My Summer

by Declan Rhodes

  I knew she was joking, but I squirmed in some discomfort as I thought about the heels. "Oh, of course. My lips are sealed."

  Rita asked, "So what are you two good-looking men doing the rest of the day?"

  "I packed up some drinks and snacks and towels for the beach. Joel is a championship swimmer."

  Rita hooked the neck of my t-shirt with a fingernail and acted like she was looking down inside. "Mmm, and I bet he has the bod for it, too. You're one lucky bastard, Tom."

  Tom gripped her wrist. "Slow down, sweet pea, he's mine. He's not into girly parts."

  I snickered softly and then laughed out loud. My life had gone from boring to almost perfectly surreal in a matter of weeks.

  Rita lifted my half-drunk pint of beer and pulled it close inspecting it. "Did they put some special silly juice in here? What's so funny?"

  "It's just...oh, I don't think I can explain it. Life is perfect right now.”

  Rita set the glass down and raised the back of her hand to my forehead. "Poor boy. Tom, you have him overwhelmed. Better keep him out of too much sun." She grinned broadly and kissed me on the cheek. "Just ignore Mama Rita when I'm too much. Every single ounce of it is all meant in fun. That's the foundation of Key West. It's built for fun. Tom, sweetheart, are you taking the boy to see the sunset?"

  Tom nodded. "Of course. Who do you think I am? We'll say goodnight to the sun and then head back home. That should complete a rewarding day in the city.”

  Rita raised an eyebrow. "And a little, you know, before bed?"

  "None of your business Rita." Tom crossed his arms.

  "Oh, at least let a good girl have some fantasies. It keeps me from growing old."

  I drank the rest of my pint smiling and laughing as I watched the friends banter back and forth. Rita hugged me again before she headed off for the rest of her day.

  Tom smiled as she walked away and turned toward me. "So that's Rita, and that's what happened to the little girl that they mistakenly called Richard."

  "She's wonderful, and it sounds like you've been fantastic for her, too."

  He spoke softly. "I think a good man will do anything for his best friend."

  In the afternoon, Tom and I went to the beach together. I carried the cooler and towels while Tom carried two beach chairs for us. It was a perfect opportunity to relax. After a short time lounging in the chairs, I was eager to jump in the water. Tom gestured for me to head off on my own while he fell asleep in his chair.

  The water was warm, but the waves were stronger than at Rusty Door Key. I enjoyed trying to swim against them. It gave my body a great workout. Summer near Lake Michigan seemed a world away. I was unwinding, relaxing and experiencing an entirely new chapter in life. My thoughts began to drift toward what might happen in late August when I needed to return to school, but I pulled myself back to focusing on the present. It was far too early to worry about something that was still more than two months away.

  Finally, I trudged back up the beach to Tom. I was weary from the swim. He jumped and looked startled when I touched him on the shoulder. After he realized it was me, he smiled. He said, “Relax a bit more, and then we can do some wandering through shops before we join the crowd for sunset.

  As we strolled down streets near Duval, we darted in and out of multiple stores selling various kinds of trinkets to tourists. Outside of a leather shop, Tom asked if I wanted to go inside. I spoke softly. "I think so, do you?"

  He wrapped an arm around my waist. "I am going inside. I wanted to make sure that you wanted to come with me."

  It was a store filled with leather apparel as well as a wide range of intimate toys. A collection of leather collars caught my eye. I glanced over at Tom, and he was busy looking at other things. I ran a finger over the edge of a thick leather collar wondering what it would feel like around my neck. Tom called out, "Joel," and gestured for me to join him. To my surprise, he wanted me to try on a leather harness.

  I pulled off my t-shirt to try it on. One of the store clerks helped us out. He pulled and tugged in a few different directions to help with the fit. He agreed with both of us that it looked perfect on me. I was rock hard in my shorts when Tom hooked a finger in one of the rings attached to the front of the harness and pulled me forward.

  After I took the harness off and handed it to the clerk, we separated once again to look at other items. By the time I joined him at the checkout counter, Tom was buying more than just the harness, but he refused to tell me what else. "It's a surprise. You will have to wait until we get home."

  After the visit to the leather store, we joined the crowd at Key West's Mallory Square. Surrounded by all sorts of street performers including jugglers, musicians, and magicians, we prepared for the sun to set and to cheer its beauty. One man standing near me said that it was often obscured by clouds, so he warned me not to be disappointed. When the time came for the sun to slip beneath the horizon, I stood facing the open water to the west with Tom's arms wrapped tight around me from behind.

  Clouds were not a problem. The pink, red, and purple sky shone as the sun gave its best performance. I clapped and cheered loudly with the rest of the crowd while Tom held me tight and kissed my neck. The curtain was coming down on Act One of my summer with rousing joy and hopefulness for the weeks yet to come.

  7

  Morning

  It was late, almost 10:00 p.m., by the time we reached Marathon on the return drive from our Key West trip. Tom's boat was virtually silent as it glided through still water by moonlight to reach Rusty Door Key. When we stepped through the front door of the house, Tom announced, "You're sleeping with me from now on if that’s something that you want.”

  I thought he’d read my mind. I was thinking about it for the entire drive back. "I do want that. Are you sure it’s okay?”

  Tom reached out for my hand and pulled me close. He wrapped me up into a warm hug, and I felt safe in his arms. He said, "I would be disappointed if you weren't there. I want to wake up and kiss you first thing in the morning."

  Unfortunately, I didn't sleep well the first night in Tom’s bed. I was too excited to sleep. It was like waiting for Christmas morning lying in bed beside him thinking about getting to roll over and kiss him when we woke up in the morning. He slept hard and barely moved at all. In the wee hours of the morning, Tom rolled toward his side of the bed, and I wrapped my arms around his body rubbing my fingers over his ripped abdominal muscles. I wanted to walk my fingers down below his waist, but I knew that would ensure that neither of us got any sleep.

  A few minutes later he rolled onto his back, and I nestled my head into his shoulder resting my cheek on his broad chest. He grunted, smacked his lips, wrapped his arm tight around me and fell back into deep sleep. Eventually, I fell asleep, too.

  I woke up facing away from Tom while his fingers played with one of my nipples. My body jerked, and he stopped. With his arms wrapped around me, and his fingers walking across my skin, I decided to try pretending I was still asleep. He tugged lightly at the wispy hair in the center of my chest and kissed the side of my neck exhaling against the sensitive skin directly below my ear. Tom scooted up against me and his hard, naked cock nestled in against my ass. It was impossible to fake sleep any longer.

  Tom whispered. "Are you awake, Joel?"

  I snickered softly. "How could I sleep? Someone's cock is throbbing against my ass."

  He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me onto my back. I looked up to see his dark brown eyes staring down at me. He kissed me gently. "Let's go to the shower."

  For once, Tom was unconcerned about conserving water in the shower. I soaped his body up and began to rinse when he gave me a sharp push on the right side and turned me around to face the wall. The warm water rained over my head and the small of my back. His hands gripped my narrow hips, and his rock hard cock pushed against my tight hole. It was sudden and intense. I sucked in a ragged breath just before his cock head popped past my ring. One hand remained on my hips while the other reached
around for my cock.

  Tom asked, "Are you mine?"

  I exhaled with a deep pleasure-filled sigh. "Oh fuck, completely." I rocked my hips back against him. I knew that I didn't belong to anyone else but Tom. Hour by hour his control over me deepened. He was fully in charge.

  I pushed back hard to force his cock deeper inside. I braced my hands against the wall of the shower enclosure while Tom's hand let go of my hips and explored my abs and chest. After feeling aroused all night long waiting to kiss him in the morning, I was on the edge and ready to blow. I cried out in desperation, “I’m gonna cum!”

  He stopped stroking and grunted. "I'm almost there. Not quite…yet“ I groaned in response and tried to tighten my ass around his thick cock. He fucked me hard and picked up speed. I threw my head back gasping for oxygen. When the stroking began again, I knew he was on the edge with me.

  He growled and shouted in his husky voice, "Cum for me Joel. Cum for me now!"

  We both came with explosive force. It was almost simultaneous. The shower enclosure echoed with guttural growls and shouts. I heard Tom exclaim, "Mine!" between clenched teeth. I shuddered to hear him claim me for his own.

  Tom turned me around kissing with fiery passion. He slipped his feet forward toward me on the wet tile causing his still hard cock to rest against mine. I moaned into his mouth when he grabbed both cocks and began rubbing them together. As our lips parted, I whispered, “This is so impossibly fucking hot. Do we get to do this every morning?"

  He pressed his lips to mine again before answering. "Every time we want to, morning, day, or night."

  My heart thumped hard inside my rib cage. I murmured, "Nothing in my life has ever been like this. Is it really true?”

  He grinned. "100% true."

  While Tom toasted bread to go along with another of his special breakfast recipes, I sat at the kitchen table drinking my morning coffee. He cooked biscuits and gravy from scratch. He explained that having grown up in Florida, he was a southern boy somewhere deep down inside. He said that no self-respecting boy from south of the Mason-Dixon line could go through life without knowing how to make an excellent biscuit. I inhaled the aroma of baking biscuits as it filled the room. The savory scent of pan-seared sausage battled the smell of fresh-baked biscuits for supremacy, and I was the lucky observer.

  "Tom, have you ever been in love? I mean in the past?" I was worried that he might say that he loved me, and it was far too early for me to contemplate something like that adequately.

  He stirred the gravy in the pan while he spoke. "It happened one time. I've dated some different guys, and yeah, I had a few one night stands, but love…it’s only happened once so far."

  "Is it okay if I ask what happened?" I sipped the coffee and sighed deeply feeling toasty warm inside.

  "I was in college. It was only a few weeks after I came out. I think it was three weeks after that.”

  “Oh, that’s an interesting question, too. How did you come out? Did you announce it to your family and friends?”

  Tom chuckled. "Well, kinda, sorta. One of my friends made his coming out announcement at a party, and then he counted the people in the room. It was a group of about twenty, and he said, 'According to scientific research, the odds are that at least one more of you in this room is gay like me.'"

  "And you blurted out, ‘I’m the one?’”

  The spatula made scraping noises against the bottom of Tom's cast iron skillet. "Well, no, but I was stuck. He said he was going to point to each of us individually, and we had to tell the truth. We had to say straight or gay. Everybody started cheering and clapping. I tried to think of a reason to leave the room before it was my turn.“

  "Were they a phobic crowd?”

  He shook his head. "Oh, no, not at all. We were all literature majors, a pretty liberal crowd. I knew I was gay, and I’d played around some with other guys, but I kept that part of my life in college private. I didn't see a reason to share it with everyone."

  "So, they pointed at you and...?"

  I heard the smile in his voice as Tom recounted the incident. "I think I was about fifth in line, and I whispered it. My buddy, the instigator of the interrogation, asked, 'What was that?' I think he was surprised. Let me rephrase that. I think he was shocked. I said it louder, and everyone cheered. I blushed. My friend Sarah wrapped an arm around me and whispered, 'It's okay hun, we all love you. That will never change.’”

  I sipped more coffee, and said, "Aww, that's a sweet story. Everyone should come out that easily.“

  "Well, then some joker said I should kiss the other guy who had just come out, but he got shouted down for being stupid." I heard the clatter of the baking sheet as Tom pulled the biscuits out of the oven. "What's your story, Joel?"

  I dodged the question. "You forgot to tell me the love story."

  I glanced at Tom. I watched him slice the biscuits in half before placing them on plates. "Oh, that, well, it was about three weeks after the coming out thing."

  After ladling on rich brown sausage gravy, Tom brought the plates to the table. I looked down and inhaled the savory smell of the sausage mixed with the delicious aroma of fresh-baked biscuits. I said, “You spoil me. It’s not only the fish but also breakfast every morning.”

  He sat at the table, and I looked up just in time to see him nod in agreement. "Yes, I do, you're right about that, but it's nice to have someone I can spoil."

  "Don't get distracted. I'm waiting for the love story."

  Tom continued the tale while I took my first bite. It was luscious. He said, “I was at another party. I did far too much partying in college, but I think I was fortunate to escape any negative long-term impact. Anyway, this guy walked up to me at the party. He was gorgeous. I don’t think he was as handsome as you, but he still looked very handsome to me in college.”

  I chuckled. "Don't worry. You won't offend me. I like to hear the stories. So he was Adonis, and…“

  "That's good, particularly since all of this happened a decade ago, and I have no idea whatever happened to him. He was tall with a mustache and dark hair. He had a drink in his hand, and I had a drink in my hand. He smiled at me in that way and kept taking small steps in my direction. When he entered my personal space, he kept walking until I was backed up against the wall. Then he said, 'I heard you like guys. Tom's the name, isn't it?'"

  "How did he know that?"

  Tom held up his hand. "I'm not going to let the breakfast get cold." He took a bite of the biscuits and gravy and smiled. I watched his Adam's apple rise and fall while the biscuit slid down his throat.

  "Damn, that is good, isn't it?" I nodded in agreement while he continued the story. "Later, he told me that one of our mutual friends set him up. He was so good-looking, and I was so drunk that the set-up didn't matter. I woke up the next morning in his bed. I tried to creep out without waking him, but he grabbed my arm and pulled me back down."

  "He liked you. I bet you were cute when you were..." I stopped myself realizing I was in the process of making a comment about Tom's age.

  "Yes, stop that thought right there." Tom smirked. “I hope my cuteness hasn’t totally faded, and yeah, we liked each other a lot for a year. That morning we fucked again, and we were inseparable for the rest of the semester. I don't think I saw the inside of my own dorm room more than five more times over the next six weeks."

  "I'll let you eat a few more bites, but I want to know what happened then. How did you break up and why?”

  I rested my hand on my chin and watched as Tom ate. I knew that I was acting like a dewy-eyed teenager mesmerized by his idol, but I didn't care. It wasn't love yet, but I was developing an addiction. I could barely remember the last time I wanted to be with someone every minute of the day.

  Tom drank more of his coffee before he continued the story. "You know, it was college. You were there not so long ago. We broke up how most college couples I knew broke up. I heard he was cheating, and then I caught him in the act. We screamed, yelled, cried, slam
med doors, and it was over. I told him I never wanted to see him again, and he agreed that he didn't want to see me either. He broke up with the other guy in less than a month, but I don’t know what happened to him after that."

  "Well, I can't truthfully say I'm sorry. Not after how we woke up this morning."

  Tom began to laugh and nearly choked on a hunk of biscuit. "Yeah, that's true. Damn, you are hot, and I think you know it. I do sort of hope my college ex sees my books in a Barnes and Noble store sometime and realizes what he lost. Of course, I don’t hold grudges.” We both laughed.

  "No, not at all. Tom Albertson vindictive? I'm sure that’s impossible. He's a world-famous author. The world is his oyster."

  Tom frowned. "Okay, I'm not letting you talk to Rita anymore. You're starting to sound like her."

  "Can I say something serious?"

  "Of course. Better that than making me laugh again and snort coffee."

  "I want to thank you for introducing me to Rita. I know I should have trusted you 100% from the beginning, but the news story was weird. I saw it the first night I was here. It happened within an hour after you told me I should do more research about you. It was almost like you wanted me to find it.“

  Tom cut me off. "Oh, you mean that you traveled over a thousand miles, shacked up with a total stranger on an island that can only be reached by boat, and then you read that he could be a murderer who successfully hid the body fifteen years ago? Why should that bother you at all? I get it. I'm more surprised that you didn't demand to be taken back to Miami immediately. Either you are hopelessly turned on by me, or you have impressive character and determination. I like to believe the latter."

  "Is it okay if both of them are true?"

  Tom winked at me. "Yes, and that is the best of all answers."