Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2003 10:08:23 -0700 (PDT)
From: Michael Garrison <mng1114@yahoo.com>
Subject: Two Lives - Two Loves: Chapter 2

This story is a work of fiction.  Any resemblance to actual
events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.  This story also deals with love and
consensual sexual activities between men.  If you are not of
legal age, reside in an area where viewing such material is
illegal, or are offended by such themes, do not read further
and leave this site now.

The author retains all rights to this story.  Reproductions
or links to other sites are not allowed without the
permission of the author.


Two Lives - Two Loves


Chapter 2


We fooled around in the pool for a while longer, splashing
around, throwing a ball around, and wrestling around some
more.  Jon seemed to like that best of all.

A thousand thoughts were running through my mind.

Jon knew, or at least strongly suspected, that I was gay,
but he was cool about it.  And here we were having full body
contact, underwater wrestling matches.

I had never known Jon to be much of a swimmer and people who
don't swim competitively generally didn't buy those Speedo
racers, unless...maybe...  Yet, here he was sporting a tight
pair that looked like they'd just been taken off the store
rack.

Jon had always seemed a little shy, and you didn't have to
own Speedos to know that they hid nothing whatsoever from
public scrutiny and even less when they were wet.  I'd
chosen my baggy trunks for that reason.  I didn't want to
risk intimidating Jon, yet here he was wearing the hottest
trunks I'd seen in awhile, seemingly without a care as to
who saw what.

Was he trying to tell me something?  I could have sworn I
saw him checking me out when we were tossing the ball
around.  And had his hand lingered maybe just a hair longer
on my ass than it otherwise might have when we were
wrestling around?

I had to be imagining this.  That had to be it.  I was
letting my desire for him cloud my judgment and I reminded
myself not to read into it anything that might not be there.
I really did not want to risk fucking up our friendship.

"It's time to start diving into that beer!" Jon called as he
pulled himself up out of the pool.  "Gotta start getting the
steaks ready, too."

"Excellent," I replied.  "I'm going to take a quick shower
and meet you back in the kitchen," I said as I threw a towel
around my shoulders and headed inside.

"Good idea," he said.  "...wash this chlorine off."

Jon followed just behind me and I knew I was not imagining
things when I saw his reflection in the bank of French doors
and noticed him totally checking me out when he thought I
wouldn't notice.  I didn't turn around, just kept walking.
I was really interested to see how this went and I was glad
he couldn't see the erection that my trunks were plastered
around.

                         *  *  *  *

One thing this house did not have was a shortage of hot
water.  I almost had to turn the thing off to keep from
roasting myself.  The pressure was excellent, too and I let
the needles of hot water work against my lower back.  It
ached from time to time after I overexerted, a reminder of a
lacrosse injury.  Swimming helped a lot by keeping me limber
but the back still ached.  The oversized shower added
immensely to the luxury of the experience.  It was large
enough to hold three people, allowing me to stretch out as
the water pelted my back.

I hated to get out of that shower but I was going to melt if
I stayed in there any longer.  Now that I was very relaxed,
I toweled off and got dressed.  I thought about wearing
something seductive to see Jon's reaction but decided
against it.  I decided on a pair of beat up khaki shorts and
a rumpled looking Tee.  I checked myself in the mirror.
Perfect.  Good looking, but not aggressively sexy.  I combed
back my wet hair, pulled on my Nike's and headed downstairs.

Jon apparently didn't linger in the shower as I had.  I
heard the water running in the kitchen as I came downstairs.
He'd popped a DVD into the box already.  It was some low
rent horror picture of the kind Jon loved to watch and laugh
at.  As I rounded the corner into the kitchen, I almost had
to catch myself to keep my jaw from falling to the floor
again.

For his afternoon apparel, Jon had decided on a cut-off tank
top and a pair of khaki shorts that were so short I would
have sworn I saw crotch hair.  Those, combined with the
Topsider moccasins he favored, really accentuated his
gorgeous legs, making them look a lot longer than they were.
Here I had purposely dressed so as not to seem aggressively
sexy and there he was, looking like the pool boy at a gay's
only Country Club.  I quickly tried to put my eyes back in
my head and act like nothing was unusual.  I knew he saw my
reaction despite my attempt at a quick recovery, a faint
flickering smile crossing his face as he continued washing
potatoes.

"S'up?" I said, trying to get my act together.

"Same ol'," Jon replied.  "How was the shower?"

"Awesome!  Those massaging showerheads are great.  I haven't
felt so relaxed in a long time."

Jon was a beer ahead of me.  He popped the cap on a bottle
of ale and handed it to me.

"You've got a little catching up to do.  I'm almost ready
for my second."

With a wink, I took a long pull at the bottle, downing
almost half of it.  Great stuff that ale; it started going
right to my head.  That steamy shower and the brew were
conspiring to really loosen me up.

"Whew," I commented as I tried to steady myself from the
head rush.  "What is that?"

Jon smiled.  "It's called "Golden Monkey," he said.  "High
alcohol content for an ale.  Good, huh?"

"Duuuuuude," was all I could say as I nodded my head in
agreement.  "So what's for dinner?"

"Steak, baked potatoes, salad.  Ice cream for dessert," he
said as he set the potatoes aside.

As he turned to get something out of the fridge, I couldn't
help but notice how tight those shorts were across that ass
of his.  I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist the temptation and
the beer must've been going to my head really quickly.

"Jon, do you think you could've gotten those shorts any
tighter?" I commented with a slight grin and a wink as I
took another pull of the beer.

He laughed.  "These are my favorite comfy clothes," he said,
returning to the sink with some salad makings.

I was about to comment that I'd never noticed those comfy
clothes before when a loud scream snatched my attention and
yanked it in the direction of the TV.  A truly hokey looking
mummy was attacking some young college girl in what looked
like a suburban ranch house.

"What the hell are we watching?" I asked, amazed at the
apparent stupidity of the movie.  I'll call it a movie 'cuz
it didn't appear to be worthy of the moniker, "film".

"It's another one of the mummy genre"," Jon replied, amused
at my reaction.  "A bunch of archaeology students find an
Aztec mummy and one of them brings it back to life with
humorously horrifying results," he explained, sounding very
much like a tagline.

"Horrible results would probably be a better choice of
words," I noted.  "I never understood what it is with you
and cheap horror flicks."

"Ah, they're good for a laugh.  Gives you something to make
fun of."

"That's for sure.  Who made this turkey, anyway?"

"A guy named DeSomething or other.  He specializes in first-
class B horror movies."

"First-class B horror movies," I intoned slowly, hoping that
a slow repetition would help it make sense.  It didn't, but
my puzzling amused Jon.  "Seems like an oxymoron, if you ask
me."

One thing I did notice, however, was that the cast seemed a
little too young and pretty, especially the guys.  There was
one dark haired guy who looked particularly tasty in a scene
that showed him getting undressed and ready for sex with one
of the girls.

This was all just getting too obvious.  It couldn't mean
anything else, but I still wanted to keep cool about it and
see if Jon would make the first move.  I cracked open a
second beer and took another long draught.  This was great
stuff; I already had a nice little buzz starting.  A couple
more of these and I might not wait for Jon to make the first
move, which was probably what he wanted.

We spent the rest of the afternoon laughing at another cheap
horror flick, vampires on campus this time.  Jon seemed to
like this director; he was the same guy who'd done the
previous flick.  We threw the steaks on the grille for a
while then brought everything out to eat by the pool.

It seemed like life couldn't get any better as we sat there
and ate in the beautiful, quiet surroundings that his uncle
had provided us.

                         *  *  *  *

Except for a few words here and there we pretty much ate
steadily and in silence.  The sun was starting its downward
trek and the late afternoon light made Jon look as tasty as
the steak I'd just inhaled.  Geez, I hadn't realized how
hungry I was.  Finally, we were done.  We did the stomach-
patting thing accompanied by the usual grunts of
satisfaction.  We cleared everything away and Jon brought a
bottle of liqueur he liked in his uncle's collection.  We
found a couple of glasses and went back out poolside.

Jon poured us each a couple of fingers worth of it,
Anisette, and we made ourselves comfortable at the table and
watched the sun head towards the horizon.

We were pretty quiet.  That was the great thing about a
close friend: You didn't need to constantly talk to
appreciate one another's company.  We chitchatted a little
but I could tell Jon had something on his mind that he
wanted to get out but couldn't.  The energy around him
seemed tense, like a dam that was getting ready to burst,
but still he held back.

"Jon, everything okay?  You seem tense about something," I
asked in my best voice of concern.  I could tell this pump
needed a bit of priming; otherwise it was just not going to
give.

"Yeah.I'm fine," he said hesitantly.  "But, Brad, I want to
ask you something..."

"Go ahead."

"...and I don't want you to think I'm weird or something..."

"I'd never think that, Jon," I said softly.

"...'cuz you're my best friend and I really don't want to
screw that up."

"Don't worry about it, Jon.  You're my friend no matter
what.  I just wish you'd tell me what's bothering you 'cuz
from here it looks like you're working your stomach into a
sizable knot."

"Okay.I was wondering...I mean..." he sputtered a bit, tripping
over words that he was having a hard time shoving out.
Finally saying: "You're gay, right?"

He'd never asked that before, and I was taken a little off
guard by the directness of it.  I don't know why but I just
hesitated for half a beat:  "Yeah, Jon, I am.  Is that a
problem?" I asked, trying to make sure I didn't sound
aggressively defensive.

"No, no...not at all," he said, putting his palms up, showing
he meant no harm.  "I was just wondering...I mean, if I'm
getting too personal, tell me...but..."

"What?" I asked, looking at him quizzically.

"Have you...ever done it with another guy before?"

I couldn't bear to watch him twist like this any longer.
"Jon, let me ask you something," I said firmly.

"What?" he said, looking up at me from the spot on the pool
deck he'd been staring at.

"Jon...you're gay too, aren't you?"  I asked, more of a statement
than a question.  I tried to sound supportive, not
accusatory.

He was stunned by my question.  This was absolutely the first time he'd
ever been openly, seriously confronted with that thought judging from
his deer-in-the-headlights expression.  He looked into my
eyes, blinking nervously and just nodded.

"You always were a bit psychic," he said quietly.

I went around the table to where he sat and put a hand on
his shoulder.  "Stand up," I told him.

"What?" he asked.

"Stand up," I repeated, a bit more forcefully this time.
When he did, I embraced him in a bear hug and he slowly
returned my embrace, tucking his face in next to mine.

"You're okay, Jon.  There's nothing wrong with you," I told
him softly.  There was a quick sniffle as he embraced me
harder.  After a few minutes, I decided it was time to
lighten things up a little and let my hands wander down to
caress his firm gluts.

"Hmmmmmmm...," I quipped.  "Nice job on the butt, Jon."

He couldn't keep himself from laughing and after the intense
energy around us the past half hour it was good to hear him
laugh.

"Thanks..yours is pretty nice, too," he said smiling and
laughing.  "Brad...,"

There was that tone again.  He was gathering up the courage
to ask something else.  Finally...

"...would you...be my first?" he said with the greatest of
sincerity and quiet innocence.

I knew it was coming, I sensed he was going to ask, but it
still floored me when he did ask.  I didn't have to think
twice.

"I'd love to," I answered in a soft whisper as I stared into
those blue pools of his.  I slowly let my mouth drop down
onto his and felt his tongue begin playing with mine as we
pulled ourselves tightly together for the first time as
lovers.

He was a good kisser and I loved being able to finally let
my hands roam freely over his body as his explored mine.
Man, he felt good.  The tension I'd sensed was totally
ebbing away from him now that he'd told me.  Finally, after
that unbelievable first kiss, I pulled away from his lips
only long enough to whisper "Let's go upstairs" quietly in
his ear.

He nodded and beamed that thousand-watt smile of his.

                         *  *  *  *

(To Be Continued)