Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2016 00:41:34 +0000
From: Roe St. Alee <roesaintalee@hotmail.com>
Subject: How I Got Carter Chapter 20

This story contains sexual content, involving high school age males. If
this offends you, please leave this page immediately. This story is a work
of fiction, and any similarities to real life people, places, and
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------- ------- ------- -------


I can't believe I let him talk me into this.


The second I hear Ko's tires rolling out the end of the driveway, I have to
fight the urge to pull out my phone and text him: Come back and get me!


I would never hear the end of it.


I turn around and shove any thoughts about bailing as far away from my mind
as humanly possible.  I can do this.  I can hang out with Carter's friends.


I look up at Lucas's house and I'm amazed at how out of place it looks.
Most houses in our town are straight out of suburbia.  Cookie cutter
sameness all the way across, from end to end.  Our little downtown area has
a few older houses from way back, but everything else has popped up in the
last twenty years as rich folks fled the city looking for greener suburbs.


Lucas's house is totally different.  It looks like it should be about
thirty miles outside of town in the middle of nowhere.  It has a much more
rustic style, but with big windows all around the front.  Instead of a
garage, they have a big, old-fashioned looking barn with four full garage
bays, but the depth to easily fit twelve cars.  In lieu of the picket fence
or hedges that everyone else has around here, the property is neatly tucked
into its own little forest, effectively blocking the view from the road and
the neighbors, and making it seem like you're anywhere but a busy street in
the middle of town.


"Yo, Jackson!"


I hear a voice and look up to see Lucas waving at me from the front door.
He's a year ahead of me in school, but I see him around enough that I know
who he is.  I crunch through the gravel of the driveway and walk up the
front porch steps.  He slaps me a sort of high five handshake combo and
gestures inside the house.


"Come on in, dude.  Take off your shoes," he warns me, "or my folks will be
all over me for having people here while they're out of town."


I lean down to unlace and take a look around.  Their house looks more like
a hunting lodge than a home.  Everything is wood paneled and rustic, but in
a way that also manages to look expensive.  It's really nice.


"Yeah, my parents are from North Carolina," he says, picking up on my
appraisal of the room.  "They sort of brought it with them when they moved
here."  He laughs as he finishes and I do too.  "We're out back, so come
on."


Lucas leads me through the kitchen and to a sliding glass door, which he
opens to reveal a good-sized back porch, complete with a grill, two tables,
and a hot tub.  Not to mention a bunch of teenage guys drinking beers and
carrying on.  I guess I'm kind of late to the party.


As Lucas leaves me to go tend the grill, Carter hops off the bench he's
sitting on and greets me with a big smile.  I can tell he's had a beer or
two.  He's so cute.


"Dude!  I'm glad you could make it," he says, giving me a hug.  Not a real
hug, but more one of those bro hugs, with one hand clasped and a slap on
the back.  Still, it's something.


"Yeah, for sure," I say, and I can't help but mirror his big smile.  As
usual, Carter's mood is just contagious.  "This place is awesome."


"I know, right?  They're gone for like two more weeks."  He shakes his head
in disbelief that any respectable parent would leave her teen son
unattended for two and a half weeks.  He makes a good point.


"Yo, guys!" Carter calls out.  "This is Jackson if you don't know."
Everyone turns to looks at me.  "That's Lucas, Ricky, Gray, and Matt," he
says, pointing them out as he moves across the patio.


They nod and raise their beer cans up to me in response and acknowledgment.
I know most of them already, although I've never actually talked to Ricky
or Gray.  They all give off a good vibe, at least so far.  I wasn't sure if
they'd be cool with me being here.


"Jackson!"


I turn to look at Ricky, just in time to catch an ice cold can of beer as
it whizzes towards my head.  After an appreciative nod to the thrower, I
crack it open and take my first sip as we walk over to the table where
everyone is congregated.


I'm surprised at how easy it is to get along with them.  Within minutes
we're all talking about all sorts of stuff, sometimes three conversations
at once.  It's hard to keep up with at first, but I eventually get a handle
on who talks when and how the conversations tend to flow, and I fit right
in.


It turns out that Ricky and Lucas are both huge soccer fans.  They follow
the Premier League even more than I do, and both of them pull for Everton.
Thankfully I know a lot about the team this year and we get wrapped up in a
lengthy conversation about all the issues they've been having with their
keepers.  Ricky and I keep the conversation going, and Lucas jumps in from
the grill whenever something we say catches his attention.


Before too long Lucas interrupts all our conversations by bringing over a
huge platter of grilled chicken and pork.  He sets it down in the middle of
the table without a word, and the rest of us dig in without missing a beat.
All our discussions are momentarily forgotten in a flurry of grilled
goodness.


You know, Ricky was actually the guy I was most nervous about hanging out
with at this thing tonight.  He plays wide receiver on the football team,
just like Carter, so they're naturally pretty good friends.  You'd think
that would make it easy for me.  He's buddies with Carter and I know a
surprising amount about the football team this year.  We should have plenty
to talk about.


But that's not what's intimidating about Ricky.  He's intimidating because
he's insanely hot.


If anyone at school could claim to be the typical All-American football
player, it would definitely be him.  He's good-looking, friendly, and has
just a little bit of that country boy charm to him.  The girls at school
swoon over him, and I'll admit, I'm no different.  He's maybe a little bit
cocky for my taste, but that's pretty much the only thing preventing me
from drooling about it like so many other people at school.


And yet, here we are, talking about soccer and the implications of
relegation at the end of the season.  Thank goodness.  I'm glad it was so
easy to find an in with at least two of the guys, because I'd be lying if I
said I wasn't nervous about tonight.  I was surprised when Carter asked if
I wanted to hang out with the guys tonight.  It's not like he's bringing
his boyfriend by for dinner or anything like that, but it isn't nothing,
right?


No.  I need to stop thinking like that.  Tonight is just a bunch of dudes,
hanging out, drinking some beers.  They don't know that Carter and I have
anything going, and this isn't a big deal.


But on the other hand, he's testing me out tonight, at least a little.
Making sure I'm cool with the guys, and making sure the guys are cool with
me.


I know it's more than just a simple get-together, because of how Carter was
acting when he invited me over.  He was all flustered and nervous,
stuttering a little and getting flushed while we talked about it.  It was
adorable, and it made me feel special, knowing that it was important to
him.  It's how I would feel if our roles were reversed, and that's a good
sign, right?


"This is amazing," I choke out a few minutes later through a mouthful of
pork chop.


The rest of the guys chime in with their own praises, prompting Lucas to
stand up and take a bow.


I wipe my face, which is fairly covered in meat juice, with a napkin.


"Seriously, this is good, man.  Where did you learn to cook like this?" I
ask.


Ricky jumps in to answer before Lucas has a chance.  "His parents have a
deal.  They buy the meats, he grills 'em."


I raise my eyebrows.  That's a pretty sweet deal for a dude in high school.


Lucas shrugs.  "I've been doing it since I was like ten," he says.  "My
folks stock our freezer with all this stuff for me, and I crank out the
magic a few times a week."


"And they don't notice when a few packs of pork chops go missing," Ricky
adds, getting a laugh out of everybody.


We eat in peace for a few more minutes before Gray speaks up for the first
time in a while.


"So, Jackson," he starts, already making me bristle with nervousness.


When I said Ricky was the most intimidating guy here, I meant that in a
social sense.  Gray is intimidating in a completely different way.  He's a
lineman on the football team, and if being absolutely massive in every way
wasn't enough to make him a little bit scary, he also tends not to talk
very much.  He's not an easy guy to approach and conversate with.


"Why don't you play football?"


Everyone goes quiet and turns to me.  Gray has spoken, and he's put me dead
in the center of the spotlight.


"Um..."


Is this some sort of test?  It's hard to gauge what my response should be,
but I better think of one soon, otherwise things just got really awkward.


"I guess I'm just better at kicking stuff?" I say.


I flinch internally and wait for Gray's response.  He mulls it over and I
hear a snicker coming from behind me, probably Lucas.


Finally he slowly nods.  "That makes sense, man."


I thought it would break the tension, but it doesn't.  Gray just keeps
looking at me.  Testing me with his eyes, sizing me up.  I start to wonder
if he didn't want me here tonight, some outsider trying to wheedle my way
into their crew.  And now he's thinking about what he could say to cut me
down, prove to everyone that I'm not one of them.  Or he could just punch
me in the face...


Suddenly his expression breaks into a grin and he laughs.  I don't think
I've ever heard him laugh, and it's kind of terrifying.  Huge laughs, like
James Earl Jones doing Krusty the Clown.


The rest of the guys all laugh too and I remind myself again to relax.
These guys are alright.  They joke around, just like anybody does.  I can't
be so damn sensitive.


"Do you have a girlfriend?"


Gray seems to have a knack for asking tough questions.  So much for
relaxing.


"A girlfriend?" I repeat back to him.


"Yeah," Ricky says, punching me in the arm, "they're these people who make
you buy them stuff so you can make out with them."


Everybody laughs again at that and I use the time to think of what I want
to say.  Obviously the answer is no, but I feel like they won't just accept
that and move on.


"Nah," I say as the noise dies down.  "Too much work."


That gets another round of laughter from the boys.


"I hear that," says Ricky.  "I had to give mine the boot, too."


The guys really perk up at that.  Ricky can have pretty much any girl he
wants, and last I heard he was dating Jessica Barton, unquestionably one of
the hottest girls in the school.  I imagine half of the guys' interest has
to do with Ricky's personal life and the other half has to do with the
outside possibility that one of them could pick her up on the rebound.


"Dude, when did that happen?" asks Matt.


Ricky shrugs.  "A few days ago.  She kept giving me crap about some other
girl I'm supposedly talking to."  He holds up his hand next to his head and
spins it around, signifying that she was crazy.


"Were you?" asks Lucas.


"Of course not!" he shoots back, but then reconsiders.  "At least not any
more than usual."


Ricky has a reputation as a bit of a playboy, and with his looks it can't
be hard.  He has a long frame, but ever since about 9th grade he's been
packing on a good amount of muscle.  Not so much that it's all you notice
about him like Gray, but almost a deceptive amount of muscle.  Like you
think he might be skinny at first glance, but then you start to notice all
the various ripples and bulges around his body.  At least that's what I
notice.


"But you fucked her, right?" asks Gray.


Gray doesn't mess around.  And when the questions aren't aimed at me, I'm
starting to appreciate it.


Ricky sadly shakes his head.  "All I got to show for it was one terrible
blow job."


The porch erupts with laughter.  It's not just the fate of Ricky's
relationship, but the true, powerful sadness in his face as he says it.


"I don't understand it," says Matt.  "There has to be a way to tell.  The
hottest girl in the world can give the worst head, it just doesn't make
sense."


The rest of the guys nod in agreement.  I didn't realize this was a
problem.  You learn a lot when you hang out with jocks.


"You're just upset that no one will ever compare to Louise," says Carter,
directed at Matt.


Ricky stops what he's doing and stares at Carter, then back at Matt.  Then
back to Carter again.  Then back to Matt.  It's fairly dark out on the
porch, but I can still see that Matt's face is a bright shade of red.


"What did he just say?" Ricky asks.


"He's just uh... talking about Louise," mumbles Matt.


"What?!" says Ricky.


For a second I think Ricky is mad about something, whoever this Louise
person is.  But no one else is reacting to it.  In fact, most everyone else
is snickering.


"You didn't know about that?" asks Carter.  I know Carter well enough to
hear the smirk in his voice.  It seems like everyone is in on this joke
except Ricky.


"I need you to explain yourself right now," Ricky says.


Matt throws up his hands in defeat, but he can't help smiling.  "I got
Louise to give me a blow job last summer."


Ricky can't believe what he's hearing.  He can't even sit still.  He's
pacing back on forth on the porch and flailing his arms around.  He looks
like he's about to explode, or scream, or punch someone.  I've never seen
him act like this.  Like a crazy person, I mean.


Matt notices my blank look and laughs.


"I guess I'll tell you the story, but not because of him," he says, jerking
his head towards Ricky.  "Hearing it might actually destroy him."


"Ugh, I'm not sure I want to listen," Ricky mumbles.  He thinks better of
it and sits back down at the picnic table so he doesn't miss a fragment of
a detail.


"Louise is this girl we all knew last year," Matt begins.  "She went to
High Lakes, and she was two years older than us.  We all just started like,
hanging out towards the end of the school year."


Gray and Lucas are nodding in concurrence.  They all seem to know the story
already, but I've never heard of this girl.  I don't know but a few people
who go to High Lakes, and they're all our age or younger.


Matt continues.  "I dunno why, but she just started coming to everything we
did.  Anytime this group was hanging out, she was there."


"It's 'cause she could drive," says Gray.


The boys laugh.


"Yeah, but it wasn't like we were just using her or whatever.  She was sort
of invited to everything by default because she had a car," he admits, "but
she was cool."


Matt is interrupted by a weird mix between a sigh and a growl from Ricky.


"I was getting to that," says Matt, patting Ricky on the head.


"She wouldn't sleep with me!" he yells in the night, like a wolf howling at
the moon.


The rest of us sit in stunned silence for a second, all startled by his
outburst.  Then the dam breaks and we all laugh our heads off.  Even Ricky
smiles at his own misfortune, clearly more interested in seeming upset than
he actually is bothered by it.


"She wouldn't sleep with any of us," adds Lucas once he catches his breath.
"The whole summer single and hanging around these horny dudes, and she
never did anything with any of us."


It never ceases to amaze me.  The expectation these guys have that every
single girl in the world is secretly trying to get with them.  I mean, they
aren't miles off target or anything like that.  They're probably one of the
most attractive and popular groups of dudes in our school, but it isn't
always just about sex for everyone.  At least not that I know of.


Ricky shakes his head.  "It isn't possible that you..."  He can't even
finish the sentence.  I think it would hurt him too much to say it.


"Anyway," continues Matt, rolling his eyes, "it wasn't just the fact that
she was a girl, it was more her reputation."


"She was a legend," says Ricky.


The guys notice my confusion and Lucas jumps in.


"She was a legend at giving head," says Lucas.  "Gray's buddy knew a few
dudes from Green Lakes and told us about it.  They made it sound like it
would change your life."


Ricky shakes his head sadly again.  "From that point we were obsessed."


"You were obsessed," Carter corrects him.  "We were..."


"We wanted her to blow us," says Gray.  I'm beginning to appreciate his
brutal simplicity.


"But Ricky more than anybody," Matt adds.  "And yet, he managed to find the
one girl who wouldn't do it."


Now it made more sense.  Ricky was never rejected.  He was the ultimate boy
for every girl in school.  He was hot, pretty smart, and very mannered --
you could bring him back to your parents if you wanted to, and they would
love him too.


But not Louise, apparently.  And while I know it must drive him crazy to
think about that one elusive girl he couldn't have, I know it must be
positively killing him to know that Matt was able to make it happen.


"Ok," says Ricky, "Just tell me what happened.  I can handle it."


He's calmed down a little bit, but he still bouncing up and down with
nervous anticipation.  So while he hasn't fully relaxed, I think it's
probably safe for Matt to finish the story.


"It was Thanksgiving weekend and my parents took me out to the lake.  It
was kind of warm and some people down the street were doing a bonfire."


Katy has told me about the lake house before.  Matt's family has had it for
a few generations, so she's spent a good amount of time out there, but I've
never been.  It's a little cabin on the lake where you can swim and boat in
the summer, then ice fish and snowmobile in the winter.  Typical stuff that
we do around here.


"We get to the bonfire, and it's all just old people.  My parents are
having a good time and all, but I was looking for anyone my age to hang out
with.  All of a sudden, someone just grabs me from behind in a huge hug."
Matt smiles at Ricky with a devilish grin.  "Guess who it was."


Ricky has been keeping it together for the most part, but now he's getting
more agitated again.


"Louise," Matt says triumphantly.  "Her family is friends with this guy
down the street and she was there for the bonfire too."  He leans in
towards Ricky for dramatic effect.  "And she was drunk."


"No," Ricky says.  "I don't believe it."


"Believe it," Matt responds.


Ricky takes a deep breath and composes himself.  He nods to Matt to
continue the story.


"She was all over me.  Within five minutes she dragged me off to the dock
and three minutes after that..."  Matt raises his arms in triumph.  "Three
minutes after that I was getting the best head of my life."


Looking around the table I get the impression that no one else has heard
the story either, except maybe Carter, which makes sense, as he's probably
the closest to Matt of any of these guys.  Lucas looks amazed, in awe of
Matt's big win.  Even Gray is emoting a little, his usually stoic features
contorted in slight amazement.  Ricky is lightly pounding his head against
the table and moaning in agony.


I turn to look over at Carter, and he's just laughing.  Yeah, he's
definitely heard this before, plus he looks a little bit buzzed too.  It's
a good look for him, a little looser and he smiles more.  The best is his
eyes though, and even in this light I can tell that they are sparkling in
the way they only do when he's had a few beers or he's really excited about
something.  In this case, both.


"So, how good are we talking?" asks Lucas.


Matt scrunches up his face in thought.  "Like, five times better than
anyone else?" he asks rhetorically.


"Ugh, I can't listen to this!" Ricky says, throwing his head back and
pushing his chair away from the table.  "I can't even tell you how bad
Jessica was.  All this pulling and tugging and twisting."  He notices some
skepticism from the other guys and elaborates.  "Not in a good way," he
adds, "in a very, very bad way.


"Seriously though, how hard is it?" he continues.  "There's like three
parts, and you can see them right in front of you.  Just get down there
and..."  He bobs his head up and down to show us what you have to 'get down
there and do.'  The thought of him giving someone a blow job makes my cock
twitch, so I try to put the image out of my mind, at least for now.


"What about Stephanie?" Matt asks, turning to Lucas.


Lucas has been dating a girl at our school, Stephanie, for about three
months if I'm remembering right.  She's cute and is a cheerleader, but I
don't know much about her besides that.


Lucas smiles sheepishly.  "That's why I was wondering about Louise," he
says, "because Steph is really, really good.  So I was kind of wondering
how good it gets.  She's definitely the best I've ever gotten."


Ricky sighs and mumbles something to himself, probably wondering why
everybody else is striking gold while he's striking out.


Lucas turns to his left and fixes his eyes on Carter, the next person
around in the circle.


"Well?  What about you?"


Carter blushes and plays dumb.  "What do you mean?"


"What was your best blow job?" asks Matt.  He must know about most of them,
but he's probably never gotten to hear them compared.


This should be interesting.  Carter hasn't talked to me at all about his
past experiences, or who he's done what with, and I haven't asked.  It
feels like a touchy subject considering the situation that we're in.  Too
touchy to bring up unless I want to make a big deal about it, at least.


Plus I'm pretty new at everything and don't necessarily want to talk about
how I stack up against the girls he's been with.  As far as I know he's
always had a girlfriend, as early as middle school.  It's only been Beth
since the end of school last year, so there might be plenty to choose from,
and I don't want to know if they're better at it than I am.


"Um..." He thinks for a second and I'm treated to his 'thinking hard' face
that I like so much.


"Quit stalling and get on with it!" says Matt.  "I know it isn't Beth, so
pick one of the other ones and dish up."


The rest of the guys have a laugh at Beth's expense and Carter turns a
little bit redder.  I'm a little relieved to hear that.  I know she's not
great, but I'll take any Beth-bashing I can get.


"Faster, funnier, faster, funnier," Ricky starts to chant.


"Ok, ok!"  Carter throws up his hands to quiet everyone down.  "I've got
one."


I feel my stomach clench up a little.  Nobody likes to hear about the
amazing sex that somebody's ex was dishing out.


"It was a quick one, but a good one," he says.  "Uh... They just really
went for it, and I wasn't expecting it, so it was kind of a surprise."


"Surprise blow jobs," says Ricky shaking his head.  "You guys lead a
charmed life."


Lucas punches him in the arm to get him to shut up so Carter can keep
going.


"So, that's pretty much it.  Fast and furious, and really good," he says.
"Best I've ever had."


"Did she swallow?" asks Gray.


Carter nods.  "Yeah, every drop."


Gray looks skeptical.  "That's it?" he asks.  "Just a quick little blow and
you're done?  That's your best ever?"


Carter shrugs, but then I see his snarky little smile start in the very
corner of his mouth.


"I was driving the Tesla."


The patio goes mental.  The guys are laughing and hooting, slapping Carter
on the back.  And me?  I'm trying not to let my smile actually split my
head in half.


Because he's talking about me!  That's the blow job I gave him on the way
back from the football game.  Don't get me wrong, I thought it was hot as
hell, but it was the best he's ever gotten?  That's a good thing to hear.


"Who was that?" asks Matt.  I'm not surprised he wants to know, since it's
a story he (hopefully) hasn't heard before.


Shit.  Come to think of it, this could be awkward.  I hope Carter has a
plan to deflect, because he obviously can't say that it was me.


Before Carter can answer, Gray surprises everyone and speaks up.


"He can't tell you."


Everyone turns to him, waiting for an explanation.


"He was driving," says Gray.


Matt holds up his hands in a shrug.


"He was driving," repeats Gray.  He tries to let it sink in for a few
seconds, but even I'm not seeing where he's going with this.  "He was
driving a car that's still brand new, and it wasn't Beth."


Slowly it starts to sink in.  I see Lucas nod, and almost as though his
recognition it contagious, I suddenly realize what Gray is talking about.
The Tesla is only about six months old.  If Carter was driving the Tesla,
and the person giving him head wasn't Beth, then that means...


"You're getting some side action?!" says Matt.


Carter turns to him and shrugs coyly.  "Yeah," he says, as though there's
nothing strange or surprising about it at all.


"Why didn't you tell me?  Who is it?  When did you..."


Carter shrugs again.  "I can't really talk about it," he says.  His entire
manner has changed.  He's so confident and mysterious suddenly.  He's
running with the story and has turned on the charm to hammer it home.


Everyone drops it just like that.  I can tell Matt wants to ask him more
about it, and I'm sure the other guys would love to hear the details too,
but no one presses him for more info.  It's that quality Carter has
sometimes, to just take over the situation with nothing more than an easy
smile and few words.  He can make you believe or understand anything, if
only he tries to make it so.


And thank goodness.  We dodged a bullet on that one.  I'm stoked to hear
that I'm at the top of his list, but the interrogation to follow a story
like that could have been a disaster if he wasn't able to turn on his charm
like that.


"Gray?"


Carter turns things over to Gray, who is already smiling fondly at what
must be the memory of his best head.


"Ugh," says Ricky, "I already know this story."


Gray sticks up his middle finger.  "Don't be jealous," he says.


Ricky shudders and holds up one hand, as though to stop Gray from telling
us any more.


"I'm not jealous of getting my butt hole licked," he says.


The rest of the guys lose it when they hear this, and it takes at least a
minute before everyone's regained their composure enough to let Gray
continue.  He's not the type to talk over people.  Once things calm down,
he goes on.


"This chick from summer camp," he says.  "She gave me head a few times and
it was good.  But the last night of camp she uh..."  He looks around the
room for help.  "She moved around to the back, I guess."


Everyone cracks up again.  Even I can appreciate what must be a typical
story from Gray.  Short and to the point.


"Dude," says Ricky, "that's gross."


"No," says Gray, "it's fucking amazing.  And if you don't believe me, then
you're just missing out."


Gray turns to look at me.


"New guy," he says.  "You ever get your asshole licked?


That gets everyone laughing again, but this time all eyes are on me.  As I
said, Gray's brutal simplicity and directness are awesome when they don't
put you under the gun.


"Yeah, let's hear about it," echoes one of the guys.


My cheeks are on fire.  I was secretly hoping they would skip me since I'm
the new guy, but that probably only makes them even more interested.  I try
to think of how I can downplay this or weasel my way out of having to
answer.  My experience is so limited, there's really only one person I can
talk about, and he's sitting three feet away from me.


"I haven't really been with a lot of people," I admit, hoping they'll just
give me a quick ribbing for my lack of options and leave it at that.  It's
bad enough having to admit that I'm so inexperienced, so that will be good
enough, right?


"And?" asks Lucas.


The rest of their faces mirror his curiosity, except Carter, who has his
body turned toward me but isn't making eye contact.  I'm glad.  This will
be weird enough with him in the same room, even if he isn't looking
directly at me.


"I dunno," I say.  "It was just a regular blow job, I guess."


I look back at the circle around me and realize that won't be nearly
enough.


"It wasn't just the head," I mumble, trying to figure out what I'm actually
trying to say.  "I was more like..."


I risk a glance at Carter and it pulls me back to that first time he went
down on me.  What was it that made it so important to me?  I'll never
forget it, but what was so memorable?  A big part of it was that he was
finally taking the initiative, and it was almost like another line he was
crossing, one more sure sign that he might be into me.


No, it wasn't that.  Even now I'm not totally sure where we stand, and the
blow job almost raised as many questions as it answered.  But there was
something about it that made it stand out, even better than Sam's.  Which
was undeniably more skillful, at least from a technical level.  What was it
that Carter said and did to make it so special?


It was his questions.  He kept asking what to do, or asking what felt good
and if he should keep going.  He was so unsure of himself, and so far out
of his comfort zone.  He hates being bad at things, and here he was, taking
a huge step off the diving board and jumping into something new.  And more
importantly, doing it for me.


"I think it was just that they were really trying, you know?  Like,
they..."  I suddenly realize my error and correct myself.  "Like she was
just trying to make me feel good, and making that the most important
thing."


I try to think of the best way to sum it up, to put it in words that even a
bunch of horny seventeen year old boys will understand.  "When a person
wants to do it, and wants to make you feel good.  That's when it's really
good."


Half of me expects them all to start laughing at my sappy story, but the
reaction is more mixed.  I see Gray nodding in understanding, and Matt
shrugs like he gets it, even if he isn't a hundred percent on board.  Ricky
looks skeptical.  Lucas, however, is shaking his head.


"I dunno about that, man," he says.  "I'll take my dick in a mouth when I
want it over a special little love fest any day of the week."


Against my will I feel the blood rush into my cheeks.  I must have overdone
with all that sappy, feelings bullshit.


Lucas surprises me though, and he seems to pick up on my discomfort.  "No,
I totally get it," he says.  "But I've had both kinds of blow jobs, and to
me, they were both just blow jobs."


"So you're like a 'technique' guy?" Matt asks him sarcastically.


We all laugh and it helps break the tension.  Looks like I was able to
getting away with being a little bit sensitive.  The guys didn't seem
opposed to it, but I make a mental note to go easy on the deep, emotional
stuff in the future.  Just blend in with these dudes.  Beer, ribs, and blow
jobs.  If I need to share my feelings I can go hang out with Katy.


"So, who was it?" asks Ricky.


Damn, I was hoping they wouldn't ask that.  I try to imitate Carter's easy
sense of dismissal.


"It's not important," I say with a shrug.


"Not you too," he says rolling his eyes.  "Come on, just tell us."


"No."


Shit.  So much for being coy and aloof.  A one word answer is only going to
make this worse.


"What, are you embarrassed?" he asks.


"No," I repeat, "it's just not important.  You don't know her," I add for
good measure.


"Come on," he insists.  "We've all been with people we're not proud of."
He's grinning now, and I'm sure he's enjoying having me on the defensive.


"Was it a dude?"


I will myself not to react, but I must have done something, because the
rest of the guys start getting in on it too.


"Holy shit," says Matt.  "It was a dude, wasn't it?"


"What was his name?" asks Gray.


I shake my head and redouble my efforts to just let it slide off.  They do
this stuff with each other all the time.  They're just poking fun at me,
and as soon as someone changes the topic no one will ever think about it
ever again.


"Ha!" says Ricky.  "I bet it was Sam.  That dude's a total fag."


"No, he's not!" I say, more forcefully than I was trying to.  I feel the
rest of the guys back off, but Ricky keeps at it.


"Yeah, he is," says Ricky.  "He sucked off Brian Myers in the locker room,
he's totally gay."


"Don't call him that!"


"What?" he looks around the room for support.  The rest of the guys have
gotten quiet.  "He's totally gay," he repeats.


I think he's done, but he suddenly turns back to me.


"So, was it him?  Are you one too..."


"Shut the fuck up, Ricky!"


Before he can react, Carter reaches across the table and grabs the front of
Ricky's shirt.  It pulls him off balance so he just sort of hangs there for
a second before Carter pushes him back down.  He hits the edge of his chair
and bounces off on his way to the floor.


He looks up at Carter, then at me, then back to Carter, bristling with
anger, almost like he has one more thing to say on the tip of tongue.  I
hold my breath and wait for someone to make the next move.


Ricky seems to have thought better of whatever else he was going to say.


"I'm just kidding around, man.  Take it easy."


Carter doesn't respond, he just stares down at Ricky.  I've never seen him
like this, so serious and angry.  If I could forget about the situation,
I'd have to admit that he's really sexy when he's fired up.


"I'm sorry," says Ricky, holding up his hands in deference.  "I'm drunk,
and I'm being an idiot."


"Ladies!"


We all turn to look at Gray, who's holding up a six-pack of beer in each
hand.


"How about a little less fighting and a little more driving?  .  We all
stand in silence for a few seconds before Matt lets out a whoop and jumps
up from the table.


"I thought you'd never ask," he hollers, giving Gray a nice, crisp high
five.


En masse, everyone gets up from the table, and without another word the
confrontation seems to be forgotten.  Even Ricky pops up off the ground
like nothing had even happened and joins the rest of us as we head inside.
What is Gray talking about that could defuse a situation like that so
quickly.  Driving?


As I'm stepping in the door, Lucas grabs my arm to get my attention.  As
he's the only person behind me, we're alone on the porch.


"Jackson," he says, once he makes sure that we're alone.


I swallow hard and wonder what this is about.


"You play Mario Kart, right?"


(To be continued...)


-------       -------       --------        -------


Author's note: The next chapter is more or less done!  I'll have it up by
the end of the month at the latest, so you won't have to wait too long.