I suppose I should include the standard sorts of disclaimers here: This is a work entirely of fiction (though some places are real, I mean no implication that they are knowingly involved in anything that might offend anyone - they're just places). It's got material of a sexual nature in it, so don't read it if that might bother you. I reserve all rights to the story and characters as per the terms of Nifty's Use Agreement. If you like the story that much, get it from me legally - please don't steal, it's not nice.
Thanks to those who've been kind enough to write about the story - I appreciate it.
Jesse arrived at Matt's house grinning. "Where you been? I was thinking you blew it off or something."
"Sorry - my mom was home; I had to hang with her a bit."
Mike frowned a little. "Everything OK?"
"Oh yeah, it's cool." His smile broadened. "She asked if we wanted to do a sleepover tonight."
Mike's face lit up. "Oh shit, what an idea!!" He started laughing, looking at Jesse knowingly. "Where?"
"Well, it's a lot more private here - and you, um, you got that stuff on your computer, right?" Jesse's grin had a devilish quality to it that made Mike laugh.
"Yeah, I got it - or at least I know where to go to get it. Damn, you thought this all through huh?"
Jesse shrugged, unable to stop smiling. "Well, it's not rocket science or anything."
Mike nodded. "I gotta clear it with Mom, but that should be no problem. We'll order pizza or something, lock ourselves down in the room and all."
"Yeah, and all." Jesse hugged Mike tightly, burying his face into the crook of Mike's neck. "It'll be so cool," his muffled voice emerged from their embrace.
They stepped back a bit and looked at each other. Jesse felt himself glowing. Mike's eyes danced in the shady light of the back yard, the dappled sun across his bare shoulders. He had to kiss him. But Mike pulled away. "Dude, inside. Somebody might see." So they stepped quickly into the kitchen, where they locked into a huge embrace, mouth open to each other, their cocks stirring again (to their amazement - this isn't physically possible, Jesse thought to himself). Mike's hands ran quickly under Jesse's t-shirt, making Jesse sigh softly. Jesse's tongue found Mike's left earlobe, and Mike began simultaneously giggling and groaning: "That tickles!" "Oh yeah?" "Yeah." "Then why are you making that noise?" "It's a good tickle oh God . . ."
They pulled back from each other after a couple of minutes. They were both mostly hard, but they realized that they had to cool it some or they'd be unable to do anything that night. Jesse ran his hands over Mike's belly as he stepped away. "We'll kill ourselves. Let's wait till tonight."
Mike nodded, smiling down at Jesse's tented-out shorts. "Yeah," he agreed as he took Jesse's erection in hand through the fabric, "we better."
Jesse rocked back on his heels. "Oh shit, dude, no fair." He tried to grab for Mike, but he had twisted away behind him. "C'mon Mike, I want it."
Mike was at his ear now, the warm breath making him break out in goose bumps. "I know."
Jesse tossed his head, trying to think clearly over the sensations racing through him. "No, man, I mean I want you too if we're gonna do this."
Mike let go and stepped away. Jesse turned to se him adjusting his own boardshorts to allow his cock room to waggle in its engorged state. "You're right," he sighed, "we will kill ourselves. I just - I want so much - "
"I know." Jesse put his hand to Mike's face. "Me too." They looked at each other in silence for a long moment. "I - I can't believe this. This is like so unreal. All at once - " he hesitated.
"What?"
"All at once we - we're lovers, I guess - not just buds."
Mike smiled. "Buds plus, dude."
Jesse laughed. "Yeah, way plus." He turned abruptly. "OK, we gotta go now or I'll like lose it and go after you right here."
Mike grinned. "Sounds good to me."
It was an hour later when they finally got down to Riviera. The tide was out, but not by a lot - the moon was at half, so the extremes were pretty narrow. They saw a group of school friends - not, to their relief, including Erick - as they emerged from the tunnel under the train tracks. A couple of kids were sitting atop the tunnel tossing rocks into the fetid pool of runoff that lay on the sand at the tunnel's end; one of the rocks whizzed by Mike's head. "Sorry!!" the little boys squealed, as they scattered, their giggles merging with the cries of the gulls and the breakers' rumblings. Mike looked back at the kids as they ran. "Twerps."
"Hey that was us like five years ago dude," Jesse said with a grin. "Remember when you threw that big rock and the splash hit that old guy as he came out of the tunnel?"
"Oh fuck, I thought he was gonna kill me"
"Us, you mean. He went after us both."
"Yeah, but I threw it."
"Like he knew? Just a damn bunch of hoodlums, that's what we were."
Mike laughed. "He really was an asshole, wasn't he?"
"I guess. I sure wouldn't want that water on me though," Jesse added, looking at the mottled surface.
The group of kids was a good one - Eddie and Drew Boynton, who had surfed for Shorecliffs when they went there and were getting sponsors, Kate Sandowski, her boyfriend Mitch Huff, and the DeVries twins, Molly and Tracy. Mike and Jesse put their boards down next to the Boyntons' new Hap Jacobs 9 footers with a quiet pang of envy and sat down.
The main topic of conversation, once the usual "what's up" rituals had been observed, was Kate's decision to wear a thong suit. This caused Mitch no small degree of consternation, since he'd never even been able to get a feel from Kate, and here she was displaying her ass for all the world. He insisted on needling her about it, pretending to tease lightheartedly but letting too much of his real feelings show. Jesse couldn't help scoping her out - he'd never seen a thong on anyone he really knew before. The suit was very skimpy, little more than two postage stamps of fabric over her small breasts, with a thin string connecting them in front, and another small bit of material below in front narrowing to the strip up her crack. Her asscheeks were very tan, though, so she must have been wearing the suit someplace. Jesse felt himself stir a bit as he looked her over, then glanced ashamedly away. He noticed Mike was looking pretty hard at her too. Their eyes met and Mike shrugged imperceptibly, making Jesse grin.
For her part, Kate was enjoying the attention, making sure to stand up at any opportunity. She'd been sickly thin most of her elementary school days, and to suddenly be sexy was an intoxicating blessing to her. "I just feel all free like this!" she giggled at the twins, whose own suits, though not thongs, sure left little to the imagination either.
"But isn't that really uncomfortable in the sand?" Tracy asked between giggles, a question that only set off more giggles from all the girls.
Kate made an exaggerated shaking motion with her hips, shaking out imaginary sand. "Well, there's nothing to hold it in anyway!" she squealed, dissolving in laughter along with the other girls
Mitch sat stonily silent.
Drew had a lopsided open leer on his face, and Jesse noticed that his boardshorts had a bit of a bulge in them. Eddie, his older brother, was in college, though, and at least pretended to take little notice. He managed a few furtive glances every now and then, though.
"So what happens when you go in the water in that thing?" Drew asked. "Does it like dissolve?"
Kate smiled, then pretended to take offense. She stuck one hip - actually her left asscheek - at Drew and answered, "You'll never know, loser." Her smile gave her away though, and she giggled some more as Drew protested how much he really, really wanted to find out.
Mitch had had enough; he picked up his board and walked down to the breakers. Kate looked after him, a bit puzzled. "He's been so quiet all afternoon, what's up with that?"
The girls all giggled even louder; Jesse and Mike rolled their eyes. Clueless. At a nod from Mike, they grabbed their boards and joined Mitch out in the water.
It took about five minutes for Mitch to allow them to approach him. He was clearly pissed off. Finally Mike just called over to him, "Dude, it's OK. C'mere."
Mitch slowly paddled over and sat up astride his board. He stared in at the beach, where Kate was parading around, getting appreciative looks from the occasional Marine walking by with his buzz cut hair. "She's rubbin' my fuckin' nose in it," he muttered.
Jesse shook his head, conscious of the light spray of water that flew off his hair. "She's having fun, Mitch. Let it go."
We been going out three months, and this is the only time I even see her body. How fucked is that?"
"Dude, it's just a bathing suit."
"Fuck you, mike, it's not just a bathing suit. What the fuck do you guys know, you never had a girlfriend, either of ya. I don't need advice from queers." He paddled into a small wave and cut across it aggressively, letting the left break take him north away from them.
They lay on their boards for a few seconds in silence. "Well," Mike finally said, "so much for being there for a friend."
Jesse's face was ashen. "Why is everybody saying stuff about us being queer today of all days? Does it show or something? Christ . . . "
Mike laughed easily. "Dude, we all talk like that to each other all the time."
Jesse thought a moment, frowning. "I don't like it anymore."
Mike shrugged. "Just words, y'know? Ignore it. I mean it's not like you're gonna stop guys from talking like that. Like even if - if they knew . . ." The thought of Mitch, or the Boyntons, or Erick, knowing, et them both back a bit.
"No," Jesse finally said, still frowning. "I think they'd talk different. In front of us anyway."
"Ya. Probably." Mike was frowning some too now, and looked as discomfited as Jesse felt. "Um, I really think we should stay cool about this, y'know? Not tell anyone or - "
"You think I'm gonna go saying anything to anybody?? You nuts??"
Mike ducked his head a bit. "Well, y'know, I just mean -"
"Shit Mike this is scary, you know that! I mean, are they gonna like blow us off or try to beat us up or something?"
Mike looked at him. "I'm sorry, I get paranoid, that's all." He gulped. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"What about you? I don't want you to get hurt either. I'm not gonna say anything, but I think sooner or later somebody's gonna find out, or figure it out - guess or something - and then what?"
Mike sat up on his board, looking out to sea. A large swell rose over the smaller south end of Seal Rocks, and he started paddling right to meet it. "Too far ahead for me. I just know what I feel." He looked back at Jesse and smiled broadly, a smile that made all the butterflies in Jesse's stomach ease. "I know we're buds - buds plus - and that's not changing." He measured the swell coming towards him. "I'm ridin', dude. C'mon." And he drove shoreward as the swell caught up to him, scrambling to his feet as it lifted his board high and down its face, and he vanished from Jesse's view for a few moments. Jesse smiled, the image of his slender smooth back dappled with water droplets suspended in his mind. That was all down the road. They had today - and tonight. That was enough. He turned and looked for the second wave of the set, ready to take it in after Mike. As he stood up and cut left, he glimpsed Mike inshore, pulling his board toward him by its leash, and Kate, twirling like a ballerina while the twins laughed, and he felt a surge of deep joy. He cut back up onto the top of the swell for another ride down. A living roller coaster, his Dad had once told him, that's what surfing is. And he was in for the long ride.
They surfed the afternoon away, with the Boyntons joining them for most of it. Mitch apparently had left after that one wave. Molly DeVries also cam out for a while - Jesse had forgotten how good she was. He wondered if she wasn't far from getting a sponsorship herself. As for his own abilities, he was honest enough to know that he was average at best. He had little hope of a spot on the Tour, that was for sure, but it was such a rush. He watched Mike, and the Boyntons, trying to learn from their maneuvers, listening to their discussions between waves when they'd all sit on their boards in the odd silence outside the breakers and describe their rides. They laughed, they teased each other, they rode, they talked. It was damn close to perfect. Mike and he avoided extended eye contact, but whenever they did look at each other they couldn't help grinning. Who cares, Jesse finally thought. We're buds - buds plus.
They finally quit a little after 5, arms weary from all the paddling. Kate had finally given in to the lengthening day by pulling shorts on over her thong, which they all booed heartily - lustily, Jesse giggled to himself. As they gathered their towels and other gear, Kate suddenly realized (or so it seemed) that Mitch was gone.
"He was supposed to give me a ride home!" she complained (Mitch, being older, had his permit, and used it without parental supervision whenever he could). She pouted, hands on hips for a moment.
"Our mom's coming, you want us to give you a ride?" asked Molly, shaking the water out of her brown hair.
"How long till she gets here? I have to be home."
"She's meeting us at 6," Tracy answered.
"Shit - no good. That'll be too late." She looked around. "Jesse? Could I ride with you up to Pedro's? that'd get me far enough that I could make the rest of the way on my own and be on time."
Jesse glanced around nervously. Mike was grinning. "Um, yeah, sure. Have to be on the handlebars though, I don't have pegs anymore."
"That's OK, thanks, I'll be fine. Let's go!"
They walked up the steep hill together, chatting casually. Jesse felt weird: was this really Ok with Mike? He kept trying to catch Mike's eye to check, but he was having a long conversation with the Boyntons about breaks at the south end of San O.
Kate's hand touched his arm. "Thanks for giving me a ride. Mitch was such an asshole leaving me like that."
Jesse glanced at her and nodded, self consciously. "He, uh, he was kind of upset -"
"About what?"
Jesse smiled, blushing. "Your suit," he mumbled.
Kate stared at him for a moment, then started laughing. "My suit?? You mean he was actually mad that I wore my suit?? Like he owns me or something? What bullshit!!"
Jesse was bright red now. "Well, y'know, he's like going out with you and - "
"And nothing! I'll go friggin' topless if I want to and let him squirm over it!"
"Um, could you let me know, like, when you're gonna do that? I wouldn't mind being around."
Kate's laughter was like crystal. "You got it, surfer boy. First one I'll tell." Her laughter subsided. "I don't mean to be nasty to Mitch but he's like trying to own me all the time. We're just buds, that's all."
"Buds plus?" Jesse asked, his eyebrow rising a little.
"No," Kate said, and now her face was serious. "He wants that, but I don't. Not with him. Is that cruel, to still hang out with him when I don't want to do that?"
Jesse really wanted no part of this discussion at all, but they were a ways behind the rest of the group, and he saw no way out except by trying to shift the subject. "Not like if he knows the limits. So are Molyl or Tracy hanging with anybody these days?"
Kate smiled flirtatiously. "You interested?"
Jesse couldn't help smiling goofily. "Na. Just - just asking and all."
Kate's smile turned knowing. "Well, there might be some possibilities. Tracy's always liked Mike, but you and he are like welded together - always hanging out and stuff. Makes it hard."
"Sorry," Jesse gulped quickly, blushing again. WE- we're just -"
"Buds. I know. Buds plus." Jesse wanted to throw up. "I mean you're so tight with each other it's amazing. Really cool."
Jesse blinked. "Y - you think so?"
"Yeah. So many guys are like casual with friends, but you guys really are friends. It's cool to see."
Jesse tried shrugging casually, wondering if he pulled it off. "Well, y'know, we've known each other a long time and all. It's all cool." He debated the next gambit a moment, then asked, "I guess some guys must like wonder about that."
"What?" Kate asked, perplexed for a moment. Then her clear laughter rang out again. "Oh yeah right, Jesse, like you guys are queer and all!! MY god, you aren't scared of that are you?"
"No, no, no, course not," Jesse answered, again too quickly. "Just - y'know, guys are always joking, calling each other stuff . . ." This had not been a good idea.
"Guys are so hung up on being macho, it's pathetic," Kate said with a sigh. "Like Mitch - like he's gotta be Master of the Universe or something when we're just going out a little. So stupid. If I ever hear someone suggest anything like that about you and Mike, I'll cut their nuts off."
Jesse had to laugh out loud at that. Kate had always made up for her lack of physical beauty by being as straight- out as she could; now that her body had blossomed, it only made her more amazing.
They were at the top of the hill now, and Mike climbed on his bike. "Call you in about 30," he yelled back at Jesse with a smile, and rode off. Jesse mounted his bike and held his hand out to help Kate onto the handlebars. She smiled, took it, and climbed on.
Her body was lightly against his forearms as they rode slowly out of Riviera and onto Ola Vista. He thought of the shape and texture of her bare buttocks and hips, the curve of her small breasts under the top of her suit, and realized to his horror that he was getting hard. He pedaled harder, trying to make the exertion calm him down, but it wasn't working. Kate's tossing her light brown hair back over her shoulder, giving him a deep scent of her.
She could see better than he could over his board, which was in its slot along the left side of his bike, so she occasionally gave him advice on traffic in that direction. Otherwise, they rode in silence until they were on Camino Real near Pedro's. "Is this OK?" Jesse asked, his voice falsely calm.
"Sure," Kate replied, turning her head a bit towards him. "I can walk from here."
A sudden desire seized him. "I, um, I can ride you the rest of the way if you want."
Kate slid off the handlebars and regarded him for a long moment. "Thanks," she smiled. "Not today, Jesse. Maybe sometime, but not today." Her glance flickered down to his boardshorts, and she smiled. Jesse's face turned hot again, and he felt himself grow even harder. Oh shit, he thought. But Kate simply looked at him, smiling, and touched his arm lightly. "You take care of yourself, OK?"
"Sure, OK," Jesse grunted, unable to think of anything else to say. Kate ran her hand down his arm, then turned to cross the street before the light changed.
Jesse sat for a minute or so, watching her walk away, before he sighed and began the steep pedal up San Gabriel. AS he did so, Ernie leaned back against the wall of Pedro's where he had been eating a taco, and watched. This just gets better and better, he thought to himself.