Date: Thu, 25 Dec 2003 16:30:01 -0800 (PST)
From: Evan Bradely <evanbradley33@yahoo.com>
Subject: Chapter 8 of "The Crew"

The following fictional story deals with sex among males.  If you are offended
by such material, are too young, or reside in a location where it is not
allowed, please depart. Though not observed in this story, care enough about
yourself and humankind to practice safe sex.

The author retains all rights.	No reproductions or links to other sites are
allowed without the author's consent.

EvanBradley33@Yahoo.com

Chapter 8
Beginnings
			      The Coopers

When Hal pulled into his driveway, Bobby Cooper's pickup pulled along side.
Hal climbed out of his pickup and walked back to the Coopers to help carry
things inside.	"If you've got laundry, you might as well bring it in," Hal
invited.  "I'll help."

"How about giving us ten minutes to collect some clothes and our laundry?"
Angie suggested.

"Great!" Hal replied.  "Get what you need for a couple of days because the
garage will want to keep the pickup when we drop it off for the brake repairs.
I'll go get the doors opened and set things up in your bedroom."  While the
Coopers were occupied in the camper, Hal checked out the bedroom he'd given to
Drew, where he found him curled up asleep.  'Probably all that ibuprofen I made
him take this morning,' Hal decided.  After smiling about how cute Drew looked
in a pair of Hal's boxers held on his waist with a safety pin.	Smiling, he
remembered how that morning he'd insisted on pinning the boxers for Drew,
shoving his fingers underneath the elastic waist and fumbling them against
Drew's more private places, putting Drew on the bone.  Drew mock-complained
loudly as Hal left for work chuckling at Drew's threats of revenge.  Hal wanted
to shed his clothes and crawl onto the bed with Drew, all in the interest of
"mussing him up," but he knew time was lacking.  So he quietly closed the door.
He checked the largest bedroom at the other end of the hall, making certain
plenty of towels were available in the bathroom closet.  Then he walked to his
study and made out a check for $300.00.  Returning to the Cooper's truck, he
handed the check to Bobby.  "Here's an advance on your first paycheck.	You'll
probably be needing to purchase some things before the next payday."  He
turned to Angie.  "Where would you like to start an account?"

"Isn't your bank okay?"

"Yes.  We'll stop by on our way back from dropping off your pickup.  Now, let's
get this inside," Hal said, picking up a small bag of laundry and a small
laundry basket of clothes while Bobby carried a box of clothes and Angie carried
some on hangers, following Hal up the walk and into the house.	"I'll just take
these down to the laundry room in the lower level.  Your room is down that hall,
third door.  Make yourselves comfortable.  If you need anything, and I do mean
anything, just let me know."

Hal hustled below, setting the laundry on the washer and making certain the
detergent and box of Bounce conditioner sheets were nearby.  He hustled back
upstairs, walking through the kitchen and into the hallway where he encountered
a sleepy Drew hobbling slowly toward him, rubbing his eyes, a grin on his face.
"Hey, you're walking much better.  I'm so glad."

"It's Kenji's training exercises.  They really help.  I think you aren't the
only medicine man," Drew said as Hal's arms slid about his waist and ass,
lifting him up and kissing him warmly as Drew slid his legs around Hal's waist.
Hal could feel Drew's dick mirroring the behavior of his own.  They stood like
that for half a minute, lip-locked, when he felt Drew stiffen and pull away.
When Hal focused on his face, he saw Drew staring over Hal's shoulder.	Hal
turned them part way around to see a surprised Bobby and Angie looking at them.

Hal grinned.  "Bobby and Angie, I'd like you to meet a new friend of mine, Drew
Nichols.  I accidentally ran over him on the track at our gym last night, so I
brought him here to recuperate from a sprained ankle.  Drew, meet my newest
employees, Bobby and Angie Cooper."  Angie smiled and waved.  "Hi, Drew."
Drew quietly returned her greeting with a wave and a smile.

Bobby seemed frozen in place, staring at Hal and Drew and then the ACE
bandage on Drew's ankle and leg.  Angie gently elbowed him.  "Huh," he said
softly.  "Oh, uh," Bobby hustled over toward Drew, holding out his hand.
"Hello, Drew.  Nice to meet you," he offered self-consciously as he shot a
glance at Hal out of the corners of his eyes.

Hal set Drew down on the floor so that Drew could shake Bobby's hand.  Drew
hoped the Coopers wouldn't notice his partially erect cock in Hal's big boxers.
Hal quickly explained that the Coopers, new employees from out of town, would
be staying a few days with him until they moved into a duplex.	Hal hoped to
himself that there wouldn't be a problem about Drew for Bobby and Angie.  He
sensed immediate acceptance from Angie, but he couldn't read Bobby.  Ordinarily,
he would have stopped at that point and asked if they had a problem with Drew
and him.  But matters seemed to have moved too far for that because he wasn't
going to hold out hope to the Coopers with one hand and withdraw it with the
other.	Hal explained to Drew where he was driving Bobby and Angie.

"Hal, I need to drive myself home.  If you're worried about my reaching there,
you could follow me, but I don't think that's necessary," Drew said.  "I can
manage now that you and Kenji have helped me.  And I need to be getting back
home."

"Drew, give it one more day.  I think you need it.  You said you have enough
sick leave.  Besides, you aren't ready to fend for yourself alone at home."

"Don't let us discourage your staying," Angie said, smiling.  "We won't be in
your way."  Bobby said nothing, studying Drew, then Hal, seemingly unaware
that his silence was making itself felt among them all.

"You aren't going home yet, Drew," Hal said quietly but forcefully.  "I'm
responsible for your being out of commission.  I have to make this right.  So no
matter what you say, you are not going home tonight.  We'll see you home
tomorrow morning at the earliest."  Here he grinned.  "Besides, I have your car
keys."

"I don't have the right clothes if other people are going to be here," Drew
whispered.

"I think you look cute," Hal said loudly, smiling, intending that Bobby and
Angie have the complete picture about Drew and him.  "If you insist on having
more clothes, I'll scare up some more for you.	I want us all to have dinner
here this evening."  He looked over at the Coopers and then at Drew.  "It'll be
great guys, I promise," he said, shifting his eyes from Drew to Bobby and Angie.
"I've been wanting to grill some steaks I have in the freezer.	We'll have baked
potatoes and a salad and a special red wine that's been aging in the wine cellar
downstairs.  Oh, Angie, I'm sorry.  I'll find something special for you since
you're pregnant.  I think I have some nonalcoholic, bubbly stuff."

Angie smiled.  "We'd like that Hal.  I'll be fine with iced tea.  I'm already
looking forward to it.	Drew, we'll also enjoy getting to know a special friend
of Hal's," she said, glancing around at Bobby.	"Right, Bobby?"

Bobby came to with a start.  "Oh . . . yeah, we'd like that," he replied, but
there was no conviction in his hurried answer to Angie's question.

In 30 minutes, Angie had started a load of laundry, and Bobby and she had
followed Hal about a mile away to a garage where they would leave their pickup
for brake repairs.  After supplying a little information to the owner, who had
greeted Hal heartily, they moved on, stopping at Hal's bank to open an account
and deposit the $300 payroll advance for Bobby.  While Bobby and Angie were
signing all the papers associated with establishing an account, Hal was on his
cell phone, contacting the developer about viewing a duplex.  Like the garage
owner, he was glad to hear from Hal.  As luck would have it, the developer,
Jerry Attendale, was on site, so he told Hal to come right over so that he could
personally conduct the Coopers on a tour of a duplex.  He knew just the right
one for them.  "I tell you, Hal, if someone in my family who was expecting a
young'n wanted a duplex here, this would be the one I'd push for them to take."
Hal knew Jerry was sincere, and he was warmed by Jerry's helpfulness.  They'd
always gotten along ever since Hal started out working for Jerry as a laborer
who stepped in at the last minute to help finish a project on time to avoid
penalties.

Changing their plans a little, the three detoured to the Attendale development
where they were shown through a really nice three-bedroom duplex.  Hal made
certain that he stayed back, letting Jerry give Bobby and Angie the tour.  Hal
could see that Bobby and Angie were amazed at the big spaces and the quality of
the appointments.  Hal went outside to call his physician's nurse, Cindy
Newsome, who would know some good obstetricians.  When Hal had filled Cindy
in on Angie's situation, she promised to e-mail him a couple of names.	Hal
smiled.  Super efficient Cindy would have it waiting for them when they arrived
home - with carefully balanced recommendations but subtly pushing for the one
she favored.

As Hal joined Jerry, Bobby, and Angie in the living room, Jerry was telling them
that this location would be among the quietest in the development since it was
located on a cul-de-sac.  He said his target market in this section of the
development was young couples just starting out, so there would be others their
age nearby.  He asked if he could ink their name on the papers.  Bobby and Angie
looked at each other, smiling.	"Yes, sir," Bobby replied, "we'd like to sign a
lease."

Jerry, looking at his watch, explained that his office was just closing.  "We
can come by tomorrow," Bobby said.  "We'll be out running errands for Hal."

"Good enough," Jerry said.  "I'll tell my people about you first thing in the
morning."  As they took their leave, Hal thanked Jerry for the hospitality and
special treatment he'd afforded the Coopers.  "I think they've had some rough
times recently," Hal commented quietly as Jerry and he stood on the front porch,
watching as Bobby helped Angie into the pickup sitting in the driveway.  Jerry
spoke softly to Hal, "Don't worry, Hal, they'll be comfortable here.  And I'd do
the same anytime for you."  They shook hands.

When Hal climbed in the pickup, he glanced at his wristwatch, "You know, I
didn't count on Jerry's wanting us to come right over here.  We're running a
little late.  If you aren't too tired, Angie, I think we need to drop by a
supermarket and pick up some steaks instead of trying to thaw the ones I have
at home."  Angie exclaimed that she was feeling really great, so off they went.

As they made their way through the supermarket, with Bobby pushing the cart,
Hal added cleaning supplies and other items necessary in a home, planning to
present Bobby and Angie with a couple of sacks of these necessities to start
them in the duplex.  Occasionally, he'd suppress a smile threatening to burst
forth.	A couple of times he caught Angie eyeing him as though she thought he
might be up to something.

When the trio reached home, Hal and Bobby carried the groceries inside while
Bobby encouraged Angie to have a good soak in the tub.	Drew wandered in the
kitchen, almost lost in one of Hal's tee shirts and a pair of his jeans, the
legs of which had been rolled up many times.  Hal laughed:  "You look like a
beach bum, Drew."  Angie laughed heartily along with Hal; Bobby laughed
politely.  Drew wanted to flip the bird at Hal.  Instead, he mocked disinterest.
Drew told Bobby he could grab a shower in his bedroom if he liked.  Hal seconded
Drew.  Bobby smiled, accepting the offer.  When Bobby had left the kitchen, Drew
walked up to Hal and pulled him down into a hot kiss.  One wasn't enough.
Eventually, they separated.  Drew pulled items from the sacks, setting them on a
kitchen counter, allowing Hal to put them away.  Hal ended up with a couple of
sacks of supplies for the Coopers, which he stored out of sight in the pantry.

Bobby was the first Cooper to return to the kitchen just as Hal was putting the
last of the groceries away and Drew was standing at the sink, preparing to wash
potatoes.  Bobby walked up behind Drew, picking up a potato.  "Drew, you
shouldn't be standing for a long time on that ankle."

"Oh, I'm standing on my good foot," Drew said smiling.

"Still, you should be taking it easy if you intend to go home tomorrow.  If
you're all by yourself there, you'll be giving both legs a workout.  You go sit
on the patio and take it easy.	I'll bring out a beer for you.	I can help Hal.
After being a bachelor so many years, I know my way around a kitchen.  Just ask
Angie.	She loves it when I offer to make dinner in the evening.  Who knows?
May be one of the big reasons she married me," he said, smiling mischievously.

"I doubt that," Drew replied, glancing up and down Bobby's studly body.

Hal snickered.	"Yeah, I doubt that too." Bobby just smiled.

"Go on now.  Out to the patio with you.  I'll bring your beer out," Bobby said.

So Drew relinquished his place at the sink, dried his hands, and hobble-walked
to the patio, where he sat back in a comfortable patio chair and propped his
sprained ankle on another chair cushion.  True to his word, Bobbie brought Drew
a beer.  Drew thanked Bobby, who scooted back to the kitchen, leaving Drew to
wonder if Bobby would ever be comfortable enough around him to have a friendly
conversation.

Hal had already made a pitcher of iced tea with lemon slices on the side for
Angie when she appeared.  Hal hoped Bobby's considerate behavior toward Drew
meant he'd gotten past what seemed to be a stumbling block when he saw Hal
holding Drew.  When Angie entered the kitchen, Hal hastened over to pour her a
big glass of iced tea, shooing her from the kitchen and out to the patio to keep
Drew occupied.

When Drew saw Angie approaching, he struggled to his feet, generating respect in
Angie for his good manners.  "Oh, don't stand with your sprained ankle," Angie
stated hurriedly.  She smiled as Drew ignored her, continuing to stand until she
sat down.  After Drew and Angie had exchanged greetings and Drew had explained
that Bobby made him come out on the patio while he took up Drew's duties, they
chatted a bit about the weather, Hal's home, the Coopers' newness in the city.
Angie related with some eagerness their tour of the duplex that was to become
their home.  A lull in the conversation occurred, broken by Angie's comment,
"Hal and you make a cute couple.  Have you been together long?

Drew thought a moment.	"We may not have been around each other enough yet
to be a couple.  I'd just joined Murphy's Gym.	I'd observed him and the crew
there for a couple of weeks."

"The crew?"

"Oh, that's just my name for Hal and the guys in his construction company who
work out with him.  Well, and his accountant, Rich Adams, is a member as well.
Sometimes after work, they go to the gym together.  They really are a gang of
buddies.  They stick together, help each other meet their workout goals, razz
each other - you know, the testosterone stuff."

Angie chuckled.  "Yes, I know.	Maybe Bobby could join them?" she asked, her
eyebrows arched in question.

"I would imagine.  I think they are going to include me - well, I hope they
will.  They're very open."  Drew paused.  "But will Bobby be comfortable in
such a group?"

"You mean because you and Hal are in it?"

"Hm-m-m-m, Hal and I aren't the only ones in the group to enjoy a man's . . .
intimate company," Drew explained.

"Oh, you mean Bobby's reaction when he saw Hal and you kissing in the hall this
afternoon?"

Drew breathed a sigh of relief.  "At last, someone's pointed out the elephant
sitting in the middle of the room."  Angie laughed.  "Yes, I meant his reaction
to us."

"It was a strange reaction, one I never expected of Bobby.  I don't think he's
homophobic.  Bobby's not much 'anti' anything.	I'm hoping he'll talk to me
about it when he's ready.  I think it will be good for him to have some workout
buddies, regardless of their sexual orientation, especially if he's going to
work with them."  Drew merely shook his head, signaling understanding.

"My brother is gay."  She sighed.  "He was the apple of my parents' eye, the
school jock.  Good-looking.  He was a sports star both in high school and
college.  No one else in our family knew he was gay.  But Randy and I were
close.	My parents sometimes teased us that we were really fraternal twins.  We
shared all kinds of secrets and fears.	Randy majored in business administration
in college and minored in Spanish and Italian.	He knew he was going after a job
with an international corporation.  Before I knew it, he was flying to Madrid to
the corporation's office there.  Except for a few vacations, he's never come
back home.  He knows our parents won't accept his being gay.  So it drove him
far away from us. . . far from me," she said wistfully.  "I long to have him
close by again."  She looked away, her eyes shining.  "I don't know how many
times over the past few months I wished I could talk to him.  Ask his advice."

"You couldn't phone him?" Drew asked gently.

Here Angie colored, a reaction Drew thought uncommon with her.

"Couldn't afford it."  She paused.  "But more than that, so much time has
passed, I don't know if he'd welcome that closeness.  He's in Milan now.  He
has a lover whose huge family accepts them, and he loves all of them.  They
are all very close, his occasional letters tell me.  So he has all kinds of
brothers and sisters.  He's probably forgotten his USA sister."

"Bummer," Drew said, checking his usual impulse to try to suggest a remedy for
an issue that was troubling someone.  Still he couldn't help an observation.
"You know, I can't believe that since you were such a refuge for him at a
sensitive time in his life that all those Italian brothers- and sisters-in-law
don't make him think even more of you.	He's probably thinking YOU are the one
who moved beyond him."

'Damn,' Drew thought, 'you're doing it again.  Butt out, busybody.'  Changing
tack, Drew asked, "Has Bobby met Randy?"

"No, we didn't take time to plan a wedding. We were married at the courthouse -
just a couple of friends as witnesses.	I suppose my parents have told Randy
. . . . Maybe not," she said, her voice falling away to nothing.  Drew knew
better than to pursue the questions hanging in the air at that point.

At that point Bobby came bustling out with dishes and silverware.  Angie and
Drew arose to help out.  Everyone told Drew to go back and sit down, but he
stubbornly continued on his way, picking up a big bowl of salad and hobbling
with it to the table.  He didn't notice Hal grinning in his wake, prompted by
Drew's indendent spirit.

The evening dinner on the patio was pleasantly warm, the steaks good, and the
wine a pleasant complement to the meal.  Since Bobby had seemed to relax more,
the conversation flowed easily. The Coopers quizzed Hal about members of the
crew, allowing Drew to learn about them at the same time.  Gradually, they all
helped carry dishes to the kitchen where they filled the dishwasher and cleaned
up the kitchen counters.  Since the next day promised to be quite busy, the
Coopers retired to their bedroom with expressions of gratitude to Hal.	After
Hal had finished locking up for the night, he swept Drew into his arms, carrying
him to his bedroom and gently helping him stand on the carpet. Then he took
Drew's head in his hands and kissed him deeply.  Drew slid his hands around
Hal's waist and up his back and then down onto his magnificent ass.  They broke
the kiss occasionally to divest each other of a garment before moving back into
a kiss.  Finally, they stood before each other nude and hard.

All of a sudden Drew grabbed Hal's right bicep with both his hands and hurled
him down on the bed.  As ably as he could, he scrambled over on top of Hal,
pushing against his shoulders, looking down into his eyes, his own eyes alight
with a mischievous gleam.  Then he bent down, rapidly kissing and nibbling
Hal's ears, neck, throat, pecs, and nipples, whispering nearly breathless
expressions of appreciation for what he was seeing.

No one had ever done that to Hal in quite that way, but he discovered that,
with Drew, he liked it.  Hal closed his eyes, realizing that it wouldn't be
hard to imagine that he were being eaten alive, but he was experiencing the
greatest pleasure from Drew's ministrations and pummeling, expressing the same
in sighs and moans.  He'd always been turned on by smaller guys taking charge.
Richie Collins had sometimes done that.  He usually wanted Hal to top him, but
sometimes Richie insisted on running the show, sitting on Hal, riding his hard
cock while Hal jerked Richie off.

After a couple of minutes of Drew's topping Hal, he grabbed Drew's waist in his
hands and lifted him up into the air as one might a child.  Drew yipped in
surprise, waving his arms and legs, trying to return to the bed.  "I can't get
over how light you are," Hal exclaimed.

"Put me down or you'll pay for this big time," Drew threatened, grinning all the
while.

Hal met his challenge:	"O yeah?  What will you do to me, little man?"	As he
spoke, Hal slowly lowered Drew so that he was sitting on Hal's stomach.

"This!" Drew exclaimed as he scooted back between Hal's legs.  Then he
unceremoniously pushed Hal's legs toward his hairy chest and attacked his ass
with the same rapid kissing, licking, sucking, and nibbling he'd just bestowed
on Hal's face, neck and shoulders.  He was all over Hal's ass cheeks, upper
thighs, perineum, balls, dick, and pucker.  Hal was moaning and cursing even
louder than before, rolling one way and then another in delight.

When Hal realized he was moving toward a climax too soon, he sat up, pulling
Drew around and under him so that he loomed over Drew.	On his knees, he
repeated Drew's maneuver, gently pushing Drew's legs back and tonguing his
pucker, kissing, and licking all around the area, which put him on a high
because Drew hadn't bathed since last night, so his spicy musk was a big turn-on
for Hal.  It was as though he'd sent Drew into another astral plane, for he was
moaning, muttering unintelligible language, rolling his head back and forth,
calling out Hal's name softly but passionately, running his hands through Hal's
hair and around his ears, and wriggling all about under Hal.  It ramped up Hal's
arousal more than anything he'd experienced in a long time.  It amazed him
because it was something he was doing to someone else, not to himself.	He was
really giving the ultimate in physical gifts.  He hadn't felt this satisfied in
a long time.

Drew was beside, inside, outside of himself, writhing with pleasure, but not
just physical pleasure.  It was the deep pleasure that comes from being really
accepted by another, really connecting, totally focusing on another, becoming
integrated in another, being intimate with no guard up.

Hal leaned over, pulling open the drawer to his nightstand and grabbing the
lube.  He continued teasing Drew, rubbing lube around his rosebud, leaning down
to lick up to the head of his cock in long strokes, swiping up all the precum
oozing out of Drew, stretching forward to bite one of Drew's nipples or
demanding a hot kiss.  Then he lubed Drew's lower stomach, allowing his dick to
flop back down before he lubed the entire dick.  Suddenly, Drew sat up, taking
the lube and spreading it reverently on Hal's club and up on his lower stomach.
"You like that?" Hal asked softly.

"Oh yeah," Drew whispered.  Then he looked up into Hal's eyes, probing deeply
as though he were looking for something lying in their depths.	Hal almost
started to ask Drew what he was looking for when Drew used his whole hand to
lube Hal's ball sack, making Hal throw his head back, emitting a groan.

Then Drew lay the lube aside, reclining on the pillows behind him, pulling his
legs back, softly enticing his lover to enter him, to claim him, to take his
place as Drew's man.  Hal did, slowly teasing Drew's pucker, stroking his balls
and thighs, refusing to enter until Drew was whimpering.  He entered Drew in one
smooth slide, which caused a dollop of precum to shoot from Drew's dick onto
his stomach and a muttered exclamation to shoot from his lips.	Drew
immediately clasped Hal's dick tightly with his ass muscles, causing Hal to arch
his back in pleasure.  As Hal started slowly fucking Drew, he couldn't believe
how Drew was making the base of his cock feel.	Hal couldn't quite remember
ever receiving that kind of treatment or feeling that good.  He made certain
that his hairy stomach brushed and then massaged Drew's hard dick, trapped
between them.  It was getting hot!

Very quickly, Hal had to pause after eight or ten pumps to keep from rushing to
climax.  As much as he wanted that release for Drew and him, he wanted even
more to draw out the intense pleasure he was feeling.  He and Drew were so
"into" each other that Hal couldn't remember lovemaking so intense before.
Whenever Hal would rest, Drew would attack his mouth, ears, throat, licking,
kissing, nibbling.  Then Hal would return to slow pumps.  Finally Drew growled
when Hal paused, starting to hunch his ass back on Hal's cock.	Hal had to push
Drew's ass higher with his body to keep him from driving them to climax.
Drew's panting and fussing grew louder.  At one point he grabbed Hal's head and
planted a kiss so hot and passionate on Hal's lips that his toes involuntarily
curled.  That had never happened before.

Hal and Drew tried to draw it out, tried to fend off climax, but it was just too
good, too strong, and they wanted each other too much.	Eventually, Hal was
plunging into Drew as Drew was hunching his ass back on Hal and setting the
muscles in his ass into some kind of dance.  Suddenly, Drew slammed hard
against Hal as a rope of cum shot out of his dick and up on his chest.	This set
Hal off, making him fall against Drew.	Their orgasms were powerful and long,
such that it appeared that they were struggling with each other as they called
out their passion, oblivious to the volume of their song.

Bobby Cooper was just returning from the kitchen with a glass of milk for Angie.
They'd made blissful love in a big bed, feeling more secure than they had in
weeks.	Their lovemaking had been good!  But Bobby didn't let it last as long
as he really wanted.  He could feel Angie's weariness.	When he heard Hal and
Drew in the throes of their orgasms, he paused and smiled, listening,
remembering.  Then the smile slowly faded from his face, his lips setting into
a tight line.  He gave his head an impatient little shake and though to scatter
the images or thoughts that had reconstructed there, moving down the hall to
Angie.

(To be continued.)