The following fictional story deals with sex among males. If you are offended by such material, are too young, or reside in a location where it is not allowed, please depart. Though not observed in this story, care enough about yourself and humankind to practice safe sex.
The author retains all rights. EvanBradley33@Yahoo.com
Chapter 4 Ted and Levi
The Construction Site
Hal Winston drove straight to the construction site when he left his meeting with Dr. Russell and Gwen Thomas about their trophy house, arriving just before noon. Hal's Charcoal suit, snowy white shirt, and power tie earned all kinds of catcalls and wolf whistles.
"Man, that Hal cleans up nice, don't he?" Ted Kortas observed to Levi Miller, studying how the soft wool of Hal's trousers revealed bundles of muscles beneath and how the fabric hugged that powerful ass that Ted had made love to in an earlier time. They both checked Hal out several times, appreciating his handsome looks and hot body in the midst of their joint labor.
Since Ted and Levi were a couple, they often partnered on tasks at the construction site. Even when everyone was up on the roof, those two paired off. On this day, Levi passed shingles to Ted, who, using a nail gun, fastened them to the roof. After an hour, they would trade tasks. When they had first become a couple, Ted wondered if working so closely would tire them of each other. It never happened.
Hal climbed a ladder up to the roof, waving Max over. While the guys knew Hal was just checking in, they noticed that it had to be one of the briefest check-ins ever observed. Hal said no more than necessary, looking off in the distance, squinting, as Max caught him up on the day's details. He seemed to want to avoid contact with any of them. 'It's the pain,' Ted thought. 'It started with Max and Kenji's becoming a couple, but then it moved to all of us. We all figured out what happened with Max and Kenji. How could we not when Kenji and Max started showing up at the site in the early morning together? I bet sometimes he wonders if he can ever get away from it. Last night showed that sometimes, when it's really good for us, it's really painful for Hal.'
As Max talked, Hal had just shaken his head almost impatiently, indicating he understood, never uttering a word, never looking at Max, then climbing down the ladder and retreating to the construction trailer, where he remained the rest of the day. Max looked after Hal, shaking his head ever so slightly, whether in defeat, exasperation, or disbelief the guys couldn't tell. None of these circumstances were lost on the crew. When the guys broke for lunch, they checked out Hal through the screen door of the trailer, glimpsing him bent over his desk, working on paper, reviewing something on a legal pad. He'd shed coat and tie, rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned his white dress shirt, revealing a snowy white tank undershirt, contrasting sexily with his hairy, tanned chest.
"Damn, he's hot," Jamal whispered to the others.
"What's up?" Tonio had asked Max, nodding his head toward Hal's form, bent over the desk.
"Don't know. From the looks of it, Hal is working up a bid on our next construction project. Be happy. It means business is good and we remain employed." When they left work at the end of the day, Hal remained sequestered in the construction trailer, laboring away, calculator in hand, jotting something on a big planning calendar on the wall, one of those where each day was a big box that could be filled with information. Hal always used one when he was planning a project, so Max had read the context correctly. Max entered the trailer to tell Hal that they were leaving. Hal had merely shaken his head, muttering a "Good night."
Max felt so helpless. He decided that Kenji and he would have to put their "buddy plan" for Hal into action sooner than he had thought appropriate. He couldn't stand it. Hal was hurting more alone than he would with Kenji and him. They had to make Hal know that they loved him in their way, even cared for him intensely. But Max wanted to clear it with Kenji that night before saying anything to Hal. He knew what Kenji's answer would be, but it was important for Kenji to have his own time to think about it and decide.
Ted and Levi
At home that evening, thinking about Hal's studly appearance in suit and tie, remembering his big, hunky body, Ted shot a challenge Levi's way: "You let me down, you know."
"Oh yeah? How's that?"
"I always thought Jews had these wonderful, hairy bodies. I wanted my lover to have one. So I meet a Jewish guy named Levi, and I get all excited and mushy, but he's smooth as a baby's butt. What's wrong with you?"
"My forbears mixed with too many of you Gentiles. Now I got all these Gentile genes shooting around in me keeping my Jewish genes from popping out a mat of hair!" Levi wailed in mock horror turning his back on Ted and ambling toward the kitchen. "What's Ma going to say? Her little boy is as smooth as a baby's butt!" As he uttered the latter, he hitched his incredibly rounded butt back at Ted, who was grinning big time.
Ted launched his body out toward Levi's back, grabbing him about the waist as they flew to the floor, landing on the carpet as each grunted on impact. "Let go of me, you perv!" Levi exclaimed, acting as though he were offended.
Ted grabbed Levi's left shoulder with his right hand, pushing him over on his back, scrambling up his body, and planting a hot kiss on his lips. Levi wrestled with him, trying to shove him off. "Leave me alone. I'm not good enough for you. Go find some hairy Jew who will feed your fetishes. Or go throw yourself on Hal."
Ted was laughing as they grappled with each other. "I've got to bust a nut now. Since you're here, you'll have to do - smooth ass and little pecker as they are."
Levi continued to try to throw Ted off, but Ted's challenge had called up a stricken look on Levi's face, indicating he half believed what Ted had said since Ted had the bigger dick. Ted was such a horndog that Levi always worried that his smaller dick sometimes made Ted regret hooking up with him. When Ted saw that look, he slammed Levi's wrists down on the carpet. "Listen: I need YOU, Levi Miller. I chose YOU. I'm not letting YOU go." And he planted a passionate kiss on Levi's lips. Levi gradually melted into it. Continuing the kiss, Ted released his hold on Levi's wrists and moved his hands down Levi's arms to his shoulders, trailing his fingertips lightly atop his skin. Then he moved his hands up to gently cup Levi's jaws and cheeks, giving him major tongue, using his thumbs on Levi's cheek bones to move his head whichever direction he wanted and to caress the face that set him aflame inside.
"So if you liked hairy guys, why didn't you stick with Hal," Levi asked when Ted broke the kiss.
"I had planned to until you came along. In fact, I thought I'd found Mr. Right when Hal got into my jeans. He was hot, hunky, loving, intelligent, giving. All I wanted in a man. Then you walked in, and it was all over with that!" Ted said.
"You tellin' me I beat Hal out?"
"You beat Hal out!"
"Why?"
"You want to dissect my decision?" Ted asked, secretly enjoying the hold he had over Levi at the moment.
"I need to understand, Ted," Levi said softly, half apologetically.
"Man, you are so put together! I like everything about your shape and body. I love your black crew cut, your black eyebrows arched over black eyes, with those heavy black lashes, the clean sweep of your strong jaw and chin, your perfect nose, your mouth - oh hell: your GI look, I guess! I don't know what to call it, but it lit my fire the first time I saw you. The first time I got you out of your clothes, your body was even more a perfect match for the rest of you than I had imagined possible. Everything about you is so perfectly proportioned in relation to all the other parts. Your pecs are muscular pads spreading across your chest. Your big biceps are hot. I love kissing and tonguing your flat belly. I love the muscle line that curves from your hips into your groin. I love that black ring of hair around your cock although I wouldn't quarrel if you quit trimming it. I like hair, you know. You don't need to trim it to make your cock look bigger to earn my full appreciation. Those five-inches are perfect for my mouth and throat, and I love your oval ball sac. The curving line of the muscles in your thighs is so-o-o smooth. Somehow your thighs complement the big curves of your narrow ass. Someday I'm going to hump those curved calves too." Ted paused to kiss Levi slowly and gently. "I thought I wanted brute. Then I saw your princely form." Levi's eyes warmed at Ted's praise.
"Best of all, I got to know the man in the body, his caring, quietness, strength, commitment to me, loyalty, virtue - all of you. When you look at me with love, I melt inside." Then he kissed Levi gently on his lips. "I feel totally, madly, eternally in love with you. So why did you turn from Hal to me?" Ted asked.
"I'd always wanted to get involved with a Greek."
Ted snorted. "I don't even think of myself as a Greek. That's for my father, uncles, aunts. Not me."
"Well, to me, you were everything I'd fantasized about."
"Sounds hard to live up to," Ted said doubtfully.
"Not when you've got hair like this," Levi reached up, running his fingers through Ted's lush, curly brown hair crowning his handsome face. He liked the feel of his fingers slicing through the dry, slightly stiff hairs. "Not when you have a broad brow like this," he said, running his fingers lightly across the tanned expanse of Ted's forehead. "I love it that your whiskers are always visible, lending you kind of a rough look. I especially love it when you scrape your whiskers across my stomach, cock, balls, or ass.
To make it even better, those full lips feel so good, so warm on mine. Then I saw YOU out of your clothes. I loved your lightly haired chest. Then the wide swirl of hair on your stomach," Levi said as he gently unbuttoned Ted's jeans, pushing them down, then pushing down his jockeys, freeing his eight inches. Levi closed his hand around the hard, hefty tube, jacking down to pull back the foreskin, uncovering the big head at the top. "I really love this dick," he said, waving Ted's long cock back and forth. He bent down, moving his hand so that he could lick up the entire shaft. After he'd deep-throated Ted's dick twice, earning a long moan from Ted and a little taste of precum, Levi leaned back and pulled Ted's jeans and briefs down over his bare feet, Ted's favorite mode of dress in their home. His upper torso was always just as bare. Sometimes he'd walk around only in his jockeys. Now that was a hot sight, seeing the snowy white cotton pulled taut over the gentle curves of his ass cheeks. "I loved these lightly haired legs. They're slimmer than mine. And I love your ass - not a flat ass, a rounded ass, but not as big as mine. In short, you got stuff I've always wanted."
Levi rolled Ted over on his back and pushed his legs gently back, displaying their hairy back muscles, opening his lightly haired crack to disclose his rosy-brown pucker. With agonizing slowness, Levi began licking from the back of those meaty thighs to within a couple of inches of Ted's hole, which had begun pulsing, winking from Levi's stimulation in time with gentle moans emanating from Ted. Then Levi started running his nose up and down Ted's crack, sniffing loudly. Ted giggled because it tickled. "Damn, you're just like a cat, always smelling my butt. Don't think I haven't seen you sniffing my jockeys when we shower in the evening."
"It's part of you, your essence. I love you, Ted," and with that he threw himself through Ted's legs, being careful not to mash his balls as he planted a hungry kiss on his lover's hot lips. Then he shot back to Ted's ass, tonguing his hole, pushing in just a little more on each attempt. Then he'd shoot up to lave Ted's hairy nuts with his tongue, really laying down a layer of spit, for he knew it ramped up Ted's excitement, all the while slowly jacking the steely tube above, running his palm over the big head when he felt precum on his palm, smoothing it over the sensitive glans.
Suddenly Levi jumped up and ran to the bedroom, leaving Ted lying on his back on the living room carpet panting, wanting his prince's ministrations to continue. Levi was back almost immediately, dropping a towel and lube on the carpet as he shucked his clothes with awesome speed.
"Let me," Ted said as he sat up, grabbing the lube, waiting for Levi to knee-walk over to him. He squirted some lube on his hand, then gently began closing his hand around Levi's five inches, slowly caressing the fat tube by sliding his hand back and forth, making certain that the heel of his hand grazed the soft, sensitive spot just beneath the cap. When he'd coated Levi's cock, he felt his lover shove him onto his back as Levi grabbed the lube and squirted some on Ted's hole. He urgently but gently smoothed the lube around the hole and up over Ted's balls, watching his hand plaster the hairs down on Ted's sac. He knew the layer of lube on Ted's balls would heighten Ted's stimulation when he fucked him. With more lube on his fingers, he began pushing some inside Ted. Then he rapidly dropped the lube and pulled Ted's legs over his shoulders. Ted grabbed Levi's cock, pointing it at his entrance. Levi immediately moved forward, piercing his lover's sphincter, sliding in slower than he wanted, moaning, "Teddy . . . oh, Teddy . . . Ar-r-rgh."
When Levi hit bottom, he kissed Ted again. Breaking the kiss, he whispered, "I'm going to fill you with some hot Jew genes, Lover." It maxed Ted's senses, for he started hunching against his prince, eager for his load, eager to nut his own. The whole day had been foreplay for each of them, for they felt themselves rushing to climax. They couldn't stop. In no time at all Ted's cock was shooting cum between them, and Levi jammed himself into Ted, his face a study in what looked like pain but was actually ecstasy, both of them singing their passionate release through moans and grunts.
Finally, Levi collapsed on Ted, both gasping for breath. After a few minutes rest - "How could you think I could give this up?" Ted whispered in his lover's ear, but in a way that deliberately made his hot breath tickle Levi.
After a bit, Ted started to roll away. "No, please Ted, just lie here for a little bit. Let me hold you, love you," Levi asked like a little boy. It melted Ted's heart. He reached down with his flat palms slowly stroking them over the hot mounds on his lover's backside and up his back. They lay like that for several minutes.
"Why hasn't Hal gotten rid of us? We all dumped him?" Ted muttered. "That's what got him upset at the gym. I'm sure of it. That's why he's in this funk."
Levi realized for the first time that day how deeply bothered Ted was by Hal's stand-offish behavior the last couple of days. "He hasn't fired us because he needs us," Levi answered simply, running the tip of a finger around one of Ted's nipples. "We moved on to others. He didn't move on from us. Besides, you know how fair Hal is."
Ted looked at him as though he were daft. "That sucks!"
"Pardon?"
"He needs us," Ted started out with a little heat, "so he keeps us around, pays top wages, lends us down payments on cars and pickups and helps with a down payment on a home or money for a screened-in porch as he did for us here, helps us out any way he can if we get in a jam or a bind! What does he get out of it?"
"Not enough," Levi answered softly.
"That sucks!" Ted repeated. "I can't stand it, Levi. I have to do something. I can't let this go on. Hal needs someone. Help me figure out what we can do."
"Sounds like this is going to require some nourishment. A beer wouldn't hurt either," Levi said, arising, grinning. They wiped themselves off, but didn't shower. They'd done that soon after arriving home. Without ever saying anything, they wanted to revel in the smell of their evening's lovemaking. While their dinner restored them somewhat, they came to no conclusions about what to do to help Hal. "Maybe something will happen at the gym the next time we're there," Levi offered, hoping it would buck up Ted's spirits. It didn't. "Did you notice last night at the gym that Hal was eye-balling a blond guy over on the machines. I saw Hal check him out several times."
Ted stared at Levi blankly. "I didn't see anything like that. How'd I miss that?"
Smiling inwardly, Levi wasn't surprised that Ted hadn'g caught that byplay. Ted was usually totally absorbed in whatever he was doing - unless he was upset. "You think this guy might be a possibility for Hal?"
"I dunno - but Hal was clearly interested. It would be great if the guy were into men."
"If he is, he's probably already taken if he caught Hal's attention," Ted said as though defeated. They retired quietly for the night, wrapped around each other.
Ted was quieter than usual the next morning. Levi knew to let well enough alone. Ted would spit out whatever was thinking or feeling when he was ready, Levi already knew it had to do with Hal. It did no good to rush Ted, a classic, macho, self-contained male, not readily sharing his inner universe with others. As special as Levi was, he had to push to get Ted to open up. But Ted's attitude ran to the heart of his being - caring for those who'd won his heart. Levi knew Ted was determined to do something to help Hal. A Peterbilt truck couldn't stop him.
The Construction Site
At the site that morning, Hal showed up in work clothes, climbing up on the roof again to help finish that job. With Kenji's approval, Max walked over to Hal to invite him to accompany them that evening to a Renegades game. Hal smiled, shaking his head yes. An hour hadn't passed when Hal's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his holster, checking the number. Then he climbed back down the ladder and strode over to the construction trailer.
Ted thought a bit after Hal had left the roof, then told Levi he was taking a break. Climbing down the ladder, he didn't know exactly what he was going to say to Hal, but he had to talk to him. Ted appeared in the doorway of the trailer just as Hal was completing his call. Hal looked up, his eyebrows raised in question. "Can I talk to you a minute, Hal?" Ted asked.
"Anytime," Hal answered, neither warmly nor coldly, telling even Ted that Hal was guarding himself.
"I'm worried about you, Hal. And I'm feeling really guilty. I hate it that you are alone. I didn't plan on falling in love with Levi, you know. It happened. I couldn't stop it anymore than I can stop a speeding freight train. It doesn't say anything bad about you, Hal. You're tops to me. You're a great guy. I don't like seeing you all alone, particularly since I'm partly responsible for putting you in that position. Tell me what I can do to help," Ted asked as his words rushed to their conclusion, disclosing Ted's nervousness.
"I don't need a pimp, Ted," Hal said in a carefully modulated voice, but his face had flushed red.
Ted tossed his head. "That's not what I meant, Hal. Don't take it that way. You know I respect you. I still love you. Always have since we were together."
"Not just enough?" Hal asked softly, betraying no emotion in his eyes.
Ted was stymied. He didn't know how to reply, so he said the first thing that came to mind. "I can't believe that you keep going," Ted said. "Tell me your secret. How do you keep even with the world when it offers you nothing that you want or need?"
Hal's face set, the pain etching the furrows there deeper, its hue flushing deeper, this time with anger. "A warning, Amigo. Don't make me look too closely at the cracks in my life, or I might not be there to make it work out for all of you." Hal jumped up and stalked out of the trailer.
Ted was confused. He had never meant to provoke such a reaction. He had meant to convey to Hal that he understood how unfair circumstances were for him, how he wasn't as alone as he might be feeling. Still, Ted knew one thing for certain: he'd just hurt the second-best man in his life - without ever intending to do so. How did he do that? He returned to the roof and Levi, who immediately noted that Ted's withdrawn demeanor had deepened. He was going to have to help Ted figure out that evening that he had to accept Hal's circumstances.
Ted thought for a long time. Gradually, his consciousness evolved to understanding: they were all so caught up in their happiness that they behaved as though they didn't understand how big a role Hal played in that happiness. Hal had obviously thought a lot about how much he was giving all of them. And he wasn't getting anything back that even began to touch what he needed. Hal would never have sounded off the way he did a while ago if he hadn't already been thinking just what he'd said to Ted. It came out too quickly and crisply stated. Because they were all so happy with their partners, Hal didn't think they gave a second's thought to his happiness. They had actually preferred to remain ignorant of that, to keep hands off because each in his own way had abandoned Hal. If they thought too much about Hal, they had to grapple with some guilt. Ted groaned for Hal; he groaned for all the crew. No one had had a clue about how bad it was for Hal. Levi looked up startled when he heard Ted's first groan. He reached out, placing a muscular hand over his lover's rounded shoulder, squeezing to communicate his love. Ted shot him a look of gratitude.
Just before the end of the workday, Hal was once again on his cell phone in the construction trailer. A figure filled the doorway. It was Ted, his face communicating his suffering. 'Damn,' Hal thought, 'I did that to him. I was trying to protect myself after being dumped by all these guys, but all I did was hurt this man who still loves me. It doesn't make me feel better at all.'
Hal ended his call, looking up at Ted. "Yeah, Ted."
"Hal, I'm sorry . . . so sorry about this morning. . . I only meant to tell you that you aren't alone, that we feel for you, want the best for you. I messed it up."
As Ted was speaking, Hal arose and walked to his former lover, pulling him into a tight embrace, mashing their chests together. "You have done nothing to be sorry about, Amigo. It's just that I hit rough waters sometimes. If you are standing around, some of it may splash on you. I have no right saddling you with my problems. So I'm the one who needs forgiveness. Tell me that you forgive me, Ted."
"I do," Ted whispered, "because I love you, Man." They hugged for a while. "It'll get better," Ted whispered, "I know it will."
Hal squeezed him again and then they broke their hug. "See you tomorrow," Hal said.
After Ted left, Hal checked his watch. He had to get going. Max and Kenji were coming by to take him to dinner and a ballgame. When Max first offered the invitation, he'd wanted to turn them down. But he knew he couldn't. Max and Kenji needed to feel that they were helping him and ameliorating the effect of their coming together. After their inaugural date, it was the next gift Hal could give them. Besides, he deserved an evening with his buddies. He rather liked the idea that he'd spend some time with Max and Kenji at someplace other than the gym. Maybe that was the problem: their interactions were too confined to the construction site and Murphy's Gym.
Max, Kenji, and Hal
Fortunately, a few phone calls left Hal almost no time to prepare for the evening with Max and Kenji, so he had little chance to start worrying. Max and Kenji had arranged to pick Hal up at his home. It was too quiet the first ten minutes. Their mingled histories were all too palpable in the cab of the pickup. Hal had clammed up, and Kenji was his usual quiet, shy self, leaving Max to carry the burden of their interaction. Max had quickly adjusted their plans, driving them to Jack's Sports Bar & Grill for dinner. He figured some libations would loosen them up. He was correct. They relaxed over their meal and beer, talking about their favorite sports teams, teasing each other when a rivalry between two teams was noted. Kenji surprised Hal and Max, for he had favorites of his own, and he could talk their stats. As they arose to leave the bar and grill, they felt a warm glow of camaraderie, supported by several beers! Max's reasoning about that had been perfect.
By the time they reached the ballpark, they were buddies just as they were at Murphy's Gym. It remained that way through the ballgame, fading only when they started home. The closer they came to Hal's home, the more he withdrew, and the quieter it was in the cab of the pickup. Hal hated entering his dark home alone, knowing that Max and Kenji would return to their home and make love. He didn't know that his two buddies hated it for him just as much. Again, both of them were feeling guilty.
"Damn!" Max exclaimed in exasperation after they saw Hal unlock the front door of his roomy home, step inside into the darkness, and then saw him illuminated by the foyer light before he closed the front door. "I never knew love and guilt could be companions! Who would have thought that a powerful emotion like love could evoke guilt in equal degree? We humans have to look like fools the way we chase love and run from guilt! I know there just has to be something we can do to help Hal. We have to, Kenji. We just have to." It made the two lovers resolve to help Hal find someone. They didn't know that at that very moment, Hal had resolved to try harder to find someone for himself.
(To be continued.)