Doing Hard Time

[kcm17480]

Don't worry about it. Just get yourself well, that's the most important thing. After all we're not the writers just the receipients of your wonderful craft.

 

[superdude10]

No problem. Hope you feel better soon.

 

[arogersb]

I apologize for the long delay. I'm feeling much better now, and hope to get this story back on track. I can't believe this is the 200th post in this thread. More on that, at the end of this chapter.

~ Chapter 29 ~​

From the Narrative of Harrison Ridgeway IV:

“Come on, Mom, we’ve got to hurry,” I said impatiently. “Josh needs me back at the café.”

Mom appeared from her bedroom to declare, “It’s not me who isn’t ready.”

Sighing loudly, I knocked on Reid’s door. “Reid! You’re taking longer than a girl to get ready.”

The door opened. I narrowed my eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re going to the party dressed like that?”

“I’m not going,” stated Reid.

“Huh? And why not?” I asked.

Reid looked morose. “Because there’s absolutely no reason I should go.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, puzzled. “You maintained your second placing in the Surf Fest.”

“Yes, yet again. It’s getting embarrassing.”

I was incredulous. “Are you telling me you’re not going because you’re sulking over not winning?” I started to laugh, stopping hastily when Mom shot a glare at me.

“Reid,” Mom said gently, “It’s not a big deal. Second place is still an achievement, especially with so many more contestants this year.”

“Yeah, and besides, you do own half the café. You’re one of the hosts of the party. You’ll be missed if you don’t come,” I added.

Reid didn’t look convinced.

Mom tried another tactic. “Joshua and Harrison are going to be busy with their duties at the party. Someone needs to keep me company.”

If anything could have persuaded Reid, this was it. I saw him wavering and went in for the kill. “You know how Mom is – she can’t be trusted on her own. She’ll get up to all sorts of mischief if you don’t tie her down.” I risked another glare from Mom, hiding my grin as I did so.

Before Reid could reply, Mom said, “It’s decided then. You should wear this to the party.” She produced a dark blue embroidered shirt.

Reid stared at her open-mouthed. “How did you know – I hadn’t even decided to come!”

Mom smiled widely. “Let’s put it down to women’s intuition. Now don’t keep everyone waiting. Go and get changed quickly.” She handed the shirt to him and practically chased him into his room.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the helpless look Reid gave me before the door closed. “Poor Reid didn’t stand a chance against you, Mom,” I told her.

Mom put her hands on her hips and looked at me. “Well, I couldn’t let the poor boy sit around the house and mope. He needs to go out and enjoy himself.”

I surprised her by giving her a quick hug. “What was that for?” she asked.

I shrugged. “You’re right, Reid needs to have some fun; meet someone new. And this party is a great opportunity for him to do just that, but he wouldn’t have agreed to come if not for you. So that’s what the hug was for.”

“Well that was nice, but what’s this about Reid meeting someone new?” Seeing the look on my face, Mom said, “Harrison! He said he doesn’t want to be introduced to anyone. Don’t tell me you’re up to-”

I laughingly calmed her down. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to push him into anything. We’ll watch and see how it goes, okay?” She still looked suspicious, so I added, “The worst possible thing that could happen is he’ll have to spend his time at the party talking with a middle-aged woman. Does that sound so bad?” I knew she couldn’t disagree with me.

***​

“Harry, there you are!” Josh raised his voice to be heard over the music and the crowd. “You took forever.”

I made my way through the crowd to the counter where he was. “Sorry, Reid didn’t want to come at first, but with Mom’s help he changed his mind. What did I miss?”

“Nothing much really. Could you help with that tray? Thanks. Oh, your friend Dean arrived while you weren’t here.” I rapidly scanned the crowd and located Dean at the far end of the bar. I couldn’t see Marc with him.

“Didn’t Marc come with him?” I asked Josh.

“If you mean his boyfriend, yeah, he did. I didn’t catch his name but he seems to be one of those journalistic types, writes for some magazine or other.”

“Newspaper,” I corrected. At his enquiring look, I explained, “He writes for the Corona Times.”

“Oh, right. Anyway, he’s going around interviewing people and taking photographs. They were both asking about you.”

“Okay then, I’ll go and say hi to them.”

I turned to go, when Josh put his hand on my shoulder. “Hold on there, who’s going to distribute these canapés then?”

I felt my face redden. “Sorry, I got a little carried away. I’ll serve the canapés first, and then only go to greet the guys. But if my serving path takes me past Dean or Marc, I can’t help but say hi to them, right?” I asked innocently.

Josh grinned. “Sounds like a fair deal to me.”

Of course I didn’t purposely take advantage of his leniency. I actually finished serving more than half the tray before I reached Dean, who smirked when he saw me approaching.

“I didn’t realize you’d given up the accounting profession to take up waiting tables?” he joked.

“Very funny. I’m just helping out Josh; he’s short of hands tonight.”

Dean took in the crowd of people in the café and the extra tables placed outside. “I’ll say,” he agreed.

“So are you enjoying yourself? How come you aren’t following Marc around?”

“He’s in full professional mode tonight. I’d probably be a nuisance to him.” He lowered his voice. “I wanted to say hi to Reid. But he’s looking … I don’t know …”

“Sulky?” I supplied. “Well, he’s kind of upset about the championship results.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. “But he won second place, right? What’s so upsetting about that?”

“Exactly what I told him. My mom and I had to literally drag him to this party.”

“In that case, maybe I should go and talk to him. I probably would not be the best person to cheer him up. Although I must say, the sight of Reid at the Surf Fest, when he was wearing just those low-hanging boardshorts? That definitely cheered me up.” He winked at me.

I laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re regretting your earlier decision.”

Dean shook his head. “Nah, I love Marc. He’s cute in his own special way.”

“I’m glad to hear it. At least I can consider it my one success in matchmaking.”

“Uh, don’t look now, but I think your boyfriend’s signaling to you to continue serving.”

I looked dismally down at the tray. “And here I was thinking he was going to let me have it easy. After all, I am only here on a voluntary basis.”

Dean laughed. “Now you know how the real world works. Your boyfriend may be great in bed, but at work he’s a slave-driver.”

“What makes you so certain he isn’t one in bed as well?” was my parting shot.

***​

Just as I finished unloading my tray, I felt someone tap on my shoulder. I turned around to find Marc.

“Hi, Marc. I’m sorry I couldn’t talk to you earlier but …” I noticed he was looking anxious. “Is something wrong?”

He shifted from one foot to the other. “I don’t know how to say this but … well, you were the one who changed Dean’s mind about taking me back.”

I interrupted, “I don’t think he needed much persuading.”

He continued, “I need your advice. I’m in a bit of a dilemma.” He gazed at me intently, and I could see from the pleading look in his eyes that, whatever he was going to say, he wanted me to side with him.

I sighed. “Despite what you might think, I’m not the best person to go for advice. But if you really want it, go ahead and shoot.”

“Can we … go somewhere a little more private?”

I nodded and led him to the backroom. Shutting the door, I turned to look at him enquiringly.

Marc took a deep breath and began, “Well … It’s like this. You have to understand, this happened before I thought there was the slightest chance Dean and I would get back together.”

I didn’t like the sound of this. “Don’t tell me, you went and slept with someone else.”

Marc was shocked. “What? No! Of course not. It was nothing like that. I’ve learnt my lesson about that.”

“Okay then, what is it?”

Avoiding looking me in the eye, he said quickly, without stopping, “I went for an interview with another newspaper. The job they were offering was a lot better than the one I have now. Better salary, perks, you name it. I didn’t expect to get it, but then, just a few days ago, they wrote back, offering me the job.” He looked at me expectantly.

That didn’t sound at all bad to me. I voiced my thoughts. “But … that’s good news, right?”

Marc screwed up his face before adding, “This job … it’s with the Chicago Herald.”

I unintentionally raised my voice. “Do you mean to say this job is in Chicago?”

Marc looked unhappy. With an effort, I lowered my voice and continued, “What does Dean think about this?” From the look on Marc’s face, I already knew the answer. “You haven’t told him yet.”

“I didn’t dare to tell him. We’ve only been back together a couple of weeks now and this … this could ruin everything.” He looked at me helplessly.

Trying to think calmly, I asked, “Okay, how do you think Dean will feel about this?”

“You know what he’ll think. He’ll feel that I’ve let him down again. I don’t want to. I really want him to come with me, move to Chicago. But I know he won’t agree to that. He has his parents, his own dream job, all right here in Corona Beach. He would never …”

“Then you know what you have to do,” I cut in.

“But … a job with the Herald is the opportunity of a lifetime! And the pay is excellent!” he whined.

I glared at him. “Your dilemma, as you put it, consists entirely of you choosing between more money and your boyfriend, supposedly the love of your life.”

“He is the love of my life; it’s just that -” He was at a loss for words. “Please don’t look at me like that,” he begged.

I sighed heavily. “I suppose I really can’t judge you – I’ve never been put in a similar situation before. But if I were, and I had to choose, I would pick Josh. I’ve never done much for him, not the way he’s helped me out. I would like to say I could never think of leaving him, but then again I already have my dream job right here in Corona Beach. This is a decision you have to make for yourself, Marc. But I think your choice should be obvious.”

Marc was silent. Then he said quietly, “I love Dean. Losing him the first time showed me just how much I did. I don’t want to go through that again. I suppose I’ll have to reject the job offer.”

I patted his arm sympathetically. “Maybe you can talk it over with Dean. You never know he might just agree-”

He smiled sadly at me. “We both know it wouldn’t work out that way. What’s a job with one of the country’s top-ranked newspapers anyway? It doesn’t hold a candle to Dean.” I knew he was trying to console himself, so I didn’t say anything.

He spoke instead. “You probably have to get back to the party. Go ahead.”

I looked at him in concern. “Are you sure -”

“Yeah, I’ll be okay.” He gave a dazzling smile that would have given Reid a run for his money. But I knew he wasn’t really happy. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile and left, a little reluctantly.

Outside I bumped into Josh. “Oh, sorry. Is there anything else you want me to serve?”

Josh smiled. “No, you can take a little break now. Hey, isn’t that your boss over there?”

I looked in the direction he was pointing. Sure enough, Mr. Fernley was making his way through the crowd towards the counter. Something Josh had said struck me.

“Wait a minute, how did you know what Mr. Fernley looks like?”

Josh blinked. Then he quickly said, “Oh, everyone in Corona Beach knows what Mr. Fernley looks like. I mean, he is one-half of the town’s No. 1 accounting firm.”

“Oh.” His answer was convincing enough, but somehow I felt something was amiss. I was distracted from my train of thought by Mr. Fernley’s arrival at the counter.

“Good evening, Harrison. I see why you had to request half the day off. This party must have required some organizing.”

“Uh, yes, sir. But it wasn’t really me who did most of the organizing; it was my boyfriend here.”

Josh extended his hand. “Joshua Spencer.”

Mr. Fernley shook Josh’s hand. “Adrian Fernley.”

I noticed Mom, who was sitting at the counter, looking our way. “Oh and this is my mother, Marcia Ridgeway.”

“Marcia Sedgwick,” she interjected. She was still in the process of divorcing her husband, but she chose to give her maiden name instead. I watched curiously as Mr. Fernley shook Mom’s hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Sedgwick,” replied Mr. Fernley.

“The pleasure is all mine. I was hoping to thank you in person for the lovely roses you sent me while I was in hospital.”

I was amazed to see a slight blush tinge Mr. Fernley’s cheeks. It suddenly dawned on me that Mr. Fernley could only be three or four years older than my mother.

“I actually sent those on behalf of the office,” said Mr. Fernley, betraying the slightest discomfiture. “Your son was very upset by your unfortunate hospitalization and all of us at F&A were very pleased to hear you made a full recovery.”

“Well, thank you for your concern.”

Mr. Fernley cleared his throat, and looked around. “I meant to introduce my nephew to you, Harrison. But he has disappeared with his girlfriend, let me see …”

I spotted Liz easily, and the guy talking to her.

“Is that him over there?” I asked.

“Hmm? Yes, that’s him. Carter!” called Mr. Fernley. The guy talking to Liz turned towards us. And that was the first time I saw Carter Holborn.

As a rule I didn’t like guys with long hair. Carter was an exception. In any case, Carter’s blond hair wasn’t really that long, only slightly above his shoulder. I have received many compliments about my blue eyes from people. But I found myself being drawn to Carter’s exquisite green eyes. They weren’t the dark, emerald green you so often read about. Carter’s eyes were a more natural light green, the color of new leaves. They complimented his blond hair and bronzed Greek-god looks perfectly. I found myself agreeing whole-heartedly with Reid that Carter was a Class-A hunk.

Mr. Fernley’s voice cut into my thoughts. “Harrison, let me introduce you to my nephew, Carter Holborn. Carter, this is Harrison Ridgeway.”

“Nice to meet you.” Even his voice was damned sexy. Harrison, he is straight! And your boyfriend is right next to you, my mind screamed. This has got to stop, I told myself.

Finding my voice, I said, “Uh, yeah, same here.” Despite my best attempts, I found myself drawn once again to those gorgeous green eyes, drowning in their grassy depths … snap out of it, Harrison!

Mr. Fernley rescued me by saying, “You know, I’m quite sure I saw Phil near the entrance. Did you -”

“Yes!” I was so eager to get away from Carter’s hormonally-charged presence that I didn’t realize I’d practically shouted the word out. I tried to cover up my slip by giving a small smile. “I was the one who asked him to come, so I think I’d better go and talk to him. You can all keep chatting.”

Without another word I hurried away from the group. I could feel their curious stares on my back. Even Reid, who’d been distractedly swirling his drink, had looked up when I’d made a fool of myself. I was relieved to see Phil’s brown-haired head near the entrance, just like Mr. Fernley had said.

Phil grinned when he saw me. “Harrison! I’ve been looking all over for you. I even saw Mr. Fernley, but not you. Where’ve you been?”

“I was in the backroom, talking with a friend,” I replied.

Phil gave me a quick once-over. “I see your boyfriend has you dressed in a cute uniform. He must know that I love men in uniform.”

I raised my eyebrows. “I thought you loved surfer boys … and the less clothes the better.”

Phil said seriously, “Well, that’s convenient for a quickie. But then peeling off the uniform can be the best part.”

I laughed. It was hard not to when Phil was around. I rapidly forgot about the brief moment when the sight of Carter Holborn had set my pulse racing.


From the Narrative of Reid Scott:

There had been absolutely no reason why I should have attended this party in the first place. I’d tried to point that out to both Harrison and Marcia, but neither of them had listened. And that left me alone on my stool, watching the crowd mill around. I was bored to tears.

At least there was one interesting scene going on. I watched the interaction between Marcia and Adrian Fernley in amusement.

Grinning, I turned to Josh and whispered, “Are those two flirting?”

There was no reply. He was staring distractedly at something. I followed his line of vision and saw Harrison talking with a handsome, dark-haired guy. It appeared Marcia and Adrian weren’t the only ones flirting. Worriedly, I looked back at Josh.

I could immediately read the expression on his face. I’d suffered from the same feeling when I first saw Josh and Harrison kissing. I knew that Josh, who was otherwise the most perfect guy imaginable, had one flaw – he was prone to jealousy.

I cursed Harrison’s foolishness. What on earth had possessed him to flirt openly with another guy right in front of Josh? I truly regretted that Josh had never been able to feel about me the same way he felt about Harrison. At one time, I’d begrudged Harrison for it. But now that I’d gotten to know Harrison, I discovered that I had grown quite fond of the little guy. I didn’t like to see him dig his own grave, and hurt Josh in the process.

I decided that I had to do something about the situation. I got up and headed in Harrison’s direction.

“Hey, Harrison,” I said as I reached the giggling pair. Harrison looked up guiltily at the sound of my voice. So the idiot did realize what he was doing.

I said pointedly, “I think you’re needed at the counter.” Harrison looked towards the counter, and Josh, and nodded mutely.

“I’ll catch you later, Phil,” he said to his friend, and walked off.

I turned to Phil, intending to give him a piece of my mind for flirting with Josh’s boyfriend. But when I got a good look at him, I forgot all about ticking him off. I hadn’t noticed earlier just how good-looking he was. A little pale, perhaps, but I found the alabaster complexion quite intriguing, paired as it was with straight dark-brown hair and deep brown eyes.

I hoped I was keeping my attraction to myself, because Phil was unable to tear his eyes away from me.

I said gruffly, “It’s rude to stare.”

Phil seemed to come to his senses. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” I noted the slight accent he had. It was undeniably sexy, not that I was going to let him know that I thought so.

“So how do you know Harrison?” I asked.

“We, uh, we work in the same division at F&A. I’m Philippe Montpellier. Except most people around here call me Phil.” He seemed to warm to his topic. “Americans are fond of short names.”

“From which I gather you’re not American.”

He shook his head. “No, I’m French.”

“Ah, that explains the accent.”

For some unknown reason he blushed. The pink tinge to his pale cheeks made him even cuter.

He must have realized it was his turn to speak. “So, what’s the short version of your name?”

“Don’t have one. It isn’t possible when your name is a monosyllable.”

“The monosyllable being …?” Damn, his accent made even the most boring word like ‘monosyllable’ sound erotic.

“Reid.”

He enquired, “Do you have a last name to go with that?”

“Yes, Scott.”

This provoked a flash of emotion in him which I couldn’t quite place. He recovered quickly and retorted, “Further proof that Americans love short names. Do you have a name that isn’t a monosyllable?” I found myself wishing that he would keep saying that word.

“My middle name is Emerson,” I offered.

“That’s a nice name,” he said. Then, unexpectedly, “You won second place in the Surf Fest.”

“Yes.” I didn’t think anyone would recognize me. I did appear different in person than I did on a surfboard. Besides, people usually only had eyes for the champ, not that I begrudged Carter for being both gorgeous and a master on his board.

“I watched you, earlier today. You were wonderful, especially when you did that … swan dive? Is that what you call it?”

I laughed. “You mean a duck dive. Do you actually know anything about surfing?”

He looked down, embarrassed. “No.”

“I thought not. You couldn’t possibly be on a board much with that complexion. So why do you watch surfing?”

“For the cute guys,” he admitted, sounding forlorn. For some reason, it tugged at my heartstrings.

I surprised myself by asking, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

He shook his head. “No, but I know what you’re hinting at.”

“I’m not hinting at anything!” I defended myself with some annoyance. It had only been a few minutes ago that I’d been about to admonish him for flirting with Harrison.

Subdued, he said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to anger you. It’s just that … I find you very hot.” He avoided looking at me as he said that. His shyness shouldn’t have been appropriate for a guy of his age (I assumed he was around my own age) but it bewildered me that I found it strangely appealing. Maybe because it reminded me a little of the first time I’d met Josh.

I asked, “Do you want to go for a walk on the beach? It’s kind of noisy in here.”

He looked at me as if he couldn’t quite believe this was happening to him. “Yes.”

“Okay, I just have to tell someone so that they won’t be looking for me.”

He nodded eagerly. I looked around. Josh was the nearest, so I approached him. “Josh, I’m going for a walk on the beach, okay?”

“You’re going alone?” he asked.

“No, with someone.”

Josh looked behind me, towards Phil who was looking anxiously in our direction.

He raised his eyebrows. “I see. Sure.”

“Okay, thanks. I’ll catch you later.”

I turned to go, when Josh’s voice called me back. “Reid?”

“Yeah?”

“Have a nice time. You deserve it.” He didn’t wait for my reply, which was just as well, because I didn’t know what to say.

I walked back to Phil. “Okay, let’s go.”

He looked tentatively at me, and then quietly slipped his hand into mine. I was surprised, but pleased. Together we walked out of the café, and into the moonlit night outside.

To be continued …​

To think this story was never meant to progress beyond the part where Josh and Harrison get together after the latter is released from prison ... and yet here we are, at the twenty-ninth chapter, with more to come. This chapter is a little wordy, more on the conversational side. But I love it because of the last scene - Reid is my favorite character and giving him a romantic interest is nice. The twist will be in the next chapter ... plus some sex (my goodness, it's been a while since the characters had sex, isn't it? Time to make up for that, lol ) Hopefully the next chapter will be ready sometime in the middle of next week.

Until then, please keep your comments coming! I haven't said it enough, but thank you for being such wonderful readers!

 

[robbieadam]

Thanks a lot for the update. Excellent chapter and I'm looking forward to the next.

 

[kcm17480]

Josh has a jealous streak does he? This could get him in trouble. Great chapter,.

 

[Wolfowitz]

(shivers in delight)

I need my fix, man! I need my fix!

Great job, I'm most intrigued by the character Phil, I see some deeper stuff he's got going on, I can't wait to see it develop.

Just thinking aloud here, I think it would be interesting to see a Bisexual character thrown into the mix.

 

[Craiger]

Good chapter, Justin. It ties everything together so well. Obviously there are a few new romantic things happening which make it even more exciting. Could Marcia and Mr. Fernley become an item??? How cool is that... And I agree with you that it is time for Reid to have some outside interests... Eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

Craiger

 

[mexamor]

Another fine chapter, this is very good and i like harrison's bit of guile...

 

[kainalu]

Hi, im kinda new here, but i had to drop by. i NEVER feel emotion watching tv, reading, etc... but you suprised me. it was weird that i should actually feel emotions when its just a story (correct that, no -just- in there)

anyway the reason i posted is because i wanted to tell you that the story here, and this community in general on this site convinced me to go completely out (from 3 ppl previously). I was amazingly well accepted, no-one had anything negative to say. it was GREAT. i only hope now that i can have a relationship like Josh and Harrison.

cant wait to see the rest...



KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK

Kainalu

 

[arogersb]

Wow, Kainalu, I'm very honoured that you found my story so inspiring. I'm sure I speak on behalf of our entire community here at JUB that we are all happy to have been of any help. I'm glad that your coming-out went well and that you actually took the trouble to tell us about it.

Thank you for all your kind comments and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!

Justin

 

[arogersb]

~ Chapter 30 ~​

From the Narrative of Joshua Spencer:

I watched Reid leave with the handsome, dark-haired guy. I guess I was happy for Reid, but I was also very confused. I could have sworn that the guy had been flirting with Harry. Had I been reading too much into their interaction?

I quietly approached Harry and put my arms around him from behind. “Hello, handsome.”

Without turning around, he said, “You do know that it was this public display of affection that got me into trouble in the first place.”

My smile faded and my grip around his waist automatically loosened. “Do you regret it?”

He twisted his head around to face me and grinned. “Regret it? I regret that it didn’t happen sooner.”

I saw the way he was gazing at me lovingly and decided I was being a stupid jealous bitch. I softly kissed his hair and whispered, “Reid left the party, with your friend.”

He didn’t seem surprised by the news. Instead he mused, “You know, I’m really quite amazed how well that worked out; I didn’t even have to introduce them.”

I was thrown by this revelation. “You mean … you were planning to set them up from the beginning?”

“Well … it did occur to me when Phil mentioned his attraction to surfers. But I didn’t want to be obvious since Reid was quite clear he didn’t want to be set up again after the last mishap. I was still considering how I would draw them together when Reid did it for me.”

I felt like an utter idiot. Harry had planned to bring together Reid and Phil all along. That explained Phil’s willingness to go off with Reid. It also showed me how untrusting I was of my boyfriend.

I decided to focus on Reid’s love life than my own guilt for suspecting Harry of cheating on me. “Do you think they will hook up?”

Harry shrugged. “They seem to be off to a promising start. And they’d make a cute couple, don’t you think?”

“Well, the other guy was a few inches shorter than Reid … how old is he?”

“Um … thirty, I think.”

“Thirty? But that’s -”

“Old?” he interrupted. “For your information, that’s only four years older than Reid – which, if I may point it out, also happens to be the age difference between you and him.”

“Well …” I didn’t have an answer to that.

“C’mon,” Harry cajoled, “be happy for him.”

“I am. Of course I am. It’s just that …”

“You want Reid to be attached to you always?” He said it lightly, but it still rang out like an accusation to me. I could feel his brilliant blue eyes piercing me. And it scared me because deep down, I knew he was right. I was used to having Reid around the house and at the café. It was hard to imagine that one day he might move out to be with a new boyfriend. But how was I going to admit to Harry I felt that, in a way, Reid still belonged to me?

I looked up and he was still staring at me, expecting an answer. I was rescued by the sound of a female voice from behind him. “Well, if it isn’t Harrison Ridgeway! I certainly didn’t expect to see you here.”

Harry turned around, albeit reluctantly, but not before giving me a look that said, this is not over.

The plump young woman who had uttered those life-saving words had frizzy black hair and an olive complexion that indicated Hispanic heritage. Harry was staring at her in puzzlement.

“You don’t remember me?” she asked. Her smile was a little too wide and seemed fake. “Carmen Olivares.” She said it as if she expected it to immediately trigger Harry’s memory. When it became clear it didn’t, her smile faded a little.

“I went to Harvard with you, though I was in the year below you.” she supplied. “I was friends with your girlfriend, Melissa?”

Now recognition dawned on Harry’s face. He didn’t look too happy about it.

“Melissa isn’t my girlfriend any longer,” he said stiffly.

Carmen gave me an appraising look. “So I see. It serves that bitch right.”

Harry looked confused. “But I thought you were her friend.”

Carmen waved a hand dismissively. “Trust me; no one could be friends with that bitch for long. You did yourself a service by getting out of her clutches. Besides, this guy here is way hotter than she was. I can see why you – how should I put it – changed teams?”

I could see that Harry wasn’t quite sure how to respond to her remarks. “Uh, actually, Melissa and I broke up long before things happened with Josh here. You … you may recall what happened, with her brother Mike and …”

She nodded. “Yes, I did read about that in the papers. It didn’t surprise me that she took his side – those two were so close it was creepy. I’m surprised you didn’t see it sooner.”

Harry sighed. “I didn’t see a lot of things clearly back then.” He gave me an affectionate glance. “I’m glad to say that now I do.”

Carmen didn’t seem to be paying much attention to what Harry was saying. “Well, like I said earlier, serves psycho-Melissa right.” She gave another too-wide grin. “I’ll see you around; I’m down here for a few days since my boyfriend is competing in the Surf Fest.”

“Oh, right. I’ll see …” Harry began to say, but Carmen had already disappeared into the crowd. Harry looked at me helplessly.

I asked, “What was that about?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, but it was disturbing. I mean talking to a friend of Melissa’s.”

“Former friend,” I corrected.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t what I meant. Being reminded of her …” I knew he was referring to Melissa, not Carmen.

I felt a little dizzy. What was he getting at? “Are you saying you still have feelings for her?” I'd completely forgotten that Harry had ever had a relationship with a girl.

Harry was shocked. “What? No! I meant, I never wanted to hear or think about her again.”

“Oh …” I was relieved. I must have been still stressed out from the earlier scene, when I’d thought Harry was flirting with Phil. “I’m sorry, baby.”

He didn’t realize I was apologizing for suspecting him. He shook his head and said, “It’s not your fault. It was that Carmen’s. I mean, how weird was that? Coming up to me, who she barely talked to when we were at Harvard, just so that she could bitch about her former friend.”

“Well, some people are shallow that way.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

I said with a straight face, “Just imparting some of my vast knowledge of human behavior.”

Harry laughed. Then he glanced at me. “I haven’t forgotten what we were discussing earlier, you know.”

I swallowed.

“We’ll talk about it later, okay?” He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and a disbelieving look in the direction of Marcia and Mr. Fernley, before walking over to help Liz.

I was left to prepare my defense.


From the Narrative of Reid Scott:

I loved the pattern the moonlight made on the crests of waves. Lately I’d found myself spending more time on the beach. That’s saying a lot, since I already spend a significant amount of time on the beach.

The silence was more pronounced as we walked further away from the café. I let Phil lead the way.

“You’re very quiet,” I observed.

Phil seemed startled out of his reverie. “People usually say I talk too much.”

“So what’s wrong now? Cat got your tongue?”

He looked down and shuffled his feet, scattering a fine spray of sand. “I don’t know, but … I think it might be you.” He gave me a shy, sideways glance.

I felt a strange warm fuzziness envelop me. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. It had always been, “Your place or mine?” or “Do you top or bottom?” Well, not that I had expected any real relationship when I was picked up by strangers at sleazy bars.

I kicked off my shoes and, lifting one foot up at a time, peeled off my socks.

“What are you doing?” Phil asked curiously.

I rolled up the bottom of my jeans as I replied, “Going to walk along the water’s edge. Haven’t you ever done that?”

“Yes, but not at this time of night.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Okay.” He followed my lead and removed his shoes and socks. As soon as he had, I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the water.

He squealed as the first wave ran over our feet. “It’s cold!”

I grinned. “It’s not that cold. It’s liberating.”

“You’re crazy,” he declared. “But,” – the beginnings of a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth – “I think I might actually like this type of crazy.”

“You call this crazy? You haven’t seen anything yet.” I started to unbutton my shirt.

Phil gulped audibly at the few square inches of bare skin I was revealing. He ran his tongue over dry lips and said huskily, “This … this is a public beach.”

My retort was a single word. “So?”

He just stared at me open-mouthed.

“Is that open mouth an invitation?” I teased. Without waiting for his answer, I bent down and planted a soft kiss on those luscious lips.

I stepped back to see the expression on his face. He was looking so ridiculously pleased that I wanted to laugh.

But I didn’t get to because he unexpectedly lunged at me and passionately kissed me back. When I say passionate, I mean it. We were at it for possibly a full minute before we had to come up for air.

“Now I know why they call it French kissing,” I panted. “I’ve never been out of breath after kissing someone before.”

He smiled. “Then you haven’t been doing it right.”

Images of my one-night stands flashed through my mind. There hadn’t been much kissing. “I don’t kiss” was the frequent declaration of many of the men I’d had sex with. In their opinion, kissing made it either too gay or too committed. I knew what they meant. There was a very different level of commitment in kissing, and I mean proper kissing, than there was in random sex.

I knew what I wanted. I wanted a stable, loving relationship. And I wanted to proceed slowly with it. That meant no sex on the first night out.

Such rules seem easy enough to follow when you think about them. But something about this very cute guy was making me forget that I’d ever decided on such a goal.

“Screw the rules,” I declared. Phil’s eyes widened as I gave him a gentle shove. We both collapsed onto the sand.

I rolled over until I was leaning over him. He looked so damned irresistible, staring at me with a mixture of anticipation and lust. I kissed his neck and he giggled.

“You’re cute when you giggle,” I told him.

“Am I?” He reached up and pressed his lips against mine. Then he lay back on the sand and looked at me. “Smile,” he ordered.

I looked back quizzically at him.

“Go on, smile,” he said. “I bet you have a beautiful smile.”

I obliged him by giving a small smile.

“No, no. I meant a proper smile.”

Feeling a little fed up, I said, “That’s all I can do at the moment.”

He sighed and raised his head again, this time to whisper in my ear. “Smile for me, please.” He gently nibbled on my earlobe. “One smile and I’ll be your slave forever.”

I couldn’t help it. The smile on my face widened.

He surveyed the result delightedly. “That is the most gorgeous smile I have ever seen. Don’t they have awards for these things? You could seriously win one.”

I couldn’t stop grinning. “Okay, my photogenic smile aside, you have your end of the bargain to live up to.”

“Well, I definitely won’t be going anywhere now. You’ve made me your captive with that smile.”

That was all I needed to hear. As I fervently kissed him, my fingers worked to unbutton his shirt. Suddenly he stopped me by grabbing my hand.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling a little put out.

He smiled at me. “I admire your passion, but we are making out on the beach. And it’s great,” he added hastily. “But someone might walk by at any time. Maybe we should move this indoors?”

“Oh, right.” I got off from on top of him. “So where should-”

I didn’t get to complete my question when Phil blurted out, “My apartment is only a little further down the beach.”

I stared at him and he blushed furiously. “So it wasn’t random – you leading me down the beach in this direction?”

“I, um, sort of … Well, I like to plan ahead,” he admitted. “Comes of being an accountant, I suppose.”

“An admirable virtue, I’m sure. I’m not one for planning myself. But I guess you can do that for the both of us.” I smiled encouragingly at him. “Lead the way, Monsieur Montpellier.”

“Cette façon s'il vous plait, Monsieur Scott.” He made a highly theatrical sweeping gesture, but spoilt it by giggling. I didn’t mind, because I loved hearing him giggle almost as much as I loved hearing him speak with his French accent.

***​

I only got a good look around the apartment when I took a break from cuddling on the couch. We were naked save for our underwear, the rest of our clothes lying where they’d been hastily discarded.

“Did you decorate this apartment yourself?”

“Mm-hmm,” he murmured as he nuzzled my neck. Then he looked up. “Why?”

“It’s just so … stylish … and neat.”

“Not your typical bachelor pad, huh?”

“You could seriously go into the interior decorating business if you weren’t already an accountant,” I observed. “Any other hidden talents I should know about?”

He smirked. “To find that out, you’ll need to lose these.” He playfully snapped the elastic band of my boxers.

I was more than happy to acquiesce. As soon as my boxers were off, he kissed the tip of my cock gently, sending shivers up my spine. Then he took its whole length into his mouth and slurped expertly on it. He hadn’t been kidding when he’d hinted he was a talented cocksucker. It was all I could do not to come immediately.

Just as I was about to release my load, he removed his mouth from around my cock.

“What the-?” My cock felt like it was about to burst.

Phil looked at me with a grin. “I don’t want you to come just yet. We haven’t reached the best part.”

He raised my legs up in the air and pried my butt cheeks apart. He stared briefly at my hole and then he attacked it with vigor. First he ran his tongue around it in circles until I was moaning for him to get it over with already. And then, when I least expected it, he dived his tongue into my hole.

“Fuck!”

“Is that a command?” he asked mischievously.

“You … you want to fuck me?” I didn’t usually bottom, but I wasn’t unwilling to try it with Phil.

Phil looked understandingly at me. “I can tell that you’re usually the top. That suits me just fine, because I like to bottom.”

“So you want me to fuck you?”

He didn’t answer. Instead he got off me and disappeared into the bedroom. I was just starting to worry when he returned a few seconds later with a bottle of lube and a packet of condoms. His skilled fingers worked to put a condom on my raging hard-on, but his eyes were focused on my face.

“Your eyes are a beautiful color,” he remarked. “Pale blue like the sky.”

“Not as nice as Harrison’s though. That deep blue.” I paused, remembering how I’d actually met Phil in the first place. Just forget it, I told myself, knowing that it was in vain. Now that I’d thought of it, I had to ask.

“In the café, just now … why were you flirting with Harrison? You do know he has a boyfriend, right?”

Phil didn’t seem perturbed by my question. “Ah … I wondered when you were going to ask me that. We weren’t seriously flirting. It’s just our private joke. Harrison made it clear on the first day of work that he already had a boyfriend. And I don’t go after guys with boyfriends.”

“Then why …”

“Because it makes him laugh. There’s no harm in it. I like making people happy. Especially those who are secretly sad.” He added unexpectedly, “Like you.”

I tried to deny it. “Me? What do you mean?”

“Your eyes gave you away. I could see at once that you had sadness in you. That’s why I wanted you to smile.”

I sat up furiously. “So you think I’m some sort of charity case? Some pitiful bastard for you to cheer up?”

He stroked my cheek soothingly. “No, it’s not like that. I know you don’t want pity. And that’s not what I want to give you.” He took a deep breath. “I want to give you something much better.” He slipped off his briefs, revealing an erect uncut cock. It was about six inches long and quite thick.

Seeing the look on my face, he hastily said, “It’s not about the sex. It’s about us sharing a connection. Don’t you feel it – a spark? Chemistry? I know I do, because it has me here, naked and wanting to get fucked by you.”

A brief silence; I didn’t know what to reply. Phil spoke again. “Reid, I’m not the kind of person who has sex on their first date. But I have this burning desire to give myself to you. To have you inside of me – I want it so much.”

I saw that his eyes were suspiciously wet. And when he said, almost begging, “Please?”, I was completely lost. It was not just the sight of his wonderful nude body. The words that he’d uttered to me were the most romantic things a man had ever said to me.

“I didn’t want to have sex on my first date either,” I said slowly. “But you’re right about the feeling … the chemistry … I can’t deny it. I … I want you too …”

He stared at me as if he couldn’t believe what I’d just said. Then he threw his arms around me and hugged me fiercely. I felt wetness on my shoulder and realized he was crying. Only then did I discover there were tears on my cheeks as well.

I was a bit startled when he said my name. "Reid?"

"Yes?"

Phil broke off the hug and leaned back. "I have to ask you something."

I said again, "Yes?"

He hesitated.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to bite your head off," I joked. My smile faded when he didn't say anything. "Phil?"

He averted his eyes. "I'm afraid I kept something from you."

I told myself I should have known it was too good to be true. I just wasn't meant to be happy. This apparently perfect guy had some dark secret that was going to ruin this relationship before it even started.

I wildly imagined all sorts of dire things. But never did I expect Phil to reveal what he did.

"You have a brother, don't you? Carl? And your father ... he owns Scottmart, doesn't he?"

To be continued ...​

I guess this chapter was rather uneventful, except at the end, of course. I had to set the scene for subsequent chapters. And since we haven't had a cliffhanger in a while, I just had to end it there (be consoled that it's only a mini-cliffhanger ) As always, I appreciate your feedback. Also, I apologize in advance if my use of French is wrong; I only had an online translator to work with.

 

[robbieadam]

That was one hell of a cliffhanger. I'm glad Reid has finally found someone, well maybe only up until this secret has been revealed. Thanks for the update but I'm dying to read the next chapter!

 

[mexamor]

damn good chapter oh wow that was so good....thanks.....

 

[kcm17480]

Well now there's a cliffhanger is the making. You've got me waiting impatiently. Another great chapter.

 

[Craiger]

Another excellent chapter, Justin. It's nice to see that Reid has a hidden romantic side as well. He and Phil seem to make a good couple.

Also, we have to deal with the jealousy Josh appears to have. I didn't see that trait in him before. He was the very confident one.

Eager to read more.

Craiger

 

[smile86]

yay for Reid, but at the same time what impact will this revelation have? you certainly know how to keep us interested!

 

[arogersb]

~ Chapter 31 ~​

From the Narrative of Reid Scott:

For a few seconds I just stared at Phil in shock. Neither of us spoke. Then I sat up suddenly. Phil was flung backwards, off my chest and against the armrest.

“What the fuck are you playing at?” I yelled at him. “How could you know that?”

He looked at me with a scared expression, rubbing his elbow where he’d struck it against the armrest. Underneath my anger I felt the stirring of guilt. I brushed it aside. I wasn’t supposed to feel guilty.

“I … I didn’t know whether I should tell you,” he stammered. “But I didn’t want it to … come out later … and destroy what we …”

I interrupted and repeated my question. My voice was dangerously quiet. “How do you know them?”

“I … I didn’t actually know, I just … made a guess. When I first saw you in the café … the first time I got a good look at you … I saw you when you were surfing but I couldn’t make your face out clearly …” He saw the impatient expression on my face and hurried on with his explanation.

“I saw the resemblance at once. That’s why I couldn’t stop staring at you. When I saw you, the first thing that went through my mind was ‘This guy and Carl Scott could almost be brothers’ … And then when you said your surname was Scott, I realized that was the truth … you were brothers.”

I looked at him in confusion. “But … where did you meet Carl?”

“At work. Scottmart is one of the firm’s main clients. They always have been, since the retail mart was founded here in Corona Beach. But you knew that, didn’t you? I mean, you are the CEO’s son?” It wasn’t so much a question; he was just requesting confirmation of a fact he already knew.

I replied, almost absent-mindedly, “I never paid attention to Scottmart affairs. The retail business just didn’t interest me. It was one of the reasons Dad hated me.”

Phil looked … I don’t know how to describe his expression. He was still fearful of me because of the way I’d lashed out at him, but now it was combined with sympathy. “But that’s awful. Your father couldn’t possibly hate you just because-”

I interrupted him again. The last person I wanted to hear about was my dad. “Does Harrison know all this? Because he knows about my family and Scottmart.”

Phil said hastily, “No, no. I don’t think he knows. He’s only been working at F&A for a month now and we haven’t had any dealings with Scottmart in that time. It’s quite possible he doesn’t know about the connection.”

I nodded. Harrison wouldn’t have kept something like this from me if he’d known. There was something I wanted to know, although I wasn't sure I'd like the answer.

“Tell me about Carl,” I said. “Has he … has he ever mentioned me?”

“Um … he did say once, that he had an older brother, but that he …” Phil stopped, looking uncomfortable.

“What did he say?” I prodded.

“He said his elder brother abandoned his family when he was still in high school.”

“He said I abandoned him?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “That … that wasn’t what happened at all. Our father forced me to leave. Doesn’t he know that?”

Phil hesitated. “He … he seemed to believe what he was saying.”

I snorted. “Of course he would. He always believed whatever Dad told him.”

There was an awkward silence.

Then Phil said, “Reid … I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do. I had the awful feeling that, sooner or later, you would find out, and then you would hate me.” He paused. “Do you? Do you hate me?”

I looked at his face, those liquid brown eyes, and I could see the longing. My anger was abating. There was no way I could remain angry at him. The way he’d stumbled over his words, his voice still keeping that sexy accent but filled with sympathy, were melting my heart. The rational part of my mind told me he hadn’t done anything wrong. It wasn’t a crime to not tell me immediately that he knew my brother. At least he’d confessed before we got into any serious sex.

I leaned forward and I saw him flinch. He must have been afraid that I was going to yell at him – or worse. The momentary apprehension changed to delighted surprise when I instead took his arm, the one he’d struck, and kissed it lightly. I felt him shiver.

I looked deeply into his eyes. “You don’t need to apologize. I should be the one apologizing for reacting violently to your honesty.”

He opened his mouth, but I stopped him by placing a finger on his lips.

“No, don’t say anything. I know you’re going to be nice, and say that I don’t need to apologize either, but I do. I was hotheaded. I didn’t think about what your intentions were in revealing this information; all I thought about was how you’d brought up something I would rather forget.”

Phil said quietly, “I didn’t know the story behind any of it. I still don’t. But I knew it couldn’t be good. That’s why … that’s why I hesitated. We were starting off so well and I was afraid … afraid that I would ruin it. I always do. And I have this time too, haven’t I? You don’t want anything to do with me now.” He looked at me, searching my face for answers.

I shook my head. “No. If you hadn’t told me, and I’d found out myself later, I would’ve been furious. With Josh … you know we used to be together … before Harrison?”

Phil nodded.

“At first, I was angry with Josh. I felt that he hadn’t been honest with me. But of course he had. He’d told me from the beginning that he was in love with Harrison. If I’d listened to him and not allowed myself to foolishly fall in love, I wouldn’t have been hurt later on.”

“Do you miss him? Josh, I mean?”

I knew what he was asking. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be completely over Josh. But I know he loves Harrison more than anything. And I can only hope that Harrison loves him just as much.”

Phil surprised me by saying, “Of course he does. You don’t know how Harrison is at work. Every other sentence is about his boyfriend. Josh this and Josh that. He told me that he never thought it possible for someone to love another person as much as Josh loves him. He feels like he can’t give back the same amount of love that Josh showers on him. But I know better.”

I agreed. “I guess you’re right. Harrison has shown himself to be capable of great love.” I looked apologetically at Phil. “I’m sorry for suspecting that you and he were … you know …”

He laughed. “I told you, I don’t make any serious passes at him. I admit, I tried on the first day. He came straight to the point, telling me he already had a boyfriend. And I respect that.”

I felt an overwhelming sadness. It was because I knew what I had to do. I had said similar things to Harrison at one time, but I hadn’t been thinking straight then. The words I’d said to him would have been more appropriate addressed to me. Compared with him, I didn’t have anything to offer anyone.

“You know, I think you understand Harrison far better than I do. Do you know what I did the first time I met him? I hurt him. I physically hurt him.”

I saw the shocked expression on Phil’s face, but I forced myself to continue. “I know, it sounds impossible. How could anyone ever have the heart to hurt an innocent little guy like Harrison? But that’s what I did.”

“But you and Harrison … things are okay between you now, right? Harrison always talks of you like you’re his best friend.”

“He does, does he?” I sighed. “He’s far too forgiving. He was the one who calmed Josh down when he found out. Otherwise Josh would’ve skinned me alive for laying a finger on Harrison, ex-boyfriend or not. And I would have deserved it.”

“Don’t say that. Harrison forgave you. That’s the most important thing.”

“Yeah, well, I was lucky it was Harrison. Anyone else would’ve given what was coming to me.” I sighed, because I saw the way Phil was gazing devotedly at me.

“Phil, there’s something I’m trying to tell you here. And it’s not easy when you fix those puppy-dog eyes on me and try to make me feel saintly when I’m supposed to feel guilty.”

“But you haven’t done anything to feel guilty about! Okay, maybe except that one time with Harrison. But he’s forgiven you and it’s all water under the bridge. Why bring it up now?”

“Because, Phil, you need to see what’s clear to me. I’m not the right guy for you. I brood a lot, I don’t care about other people -”

“That’s not true. I know it’s not.”

I sighed even more heavily. “How can you know that? You just met me, what, a couple of hours ago?”

Phil said stubbornly, “You don’t seem like that sort of person. And I’ll have you know I’m an excellent judge of character.”

I clapped my hands together. “Good! In that case you already know I’m not the right guy for you. I’m not a nice guy. And you are … far too nice.”

“And nice guys finish last, right?” Phil said it almost sulkily.

I didn’t know what to say. But Phil was more than willing to do all the talking. Or rather, yelling. I truly didn’t expect him to start shouting, “This is just wonderful! If you’d broken up with me because I didn’t tell you about Carl, it would have been fine. I wouldn’t have blamed you. Instead you come up with this crap about me being a nice guy and you not being one and that’s why we can’t be together.”

I was stunned by his sudden fury. But it was gone almost as quickly as it had come. Phil sobbed, “I thought you were beginning to fall for me. Well, at any rate, I hoped so. What is it about me that you don’t like? I’m naked; there’s nothing I can hide.” He looked at me with tear-filled eyes.

My heart was breaking. Never before had anyone shown this level of emotion for me. “Phil … You were honest with me, so I’ll be honest with you. For the longest time, I thought I would never fall in love again. Until tonight.”

Phil looked up hopefully and I nodded. “Yes, I admit it. I did feel more than the usual attraction. Your revelation did nothing to change the way I felt about you; in fact I loved you all the more for your truthfulness. But I don’t want you to be hurt. I’ve never had a long-term relationship before. I’ll screw it up. And you’ll be the one hurt.”

He shook his head vigorously. “Haven’t you been listening? I don’t care about getting hurt! I’m thirty, for heaven’s sake. If someone has to break my heart, I’d rather it be you. At least we would have had some time together.” He looked pleadingly at me.

I had to dissuade him from this ridiculous notion he had. “Phil, for once in my life, I’m trying to be noble. Don’t try and stop me.”

I got off the couch and started to pick up my clothes. For a few seconds, Phil watched me in disbelief. Then, he jumped up and swinging me around, kissed me fiercely on the lips. My eyes widened in surprise. I tried to pull away, but he had his arms wrapped strongly around me.

Against my better judgment, I gave in, opening my mouth and letting his tongue explore it. Looking pleased with himself, he finally removed his lips from mine, but didn’t loosen his grip around my waist.

“Phil, let me go,” I ordered.

He shook his head. “You could always break free if you really wanted to.”

I knew he was right. He was shorter than me and definitely nowhere as muscular. I should’ve been able to break free easily enough, except that I would have had to hit him. And I couldn’t bring myself to do that.

I said huskily, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Phil smiled knowingly at me. “You see? Even now, you have no intention of hurting me. If you don’t want to hurt someone, you will take every care to ensure you don’t. That’s what you’re doing right now.”

“You can hurt people unintentionally,” I argued. “As much as you didn’t want to.”

“If you do that, I won’t blame you. But I’m asking you – no, I’m begging you – to give this a chance. Give us a chance.”

Us. For some reason, that word made my heart beat just a little faster. And I thought, what the heck? If he was willing to handle the possible heartbreak, there was no excuse for me to back away from something that just felt so right.

I gave in. “Okay. I’ll give it a chance … no, more than that. But if I ever hurt you …”

He didn’t let me finish. He kissed me full-force on the lips. And this time, I didn’t even offer the slightest resistance. I collapsed back onto the couch, with him on top of me. My cock, which had been flaccid just seconds ago, became hard the instant our naked bodies came into contact. I felt it rub against Phil’s own hard-on.

“Now where did we leave off?” he asked me innocently. I didn’t answer; instead I grabbed a condom packet and tore it open with my teeth.

Phil asked in confusion, “Why do you need another one?”

“It’s not for me, silly.” Phil’s eyes widened as I slipped it onto his cock. Then I lay back as comfortably as I could and spread my legs for him.

“You … you want me to …” He couldn’t even get the words out of his mouth. He took a deep breath. “I thought we decided I would bottom.”

“Is it wrong that I want you to go first?” I asked. It was a bigger deal than I let on. I’m usually not comfortable with being on the receiving end.

But Phil saw right through my casualness. He kissed me and said, “Thank you.” I remembered those same words, uttered by Josh the night I took his virginity. I’d known then that I was in love. And it was the same feeling I was having right now.

Phil’s voice broke into my thoughts. “You’re smiling. Keep doing that. I’d like to think that it’s because of me.”

I replied, “It is because of you.”

Phil grinned. He looked ridiculously cute and nowhere near thirty years of age. He was, I realized, actually older than me. While I was thinking all this, Phil covered my nude body with kisses. His expert mouth caressed every part of my anatomy, sending waves of pleasure through me. As he swirled his tongue around my right nipple, I moaned. It had been a long time since I’d indulged in this kind of foreplay.

Before I knew it, I felt his lips brush against the tip of my cock, which responded immediately. But it was not his target. His tongue moved further down, to my waiting hole. He licked it; he savoured it as much as I did the taste of him still lingered in my mouth.

Somewhere during this time, he had squirted lube onto his fingers, and now he was pushing one finger at a time into my hole. I moaned some more, not in pain but in pleasure. I’d almost forgotten how this felt. The last couple of times I’d been fucked I’d either been: (a) too drunk to know what was going on; or (b) too upset to care about anything but pleasing my lover.

“Oh God, just do it already,” I moaned when I couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Relax, baby, we’ll get to it.” He swiftly replaced his finger with the head of his cock. Placing his palms on my chest, he slowly pushed himself in. I grunted as the full eight inches was buried inside me.

I saw him looking at me in concern and smiled. “It’s okay. In fact it feels so great; I think you might have switched me to being an irrepressible bottom,” I joked.

Grinning, he started to move his cock in and out, gently at first.

“Oh yeah, fuck me harder,” I begged.

He was getting into the rhythm of fucking me. Encouraged by my moans, he began to speed up his thrusts. Our bodies were soon covered in a thin sheen of sweat. His body slid across mine with each thrust, his chest smooth against my own. I grabbed hold of his head, his hair all damp with sweat and pushed his face against mine. Our lips met. It was amazing how he managed to kiss me so tenderly while fucking me intensely at the same time.

“Oh fuck, I’m going to come!” he yelled. I felt him shoot his loads deep inside me. My own cock, which had already been brought to the point of climax earlier by his mouth, exploded at almost the same instant, showering both our bodies with cum.

He collapsed on top of me, spent. He lay on his side, rubbing his cheek against my cum-coated chest. “God, that was so good,” he sighed. He slid out his tongue and lapped up the cum on my chest. “You taste so sweet, too.”

“I haven’t tasted you yet,” I said. “But if your cum tastes anything like the rest of you, I think, from now on, I’m going to be on a strict diet – French food only.”

He groaned. “That’s not even funny.”

I grinned. “You know you’re going to have pay for that. In the meanwhile …” I removed the full condom from his cock and poured its contents into my mouth. I greedily devoured his cum, some of it lingering on my tongue as I kissed him again.

He smiled contently at me as he curled up in my arms. “There’s plenty of time for that. You’re not going anywhere.” He said it with enough confidence for the both of us.


From the Narrative of Harrison Ridgeway IV:

The party was over and we cleared up the café. With the volunteers helping out Liz and Josh, the job was easily done. Mom, of course, wanted to help, but we didn’t let her. Reid had not returned, but I wasn’t too concerned. I took it as a sign that things were working out as I’d hoped.

It was well past midnight when we returned home. Josh was unusually quiet, and I knew why. He went into our bedroom immediately, while I stayed behind to explain to Mom, who was worried about Reid.

“You’re sure he’s okay?”

“He told Josh before he left. And he can take care of himself.”

“This boy he went with …”

“Phil is hardly a boy, Mom. He’s almost 30. But I’ve worked with him for a month now and I know he’s reliable. Mr. Fernley thinks so too,” I added slyly.

Mom glared at me. “Harrison, your imagination is running riot. Adrian-”

I raised my eyebrows. “On first name terms already, are we?”

I was amazed to see Mom blush. I smiled. “You know, it’s okay, Mom. After a very long time, you’re actually having the chance to meet some men other than Dad.”

She looked disbelievingly at me. “You really don’t mind?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “It’s not really my place to say anything, Mom.”

“Don’t be silly. Of course I’m not going into anything without my children’s approval. My life for the last 27 years has revolved around Phoebe and you.” She looked sternly at me. “That said, there is nothing going on between me and Ad – Mr. Fernley.”

I laughed. “Okay, Mom. I’ll take you at your word. Goodnight.” I gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Josh stuck his head around the bedroom door. “Goodnight, Aunt Marcia.”

“Goodnight, dears.” Mom retired to her room. I turned to Josh, but he had disappeared back into the room. I sighed. He was trying to avoid me.

I wasn’t surprised when I went into our room and found him already in bed. He looked up when I came in. “I’m kind of worn out after the party, Harry. I think I’ll turn in for the night, okay?” He gave me a tentative smile.

I didn’t say anything; I just nodded. As I turned my back on him to take off my clothes, I saw the stunned look on his face. Once I’d finished undressing, I got into bed with my back with him. I could feel his puzzled stare on my back and couldn’t help grinning to myself.

“Goodnight,” I called out.

He couldn’t stand it any more. “Wait!” he blurted out. “What about the talk we were going to have?”

I rolled over to face him and raised my eyebrows. “I thought you were very tired.”

“Yes, but …” I could hear the confusion in his tone. “You’re going to let me get off just like that?”

“Okay, if you really want to talk about it …” I left my sentence hanging.

“I don’t!” He glared at me. “I can’t believe you tricked me into actually wanting to talk about it.”

I tried to wipe the smirk off my face but failed.

He looked at me uncertainly. “You’re grinning. Does this mean you’re not mad at me?”

I sighed. “Why would I be mad at you? I know how you’ve lived together with Reid for the past year. You might have been in love with me, but you did feel something for him. Otherwise you wouldn’t have let your relationship go as far as it did. And now you have me, but Reid doesn’t have anyone.”

“He still has me,” Josh said hotly.

“You’re not his boyfriend,” I pointed out. “He needs someone to love him. Don’t you agree that he deserves that?”

“Of course I agree. But it’s just that … I can’t think of life without Reid.” He looked helplessly at me. “I’ve gotten so used to having him around.”

I understood. “You’re finding it hard to accept that he might one day move out to be with a new boyfriend.”

“You do see that, don’t you?” I could see how much Josh wanted me to agree with him. “It’s like this baby bird you’ve raised and when the day comes that you’ve got to let it go …”

“Josh, I have to be brutal here. You broke his heart.” Josh flinched, but I carried on. “God knows how he pulls himself together because if I were in his shoes, I wouldn’t be able to. That’s why he needs this distraction. Please, if not for his sake, do it for me.”

“You’re really fond of him, aren’t you?” Josh looked curiously at me.

“I feel like I’m partly to blame for what’s happened to him. I really want him to be happy.”

Unexpectedly, Josh smiled and pulled me close to him. “Do you know, I fall a bit more in love with you when you’re so earnest about helping people?” He kissed my forehead. “Of course I want Reid to be happy, too. If you feel guilty, imagine how much worse I feel. I would do anything to make him happier.”

“And if he’s happier living with Phil or any other guy?” I asked.

“Well, it would be hard for me, but I’ll accept it. For his sake.”

I snuggled closer to Josh. “I’m so happy right now.”

Josh gazed lovingly at me. “Me too, baby.”

“Still tired and wanna sleep?” I asked with a wicked grin.

“You little …” He jumped on top of me. As I felt him smother me with wet kisses, I felt truly content. I wondered how Reid was getting on.

To be continued …​

This chapter is a little short, and I've realized the events that I'd meant to fit into two chapters are now spilling over into four! No cliffhanger to end this chapter though. And of course I'm sure you can now guess that Harrison is going to meet Carl Scott very soon! The next chapter will be ready by next week, so until then, please feel free to leave your comments - I always love hearing from all of you!

 

[smile86]

awww go Reid! great chapter.

 

[hungbuzz]

will reid re connect with his brother and tell him that their father pushed him away?
as always a great chapter


Mikko

 

[robbieadam]

Fantastic chapter! I'm so glad that things worked out between Reid and Phil. Also I can't wait to read the meeting of Harrison and Carl Scott! Cheers for the update and I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter.