Heart of the Woods

by Grant C. Holland

  As Brandon headed for the counter, Gabe leaned across the table and asked, “You really like him, don’t you?”

  Levi blushed. He held his tongue for a moment before saying, “Yeah, I guess so. Is he a good guy? I’ve enjoyed the time together, but I am curious what other people think.”

  Gabe gestured with a thumb up. “He’s the best if you can handle the canoe and wilderness stuff. It’s an addiction for Brandon. He worries me sick sometimes when he heads off to new places on his own.”

  “I do that all the time.”

  Gabe sighed. “Then you’re as crazy as he is. It sounds like a perfect match. You should get along well. What’s wrong with traveling in twos or even threes? You would have a little extra muscle for the paddles, right?”

  As Brandon returned to the table with two mugs in hand, he said, “And here comes somebody else you need to meet.”

  Gabe grinned. “It’s Miss Elle! She’s the queen of Arrowhead Falls, but bowing won’t be necessary.”

  Elle stepped up to the table and wrapped her arms around Gabe’s shoulders from behind. “How are my favorite gentlemen today?” She glanced in Levi’s direction. “Oh, and now you’ve added a third. You have to tell me everything.”

  Gabe said, “I’m doing well. Surely, I’m your favorite gentleman.”

  “I don’t play favorites. Who’s your friend, Brandon?”

  Gabe asked, “How do you know he’s not with me?”

  “Sixth sense.”

  Brandon said, “I think I mentioned Levi.”

  “Oh, yes. I told you that I think you should convince him to move to Arrowhead Falls so he can work with us. If business booms like you’re always promising, we’ll need some assistance.”

  Levi shook his head. “I don’t think I need a job.”

  “How about a girlfriend?”

  Gabe burst out laughing. “You get straight to the point, but I’ll take a stab in the dark and suggest that you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  Elle sighed. “Not another one…”

  “He has the hots for Brandon.”

  Levi blushed beet red. Brandon grumbled, “Sheesh, Gabe. Now you’ve embarrassed him. I should keep my new friends away from the two of you.”

  Elle smiled. “You know he didn’t mean anything by it, and we love you to death.” She sat at the table and scooted close to Levi. “Maybe you can share some dirt on my boss. It never hurts to have some blackmail material in reserve.”

  Brandon exhaled with relief when he saw Levi smile. Both Elle and Gabe were anything but shy, and sometimes they rubbed strangers the wrong way. Brandon asked, “Would you like a sandwich, Levi? And since I’m feeling particularly generous, I’ll buy for you, too, Elle.”

  Gabe looked up. “And…?”

  “You have three bites of your sandwich still sitting in front of you.”

  Oh…well, I could get one for later.”

  Brandon began to respond, and Gabe laughed again. “I’m pulling your chain. Go get your lunch.”

  Levi said, “I already looked at the menu. Turkey for me.”

  “And that vegetarian avocado one for me,” said Elle. “I’m maintaining my lady-like figure.”

  Brandon walked away from the table with some trepidation. Both Elle and Gabe swore that they would not bring up any of Levi’s forbidden topics. They were to act as if he was indeed from Ely, about thirty miles away. Unfortunately, Brandon didn’t give them any guidelines for what they could say about their relationships as friends.

  When Brandon returned to the table, he heard Gabe saying, “And when Brandon saw those TV cameras, he started elbowing everybody out of the way. He wanted to be a star. I have to admit that he looks the part, and the cameras do swoon around him.”

  Brandon balanced three plates with sandwiches and glared at Gabe as he set them down. He turned toward Levi and said, “One thing you’ve probably figured out by now is that Gabe exaggerates a tiny bit from time to time.”

  Elle said, “Let’s go for more than a tiny bit.”

  “Hey! I don’t make things up. I embellish. There’s nothing wrong with juicing the story. It pleases the audience.”

  As he stepped up onto the front porch of Brandon’s cabin, Levi asked, “Do you really own this? You already have your own house? That’s amazing.”

  “I couldn’t have done it without this business taking off. I thought I should strike while we’re doing well. Having some equity in a place can be a safety net down the road.” Brandon opened the front door and ushered Levi inside.

  The cabin was immaculate if a little sparsely furnished. Levi slowly turned in a circle in the open space of the living room and dining area. “It’s not huge, but it’s plenty of space for one.”

  Brandon walked up to Levi and spread his arms wide. “Or two.”

  Levi grinned as they hugged. “I’m still blown away that we met each other. I’m so happy to be yours, but I have to be honest that I don’t know how this works. Our lives are so different from each other.”

  “Let time figure that out.” Brandon pressed his lips to Levi’s and savored the taste of his tongue. Levi’s fingertips walked up the middle of Brandon’s back causing him to shiver.

  Levi laughed and asked, “Have you bought our needed supplies yet?”

  “Needed…oh! Yeah, I’m prepared now.”

  Brandon held tight, and Levi said, “But not today. Maybe we’ll sleep outside again the next time you come to the lake. Can you do another overnight visit?”

  “I don’t see why not. Gabe complains every time I do. He thinks something is going to snatch me in the woods, but he’ll have to get used to it.”

  Levi shook his head.

  Brandon asked, “Are you sure of that? Are you sure I’m safe out there?”

  “I’ll protect you. No bear is going to carry my boyfriend off into the woods.”

  Brandon pushed against Levi’s body and slowly walked him back to the sofa. The back of Levi’s knees collided with the edge of the furniture and he tumbled backward onto the cushions. Brandon climbed up beside him. “That’s much better. How long have you got before you need to go back?”

  “A couple of hours. I’m sorry that I have to leave so soon.”

  “I’m happy you came to Arrowhead Falls at all. What do you think about it?”

  Levi kissed Brandon’s lips again and gazed into his eyes. “So far, it’s about the same size as the town where I grew up except we had oak and maple trees instead of pines.”

  “Yeah, I love how when you walk down the street in my neighborhood, it smells like a forest.”

  Levi said, “I hope the people here are better to each other than they were back home. It was all friendly smiles on the surface, and then when they got together at school, church, or even in the hardware store, the whispering started.”

  “Oh, damn, that sucks. Well, you met Gabe and Elle. They are the most transparent people I’ve ever met. Gabe’s snarky, but you can see how honest he is, and everybody loves Elle. If anything ever happens to me, look them up. They’ll work everything out.”

  Levi wrapped his hands on either side of Brandon’s face. “I honestly hope that nothing ever ever happens to you. Please stay safe everywhere you paddle in the canoe.”

  “And you do the same.”

  12

  Levi

  For Levi, life always took such unexpected turns. He usually had plenty of time for calm in between, but he never knew when the next bone-rattling shift would happen. When he decided to stay in the cabin in the woods, he thought it might slow the changes down, but Brandon’s sudden appearance proved that he was wrong.

  Growing up, Levi dreamed of leaving the small town where he grew up, but he always expected that meant an apartment in the city. Perhaps it would be a condominium in St. Louis’ Central West End. He would finally know what it was like to live with other gay men as neighbors. They could have cocktail parties and go to the theater together. He would finally permanently escape the regular p
resence of bullies like Sam Henderson.

  Levi never expected that leaving his hometown meant finding a new life in the Northwoods of Minnesota. Three years back, he had only been in a canoe twice and paddled one once. He’d never seen a moose in real life before. After three years and at least a dozen sightings, they were still a startling presence, but he saw them as a regular part of the ecosystem.

  The last thing Levi expected to find in the woods was a boyfriend. In fact, he didn’t find his boyfriend. Brandon found Levi, and it all happened by accident. If Levi wasn’t on the lake the moment Brandon arrived, they might have never met or met much later with a small crowd of tourists making the encounter even more complicated.

  Levi lay by Brandon’s side kissing and talking. He was a living, breathing version of what Levi hoped for from the time he knew that he was attracted to other men. He wanted a man that was both a lover and a companion. He wanted a man who made his heart pound every time their eyes met. He also wanted a man that made him proud of their connection. Brandon was that man.

  Levi swept his fingers into Brandon’s wavy blonde hair and kissed the smooth skin just behind his ear. “So how did you end up here in Arrowhead Falls? You didn’t grow up here either.”

  “Oh, my roommate in college grew up in Ely. He had the posters on the wall in our room of canoes and lakes and big stone shelves that jutted out into the water. Still, he couldn’t wait to get away. Mark left for New York City when we graduated.”

  “That’s where he went. How did you get here?”

  “For spring break during our sophomore year in college, I begged him to bring me up here. I was curious about the woods. Canoeing on the lakes sounded like an adventure. The posters said it was the trip of a lifetime. All of our friends headed to Texas and Florida, but I convinced Mark to come and shiver with me in March in the woods.”

  Levi laughed. “You know that is kind of crazy. March can be bitter. Did you take a canoe out? Did you find lakes that weren’t frozen over?”

  “Heh, no. It was March. There was still snow everywhere, and we went cross-country skiing and snowshoeing instead of canoeing, but I fell in love with the place.”

  “You must love it if you’re crazy about it when there’s still snow on the ground. Grandma and I have had the snow so deep in the winter that we had trouble getting outside. You should see our supply of canned stuff and piles of wood inside when we start into November. I’m always a little worried we’ll burn the place down.”

  Brandon wrapped his arms tighter around Levi. “But it’s so cozy. Yeah, I’ve been through terrible snowstorms now. It’s awesome. Of course, I have electricity, so that makes it a little different. Gabe got stuck at my place last winter for three days. He didn’t even want to try and go outside and walk back to his place until the plows and snow blowers got to work. Fortunately, nobody’s house caught on fire, and nobody had a heart attack. It was a mini-vacation for Gabe.”

  Levi stared into Brandon’s eyes. It was easy to get lost in them. Those blues eyes mesmerized. In a canoe on a lake, they matched the water. Levi wondered if they would match just as well on a beach by the ocean.”

  Brandon’s right hand slowly slipped up under Levi’s T-Shirt as they talked. Levi closed his eyes, and the sensations brought his attention back to the present situation. Thoughts about the woods, winter, and travel by canoe all drifted away.

  Brandon whispered, “You feel amazing. I’ve never had a boyfriend with muscle like this. It’s not like a gym bunny. You’re strong from the work you do every day to live your life. That’s so damned sexy.”

  “It wasn’t always that way. In fact, it wasn’t that way until the last couple of years. I was a skinny kid in high school and college. I couldn’t put on any weight to save my life. Have you always been like this?”

  Brandon sighed. “I was a jock who was gay and hated team sports. I always thought I was a contradiction buried inside another contradiction. I wanted everyone to leave me to my own devices. I played trombone in the band so people would leave me alone about playing football or basketball. I think somebody decided to throw all my genes up in the air and let them land where they might. Then they said, ‘Let’s see him deal with this!’”

  Levi laughed hard. “If you grew up here, they probably would have had you on skis from kindergarten. You didn’t have the wrong genes. You were in the wrong place.”

  “And didn’t have the right guy in school with me.”

  Brandon’s fingers crept upward over firm ab muscles until they found a nipple. Brandon teased and pinched playfully.

  “Hey!” Levi squirmed.

  “You don’t like that?”

  “That’s not what I said.”

  Brandon twisted it slightly to the right, and Levi winced. Brandon reached out with his other hand and slipped it between Levi’s legs. “Hey, you don’t seem to mind that either.”

  “Yeah, I’m permanently hard around you. I might as well confess, and it’s not my fault. It’s you.”

  Brandon gripped the hem of the T-Shirt and pushed it up until he exposed the lower part of Levi’s chest. He burrowed his face into Levi’s firm pecs licking at the nipple he’d teased into a hard little nub.

  “Hey, now, that’s not fair! You’re going to get me all worked up, and then I’ll have to paddle back home with a raging hard-on.”

  “I could do something about that.”

  Levi bit his lip. “Oh, fuck. I bet you could.”

  “And this time I won’t use just my hands to get you off. I want a mouthful this time, Levi.”

  “Are you sure we have time?”

  Brandon grinned. “How long do you take? Sometimes it can be really sexy to go quick.” He worked at Levi’s belt and the zipper on his jeans. “Sit up.”

  Levi tried to breathe as the air caught in his throat. He swung his legs around to sit up on the couch while Brandon sunk to his knees on the floor. The erotic image of Brandon kneeling before him was nearly enough to make Levi cum right then and there. “Oh, God. I don’t want it to go too fast.”

  Brandon tugged Levi’s cock free of the cobalt blue underwear he wore. It was another expensive, sexy pair. “You’re easily the hottest man I’ve ever known, but you keep it quiet. No one would ever know.”

  Levi pushed his head back against the couch and whispered, “That’s because it’s only for you.” He gasped when Brandon’s lips locked themselves around the head of his cock.

  Brandon caressed Levi’s balls with his fingertips, and it felt like they might coax the cum out all on their own. Levi started to reach forward for Brandon’s shoulders, but he ended up gripping the cushions of the couch. He felt like he was holding on as a massive roller coaster scaled that awesome first hill.

  Levi opened his eyes to see Brandon’s head start to bob up and down. One hand continued to caress Levi’s balls while the other wrapped around the base of the cock beginning to slowly stroke in time with Brandon’s sucking.

  “I…I can’t believe…so fast.” Levi yelled out as he exploded into Brandon’s throat. His entire body clenched and convulsed while the orgasm swept through his system. “Ohh…” A massive moan filled the air in Brandon’s cabin.

  Finally, after licking and sucking to clean up down below, Brandon came up for air licking his lips. A triumphant grin filled his face as he climbed up next to Levi on the couch. “Damn, that was good.”

  “What about you?” Levi slowly pulled his underwear and jeans back up.

  Brandon said, “I can wait. This was for you. It’s my gift. It’s a thank you for traveling down here to Arrowhead Falls.”

  As they settled on to the couch again in each other’s arms, Levi said, “That reminds me. I have a gift for you, too.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. It’s nothing major, but it’s for good luck.” Levi dug his hand into his jeans pocket. He pulled out a small figure maybe two inches long. “It’s called a fumsup. Have you ever seen one?”

  Brandon took it in his hand
and held it between finger and thumb. “I don’t think I have. Look at those tiny hands with the thumbs pointing up. Where’d you get this?”

  “From my grandfather. He got it from my great-great-grandfather. He was a soldier. His wife gave it to him when he left the country to fight in World War I. They were very popular as good luck charms then.”

  “Your grandfather? It didn’t bring him good luck.”

  “Grandma said he had it with him most of the time, but he left it in the cabin that day. Otherwise, it would probably be at the bottom of the lake.”

  Brandon stared at the small figure. “Do you know what really happened to your grandfather that day?”

  “No. I don’t think we’ll ever know. It’s one of those mysteries. I think it had to be an accident.”

  13

  Brandon

  Brandon opened the door and smiled when the bell jingled as he entered Arrowhead Adventurers’ downtown Arrowhead Falls office. Kyle complained about it, but Brandon loved the bell. Kyle said it sounded like they were a beauty salon or pet store. It reminded Brandon of going to a favorite old hardware store with his uncle when he was a little boy. The store was over one-hundred-years old and had a bell that rang every time a customer entered.

  Elle looked up from her desk. “You’re here early. We don’t open for another half hour, but I guess you know that.”

  “I hope I do since I set the hours. You’re here early, too. Is there something special going on?”

  Elle smiled. “Nothing but a much-needed bump up in the reservations. I’m not sure what’s happened, but we had five new bookings from online waiting this morning.”

  “Maybe it’s this.” Brandon pulled the fumsup from his pocket.

  “What’s that?”

  “Levi gave it to me. He said it’s been in his family for a hundred years or so. I felt nervous taking it, but he says it’s for good luck when I’m out paddling.”

  Elle gestured for him to come closer. “Let me see.”