Mayfield Magic

CHAPTER 48

FRIENDS

FRIDAY, AUGUST 21

9:00 am



Despite a late night spent rearranging Mason’s room and setting up the new instruments and recording equipment, Mason, Alejandro, and Michael were awake and eating breakfast by nine o’clock. Since there was no guest space in Mason’s small house, Mason didn’t invite friends to come for an overnight. But he had no problem going to overnights at friends’ houses and they were happy to have him. The shy little blond was well-liked by his cadre of friends, most of whom were his teammates. He desperately hoped that his sudden leap into musical stardom wouldn’t affect those relationships.

Madeline Johnson, who hadn’t planned on the overnight guests, made up the sofa bed for Jacob while the boys made do with sleeping in Mason’s room with his twin bed and all the boxes and music equipment that arrived upon Mason’s return from California. She suspected Mason would be having overnight guests, at least one, more frequently now that Alejandro had entered their lives.

She was thankful she had taken two family leave days off from work in order to be home for her son’s return from California; between her days off from work and the weekend, she would have four days to be home for her son. She hoped the family time would be productive and her presence wouldn’t become a burden. She knew she tended to be overprotective at times and that Mason would show his displeasure. While she knew how he felt, she gave him credit for never being rude or sassy. That simply wasn’t Mason’s way of doing things.

Though Madeline had made breakfast for Jacob and herself earlier, she joined the boys at the table to visit.

“How are you boys doing this morning?” Madeline asked. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, ma’am, I slept really well,” replied Alejandro with his best manners. He wanted to impress Mason’s mother. She saw through it and stifled a grin.

“How did the three of you manage to find room to sleep last night?” The last she’d seen the night before when she brought the boys more blankets and pillows was Michael showing Mason how to connect everything and Alejandro was functioning as the assistant.

“It was pretty simple,” explained Mason. “Alejandro and I don’t take up too much space in bed, and Michael’s small enough that he slept across the foot of the bed.” Mason didn’t notice Alejandro blush from the implications he perceived from Mason’s comment.

“That doesn’t sound very comfortable for you, Michael. Did you sleep well?” she asked.

“I slept great,” shared Michael. “I think we all were asleep before our heads hit the pillows.”

She wondered how late they were up but decided she didn’t need to know.

Jacob entered the kitchen to pour himself another cup of coffee as Madeline asked, “Alejandro, how long will you and Michael be staying today?”

Before the boys could shrug their shoulders, Jacob answered, “I spoke to Michael’s father again this morning. He agreed we don’t need to head back until after dinner tonight.”

The three boys cheered and traded “high fives” to celebrate their luck at getting several more hours to spend together.



10:00 am

Aiden woke up at 9:05, showered, ate breakfast, and then texted Mason, telling him that he and Gordy planned to come by his house at around eleven if that was okay.

Aiden had just finished dressing when he received a reply. “11 is good. mom’s gonna buy sandwiches in Centralia on her way home from her visit.”

“I’ll see you at 11,” Aiden replied. Aiden then called Gordy and gave him the message.

“Come by as soon as you’re ready,” Gordy said. “You and I don’t have problems filling in time.”

“I’ll be there in a few.” Aiden lived outside of Mayfield while Gordy lived in town and was on the way to Mason’s house.

Aiden made his bed and then double checked the kitchen to make sure he had put his breakfast dishes into the dishwasher. He went into the garage, walked his bike though the side door, hopped on it, and rode to Gordy’s. He arrived at twenty after ten, meaning they had about a half hour to kill before riding off to Mason’s.

The boys exchanged a hug when Gordy met Aiden at the front door. “I hope you plan on wearing more than what you have on before we ride to Mason’s,” Aiden said, referring to the fact that Gordy was wearing nothing but a pair of blue Hanes boxer briefs.

“Hey, more often than not you’re naked when you answer the door,” Gordy retorted.

“Good point, but I don’t ride my bike naked.”

“Like I was gonna ride through town in just my undies.”

“I was just giving you some shit, dude. I like you in your undies…and less.”

“But that gives me an idea. The Mayfield guys should put together a naked bike ride to Kentburg before the summer ends,” Gordy said.

“I’m the guy who usually gets those whacked ideas.”

“I’ve been learning from the master.” Gordy then pulled his underpants down to his knees, revealing his semi-hard cock and the patch of pubic hair he enjoyed showing off.

“One of these days I’ll have hair like that,” Aiden said.

“I’ll tell ya, it seems to happen quick when it happens.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“I’d better get dressed so we can get going,” Gordy said. He took off for his bedroom and a couple of minutes later came back wearing a Mayfield Middle School Titans t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. “I’ll get my bike and we can get rolling.”

The ride to Mason’s house was a quick four-minute trek. Mason, Michael, and Alejandro were waiting on the front porch as Aiden and Gordy turned their bikes into the front walkway. Mason’s eyes lit up as he watched them dismount.

He hopped off the porch screeching “Aiiiiiiiiiiden!” and wrapped his arms around Aiden, planting a quick kiss on his lips. He then turned and gave Gordy a similar hug and kiss. Michael was right behind sharing in the hugs and kisses for his Mayfield friends.

“It’s great to see my two best friends again,” Mason gushed.

“It’s great to see you, too,” Aiden said.

“Ditto,” Gordy acknowledged.

Aiden turned to Michael. “I thought you guys were heading back last night.”

“We got lucky, I guess,” said Michael with a shrug. “I’m glad we got to stick around so I could see you guys.”

Mason turned and faced the porch. “Come on down and say hi to everybody,” he called out to Alejandro.

Alejandro grinned and stepped down and surprised Aiden by wrapping his arms around him and giving him a heartfelt hug. It was obvious to Aiden that whatever bad blood had come between them in California had been cleared away. Mason introduced Gordy to Alejandro and the two bumped fists.

“Come on into the house,” Mason said. “We can sit in the living room and catch up on what is going on.” They followed Mason into the house. Aiden and Gordy sat on the sofa and Alejandro sat in one of the two overstuffed chairs. Michael copped a seat on the floor leaning back on an arm of Alejandro’s chair. “Anybody want a soda? We got Doctor Peppers, Ginger Ale, and Diet Colas.”

Everybody wanted Doctor Peppers. Mason and Alejandro went to the kitchen and brought back cans of Dr. P’s all but wiping out Mason’s supply. While Mason could have sat on the sofa with his friends, he elected to sit in a chair so he could see them while he chatted with them.

“Dang, Mason, I thought you bought all kinds of fancy new clothes, and you sure as heck aren’t wearing anything new and fancy,” Aiden said as he noted Mason’s Seattle Sounders t-shirt and faded jeans shorts.

“These are my hanging around Mayfield clothes, right Alejandro?” Mason replied.

“Mason’s new duds are going to knock your socks off,” Alejandro said. “But he’s worried peeps are going to give him shit if he starts wearing them to school.” Alejandro looked around. It felt weird cussing in Mrs. Johnson’s home.

“If they do, it won’t be for long,” Aiden said. “Anybody who gives Mason shit knows they’ll have to go through me, Gordy, and Nolan along with most of the other Yard Goats.”

“Once a Goat, always a Goat, right Mason?” Gordy said.

“Yep. We’re all Goats for life,” Mason grinned.

“Show us what your clothes look like,” Aiden said.

Mason took off for his room and returned with some shirts and a couple pairs of pants. He set it all down on the couch and held up a blue and white button down shirt and a pair of dark blue pants. “I was thinking of this combo for the first day of school. What do you think?”

“That’s a nice-looking combo,” Gordy said. “Looks new and it for sure didn’t come from Walmart, but it’s not over the top or anything.”

“If you wore that the first day of school at Pacific Ridge, I’m thinking nobody would think anything of it except that it looks nice,” Alejandro said.

“Yeah, but Mayfield Middle School ain’t fancy like your school,” Mason pointed out.

“You’re right,” Aiden said. “It’s a hundred times better—no offense to East Harbor kids.”

“Heeeeyyyyy!” teased Michael.

“Don’t look at me,” laughed Alejandro. “I don’t live there, though my best friends do.” He looked over at Mason. “Except my best friend ever, of course.”

“Heeeeyyyyy!” teased Michael again.

Alejandro nudged Michael with his knee and joked, “Get over it.”

“Are you going to be staying here for a while?" Aiden asked Alejandro.

“I’m leaving with Jacob right after dinner tonight. School starts Monday. But I’ll be back next Thursday with Michael, Alex, Jaden, and, it looks like, those little twin devils for your big birthday party.”

“Twin devils?” asked Gordy.

“OH! You don’t know!” said Michael. “Alejandro moved into the house next door to the Kendalls!”

“NO WAY!” laughed Aiden. “Are they that crazy all the time?”

“Hey, give Connor and Cooper a break,” Mason said. “They like to have fun and kid around, but they aren’t little devils.”

“Okay, then how about those twin sex fiends?” asked Alejandro correcting himself.

“And your problem is?” Mason looked at Alejandro with a raised eyebrow.

“You know what they’re like,” Alejandro answered giving Mason a similar look.

“I haven’t seen you turn down their sex fun.”

“Give Mason a point on that one,” Aiden grinned. Michael and Gordy laughed.

“I agree,” Alejandro said.

“Let’s talk about it some other time. I see my mom is calling and I’m willing to bet she’s calling about food,” Mason said.

“If it’s about food then it beats out any other topic,” declared Alejandro.

“Alejandro puts food ahead of almost every topic except sex.” Mason answered the phone right after saying sex. “Hi mom. Is this about lunch?” He nodded and then said he was putting her on speaker phone. “Aiden, Gordy, Michael, and Alejandro are here in the living room with me.”

“Hi Mason and hi boys. I’m parked outside Danny’s Sandwich Shop.” Danny’s was a favorite eatery in Centralia. “Starting with Mason and going one at a time give me your names, let me know what kind of sandwich you want, and what you want to drink.”

Mason, Aiden, and Gordy were familiar with the sandwich menu at Danny’s. Knowing his mother would be stopping at Danny’s, Mason had given Alejandro and Michael his recommendations. Mason ordered a roast beef and pickle sandwich. Aiden went for a BLT, Gordy for a chicken leg, and Alejandro copied Mason’s order while Michael ordered a BLT like Aiden. After the boys told their orders, Madeline Johnson told the boys she should be at the house in around an hour. Mason disconnected and said they should all be pretty hungry in an hour.

“It was nice of your mom to buy us all lunch,” Aiden said. He knew that money was tight in Mason’s household. When Mason didn’t comment, Aiden realized that either Mason or Alejandro was paying for the lunch. He elected to keep that bit of knowledge to himself for now.

“Speaking of sex, since it has been mentioned twice, anybody up for a quick circle jerk?” Mason asked. “You know, something to get Alejandro and Michael comfortable around us before Aiden’s party. I’ve told them an Aiden party can get a little bit wild, and I’ve told them the rules about what can be done where.”

“Not as wild as the BaseBrawl Champions party!” laughed Gordy. “But we could try!”

“Did you tell your boyfriend about wanting an orgy for my thirteenth birthday party?” Aiden asked.

“I did. Are we going to do it?” asked Mason.

“Same rules as last year since the dads will be around. And Sammy will be there to keep us from breaking the rules.”

“Sounds like Sammy is going to be playing naked policeman with a boner when he’d probably love to join us in an orgy.”

Talk about Sammy had both Alejandro and Michael’s ears perked up wondering who he was.

Aiden clarified, “My dads are paying him to be good, but he always seems to find a way to get off.”

“What’s the difference between three guys going into a bedroom for a quicky and eight of us, like, sexing together on the pool deck?” Mason asked.

“Privacy,” Aiden answered. Aiden then unbuckled and unzipped his shorts and pulled them and his white Fruit of the Loom briefs off. “We seem to have forgotten about Mason’s jerking off question. I’m ready to do it. It looks like we have at least a half hour and maybe more.”

“Where’s Jacob?” asked Michael.

“He took a walk. He’ll leave us alone until Madeline returns,” assured Alejandro. “I don’t know about you small town boys, but a half hour is more than enough time to give Mason my answer.” His shorts hit the floor before he finished his last sentence.

Tightly squeezed on the sofa, all five boys were soon naked and jerking their adolescent boners. Aiden was the only one of the four with no pubic hair, although Mason’s was a wispy covering above his four and three-quarter inch boner and Michael’s, though darker, was even more sparse. Alejandro and Gordy both had tufts of thick, dark hair in their pubic region.

By silent agreement they followed Mason’s suggestion of having a circle jerk. As a result, there was no mutual masturbation. Mason shot his light cum first with his first two shots hitting just below his nipples. Aiden came a minute later, his watery cum hitting almost as high. Gordy fired his thicker teen cum thirty seconds after and Alejandro blew his wad of mature cum just as Gordy squirted his last drop. Michael was last with several spritzes of clear liquid. Gordy, and Alejandro were thirteen, Mason and Aiden would be turning thirteen in September, and Michael wouldn’t be thirteen until June.

“That was fun,” Gordy said.

“Yeah,” agreed Michael breathlessly.

“Yeah, it was. Welcome to Mayfield, guys,” Aiden grinned. Alejandro nodded and returned the smile.

The five naked boys then crowded into the bathroom and wiped themselves clean. Laughing and jostling around, they managed to wipe themselves off and flushed the evidence down the toilet. They returned to the living room and dressed. Mason and Alejandro sat on the couch and Gordy and Aiden each sat in an easy chair. Michael walked to the front door to gaze out at the small town when he noticed Jacob. Jacob, who had returned and sat unobtrusively on the porch, knew what had happened in the living room, but in his primary role of watching out for the security of Alejandro and Mason, he had kept his focus on the street and not on the adolescent sexual hijinks that had unfolded in the house.

“Well, that wasn’t quite what I expected,” Mason said.

“Does what happened bother you?” Alejandro asked.

“Oh no, not at all. I mean me, Aiden, and Gordy have jerked off and done more together. What happened was us being us and doing what we like to do, with you, my boyfriend, thrown into the mix. I figured Aiden and Gordy were gonna want to hear how my gig ended up.”

“I guess we didn’t ask quick enough,” Aiden said, sounding a bit peeved.

Mason caught the tone of Aiden’s comment. “No, no, it’s all good,” he said. “I’d rather bust a nut with my friends than talk about me, cuz Alejandro would be on my case if me and my singing was all we talked about. Tell them what you say to me when something like that happens, mi amor.”

“I tell him, ‘Remember, it’s not all about you, you know,’” Alejandro said.

“And he’s right. Michael kinda says the same thing but a little more bluntly,” explained Mason.

“Heeeyyyy,” said Michael with a laugh.

Mason continued, “Those two help shrink my head and keep me in line.”

“I can’t imagine you with a big head, Mason,” Gordy said. “You’re always Mister Sweetness and thinking about others before you think about yourself.”

“Aiden was about to think otherwise.”

“I misunderstood what you said, and I apologize for assuming you wanted to do something different,” Aiden said.

“Yeah, well, I probably helped you think that way cuz I assumed you wanted to hear it,” Mason said.

“I learned what assuming really means,” Alejandro said. “It means when we assume it makes an Ass out of u and me. I think it was Michael who told me that.”

“Well, whatever it all means I know I can’t think of a better welcome home meeting with three of my best friends along with my boyfriend than a good old-fashioned circle jerk.”

“Amen to that,” Aiden grinned.

Everybody’s attention turned to the front of the house when they heard somebody stepping on the porch. The five boys had no doubt the person was Mason’s mother with lunch. When she entered the house, they saw they had the “Mason’s mother” half of their thoughts right.

“How about you boys grab the lunch and sodas from my car,” Madeline said.

The four boys hopped out of their chairs and raced out of the front door to help out. Alejandro and Mason weren’t surprised to see Jacob carrying a box of sodas onto the porch and into the house. Ten minutes later Madeline, Jacob, and the boys were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying lunch. The talk was about California, train riding, baseball, the upcoming school year, and middle school soccer turnouts, which would be starting Monday.

Mason, Gordy, and Aiden would all be turning out, which left an empty feeling in Alejandro’s gut. But his school would be fielding a soccer team as well and he was considering turning out. But he knew it wouldn’t be the same as turning out with longtime close friends or even playing in East Harbor with those friends.

“Where’s Nolan?” Mason asked Aiden as he dug into one of the dozen chocolate chip cookies Madeline had purchased at Danny’s along with the sandwiches and sodas.

“He’s been camping with his dad,” Aiden answered. “Not only is school starting after Labor Day, but Nolan’s dad will be back to judging full time then too. They wanted to spend some time together, just the two of them.” Aiden knew how that worked. He loved the time he got to spend with one or the other or both of his dads, whether it was camping, going to a ballgame, hitting at the Centralia batting cages, going to Ocean Shores and the beach, train riding, or just finding ways to hang out. His time with his dads was special and he knew how much Nolan loved the special time he could have with his dad.

“After we finish lunch, mom is going to give Alejandro and Michael a tour of Mayfield, so they know what my hometown is like,” Mason said.

“Since that’s only going to take around ten minutes, if you’ve got nothing planned after that, how about you guys coming to my place for a swim with Gordy and me.”

“Mayfield isn’t THAT small, but it sounds like a plan to me. I figure it should take a half-hour to an hour. What do you think, mom?”

“They’re leaving after dinner as I recall, right?” Madeline asked.

“That’s correct, Mrs. Johnson,” Alejandro replied.

“Cool…then after Alejandro becomes an expert on the ins and outs of Mayfield, mom will drop us off at Aiden’s house,” Mason said.

“It pretty much has to be my house, since I’m the only one of us who has a pool,” Aiden told Alejandro.

“We’ll need swimming trunks,” Alejandro said. Michael nodded.

“We can all swim au natural,” Aiden responded.

Mason and Aiden looked at Mason’s mother for any sign of disapproval. They both knew a year ago she would have freaked out instantly. But now, for the most part, she had accepted the naturist lifestyle of Mason and his friends along with accepting his being gay and having a boyfriend. Still Mason and Aiden wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to have a relapse.

“You need to be considerate of your guests,” she noted.

“It’s cool,” replied Michael. “We swim naked at my house all the time.”

‘Oh, heavens,’ she thought. “You boys have fun,” she said simply. It hadn’t been easy, but she had learned over the last year that life was simpler and her relationship with her son more loving when she accepted life on life’s terms, just like her pastor had said would happen. “I’ll put together a meal of spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and gelato for dinner while you boys have fun.”

“Ohhh, you guys are in for a real treat. My mother makes the best spaghetti and meatballs in Lewis County,” Mason said. “And it’s even better than what the Bear makes. And the garlic bread tops it all off.”

Aiden and Gordy’s visit ended on that note. They took off for Aiden’s house. Alejandro, Michael, Mason, Jacob, and Madeline soon followed them out of the house and climbed in the Lexus SUV rental. Although Madeline had told Aiden and Gordy she was giving Alejandro and Michael a tour of Mayfield, she meant she would be doing it in the role of a tour guide since Jacob would be doing the driving.

As the tour progressed from the business district to the central park, past Mayfield Middle School and Mayfield High School, the athletic fields in the center of town and the athletic fields in East Lake Park, Alejandro found himself loving the small town which had a lot more to it than he had ever imagined. He envied Mason for the life he had away from the hustle and bustle of Southern California. He did miss the ocean however as well as the feel of the bigtime that often predominated in East Harbor. It also made him think about how much he would miss Segovia. Though he only stayed there for a few months, it held strong family connections, and the historic Spanish city had an old-world charm.

Michael, on the other hand, recognized some places he remembered from when they’d driven through Mayfield on their way to pick up Matthew’s things in Mossyrock. But more importantly, the trees and scenery reminded him of what he loved about growing up in Oregon. His mind started to wander back to the previous year, packing to move to East Harbor, and his mother.



10:45 am

Lenny, Lance, Emmett, Grant, Riley, and Skip were shooting hoops at the town park when they saw the shiny Lexus SUV roll slowly past on Main Street. “That don’t look like a local,” Emmett said.

“That’s because it’s not,” Lenny said. “Me and Lance saw it parked in front of Mason’s house when we rode over here.”

“We figured it must belong to Mason’s boyfriend,” Lance added.

“Or at least to his parents.”

“Picky, picky. You know what I meant. We all know that thirteen-year-olds don’t…”

“…own cars. I knew that. We both knew what we meant so I figure everybody else would know, too.”

“Is Mason’s boyfriend thirteen or fourteen?” Grant asked.

“Fuck if I know,” Lenny said. “Since he doesn’t live here there’s no use paying attention. However old he is works for Mason.”

Riley, who’d been standing on the asphalt court listening to the ramblings of his friends turned and fired a shot at the hoop they’d picked to shoot at. He rebounded the ball after it clanked off the front rim. “Let’s play some three on three,” he said. He’d come to play around with his friends, not to yack about a boy he didn’t even know.

“Sounds good,” Grant said. “First team to ten baskets wins. No free throws and call your own fouls. First team to win three games wins the series.” Since he had just quoted the regular rules used in the park pickup games everyone nodded and said they were ready. Now all that was left was to pick teams. They ended up with Lenny, Riley, and Skip on the skins and Lance, Grant, and Emmett on the shirts. When possible, Lenny and Lance were always split and Lenny played on the same team as his boyfriend Riley while Lance played with his boyfriend Grant. Skip and Emmett did the finger matching ritual to see who would be on which team. In this case, if Skip and Emmett matched, Skip would be a skin, and Emmett would be a skin if they didn’t match. They each flashed two fingers and Skip was a skin.

After that it was all about six pubescent boys working up a sweat as they spent the next hour and a half going at each other. They ended up playing five games. The skins won the first two by scores of 10-6 and 10-9. The shirts rebounded from the two losses to win 10-8 and 10-7. The Skins finished the series by winning the fifth game 10-8 to take the series three games to two. They had to give up the court after the last game since a group of high school ninth and tenth graders were waiting to play.

They would probably have quit even if nobody was waiting since they were starving and knew a lunch of mac and cheese with hot dogs would be waiting for them at Riley’s house. Riley called his mom and told her the six of them were on their way.

Riley’s mother, Glenda, was always ecstatic when her son showed up with a passel of friends. The move to Mayfield had changed Riley’s life for the better after his bitter experiences in their previous home.

Glenda had laid out the lunch on the kitchen table and set up the picnic table in the backyard with ice cold lemonade, glasses, condiments, and silverware. The boys loaded their paper plates with hot dogs, buns, and mac and cheese.

They quickly settled in the backyard and talked about their fun hoops games and, with school scheduled to start they caught up on some of the latest small town middle school gossip. The fact that Mason was back in town was a big part of that conversation.

“I can’t believe how that guy went from being Mason to being a big star in like no time ever,” Grant said.

“I hear he’s gotten full of himself,” Emmett said.

“Where did you hear that?” Lenny asked.

“From peeps online.”

“Like they have a clue what’s going on. I doubt those losers could find Mayfield on Google Maps let alone know what Mason is like.”

“Mason is a Goat, and Goats are forever,” Riley said.

Lenny raised his right hand and nodded. The five other boys got the message and when Lenny dropped his hand they all shouted, “LET’S GO GOATS!!!”

“I can’t wait to see him,” Skip said. “I have a feeling that Mason is gonna be the Mason we know because that’s who he is.”

“And I think that makes perfect sense if you said what I thought you said,” Grant said.

“All I know is that I said exactly what I thought I said.”

Nobody could argue with that.



1:30 pm

Aiden and Gordy were standing naked at the shallow end of the pool after swimming laps. They heard a rustling and then saw Alejandro, Mason, and Michael come around the back of the house as Aiden had instructed them in an earlier text.

“Hey guys, the water is great,” Aiden said. “Get naked and join us.”

“Could we get something to drink first?” Mason asked.

“There’s pop in the cooler on the deck.” The three boys took the stairs up to the deck. Each came back with a soda and set them on the patio table. Mason opened his 7-UP, took a long swig, went down the stairs, took off his clothes, and jumped into the pool. Alejandro grabbed a Coke and was soon naked and in the pool as well. Michael chose to grab a lounger and get some sun while the others swam.

“What’s Jacob gonna do while you guys swim?” Gordy asked Alejandro.

“He’ll probably set up a folding chair in the driveway and is gonna sit in it and watch the traffic go by,” Alejandro joked. “But I think he’d prefer to visit with the coaches.”

“What about Mason’s mom?”

“We dropped her off before coming here.”

“There’s not going to be much traffic to watch out there on Lakeshore Road,” Aiden pointed out.

“Jacob said that’s when he has to be most alert—when there’s not many people around.”

“Jacob really thinks somebody is going to try something to hurt you?”

“All he says is he gets paid to make sure Mason and I are secure.”

“What’s he gonna do when I have my party with lots of naked boys and everything?”

“Just like he did at Michael’s celebration party after the Goats won the BaseBrawl: stay out of the way and do his job,” Alejandro responded.

“Sounds boring to me,” Gordy said.

“Trust me, Jacob is never bored.”

While the boys enjoyed naked wrestling, boner grabbing, ass grabbing, and general horseplay in the pool, nothing overtly sexual happened. They were simply young adolescent boys enjoying closeness with their friends. Aiden was particularly impressed with Alejandro’s smooth, toned, athletic body and enjoyed touching it and rubbing it. While he would have loved to see how well the handsome teen kissed, he let Mason have the kisses with his boyfriend. That didn’t stop Aiden from kissing Mason, or Michael and Gordy, for that matter.

They decided to end the pool session at around four-thirty. Larry came home just as they climbed out of the pool. He couldn’t help but pause on the deck and look down at the five amazing examples of young adolescent boyhood. He soon retreated into the house before the boys saw him perving on them.

The quintet went into the basement to shower. Michael took the first shower while Mason led Alejandro into the backroom. Aiden and Gordy followed; all four boys were rock hard.

“Lots of fun will go on in this room at Aiden’s party,” Mason said.

“What kind of fun?” Alejandro asked as if he didn’t know.

“This kind.” Mason stood on his toes and planted a kiss on his boyfriend’s lips, eased him down on the couch, dropped on top of him, and humped his hard cock.

“Um, we have an audience,” Alejandro said as he pointed to Aiden and Gordy who were standing next to the couch busily slapping their hard cocks.

“No worries, I’m not gonna do the private act with them watching, even if they are my best friends.” Mason upped the speed of his humping. His young body had been physically teased all afternoon putting it into hair-trigger mode. It didn’t take long for him to shoot his watery cum over Alejandro’s cock and abs. Alejandro had been on the edge as well. Listening to Mason’s orgasmic groans and feeling his hot cum shoot on him was all Alejandro needed to shoot his thicker cum on Mason and over himself.

Aiden followed that up with light, watery squirts on Mason’s ass. Gordy followed up a few seconds later by shooting his teen cum on Mason’s back. While there had been no overt sex on the pool area all afternoon, all of the naked horseplay had its effect on the pubescent boys.

“Boy, we’re going to need to shower for sure now,” Mason said.

“You speak for yourself and Alejandro. Aiden and I were very sanitary and used you as our target,” Gordy grinned.

“Whatever. We need to make the showers quick since Mason’s mom is gonna have dinner waiting for us and we said we’d do our best to be there on time,” Aiden said.

Michael wrapped a towel around himself and found the boys in the backroom and asked, “What did I miss?” The others just chuckled.

The two cum covered boyfriends rose from the couch and all four boys retreated to the shower area where they quickly washed off the chlorine and cum. Upstairs, Larry noted the time frame between the boys leaving the pool area and the showers coming on and had no doubt what the cause was. He envied the hormone driven young boys and their ability to have quick sex when they could. He was rock hard but would save himself and have his fun with Phil when his hubby arrived home from work.

The five boys were seated for dinner at Mason’s house just after five o’clock. The dinner was first rate. Madeline was an outstanding cook. “I’ve never had a better spaghetti meal,” Alejandro said.

“That’s saying something, Mrs. Johnson,” stated Aiden. “I’ve had Chef Juan’s cooking, and it is superb! But you cook just as good!”

“Well, I don’t have Chef Juan all the time,” explained Alejandro modestly. “Chef Juan lives up in Laguna Beach, so I only get to eat his food when I’m up there, or he comes down for special occasions.”

“Then who cooks for you other times?” asked Aiden.

“Jacob,” stated Alejandro, “if you call it cooking.”

“Oy!” called out Jacob jovially. “Yous will be cooking for yerself if you aren’t careful.”

Aiden, Gordy, Michael, Alejandro, and, of course, Mason, were all well-fed by outstanding cooks. Gordy’s mother, Flo, was a great cook and so was Aiden’s dad, Phil.

But Aiden could read what Alejandro didn’t say, which was that Madeline’s spaghetti dinner was better than Chef Juan’s. ‘Still,’ Aiden thought, ‘just as good as a pro chef has to be pretty fucking good.’

Aiden and Gordy understood that Mason wanted his goodbye to Alejandro. They finished their apple crumble dessert and thanked Madeline for the delicious dinner. Madeline grinned; those boys always impressed her with their manners. Since Mason started middle school she had grown to love his friends. She couldn’t think of his having better friends than the ones he had here in the little town of Mayfield.

Other than Alejandro and Michael, whom she adored, she didn’t know Mason’s California friends. As much as Mason had blossomed in California, she couldn’t imagine his friends there matching the love she saw from his Mayfield friends.

Michael and Mason said their goodbyes to Aiden and Gordy before heading upstairs. Alejandro accompanied Aiden and Gordy to the front porch. Gordy traded a high five with him, wished him a safe journey, stepped off the porch, mounted his bicycle and took off for home. Aiden then gave Alejandro a long, heartfelt hug. “Keep loving Mason,” he said. “You’ll never find anybody better and he loves you more than anybody.” Aiden then left the porch, mounted his bicycle, and headed for his home.

As Alejandro watched his new friend pedal away, he thought about how quickly Aiden changed from disliking and distrusting him to becoming a special friend. That change was proof to him that Aiden had a big heart. It also verified that the award Aiden had received at Outfest was well deserved.

Alejandro passed Michael in the hallway as he headed to Mason’s bedroom. Michael had exchanged goodbyes with Mason and headed downstairs to wait with Jacob while the young couple said their farewell. Alejandro found the bedroom where he and Mason traded hugs and kisses. Mason fought back tears. “I love you so much,” he told his boyfriend. “I’ll miss you terribly.” A few tears finally rolled down his cheeks.

“Nothing to cry about. I’ll be back on Thursday. You’ll be fine until then,” Alejandro said as he wiped away his boyfriend’s tears.

“Well, it is less than a week. But it still won’t keeping me from missing you.”

“Or keep me from missing you. But now, like it or not, I’d better be going. We’re scheduled to leave Centralia at six-thirty.” Alejandro picked up his carry-on bag and headed for the bedroom door.

When the boys returned to the living room, Jacob and Madeline were sitting on the sofa chatting. Jacob stood up and took Alejandro’s bag, said goodbye to Madeline and Mason, and went out the front door where Michael sat on the front steps. Alejandro walked over to Madeline and gave the shorter woman a big hug. “Thanks for making this a great visit. I love you, Mama Madeline.”

“I love you, too, Alejandro. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend to Mason.”

Mason walked out the front door with Alejandro and escorted him to his SUV. He gave his boyfriend a hug and a quick kiss and watched him sit in the passenger seat. He waved as the SUV pulled away and didn’t stop until it was out of sight.



7:05 pm

Aiden sat in the rec room with Larry and Phil watching the Mariners against the Cardinals at St. Louis. The Mariners had a 6-4 lead going into the top of the ninth inning. Larry and Phil were eating leftover chicken casserole from the night before while Aiden enjoyed an oatmeal raisin cookie and a glass of milk.

The Millers had missed the first five innings but knew from the commentary by the announcers as well as from the box score posted on Mariners.com that Marty was one-for-three with a walk, an RBI double, and a run scored.

“He’ll be American League Rookie of the Year for sure with a shot at MVP,” Aiden said. Marty led AL rookies with a .294 batting average, 32 home runs and 91 RBI in 125 games played. Toss in 26 doubles and 77 runs scored and he had an excellent shot at AL ROY. The Mariners had a 76-51 record and led the AL West with a 2.5 game lead over the Houston Astros going into the game.

The Mariners went scoreless in the top half of the ninth and had had to work out of a two-out bases loaded jam. Mario Diaz, the closer, had struck out the first two batters and then gave up a single and two walks before getting Cardinal cleanup hitter Mike McKay to hit a weak popup to left to end the game. Since the Astros had won their game, the M’s kept their lead at 2.5 games.

“So, Mason looked like he was doing okay,” Larry said. He and Phil had talked in bits and pieces with Aiden about his day, but now that the game was over they could get into a little more detail.

“He was bright and shiny,” Aiden responded. “He seems to have a lot more confidence. It’s obvious he’s loving being a performer. And he and Alejandro can’t look at each other without making goo-goo eyes or something. Mason seems as happy as I’ve ever seen him.”

“How is his mom handling all of this?” Phil asked.

“Well, I can tell you guys have taught her a lot about having a gay son. She really likes Alejandro.”

“I have to wonder if she might be a bit uptight about Mason and his sudden burst into being a singing star,” Larry said.

“Not that I could see. She seems to be really proud of him. But I was only there with her for a couple of hours. Like you and Dad like to say, ‘More shall be revealed.”

“I know Alejandro is Mason’s boyfriend, but he couldn’t ask for a better friend than you’ve been in the Mayfield world.”

Aiden felt a flush of embarrassment flow through him. “Thanks, Pop.”

“And your dad and I want to remind you that your dad and I will be leaving in the morning for the coach’s conference in Olympia.”

“No worries, I remembered. I think I’m going to go to my room and do some reading.”

“Reading? Not writing?” Phil asked.

“I’ve been meaning to read ‘The Twelfth Angel’ since the BaseBrawl. It played a role in us winning and even though I know it’s not true, I feel like I was the only person on the Goats who hasn’t read it.”

“As you know, I’ve read it,” Larry said. “It’s a sad but inspiring book and I think after you wipe away the tears, you’ll be moved by the courage shown in the story and will happy that you were able to experience it.”

Larry and Aiden were discussing “The Twelfth Angel” by Og Mandino. The book and the watchwords of little Timothy Noble, who was the twelfth and last player picked to play for the Angels Little League baseball team in the township of Boland, New Hampshire, was their main topic of discussion. Timothy never tired of saying, “Never give up, never, never, give up.”

While Aiden was prepared for a sad ending, his teammates, friends, and his fathers, had told him to have a hanky ready. It wouldn’t be the first time he had read a sad book. What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was for the sadness to be a gut-wrenching sadness that would hit him at personal level.

Next: Many Kinds of Friends