Erastes

Different Points of View

Chapters 6-10

Now that we'd finished our discussion, we went upstairs to put on our swimsuits. I was in my room rummaging through my dresser for my trunks, when Jared came bursting in, wearing his red Speedo.

"I'm not ready yet," I quickly advised him, "so why don't you wait for me downstairs."

"Can't I just wait here?" he asked.

"Jared, I don't think that's such a good idea," I responded.

"Why not?" he wanted to know. "You just said I couldn't be naked, not that you couldn't be naked."

After saying this, he put his hands on his hips, like a parent might do when they were exasperated and trying to make a point, while he stared at me. After trying to resist his effort for the next couple of minutes, I finally gave in and began taking off my clothes. When I did, I saw him grin as he glanced at my cock.

Oh, I'm not huge or anything like that, but I am adequately endowed, and it seemed to be good enough for Jared. I had debated about turning my back to him before I stripped down, but I decided to give him this little thrill, since he had done the same for me on several different occasions.

"You've got a lot of hair!" he exclaimed, while checking me out more closely.

"I guess so," I responded, "but you'll get more as you get older and manage to navigate your way through puberty."

"What's that?" he asked.

"Puberty?" I repeated, and he nodded his head. "That's when your body goes through a series of changes that takes you from being a child to an adult. You've already started that process, but there will be more to come."

"How can you tell that I've already started and what other changes are you talking about?" he asked, while looking confused.

"First of all, I could tell when I saw your penis. It has grown since you began puberty and is no longer the little boy size it was when you were younger. You are also getting some hair down there," I added, while referencing the few scattered hairs about his impressive piece of flesh. "As you go further through puberty, then you also get underarm, chest and leg hair as well, and your body will continue to grow and develop. Those are just some of the things that will happen as you start to become a man."

"And I can shoot that stuff out of my dick too, right?" he asked, mildly surprising me.

"Yes, and your body begins producing semen as well," I confirmed, with a smile.

"Want to see me do that?" he asked, hoping I would say 'yes'. "I can do it now, you know."

"I'm sure you can, but you don't have to prove it to me," I told him. "I'll just take your word for that."

"Please, I want to show you," he pleaded, while studying my reaction. "I really want you to see I can do it and I don't mind showing you."

"No, that won't be necessary," I countered. "I'll just finish putting my trunks on and then we'll go swimming."

"Can I show you when we're done swimming then?" he asked, hopefully.

"No, Jared, that's ok," I told him. "You promised that you wouldn't get naked in front of me again, so I'll just take your word for it."

"Can't I just show you once?" he whined. "There's no one else for me to show that I can do this, because Josh is still too young and I can't exactly show my mom now, can I? Why can't I just show you?"

"Find a friend and show him," I suggested.

"And have him call me a fag and tell everyone in my class that I'm gay? No, thank you," he replied. "I just want to show my dad what I can do and how I'm becoming a man."

I was touched by his sincerity and his pride over his accomplishment, but I knew I couldn't allow this to happen.

"Let's just go swimming and then we'll talk about this again later," I offered.

He wasn't pleased that I wouldn't let him do this now, but he wasn't totally unhappy about my decision either. I think he felt that since I'd told him we'd discuss this again later that there was still hope that he would get his way. Actually, I was hoping he'd forget about it by the time we were done swimming and not mention it again. In the meantime, I would try to think of a way to avoid him once we were out of the pool, so I wouldn't put myself in a situation where he might remember and try to broach the subject again. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how my luck holds out.

Jared and I had a great time swimming and he looked absolutely awesome in that red Speedo. It gave him just a hint of modesty, without totally covering up what was underneath, because it clung to his body and outlined his impressive asset, so there was no doubt what was hidden beneath. I must admit that I did pop a few boners during the course of our swim, but whenever it happened, I would immediately either dive underwater, while trying to think of something other than Jared, or I'd begin to swim laps, while hoping Jared wouldn't notice my predicament.

During our time outdoors, we did many things together. We raced, splashed each other, floated and just horsed around in general. We had a good time and enjoyed spending it together like this, but when I began to tire, I decided to get out of the pool and stretched out on one of the lounge chairs on the deck. This gave me a chance to catch my breath and dry off a bit, while Jared continued to swim, like a dolphin at play. I spent the next few minutes just watching him frolic alone in the clear water, but after a while he got out as well and pulled the other lounge chair over next to mine, so he could lay beside me.

After we'd caught our breath again, we took another dip in the pool, but it was starting to get late and the sun was beginning to slip below the horizon. That's when I suggested we should quit for the night, go inside and change again. We then picked up our towels and dried off, as we headed indoors. We went back to our rooms and changed into our clothes, and to my utter delight, Jared forgot about wanting to show me that he could masturbate and produce semen.

When we came downstairs again, we talked about how much fun we'd had and Jared said he was anxious to come back the following day. After I reminded him that tomorrow was Sunday and he needed to spend the whole day with his mother, he admitted that he'd forgotten what day of the week it was and then stated that he'd see me Monday instead. He also pressed to see if I had anything else I needed to do on Monday or if I could spend most of the day in the pool with him. When I answered that I had nothing else planned, he seemed delighted that we'd be able to spend most of the day in the water together. I didn't say anything, but I wondered if Josh would want to come down too, if Jared happened to mention that he'd been swimming with me.

After Jared went home, I went back to work on my writing for a while before I went up to bed. When I finally turned in, I started to think about my time with Jared, but that didn't last for very long, because I quickly drifted off to sleep. I guess the excise from swimming, which I hadn't done in quite a while, had been enough to wear me out, so I slept like a baby.

Sunday morning, after eating a fairly light breakfast, I sat down to write, but I didn't get much done for the next hour, because my mind was consumed with thoughts of Jared. I knew I was going to miss not seeing him around today and suddenly realized how dependent I was on having him with me. Although I understood that he needed to spend the day with his mother, I still missed having him here and knew that I should use my time to be productive, since he'd be back tomorrow. Therefore, I forced myself to concentrate on my story again and sat down at my computer.

Shortly after noon, my phone rang. I thought it might be Jared calling to ask me if he could come down, or something of that nature, so I picked it up, expecting to hear his voice.

"Hello," I answered.

"Bob, it's Dick," the caller informed me, which let me know it was my literary agent. "Why haven't you gotten back in touch with me?"

"I didn't know I was supposed to," I responded.

"Haven't you been reading the emails I sent you, with the feedback about the last couple of chapters you sent me?" he followed.

"Damn, I guess not," I acknowledged, as I suddenly realized that I hadn't checked my email in quite a while.

"Well, do it as soon as you hang up," he urged. "I need to speak with you about those last two chapters, so what if I call you on Tuesday, around 10:00?"

"Why don't we just do it now?" I countered.

"I've got family plans for today and you'll need some time to read my notes first, but I don't have that much time to spare. Just use the rest of today to read the emails I sent you and think about how you want to respond," he replied. "Look over my comments on those chapters and then I'll call you again on Tuesday, so we can discuss them in depth. Ok?'

"Why not do it tomorrow then?" I followed.

"I have meetings all day long and won't have an opportunity to call you," he replied. "Will Tuesday be all right for you?"

"Sure, that will be fine," I agreed. "Talk to you then."

As soon as I hung up, I went back to my computer and opened my email account, so I could read his comments. I guess I've been so wrapped up with spending time with Jared that I totally forgot about opening any emails. When I did, I found the ones from my agent, along with some others, so I read the emails from Dick first, in the order that he'd sent them.

Bob,

I just read the chapters you sent me and they're not up to your usual standards. Read my notes and then give me a call, because you need to rework them and I have some additional ideas for you.

Dick

Then I opened the second email and read it.

Bob,

Why haven't you called? I hope my comments didn't upset you, but this isn't even close to what you normally send me, so is something wrong? You seem distracted. Are you chasing some skirt or is there another problem? Give me a call, because we need to discuss your last two submissions.

Dick

I downloaded the attachments and then began to read the comments he'd attached. I was shocked at how negative they were, even though I knew that I'd been a little preoccupied lately and probably hadn't done my best work, but I didn't think it was as bad as he indicated. Damn, he was ripping those chapters apart, but I had to agree that his criticisms were mostly valid. I guess I hadn't realized that I wasn't putting the same amount of effort into my work as before and it definitely showed. Sure, I knew that it might not be up to my normal standards, but the way my agent was ripping it apart made me feel like a novice writer again. Carefully, I read over all of his comments and then went back to rework those two chapters.

I managed to focus on them for the rest of the day and only took a couple of short breaks, so I could have lunch and dinner. Although my thoughts would occasionally wander to thinking about Jared, I forced myself to put him out of my mind, so I could concentrate on what I was doing. I needed the income from this story to replace all of the money I'd been spending as of late, both to fix the pool and buying things for Jared. Dick was right, I obviously had been as distracted as a person in love, so I could see why he thought I was chasing some skirt, as he'd put it. If only he knew what I was really chasing – or more appropriately, what was chasing me.

I continued reworking those two chapters until bedtime and was both pleasantly surprised and satisfied when I noticed how much I had actually accomplished. I'd have to reread both chapters again later, to ensure they were actually up to my usual standards, but I felt a lot better about them now, since I'd addressed many of the issues my agent had raised. All of this effort had taken its toll and I was extremely tired now, so I immediately went upstairs, completed my nightly ritual and hopped into bed.

Since I'd been so focused on my story, the dreams I had that night were about the storyline. During my slumber, many of the details I'd been struggling with seemed to become much clearer and I suddenly had a much better understanding about how I was going to proceed. In fact, I woke up after only three hours of sleep and went down to the computer and began working again, so I could incorporate these ideas before I forgot about them.

After working for a couple of hours, I went back to bed and attempted to get some more sleep. I managed to fall asleep for a few more hours before the alarm went off and was surprised that I actually felt fairly refreshed when I awoke, even though it had been an interrupted slumber. I don't know if my positive attitude was due to solving some of the problems with those chapters or because I was looking forward to having my angel return, but I was very upbeat as I got out of bed. I figured I could spend part of the day with Jared, but I'd have to spend most of my time working on the story, so I'd have something positive to offer Dick when he called back.

Since I realized Jared would probably want to go swimming after he arrived, I put on my swimsuit after I got up, rather than my normal attire. This way, I wouldn't have to worry about changing in front of him again, or more importantly have him want to masturbate in front of me, and I could continue working while he was getting ready. I then went downstairs, fixed my breakfast, ate and sat down to work at the computer again, as I waited for Jared to show up.

When he came in, he was all bubbly and excited about taking another dip in the pool, but his enthusiasm seemed to dim slightly, when he noticed I was already wearing my swimsuit. When he commented about it, I merely explained that since I knew he would be coming down to swim, I figured it would be just as easy to put it on immediately, rather than wearing something else and then having to change later. I also advised him about my agent's phone call and that I'd have to spend most of my time working today, because he was going to call me back tomorrow. I could tell Jared was quite disappointed, both by the fact that I was in my swimsuit already and that I'd have to spend more time working over the next couple of days.

Eventually, he overcame his disappointment and went upstairs to change, although he had to do it alone this time, and then he came back down to join me. He had put on the powder blue Speedo this time and I wasn't sure if he had done this because it seemed to show off his goodies even better than the red one had or if he was just switching up. Since I was beginning to sprout wood again, I suggested we go out and get in the pool, while quickly leading the way. I immediately hopped in, once we were close enough, and this seemed to alleviate the swelling in my suit somewhat, before Jared had a chance to notice my predicament. He jumped in right behind me and then we began to swim about.

I stayed in the pool with Jared for about an hour, but then I got out and told him I had to go back inside and get to work again. I suggested that he could stick around and swim by himself, watch TV or do whatever else he wanted, as long as he didn't interrupt my work and allowed me to concentrate on my writing. Again, he wasn't happy about this, but he did relent to the conditions I'd set, since he felt it was better than getting sent home. He then asked me if the yard needed to be mowed yet, so I quickly checked it out and decided that it definitely could stand to be cut, so he decided to do that, while I worked on my story.

I watched him drive the lawn tractor out of the shed, and he did a very good job of doing that, and then I watched as he started out. Since he didn't seem to be having any problems, I went back to the computer and got busy again. I was totally zoned in on my story now, although I did get up a couple of times to get a drink or use the toilet, and when I did, I also checked to see how he was doing at the same time. Jared appeared to be doing fine, so I went back to work and ended up getting quite a bit done by lunchtime.

When Jared finished mowing the yard, he put the lawn tractor away and then jumped in the pool to cool off. A short time later, I went out to call him inside, because I'd fixed us toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch, to go along with the potato salad I had in the fridge. It was quick, easy and would suffice, so then I could get back to work quickly after I'd downed my food.

Jared decided to stay inside and watch some TV after we ate, but I went back to the computer. Around 3:00, I decided to take a break and asked Jared if he wanted to join me in the pool. He leaped off of the sofa, raced outside and then we horsed around in the pool for about an hour and a half. When we grew tired, we came inside and I went back to work, while Jared headed into the living room to watch something on TV. We did this until dinnertime, when Jared changed into his shorts and went home to eat with his family, while I fixed a quick meal for myself.

I was working on my story again when Jared returned later, so he went up and put on his blue Speedo again, but then he went in and watched TV for a while, until I told him I was ready to take a break and spend a little time with him. While we were in the pool, Jared asked me how long I'd be on the phone with my agent tomorrow, because I think he was wondering if I'd have any time to spend with him. I then informed him that I'd probably be speaking with my agent for a couple of hours, so we could discuss the changes I'd made to the two chapters that Dick was unhappy with, as well as talking about my new story idea. When Jared heard this, he said he'd stay home in the morning and spend some time with his brother, but then he quickly added that he'd still come down after lunch, if that was ok with me.

I immediately responded that would be fine, but I also reminded him that he'd be spending the night at home too, since it was his mother's night off. He said he'd already thought about that and it was the reason he wanted to come down and spend some time with me after lunch, so I told him in that case I'd take some time off between lunch and dinner, so I'd have time to spend with him. He was thrilled with my proposal and swam closer, so he could hug me, before I got out of the pool and went back inside to do a little more writing.

Jared went upstairs to change when I did this and a short time later he told me he was going home for the night. He thanked me for taking time out to go in the pool with him and reminded me that he'd see me again, tomorrow afternoon. I gave him a hug, kissed him on the forehead and told him I looked forward to that, and then he took off and I went back to work. Later that evening, I emailed my agent the revised copies of the two chapters in question, so he'd have them to go over before we talked, and then I headed up to bed.

That night, most of my dreams were about Jared again, but they never got sexual. Instead, I merely pictured us spending time together, like a father and son might do, but these dreams also gave me a few more ideas I could use with one story or the other. When I got up to use the toilet later, I took some time out to jot down a few notes, so I wouldn't forget these ideas before morning. Once I'd finished doing that, I hopped back into bed until the alarm went off.

After downing a quick breakfast, I realized how strange it seemed that Jared wasn't here already. Although I knew he wasn't coming down until later, the fact that he wasn't already here on a Tuesday morning just didn't seem right. Anyway, I put that out of my mind and went back to work, as I waited for my agent to call. During the interim, I began to proofread the next chapter I had written, because I felt I should triple-check it this time, before I sent it to him. I certainly didn't want to get the same sort of feedback that I'd received on the previous couple of chapters, so I went over it one more time and examined it very carefully. Even though I was embarrassed to admit it, Dick had been correct and I had obviously been distracted to the point where my work had begun to suffer greatly, so I wanted to make sure it didn't happen again.

When the phone rang, I picked it up on the first ring.

"Hello, Dick," I answered, since I was fairly certain this call was from him.

"Bob, I just finished going over the revisions you sent me and they are much improved," he began. "What the hell was wrong with you before? The other stuff you sent me seemed so amateurish. Have you been chasing a hot babe or something?"

"Not quite," I replied. "I was trying to take care of a few things at the house, such as getting the pool repaired and painted so I could use it. I just didn't realize that doing this was affecting my work on the story until you called."

"You would have, if you'd checked your email once in a while," he chided.

"I'm sorry about that, but I guess I'd let that slip too and didn't even realize I had done that either," I confessed. "I promise, it won't happen again."

"Well, I just have a few comments on the revised chapters," he added, "and I love the info you sent me about your new story idea too. That sounds like a real winner."

"Thanks," I replied, knowing he was referring to the story idea I had based on Jared.

Over the next couple of hours, we reviewed the new suggestions he had about the two chapters I'd resent him and then we talked, in depth, about my idea for the new story. By the time we'd finished, I knew I'd have a lot of work ahead of me now, since he not only wanted me to send him the reworked copies of those two chapters again, but he also wanted me to send him the next chapter as well, along with the first two chapters of the new story, so he could start pitching it to my publisher.

Jared showed up after lunch, as planned, so I stopped working for a while so I could spend some time with him, as I had promised. I was able to do this, because I knew I'd have tonight to work, in total solitude, so I was willing to concentrate on him fully now, which should make us both feel good. We horsed around in the pool for a while and then I took him out for some ice cream, before we returned to the house and cuddled together on the couch, as we watched a little TV.

Jared seemed to enjoy the things we'd done together this afternoon, so he didn't appear too upset about the prospect of not coming back later, but that didn't last for long. His attitude seemed to change when I told him I'd need a little more time to write for the next couple of days, but then he offered me a proposal.

"If I stay home in the mornings and spend time with Josh, do you think I'd be able to come down after lunch, and then again after dinner?" he wanted to know.

"What if we modify that just a bit," I offered. "Why don't you come down and join me for lunch at noon and then we'll spend time together until you go home for dinner. If you don't mind though, I'd like the rest of the evening to work."

"Ok, if I can come down at 11:00 instead," he countered. "That way we can swim for a while and then have lunch together, since you'll probably make us wait for an hour after we eat, before we can go in the pool again. You can use that time to work while we were waiting, so that way, you'll have just as much time to write and I won't lose out."

After I considered his proposal briefly, I agreed that would be fine. I figured it would work out fairly well, because if I was on a roll tonight and wanted to work late, then I could and still have time to get plenty of sleep before he showed up. That would also be true if I woke up in the middle of the night and came downstairs to work again, because I could still go back to bed and get some sleep before Jared showed up. I felt doing it this way would allow me to spend the middle of the day with him in the pool, without costing me time to get some work done. Since I was agreeable to his suggestion, Jared gave me a hug and a quick peck on the lips, before he left to spend the rest of the night with his mother and brother.

After Jared left, I was able to rework the same two chapters of the story again, the ones I had gone over with Dick on the phone, and I then I did a little more work on the next chapter. Once completed, I went upstairs and got into bed, but I was unable to fall asleep quickly. My thoughts had now turned to the new story and this prevented me from drifting off. My body was just about ready to give in to my weariness, when suddenly some ideas popped into my head about the new story and it started to become clear as to how I would proceed.

Fearing I'd forget everything by morning, I hurriedly got up, raced downstairs and began making notes about the ideas I'd had for this story. When I finished doing that, I decided to just stay up and went over to the computer, so I could begin working on the first chapter. Although I knew how I wanted the story to go, it took me more than an hour just to write the first paragraph. This was because I was searching for that perfect hook that would grab the reader and yank them into the story, and then hopefully the rest of the first chapter would entice him to continue reading.

Once I'd settled on a beginning that I felt comfortable with, I managed to knock off an additional page and a half of the first chapter. I felt fairly good about it by the time I went up to my bedroom again, but I knew I would have to reread it in the morning, before I wrote the rest of the chapter. Doing this would allow me to correct any problems I might discover in what I'd just written, but it would also put me back in the correct frame of mind to continue from where I'd just left off.

When I finally fell asleep, this time it was for the rest of the night, and when I awoke later, I felt great and was rearing to go again. After cleaning up quickly and silencing the rumblings in my stomach, I went back to work on the computer. First, I proofread the newest chapter that I'd written for the old story, to make certain it was ready, and up to par, so I could forward to my agent. Eventually, I concluded that I had done a decent job on it, although I was convinced Dick would still have his own ideas on how to make it better, so I attached it to an email and sent it off to him.

When I looked up at the clock, I noticed it was nearly time for Jared to arrive, so I decided to wait before working on the first chapter of the new story again. Instead, I hustled upstairs and changed into my swimsuit, so I'd be ready for him when he arrived. I had barely reached the bottom of the stairs again when the doorbell rang, which reminded me that I'd forgotten to unlock the front door this morning. When I went to open it, I found Jared there and he was slightly annoyed when he saw that I already had on my swimsuit again. Regardless, he raced upstairs to change as well and came down wearing his red Speedo this time.

Jared and I spent the next hour in the pool, swimming and racing, but then he wanted to play tag next. Even though I didn't figure it would be much fun with just the two of us, I agreed to his request, just to vary the types of things we were doing. It didn't take me long, however, before I concluded that Jared had probably suggested doing this in an effort to get me aroused. That was because whenever I went to tag him, he'd either jump up, so I'd end up touching him on or near his groin, or he would turn and try to swim away, so I'd end up touching his butt instead. He did a few other things like that as well, each with similar results, so I finally called an end to the game and told him it was time to go inside and eat.

After climbing out of the pool, we picked up our towels, dried off and then went into the house. I immediately made my way to the kitchen and headed for the fridge, so I could get us both a drink. I knew I was thirsty and figured he probably needed to replenish some of his lost body fluids too, both from the exercise and just being out in the sun. As I handed Jared the can of soda, I spoke.

"Well, did you enjoy that?" I wondered.

"Oh, yeah. That was fun," he agreed. "Maybe we could do it again, after lunch."

"We can go back in the pool, but I'm not sure I want to play tag again," I replied.

"Why not?" Jared demanded.

"I think you know why not," I answered. "It was very clear to me that your escape moves were designed so I'd end up touching you in some sensitive area, and you know that bothers me."

"I didn't do it on purpose," he countered. "It just seemed to work out that way."

"Yeah, every time," I challenged, and he merely flashed me a sly grin.

We continued to talk as I got the pizza out and placed it in the over, and then I got out the fresh fruit mixture I had purchased on my last trip to the grocery store, since I decided it would go along nicely with the pizza. Jared seemed in a really good mood and talked not only about what we'd done in the pool, but he also tossed around a few other ideas about things we might try later. He wanted to know if I had any pool toys or a beach ball we could bat around, but I admitted that I hadn't picked up anything like that yet.

After thinking about it for a minute or two, I suggested he could come down at the same time tomorrow and I'd take him out for an early lunch. After we'd finished eating, then we would stop at Walmart and pick up some playthings to use in the pool, since we'd have to wait a while before we could swim anyway. Jared thought this was a good idea, so that's what we agreed to do.

Seeing we still had about fifteen minutes left before the pizza would be ready, I got out a couple of plates to put it on and a couple of bowls for the fruit. I then set everything out on the breakfast counter, since I thought we'd be more comfortable there than at the table, and I think Jared agreed with my idea. After I took the pizza out of the oven and cut it into slices, we each took a couple of pieces and scooped out what fruit we wanted into our bowls. We then took our time enjoying our meal, and after we finished, we put the leftovers away and rinsed off the dishes.

When we finished doing all of that, I decided to take my laptop outside, so I could soak up some sun while I was trying to work. I quickly got comfortable on one of the lounge chairs and Jared pulled the other lounge chair close enough so that we were almost touching, as he watched what I was doing.

After just a few minutes of sitting out there like this, I decided it might be wise if we put on some sunscreen, to protect ourselves from the harmful UV rays. When I mentioned this to Jared, he agreed that it might be a good idea, so I went inside to get it. When I came back, I handed the bottle to Jared, because I was going to let him use it first, but he had another idea.

"Why don't you put it on me and then I'll put it on you," he suggested.

When I didn't immediately move to do this, he added another comment.

"I can't reach my back, so you'll need to do that for me anyway," he added, as I gave him a skeptical look. "Come on. You said you didn't mind touching me, as long as it wasn't to do anything sexual, so won't you do this for me?"

After thinking it over briefly, I nodded that I would.

"Since you're going to do my back," Jared continued, "you might as well just do all of me and then I'll put it on you."

Since I wouldn't have to rub the sunscreen onto his genitals or butt, I agreed to do this for him too. Carefully, I rubbed it into his chest, arms, hands, but when I began to work on his legs, I noticed Jared now had an erection. I tried to ignore it, but I'm positive he knew that I had seen it, since it was hard to miss, but I did his legs and feet, before I had him flip over, so I could do the other side. I then proceeded to apply the sunscreen to the back of his legs, back and neck, but then I let him do his own face, since I didn't want to take the chance of getting it in his eyes or mouth.

Once he finished doing that, he did the same for me, and I had to admit that his smooth hands and soft skin were sort of a turn-on. I did my best to put that thought out of my mind and focused on the warmth of the sun's rays instead, so I didn't end up with an erection, as had happened to him. It worked and Jared finished coating me with the sunscreen and then I took care of my face. When that was completed, I wiped my hands off on the towel and then went back to work on my story, as we also soaked up some sun for about an hour.

When we started to get too hot, I placed my laptop on the table and then Jared in I jumped into the pool again, to cool off. We frolicked around in the water until it was time for Jared to go home and for me to get back to working on my story again. After getting out of the pool, I headed into the house, started up the stairs and headed toward my bedroom to change, but I didn't realize that Jared was following right behind me until I turned around and bumped into him.

"Jared, why don't you change in the guest room, where your clothes are," I suggested.

"But I want to show you what I can do first. Remember? Isn't that ok?" he asked, with a certain amount of childish enthusiasm. You know, the kind you see when a child wants to show a parent something new he can do.

"Show me what?" I asked, playing dumb, although I knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"You know, that I can squirt that stuff now," he replied, innocently. "Remember, you told me I could show you that later, but I never got a chance to do it, so I want to show you now."

"That's not exactly what was said," I corrected, "but let me think about this for a second."

I considered what he wanted to do quickly and weighed the pros and cons over in my mind, to determine if I should allow this. He was eager to show someone this milestone and I understood why he couldn't do it with his mother or brother. I also didn't want him to have trouble at school, if he tried to show one of his friends and they reacted poorly to what he was doing, so I figured I'd just have to be adult enough to allow him to do this without losing my self-control.

"I suppose, if you think you have to," I replied.

I'm not sure if Jared was expecting this answer, but he smiled, quickly shed his Speedo and jumped on my bed. He then began massaging his penis and testicles, while trying to get himself aroused. That didn't take very long, but I wasn't sure if it happened because of the stimulation he was providing to it or because he was continually glancing over at my exposed package, as I started to change. Whatever the cause, he was soon stroking himself in earnest, but then he stopped to ask me a question.

"Would you like to do this for me?" he offered.

He had a very sly and sneaky expression on his face, so I think he had this planned out all along.

"Jared, I'll watch while you do it, because I realize it's important to you," I replied, "but I think I've made my position perfectly clear about doing anything like that for you. I am not willing to touch you in a sexual manner, because it would not only be illegal, but it would also be wrong."

"But it will make it happen faster," he countered.

"Yes, it may, but I've told you many times we can't do things like that," I reiterated. "If that's what you were hoping for, then let's stop right now and you can get dressed and we'll go downstairs."

"No! No! I'll do it myself," he relented. "Just stay here, ok?"

He was actually beginning to panic now, because I had started to make my way toward the door, but after he'd agreed to my stipulation, I decided to stay. When he saw this, he began to pump really hard on his straining tool, while trying to show me that he could, indeed, produce the precious liquid that would indicate he was becoming a man. His hand was sliding up and down his slender shaft so quickly that it was almost a blur, as he frantically tried to reach the point of ejaculation. I could only admire the beauty of the situation, as this handsome young man labored so strenuously to show me what he could accomplish. After a few minutes of this frenzied activity, I saw his body begin to stiffen, his face started to contort and then a few precious drops of watery liquid oozed from the tip of his dick and landed on his belly.

At first he was too exhausted to react to his achievement, but then he lifted his head, smiled at me and pointed at the liquid that had collected on his abdomen. He seemed so proud of his accomplishment and excited that I had witnessed it, but he was also thrilled that he had been able to show me what he wanted. As he continued to beam, I checked out those few drops of his sweet nectar, until he finally found his voice and spoke.

"See, Dad. I told you I could do it. I'm not a little boy any more, no matter what the law says," he stated. "I can do the same things that men can do, so I should be old enough to say whether I want to do these things and who I want to do them with."

I guess I should have expected there was more involved with his plan than just proving to me that he could ejaculate. I don't know why I didn't see this coming, since I had assumed he wasn't ready to give up on his attempts to seduce me, but I wasn't upset. I knew what he was trying to do, and if I was honest with myself, I can't say that I blamed him. I might have tried the same thing, if our roles had been reversed, but this didn't resolve my situation or make it any easier on me. I guess this was my problem to deal with, not his, so I resigned myself to what I would need to do and turned my thoughts back to him.

"Yes, Jared, you did tell me you could do this and I'm very impressed," I agreed. "You are indeed a young man now, but we will still need to obey the law, if we don't want to pay the consequences."

He looked somewhat deflated now, due to my response, because I think he'd been hoping that this would convince me to do otherwise, but now he realized it had not, so he became slightly moody again. Since I didn't know what else to do now, I walked into the bathroom, wet a washcloth and then came back into my bedroom, where I held the washcloth out for him. He didn't move to take it from me and remained motionless, as he lay pouting on the bed. After a few seconds, I spoke and told him what the washcloth was for, but he still didn't attempt to take it, so I just stood there for a few more seconds, while trying to decide what I should do next. As I continued to stand there and watch him, he shut his eyes and kept them closed, and then he turned his face away from me.

"Are you going to take this and clean up?" I asked, but he didn't respond.

"Jared, I know you're disappointed about this, but it's the way it has to be, so please just accept that," I pleaded. "I will do certain things for you, but not sexual activities, so won't you please just accept that and allow us to enjoy what we can do together?"

He still didn't answer, so I thought about what my next move should be. I finally determined I needed to show him it wasn't that I didn't want to make physical contact with him, but it was just that I didn't want to touch him in a sexual way. With this thought in mind, I took the washcloth and began to wipe the drops of cum from his tummy. I don't know if it was because he was surprised by my move or just curious about what I was up to, but his head whipped around and his eyes snapped open, as he watched what I was doing.

A slight curl also began to form on his lips and he gave me a weak grin, but he wasn't completely over being upset with me yet. It was at this point that I noticed another drop of semen on the end of his dick, so I reached up with the washcloth and wiped it off. His penis began to harden immediately when I did this and let me know that he approved of this encounter, so I quickly decided that I'd better explain.

"Jared, I don't mind touching you, except in a sexual way," I explained. "I can help to clean you, as any parent might do for a child, but I won't go further than that. Is that clear?"

He nodded his head, but this time his smile didn't fade. I think he had decided to take this small victory and be happy with it, rather than argue the point further, and he didn't make any effort to entice me to do anything else.

"Jared, it's time for you to go home now, so I can get back to work," I reminded him. "You can come back tomorrow at 11:00, like you did today, and we'll spend more time together then."

After I said this, he sat up and then hopped off of the bed.

"Ok, I know I promised to give you time to work," he agreed, "so I'll get dressed now and then come back tomorrow."

I thought this was a major concession on his part, so I walked over and gave him a big hug. I'm not sure whether the next thing he did was on purpose or not, but since he was still naked, he managed to grind his dick into my thigh a bit, but I chose not to say anything about it. When we broke the hug, Jared went to get dressed in the guest room, while I finished changing into my clothes. Then I walked him downstairs and saw him off, so I could get back to work.

Once he was gone, I sat down at the computer, but I wasn't able to concentrate on my story again right away. Instead, my mind raced over what I had just seen Jared do upstairs. It's probably quite obvious, but that really turned me on, so I ended up having to go upstairs and take care of myself first, before I could focus on my writing again. Once I did that, I read over what I had written for the first chapter of the new story, made a bunch of corrections and then picked up where I'd left off. I actually finished that chapter before I stopped to have dinner, and then after I ate, I sat down to work on chapter 2.

Chapter 7
The Brief Separation

Thursday morning, I got up, dressed, had breakfast and then sat down to work at my computer. I had started working on chapter 2 of my new story last night and wanted to finish it before Jared showed up, since he had agreed not to come down as early today. I was clearly psyched about getting started, because I had a bunch of ideas for this chapter, some of which had come to me after I had logged off the computer last night. Anyway, I began typing and not only finished the second chapter, but I also got started on the third as well. I knew I'd have to go over both chapters again before I emailed them to my agent, but I was quite pleased with how much I had accomplished and felt as though I'd made considerable progress.

When Jared showed up at 11:00, we hopped into the Tahoe and took off. When I asked him where he wanted to eat, he mentioned a couple of fast food places, but I wasn't in the mood for anything like that. Instead, I drove over to T.G.I. Friday's, because I loved their Jack Daniels Flat Iron steak. Once I'd parked and Jared realized where we were going, he seemed quite surprised and slightly reluctant. I knew his current hesitation had to do with the money issue again, since I'm sure he's had to watch how much he spends when he's with his mother, but I wasn't going to allow him to do that with me.

I led him inside, and once we were seated, he began to tentatively look over the menu. I was fairly certain that he was looking for the cheapest item, so before he announced what he wanted, I did my best to entice him into ordering the same thing I was going to have. He hemmed and hawed for a couple of minutes, as he listened to me describe this particular entrée, and then he finally relented and agreed to do as I'd suggested.

Once the meal came, he cut off a small piece of steak, dipped it in the sauce and then hesitantly placed it in his mouth. After letting it soak into his taste buds, he discovered that he liked the taste and ravenously began to attack the rest of his meal. He seemed particularly fond of the special Jack Daniels sauce and made certain that every piece of steak was coated in it, before he placed it in his mouth. Watching the satisfied expression that appeared on his face as he savored each mouthful was extremely gratifying. It showed me that he was really enjoying this simple treat and prompted me to conclude that he was glad I had talked him into ordering it.

After we finished our meal, I paid the tab and we left. Once we were in the Tahoe again, Jared confirmed my earlier assumption by thanking me for suggesting that he order the steak and then raving about how much he had enjoyed it. I can't tell you how good that made me feel, because I was truly pleased that I had been able to provide him with this gastronomical delight.

I drove over to Walmart next and led Jared directly to the seasonal area, where we began looking around. I quickly spotted a display of inflatable beach balls and tossed one into the cart, and then I added a couple of inflatable lounge chairs, in case we just wanted to relax in the water, instead of getting out and sitting on the deck. Once those items were in the cart, we continued to peruse the aisles and inspect the other choices, and as I turned the corner, I spotted something else I thought would be fun. It was a DeckVolly kit, which was a volleyball set adapted for use in a swimming pool, and I thought Jared and I would have fun playing it. I felt it would be even more appropriate if Josh and Dean ever came down with him, so I placed it in the cart, along with the other items.

When Jared saw me put that particular item in with the other things, he asked why I wanted it, since it usually required teams to play, so I told him about my idea. After listening to my explanation, he chose not to argue with me, but I could also tell that he would prefer if it were just the two of us most of the time. After hearing my ideas, however, I think he decided that he wouldn't mind having Josh and Dean come down to join us once in a while, and maybe even his mother too, as long as he had me to himself most of the time.

Once we got back to the house and had changed into our swimsuits, we took all of our new acquisitions outside with us, when we went out to get in the pool. We really tired ourselves out this time, since Jared kept challenging me to race with him first, before we set up the volleyball net and batted the ball back and forth for a while. When we finished, it was nearly time for Jared to go home for dinner, so I sent him upstairs to change.

When he came down again, Jared informed me that he had merely wiped off his Speedo with the towel and then slipped his shorts on over it, because he figured we'd be getting back in the pool after he returned. He then asked if doing that was ok, and even though he was belatedly asking for my permission, I told him it was fine. After flashing me a smile of approval, he told me he'd see me again in a little while and headed out to his bike. As usual, I watched his progress as he pedaled up the road.

When he returned about an hour later, I told him that we should wait a little while before we got back in the pool and asked what he wanted to do until then. Jared said he just wanted to sit with me and maybe watch some TV, so I knew this meant he wanted to cuddle with me until we went out to swim. He also told me that he wanted to play volleyball again later and I agreed that would be fine, and then we went into the living room and made ourselves comfortable. Since I was still in my swim trunks, Jared slipped off his shorts and shirt, because he had his Speedo on underneath, and then he sat down next to me on the couch.

We had only been watching TV for about fifteen minutes when the front door opened and Josh walked in.

"Hi, Bob," he greeted me. "You don't mind if I come in, do you?"

Even though he was smiling, he still looked slightly uncomfortable and unsure if he should continue.

"No, Josh. You're welcome any time," I offered

"You should have rung the doorbell or knocked first though," Jared scolded, as he pointed out his brother's faux pas.

"Hey, I don't make you do that," I told Jared, "so Josh doesn't have to do it either, unless the door is locked and he can't get in."

Jared gave me a dirty look, which let me know he didn't agree with my proposal, but he didn't gripe about it further, at least not in front of his brother. I had the feeling that Jared thought he should be the only one to have that privilege, since he was using me as his surrogate father, but I felt it would be best if I treated them both the same. I thought that if I didn't and Josh felt that I favored Jared, then it might create a problem within his family and I didn't want this to become a competition to see who had the greater benefits with me. I also didn't want Josh to feel unwelcome or any less at home here, because I was worried that he might complain about it to his mother. If that were to happen, then she might stop Jared from coming down here as well, if she believed I was treating one better than the other.

Josh immediately noticed that we were wearing swimsuits, so he wanted to know if he could go swimming with us too. After I told him he could, he wanted to know where Jared got the swimsuit he was wearing, so Jared simply explained it was one that I had at the house. Jared didn't go into detail about why I had something that would fit him, and Josh seemed to merely accept his answer. He then wanted to know if I had another one that he could use, so Jared reluctantly told him we did and then took his brother upstairs to show him the selection.

Jared pulled out the other Speedo and the trunks I'd purchased for him, as well as the old swimsuit that Jared had brought down from his house. After looking them over, Josh selected the trunks, so Jared left him alone to change, while he came back downstairs. We finished watching the television show first, even after Josh had rejoined us, but when the program ended we got up and headed outside. Before long, the three of us were frolicking together in the pool.

Josh seemed to be enjoying himself and Jared got over his bout of jealousy after a brief time. After horsing around for a while, we decided try our hand at volleyball next, with me playing against the two of them, but we didn't keep score. This was just for fun and I think we all had a good time doing it.

It was fairly obvious that Josh wasn't quite as open and outgoing as his brother, but that might be due to the fact that he was dealing with some feelings of jealousy. I suspected that since he realized his brother had been coming down to visit nearly every day, he probably also assumed that Jared had been swimming with me on most of those occasions, so he might be slightly envious that he'd been left out. Sensing this, I immediately pointed out that the pool had needed a lot of work done on it first, before we could us it, so we'd only just recently been able to start swimming. This seemed to make Josh feel slightly better about the situation, but it also made me realize that I needed to be very careful not to show any favoritism toward Jared. I didn't want to give Josh any more fuel to ignite his jealousy to an even greater degree, if I didn't want to risk the chance that he might end up complaining to his mother about it.

Even though I got out of the pool after a while, I let the boys continue to frolic around in the water until it approached their bedtime and then I made them go inside, so they could change and get ready to go home. I went upstairs to change at the same time and handed each of them a towel to dry off with and then I sent Josh into the bathroom. Jared followed me into my room, but I suggested it would be best if he used the guest room to change. He wasn't happy with my suggestion and began to argue with me about it as he retrieved his clothes, but I told him it would be best if Josh didn't discover he'd be getting naked with me. Finally, he gave in and did as I asked.

Once we were all dressed, both boys thanked me for allowing them to swim in my pool and I told them they were welcome. Then we headed downstairs and they headed home for the evening. I watched as they pedaled their bikes up the road, without saying much to one another, and once they disappeared from sight, I went back inside and sat down at the computer. If I was lucky, I'd be able to finish the chapter I was currently working on, so tomorrow I could go over the chapters I had worked on today.

Surprisingly, everything seemed to come together nicely, so I managed to finish writing the third chapter fairly easily. Since I didn't want to begin the next chapter and end up working late, I turned off the computer and headed upstairs to bed. I was feeling really good about everything I had accomplished and felt I should be able to proofread and touch up those two chapters the following day. In fact, I was in such a good mood that I fell asleep quite quickly and had one of the best night's sleep that I'd enjoyed in a very long time.

When I woke up the following morning, I was feeling great and raring to go. After fixing myself a generous breakfast, I sat down at the computer and began to work. Since Jared wasn't coming down until 11:00 again, I had time to write and was able to polish up the two chapters I'd finished the previous day. Once I was satisfied with them, I emailed those chapters to my agent and then begun work on the next one. I was totally engrossed in what I was doing and spent the next couple of hours working on it, but then the phone suddenly rang and broke my concentration.

"Hello," I answered, thinking it might be Jared calling.

"Bob, it's Dick," I heard my agent's familiar voice instead. "I know this is short notice, but I need you to come to New York on Monday. Will that be a problem?"

"What the hell for?" I asked, since I had no idea what this was about.

"Since your new story follows the main character until he is much older, your current publisher doesn't feel it fits the young adult category and isn't interested in publishing it," he answered. "Therefore, I've pitched it to some other publishing houses and sent them copies of the story outline and the chapters you'd sent me so far, and there are two different companies that have expressed an interested in picking it up. The editors would like for you to come in and meet with them next week, to discuss your proposal in more detail. If you're agreeable, I'll schedule one meeting for Monday morning and the other for Monday afternoon. If either of them likes what he hears, I suspect they'll be willing to have you sign a contract before you return home. So will you be able to come?"

"Aren't you taking a chance of offending them, by pitting two publishing houses against each other, by pitching them at the same time?" I asked, slightly concerned.

"Possibly, but since you have to make a special trip to do this, I want to ensure it's worth your time and effort," he explained. "If the first editor makes an offer, we'll get the exact figures and then tell him we'll discuss it and get back to him the following afternoon. That way, we'll be able to see what the other editor has to say and see if she makes a better offer. You should be able to make up your mind by Tuesday morning and then get back to them. Then, the winning house can have a contract drawn up for you to sign by Tuesday afternoon and you can return home anytime after that. So what do you say? Will you be able to come?"

"Sure, I suppose I can arrange it, especially if it means a book deal," I replied. "I'll fly out on Sunday afternoon, so would you make hotel reservations for me?"

"No need to," he replied. "I've already talked this over with my wife and we'd like to have you stay here with us, at our home on Long Island."

"I don't want to impose," I countered.

"No imposition at all," he answered. "The girls are away at camp this week and next, so they won't be back until the following weekend. This way we'll be able to spend some time together and it will give my wife and I an opportunity to entertain you, since you are a major contributor to our family's income."

"Well, since you put it so nicely, I'd be happy to accept your gracious offer. I'll make my travel arrangements and then call you back to let you know what time I'll be arriving," I confirmed, before ending the call.

I immediately went online and began to search for the most convenient flight, and a short time later, Jared showed up. He must have thought I was working on the story, so he just said 'hi' and went into the living room, so he wouldn't interrupt. Once I'd finished making my reservation, I got up and went in to join him, so I could explain this situation to his satisfaction.

"I saw you were busy and didn't want to bug you," Jared explained, after he'd turned away from the TV.

"I appreciate that, but I have something to tell you," I answered.

This comment seemed to pique Jared's curiosity and he studied my face for a second, as he wondered what I was going to tell him.

"I received a call from my agent a little while ago and he told me that I needed to come to New York City for a few days," I explained.

"Dad, why do you have to go there?" Jared wanted to know, and I could tell he was slightly upset that I'd be leaving for a while.

"He's arranged for me to meet with a couple of different publishing houses about another book deal," I told him. "I'll be leaving on Sunday and probably won't be back until Wednesday."

"Darn, you mean I won't be able to see you for that many days!" he exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, that's true," I replied.

"But why can't you do it in just one day?" he followed. "Why do you have to be gone for so long?"

"Jared, these things take time and I'm surprised that I don't have to be there for the entire week," I responded. "My editor was thoughtful enough to arrange for it all to happen over just a few days, so you should be happy."

"Ok, I am then, as long as you won't have to be gone for longer than that," he agreed. "Will you be able to spend any time with me today or tomorrow then?"

"I'll need some time to get my things ready, pack my suitcase and such, but I should still be able to spend some time with you," I confirmed. "I may have to stop and do different things from time to time, and I'll need to concentrate on my writing so I'll be ready for this meeting, but I'll try to give you as much time as I can."

"Thanks, and I'll try to give you some space too, Dad," Jared promised, as his way of making this a little easier for me. "Do you need time now or can we swim for a while?"

"Why don't we take a quick dip and then I'll fix us some lunch," I suggested. "After we've eaten, I'll use some of that time to check and see what I want to take with me and then I'll know whether I need to do any laundry or run to the store for anything. I think my suits and dress shirts are okay, but I may need to launder some socks, underwear and casual clothes to take with me."

"Are you staying at a hotel?" Jared asked next.

"No, I'm going to be staying with my agent and his wife," I answered. "He told me they'd love to have me spend the time with them, which means we'll probably be going out in the evening as well."

"So you won't be able to call me either?" Jared followed.

"Jared, I'll only be gone for a few days," I replied. "Besides, how would I explain to my agent that I needed to call home, so I can speak with the neighbor boy? Not only that, but what would your mother think if I called you during my trip? She might not be home at the time, but Josh could always mention it to her after she got home from work and I think that would make her wonder what else might be going on between us. I think she would definitely be curious as to why I couldn't go away for a few days without thinking I had to call so I could speak with you."

"But Dads call home when they go on trips," Jared countered.

"That's very true, but I'm technically not your dad and your mother doesn't know about you calling me that," I pointed out. "I'm convinced we might arouse her suspicions if I phoned you and I'm also not sure how I'd even attempt to explain it to my agent and his wife."

"Ok, but promise you'll think of me every night when you go to bed, cuz I'll be thinking of you too," he offered.

"I can definitely do that, because I know you won't be far from my thoughts, no matter what I'm doing," I replied.

Hearing me say this brought a smile to Jared's face, as we headed up the stairs to change into our swimsuits. I wasn't surprised when he grabbed his and brought it in to my bedroom to change, since this has been one of his little exhibitionist stunts that I've allowed, but he also uses it to get an eyeful of my package as well. As long as he doesn't try to push this to the next level and attempt any physical contact, I've granted him this one brief opportunity, as well as when we changed again after we'd finished up for the day, as long as his brother isn't also with us.

We swam for a while and batted the beach ball around, instead of the volleyball, but mostly Jared just wanted us to spend some time together. He even hinted at going with me on this trip, but I quickly explained that it was business trip and we'd have a tough time justifying doing something like that to both my agent and his mother. In addition to that, it would also make Josh feel badly that he couldn't go along too, so in the end Jared put the idea out of his head.

When we got out of the pool, I fixed us a quick lunch and then went upstairs, so I could begin to lay out what I was going to take with me on the trip and determine what else I would still have to do in order to get ready. Before long, I had a pile of dirty clothes that I'd definitely need to take care of before I left, because I wanted to take many of those items with me, but I was also making a list of the things I would need to pick up at the store, which were mostly personal grooming items for my travel kit. Jared watched everything I did and would occasionally talk to me as I worked, but he also carried the laundry basket downstairs and put it in the laundry room

Before we went back out to the pool again, I tossed a load into the washing machine and planned to let it run while we were outside. After spending some time in the pool together, I hopped out of the water for a few minutes, so I could move the clothes to the dryer. I also placed a second load in the washing machine, before I went back to the pool to spend a little more time with Jared.

When it was time for him to go home for dinner and we went inside to change, he asked if it would be all right if he came back again later and I told him it would be fine. He then agreed to stay home Saturday morning, to give me a chance to do some more writing, so I thanked him for his understanding and cooperation. This would allow me the opportunity to better prepare for the meetings I was going to have with the editors.

After dinner, Josh came down with Jared. When we went upstairs to change, Josh headed into the bathroom again, but Jared followed me into my room. I didn't think anything about it at the time, since I was thinking about the trip and Jared and I had dressed together in my room earlier, but Josh definitely noticed that his brother had followed me. Before he shut the door to the bathroom, Josh was able to observe Jared stripping out of his clothes and putting on his Speedo, right in front of me, and then Josh quickly closed the door to the bathroom and considered what he'd just seen, as he also began to change.

Once we were all in the pool, we played volleyball for a while, before I left them on their own, so I could go into the house and write some more. Before long, I finish work on chapter 4 and started on chapter 5. I hoped that maybe I'd be able to finish these two chapters in time to take with me, when I went to New York. I felt that the more chapters I had to show prospective new publishers, the better my position would be to convince them that this story was worth taking a gamble on it. It would also give me some additional leverage for when I attempted to negotiate an advantageous deal.

When the boys got tired of spending time in the water, they came inside and we went upstairs to change. Josh went into the bathroom again, but he watched as Jared tagged along behind me and came into my room again, before he closed the door. Just before Jared and I finished changing, it suddenly dawned on me what we had done, but I didn't say anything about it. Why should I, since it was already too late? I merely began to wonder if his brother had caught on to this fact as well, and if so, how he was going to react to it.

When we went downstairs again, the boys agreed to watch television until it was time for them to leave, so I could continue working on my story. Although they could have gone home and done the same thing, I think they preferred not to be alone, even though I was currently doing something else and not in with them. They each thanked me and gave me a hug before they left, and then Jared told me that he'd see me just before lunchtime tomorrow. I told him that would be fine and then watched as they pedaled up the road, before I went back inside and returned to my writing.

I actually finished a very rough draft of chapter 5 before I quit for the night, so I figured I could polish it up a little more in the morning and then hopefully put the finishing touches on it Sunday morning, before I left to catch my flight. Seeing that was taken care of, I went upstairs, performed my nightly ritual and crawled into bed. I had a lot of different thoughts running around in my brain, so it took me a little while to fall asleep, but then I slept very soundly for the rest of the night.

Saturday morning, I started going over what I had written on chapter 5 and added quite a few more details and descriptions, as it started to come together. I was still working on it when the doorbell rang, which let me know that I had forgotten to unlock the door when I came downstairs earlier. When I opened it, I was surprised to see Jared and Josh standing there, smiling up at me.

"Did we give you enough time to work?" Jared asked, as he came through the door.

"Yes, I think I've finished enough so we can spend some time together," I responded.

"Good, then let's go swimming!" he exclaimed.

I walked upstairs with the boys, and as we started down the hallway, I saw Josh go into the bathroom again, but this time it was only so he could grab his swimsuit. He then rushed back into the hallway and followed Jared and me into my room. When I turned around and saw him, I questioned what he was doing, and that's when he mentioned that he had seen Jared change in here with me the previous day, before announcing that he had decided to change in my room too. Needless to say, I was surprised and confused by this, and Jared was too, especially since he had told me about how shy his brother was. After considering this briefly, I concluded that as long as it was Josh's idea and he was fine with doing it, then I wasn't about to object. I certainly didn't want him to think that I didn't want him in here with us or that there was anything wrong with what we were doing.

Once we were all in my room, we began to strip down, but I noticed that Josh had turned his back toward us when he did this. This told me that he just wanted to be in the same room as Jared and me, while at the same time being able to retain his modesty. What he didn't realize was that the mirror on my dresser, which he was inadvertently facing, gave me a splendid view of everything he had, even if he was trying very hard not to show it off.

I coyly enjoyed this unintended and impromptu show, without him realizing I was able to see him in all of his glory. As I'd assumed, Josh had a typical little boy dick, which was maybe an inch to an inch-and-a-half [2½-4 cm] in length, and he was also circumcised, like his brother. I also noticed that he was a long way from beginning puberty and the only hair to be seen on his body was on the top of his head, which proved he was just a typical ten-year old boy, in every sense of the word.

I will admit that Josh is cute, although not breathtakingly stunning as I find Jared, because the extra weight he's carrying detracts slightly from his more attractive qualities. If he were to lose those extra pounds and slim down, so that he was built more like Jared, then I think he would turn more than a few heads as well. He'll probably develop quite nicely as he gets older, but right now he's just a little boy who's awaiting his trek through puberty.

Once we were all in our swimsuits, we made our way downstairs and headed out to the pool. We had quite a good time over the next hour or so and did many different things together. The boys wanted to play volleyball first, so I expected they were going to team up against me, but instead they asked if they could just play each other. Happily, I allowed them to do this and moved off to the side to watch, but neither of them was having a great deal of success, since they had to cover the entire area by themselves and it was more than they could handle. Eventually, they asked me to play against them and they seemed to enjoy doing this a lot more.

When we finally got out of the pool, we went back upstairs to change and both boys followed me into my bedroom again. Josh started to take down his trunks while facing us, but then suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly turned in the other direction. After toweling off his body, he slipped again and turned back toward us, when he went to retrieve his underwear. Without thinking, he completely forgot to cover up and gave us the full Monty, so I pretended that I hadn't noticed his error, to make him feel better about what he'd just done. It didn't seem to help though, because once he realized that he had messed up again, he grabbed his towel and held it in front of his genitals until he managed to pull up his underwear. He was beet red by the time he'd finished and finally dropped his towel on the floor, so both Jared and I pretended that we hadn't noticed a thing.

Once we had all put on our clothes, we went downstairs and had a drink together, while the boys talked about the various things we'd done. I was glad to see that they'd enjoyed themselves and that Josh felt at ease doing things with us, because I didn't want there to be any hard feelings. When it was time for them to go home to eat, I sent them on their way and watched as they made their way up the road. Then, I went inside to fix my dinner.

After I'd finished eating, I had some time to work on the story again, so I was ready to take a break when Jared and Josh came back a short time later. They said they were tired out and just wanted to watch the next Harry Potter movie, The Chamber of Secrets instead, so I agreed and sat down with them on the sofa.

As always, Jared leaned against me as soon as the movie started, and to my total surprise, Josh did the same thing about twenty minutes later. When that happened, I lifted both of my arms and wrapped one around each of their shoulders, as we enjoyed the action on the screen. I guess Josh was beginning to feel more comfortable with me as each day passed, which I felt was a very good sign.

When it was time for the boys to go home, Jared let Josh go outside first, so he could give me an energetic hug and a quick kiss, before telling me to be careful on the trip. After I assured him I would, he went outside and joined his brother, so they could return home. As they started out, I suddenly realized that Josh didn't have a headlight or any reflectors on his bike, so I told him to be careful and follow behind his brother. Then, I watched until I saw that they had safely arrived home, before I went back inside.

It took me a while to fall asleep that night, but it wasn't because I was excited. Instead, it was due to the fact that I was going over the trip preparations in my head and trying to make certain that I would have everything I needed and wouldn't be leaving anything important behind. Once I was convinced all of the details had been taken care of, I finally dosed off.

When I awoke Sunday morning, I hurriedly showered, got dressed and fixed a hasty breakfast, before I sat down to double-check Chapters 4 and 5, as well as the cumulative chapter synopses. Once I was satisfied with each of those items, I copied everything onto a flash-drive and put it in my pocket, before I loaded my suitcase into the Tahoe and set out for the airport.

Even though I'd heard many horror stories about the T.S.A., I didn't find the process too bad and got through it fairly quickly. The flight was pretty uneventful, but I did spot one particularly cute boy flying with his parents. They were seated across the aisle from me, so I had a chance to observe him on the sly, as I mentally undressed him and envisioned us doing things with each other. Doing this made the flight go by quite quickly, so before I knew it, we were making our final descent toward the landing strip.

After the plane had come to a complete stop, I followed the boy and his parents off the plane, so I could visually inspect him one final time. I was hoping he might have to use the restroom, so I could follow him in, but that didn't happen, so I merely colleted my luggage and made my way toward the exit. Almost immediately, I spotted my agent and noted that he had a huge grin on his face, which I interpreted to mean that he was already mentally depositing his share of the royalty check that he assumed I'd be receiving shortly. To be fair to him, he was also a good friend, so I chased that thought from my mind and assumed he was just glad to see me. I greeted him warmly and then followed him out to his car.

He drove us directly to his place and we went inside, where we were greeted by his wife, Molly. Since I'd met her on previous occasions, there was no need for introductions, so after saying hello and kissing each other on the cheek, we began to discuss what we'd each been up to since we'd last been together. Once we'd finished doing that, Molly asked me about my new story, because Dick had mentioned a little bit about it to her, but only enough to whet her interest. Now, she wanted me to fill her in about it and give her the details, because she said what she'd heard so far had sounded very interesting, so I thanked her for the compliment and filled her in about some of the ideas I had planned to include.

We spent the rest of the day together and they took me out for dinner later, before going to another establishment where we met up with a few of their friends for drinks. After they introduced me to everyone, we spent the rest of the evening talking about a variety of topics, as well as listening to a fairly talented pianist/singer who had been hired by the owner of this lounge to entertain his patrons. When we finally returned to their place, I decided to turn in a short time later, because I was fairly exhausted due to the travel and drinks, as well as from a bout with mental fatigue. In fact, I slept so well that I didn't even hear my cell phone alarm go off the next morning, so Dick had to come in to the room to wake me.

"Come on, Bob. You've got to start getting ready," he urged. "Your meeting isn't until 10:00, but you'll still need to get going if you intend to shower, get dressed and be able to eat before we leave. You may not realize it, but it's going to take us a little over an hour travel time just to get to the first interview."

After hearing him say this, I immediately hopped out of bed and started my preparations. I took a very short shower first and then finished my other ministrations quickly, before I got dressed and went downstairs, where Molly had breakfast waiting for me. After hurriedly downing it, along with a cup of very strong coffee, I thanked Molly for the meal, before Dick and I started on our way.

Dick spent the entire trip telling me about the particular publishing house we were going to first, as well as sharing information about the editor I was going to meet with. He wanted to make certain that I knew this background information before the meeting, so I'd be familiar with whom I was dealing. This knowledge would provide me with the best chance of convincing this guy to get his company to take a chance on my story, so we'd all make some money.

Once we got to the meeting, I sat down with the editor, but it didn't take long for me to realize that this guy was only interested in the story, IF I was willing to publish all my future stories with his firm as well. This meant I'd have to drop my current publisher and editor, with whom I had a very good relationship and who had given me my first break in the business. They had always been more than fair in their dealings with me, as well as being extremely helpful in providing me with all of the support I needed. I was pleased with everything they had done on my behalf and didn't want to change horses in mid-stream.

That wasn't the only thing that upset me, however. When discussing what this new firm was willing to pay for the rights to my story, it was a flat, one-time fee, such as they'd give to a first-time author. They were totally unwilling to negotiate any additional remuneration, in the event the book was a huge success and sales went off the charts. Since my current publisher always included this particular incentive in my contracts, I didn't feel this situation was in my best interest or an appropriate option, so I thanked him, told him in no uncertain terms that I wasn't interested and we left.

"What in the hell were you doing in there?" Dick asked, once we were out of the building. "You've basically assured yourself that they won't publish your book."

"They were asking too much and offering too little in return," I replied. "I wasn't about to give up the relationship I have with my current publisher and all of the benefits I enjoy with them just to publish one more story."

Dick wasn't totally in agreement with my decision, because he thought we'd be able to get them to negotiate some of those issues later, but I disagreed with his optimistic outlook. I didn't think the guy was about to negotiate and wasn't going to offer more than table scraps. With any luck, the next situation won't turn out to be so adversarial and we'll be able to strike a deal.

Dick took me out to lunch after we left there, and while we ate, he filled me in about the next editor and the company that she worked for. Unfortunately, Dick didn't seem to have a great deal of personal knowledge about this next editor and merely relayed information he had gleaned from his colleagues and other authors he was familiar with. Regardless of his lack of direct interaction with this editor, I felt the opportunity had little chance of ending up as badly as the previous meeting.

Once we were led to the conference room at the next location, the editor introduced herself and then did something I totally hadn't expected. Instead of discussing my new story, she began by telling me that she and her children had read all of my other stories and loved my work. She then went on to say that when she discovered that she might have a chance to play a role in publishing another of my stories, she couldn't resist the opportunity. When she finished telling me all of this, we then got down to business.

She didn't have the same expectations as the previous editor and admitted that I had a great situation with my current publisher, which she didn't wish to interfere with. She did, however, tell me that she had read the chapters and synopses Dick had sent her previously and was extremely interested in becoming part of this project. She had some suggestions for me, as to how I might improve on what she'd read so far, so we began discussing my expanded ideas, as well as the suggestions she had for future chapters.

By the time we'd finished, I was very impressed with her input and felt she had made a very generous offer, including additional financial incentives if this book sold more copies that the company planned for the first run. She also said that she'd be interested in working with me on any future stories that my current publishing house felt went beyond the scope of their readership, which opened up even more possibilities. Although I was extremely impressed and ready to give her an answer, I resisted the urge and told her I'd think over her offer and discuss it with my agent. I then advised her that I'd be back in touch with her the following day, to let her know what I'd decided. She thanked me for considering to utilize her services, and then Dick and I left.

"Damn, that went a lot better than I'd expected," Dick stated, once we were outside.

"And she treated us like professionals and not merely as her chance to cash in on my work, unlike the other guy," I retorted. "Not only was I impressed with her professionalism and that she was extremely well versed on my other stories, she also offered an extremely reasonable financial package, which I intend to take. I would have told her that right then and there, but you've taught me to let them stew for a bit first, before I give them the good news."

"Then we have something to celebrate this evening," Dick announced, with a huge grin. "Molly and I will take you out to wine and dine you, because it's the least we can do for coming up with another fantastic story, which will increase both of our bank accounts.

I went out with Dick and his wife later and we had a marvelous time. Not only did he pay for the food, but he also ordered a bottle of champagne to go along with our delicious meals, so we could toast my success. All in all, the evening was filled with wonderful conversation and many rounds of congratulations, as we enjoyed our current success.

During the course of this little celebration, I found that my mind kept wandering to the source of my inspiration for this story and I couldn't wait to tell Jared the good news. After taking care of business in the morning, I'd be able to leave that afternoon and fly back home, so it was possible that I might see him tomorrow evening, or Wednesday at the very latest. Can you believe that even in the midst of this celebration, my mind was filled with thoughts of him?

Chapter 8
The Competition

The next morning, I loaded my suitcase into the trunk of Dick's car and rode into work with him. About an hour after we'd arrived at his office, I used his phone to call the second editor back and let her know that I'd decided to work with her and her publishing house. She was delighted to hear the news and told me I wouldn't regret my decision, and then she informed that she'd drawn up a contract after we'd met, in anticipation of my accepting her offer, so I could come over to sign it whenever I was ready. I quickly set it up for just before lunch and then she asked for my email address, so she could forward me her notes on the first few chapters. I thanked her for everything and told her I looked forward to working with her, before adding that I'd see her in a couple of hours.

Once I got off the phone with her, I called the other editor back, to let him know that I'd definitely not be utilizing his services. He sounded mildly disappointed that I wasn't going to accept his offer, which surprised me, since I thought I'd made myself perfectly clear before I'd left our meeting the previous day. Since I didn't want there to be any further misunderstandings, I promptly informed him how insulting I felt his proposal had been, so he wouldn't make the same mistake and do anything like that to another established author in the future. After I finished that call, I entertained myself, while Dick went about his other business.

Just before lunchtime, Dick drove me over to sign the contract with my new editor, before we went to eat. My flight was scheduled to leave a couple of hours after we'd finished our meal, so he drove me over to the appropriate terminal to catch my flight. Before we parted, I thanked him several times for all of the hard work he'd put in to set this deal up and then we shook hands, before I went to catch my plane.

Of course, it took a while for me to jump through the many hoops you encounter when boarding a flight these days, but the screening process and the trip went without incident and I arrived at the local airport by late afternoon. After retrieving my car from the parking lot and paying the outrageous fee, I drove the rest of the way home and arrived shortly before dinnertime. After carrying my suitcase inside and quickly unpacking, I changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, as I got ready to relax for a bit, before I fixed something to eat.

After making myself a pot of coffee, I turned on some music and sprawled out on the sofa to unwind. I hadn't been lying there for very long, before I heard the doorbell ring. I figured it was probably Jared and that I'd forgotten to leave the door unlocked, so I got up to answer it.

"Dad, why didn't you call to let me know you were back?" he demanded, as soon as I'd opened the door.

"I haven't been here for very long," I replied. "I've barely had time to unpack, make a pot of coffee and relax, since it was a whirlwind and exhausting trip."

"Ok, I guess I understand then," he countered. "Do you mind if I spend some time with you or do you want me to go back home?"

"No, you don't have to leave and may stay here until it is time for you to eat," I answered. "I was just thinking about taking a quick dip anyway, so would you like to join me."

"I sure would. Let's go!" he exclaimed.

After agreeing to my offer, he was suddenly looking in a much better mood than when he'd first arrived. With a renewed sense of urgency, he led me up the stairs and we slipped into our swimsuits, before we raced downstairs again. We quickly headed outside and jumped in the pool, as we looked forward to enjoying a quick dip. We weren't in the pool for very long before Josh walked around to the back of the house and spotted us.

"How come you didn't tell me you were coming down here?" he asked his brother.

"I'm sorry," Jared answered. "I had gone outside and happened to notice that Bob was home, so I just came down to see how he was doing and if he wanted some company."

"You could have let me know before you left," Josh stated, with a pout. "Can I swim too?"

"Sure, but we're not going to be in here for very much longer" I agreed. "Your mom will be getting home for dinner shortly, and then you'll have to return to join her, but you can go upstairs and change, if you still want to swim for what little time there is left."

Almost as quickly as the words escaped my lips, Josh flew into the house and reappeared a couple of minutes later, wearing the pair of trunks he'd been using. We merely swam and enjoyed each other's company until it was time for the boys to leave and then we went upstairs, dried off and changed, before coming back down again. Although Josh took off almost immediately after I told them they could come back later, Jared wasn't as anxious to leave. He waited until Josh was outside and then came over to give me a big hug and a kiss, but he also wanted to make sure I understood that he'd be back just as soon as his mother returned to work.

I watched as the two of them pedaled up the road, before going back inside and fixing myself a simple meal. It started raining before the food was ready and the intensity of the storm increased over the next few minutes. When I sat down to eat, I wasn't sure if Josh and Jared would come back again later, since it was quite obvious that we weren't going to be able to swim. They still might show up, however, if they merely wanted to spend time with me and didn't mind doing something else while the weather wasn't cooperating, but I'd just have to wait and see.

About an hour later, Jared showed up in a waterproof poncho, but Josh wasn't with him. When I asked him where his brother was, he told me that Josh didn't want to get all wet, so he decided to stay home. His response prompted me to question whether Josh had a poncho to wear too and Jared assured me that he did, but that Josh didn't like getting his legs and feet wet. I then pointed out that Josh would have gotten wet even if it wasn't raining, since we were planning to go for another swim, but Jared countered by saying that Josh didn't mind getting wet in his swim trunks, just not in his clothes. He went on to explain that Josh didn't enjoy it when the colder rain splashed upon his legs or when he had to wear wet shoes and socks, which would have been unavoidable under these conditions. After hearing this, I merely let the subject drop.

Since we couldn't go swimming, Jared took off his poncho and footwear and then we went into the living room and sat down next to each other on the sofa. I took this opportunity to tell him about my trip and he got fairly excited when I informed him that I'd made another book deal. I didn't, however, let him know that this story was loosely based on him, because I wanted to wait until the book was published first. That way, I could give him a copy to read and then see if he could figure it out. I was really excited to see how he would react, once he made the revelation that the main character was modeled after him.

After we finished our conversation, Jared turned on the television and we watched a couple of programs together. It was fairly obvious that he didn't care what we did, as long as he was close to me, so this is how we passed the time until he went home. By then, the rain had let up, so I told him to be careful on the wet roadway and watched as he made his way back to his place.

Jared had agreed to give me the morning to myself again, so I could work, and promised not to come down until about an hour after lunch. That way I'd have time to do some writing and we'd all be ready to hop in the pool as soon as he arrived, since enough time would have passed since we'd eaten. I assumed he'd be bringing Josh with him, but I'm glad he was willing to be so considerate and give me some time to write, because otherwise I might have had to demand he do this or else sever our relationship.

The following morning I awoke fairly early, full of enthusiasm and eager to get started. After washing up and fixing myself a quick breakfast, I sat down at the computer to work. The first thing I did was to open the emails my new editor had sent me and read through them, one at a time. After I finished each one, I opened the chapter the email was referring to and worked in nearly all of the suggestions she had made. I was impressed with how insightful she was and that she offered her suggestions without treading upon my vision of the story or stomping on my ego.

Once I finished doing that with each of the chapters I'd already completed, I read her email with suggestions for future chapters next and decided where they might fit in best. Once I'd made these determinations, I entered a note in the appropriate chapter synopsis, so I wouldn't forget to include those details when I sat down to write that chapter in the future.

Once I had made all of the changes and additions, I began working on the next chapter. My fingers were flying over the keyboard, as I tapped out one paragraph after another, and I completely lost all track of time. I was so involved with what I was doing that I managed to work through lunch. I might have continued on at this hectic pace for many more hours, but the doorbell rang and snapped me out of my hyper-focused state.

"Why do you keep forgetting to unlock the door?" Jared wanted to know, as soon as I let Josh and him in.

"Sorry, but it just slipped my mind. I've been working very hard all morning and concentrating on what I was doing, so I just didn't think about that," I explained. "I haven't even eaten yet."

"What? But it's almost 1:30!" Jared pointed out, while looking exasperated. "I thought we were going to swim."

"Look, Josh and you can swim if you'd like, but I'm just going to make a sandwich and then continue working for a while longer, since I'm on a roll," I replied.

Jared looked disappointed about what I'd just told him, but I didn't want to stop while everything was coming together so nicely in my head.

"I know it's not what you wanted to hear, but it's the best I can offer for now," I continued. "I'll come out and join you just as soon as I've finished jotting down the ideas that are currently bouncing around in my brain. I don't want to stop yet, or else I might forget the details that seem so obvious to me right now."

"Ok, I guess I understand," Jared agreed, as he led his brother upstairs to change.

I continued writing, as Josh and Jared put on their swimsuits and then headed outside to have some fun. I must have worked for another hour or more before I felt I was ready to stop, and then I went upstairs to put on my trunks, so I could go out and join them. Jared flashed me a huge grin as I emerged out the back door and made my way toward the pool.

"It's about time," he teased. "Are you satisfied with what you got done?"

"Yes, I'm very satisfied," I answered. "My new editor had some great suggestions and they sparked me to consider a whole new subplot for the story. I'm grateful that you understood and didn't put up a fuss about me finishing up."

"That's ok, but now it's time to have some fun," he insisted, as I leaped into the water and landed near him.

Now that I was in the pool with them, Josh and Jared decided that they wanted to play volleyball against me again. When I agreed, Jared hopped out of the pool to retrieve the volleyball and then we started batting it back and forth, with me on one side and the two of them on the other.

We actually played for a lot longer than I'd anticipated, but seeing the boys were having such a good time and had been so thoughtful earlier, I didn't wish to stop them from having fun. Once we finished though, I let them relax on the inflatable lounges in the pool, while I got out of the water and used one of the lounges on the deck to catch my breath. After resting up like that for about a half hour, the boys wanted me to get into the pool with them again, so I agreed.

They wanted to play volleyball against me again, since they were eager to see if they could beat me one more time, so that's what we did. Playing two against one was quite a workout for me, but I held my own until just before we stopped. I won't say that I let them win, but I might not have been trying quite as hard as I could have on the final few points, so they ended up beating me once again. They were ecstatic and did a triumphant lap around the pool, while I got out and let my overworked muscles take a break.

Before long, Josh and Jared were standing beside me and gloating that they had beaten me twice, but then Josh wanted to know which of them I thought was the better player. When Jared joined in on pressing me on this issue, I had to think quickly. Since I didn't want to get involved in this discussion, I told them I had been working so hard just to return their shots that I didn't really have time to think about anything like that. Even though they accepted my explanation, I could see that a little competitive streak was brewing between them and concluded that this wouldn't be the last time they'd try to put me on the spot this way.

A little while later, they asked if I'd get back into the pool with them, but it turned out to be merely a ploy. What they actually wanted me to do was to be the judge while they raced against each other. It didn't take long to discover that they'd been having a disagreement about who was the better swimmer too, and not just who was the better volleyball player, so they wanted to use me to make this determination.

Once I agreed to start the race and determine the winner, they agreed to begin and end the races in the shallow end, so I could stay in the pool with them. This would make it easier for me to ensure that neither one of them was cheating, while at the same time having a good spot to determine who won. Rather than have them dive in to begin the race, we used a standing start, because I figured there would be less of a chance for them to injure themselves, if they weren't diving, head first, into the shallow end.

Jared won the first race easily, but during the rematch I wasn't sure if he was easing up or if he had some sort of a problem, because he didn't seem to be swimming as strongly. It was possible that he suddenly wasn't feeling well or had suffered some sort of an injury, but whatever the reason, Josh beat him by about half an arm's length on the second heat.

Josh was ecstatic when this happened and immediately began asking me which of them was the better swimmer. I didn't want to get involved in this pettiness and hurt anyone's feelings, but I also wanted to discover if there was something wrong with Jared, without making an issue of it. Even though I attempted to ignore Josh's frantic request, he continued to pester me for an answer, so I finally lost it and snapped.

"It shouldn't matter which one of you is better. You each won one race and that should be good enough," I bellowed. "Since you each beat the other one in a race, then that should satisfy you that you're fairly equal, so I shouldn't have to declare that one of you is better than the other."

In retrospect, I probably came off way too harshly, but I didn't see the need for him to continue pushing the issue. I felt he should have left it that they had each won a race, but Josh was insistent that I make a choice as to who was the better swimmer. Since I realized this would be a no-win situation for me, I lost it and jumped down his throat.

After that little incident, I told the boys it was time to get changed and head home for dinner, and they reluctantly agreed. Before they left, however, I was able to find an opportunity to ask Jared if he was ok and he assured me that he was. He admitted that he had eased up so Josh would win the second race, which I thought had been sweet of him. It's too bad that I had ruined his noble gesture by overreacting to Josh's persistent questioning afterward.

I didn't go upstairs with them to change, since I was feeling a little guilty about how I had responded to Josh, so when they came back downstairs a few minutes later, I apologized to him for sounding so harsh. He said it was all right, but I could tell that his feelings were still smarting because of how I'd come off, so I continued to feel badly about my little rant, as I watched them pedal up the road.

When the boys reached their house, I went inside to fix something to eat. While I was preparing my meal, I began to wonder if I'd see either or both of them again later or if they would just stay home. Even though I apologized for what I'd done, I wasn't sure what the long-term effects of that indiscretion might be.

About an hour later, I had the answer to my question, when both boys walked through my door. I was actually surprised to see Josh this time, since I wasn't sure he'd come back again so soon, but I certainly wasn't about to send him away. Instead, I welcomed them and then Jared spoke next.

"Mom wants us to invite you to supper this coming Sunday," he announced. "She says seeing you've been so nice to Josh and me that she wants to fix a special meal for you and that way she can get to know you too."

This immediately caused me some concern. First of all, I was worried about the expense, as well as the amount of extra work this would create for her, but I was also troubled by the thought of eating food that I knew she could barely afford. In addition to those things, I was also mildly apprehensive about what Jared might do or say in front of her while I was there, such as accidentally calling me 'Dad' or being overly affectionate toward me. If that weren't enough, I was also worried that she might have a more sinister reason for doing this, such as wanting to confront me about my motives or question the types of things I'd been doing with her sons. It was also possible that she had heard about what had happened between Josh and me earlier and now wanted to chew me out for how I had treated him.

No matter what her intentions were or what else might possibly happen, I knew I couldn't turn down the request and risk alienating her. If I did something like that, it might cause her to stop allowing the boys to come down to my place any longer. With some reluctance, I agreed to join them and Jared smiled broadly when I gave him my response. I think he was looking forward to having me come to their house, because it would provide us with another opportunity to spend a little more time together on a day when we wouldn't normally see each other. We had reserved Sunday for him to spend time with his mother, since it was her only full day off, but it seemed that we were about to make an exception to this rule.

Once that had been settled, the boys wanted to know if we could go swimming again, and I saw no reason why they shouldn't be able to do this. Therefore, I told them they could and then sent them upstairs to change. When they noticed that I wasn't following them, the boys stopped and asked if I was going to join them, so I answered that I thought I might skip this session. As soon as those words had escaped my lips, they immediately began to argue with me, especially Jared, and he told me they had more fun when we were all in the pool together.

Josh and Jared even went as far as to come back downstairs and insist that they weren't going to swim either, unless I agreed to do it too. Since I didn't want to ruin this opportunity for them, I finally gave in and followed them up to change. Once we were all in our swimsuits, we made our way downstairs and headed out to the pool.

Once we were in the water, the boys wanted to race again, which made me slightly nervous, especially after what had happened the last time they did it. In an attempt to make them forget about doing this, I swam a few competitive laps with them instead, hoping that this would suffice, but when I dropped out, they started competing on their own. I hopped out of the pool and merely watched, and even after they asked, I refused to declare a winner. I let them work it out for themselves instead, because I didn't want a repeat of what had happened earlier.

Once they had tired themselves out, they swam over and hung out around me, while arguing about who was fastest and had won the most races. Neither would give in to the other, so they looked in my direction and asked me again to decide who was the best swimmer, but instead of answering, I merely dunked both underwater, to get them off of the subject. It worked and soon they were both trying to assist each other in dunking me, so their previous debate had officially ended.

When I noticed that it was getting late, I herded them into the house and we changed quickly, before I sent them off. As I watched the pair pedal up the road, I realized Josh didn't have a headlight or any reflectors on his bike, so we'd have to correct that, if he was going to keep coming down after dinner. Once I had made this mental note, I went inside, but now my mind was consumed with the request Jared had passed along from his mother.

My mind immediately started to go over a whole bunch of different things, like the day Jared had showed up at my door. This made me wonder if I should have stuck to my guns and not allowed him to work for me, because then I wouldn't be in this situation now. After that, my thoughts drifted to the first time Josh had come down on his own and I now considered if that had been a good thing, since I've never been certain that he wouldn't say something that might create a problem for me. I was fairly positive that Jared wouldn't say anything that might arouse his mother's suspicion or put the things we were doing in a bad light, but I couldn't say that with the same confidence about Josh. I hoped he wouldn't do anything that would came back to haunt us, but I didn't have the same amount of trust in his motives, as I did with Jared.

These concerns prompted me to reflect upon the first time that Josh had decided to change in my room with us. Initially, I got a kick out of his shyness, as well as his momentary lapses that allowed me to visually inspect his body, even through it was mostly through his reflection in the mirror. However, I wasn't certain he hadn't told his mother about doing this, which might be the underlying reason behind this unexpected invitation.

If the truth were told, unlike the case with Jared, she didn't have to worry about me doing anything with Josh. Even though I had seen him naked, I sill didn't feel any attraction to him, at least not like I did with her older son, but that was probably for a couple of different reasons. First of all, Josh is a little younger than my normal tastes, plus I'm not into hefty boys either. It's not that he's grossly obese, just a little pudgy, but I'm also fairly certain that I wouldn't turn him away in a pinch, even if he wasn't at the top of my 'preferred' list.

I continued thinking about these things for the rest of the evening, while attempting to figure out why their mother wanted me to join them for dinner. Was she merely doing this as her way of being nice and to thank me for 'entertaining' her sons, or did she have questions about some of the things I was doing with them. Did one of them mention that Jared wore a Speedo when he came down to swim, so now she wanted to know why he was in such a skimpy swimsuit or where the Speedo came from? Had one of the boys accidentally mentioned that they changed in my room with me, so now she had questions about that? Could she possibly suspect that I was a boy lover and planned this invitation to confront me about it? Any of these situations might come into play, so what was I going to do if she had invited me for a negative reason, rather than to merely thank me for what I was doing for her sons?

My slumber was less than refreshing that evening, because my mind was going over different scenarios that might happen when I had dinner with Jared's family on Sunday. I was extremely worried about what his mother might want and that she might even tell me to stay away from her boys. I couldn't be certain about this, so I'd have to wait and see what happened, but I had my concerns about what she might have in mind for when I went there.

Thursday morning, I awoke at my normal time, but I wasn't anxious to get out of bed and go downstairs to fix breakfast, because I was still feeling tired. After I finally forced myself to get up and start moving again, I finished the normal mundane morning activities and then sat down at my desk to work. Shortly after I got started, the doorbell suddenly rang, so I went to answer it.

"Sorry, Jared," I said, when I saw him waiting for me. "I guess I forgot to come over and unlock the door when I came downstairs this morning."

"It's ok and not a big deal, Dad," he replied. "So are we going to swim again?"

"I'd really like to try to get some work done first, if you don't mind," I answered. "If you want to swim, I guess I could take my laptop outside and work at the patio table, so I can keep an eye on you, since you'd be by yourself. Just promise that you won't try to splash me, because I don't want the 'puter to get wet and then have it die. That would force me to stop working and might even cause me to lose everything I'd done."

"No, Dad. You can work in here and I'll just watch a DVD or TV," he replied. "I want to swim, but I want to do it with you and not by myself."

"Ok, but where's Josh this morning and why didn't he come with you?" I followed.

"He's lazy and wanted to sleep in," Jared answered. "He'll probably come down later though."

"Did he say anything to you about yesterday?" I pressed.

"Yeah, a little, after we were in our room last night," Jared confirmed. "He thinks you're pretty neat and he likes your pool. I asked him why he started changing in your room with us, because he never wants to get naked when anyone else is around, but he said he thought he should, since I was doing it."

"I told him he could dress in the bathroom," I added, somewhat in my own defense.

"I know and I told him that too, but he said he wanted to try doing it with us, since he saw that I was changing in your room," Jared added. "Even though he was still trying to cover up most of the time, that's probably the most I've seen him naked in like two years and we share a bedroom."

"Really? He's that shy?" I asked.

"Usually, that's why I was so surprised that he came into your bedroom with us," Jared confirmed.

That gave me something else to think about now. Was Josh suddenly doing this because he felt comfortable with me or did he feel that he had to prove something to Jared or me? Maybe he felt that he had to change with us in order for me to allow him to come down to swim, or was he just trying to let us know that he was growing up and starting to lose his obsession with hiding his body? I'm not sure which of those things actually applied, but I guess it really didn't matter, as long as it's totally his idea.

I spent the next couple of hours doing some writing, while Jared stayed in the living room and watched something on the television. I'm not sure what program he'd settled on, but he left me alone, except for when he came out to ask me if he could get a drink and if I wanted one too. I told him that sounded like a good idea, so he got us both a soda, before he went back into the living room again.

I actually worked up until lunchtime and then I stopped to eat. After I fixed us some lunch, we sat and talked for a little while before we went upstairs to change into our swimsuits. Jared grabbed the blue Speedo this time and came into my bedroom carrying it. I guess he was determined for me to see him naked again and was, therefore, planning to strip down in front of me. I decided not to say anything about him doing this, as long as he didn't push the issue and try to go further, because it did seem important to him and I definitely enjoyed the view.

While we were swimming, Josh let himself in and walked out to the pool to let us know he had arrived.

"Can I swim too?" he asked.

"Yes, you may, and the swimsuit you wore is in the bathroom upstairs, because I left it in there to dry," I told him and he ran off to change.

When he came back down, I was amazed to see that he was wearing the red Speedo, instead of the trunks he had worn previously. It was even tighter on him than it had been on Jared, so I could see the outline of everything the boy had.

"I put this one on instead," he began. "Is that ok?"

"Yes, that's fine," I told him, although Jared was giving him a dirty look. "Next time I go to Walmart, I'll pick up two more, in different colors, because I bought those for Jared. I don't think he'll mind if you wear it today though."

I then nudged Jared, to let him know that he should tell his brother the same thing.

"Yeah, you can wear it today, until you get your own," he added.

We stayed outside in the pool until shortly before it was time for the boys to go home for dinner and then we went upstairs to dry off and change. We had been out of the pool long enough so that most of the water had evaporated from our bodies, so it only took a few swipes with the towel to wipe off the remaining water. To our surprise, Josh came into my room again, but he still did his best to keep us from seeing anything. There were a couple of time when he slipped up and I got another eyeful, but when that happened Jared would look at me and shrug his shoulders, to let me know he didn't understand this either. When I asked Jared about this again later, he admitted that he was also baffled about the reason Josh kept coming in with us, but he didn't want to fight with him about it.

Once the boys had finished changing and left for home, I fixed my dinner and then sat down to work again. The only problem was that this time I had images of two naked boys dancing in my mind as I was trying to write, so I suppose it's needless to say that I didn't get very much accomplished.

When the boys came down again later, they decided that they didn't want to swim this time, since it looked as if it was going to storm, so they settled on watching the third Harry Potter DVD, The Prisoner of Azkaban, instead. Before the movie started, however, both boys told me they had finished reading The Sorcerer's Stone and had started on the second book, The Chamber of Secrets. After thanking me again for buying the books for them, Jared informed me that he only had a couple of chapters left before he would be finished with it and then he added that he was going to start reading the third book right after that. Josh then told me that he was only halfway through the second book, but went on to explain that it was only because he didn't read as fast as his brother yet. Both boys assured me that they were really enjoying the books though and agreed with my earlier observation that they were much better than the movies.

Once the DVD ended, I sent the boys home, but I watched to make sure they got there safely, because Josh didn't have the same protective devices on his bicycle yet. Once I saw them go in the house, I went inside and wrote for a while, but before I went to bed, I got in the Tahoe and drove down to the local Walmart, so I could pick up a couple of Speedos for Josh, along with the appropriate items for his bike. I ended up buying him two Speedos, one black and the other forest green, but in a slightly larger size than I had purchased for Jared, since I thought he looked uncomfortable stuffed in that one earlier tonight. I also bought him a green pair of trunks as well, in case his mother ever came down when they were swimming at my place, so they would be able to maintain their modesty. Now, I couldn't wait to see Josh's reaction when he saw he had his own Speedos and wondered if he'd think it was a reward for changing in the same room with us.

Friday morning, I got up, ate my breakfast and then sat down to work until Jared showed up. This time, however, I remembered to unlock the door for him first, before I started writing. The funny thing was, it was now after 10:00 and he still hadn't arrived, which was highly unusual, since he was always here by now, unless he'd told me otherwise. This made me wonder if something was wrong, so I thought about checking up on him later, if he didn't show up by the time I'd finished my lunch.

When I heard the doorbell ring a few minutes later, I wasn't sure if it was Jared this time, because he didn't usually ring the bell unless the door was locked. Since I was positive that I'd unlocked it earlier, I thought it might be someone else, so I hurried over to answer it and see who was there. As I pulled the door toward me, I saw Jared standing on the other side, but I immediately understood why he hadn't just come inside. He was not the only one there and Josh was with him. My guess was that he had rung the doorbell to show his brother the polite thing to do when coming here.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, "but I wanted to finish reading the second Harry Potter book before I came down today. That way I can start on the next one later."

"That sounds fine to me and you don't have to worry about punching a time-clock here," I joked, although both boys looked at me quite oddly. "It used to be that when you went to work, you had to punch in and out on a time-clock, so your employer would know if you were on time and how long you'd worked. Nowadays, I guess they just do this on a computer."

Suddenly, I saw the light bulb go on in Jared's head.

"I get it now," he confessed.

Then, I walked over and grabbed the Walmart bag and handed it to Josh. He looked inside and pulled out the three swimsuits, but he looked confused.

"I don't need this many," he stated.

"Well, I bought Jared the same quantity and wanted you to have just as many," I explained. "You can wear any of them whenever you swim here, but the trunks are to be used if your mom is here with us when you go swimming. I'm not sure what she'd think if she saw you boys wearing the Speedos."

"Are those the little ones?" Josh asked, and I nodded. "Yeah, you can kind of see everything in one of those, so I'm not sure I'd want my mom to see me like that. It's ok with you and Jared, but I don't think I would wear one of those in front of my mom or anyone else."

"Wow, you've really changed," Jared told him. "I didn't think you'd even wear one of those around us, but then you also started changing in Bob's bedroom with us, even though you still tried not to let us see anything."

Josh blushed.

"You and Bob were changing together, so I thought I should do it too, but I just didn't feel right at first, so I covered up and turned away," Josh explained. "That was ok, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that was fine," I assured him.

"Can we swim now?" Josh asked next.

"I suppose we can," I agreed, "if that's what you boys want to do."

They both nodded, so we went upstairs to change.

"Which one should I wear," Josh asked, as soon as we were in the bedroom.

"Wear the green one," Jared told him, as he grabbed the red pair Josh had worn the previous afternoon.

Within a minute, both boys were standing completely naked in front of me, before they went to put on their Speedos. This time, no one was trying to hide anything and there wasn't even a pretense of modesty, so I guess Jared's comment to his brother had made him feel guilty about trying to hide the goods. Either that or he was doing it to repay me for buying the swimsuits for him, but I took it as a good sign – as long as their mother doesn't find out and object to it.

We swam until noontime and then I went inside and fixed us some lunch. We ate it at the patio table, beside the pool, and when we finished, I went inside and grabbed another bag, which I took outside and handed to Josh.

"What's this?" he asked, while looking at me strangely.

"Why don't you open it and see?" I replied.

He did and found the things I had bought for his bicycle. When he looked up at me again, he still had a confused expression on his face.

"I'd purchased the same things for Jared's bike," I explained, "and since you've been coming down with him in the evening and going home after dark, I wanted to make sure people could see you on your bicycle too."

"Thanks, but you didn't have to do this," Josh stated.

"I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to make sure that you were safe," I answered, and I saw both boys grin. "Come on! Let's go outside and hook them up, since we still have to wait a while before we can go back in the pool."

The boys then followed me outside and watched as I attached the headlight and then added the reflectors to Josh's bike. I did it exactly the same as I had done for Jared, so now I didn't have to worry so much about them when they were riding back and forth.

When we went inside again, we sat down and talked about the Harry Potter movie from the previous evening and about the books, until I felt it was ok for them to go back in the water. The boys were eager to get into the pool again and we stayed there until it was nearly time for them to go home to eat.

When we went upstairs to change, we all ended up back in my bedroom again, where we took off our swimsuits and got dressed. While we were doing this, I get my next surprise and was totally amazed when Josh began gyrating his hips, which made his little dick swing around, once he had taken his Speedo off and before he put his underwear on. I wasn't sure why he was doing this and wondered if it was another way for him to try to repay me for giving him the things I'd bought him. Regardless of the reason, it was kind of comical, while being sexy at the same time. When Josh started doing this, Jared looked up at me and the expression on his face told me he was totally shocked by his brother's actions, but then he started doing it as well.

Eventually, we all got dressed again and both boys thanked me for the great time, but Josh also thanked me for the swimsuits and things for his bicycle as well. This prompted Jared to thank me again for the things I had purchased for him previously, and then the boys began pedaling toward home. I watched as they headed up the road, and even though they didn't need to use them now, I was glad they had the headlights and reflectors on their bikes, for when they came back later.

The boys returned again after their mother went back to work, and they immediately announced that they wanted to go swimming. This time Josh wore his black Speedo and Jared wore the blue one, but they both put on a little show for me first, before they put them on. I don't know if they had worked this out with each other on the way home or the way back, but I hoped they hadn't talked about doing this when their mother might have overheard what they were planning. Anyway, after they were naked, they both did the same hip gyration move that Josh had done earlier, so both of their dicks were flopping around for my amusement, and then they both broke out laughing.

"Haha, I bet you didn't expect that, did you?" Josh asked, once they'd finished.

"No, I must admit that I wasn't expecting anything like that at all," I replied. "You surprised me earlier, when you did it the first time, but I was totally unprepared for both of you to do it again."

They both thought that was pretty funny, but I think Jared was getting a kick out of the fact that he was able to get away with doing this with his brother, since it was something I had tried to discourage when we were alone. Now, I had two boys getting me all horned up, but fortunately I'd managed to put my swimsuit on before they started their little routine, so they didn't notice me getting hard.

As we were getting out of the pool later and nearly ready to call it a night, Josh asked me a question.

"Bob, can I bring Dean down with me tomorrow, so he can swim with us too?" he asked. "I was going to go to his house, but if you don't mind if he comes down to swim, then I'll call and ask if he wants to come to my house instead."

"It's ok with me, but I'm not sure you should be putting on your little show when he's here or if we should all be getting dressed in my room," I warned. "It might be best if he got dressed in the bathroom, you two in the guest room and me in my room, because I don't want to risk him or his parents getting upset about anything."

"I don't think he'd mind and he'll probably even want to get dressed in here with us," Josh countered. "He's asked me before if he could see my pee-pee, but back then I was too scared to do it. I think he'd like it if he could see all of us without our clothes on."

"I don't mind him swimming here, but I'm not so sure about all of us getting naked together," I answered. "If anyone found out about it, then they could make it look bad for me, because I did this with you boys, so maybe we'd better just keep this our secret."

"I'll make sure he promises to never tell anyone what we do here, but I'm pretty sure he'll want to do this with us," Josh reiterated. "Please?"

Damn, now I had another one begging me to allow him to do something he probably shouldn't. How do I get myself in these situations?

"We'll see," I stated. "We'll talk about it with him tomorrow, if he decides to join us."

Josh was ecstatic as we went up to the bedroom to change. He figured Dean would probably be joining us tomorrow and he was excited about the idea. I couldn't believe this was the same boy who had been trying to hide his body from us previously, but was also willing to do it in front of his friend as well, possibly so he could see his friend's penis too.

"This is kind of fun," Josh told us, as he grabbed his dick and started shaking it at us. "I don't know why I was so scared about doing this before, because it's kind of fun to do this with you guys, except I wish my pee-pee was as big as yours."

"Oh, my God! We've created a monster," I joked, while looking at Josh.

Both boys started laughing and shaking their dicks at me and then at each other.

"Your penis will get bigger as you get older," I advised him, so he didn't get a complex. "I'm sure Jared's penis was probably about the same size as yours until he became a teenager, and yours will get bigger then too."

That seemed to make Josh feel better about the situation and he gave his dick one final shake at me, before he put on his underwear.

Once we went downstairs, I walked the boys outside, because I wanted to see how Josh reacted when he turned on his headlight. After flicking the switch, Josh began beaming almost as brightly as the light guiding him home, and I watched the reflectors spin around on their bike tires, as they pedaled up the road. Once I was sure they'd arrived home safely, I went back inside and started to work on my stories again. I hadn't been at it for very long when the phone rang.

"Bob, it's me, Jared," I heard, after I'd said hello. "I just thought I'd let you know that Dean will be coming down with us tomorrow. His parents are going to drop him off at our house at 9:00 and he's going to bring his swimsuit with him."

"Maybe you boys should both wear your trunks tomorrow then," I suggested, since I didn't want them to scare Dean with the Speedos.

"I talked to him too and don't think we'll need to," Jared countered, "so we'll see you in the morning."

Once I got off the phone, I began to wonder what tomorrow was going to be like. Was I going to have three naked boys to contend with when I changed or would Dean be more modest than the others?

Chapter 9
The Agreement

I not only slept well that evening, but I also experience some very erotic dreams. In some of these visions, there were three naked boys who were doing little dances for me, but then there was another dream where I had actual sexual contact with Jared, although the other boys weren't there at the time. I'm not sure where they were, but Jared and I happened to be alone and this time he was able to convince me to have sex with him.

When I awoke, and before I went downstairs to fix breakfast, I decided that I'd better masturbate first, since I was already in a heightened state of arousal. I hoped doing this would not only take care of the residual effects from the previous night's dreams, but that it would also keep me from getting erections in front of the boys. Unfortunately, only time will tell if the latter part will work out in my favor.

I had barely finished my breakfast when the doorbell rang. I hadn't even taken time to unlock it yet, since I was running behind schedule after jacking off earlier, but it was probably better this way, since Dean would be with them. When I opened the door, all three boys were grinning up at me.

"Hi Bob," they all sang out, somewhat in unison.

"Dean came with us too," Josh added, and Dean waved at me, with the hand holding his swimsuit.

I welcomed them inside and we sat down and talked for a few minutes first, before the boys began teasing to go upstairs and change, so we could go out to swim. Before we did though, I thought I should address this issue with Dean first.

"Dean, over the past few days Josh and Jared have been coming down here to swim, but they've also been changing with me in my bedroom," I began. "This isn't something you have to do too, so you can get dressed in the bathroom, if you'd prefer."

"Nah, Josh told me about it on the way down here and I'm fine with doing it with the rest of you," he confirmed. "I also promise that I won't tell no one that we did this when we were here either."

"Are you sure?" I asked, in order to be certain.

"Yeah, I've changed in the men's locker room at the municipal pool before, so I've been naked with other guys," he assured me. "I don't mind at all and I can't wait to see you guys naked too."

Seeing he was fine with it, we went upstairs to put on our swimsuits. True to his word, Dean stripped down without any hesitation. He was built about the same as Josh, maybe not quite as husky, but he was still stouter than Jared. He was also hung about the same as Josh and circumcised, so I didn't have to worry about explaining that difference to them.

Once they were all naked, the boys spent a little bit of time showing off for each other, so they all got a good look at what everyone had. When they finally decided they had done this for long enough, they began to put on their swimsuits, but Dean came to an abrupt halt and began gawking at the other pair, once he saw Jared and Josh slip on their Speedos.

"Man, where did you get those from?" he asked. "They're really neat! I wish I had one to wear."

"You can wear my extra one then," Josh told him, as he raced off to the bathroom to get his black Speedo for Dean.

Dean immediately stripped out of his swimsuit and put on the Speedo instead, and then he climbed up on my bed, so he could use the mirror above my dresser to admire himself in it.

"Wow, it looks great and really shows off my wiener. It feels good on me too!" he observed, as we finished up and started to head for the stairs.

Before we got very far, however, Dean stopped and ran back into my bedroom, so the rest of us came to a halt and waited for him to rejoin us. After rummaging through his shorts for something, he came out into the hallway again, looked up at me and spoke.

"Bob, I almost forgot. My dad gave me this money so we could order pizza for lunch," he stated, as he handed me some bills. "Since you took me out to lunch before and I've also eaten at Josh's house, you can call and order the pizza and then pay for it with the money my dad gave me, so it will be my treat."

Since his dad had given him the money for this purpose, I took it and placed in on the counter downstairs. It was too early to order the pizza now, so I led them outside and we all got in the pool. We swam, dunked each other and held chicken fights, and then the boys wanted to play Marco Polo. After doing that for a while, I saw Dean get out of the pool and walk to the other end. He was about ready to dive back in, head first into the shallow end, so I stopped him and warned each of the boys never to do anything like that. I explained that I'd had a friend in college who'd done the same thing during a party at a friend's pool, and he hit his head on the bottom, broke his neck and drowned, before the other guests realized there was a problem. I certainly didn't want anything like that to happen here, especially with these young boys.

A few minutes after 11:00, I got out of the pool to order the pizza. I asked that they time it to be delivered in about an hour, which would allow us a chance to swim some more before we ate. As soon as I'd finished making that call, I went back outside and rejoined the boys, but now they wanted to play volleyball against each other.

After completing one game with Josh on my team, and then another with Dean on my side, the younger boys decided they weren't ready to allow Jared to join me and play against them. Instead, we played one more game with all three boys playing against me. Even though I knew this would probably be too much for me to handle, I accepted the challenge, nonetheless, and they had a great time making me flounder from one side of the pool to the other, as I tried to return their shots. Of course, they won, but I think they had more fun just watching me struggle against them.

When it got close to the time for the pizza to be delivered, I climbed out of the pool and went inside to wait for the driver to show up, while the boys continued to play. After I'd paid and tipped the delivery guy, I placed the pizzas on the table, got out four plates and then called the boys inside to eat. Before he went to get his pizza though, Dean came over to tell me something first.

"Thanks for letting me come here with Josh today," he stated. "It sure is a lot more fun than what we'd be doing at my house. I hope I can come back here to swim again, whenever I spend the day with Josh."

"Sure, you're welcome to come down whenever you're with him," I agreed.

After each of the boys had filled his plate, Jared and Josh announced that they wanted to watch the first Harry Potter DVD with Dean while they ate, so they could get him excited about reading the books too. Since that would give me a couple more hours to work, I quickly agreed. While they went into the living room and got comfortable, I sat down at the computer and began to type, as well as enjoy the pizza.

When the movie ended, I allowed the boys to go back in the pool for a couple more hours, but I told them I was going to sit out this time, so I could continue writing. They were kind enough to say they understood why I needed to do my work, so I took my laptop outside, where I could keep an eye on them and make certain that nothing bad happened.

About a half hour later, I saw Dean trying to pull Josh's Speedo off, but that's not an easy thing to do when it's wet. He was struggling to get it off, but Josh wasn't putting up much of a fight, and then I saw Jared go over to give Dean a hand. As soon as Josh's Speedo had been removed, Josh and Dean did the same thing to Jared, before the brothers turned their attention to Dean. Before long, there were three Speedos lying beside the pool and three boys were merrily swimming naked in my pool.

I decided not to say anything, since my house is pretty isolated and it was highly doubtful that anyone else would see them out here today. It wasn't as if they were running around the house and parading by the windows without anything on, and I wasn't expecting any deliveries or anyone to show up anyway. Even if someone did drop by, it would be highly unlikely that they would come around to the back of the house to look for me, so I let the boys do what they wanted. A little while later, I had three naked, dripping boys standing next to me at the table.

"You aren't mad that we did this, are you, Bob?" Dean asked.

"It's not something I would have recommended, but I guess I'll let it slide this time," I replied. "I just don't want to get into trouble with your parents, if they find out what you've been doing."

"Don't worry, we won't tell them about this," Dean added, with the other two nodding in agreement.

I was surprised that Dean was so comfortable doing this, but I was even more amazed at Josh. Was this the same shy kid from a few days ago?

"Jared, you have a really nice wiener," Dean stated, out of the blue. "I wish mine was like yours."

"Give it time," Jared responded, beaming. "Bob told Josh that too. Your dick will get bigger in a few years."

"I hope so," Dean confessed.

When we went inside to change, the boys just picked up their Speedos and carried them inside. Once they dried off and put their clothes back on, Dean asked if he could use the bathroom, so Josh showed him where it was. I thought he needed to pee, but instead he took his swimsuit in and wet it down in the sink, so his parents wouldn't ask him why it was dry. I thought that was pretty clever for someone his age, because having him do that had never crossed my mind.

Once they were all in my room, the three boys decided to put on another show for me and sang, as they did a slow grind and various other hip movements for my amusement, which caused their dicks to flop wildly about. Oh, they were definitely watching what each other was doing as well, but most of this was for my benefit and, I suspect, their way of thanking me for letting them enjoy so much time in my pool.

Once they finished putting their clothes back on, we went downstairs, had a can of soda and then the boys began walking up the road, since that's how they had come down earlier. Dean's father was going to pick him up at Josh's house in about twenty minutes, so I bid them goodbye and watched their progress until they had safely gone inside.

I had a lot to think about after I went back inside. Not only did I have the image of three naked boys burned into my brain, but I was also grappling with the idea that I'd just ignored many of the rules that I'd established for myself, in order to keep out of trouble. I not only changed with them in my bedroom, but then I let them swim naked in my pool and continue to run around without anything on, not that the Speedos they'd been wearing had concealed very much. It's just that I had set down all of these rules with Jared, but over time the boys had managed to whittle away at them. I'm not sure how or why I'd let this happen, but it did.

When Jared and Josh came back later, they didn't want to swim any more. Instead, they wanted to watch the fourth Harry Potter DVD, The Goblet of Fire. Both boys leaned against me as the movie started, so I lifted my arms and placed them across their shoulders and we enjoyed the movie seated like that. I did pause the DVD at one point, so Jared could run out to the kitchen and get us all a drink, but neither boy seemed to mind sitting with me like this. In fact, I could tell Jared liked it very much and he smiled when he saw I was doing the same thing with his brother.

When the movie ended, I reminded the boys that I wouldn't be seeing them the following day, because it was their mother's day off from work. As soon as he heard me say this, Jared was quick to remind me that I'd still be joining them for dinner. After assuring him that I was still planning to come, I walked them outside. Both boys thanked me again for everything we had done today, and then Jared gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, as Josh was walking down to his bike. I then watched as they rode home, while noting how happy they both seemed. Once they had disappeared from sight, I went back inside and began to write, but I was also preparing to have another dream-filled slumber.

Sunday, I slept a little later than usual, not only because I was still tired, but it was also due to the fact that I knew Jared and Josh wouldn't be coming down. When I did finally get up, I wasn't sure if what I had was a normal morning 'piss hard,' a common condition when you first wake up and have to urinate, or if it was an erection caused by the assortment of sexually oriented dreams I'd enjoyed. Therefore, before I went downstairs, I urinated first and then masturbated, to take care of any tension that had built up due to those erotic nocturnal visions. After I finished, I showered and then made my way down to the kitchen to fix something to eat. After I filled my belly, I sat down at the computer and spent the next few hours working on my story, since I was falling woefully behind on my efforts.

A little after noon, I heard the doorbell ring and went to answer it. I wasn't expecting anyone, but I soon discovered it was Jared who was waiting there for me.

"Dad, why's the door still locked?" he inquired.

"For one thing, I wasn't expecting any company today," I told him, while giving him a quizzical look. "I thought you promised to spend today with your mother?"

"I am, but she wanted me to let you know what time we were going to have supper and I couldn't find your telephone number," he protested. "That's why my mom told me to just come down here and tell you in person, so that's what I'm doing."

"Ok, I apologize then and I'm sorry that I jumped to a conclusion," I explained, somewhat embarrassed by my own actions. "So what time does she want me to join you?"

"Mom said to ask you to come up about 5:00 and then we'll eat around 5:30. Is that too early for you?"

He looked anxious as he awaited my reply, so I wasn't sure if this was his question or one his mother had told him to ask. It didn't matter though, because I had no problem with eating then.

"Jared, that time will be fine," I confirmed. "I slept in this morning, so I had a late breakfast, sort of a brunch, so I'll be ready to eat again by then. Ok?"

He smiled, to let me know that was more than fine with him.

"I'll go back home and tell my mom then. She'll be really happy that you're ok with that," he stated.

As he turned to leave, I stopped him.

"Jared, what should I wear tonight?" I wondered.

I wasn't sure how dressed up they planned to get, so I felt that I'd better find out.

"Wear clothes," he replied. "Mom might not like it if you came with nothing on."

He began to laugh after he'd told me that.

"Real funny, wise guy, but what I meant was, should I wear a suit, maybe just a shirt and tie or should I only slip on a pair of slacks and a dress shirt?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't understand," he apologized. "I don't think we're going to dress up, so just pants and a shirt should be fine. I'll ask my mom when I get home though, and if she says we're dressing up, then I'll let you know. Bye."

He started to leave again.

"Jared, hold up," I ordered, and this caused him to spin around and look at me puzzled. "Give me a minute to get something to write down my telephone number for you, so you won't have to come back down here again."

A look of understanding suddenly came over his face and he waited while I got a piece of paper and jotted down my number on it. When I handed it to him, he folded it up and stuck it in his pocket. Then, he waved goodbye to me, as he got on his bike and began to pedal up the road. I watched until he pulled into his driveway and then I went back into the house.

I began to wonder again about how this soiree was going to go, since I'd somehow managed to put it completely out of my mind last night. It must have been the distraction of all that naked boy flesh, but now I was growing nervous about meeting Jared's mother. I really didn't have any reason to feel this way, except my mind was working overtime and coming up with an assortment of things that might go wrong. What if she didn't like me or suspected that I was a closeted boy lover? Would that cause her to stop allowing Jared to work for me any longer or keep her from letting Jared and Josh come down to visit? I worried about this all day long, no matter what I was doing at the time, and I was a bundle of nerves as I got dressed to join them.

Just before 5:00, I hopped in the Tahoe, drove up the road to their place and pulled in the driveway. I parked next to their mother's old and well-used Ford Taurus, got out, walked up to the front door and knocked, since I didn't see a doorbell. My hand had barely touched the door for the second time, when it swung inward and there stood Jared, with a huge grin on his face.

"Come in, Bob," he told me, while stepping aside.

I walked past him and into the house, but I also took some time to look around as I entered. Everything in the house appeared to be fairly old, although it looked clean and well taken care of, but I still felt badly that they didn't have it a little better than they did. At about the same time, a woman walked into the room and I assumed her to be their mother. If I had seen them out on the street together though, I doubt if I would have made the same assumption, because she looked far too young to have two sons, let alone any the ages of Jared and Josh. She walked up to me, held out her hand and welcomed me to their home.

"Hi, I'm Sherry," she told me, shaking my hand, "and I'm glad to meet you. The boys have told me so much about you and I wanted to thank you for being so nice to them."

As I looked at her, I would have guessed her to be in her mid to late twenties, but I knew that couldn't be, because Jared was nearly fifteen. That left me to wonder how she seemed to be holding up so well, considering how hard she had to work.

"Thank you for inviting me," I replied. "It was very nice of you to do this and I hope it isn't putting you out."

"Oh, no. It's my pleasure," she countered. "You've done so much for my boys that I felt it was the least I could do. Besides, I wanted to meet you in person."

I was hoping that statement wasn't meant to be an ominous sign.

"I haven't really done that much for them," I mildly objected. "Jared is a very good worker and he's helped me a great deal with keeping my home looking nice. He's also helped me to clean up some messes that were there from before I moved in."

"You're right, Jared is a good worker, but you're wrong when you say you haven't done much for my boys," she corrected. "You're paying Jared a lot of money for someone his age and you've allowed both boys to come down and swim in your pool. You've even bought things for them, so I think that's doing quite a bit."

I knew I didn't dare argue this point with her, so I thought I'd just play it down a bit.

"Whatever I've done for them, it was either because I've enjoyed their company or their help. You see, I live alone and my life can get quite boring on occasion, so sometimes it's nice just to have someone else around. If I buy them a book or two, or let them use my pool, it's worth it to me just to have a break from the monotony I'd otherwise endure. I must congratulate you though, on the fine job you've done raising them, because they are both very polite and well-mannered, so you must be extremely proud of them."

I looked around at this point and all three of them were beaming because of my compliment, each in his own way.

"Yes, I am," she quickly agreed. "They are very good boys and I'm glad when others notice and appreciate that too."

After saying this, she put an arm over each boy's shoulder and gave it a little squeeze, to let him know that she meant what she'd just told me. It was obvious that she was very proud of them and it was also nice to see them bonding like that.

"Jared, why don't you show…" and then she stopped abruptly, and I knew she was struggling with what she should call me.

"Bob. Just call me Bob," I advised her.

"Thank you," she replied. "Jared, why don't you help Bob get comfortable in the living room, while I go check on the food. I'll be in to join you in a minute, because I want us to become acquainted first, before we eat."

Jared did as his mother had asked and guided me into their living room, which we were practically in already. He encouraged me to tale a seat on the couch and then he and Josh sat on either side of me, as we waited for their mother to return. When she came in to join us, she smiled when she saw how close the two boys were sitting next to me and then she sat down on the chair across from us.

"Bob, do you have any family around here?" she wanted to know.

"No, I'm pretty much alone," I answered. "Other than your boys, the only other person I'm close to is my literary agent and his wife."

"Ah, yes. Jared told me you were a writer," she stated. "What types of books do you write?"

"Mostly juvenile and young adult literature," I responded. "I write quite a bit of fantasy and science fiction, but I also write some realistic fiction, but it's all geared toward the younger crowd."

"Well I guess that explains why my boys are so fond of you," she commented, with a smile. "I guess you must relate well to young people."

"Either that or I'm just a big kid who never grew up," I teased.

We chatted for a little while longer, before Sherry felt she had to go out to the kitchen and check on dinner again. When she did, she asked Jared to do another favor for her.

"Jared, will you show Bob to the table, while I start bringing the food out?" she asked, and Jared nodded.

"Is that all right with you, Bob?" she added, before she disappeared.

"Yes, that's fine, and whatever you're preparing smells wonderful," I commented. "May I offer to help?"

She smiled at my compliment.

"No, you just go sit down and I'll take care of everything else."

At this point, Jared led me to their dining room table, while his mother went back to attend to the food. It was an oblong table, and I suspected Sherry would sit at one end, with Jared and his brother seated on either side. Jared then directed me to the seat directly across from where I thought his mother would sit, so I'd be sitting next to both boys too. It was almost as if this were a real family sitting down to dinner.

Before long, Sherry came in carrying the first course, which consisted of four individual bowls of salad. Each one contained Romaine lettuce, carrot strips, celery, onions, cucumbers, black olives, feta cheese, croutons and bacon bits, and it was all covered in an olive oil and vinegar dressing.

"I hope you like a Greek style salad, with a few extra items in it," she said, as the boys passed one of the bowls to me.

"Absolutely, and this looks delicious," I told her. "Not only that, but I'm glad to see the boys are eagerly digging in to their salad too, because not enough children eat a sufficient quantity of vegetables."

"Yes, we have a salad with nearly every meal," she admitted. "It's one way I can make certain the boys are getting a balanced diet."

I thought this was a very nice way to start the meal, but I waited for her to sit down to join us first, before I began eating. As I looked at the table settings, I noticed that we each had a glass of water beside our plates, but then Sherry also asked if I'd like some coffee and I accepted. She immediately went out to the kitchen again, but this time came back carrying a pot of coffee. After she poured each of us a cup, she took the pot back and then returned to her place at the table and began to eat.

After we finished the salad, Jared collected the bowls and took them out to the kitchen, while Sherry brought in a whole baked chicken, complete with stuffing and Jared followed behind carrying a bowl of candied carrots. Sherry then went back out and returned with a large bowl of mashed potatoes and a gravy boat to go with it, and then she began to carve the meat off of the chicken.

"Would you like part of the breast of a drumstick?" she asked, as she looked in my direction.

"Breast meat will be fine," I answered.

She put a portion of the meat on a plate, along with some of the dressing and then passed it down to me, but I waited until each of the boys and Sherry had their food as well. Once everyone had their plate, they began passing the bowls with the carrots and mashed potatoes, along with the gravy boat, so we took a little and added it to our plates. Once everyone had what he wanted, we began to eat.

It was a very lovely meal and tasted as good as it looked and smelled. When we finished with that, those who wanted seconds were able to take some more, before the boys removed the dirty dishes and put away the leftovers. Once that was completed, their mother brought in a chocolate cake, with fudge icing, along with four dessert plates and forks. As she set it on the table and got ready to cut it, she announced that she hoped we had all saved some room for dessert. The boys immediately yelled, 'Yes!' and I nodded, but then I added a comment of my own.

"Wow, do you eat like this all of the time?"

The boys smiled and then Jared answered me.

"Nah, only when we have someone special over," he answered. "We eat good the other nights too, but Mom goes all out when we have a special guest."

Indeed she had and I thought that was a sweet answer. I did, however, feel that I needed to tease him a little, so I began looking around the room.

"Really, I don't see anyone special here," I joked and he shot me a disgusted look.

"It's you, silly," he explained, but I think he knew I already understood that.

Our little exchange, however, did generate a little chuckle from his mother and brother.

After we finished our dessert, I helped the boys clear off the desert plates and other remaining items from the table, despite the objections from all three of my hosts. I even offered to help wash the dishes, but was immediately hustled out of the kitchen and guided into the living room by Jared and Josh, so we could sit down and talk.

"Come on, I can help do a few dishes," I offered. "I have to do that at home and it's the least I can do, after being fed such an excellent meal."

"No way!" Jared responded, defiantly. "I'll do the dishes after you go home."

"And I'll help him," Josh added, which kind of surprised me.

Jared had told me previously that Josh didn't like to help around the house and especially hated doing the dishes. I took it as a special honor that he was offering to help, just so I wouldn't consider doing it myself.

"Then I guess I'd better go home, so you can get your work done," I suggested, tongue-in-cheek.

"No way, Mister," Jared practically ordered. "You're going to sit with us and talk for a while first."

"Yes, Daddy," I mocked, and I heard Sherry chuckle again.

We all sat in the living room and chatted for over an hour. During that time we discussed many subjects, including their family and how they ended up here. Once that had been covered, we moved on to questions about me, beginning with what enticed me to move here. When I told them I'd chosen a place in the country because it would be quiet and I'd be able to write in peace, Sherry burst out laughing.

"I guess you should have checked out your potential neighbors better then," she quipped. "I'm sure my sons are taking up all that peace and quiet you thought you were going to have."

"Not really and they've been very good about it whenever I've told them that I need time alone to write," I countered. "Sometimes I write while Jared is working for me and sometimes they watch TV or a DVD, so they have something to do while I'm working."

"Wow, are you sure you're talking about my sons?" she teased. "They actually give you some peace and quiet? It must be that you tire them out in the pool or doing work for you then, because they certainly don't do that for me."

"We do too," Jared shot back, thinking she was being serious. "It's just that we only get to spend time with you on Sunday and Tuesday night."

"I know, honey, and I was just teasing," she explained, while trying to soothe his ruffled feathers.

A short time later, Sherry turned the conversation to what I had done for her sons.

"I appreciate that you've let Jared work for you," she began, "but you have been paying him quite a lot for what he does, and even though it helps us out tremendously, I don't want you to feel obligated to give him that much in the future."

"I only pay him what the job's worth and for the quality of the work he does," I replied. "He's a terrific help and worth every penny I've given him."

"I'm glad to hear that, but it's still a lot of money for a boy his age," she countered. "Not only that, but you've bought both boys things on top of that. It was really sweet of you to give each of them a set of Harry Potter books, but you should have only purchased one set and the boys could have shared it."

I immediately realized that I needed to give her a reasonable argument for having done this.

"I respectfully disagree," I began. "I remember when I was a boy and my books were very special to me. Whenever I got books that I really enjoyed, I took extra special care of them and I still have many of those same books today. I figured your boys would feel the same way, so I wanted each of them to have their own copies. Besides, I'm an author too, so this way I can help support a fellow author in the process."

"I don't think J. K. Rowling needs your money, but it was extremely generous of you, no matter what your reason," she stipulated. "Not only that, but then you also bought the lights and reflectors for their bikes."

"I did that because I was worried that cars wouldn't see them, as they made their way home after leaving my place after dark," I told her. "I was just trying to make sure they were safe, nothing more."

"And I appreciate that," she stated, while giving me a very loving look. "The boys also can't seem to stop talking about swimming in your pool either. It's nice of you to do that, because you have provided them with a place they could go to that is close to home. I don't let them go to the municipal pool very often, because it is too far away and they'd have to pass through some parts of town that I'd rather not see them in, even if it is only for a brief period of time during the middle of the day."

"I can understand that and the boys know they are welcome to use my pool anytime I am there," I stated. "You're also welcome to come down with them whenever you're not working."

"Well, I think you're going to turn out to be a godsend for them," she offered. "They used to complain about how bored they were during most of their previous summer vacations, so this is making a huge difference."

She let out a small giggle at this point, which was more of a nervous laugh, rather than that she had said anything funny, but I wasn't sure if she was being sincere or merely questioning how much time the boys were spending at my place. She might possibly be questioning my motives too, but I wasn't certain. The boys both seemed to indicate that they thought she was just being sincere, as they kept interjecting how much fun they'd been having at my place.

I was also surprised that she didn't ask where the swimsuits came from or why I had suits hanging around in their sizes, but maybe she thinks the boys had brought their swimsuits down from home and then left them there. Jared had worn that tight one the first day, which I had initially thought might have belonged to his younger brother, until I saw that Josh had a slightly larger waist size than Jared did. It could also be that the boys told her that I'd bought them swimsuits, but Sherry never questioned me about that or mentioned anything about it, although I still felt very uneasy about this subject. For that reason, I found a way to make my exit as soon as I could, by telling her that I should be getting back, because my agent was suppose to call tonight so we could discuss my deadlines. The boys were chagrined to hear that I was planning to leave, especially Jared.

He tried to talk me into staying longer, but when that didn't work, he asked if he could come down, after he had finished the dishes. I told him that would be up to his mother, since it was her day to spend time with him, but she said it would be fine for a couple of hours, as long as I didn't mind. I told her if it was all right with her, it would be fine with me, but he'd just have to entertain himself while I was on the phone. Jared said he was ok with that and stated that he'd see me in a little while, as soon as the dishes were put away.

Now that we had settled this problem, I thanked Sherry again for the wonderful meal and then thanked all of them for a wonderful evening, before I apologized for my hasty exit. When I went outside, Jared followed me, so he could watch me back out of their driveway and then wave at me as I drove down the road. Once I was in the Tahoe, and even after I got home, I spent most of my time trying to analyze everything that had happened during the past couple of hours, so I could see if I'd possibly overreacted or missed some subtle signals. I wanted to make sure that I had read Sherry correctly and that she wasn't about to cause any problems for me. Otherwise, I'd have to stop allowing the boys to come down to my house any longer.

Before Jared arrived, however, I came to the conclusion that she was just being nice and it had only been my guilty conscience, or vivid imagination, that made me flee there so quickly. I concluded that she hadn't been implying that anything inappropriate was going on with her comments and she seemed to be genuinely grateful for what I was doing for her sons. In fact, she had even mentioned during dinner that the money Jared was making was helping them out tremendously, so I didn't think she would do anything to jeopardize the extra income. After thinking this through, I decided that all of her remarks had been harmless and I had merely misinterpreted her intentions and actions, while possibly even reading my own worst fears into them. Anyway, I now felt things went well and I'd passed muster, at least on this occasion, so I guess I could relax for now.

Jared confirmed my interpretation of the situation when he arrived later. He was all bubbly, very happy and just had to tell me how he thought things went.

"I think Mom really likes you," he informed me, "but not as a boyfriend or anything like that. She just thinks you're a really nice guy and she's really glad that you moved here."

"Well, I'm glad I passed the parental inspection," I told him.

I tried to make it sound similar to when a teenager brings home a date for the typical meeting with the parent(s) and Jared got my drift and began to giggle.

"Does that mean that you're my boyfriends now?" he asked, while making his eyebrows go up and down.

I should have foreseen him interpreting what I said in this manner, so if I'd been thinking clearly, I'd have kept my mouth shut or phrased my comment differently.

"Jared, I didn't mean it quite like that," I stated. "What I meant was, now that your mother knows who I am and approves of me, then you and Josh shouldn't have any trouble working for me or spending time down here. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression."

He looked slightly crestfallen after hearing my response, but he soon brushed it aside and tried to reassure me.

"That's ok and I knew that's what you meant. I was just fooling with you," he offered, although I wasn't sure how honest this statement was.

I was still inclined to believe that he was hoping my statement had meant I was going to be his boyfriend now, but he was putting up a brave front and taking it in stride, if only for my benefit. That's when I thought of something else that might make him feel a little better about my answer.

"We're father and son, remember?" I asked. "Maybe later, when you are a little older, we can say that we're boyfriends, but for now we're just father and son."

He smiled after I said this, but I would do my best to also make up for this blunder later, without crossing the line. I was worried about that happening more and more now, because Jared was becoming my world and I didn't know how much longer I could keep my intellect and emotions separated. I knew what I should do, but I was giving in to him more and more, so I was really going to have to concentrate on not crossing that line and keeping both of us out of harm's way.

Chapter 10
The Temptation

After having dinner with Jared's mother, he and I fell into a pattern for the next month. He would come down on to my place on Monday and start working on whatever jobs I had lined up for the week, in order to give me the better part of the day to write. He would usually mow the lawn first and then do whatever else I needed done, such as weeding or putting a fresh layer of mulch around the trees and shrubs, but he also trimmed the hedges whenever required. I also taught him how to clean the pool and test the water, so he'd know what chemicals he would need to add, so we could swim in it.

Josh quickly learned to stay home on Mondays, since he'd rather play than work, so he usually went to Dean's house on that day instead. As a general rule, Dean would join the brothers and come down to my place on one of the other days, when he figured they would be able to spend most of their time in the water. For the most part, they wouldn't show up until after lunchtime, so I'd have the morning to write, and then we'd play it by ear, as to what I did next. Some of those times, I'd spend the rest of the day with them, but then there were other times when I'd let them swim, while I sat at the patio table and worked on my laptop.

On rare occasions, and as the result of a variety of reasons, the boys would end up swimming nude, but that was something I tried very hard to discourage. The last thing I wanted, or needed, to happen was to get caught with a group of underage boys running around my place in the nude, but there were a few occasions when I let them get away with it, but never for more than fifteen or twenty minutes.

There were also other times when Josh and Dean would spend the day visiting one of their other friends, which would leave Jared and I alone. Although he and I already had a fairly tight relationship, we managed to grow even closer during this time. For the most part, Jared was satisfied to just spend time with me, but there were a few instances when he did his best to get me to do something sexual with him. Even though I'd told him, numerous times, that I wouldn't allow myself to do anything like that, he hadn't completely given up on his attempts to convince me that there would be nothing wrong with us doing those things, since it's what he wanted and we deeply cared for each other.

Jared proved not only to be persistent, but he also came up with some new ploys to try to get me to let down my guard. Some of the time, he would attempt an excuse to get me to touch his genitals, such as asking me to look at an alleged problem with his penis or requesting that I demonstrate a new grip to him, so he would know how to do it correctly when he masturbated. So far I've managed to resist his efforts and have avoided giving in to his constant innuendos, but he's slowly wearing me down and I've had to redouble my resolve not to accede to his requests.

So far, he usually stops whenever I put down my foot or severely chide him about his efforts, so I guess that's more or less what he considers as his form of compromise. I can tell that he hasn't totally given up hope that someday he will succeed, but he will stop whatever he's up to if I forcefully tell him that I don't want to discuss it further. Unbeknownst to me, however, something was about to happen that would put my willpower to the ultimate test.

It all began one Tuesday afternoon when Jared showed up and told me that his mother wanted to speak to me that evening. He explained that when they'd had breakfast together that morning, she'd told him to ask me to come up to their house later and join them for dinner, if I was willing. She had directed Jared to tell me that she had something she needed to speak with me about and wanted to do it this evening, so if I didn't want to join them for dinner, I could come up later just to talk.

When I heard this, I became more than a little anxious and greatly concerned about the reason that she felt she needed to speak to me. Almost immediately, I worried that possibly she was going to question something Jared, or possibly even Josh, might have mentioned to her about some incident that had happened at my place. She might also wish to ask me about a conversation she had merely overheard or possibly Dean's parents had mentioned something to her about the time I'd spent with the boys. Even though nothing sexual had gone on between any of the boys and me up to this point, except for that one time when Jared masturbated in my presence, I was at a loss trying to figure out what might be concerning her, unless it had something to do with the times the boys had run around naked.

Since it had rained the previous day, Jared went out to mow the lawn while I mentally replayed nearly every moment Jared and I had spent together, from the first day he had showed up at my door until now. Other than the masturbation thing, or possibly that the boys got dressed and undressed in the same room with me when they came down to swim, I wondered what the problem might be. Maybe that was it and she wanted to question those rare occasions when the boys have either run around or swam without anything on, because I couldn't think of any other incident she might find objectionable, unless she now suspected that I'm a boy lover.

I think that after Jared came back inside, after finishing up and putting the lawn tractor away, he realized I wasn't acting as I normally would. I don't think he connected my mood to his mother inviting me to their house for dinner, however, and it appeared that he merely wrote it off as if I were just preoccupied with my story. It's possible that he thought I was only trying to work out some sort of problem with the plot, but whatever the reason, he gave me some space and didn't bug me. Seeing he was being so thoughtful, I offered to spend some time with him after lunch and he cuddled against me on the sofa, as we watched something on TV. Since his behavior hadn't changed, I knew HE didn't think there was anything wrong. I just hoped this was a good sign.

Even though I was trying to be optimistic, I continued to get more and more nervous as the time approached for me to go to his house, but I knew I would have to face his mother in order to learn what she wanted. No matter what happened later, there was no way I could run and hide from any potential problem, at least not if I wanted to keep Jared in my life. Since we had grown so close, there was no way I'd be willing to merely walk away now, not only because I'd miss him, but he would interpret it as being abandoned by his father again. I think he was just starting to put those feelings of abandonment behind him, so for his sake, I wouldn't do anything like that to him now. I would see this through, no matter how personally painful it might be, but I hoped it wouldn't turn out to be something that would end our relationship.

Jared had stayed fairly close to me since he had come back inside, even when I was doing something else and not giving him my full attention. As it got closer to the time he would have to go home, he urged me to stop what I was doing and get cleaned up, because we'd have to leave soon. Realizing he was correct, I prepared to go upstairs to shower and change, but I told him he could wait for me downstairs while I did this.

As soon as I finished that sentence, Jared announced that he wanted to shower too, since he had gotten all sweaty and dirty while mowing the lawn. He kept insisting that he didn't want to go home looking this grubby and it would take too long for him to take a bath at his place. After thinking about it, I finally told him he could shower in the guest bathroom and then put on one of the outfits I'd previously purchased for him. He could either wear those things for the rest of the night or he could change into his own clothes, once he got home. If he did that, then he could put the clothes I'd bought him in the Tahoe, so I could bring them back with me later, so we'd have them for any future emergencies at my place.

I think Jared had also become mildly concerned about tonight over the course of the day, but I wasn't sure if this was because of how I'd been acting or due to the fact that he didn't know what his mother wanted to talk to me about. Whatever the reason, we were both more than a little apprehensive as we went upstairs to clean up and change. Jared went into the guest bathroom, while I went into mine.

I wasn't sure if he was actually being good or whether he was truly concerned about this little get together, but for whatever reason, he didn't try to do anything sneaky, like trying to slip into my bathroom so he could shower with me. This uncharacteristic behavior and sedate attitude only made me even more nervous about going to meet his mother. I couldn't help but think that if this was affecting him to the point where he hadn't attempted to see me naked or taken the opportunity to parade around in front of me without his clothes on, then I was afraid I might be looking at the executioner's blade. After I finished dressing, I went downstairs and found Jared waiting for me, and then without saying a word, we got into the Tahoe and I drove to his place.

His mother turned and smiled at us as we came through the door, which confused me even more. Obviously, she didn't appear to be upset about anything, so maybe this wasn't going to be a confrontational meeting after all.

"Oh, hi, Bob. I hope you're planning to stay for dinner," she announced, which made me relax slightly.

"Well, I hadn't really thought about it," I lied.

"It's nothing special, just salad, meatloaf, green beans and baked potatoes, but there's more than enough for you too," she offered. "I really would like for you to join us, if you haven't eaten already."

"Yeah, Bob," Jared chimed in, since he was apparently relieved by his mother's upbeat mood as well.

"All right. I haven't eaten yet, but I'll only stay if you'll let me take you all out to dinner on Sunday," I compromised.

"Bob, that won't be necessary," Sherry began to protest, but I held up my hand and stopped her.

"It's the only way I'll accept your gracious offer to stay for dinner, so the choice is yours," I offered. "Do I stay for dinner or do we just talk?"

She smiled and nodded her head.

"You certainly drive a hard bargain," she commented, while releasing a small, nervous giggle.

"I do, and it generally ends up in my favor, as it does now," I teased, while giving her a sly grin.

She seemed puzzled by my response.

"How do you figure that?" she asked.

"Because this way I get to have two meals with three very special people," I explained, "instead of just one. So you see, my offer was more for my benefit than yours."

She merely gave me one of those motherly 'I don't believe a thing you're saying' looks, but she didn't pursue the issue further.

The meal was very good and I enjoyed myself once again, but after we finished eating, Sherry told me that she'd like to talk to me in private, while the boys cleaned up the table and did the dishes. I suddenly became concerned again, but I followed her into the living room just the same.

"Bob, I need to ask a big favor of you," she began, and I started to relax once more.

I was relieved that she only wanted to ask a favor, so there wasn't going to be any accusations or a series of questions.

"I'll do what I can," I replied.

"Would you be willing to keep Jared with you for a while?" she asked and then paused momentarily. "You see, my ex-in-laws contacted me a few days ago and stated that they'd like me to bring Josh to visit them for a few days and they even offered to give me enough money to cover the cost of making the trip. The thing is, they've never been especially nice to Jared, so he no longer wants to visit them, or his father. For that reason, I thought it might be best if he stayed with you, so he can have some fun, rather than being hurt again."

"Of course," I quickly agreed. "I'm sure you don't know this, but he'd mentioned something about this to me before and said that he thought his father and paternal grandparents liked Josh better than him, but I told him it was probably only his imagination. I now take it that there is more to this story than meets the eye. Otherwise, I'm hard pressed to understand why a father and grandparents could act like that toward one of their own."

"You are correct," she replied. "It's because Jared is not my ex's biological son, and therefore not his parents' biological grandson. Jared's father was someone I knew before I met my ex-husband, but was no longer in the picture. When my ex and I got engaged, he told me that he was willing to adopt Jared after we were married, but I think he only said this to impress me. At the time, I thought it was wonderful of him to do this and felt it would make us all one family. The problem was, as time went on he drew farther and farther away from Jared and began to treat him differently than he did Josh. Jared has questioned me about this many times over the years, but even after the divorce, I still hoped this situation would improve. Unfortunately, it never did, and if anything, their relationship has deteriorated even more."

"So why didn't you tell Jared the truth about his father when he asked?" I wondered.

"I thought he was too young to understand and felt it would only wind up hurting him even more," she confessed.

"You underestimate your son," I told her, "and I think you need to be honest with him about this. He's admitted to me that he has a bunch of questions that he'd like you to answer concerning this situation and he would like to know who his real father is."

She looked thoughtfully at me and then glanced toward the kitchen, to make sure the boys were still working there, and then she turned back in my direction.

"Do you think I should tell him tonight?" she wondered.

"I do," I admitted. "He's been curious about this for a very long time."

"Will you help me?" she almost pleaded. "I'm not sure if I can do this alone, but more than that, I think Jared will accept this news better and not react as badly if you're here for him when he learns the truth."

"Whatever you think is best," I agreed. "I'll do anything, as long as it's in Jared's best interest."

She smiled at my answer.

"Somehow I knew you'd say that," she explained. "We're going to be leaving on Friday and won't be back until a week from Sunday. I'm going to drop Josh off with his grandparents for a few days, and then I'm going to visit some friends. Jared doesn't know any of these people, and I think he'd be very bored where I'm going. So, are you still sure that you're willing to let him stay with you for that long?"

"Of course I am," I confirmed.

"Oh, thank you," she gushed. "Will you need anything from me?"

"I'm happy to do this, but it would probably be helpful if you left a note authorizing me to act as his guardian, in case of an accident," I agreed. "Otherwise, Jared and I will be fine, if that's what he wants to do."

"I'm almost positive it will be," she added, while giving me a wink. "He thinks the world of you and I believe he looks at you as if you're his father now anyway."

"Possibly, but I do have one other stipulation," I mentioned, and she looked at me suspiciously. "Since you will be gone this Sunday, then you will have to allow me to take the three of you out to dinner after you get back, the following Sunday."

She smiled and nodded her head, relieved that my stipulation hadn't been more serious than that. A few minutes later, the boys came in from the kitchen, because they had just finished doing their chores. As they sat down to join us, their mother began to speak.

"Boys, I have something I need to explain to you," she began. "Your grandparents called to make some inquiries…"

"Not about me, I'll bet," Jared interrupted, while making a face in the process.

His mother looked crushed, because she knew how much this bothered him, so now she did her best to alleviate his pain.

"Jared, maybe I should explain something to you first…" she began, but Jared cut her off again.

"They aren't really my grandparents and he isn't my real father. Am I right?" he interrupted.

Sherry looked as if she'd swallowed hard after hearing her son say this, and I could see this was apparently very difficult for her to deal with. With only this slight hesitation though, she gathered her composure once again and spoke.

"You're only partially correct. He's not your biological father, so they're not your biological grandparents either, but he did adopt you when you were very young," she explained. "He did that shortly after we got married and before I had Josh, so that means he is legally your father and they are also legally your grandparents. You just aren't related by blood."

This news didn't seem to come as a surprise to him.

"See, I told you," he screamed, while looking directly at me. "It wasn't all in my head after all and I wasn't just imagining it. I knew he didn't love me and neither did my grandparents. They only loved Josh."

His mother was almost in tears now, because she could feel her son's pain. In order to calm Jared down, I grabbed his wrist, pulled him onto my lap and then wrapped by arms around his chest, so I could envelope him in a bear hug. I could feel him begin to relax almost immediately.

"I think he loved you at first, but that seemed to change after Josh was born," his mother added, after a slight pause. "It seemed that once he had a biological son, he was no longer able to cope with his feelings about not having a hereditary connection to you. He had this thing about being blood related and could never get past it. I think he got that idea from his parents, and they might have even aggravated the situation. That's why they've acted the same way toward you. I'm sorry that they didn't treat you better, dear, but I did what I could to help soften how it made you feel."

I could tell they were both crying now, because I could see Sherry's tears rolling down her cheek, while at the same time feeling Jared's teardrops falling upon my arms. I was glad to see that they were beginning to release their pent up pain about this, while at the same time not totally losing emotional control. Josh was looking upset too, but not to the same extent, and then his mother continued telling the boys about the phone call.

"Anyway, your grandparents want me to bring you to visit them," she stated while looking at Josh, "and I thought I'd use the time to visit some of my old friends in the area, while you were with them."

Now, she turned toward Jared again and spoke to him.

"I knew you'd probably be bored, if you went with me to visit my friends, since you don't know any of those people, so that's why I asked Bob here tonight, to see if he would let you stay with him while Josh and I were gone. Would that be ok with you?"

Upon hearing this news, Jared suddenly perked up and looked at his mother, before he spun around on my lap and stared at me.

"Yeah, that's more than alright," he beamed. "Bob's been more like a dad to me than that other guy anyway."

Sherry looked at Jared strangely after he'd said this, since he had basically called his father 'the other guy,' but I knew she was also thinking that Jared had just confirmed what she'd told me earlier. Suddenly, I think everything clicked into place for her.

"Does this mean that Jared isn't my brother any more?" Josh asked, a few seconds later.

"Jared is still your brother, because I gave birth to both of you," his mother told him. "Technically, you're only half-brothers though, because you have different fathers."

"Then who is my father?" Jared wanted to know.

"Jared, I don't think we should go into that right now and we can discuss it in private, after Bob leaves and Josh goes to bed," she advised him. "At that time, we'll sit down and discuss this in more detail, and that's when I'll tell you about your biological father."

Jared agreed and went over to give his mother a hug. Then, he sat down beside her, as she explained to both boys about the trip and about how long they'd be gone. Jared gave me an evil little grin when he discovered he'd be with me for over a week, so now I began to worry about what I might have gotten myself into.

After those issues had been cleared up, I thanked Sherry for the wonderful meal and interesting evening, but then mentioned that she needed to be alone with her sons now. Before I left, however, she gave me a weak smile and thanked me for agreeing to take care of her son for her, and then Jared rushed over and gave me a huge hug and kissed me on the cheek, right in front of his mother. This actually surprised me, so I glanced quickly in her direction to see her reaction and was happy to notice that she was grinning from ear-to-ear. I think this was probably because she was feeling pretty good that Jared now had a father figure and a male role model, especially after all he'd gone through and what he'd just been told this evening.

I then went outside, got in the Tahoe and drove home. During the short ride, all I could think about was how I hoped Jared would react, once his mother divulged this information to him. I prayed that he would finally be at peace with this issue, but I also had a hunch that he'd come down tomorrow and explain everything to me, so I hoped she'd be able to answer all of his questions to his satisfaction. I didn't want to be dealing with a hostile kid when he showed up at my door and preferred instead to reassure him, once he had all of the facts. My head was spinning, as I considered what new problems might evolve from this revelation and what I might have to do to help Jared deal with the news he was about to learn, but hopefully it will be mostly just helping him understand why his dad was never there for him.

While lying in bed later, my thoughts suddenly focused on another matter and I began to wonder what those nine days with Jared were going to be like, because I had a feeling that he was going to try to push the boundaries while he was here. I was fairly certain that we'd have a good time, but I just wondered how much pressure he was going to put on me to accede to his demands, since no one else would be here to interfere or prevent such things from happening. After all, we were going to be alone, 24-hours a day, so what would prevent him from trying something?

Shortly after he'd arrived on Wednesday morning, Jared shared with me the information his mother had given him. She began by explaining that she had been engaged to Jared's father and they were planning to get married, so he was working two jobs at the time, in an attempt to save up to buy her an engagement ring and pay for a nice wedding and honeymoon. However, before any of that happened, Jared's father fell asleep behind the wheel one night, after working almost 16-hours between his two jobs, and was killed in the ensuing crash.

After hearing this, I asked Jared how he felt about that information and he told me he was sad that his father had died, but at least he now knew that his dad hadn't just decided to leave his mom and him. He then said that his mother told him she hadn't realized she was pregnant until about a month after his father was killed, so his dad never even knew he was going to be a father. His mother then explained that she met Josh's father when Jared was three and they got married a year later. He adopted Jared shortly after that and she said he was really great with him, up until a little while after Josh was born. Then things began to change and eventually began to disintegrate.

Once he had cleared that up for me, Jared was as good as gold for the rest of the day and didn't try anything that I found objectionable, which made me wonder what he had up his sleeve for when we were alone. I was a nervous wreck as the day approached for his mother and brother to leave, but Jared was as giddy as a schoolgirl. He was looking at this as a great opportunity and planned to have a fantastic time, but I was looking at it as one gigantic temptation. Lord, give me strength.

Jared actually brought his things down on Thursday afternoon and was going to spend the night with me, because his mother and brother were leaving very early the following morning. When Jared came down to my place after lunch, his bike was laden with his things, and when I realized how he'd done this, I was surprised that he'd made it the entire way without having an accident. That's because he had been wearing a backpack and had canvas duffels on each handlebar, which I suspected must have had some effect on how the bike handled.

As soon as he navigated into my driveway, Jared hopped off his bike and then came bursting through my door, wearing his backpack and carrying the satchels, one in each hand. He didn't even bother to knock or ring the doorbell first, so I could come and help, and merely dropped everything just inside the door, before he came rushing over to me. He was absolutely glowing.

"I'm here, Dad, and we're going to have a great time together," he announced, and it was obvious that he was very excited.

"I'm sure we will, son," I agreed, although I still wasn't certain as to what I was in for.

I then told him to take his things upstairs, and he could use the guest room, but that's when I encountered the first problem.

"Can't I just sleep with you? I promise I'll just sleep and nothing more," he whined. "I just want to spend this time with my dad. Please?"

Well what was I going to do now? He had just learned the tragic facts about his biological father's death and was still dealing with the rejection by his adoptive father, so I was hoping this week would help to smooth over any pain he was still feeling. I wanted to make this a memorable experience for him, and he did promise to behave, didn't he? So what was I going to say?

"If you're sure you can keep that promise, then ok," I agreed. "But if you break it, then I'll ship you right across the hall… immediately, and you'll stay in the guest bedroom every night until your mother and brother get back."

"Ok, I promise," he confirmed, and then he leaped up and wrapped his arms around my neck, as he gave me a hug.

I could see how important this was to him, and since I had already decided that while he was here I'd make him feel as if he were spending the time with the father he never knew, then what the hell!

"Put your things in my room and you can stay in there with me, as long as you behave," I conceded, "but if your mother asks, you stayed in the guest room across the hall."

As soon as I told him he could put his things in my room, he began dancing around, and then when I finished, he threw his arms around my chest and hugged me again, like I had never been hugged before.

"Hey, kiddo. Take it easy," I warned, playfully. "Are you trying to crush my ribs or snap me in two?"

"No, I'm just so happy about spending time with my dad, that's all," he replied, while flashing me a sly grin.

He was acting more like a boy of nine or ten at this moment, rather than a young man who was nearly fifteen.

"Well, kiddo. What would you like to do first?" I asked, in an effort to give him a choice.

"I dunno. What do you want to do?" he echoed, throwing the ball back into my half of the court.

"Hey, it's up to you. You're the guest here," I offered.

His expression changed after I'd said this.

"I'm not a guest," he replied, defiantly, "I'm your son, so I belong here too."

He then took a defiant pose after making this comment, as if he was daring me to challenge his assessment.

"Oops, sorry, kiddo," I apologized.

"That's ok," he offered, while giving me a weak smile of reassurance.

We eventually did many things that first day, beginning with a quick swim, and then I took Jared out for a ride. We drove around the countryside and just took in the scenery, but we also stopped to investigate anything interesting we passed along the way. We even stopped at a restaurant to eat, which was basically another treat for Jared, because he viewed it as a private meal with his dad. Although I had taken him out before, to T.G.I. Fridays, he acted as if this outing was even more special and tried to absorb as much as he could while we were there. You'd think I'd taken him to a five-star establishment, the way he was acting, but it gave me a great deal of joy just to realize that I had played even a small role in his immense pleasure.

After we left the restaurant, I decided to take him to a movie, so we headed over to one of those cinema complexes where Jared would have a choice as to what he wanted to see. He chose the Hunger Games, which was based on another book series, so I thought about buying those books for him, possibly for his birthday. It was quite an intense movie and had a rather bizarre theme, about kids killing each other as part of a contest, but I was having fun merely watching Jared enjoy himself. When the movie ended, we stopped for some ice cream to top off the evening. As we pulled into my driveway afterward, he turned to me and spoke.

"Wow, that was a really great day, Dad. Thank you for everything."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," I told him. "Now start thinking about what you might want to do tomorrow."

"I don't care. I'll do anything, as long as it's with you," he quickly informed me, and then he flashed me another grin after saying that.

"Ok, but why don't you go up and shower now, before we turn in for the night," I suggested.

"Would you give me a bath instead?" he asked. "I don't remember my dad ever doing anything like that for me and I'd like to know what it's like. I think it would be nice to have a father care about me enough to do that and it would really make me feel loved."

After saying this, he gave me that sad, pleading look of his, the one I was so familiar with. He had a habit of using it whenever he was trying to get his way.

"Jared, although I understand why you'd feel this way, I don't think that would be such a good idea," I replied.

"Why not? You told me before that you wouldn't mind helping me wash up, like when you cleaned me up after I showed you I could shoot that stuff out of my dick," he stated, while looking hopeful. "So won't you do it for me tonight?"

He was using my own words against me now, so I knew I had to prove that I'd meant what I'd said before. I remembered assuring him that I didn't mind touching his body in a situation such as that, as long as it wasn't sexual. I just wondered if he'd be able to control himself.

"Ok, but I'm just going to bathe you, nothing more," I agreed.

He nodded his confirmation, so we went upstairs. I drew the bath water and Jared got in the tub, but then he just sat there and waited for me to wash him. I was still somewhat dubious about doing this, so I hesitated for a moment, before I grabbed the washcloth, wet it down, applied the soap and then began to wash his face. Jared continued to merely sit passively in the tub, like a child of four or five that was letting his parent take care of him. After I washed his face, I washed his arms and then his chest and back. I was just getting ready to wash his legs, when Jared suddenly stood up in the tub.

"Here, this will make it easier for you," he stated, as he stood in front of me.

He was actually correct in his assumption, because it did make it easier to wash his legs, but it also put his delightful package right in front of my face. There were some soapsuds still clinging to his genitals, which only made them look even more adorable, so I had a tough time keeping my eyes off of his goodies. Somehow, I managed to finish washing his legs, without going further, and then I put the washcloth down and told him he could rinse his legs off now and get out of the tub, if that's what he wanted.

"But you didn't wash all of me yet," he protested.

"I did everything I'm going to do," I replied, while shooting him a glare.

"Ah, come on, Dad. You have to wash the rest of me," he urged, as he gave me that pathetic look again.

"Jared, I think you're pushing it," I pointed out, although he didn't quite agree.

"No, I'm not and you promised," he countered, as his lower lip began to jut out and tremble slightly.

"I promised I'd give you a bath and that was all," I explained, while reminding him about our earlier agreement.

"Yes, but you didn't wash the best parts," he objected. "Didn't you say you didn't mind touching me there, as long as it wasn't for sex reasons?"

"Yes, but…" he cut me off.

"Then prove it, or were those just words that you told me to make me feel better?" he wanted to know. "Did you really mean them or not?"

I thought carefully about this, before I responded.

"Ok," I relented, "but you'd better behave,"

"I will," he replied, unable to hide delight.

He now had a huge grin on his face, as I soaped up the washcloth again, and began to wash his butt. I even slid the rag down his crack and made sure that was cleaned too, and Jared happily spread his legs for me, so I'd have better access. I was very careful as I did this, so he wouldn't think I was trying to penetrate him, but I think he was hoping I might. Then, I moved around to his front and lathered up his grape-size testicles, before I began to clean his adorable piece of dangling flesh. Almost immediately, it sprang to life and stood out from his body.

"Oops," he noted. "I couldn't help it. It just did that on its own."

"That's ok. I understand," I comforted him. "I know how things like that can happen, but it doesn't change our bargain."

I finished washing his penis, and I must admit that its sudden firmness made the task slightly easier. Once I was done, I looked up at him and spoke.

"Ok, you can rinse everything off now," I urged.

Unfortunately, Jared didn't move and remained in the same position, just staring at me.

"What's wrong?" I wanted to know.

"I think I need to take care of this first," he told me, pointing at his erection.

"Ok, go ahead," I agreed. "I'll meet you back downstairs."

"Wait," he shouted, which stopped me in mid turn. "Seeing you helped it to get this way, don't you think you should help me get rid of it too?"

There was that damn pleading look of his again, but I just gave him one of my sternest scowls in return.

"Aw, come on, Dad," he pleaded. "You touched it to wash it, so can't you just touch it again and help me out?"

God, he looked so damned cute, so vulnerable and so utterly pathetic at this point, and seeing him like this caused me to secretly consider his request. I'm not sure how I had let it get to this point, but he'd managed to entice me to let down my guard and now I was actually considering his proposal. Since I was fairly certain that I'd be able to trust him not to say anything if I did this for him, I was giving his suggestion more consideration than I thought I ever would or even should.

"Please," he pleaded again. "Pretty, pretty please, Daddy."

Damn, how could I refuse my little angel, especially since I wanted to do this as much as he wanted me to. I guess he'd gotten me to lower my protective shields nearly all the way now and my resolve had been slowly melting away, until I finally realized that I was going to give in and do it.

"Ok, but just this once," I relented, "so don't get any other ideas that I'll be willing to do this again or anything else afterward."

He quickly flashed me that huge grin of his, as I reached out and wrapped my hand around his stiff shaft. Jared let out a sigh as my fingers closed around his firm, yet pliant, member and when I began to slide my hand up and down its length, it elicited a few grunts of appreciation. I knew I shouldn't be doing this, but we were both enjoying it far too much for me to stop. Besides, I was so taken with this kid that I wasn't certain if I COULD stop now, even if I actually wanted to.

My hand slowly began to pick up speed until it was flying back and forth over the surface of Jared's slender tool, and he began making all kinds of little noises at this point. In fact, it almost sounded as if he were purring. I reached my other arm around his waist and slipped that hand in front of him, so I could gently massage his testicles and he instinctively spread his legs and gave me better access to them. He was beginning to grunt more frequently and slightly louder now, so I was convinced this wasn't going to take very long.

A short time later, I felt his body stiffen and saw him arch his back slightly, just before thin jets of watery liquid shot from the tip of his dick. He was panting and his body began to tremble, as his precious fluid flew through the air and landed in the tub. As soon as the final dribbles escaped that tiny opening and he'd finished ejaculating, he nearly collapsed. I was glad that I had my arm around his waist at this point, because I was able to prevent him from tumbling into the tub and possibly injuring himself. I used that arm to hold him up, and then I guided him into a sitting position is the water again, so he could not only rinse off his body, but it would also give him a chance to recuperate from his orgasm. When he eventually opened his eyes, a few seconds later, he gave me a weak smile and began to speak.

"Damn, that was even better than I'd hoped," he admitted. "It was freakin' incredible, because it's never felt that good when I do it to myself. That was really cool. Thanks, Dad."

I just smiled at him, pleased that he had enjoyed it so much.

"I know how you feel, kiddo," I confessed. "It always seems to feel better with a partner helping you, doesn't it?"

"It sure does and I can't wait to try other stuff now," he added.

I merely flashed him my sternest look again, to let him know that he was once more crossing that imaginary line.

"Don't start planning on us doing anything more than this," I warned him. "I gave in to you this once and did something I promised I'd never do. I probably shouldn't have even done this with you now, but since I did, it doesn't mean that I'll do whatever you want from now on."

Jared merely looked at me and grinned, but he didn't say a word. Instead, he gave me a look that seemed to say, 'We'll see.' I knew this might become a problem now, since I had let my guard drop this once, but I figured I'd address this issue with him again later, maybe tomorrow, when we were both fresh and he wasn't so giddy from what had just happened.

I told Jared to finish up and then he hopped into bed, while I was taking my shower. As I went into the master bath and began to lather up, I continually thought about Jared and wondered what he might try next. I had almost decided to relieve myself while I was in there, but then I concluded that it would take too long and Jared might come in to check on me and see what I was up to. Instead, I turned down the hot water and let the cold shock that followed take care of the problem for me. Then, I hurriedly cleaned up, dried off and went out to get into bed. Jared was already under the sheets when I got there, so he just smiled at me as I walked into the room. He never took his eyes off of me, as I changed into a fresh pair of boxer-briefs, before I went over to turn off the light and then jump into bed, next to him.

At first Jared didn't make a move and just lay there in the dark, like he was settling in for the night. However, after a few minutes, he began to sidle over toward me, so he could cuddle up against my side.

"Jared, aren't you wearing anything?" I asked, when I felt his penis brush against my leg.

"No, but I didn't think you'd mind now," he replied.

"Jared, just because I helped you out in the bathroom doesn't mean that I'm going to let everything slide now," I explained. "I want you to hop out of bed and throw on a pair of briefs, or you can sleep in the other room tonight."

After I'd said this, I leaned over and turned on the lamp on my side of the bed, only to turn back and see Jared pouting, since he was unhappy with my ultimatum. Reluctantly, he slid out from under the sheet, slipped on a pair of briefs and then got back into bed beside me, but he didn't automatically move over against me again. Instead, he stayed on his side of the bed and I stayed on mine, until we fell asleep.

About halfway through the evening I awoke to use the toilet and discovered that Jared's body was pressed tightly against mine. One of his arms was draped across my abdomen, and one of his legs was thrown over my leg that was closest to him, but he was sound asleep. Carefully, I removed those two appendages from off of my body and then I slipped away to use the toilet. When I got back to the bedroom, I carefully slid into bed again, so as not to wake Jared, and then I prepared to go back to sleep. Before I did, however, I thought how nice it felt to have him so close to me and how wonderful it was to not have to sleep alone. I then rolled onto my side and got into my favorite sleeping position, before I dozed off.

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