later, so who knows.”
“You’re welcome to crash here if you like?” Keegan offered.
“That’s good of you, bro. Cheers.” Garth turned the tap off and pulled his leg back out of the bath.
Keegan winced in a sympathetic pain for Garth. His leg looked red and tender. “Fuck, that looks sore.”
Garth stood up and turned around and flashed Keegan a quick smile. “It isn’t too bad now. But you’re welcome to kiss it better if you like?”
Tempting. Keegan laughed at the stranger’s joke. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass.”
Garth had a rough around the edges quality, a sharp hardness that gave the impression he wasn’t someone you mess with despite his skinny body. He was definitely cute though. Not Liam cute, but still more than fuckable.
I ac
tually would fuck him, wouldn’t I? The answer to the question worried Keegan, like it confirmed to him something he feared.
Keegan threw Garth a towel from the hand rail and handed over his sooty jeans. When Garth was done drying his leg he asked Keegan if it would be all right if he could lay down and rest for a while. Keegan took him to the blue room, moving his bag off the bed so Garth could lie down.
Garth hadn’t bothered putting his jeans back on, he dropped himself down on the comfortable bed and rest his head back on the pillow. He spread his legs apart and not-so-discretely adjusted himself.
Keegan tightened his lips when he noticed the soft lumps of Garth’s balls through the thin cotton underwear. Keegan cleared his throat when he felt Garth’s eyes land on him. “You can crash out for as long as you need and just come back down to the party when you feel like it. If I see Joel, I’ll tell him where you are.”
Garth gave him a thumbs up. “Cheers, bro. You’re a legend.”
Keegan switched the bedroom light off and left Garth to rest. He went and told his mum that Garth was sleeping in the room and not to be surprised if they saw him wander back through the house to return to the party.
Keegan tried to make a quick escape but his mum was oozing drunken love and hounded him with mindless chat ‘till his grandfather appeared telling her to, “Let the poor boy go enjoy his birthday.” Keegan’s mum got up from her chair, gave Keegan a big hug and kiss on the cheek, then released him from her wine-fuelled rambling.
Keegan made a dash for freedom, trotting down the hill to join everyone back at the bonfire, he smiled to himself, happy that he had done a good deed by letting Garth stay in the room and rest.
Little did he know that the smile would soon be rubbed off his face.
CHAPTER SEVEN:
She’s Mine!
He must have only spent thirty minutes at the most up at the house, but it was long enough that by the time Keegan returned to the burning heart of the party, the pools of people had thinned out considerably. There were only about fifty people left now, the other half having abandoned to make their way in to town, he assumed.
