Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 08:08:24 -0800 From: Matthew C <matteo_84cdm@yahoo.com> Subject: Mikey & the Health Club, Chapter 15 Gay Male Adult Youth All rights reserved. Other than downloading one copy for personal enjoyment, no part of this story may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, except for reviews, without the written permission of the author. Comments on the story are appreciated and may be addressed to the author, Matthew Kendrick at matteo_84cdm@yahoo.com All the usual disclaimers apply. This is a work of pure fiction that contains descriptions of consensual sexual contact between males, adult and minor. It is written for the entertainment of mature adults. If this is illegal to read this where you live, don't read it. If you are under legal age where you live, don't read it. Passing through Nifty's main page to get here is your way of saying it is legal for you to be reading it. If you enjoy this site please show your appreciation by making a donation to the Nifty Archive. Go to http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html Author's note: This chapter appears in html to preserve important accents in some of the place names 15 Mikey and the Health Club The plane is wheels down at Zagreb International Airport. I am at the end of a successful six day trip to London and Paris. Now I am taking a few days of me time and setting up some accounts. Two years ago on vacation I fell in love with the little town of Veli Lošinj on an island in western Croatia. I loved it so much I bought a lovely three bedroom villa on the cliff above the beach and the villa has private stairs down to the beach. It was only after the sale closed and I was taking a walk on the beach after having spent the day supervising the placement of my new furniture that I discovered I was the only person on the beach wearing clothes as the villa was above a large naturist resort that surrounded the beach and was in the hillside. I spied my realtor, Petar Peji?, naked on a towel with a group of other young men (I took Petar to be in his early 30's). As I approached him, he looked a little embarrassed; not because he is naked, he actually looks magnificent, but maybe because he had neglected to tell me my villa was above a naturist resort. The beach had been very quiet when I looked at the villa initially a week ago. "Petar, a word if you are not busy," I say with a nod to his companions, all of whom are equally good looking. Petar stands and walks with me a bit away from his group. "It looks a little busier here than when I first looked at my villa," it is a statement, not really a question. "Ah yes, the resort had not opened yet for the season, but now it has. Isn't it wonderful now?" he asks me hopefully. "I am not sure yet, but I was thinking, does that mean there are opportunities to rent my villa when I am not using it?" The question catches him off guard. I think he was expecting me to bust his balls on not disclosing the naturist resort. It is probably why the villa was a steal. "Why, yes, it is well located and would be very popular for families." "Is that something you can handle for me? Petar is taken aback again, obviously this conversation was nothing like he expected. "Well, yes, certainly..." "Good, why don't you stop by when you are done here. You can invite your friends as well and we'll have some beer or wine while we talk about the rental." That was two years ago. I've been back several times since then and have grown to love the country, this island and the people even more. This trip however has a more important purpose. I am fully aware of the risks I've been taking since mid-summer with my series of young friends. Like Mr. Ortega who did flee to Mexico with his wife as soon as he was released from the Serra Island jail, I too might want to make myself scarce in the U.S. someday. To that end, through some well placed gratuities, I now have a Croatian passport in the name of ?astimir Timothy Maji? and before I head to the island of Lošinj I am going to visit two local banks, Hrvatska Poštanska Banka and Karlovacka Banka. I am carrying €10 million in untraceable bearer bonds. €7 million will go to Hrvatska as my main bank and €3 million to Karlovacka as my back-up. There is no extradition treaty between the U.S. and Croatia and the money I have deposited in the banks will give me some leverage and a comfortable lifestyle if it comes to that. "Thank You Gospodin Gallagher," both bank managers had said when the transactions were complete, "we are pleased you have chosen our bank." That completed I headed back to the airport to catch a flight to the Airport Mali Losinj. The plane is a tiny, 12 passenger twin engine prop plane and the pilot looks like he is in junior high school, but no one else seems especially worried. I guess in this part of the world people take life as it comes and are resigned to it. The flight actually is smooth and enjoyable. We fly low enough to see the fall colors of the mainland. Croatia reminds me of Northern California or southern Oregon. Lošinj island on the other hand is exactly like Southern California in terms of topography and vegetation. I might as well be on Catalina Island. Petar, who has become a good friend, picks me up at the airport for the 20 minute drive to my villa in Veli Lošinj. We chat amiably and he catches me up on the local gossip. He drops me at the villa and we agree to meet later for dinner. It feels like home as I enter the villa. Petar had it aired out and stocked with groceries, beer and wine. I decide to crash for a bit since my trip has been a blur so far. I am awakened by a noise from outside my bedroom. I had closed the shutters to nap and now I crack them to see what the noise is. To my surprise, and delight, the noise is caused by two attractive teens in my small pool. They look to be around 14 or 15 years old and are sitting very close to each other speaking in Croatian. The larger of the two leans in and kisses the smaller gently. The smaller of the two teens wants none of that; none of that gentle stuff that is. He pulls the larger boy's body to him tightly and kisses him aggressively. I smile as the teens mack. I haven't really thought about where they came from, because they couldn't have come from the street area so they must have come up from the beach. As I watch, the larger boy lifts the smaller out of the pool and places him on the edge of the pool. I guess I should not be surprised that both are stark naked, especially if they came up from the beach; they are probably from the naturist resort. The teen sitting on the deck leans back, while the larger teen opens the smaller teen's legs, slides in between them, lifts the nice, erect cock away from the boy's body and starts a lovely cock sucking session on him. I don't want this to go on too long because at some point I have to make them aware of my presence. I let it go on for three or four minutes before I quietly slide open the door. "Dobar dan dje?aci," I say in a loud voice. (`good afternoon boys') They look up panicked, the teen on the edge of the pool slides into the pool and they both start jabbering in Croatian at me; far faster than I can translate in my limited Croatian vocabulary so I start waving my arms. "I'm an American, do you boys speak English?" The smaller boy speaks up for the two, "yes, English is compulsory at our schools." The larger boy, who is blushing deeply speaks now, "we are sorry gospodin, we did not know anyone was staying here. We are sorry and will leave." I look sternly at them, "you invade my home and think it is as easy as that? We will have to see about that." Now the boys blanch. Maybe I have overplayed this. I don't really know the consequences for homosexual acts by teens in Croatia. I know in general there are good gay rights in Croatia, but it may not extend to teens or these boys may be from strict Roman Catholic families. The Roman Catholic Church dominates the country with some ninety percent of the population being members. "Don't panic I am just..." I search for a phrase they might understand. "Busting our balls," the smaller boy offers. I smile, "yes, `busting your balls', how do you know that phrase?" "I have seen `Goodfellas' many, many times," grins the boy. Ah yes, the pervasive influence of the American movie industry all over the world. "Come on inside, I'll get us something cool to drink." I grab two towels, throw them to the boys and lead them into the kitchen. "I am Tim Gallagher," I tell them as I offer my hand. "Nikola Vrlic," says the smaller teen. "Mislav Dajic," says the larger. "Nice to meet you both; can I assume you are from the resort?" "Yes," Nikola affirms, "Mislav and I have been coming to the resort since we were young boys, but we live in different parts of the country so we don't get to see each other very often." "So naturally when you do, exchanging blow jobs becomes a must," I tease them. They both blush, but smile as well, exchanging looks with each other. "Two years ago we figured out we both are gay so we became boyfriends, but we have so few chances to see each other during the year and then when we are here our two families are so large it is hard to find time together. We discovered your villa pool last year and the villa is so seldom occupied it has been an ideal place for us to be alone," Mislav explains. "We are sorry if we have trespassed... kind of," an impishly grinning Nikola says. I nod my head knowingly, "I understand Nikola, young love is not easy." "So you are okay we are gay Tim?" Mislav enquires. "As luck would have it Mislav, I am gay too, živjeli (cheers)!" as I tilt my bottle of Coca Cola. "Živjeli!" they both return and Nikola, lifts an eyebrow with a crooked smile. We chat for a bit more about where they live, how old they are and what they do for fun. Nikloa is 14 years old and Mislav, 15; both the boys are water polo players and love American culture. Both say they would love to live in the U.S. one day. They also can't believe that I know Tony Azevedo, star of the U.S. Men's National Team, who played professionally for VK Jug in Nikola's home town of Dubrovnik. Tony and I were at Stanford together. We have finished our Cokes when I clear my throat, "umm, would you boys like to finish what you started? You can use my bedroom." Mislav blushes again, but not Nikola, the little firecracker instead asks me to join them. I think he and Mikey would get on famously. "I appreciate the offer Nikola, but you boys seem to get little enough time together so not today I think." "Not today, does that mean maybe tomorrow you will," he presses. They are both incredibly good looking with tight bodies; I'd be an idiot to flat turn them down. And I am not idiot. "Perhaps tomorrow," I grin. "Can we get a preview?" Nikola flirts. He has to be a long, lost Croatian cousin of Mikey's. I shrug, pull off my shirt, drop my board shorts, kick them away and stand before them naked. The two boys start and suck in their breath. "I have never seen a cut cock in real life before," Nikola says. "Me either," Mislav agrees. Nikola is closer to me, close enough to reach out and touch me, which in fact he does. He looks like he is under a spell as he reaches forward to feel my soft cock. He lifts it, looks at the underside, feels the head and then remembers what he is doing and quickly retracts his hand. "Oh, I am sorry Tim, I..." "No worries, Niki, if I hadn't wanted you to I could have moved away. Did you want to see it Mislav?" "Yes please," he giggled. Mislav felt me the same way Nikola had and seemed awed by his first cut dick. "Tomorrow for sure then," Nikola asserts and I don't object. I lead the boys back to my bedroom, "make yourselves at home, I'll be on the terrace when you are done." I grab my iPad and I am very happy my MacBook is on the desk, perfectly positioned to catch all the action that is about to happen. I don't feel especially guilty about watching remotely, after all, I could have lurked in my room and watched the same scene play out in my pool. I grab a towel and pull up a chair underneath the umbrella on my terrace. I make sure my laptop is recording the scene in my bedroom and then I start to browse the Internet. I'll check back in on the boys later. Checking my email I have emails from several of the boys back in Serra Island including Mikey and Christian, Hunter, Ryan and Ethan who reminds me Mt. SAC is coming up and I owe him a leg massage. I smile at the thought of getting my hands on Ethan's smooth body again. Hunter is inviting me to the Opening Night of the opera; his parents are going to be out of town again so he has extra tickets. I send an acceptance email; it should be a lot of fun. Christian and Mikey update me on their lives. Christian has been with my parents for a little over three weeks now. The court, at Julie's suggestion, placed Christian in their custody at least until June 17, 2014 at which time the court will reevaluate Christian's situation. Julie has pretty much told my parents if they are willing, they'll be able to foster Christian until he turns 18. My mother loves the little guy so I suspect he is there for good. Mikey says he hasn't added a guy to his cloud drive since he and Christian started dating; which I actually knew already since I regularly check all the boy's cloud drives. I am impressed with horn dog Mikey's commitment to Christian, I wasn't sure he'd be able to sublimate his desires. I reply to Ethan's email and assure him I will be home in time to fulfill my leg massage obligation and throw in a bunch of double entandre references that I am sure he'll get a giggle out of. I had a lot of fun with Ethan last time, but being reminded of Mt SAC leads my mind to think of Hunter, who will also be there with the Serra Island cross country team. I wonder if Ethan and Hunter know the other is gay and if they do, have they ever done anything about it? The musing causes an involuntary plumping of my dick, which leads to voluntary thoughts about the two hot boys in my bedroom, so I open the portal to the webcam on my laptop. I get a chance to study the teens; both of them have the dark hair and eyes characteristic of so many Croatians. Nikola, the 14 year old is around 5'7" and maybe 135 pounds or so. He has a very muscular, if slender body. His cock is like him, slender as well, but not lacking anything in length. It has to be somewhere around 6 ˝" (or 16.5cm as they would measure here). Ironically Mislav's cock is a lot like him too. Where Nikola has a slender body and cock, Mislav has a thick, muscular body and a thick cock to go with it. I'd guess Mislav to be just a bit shorter than me and a few pounds lighter; maybe 5'10" and 155 pounds to 160. His dick though is a bit bigger, probably 18.5cm (just over 7 Ľ") and a bit thicker than mine. The boys are in the midst of a nice 69 as I watch for a few minutes. Since it is being recorded there is no need for me to watch, because if I do, I just know I'd need to jack off and I think I'll wait until tomorrow before I climax. Instead I do some work on my iPad and send emails to my boss, such as he is, and update my trip with the feedback I'd gotten from the prospects and clients. I think I may have found a European money manager for Curtis Barham, my client in Cabrillo Cove. Forty five minutes later the two teens emerge from my bedroom and join me on the terrace. There is a happy glow about them and their cheeks are flush with remnant of their activity. "Thank you Tim for letting us use your bedroom. It is not often we can be together like that, on a bed with no fear of being found out and no need to hurry," Mislav thanks me. "I am happy to do it, I am sure it isn't easy." The boys and I chat for a few more minutes before they decide they should return to the beach in case their families have gone looking for them, but they make sure they get to return the next day for my promised time with them. We agree that in the late morning would be the best time. As they leave, I stand to shake hands goodbye, but instead each plants a kiss on my cheek in the European way. I think I actually blushed. Petar picks me up at 6PM and we head down to the harbor of Veli Lošinj, where most of the best restaurants are. For a relatively small town, only around 12,000 full time residents when combined with the neighboring Mali Lošinj, there are several good restaurants here. They are almost all seafood restaurants and with heavy Italian influences. Venice and Bologna are as close as Zagreb and Venice is easier to get to than Zagreb. Petar chooses BoraBar and it is a wonderful choice. The seafood is fresh out of the ocean that day. The meal is delightful and the company wonderful. I might have invited Petar in for a nightcap, it would not be the first time he has stayed overnight, but he has a new boyfriend and he is still in that discovery phase where everything is new and he can't wait to get home to him. It probably works out just as well since I think the next day could be an interesting one for me. I am sitting on the terrace at 10:38AM the next day I hear noise coming up the stairs from the beach and it is my two new friends, Nikola and Mislav, naked as all get-out, but with backpacks on their backs today. They smile as they see me sitting at the terrace table and wave. "Good morning boys," I greet them. They both return my greeting in Croatian and English, which is good. I want to keep learning the Croatian language, especially since I now have a Croatian passport too. They also greet me in the same way as they left, with a kiss on my cheek, which I return. I like these strange European customs. "What is in the backpacks?" "We told our parents we might go into town for lunch so that if they tried to find us and couldn't; they wouldn't wonder," Mislav answers. "And we brought our phones," Nikola grins, snapping a picture of me. Yup, Nikola is definitely a relation to Mikey. I bet the nude picture of me is on Nikola's VK account before lunch is over. I am fine with that though. Veli Lošinj is naturist resort so there is nothing odd about it. In fact the boys and I take several pictures using our different phones. We do pictures as a group on auto snap, pictures of me with each boy and then ones of them together. Mikey will be green with envy when I show him the pictures. Nikola, like Mikey, is ready to stop the prelims though and move to the main event. "Shall we move to your room Tim?" he hints. I grin broadly and nod my agreement. All three of us sit on my bed. "Even though we have been boyfriends for two years now we have never," Mislav pauses, looking for the right word, he looks at Nikola and says, "jeba?ina." Nikola blushes and translates, "fucked." "I am sure you know how? You do have the Internet in Croatia." The boys giggle, "yes we tried it once or twice, but it hurt, we thought maybe you could teach us good ways to start," Mislav explains. I smile. This seems more and more like Serra Island all the time. I have become the instructor on Veli Lošinj like I have on Serra. "I can do that," I grin, "Did you guys use lube?" They look at me like I've switched to Swahili. I reach over and take Nikola's cock in my hand, it is semi hard, and I jack it a few times moving the skin up and down his shaft. "With an uncircumcised dick you never need lubrication because the skin is moving. Guys like me, we have to use lubrication even to jack off otherwise there is just skin on skin friction and it hurts. It is the same for you when you try to insert your dick in someone. It might feel okay to you, but the guy who the dick is going into is in pain because there is a lot of friction. You also have to open up the hole more. Who wants to go first?" The boys look at each other and Mislav speaks, "I want to have Nikola fuck me first." I show Mislav how to lube up Nikola's pucker and then start working his opening with his fingers. Nikola, on his back, is loving the preliminaries, I hope he doesn't shoot his wad before Mislav really starts. "Okay, I think Nikola is ready, now Mislav, you lie on your back and Niki, you are going to sit on Mislav's dick, that way you can control the penetration and your body weight will ease it in too." I love seeing Mislav's thick cock disappearing into Niki's small, smooth ass. Nikola's eyes roll back as he gets Mislav all the way in and starts to rock up and down. I let them stay in that position a few minutes, but not too long because I am not sure how long they can last their first time. "Okay, stop now Niki. Mislav, leave your dick in him, take hold of him and roll him to his back." The boys do as they are instructed and now Nikola is on his back with his legs on Mislav's shoulders. Mislav smiles at the new position and after an awkward start gets his rhythm. They almost seem to forget I am there and start talking to each other in Croatian; even if I didn't know the exact words, I got the gist, these are two boys in love. A few more minutes and Mislav tells Nikola in English, "cumming soon." Nikola jacks his cock furiously and within a minute is ejaculating all over his stomach. The gasps from Mislav tells me he is emptying his load into his partner. Mislav pulls out, flops on his back and kisses Nikola. The huge grins on each tell me that their first adventure in anal sex was a successful one. Nikola is the first to speak, "Mislav wants you to fuck him now." "No," I argue, "you should be Mislav's first." Niki shakes his head, "Mislav wants you." I start to argue, but Nikola cuts me off and shakes his head again, "he wants you." Like with Mikey, Nikola is someone who knows how to get his way so I acquiesce. I do make him loosen up Mislav for me though so I know he knows how and instead of having Mislav sit on me I have him lie on his side since that is another easy entry way. I want to try and impart as much as I can to the boys in the next two days before they head home to the mainland and I return to the U.S. I give Mislav a good ride, working my way through about three more positions before I squirt myself dry inside of him. It wasn't until the second position that I noticed Nikola was filming us using his smartphone; again, a lot like Mikey. I should have cared, but didn't. I was less uptight about European parents than I am American parents who seem woefully ignorant about their children's sexuality and sexual proclivities. I think they don't want to know. "Now what," I ask of Nikola, who seems to be the more adventuresome of the two. "Now I get to fuck you of course." He says it in a matter of fact, fait accompli way, but I think he is asking too. My face lighting up told all he needed to know. My cock, that had gone soft after climaxing in Mislav, started to stiffen immediately at the thought of Nikola's slender cock entering me and his sparse, dark pubic hairs banging into my ass as he pumps away. "That works for me," I grin. I want to be on my back so I can watch his face and also play with his dime sized nipples as he fucks away. Niki lubes me and loosens me just as I have taught him and even though it is only his second time, he is like an old pro. His cock slips in pretty easily given its slenderness, but it still feels great and it is plenty long to bang on my special spot so it is great. He slips out a couple of times early on because of his eagerness and enthusiasm, but quickly learns how far back he can pull back before driving it back in. Mislav picked up where Nikola had left off in filming. I have to be sure I get copies of all this before I leave. Because he has already cum once I expect him to last longer than a normal 14 year old might on his first time, and he does. He lasts a good ten minutes, which is very good for a beginner. As he gets close, he leans in to kiss me so we can be kissing as he climaxes. I can tell by his moans in my mouth and the pulsing of his cock that he is cumming and my own dick explodes a few seconds later, shooting up into Niki's chest. He lies on me and his dick slips out, exhausted from the fuck and emotionally spent as well. "That was so good, I can't wait to do that for you Mislav." Mislav is grinning and cleaning his own cock, "I couldn't resist wanking watching you two. It was like 3D porn." We jumped in the pool to clean off the easy way. We talked a bit more and the boys are depressed that they are soon going to be separated again. They seldom get to see each other or even get free time on the computers at home so they can talk. A plan is forming in my head, but I don't say anything for not wanting to get their hopes up. I do ask them if they thought their parents would let them come to the U.S. just after Christmas. Nikola shrugs, "if there was a good reason and if they could find a cheap ticket to fly me there, sure. I've traveled to the U.S. before with my water polo team." "Same for me," Mislav agrees, "but the biggest part would be the airline tcket." "I think I can pay for the airline tickets and justify it the same way of justifying the trip; to come to the U.S. to talk to college water polo coaches. Let them know I am a wealthy American who knows Tony Azevedo and can help you pay for the trip and talk to coaches." That gets them excited and thinking that it might work. One of Nikola's cousins already plays at USC and Mislav's older brother went to UCLA, but not for water polo. We decide to talk about it more over lunch. When I ask the boys what they want for lunch, `pizza!' was the instantaneous answer. Yup, these two would fit in well with the Serra Island crew and the pizza we had at Fortuna in the village would fit right in as well. All too soon though my trip is at an end and so are the boy's holidays. On the good side, I did get to meet and speak with both sets of parents and with rather light resistance it is agreed to two will come see me the first two weeks of January. A week later I am back in Serra Island reflecting and I think my trip to Europe was a resounding success. Not only did I close the business deal for Curtis Barham, set up two other deals that should close late in 2014 or early 2015, but I also set-up my safety net in Croatia. Tonight I am going with Hunter to the opening night of the opera so I have had my tuxedo cleaned and pressed. His parents are gone again, which is why he has two open tickets, but I am not sure who our third is, maybe Hunter is bring a date? He is coming over at 6PM so we can drive together, get a nice dinner and then walk over to the opera house. I left the back gate open so he could just drive in. I am finishing tying by bow tie when a very handsome young man in a perfectly fitting tuxedo walks in my bathroom. "Well good evening Mr. DeVitt," I greet Tanner, "don't you look dapper?" Tanner grins, "I do look good don't I?" "Smashing," confirms Hunter, as he too walks into my bathroom. "You don't look half bad yourself Master Lindwall," I tease Hunter. "Ooo master, are you guys into that," Tanner giggles in a manner very unbecoming of someone so well dressed. I start to explain what Master, capital M means versus with a little m, but Tanner's cocky grins tells me he is jerking my chain. We decided to eat at Kendall's Brasserie since it is on the grounds at the theater complex. The place is a hive of activity and everyone is similarly attired, men in monkey suits and ladies dressed to the nines. I haven't done too much with the arts since I moved back to Serra Island, but I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the theater, especially opera. Tonight's performance is one of my all time favorites, Carmen by Bizet, and even better, Sumi Jo is playing Carmen with Plácido Domingo as Don José. I am looking forward to a great evening. I am not surprised when Hunter leads us to his parent's seats; they are up one level in the Founder's Circle area. It is a relatively small balcony area, only eight rows with maybe thirty seats in each row, but it is the crčme de la crčme of the metropolitan area. There are captains of industry, entertainers, senior politicians and the just filthy rich. Hunter's father is a captain of industry and his mother is old money, which probably explains the great seats even within the Founder's Circle area. I just love the buzz of the audience as they await the show before the lights go down. The lights do dim and Grant Gershon comes breezing out of the wings in the orchestra pit to take his place at the podium, applause ripples through the audience. I've never quite understood why we applaud before the show in opera, but we just do, so the boys and I join in the polite welcome. Once Gershon lifts his baton and the orchestra dives into the Prelude, Hunter shyly reaches for my hand. I turn slightly, smile at him and gladly take his hand. He settles back contentedly with a smile on his face. The first two acts are as good as I have seen them anyplace, including the Met and La Scala. The applause is thunderous. As the house lights come up Hunter leads Tanner and me to the Founder's Circle Room. It is a lounge exclusive to the major patrons of the opera company. "Good evening Mr. Lindwall," the hostess at the door greets Hunter. Hunter nods an acknowledgement and leads us to a table, one of those that you stand around, and there are already drinks at it; a champagne for me and cokes for him and Tanner. "Well, I am impressed Mr. Lindwall," I tell Hunter. He blushes a bit and jokes, "as much as my parents donate to the opera company they should have had people carry us from our seats." Tanner excuses himself and I quickly see why he is Hunter's other guest; across the room is Blake and his parents, Jeff and Toni Flintridge. I haven't met them formally yet, only spoken to Toni on the phone before Blake and Tanner joined Travis and me in Manhattan Beach for the volleyball tournament. "I need to make the rounds in my parent's stead, are you okay by yourself a few minutes," Hunter asks me with a nervous look. "I'll be fine Hunter, go press the flesh and flash your smile." As Hunter takes off I see Toni Flintridge working my way slowly. She stops and greets fellow patrons along the way. Finally she arrives at my table, with her champagne glass in hand. "Tim Gallagher I presume," she greets me, "Antoinette Flintridge, but everyone calls me Toni." "It is a pleasure to meet you in person, Mrs. Flintridge." "Oh Tim, do call me Toni, Mrs. Flintridge sounds like an old lady who'd have a son who is a senior in high school." "I am sure you were a mere slip of a girl when you had Blake, Toni," I purr. "Mmmm, Blake said you were sneaky and I'd have to watch myself around you," she says with a slight smirk, "but I wanted to address a nasty rumor about you." Oh dear, maybe cook isn't as quiet as Blake thinks she is. "Which rumor," I smile benignly, "there are always so many." "Rumor has it that you have more money than you can spend." "Ah yes, well that is not quite a rumor, more of a secret," I grin, grateful that the rumor wasn't something else. "I happen to be Chairperson of the New Patrons Committee and we'd love to help you spend some that cash. It is a terrific deduction you know." We chat a bit more about the opera and its various levels of support. She ropes me into a luncheon in Cabrillo Cove the following week with some other people with too much money. We are silent a bit when her next statement floors me. "They are a handsome couple aren't they?" "Who?" I ask her. "Blake and Tanner of course," she replies. I raise an eyebrow. "Oh please Tim, I am oldish," she demurs, "not blind. A mother knows when her son is in love and mine is head over heels." "Does Mr. Flintridge know?" "Jeff? Oh good Lord no, if Tanner and Blake were writhing on the floor kissing Jeff wouldn't get it, but he'll be fine when he does figure it out. Your date looks quite distinguished tonight." I think I blushed, "I am not sure it is a date." "Mmmm, the look in Hunter's eye when he looks at you; yes I think you can be sure it is a date. That is fine though, Hunter is a great young man and if he chose you for his date tonight than you must be pretty great as well." I know I blushed this time. "Mrs. Flintridge, great to see you tonight," Hunter says as he returns to our table. "And you as well Hunter; tell your parents I am sorry they missed tonight, but I know Blake is thrilled and I think you have the cutest date here tonight." Hunter, with his pale Yorkshire complexion blushes an even deeper shade of red, but returns with, "thank you, I do too." Toni smiles and heads off to grab her husband as an usher walks through the lounge with a tiny xylophone, banging out notes from Habanera to let us know intermission is ending. Hunter smiles at me confidently, intertwines his fingers with mine, and leads me back to our seats. Tanner is just ahead of us so he sits down before Hunter and me. He sees our interlocked hands and smiles. "I am jealous." I know what he means. He wishes he and Blake could be as open. I think maybe they will be able to be open sooner than he thinks. Acts three and four are every bit as terrific as the first two. When the final curtain falls there are many calls of `bravo', `brava' and even a few `bravissima'. It truly was an outstanding performance. We are standing out front of the music center waiting for the Flintridges, when Hunter turns to someone yelling his name. It is Rhett Berkow, who I have not seen since I saw the video of him blowing Joey Lynch in the restroom at the Serra Island Library. The Islander seniors exchange greetings and Hunter turns to me, "Tim, you know Rhett Berkow don't you?" "Yes, I've enjoyed many of your performances, Rhett," and one performance in particular I am thinking of. "Thank you Tim, that is very kind of you. I hope you'll come watch me perform this year too." "You can count on it, I'd love to see you solo sometime," I had to bite my lip to keep me from saying `swallow' instead of `solo', which was the word in my head. The Flintridges find us and Tanner is going to go home with them since he lives close to them in Cabrillo Cove. Hunter and I make our way to my car. "Didn't Tanner drive to your house?" I ask Hunter. "Yes, but Mr. Flintridge doesn't know that," Hunter smiles, "Blake will bring him by tomorrow to get his car; which reminds me, can you give me a ride to your house tomorrow morning to pick up my car?" I am getting better around these young guys, I don't just blurt out the first thing in my head as often as any more. I work my mind around what he has said; since his car is at my house we obviously aren't going there which means... "We are going to your house?" "Yes, I have champagne chilling," he smiles at me. End of Chapter Fifteen.