Erastes

Different Points of View

Chapter 1
The Encounter

I had just purchased a home in the country, but it wasn't because I was fascinated by the bucolic splendor of the area, nor was I antisocial. I bought the property because it was the only way I felt I could control my urges. You see, I'm attracted to boys. Not real little boys, but boys still below the age of consent, and I knew the only way to prevent myself from slipping up and giving in to these urges would be to isolate myself, so there would be nothing to tempt me. You see, I didn't trust myself to be able to resist the urges I was feeling, even though I had never acted on them so far, but I felt my only hope to keep that record intact was to prevent myself from being tempted.

I know you're probably thinking that no matter what I did, I couldn't prevent myself from running into boys at some time or another, but I had that worked out too. I didn't have to go in to work, because I'm a writer, so I can work from home. Even shopping wasn't going to be a factor, because I would do most of that at the local 24-hour Wal-Mart, after midnight, when it was far less likely that I would run into anyone underage. What items I couldn't find there, I could order online, so I thought I had all of the bases covered.

It sounded like a good plan, and one that would work for me, so I looked around until I found a house in the middle of nowhere and bought it. It was a nice house, and it even had many luxuries that made it appealing, but the best part about it was that the nearest neighbors were a half-mile to a mile [1-1½ km] away. Now, I could relax, enjoy myself, do my work and not worry about anything else… or so I thought.

I hadn't even been in the house for a week when I heard the doorbell ring one afternoon. At first, I suspected it was the UPS man delivering a package from my literary agent or bringing something I had ordered online, but when I got to the front door, there stood an incredibly handsome young man. He was probably around twelve or thirteen years old, shirtless, and wearing only a pair of very skimpy shorts, running shoes and a very large, disarming grin. He also had jet-black hair, clear crystal blue eyes and a lean, sensuous boy body. He was probably about 5' 3" or 5' 4" [1.60-1.65 m] tall and weighed in at maybe one hundred twenty-five pounds [57 kg], but he had long muscular legs, a tight tummy and an adorable little bubble butt.

"Hi, mister," he said in greeting, while flashing me a huge, heart-melting grin. "Did you just move in here?"

I didn't respond to him right away, because I was so taken by his beauty. Instead, I just stood there and gawked at his nearly naked form. I don't know if he understood what I was doing, but he continued to smile at me, until I was finally able to open my mouth and answer him.

"Yes, I just moved in about a week ago," I confirmed.

"I thought so. This place has been empty for about a year, so I was surprised when I saw the lights on a couple of days ago," he informed me, while still grinning. "I just live up the road, with my mother and little brother. My name is Jared."

To my surprise, he didn't seem to be the least bit bothered by the length of time it had taken me to respond.

"Hi, Jared. I'm Robert, but my friends all call me Bob," I told him, answering a little more quickly this time. "Glad to meet you."

"Thanks, and I'm glad to meet you too," he told me, as he reached out his hand to shake. "Do you have a wife or kids?"

That question might have been my clue to figuring out what he was doing here. I think he was hoping to find a playmate, but he'd find none here.

"Sorry. I live alone," I told him, but his smile didn't seem to dim.

"That's ok. I was just wondering," he responded, nonplussed. "This is a real nice house, much nicer than ours."

"Well, I'm sure you have a nice home too, even if mine might be a little fancier," I countered, while trying to remain positive.

"I guess," he answered, simply.

"Was there a reason you stopped by?" I asked, in an attempt to clarify the situation.

As of yet, I still had no idea as to why he had rung my doorbell, other than to possibly see if any kids lived here. He also didn't leave after he found out there weren't, so maybe he had another reason for stopping by. He didn't seem to be selling anything and wasn't carrying anything with him that I could see.

"Well, I just wanted to see who was living here, and ask if you had any work you needed done," he finally told me.

"No, I can't think of anything right now," I replied, but he didn't appear discouraged by my answer.

"I can mow lawns, dig holes, mend fences, rake leaves, shovel snow in the winter and do a lot of other things. I'm pretty handy," he continued, undeterred.

"I'll bet you are," I agreed.

Unfortunately, my mind was already thinking of several other things he could do for me, but these were activities he had probably never considered. Since my mind was drifting in this direction, I decided it would probably be best for him if he left, before I decided to act upon these impulses, so I tried to give him a gentle brush-off.

"Thing is, I can't think of anything that needs to be done right now," I replied.

"That's ok, but if you should ever need help, I just live up the road, in the first house on the right," he informed me, while pointing in that direction. "You can call me or just stop by and let me know what you need, because I'll be happy to help. You see, my mom has to work two jobs just for us to get by and I want to make some money, so I can give it to her. Maybe then she won't have to work so hard, because she's always tired. Why don't I give you my telephone number, so you can call me when you need help?"

He looked very anxious to be able to do this, and to tell you the truth, his comment about doing this to help his mother had touched my heart.

"Ok, let me get a pen and a piece of paper to write it down," I offered.

I moved across the room to get the required items, but I think I was doing this more to humor him, rather than to have his number to call. When I came back, he recited it to me and I wrote it down, but I wasn't sure if I'd ever really use it. I already knew I was very attracted to this young boy and didn't want to put myself in a situation where I might do something I would regret later, such as taking the chance that I might physically, emotionally or psychologically harm this cute kid. Due to these factors, I'd already made up my mind that it would be best if I kept my distance from him, so as soon as I finished copying his number down, I thanked him and explained that I had to get back to what I was doing.

"Is it something I can help with?" he asked, looking hopeful.

He wasn't being pushy, just adorably persistent, so I found myself beginning to admire his determination.

"No, I work from home, so it's for my job and there's nothing you can help me with," I assured him.

His body language told me he was disappointed, but his smile never faded. No matter how much I thought it would be in his best interest to leave, I could feel my willpower slowly weakening.

"Jared, I'll let you know if there is anything I need help with, but you'd better get going now," I urged. "I'm sure your mother is wondering where you are."

"She's not even home. She's still at work," he responded. "She's a waitress at the diner during the day and then she comes home and fixes our supper so she can eat it with us before she goes to the 'Hitching Post' to tend bar at night."

He didn't look sad telling me this and it just seemed to be a matter-of-fact observation about the way things were.

"Wow, that sounds like a pretty tough schedule," I confessed. "I guess you don't get to see each other very much then."

"She's home Tuesday night and all day Sunday, so that's when my brother and I get to see her for a little while, but not for too long," he confirmed. "She usually has other things to do around the house then, even though my brother and I do the dishes, laundry and help keep the house clean."

"I see and I'm glad you boys help her," I responded.

I didn't know what else to say, but I was already beginning to think about giving in and allowing him do some simple tasks around the house for me.

"How much were you looking to make?" I asked now, against my better judgment.

His face lit up before he answered and it appeared as if he thought he might have won this round.

"Anything would help," he answered. "I just want to make enough so my mom won't have to work so many nights at the bar."

That did it. His last comment had broken my will, so now I knew I was going to end up letting him help me around the house. I quickly decided that I'd let him do the outdoor work, so we wouldn't actually be spending a lot of time together while he was here. I'd only be near him when I showed him what to do and when I paid him. Although I knew this would still be risky, even with only this limited amount of contact, I'd decided he was worth it.

"Have you ever mowed a large lawn before?" I asked, and he flashed me an enormous grin.

"Yes, I mow our lawn all the time," he assured, beaming from ear to ear.

"And what type of lawnmower do you use?" I followed, while thinking about how large my lawn actually was.

"We have the regular push type," he confirmed.

"Have you ever used a lawn tractor?" I pressed, knowing he'd probably die out there if he tried to use a basic lawnmower to do the job.

As soon as he'd heard my question, his eyes widened. He obviously knew what I was talking about, but I got the distinct feeling he'd never operated one before.

"No, never, but I can learn," he assured me. "Or I can just bring our lawnmower down and use it to cut your grass."

It was obvious that he looked worried that I might change my mind now, seeing he hadn't used a lawn tractor before.

"This yard is far too large to use a push mower on," I informed him, "so I'd have to teach you how to use the lawn tractor. How old are you, anyway?"

He swallowed hard and I could tell he was unsure about how he should answer this. I think he felt if he was honest, it might cost him the job, but I think he realized that if he lied to me and I discovered the fact later, then I'd never let him work for me again. Therefore, he decided to tell me the truth.

"I'm fourteen, but I'll be fifteen real soon," he stated. "I know you have to be sixteen to drive, but this is only a small tractor. Would that be ok?"

He had a very concerned look on his face at the moment and I realized how badly I had misjudged his age. He really looked to be much younger than he'd told me, so I wasn't sure if he was just a late-bloomer or just stretching the truth a bit. However, judging from his concerned reaction, I believed him to be honest and didn't think it was worth making a major issue over. I had been leaning toward giving in to him anyway, even before I learned how old he was, so I hired him.

"Yes, that's fine, but I don't have the time to train you right this moment," I admitted. "Do you think you could come back tomorrow to learn?"

That huge grin suddenly returned to his face.

"Sure. What time?" he wondered.

"What time is good for you?" I countered, giving him the option.

"Anytime, cuz we're on summer vacation," he explained.

"But don't you have to watch your little brother?" I followed.

"Nah, he's ten, so he can watch himself," he replied.

"Doesn't he worry when you're gone?" I followed.

"Nah, we both do pretty much whatever we want," he confirmed. "He has a friend who lives a couple of miles away and they usually get together most of the time, but he has other friends he spends time with too. We just don't hang out with each other all that much though, because he's with them."

"Don't you have friends of your own that you hang out with then?" I pressed, thinking I didn't want to ruin his summer vacation.

"There's nobody my age that lives close by," he answered. "Sometimes I hang out with my brother and his friends, just for something to do, but they're kind of young and I don't usually like the things they do."

"Like what?" I asked, puzzled.

"Well, they like to play soldier or super hero, and that's too babyish for me," he responded. "Sometimes we play ball, if we can find enough other guys to get together with, but that doesn't happen very often. They also play a lot of video games too, but I get bored with that after a while."

"Ah, I see," I stated, since I didn't really know what else to say.

"Besides, I need to find a job, so I can make money," Jared continued.

"So I've heard," I teased. "Ok, you show up tomorrow morning and I'll teach you how to use my lawn tractor. I imagine the lawn will take at least a couple of hours to mow, so it won't be quick or easy. Do you still want the job?"

"Yes! Of course," he replied, enthusiastically, while almost jumping up and down with excitement. "I'll be here real early."

"Not too early, Jared. I like to sleep until 8:00 or so," I confessed. "Why don't you just plan on being here around 9:00? That will give me time to have breakfast before you show up, unless you'd care to join me?"

"No, that's ok," he quickly stated. "We have breakfast with our mom before she leaves for work. I'll see you around 9:00 then."

Jared was still smiling, as he turned around and walked down my driveway toward the road, when I saw him abruptly stop and lift up an old beat up bicycle. He immediately jumped on the seat and began pedaling back up the road, heading toward his house. Damn, he was cute and I knew that being around him would tempt me to my limits, so I'd have to muster up all the strength that I had to resist those urges. So much for my great plan!

Even though I was working on my writing for the remainder of the day, I often found my thoughts drifting back to Jared. I kept picturing his gorgeous face and awesome body, and this made me realized how very difficult it was going to be for me to teach him to drive my lawn tractor without giving in to one of my fantasies. It certainly wasn't going to be easy, but I was determined not to put myself in any compromising situations or place my freedom in jeopardy by giving in and acting on my desires. I was determined to help this kid and enjoy the eye-candy, without doing anything that might harm either of us in any way.

The rest of that day seemed to stretch on forever! Since my mind was consumed with thoughts of Jared, I didn't get an awful lot of work done. Whatever I did finish, I was sure it wasn't up to my normal standards, so I'd probably have to rewrite nearly everything I had written today. After thinking about this for a few more minutes, I finally gave up on trying to accomplish anything more and spent the rest of my time planning on how I would deal with Jared the following day. It seemed simple enough and I thought I had everything worked out in my head, but it seems as if I've said that before, haven't I? Hopefully, this time things would go the way I'd planned.

That night, I even saw Jared in my dreams and pictured him mowing my lawn, but he was riding on my lawn tractor totally naked. During this vision, I was imagining every tiny detail of his body, including how he was hung, the color and shape of his pubic patch and even whether he was circumcised or not. It was a very sensual dream, so I got highly aroused, and before I woke up I managed to have a major nocturnal emission.

Without realizing what had happened until the following morning, I'd ended up spewing my seed all over my bedding and myself, so when I woke up and got out of bed, I cleaned up the mess and dressed, before I removed all of the soiled bedding and threw it in the laundry hamper. Once that had been taken care of, I went to the kitchen and fixed myself a couple of eggs, two English muffins and a few strips of bacon. Once they were done, I put everything together and made a couple of breakfast sandwiches, which were similar to the type you might get at a fast-food restaurant, and ate them.

I had just finished downing the last of my second sandwich and was starting to clean up the mess when the doorbell rang. It was like music from heaven, because it let me know that my little angel had arrived. I hurriedly took care of what remained to be done, so I could get to the door and open it. Unconsciously, I was holding my breath, as I swung the door inward and looked forward to seeing him again. There he was, the beautiful little god, the one who had given me so much pleasure the night before in my dreams. He once again had an ear-to-ear grin plastered across his face and seemed to be glowing in the soft, morning light.

"Hi, Bob. I'm ready for you to teach me how to use your tractor," he announced, as soon as I opened the door.

He stood there wearing the same outfit he had on yesterday, or at least one very similar to it, which meant he only had on a pair of skimpy shorts and his athletic shoes. I wasn't sure if he had done this to be comfortable or to make himself more appealing to me, although I'm not sure that would have been necessary, or even possible. I quickly wondered if maybe he was trying to get a 'rise' out of me, but then it was possible this was just the way he normally dressed for this time of year. Whatever the reason, that look did elicit certain responses on my part, some of which I was trying desperately to conceal at this point.

"Ok, head out to the shed out back and I'll meet you there shortly," I directed him. "There's one more thing I need to do first, before I join you."

At this point, he quickly glanced down at my crotch and flashed me a devilish grin, which let me know my efforts to conceal the problem had not been successful. As soon as he turned to make his way around to the back, I shut the door and readjusted myself, while hoping the monster in my pants would go back to sleep before I went out to meet up with Jared again. Eventually, it cooperated and I felt I could go outside and teach Jared what he needed to know.

Instead of going around the house as he had done, I walked through the interior and made my way to the back door, so I could head out to join him. As I made my way toward the shed, I saw Jared already standing there, patiently waiting for me to join him. I unlocked and opened the double-doors to the shed, moved inside and hopped on the tractor seat. When I started the engine, it roared to life, so I quickly drove it out of the shed, because it was generating a great deal of exhaust in that enclosed area. As I pulled into the sunshine and came to a stop, I quickly began to explain to Jared what he would need to know in order to operate the tractor. He watched everything I did and listened to every word I told him, and then I hopped off the seat to let him take over.

Almost right from the very start, Jared began to do things incorrectly. First of all, he started off in too high of a gear and gave it too much gas, so he was going way too fast. If that wasn't bad enough, he also forgot to engage the mower, so nothing was being cut. Frustrated, I screamed for him to stop, so he slammed on the brake and skidded to a halt, thus managing to leave some ruts in the process. I walked over to the lawn tractor and reached in to turn the engine off, so we could talk. Jared looked scared and very upset at this point.

"I'm sorry," he whined, before I had a chance to say a word.

It was obvious that he was worried about how I was going to react, as he stared at the marks he left in the yard. I was about to respond, but he didn't give me the chance.

"I'll fix those and even out the ruts for you," he continued, "so you won't even know they were ever there."

"Hey, it's ok," I offered, in a soothing voice. "You're out here to learn, and while you're doing that you sometimes make mistakes. It's not a big deal, but listen up and I'll explain what you did wrong."

He seemed to relax a little after I'd said this, because I think he'd been worried that I was going to fire him even before he had done anything to earn some money. Instead, I reassured him that this wasn't the case and began to instruct him all over again.

"Why don't you watch me do a little of the lawn first, just so I can show you how it's done," I suggested.

He nodded and hopped off the tractor, so I could get on. I started the engine again, put the lawn tractor in the next to lowest gear and mowed the first swath across the lawn. When I pulled up next to him again, I stopped the tractor and got off, so he could take another try at it.

Even though I had told him to use a lower gear, he still put it in one of the higher gears, although not the same one as before, and gave it too much gas again. He also released the brake too quickly, although his foot may have merely slipped off the pedal, but the result was that he nearly popped a wheelie and had to struggle so he didn't get thrown off the rear of the tractor. I signaled him to stop again, but this time he did so without causing as much damage as before. Once he had turned the engine off, I began to explain how to do this one more time and show him each thing he had done wrong.

"I couldn't really see what you were doing the last time," he informed me, before offering another suggestion. "Why don't you get on the tractor with me, so I can see how you do it. I really tried to watch you when you drove off, but you were soon too far away for me to see very much."

"Well, that idea might work better," I responded, "but I'm just not sure how we'd do it."

"How about if we do it like some men teach their sons how to drive," he offered. "You can sit on the seat, with me sitting between your legs, and then you can show me how to do it as we go along."

"Well, the seat isn't very big, so that might not be possible," I replied.

"We can both squeeze on it, or I can just sit on your lap," he countered. "I don't think we're going to need to do it for very long, so it shouldn't be too bad."

He seemed determined to do it this way and it might actually be easier to instruct him in this manner. Although it might not be comfortable, I suppose I could sit atop the slight rim that runs along the back and sides of the seat, so I agreed. Hearing my answer, Jared flashed me another smile, but this one had me puzzled. This grin was slightly different and seemed to indicate that possibly there was more to it than just that he was pleased that I'd agreed. Regardless, I climbed onto the seat, sat behind him and tried to make sure we were both comfortable. Then I had him start the engine and guided his hand, as I showed him which gear to use, before I helped him engage the mower and showed him how much gas to give it. Once he had done all of these things, we slowly started to mow the area next to the strip I had mowed previously, as I instructed him about how to line the mower up, so he didn't leave any uncut gaps. This time, he did much better, so I only had to offer a few additional suggestions as we went a long.

I know my lawn is not entirely smooth or level, but I didn't think it was quite as bumpy as Jared made it seem. As we drove around, he kept bouncing up and down in the seat, which caused his butt to rub up and down the length of my cock, so within a very short time I had developed another raging boner. I imagined he could probably feel it, but he continued to slide up and down against it, which didn't help to alleviate my condition. I tried to slide back on the seat and move away from him, but every time I did, he would just slide back even farther on the seat and continued to stroke my erection with his backside. I was getting close to blowing my load, so I told him to stop the tractor and let me off. After I gave myself a few seconds to regain my composure, so I wouldn't cream my underwear, I told him he was ready to try it on his own again. I thought I'd caught him looking at my crotch as I got off of the tractor, and he flashed me another devilish grin, so I began to wonder if he had done all of this on purpose. If he had, then he's going to be more of a problem to deal with than I'd first thought.

As he continued to mow the lawn, I stood there for a few minutes and monitored his progress. My erection had totally subsided now, so I didn't have to worry about him noticing it any longer, and I was pleased to see that he was now doing a very good job. As he approached me for the seventh or eighth time, I signaled him to stop and advised him he was doing well enough to continue on his own, so I was going to go inside and get back to my own job.

Although he seemed disappointed when he heard what I planned to do, he nodded his understanding and I walked into the house. Even though I was no longer out there with him, I continued to monitor his progress and watched him from several different windows. I continually moved from one to another, because I wanted to make sure that he didn't see me doing this, while at the same time making certain that he wasn't having any difficulty with this task. I certainly didn't want to take the chance that he might get injured, so this way I could observe what he was doing and would be able to run outside quickly to assist him, if need be, while at the same time not allowing him to think that I didn't trust him.

As I watched his progress, my mind kept racing back over what he had done to me when I rode on the lawn tractor with him. I even began to wonder if he might have been doing it on purpose, meaning he might possibly be having thoughts of doing the same types of things I was. After considering this for a few minutes, I knew I could never allow anything like that to happen, even if it was his intention, so I forced those thoughts from my mind. I calculated that I had much more to lose than I would gain, meaning it wasn't worth it for me to take that kind of risk, so I tried not to think about it. Besides, he probably wasn't really interested in someone as old as me, since I was in my mid-thirties, and he probably wasn't even gay and just making sport of me, so he could keep the job after that dreadful start.

As tempting as the idea of doing anything like that was, I realized I could never give in to my desires, so I had to try to purge those ideas from my mind. This was not going to be an easy thing to do, especially since I continued to have these thoughts as I watched him do his job, but as hard as it might be to pull off, I knew I had no other option but to avoid further contact with him.

Jared was nearly halfway through his job now, so I took a soda out to him, because it was hot out and I figured he might be getting thirsty. He smiled when he saw me approach and his grin broadened when I lifted the soda can, to show him what I had for him. He stopped the tractor, took the drink and thanked me for bringing it out to him, before he began to rapidly down it. When I saw how quickly he was consuming it, I told him to slow down, because I knew it wasn't good to drink something that cold so fast on such a hot day.

Doing something like that could trigger his regurgitation reflex and there were documented instances where a person had died from this occurring. It happened because the person began to vomit while he continued to drink and swallow, and seeing the two processes were moving in opposite directions, this made it impossible for him to breath or clear his airway. I didn't want anything like that to happen to Jared, so I made him stop, catch his breath and then continue at a much slower pace. After he finished his drink, I asked him if he wanted another, but he said that was plenty, so I advised him to just come to the house later, if he decided that he wanted something more. He thanked me again, restarted the mower and went back to work. I have to admit, he seemed to be a fairly dedicated worker, no matter what his age.

It took him another hour or so before he finished mowing the lawn, so when I heard the doorbell ring, I assumed he had completed the task. I went to the answer it and he was standing there, with the perspiration running down his body in sheets. I didn't realize the temperature had risen so high while he had been out there working, so now I felt badly that I had left him out there to work in the midday heat.

I immediately asked him if he wanted another drink, and he said after he put the lawn tractor away, but he wanted me to show him how to do it. I told him that I'd do it later, but he insisted it was part of his job and he would need to know how to do it for the future, so I finally gave in and went out with him. Once I showed him where it was supposed to go and how to put the tractor in reverse to back it in, he did it for me, but not without some difficulty. It took him a few tries to accomplish this task and he banged into the shed a couple of times in the process, so he apologized profusely whenever he did this, but he never did any serious damage to the tractor or the shed. All in all, I thought he had done fairly well for his first attempt. After the shed was closed and locked up again, I invited him into the house for a drink and he eagerly followed me into the kitchen.

Once we were inside, I got us both a soda out of the fridge and handed him one. We quickly opened them and began to drink, so I decided to comment about how much he'd been sweating. He looked at me, and then glanced down at the chair he was sitting on, and then he jumped to his feet, because he was suddenly concerned that he was getting it all wet from his perspiration. When I realized why he had jumped up, I told him not to worry about it, but I could tell this didn't seem to make much of a difference. Since I didn't want him to feel badly about it, I hopped up and fetched a towel he could dry off with, but then he asked me a question.

"You've got a pool, don't you?" he inquired, with a mischievous expression on his face as he did so.

"Yes, there was one here when I bought the house," I concurred.

"Could I go swimming in it, to help me cool off?" he asked.

His eyes were pleading with me at this point and I could tell he really was hoping I'd say yes.

"In the future you may do that, but I haven't cleaned it out and got it ready yet," I replied, knowing this would probably disappoint him. "I'll make sure I do it before the next time you mow the lawn though."

His smile faded momentarily, but then his face brightened again.

"I'll help you clean it, if I can swim in it afterward," he offered, while flashing me that special smile again.

"I really don't have the time to do that now, because I should be finishing up my work instead," I replied. "Besides, I haven't had a chance to purchase the chemicals I'll need to add to it either."

Almost immediately, he looked crestfallen, but that didn't last for long, because he quickly came up with another idea.

"Can I take a shower then?" he asked, giving me another wicked little grin.

"Wouldn't you feel better showering at home?" I asked him.

"No, because we don't have a shower, only a bath tub, and I hate taking baths," he advised me.

After saying this, he let his lower lip stick out a little bit and gave me this pathetic, pleading look, so I only had to think about it for a moment before I answered. I could easily provide him with what he would need to take a shower and then I could go back and do my work in peace. He could finish cleaning up and then get dressed again, without causing any more disruption to my work schedule.

"Ok," I told him, and he brightened immediately. "Follow me and I'll show you where the bathroom is and get you a towel."

Obediently, he followed me to the second floor, to the guest bathroom, where I pulled out a towel and handed it to him.

"Could you start the water for me, cuz I'm not used to doing that?" he requested. "Remember, we don't have a shower."

I merely nodded, before I turned and started the water. Once it was adjusted to a comfortable temperature, I set it to come out of the showerhead. When I turned around to tell him he could get ready to get in, he was already standing there, totally naked. I imagine my mouth must have dropped open and my eyes most likely popped out of their sockets in surprise, but he just stood there grinning at me, as I quickly inspected his package.

What a magnificent sight it was. He had a young man's penis, not a little boy's, which showed he had already begun his trek through puberty. He only had a thin band of hair over it though and I didn't see any hair on his chest and very little was visible in his underarms. He was also circumcised, with a perfectly shaped head topping off that magnificent work of art, and as I lowered my gaze, I noticed the thin coating of fuzz on his legs, which I remembered noticing earlier. I think I began to stutter a little, as I attempted to speak and let him know he was on his own now.

"Well, uh, Jared," I began. "You can, um, take your shower and you already, uh, have a towel. I'll go downstairs and, um, work on my, uh, computer while you do that."

He had a huge grin on his face as I left the room, and I think he knew he had gotten the better of me this time. Flustered, I hustled out of the bathroom and hurried downstairs, in order to get away from that incredible temptation, but I was only able to sit at my computer, since I couldn't concentrate on anything but images of him. I merely sat there and listened to the water running upstairs, so I knew he hadn't finished his shower yet, and I held my breath when I finally heard the water shut off, because I knew it meant he'd be coming back downstairs shortly. I didn't look in that direction, even though I heard him descending the stairs, until he finally spoke to me.

"I'm all done," he informed me. "What do you want me to do with your towel?"

As I swiveled in the chair and turned in his direction, I realized he was still totally naked, holding the towel in one hand and his shorts and underwear in the other.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked him.

I was startled that he was still naked and his face suddenly changed from a smile to a look of horror, when he noticed my reaction.

"Are you mad at me?" he responded, while giving me a hurt look.

"No, I'm not mad, but why didn't you get dressed?" I responded.

"My clothes are all wet and smelly, so I didn't want to get dirty again by putting them back on," he reasoned.

"Well, why didn't you at least wrap the towel around you then?" I followed.

"Why? Does it bother you seeing me like this?" he wondered.

I didn't answer him, but it did bother me. I had another raging hard-on in my pants and didn't dare move, for fear he'd notice it again.

"Well, it isn't customary that you would run around naked in front of strangers," I finally reasoned.

"But you're not a stranger. I work for you," he replied, and he did have me on that point.

"But we only met yesterday and you don't know me that well yet," I added.

"I don't mind. You seem like a really nice guy," he countered.

"Well, it's not a good practice for you to get into," I reasoned. "Someday you might discover that doing something like this may get you more than you bargained for."

"Like what?" he demanded.

There was no way I wanted to answer his question, so I kind of sidestepped the issue.

"Just things could happen that would be dangerous or harmful to you," I hinted. "Just try to be more modest around others in the future."

"Does that mean you too?" he pressed, while looking for my response.

"Jared, you are a handsome young man and you certainly don't have anything to be ashamed of," I told him, "but I think it would be best if you weren't such an exhibitionist."

"What does that mean?" he asked, looking confused.

"It means someone who likes to show off their body to others," I explained.

"Well, I don't mind…" he began, but I cut him off.

"I know you don't, but like I said, it's not such a good idea," I reiterated.

"But I don't want to put these clothes back on," he insisted. "They're all damp and stinky."

"Ok, I'll throw them in my washer and dryer and clean them for you," I offered. "But maybe you should wrap that towel around you while you're waiting."

He did as I asked, but there were numerous times when the towel would come undone and drop to the floor. Whenever that happened, he'd merely smile and say something like, "Oops, sorry," and then pick it up and wrap it around himself again. Was this kid playing me or was I just letting my imagination run wild?

Chapter 2
The Problem

As soon as Jared's clothes had finished washing and drying, I gave them back to him. He immediately dropped his towel and put them on in front of me, but I didn't say anything this time and concentrated on something else instead. Seeing I hadn't paid him yet for mowing the lawn, I thumbed through my wallet, took out a couple of bills and handed it to him.

"Forty dollars!" he exclaimed, when he saw how much I'd given him. "Isn't this too much?"

"Not for the size of the lawn that I have," I countered. "It took you a long time to mow all of it."

"Yeah, but I got to ride, so it wasn't so bad," he reasoned. "It's not like I had to push the lawnmower, like I do when I mow our yard."

"Well, that's what I pay, unless you don't want to do this any more," I responded, while eyeing him.

"No, I want to do it again," Jared answered, while looking shocked that I'd even suggested that. "I just didn't want to cheat you, that's all."

"Well, you're not, so check back with me next week to see if it needs to be mowed again," I offered. "There's always a chance we might be able to skip a week."

"When can I help you clean the pool?" he wanted to know next.

"I'm not sure about that," I answered. "I might be able to run out and get the supplies tomorrow night, if I get caught up with the other things I have to do. If I do, then we might be able to start working on it sometime the following day."

"Ok, I'll come back then to see if you're ready, if that is alright with you?" he asked, while smiling at me again.

"Sure, but if I tell you that I don't have the time to do it, then you'll have to promise that you will just leave it at that," I explained. "I don't need someone teasing or arguing to do something when I don't have the time."

"I won't. I promise," he agreed. "Whatever you say goes."

He flashed me another of his broad smiles, and when I saw it I was forced to admit that my heart melted a little more each time he did this. I believe he was also well aware of this fact and was using it to his advantage, but not in a malicious way.

"Ok, I'll see you then," I added, ending our conversation.

Once I'd said that, Jared took off and I watched him get on his bike and start pedaling up the road. I was smitten with this boy already, and not only because I figured that it might be possible to get him to do things with me, if I asked. Let's face it, seeing he had already shown me he wasn't timid about showing off his body and was possibly even using it to entice me, then it's possible he wants it as much as I do. This thought started my mind racing again, so I had to run up to my room and masturbate, because the images in my brain had me highly aroused. Slowly, I jacked off with visions of Jared's naked body dancing in my mind, as I imagined him offering himself to me.

Oh, what a marvelous orgasm it was, as I gradually brought myself to a magnificent crescendo. My balls were actually aching as I stroked my shaft and my heart pounded wildly in my chest. I could see every millimeter of that angel's gorgeous body, in magnificent detail, since it had been burned into my brain during the many times I had seen it over the course of the afternoon. Thoughts of being allowed to do things with him turned me on with such force that my body was trembling with anticipation. As the fluids began to bubble in my scrotum and then rise up my shaft, all I could see was the subject of my desires, that beautiful teenage boy. When I finally exploded, I shot cum all over my body, my bed and everything else around me. It was truly one of the most powerful ejaculations I think I'd ever had.

Once I had cleaned up the mess, I went back downstairs and tried to work, but I just couldn't get the visions of that kid out of my mind. Instead, I decided to use Jared as the main character in a new story I suddenly decided to write, so I began to outline the various plotlines and subplots, while also determining which age group I would gear this story toward.

I wasn't exactly certain how I was going to do this, but I wanted Jared to be the model for a boy who begins his life with nothing and then works his way into becoming a huge success. This character would possess an excellent work ethic and be of a high moral character, which means he won't climb to the top of his profession by stepping on his coworkers or taking advantage of his customers. He will also have a very deep concern for others, plus a strong dedication to his family, which will be illustrated when he puts his family first and doesn't abandon them in order to be successful. There would be no short cuts or compromising his principles, but he'd still become renown in his field, just the same. Once I had made those decisions and written everything down, I was able to go back to my other story and concentrate on it again.

I worked very hard for the rest of that day, so I would be able to take a break from writing and run to the store later. Around 11:30 that night, I finally stopped working and drove to Walmart, so I could pick up the chemicals and other supplies I would need in order to take care of the pool. When I'd purchased everything I needed, I returned home, stored the items in the shed out back and then went inside, so I could head up to bed to get some sleep.

When I got up the next morning, I fixed a quick breakfast and then got right to work. I forced myself to concentrate solely on my writing, so I could get as much done as possible. I wanted to be able to take some time off the following day so I could spend time cleaning the pool with Jared, without having a guilty conscience about doing so. I only took two more short breaks that day, one for lunch and another for dinner, and then I went to bed earlier than normal, so I could get plenty of rest before he showed up. I assumed Jared would probably be at my place by 9:00 the following morning, since he seemed so intent on doing this and would want to get going as soon as possible.

Although my intentions were good, I found it very difficult to fall asleep, because my brain was consumed with thoughts of Jared. My heart was pounding in my chest, as if I had just run a marathon, and images of his naked body continually flashed through my mind. I was totally obsessing over that enchanting creature and this preoccupation wasn't allowing me to enjoy the tranquility of sleep. Try as I might to chase these images from my mind, I wasn't successful.

This kid had me so flustered and focused solely on him that it reminded me of the few times I had ever fallen in love as a teen, although nothing had ever come of any of those situations. Even though I knew I was in love, the other guys were never aware of it, because I realized they were all straight. For that reason, I couldn't follow my heart and allow my feelings to be known, because I was convinced I'd be rejected and then exposed as being gay. That would have led to further rejections and ridicule from the other students, so I kept my feelings to myself.

God, I remember those times so well, and I still ache thinking about what might have been, if only they had also been gay. Reliving those heartaches led me to believe that this was probably just another instance where my feelings wouldn't be returned, but at least I could enjoy just being around him, even if nothing ever came of it.

The entire night went like that, even after I got up and jacked off again. I thought that would take the edge off my longing to be with him, and it did help some, but I still kept seeing Jared every time I closed my eyes. Eventually, however, my weariness overcame me and I mercifully fell asleep. When my alarm went off, just before 8:00, I'd only had a few hours sleep, but I was willing to try to survive on it, because I knew that seeing my young god again would give me enough energy to keep going for hours. After dragging my body out of bed, I took a quick shower, dressed in my summer work clothes and went downstairs to have a quick breakfast, before I started taking the supplies out of the shed to set beside the pool. As I had guessed, my little assistant was ringing my doorbell right about 9:00.

I asked him if he'd gotten a good night's sleep and he said he had, although I thought he looked a little tired too. Next, I asked him if he had eaten and he said he'd done that as well, so I led him through the house and out the backdoor to the pool, so we could get to work. He had arrived in a pair of shorts, but when I looked at him again, he had stripped down to a swimsuit, which was extremely small and very tight on him. It wasn't quite a Speedo, but it definitely wasn't a pair of the Boardshort type trunks either, so I guessed this was either something his ten-year old brother used or a swimsuit Jared had outgrown two or three summers ago.

Wherever he got that swimsuit from, it certainly didn't leave much to the imagination, so seeing him in it was definitely turning me on. That was about as close to being naked as he could get, without actually going against the request I had made the other day, which gave me the feeling that he had done this intentionally. Thank goodness I had chosen to wear a jockstrap and selected something loose to wear over it, so it would help to hide any erections, because I definitely had one already and was fairly certain that I would be getting more than just this one while I was around him today.

In an attempt to get my mind off of what he was wearing, I began grabbing the appropriate items and we started to work. Since the house had been vacant for about a year before I bought it, the pool had been completely drained, but it had also been left uncovered. Therefore, we had to clean out all of the unwanted items that had fallen into it over the past few months, and this included grass, leaves, twigs, dirt and various other sorts of debris.

Once we had finished getting rid of the garbage that had ended up in the pool, I got out other items, so we could scrub down the sides and bottom of the pool next. I felt we needed to do this, because the pool would also need to be repainted before I filled it with water. Carefully, we began to loosen the dirt and scrub off any unwanted growths that had started to build up along the sides, and this turned out to be a very exhaustive process.

As we were doing this, I began to notice how badly some of the paint, and even some of the cement, was breaking loose, so I stopped Jared and informed him that I'd have to hire a company to come out and do this. When he wanted to know why, I explained that the pool would need to be patched, as well as painted, and we wouldn't be able to do that. Jared tried his best to convince me that we could, but I told him it would have to be sandblasted and acid washed first, and I didn't have the equipment or time necessary to do it. He was slightly disappointed with this news, but realized I was probably correct, so he ended his objections.

After we climbed back out of the pool, we went inside to get cleaned up, since we had both worked up quite a sweat just cleaning out the mess that had blown into the pool while it wasn't in use and scrubbing down what we could. I told Jared that while he was cleaning up, I'd look up some local pool companies and see if they were willing to do the work for me. If any of them were, I'd see if they could come out and give me an estimate, along with an idea about how long the work would take.

Jared said he understood and then asked if he could take another shower. When I told him he could, he headed upstairs, since he now knew where I kept the towels and had gone through the process. He had only been up there a couple of minutes though, before he called for me to come up to the bathroom, because he said he needed me to show him how to adjust the water again. It wasn't a big deal, although I was surprised that he couldn't remember how to do this on his own, but I went up to assist him anyway.

When I entered the bathroom, he was bent over the tub, stark naked, and playing with the water temperature. His rectum was winking at me, his balls were dangling freely and his dick was hanging down, so I could see the top portion of it too. I cleared my throat when I entered, but he merely looked over his shoulder, smiled and asked me to help.

Controlling the urge to take advantage of the huge temptation in front of me, I showed him how to adjust the water temperature once again and reminded him that he only had to turn the knobs a very little bit in order to make a huge adjustment. Once we had that taken care of, I showed him how to divert the water to shoot through the showerhead, but I got a very strong feeling that this was just a big game for him and he knew how to do this all along. As I was getting ready to leave, he asked me another question.

"Aren't you going to shower too?" he wanted to know.

"Yes, I am, but I'll use the shower in my bedroom," I explained.

"Why, this one's big enough so we can both fit in here," he suggested.

"I know it's possible for us to both fit in there," I relied, "but I don't think it would be a good idea for us to do it that way."

"Why not?" he challenged.

"Because I don't want people to get the wrong impression about what's going on here," I answered.

"What do you mean?" he asked, while looking at me quizzically.

"I mean, if people found out that a guy my age was taking a shower with someone your age, then they might view it as being very wrong, like what happened with the former Penn State football coach," I explained. "I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that we might be doing more than just showering together, so it's probably best to avoid doing that at all."

"But how would they find out about it, if you didn't tell them, because I know that I won't say anything?" Jared replied.

"Well, maybe someday you might make an innocent comment, such as 'one time when Bob are I were in the shower together,' and then things would snowball from there," I offered.

"But I'd never say anything like that," he assured me.

"Well, you might not do it on purpose, and it's possible you may not even realize you'd said anything like that, at least not until it was too late," I offered. "No, I think it's better that we shower separately, and seeing I have two bathrooms and two showers it isn't a problem. You go ahead and shower in here and I'll use the one in my bedroom. I'll meet you downstairs when you're done."

I could tell he wasn't happy about my decision, because he immediately began to pout, but he did as I told him. I then went into my bathroom, took my shower and then headed downstairs to begin fixing us some lunch. Since I wasn't sure what he would like or want, I set out some lunchmeat, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mustard and mayonnaise on the table, so he could make his own sandwich. Then I got out a couple of drinks and waited for him to join me.

Jared was taking much longer than I had, probably because he was upset and didn't get started right away after I left. It was possible that he might have been hoping I'd change my mind and show up a few minutes later, so he might have waited to see if that was going to happen. Whatever the reason, it didn't work out as he'd hoped, which made me suspect he was attempting to clean up now, so he could join me for lunch. Everything was ready when I heard the shower turn off, and then a few minutes later I heard him coming down the stairs. When I looked up, he was once again stark naked and carrying his swimsuit and towel in his hand.

"What did I tell you about that the other day?" I began.

"I didn't want to put this back on," he answered, while holding up his swimsuit, "cuz it's all yucky, and the only other thing I have to wear is my shorts, but I left them out by the pool. I was just coming down to get them."

"Didn't I tell you to at least wrap a towel around your waist before you came down?" I challenged.

"I'm sorry. I forgot," he apologized. "Besides, you've seen me like this before, so what's the big deal."

"I know I have, but what if someone else had stopped by or someone happened to walk by one of the windows and saw you parading around with nothing on. It wouldn't look good for me," I pointed out.

"That's crap," he snapped back. "No one is going to go by here and why should they care about what we do in your house?"

"Don't you see anything wrong with a young boy running around naked in a guy's house, especially if that guy isn't related to him?" I pressed.

"No, not if the boy wanted to do it," he replied.

"Well, I think there are a good many other people who would disagree with you," I pointed out.

"Don't you like the way I look or something?" he asked, while looking slightly hurt that I might not find him attractive.

"That has nothing to do with it," I countered. "The fact is, I think you are really handsome and I like looking at you, but it's not something I want to broadcast. I'm not ready to have others know about this and I certainly don't want them to get the wrong idea about what's going on here."

As I was saying this, I couldn't resist scanning his naked body again, especially his budding package. He just grinned when he noticed what I was doing.

"If you like looking at me, then why do you keep stopping me from doing this?" he countered. "No one else is going to find out about it."

"You can't be sure of that and I could end up getting in really big trouble if it happened," I reasoned.

"No one is going to find out that I'm doing this and I can tell you're enjoying seeing me this way," he blurted out. "I know you got a stiffy when you were teaching me how to drive the lawn tractor and I'm sure you got a bunch of stiffies at other times too, especially when you've seen me naked. I'll even bet you've got one right now."

"You can't be certain of that," I challenged, while feeling a little guilty knowing he was correct.

"I can too," he challenged.

He then started to reach out and grab my crotch, to see if I was hard. When I saw what he was about to do, I grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

"Look, that's not going to happen," I advised him.

"Well, I know you got hard before, because I've either felt it, like when we were on the lawn tractor," he announced, as he turned around and began moving his butt up and down, like he was bouncing on the tractor seat. "I've also seen the bulge in your pants when you saw me naked before, so I know you've liked it so far."

I certainly couldn't deny this and wasn't about to try, because he'd know I was lying. However, I still had a point to make.

"It's doesn't matter whether I've enjoyed seeing you this way, because you've obviously noticed that I have," I confessed, "but if anyone else found out about any of this, I could wind up in jail. I have to be careful, so that doesn't happen."

"But, Bob, I like you looking at me and wouldn't mind doing even more with you…" I was afraid where this was going, so I interrupted him.

"Jared, no matter how tempting that is, and believe me, I am very tempted, I just can't risk it," I explained. "I know you probably think I'm crazy, and maybe there are others who would agree with you, but I like my freedom and don't want to end up locked away in some little cell. Not only that, but who would want me to write children's books, if they think I'm a pervert? Can you understand that?"

"Yeah, I can understand why you wouldn't want to get locked up or risk losing your job, so I hope you're not mad at me. Are you?" he wanted to know.

"No, I'm not mad at you, but you'd better go and put on your shorts now," I suggested.

He merely nodded and I watched him run off to get them, with his cute boy dick swinging back and forth and then his adorable little ass cheeks bouncing up and down, as he moved away from me. God, what a beautiful sight that was and it had me very aroused again, but I knew I had to stand my ground. After less than a minute, he came back wearing his shorts, but his smile had faded slightly.

"Can I still come here and work for you?" he asked, looking very innocent, yet worried.

"Yes, you may, but I expect you to follow my rules from now on," I insisted. "There will be delivery guys stopping by from time to time, plus the guys I'm going to have work on the pool, so I don't want to give any of them the wrong impression. Ok?"

"Yeah, I'll try to remember that from now on," he agreed, as he flashed me his special little grin again.

"Good. I'm glad you're agreeable," I stated. "I've made some lunch for us, so let's eat."

I then guided Jared into the kitchen and showed him what I had set out on the breakfast counter, before telling him to make whatever kind of sandwich he wanted. When he finished doing that, we sat down to eat together, but Jared kept talking, as he ate.

"Bob, you know I like you a lot. Don't you?" he announced.

"I do, and I like you a lot too, Jared," I confirmed.

"I want you to know that whenever I'm with you it makes me feel a lot better about not having a dad," he continued, slightly upping the ante.

"Everyone has a dad, Jared," I countered. "It's just that some fathers don't live with their families."

"Yeah, I know I have a dad," he agreed, "but I really don't think the guy my mother was married to was… well, I just got the feeling that he wasn't really my dad."

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly puzzled.

"Well, I know for sure that he's my brother's dad, but my brother is a lot younger than me," Jared explained. "When this guy and my mom first broke up, he used to pick us up for Christmas and at some other times too, but he always treated my brother much better than he did me. He even bought him a lot nicer presents."

"I know sometimes kids think their parents favor one child over the other," I answered, "but don't you think that might have all just been in your mind?"

"No it wasn't!" he shouted back. "One Christmas he got my brother a Nintendo, with four game cartridges, and all he got me was the game 'Sorry,' you know, the board game that comes in a box. It wasn't even a computerized one. And when he'd buy us clothes, he'd buy my brother name brand stuff and I'd get all the discount store specials."

"Are you sure you weren't just imagining that?" I challenged.

"I wasn't imaging it and my grandparents did the same thing. My dad's parents would buy my brother really neat things and all I'd get was junk," he insisted. "That's why I stopped going with him. I didn't need that crap and I hated the way they made me feel when they did it."

"I'm sorry to hear you say this," I commiserated.

"And when I told my mom why I didn't want to go with him any longer, all she said was that she was afraid something like that might happen, but she wouldn't tell me why she felt that way," he continued. "Every time I'd ask her, she'd just say, 'Oh, I didn't really mean anything by that,' or 'I'll explain it to you when you're a little older.' I guess I'll have to be as old as her before she'll ever tell me anything."

"She must have her reasons," I suggested, hoping it might reassure him it wasn't a slight.

"And I have mine. Don't I have a right to know who my father is?" he asked, defiantly.

"Yes, I think you're old enough to know the truth," I agreed, "but there must be more to it than just what you've told me."

"Like what?" he challenged.

"I don't know, but there must be something," I answered, rather lamely. "Don't judge your mother too harshly until you know all of the facts."

"And how will I know all of the facts, if she never tells me anything?" he countered,

"Good point, but I'm sure that some day she'll tell you what you want to know." I offered, although I wasn't truly convinced of that myself.

Jared gave me the 'Yeah, I'll bet' look, and then fell silent. We finished eating our lunch without any further discussion and then I gave him another couple of twenties from my wallet, expecting he would go home after I did so. In the meantime, I carried the dirty dishes over to the sink and started to wash them. When I turned around again, I was surprised to see that he was still there, but he gave me a big smile when he saw me looking at him.

"Is anything wrong?" I asked him.

"No, it's really great," he answered, looking a bit surprised. "Why?"

"Well, I thought you would be heading home, since we've finished working for today."

He suddenly looked a bit upset that I had just suggested this.

"Do you want me to leave?" he asked next, looking somewhat dejected.

I could see that he looked hurt and thought he might even begin to cry at this point.

"No, I don't WANT you to leave," I answered. "It's just that I thought you might have something to do and would want to leave. Don't you have things to do at home?"

"No, not right now and I don't have to go home until suppertime," he replied. "Isn't there something else I can help you with?"

"The only other thing I was planning to do today was calling to find a company that would be willing to come out here and take care of the pool," I informed him. "Unfortunately, there's not much you can do to help me with that."

"I don't care. I just like being here with you," he confessed.

After saying this, he shot me another of his patented grins, to let me know that he meant what he'd just said. How could I refuse him now?

"Hey, it's ok with me if you want to stick around. I just thought you'd have something better or more fun to do," I stated, and his smile grew even broader.

"It's fun just being here with you, whether we do anything or not," he responded.

After that exchange, Jared stuck around and listened as I called some pool companies, and I managed to get two of them to agree to come out, so they could look the situation over and give me an estimate. They both stated that it would probably take at least a week to complete the work, once they got started, so it looked as if we wouldn't be swimming for a while. The only positive to this was that the pool would be taken care of for a while and nothing more would have to be done right away again.

Jared stayed with me until it got close to his dinnertime and then I suggested it was time for him to go home. He still seemed hesitant to leave, but I pointed out that his mother would be expecting him and I didn't want to create any problems between them. I certainly didn't want to take the chance that his mother might get upset and then forbid him from coming down to spend time with me in the future. He said he doubted that would happen, because the money he was earning really helped out a lot, but I managed to convince him it would be best if he didn't take that chance. Besides, I reminded him that his mother came home just so she could have her meal with his brother and him, so she deserved equal consideration from him in return. He finally agreed and rode his bike home, but not before telling me that he'd be back after she left to go to her other job.

I then asked him if he wasn't expected to stay home, so he could watch his brother while she was gone, but he insisted he wasn't required to do that. When I insinuated that his ten-year old brother probably didn't like being left home alone, Jared said he'd bring his brother with him, if he really didn't want to stay by himself.

"Well, if that's all right with you?" he added, quickly.

He must have realized that he'd made a rather large faux pas, because he belatedly added the last comment to correct his mistake. After I told him I wouldn't mind, as long as he kept his clothes on, he laughed and said he would, so I left it at that. As he rode off, I had no way of knowing if I'd see him again later, or maybe his brother and him, or possibly neither. Even though I enjoyed his visits, I thought maybe it would be best if we didn't spend quite so much time together. Even though I've been able to control my urges so far, I wasn't sure how much longer I'd be able to continue doing this, so maybe it would be best if he didn't come down quite as often.

As I sat at my desk and tried to do some writing, I quickly discovered that, once again, I wasn't able to accomplish very much. Every time I tried to concentrate on what I was working on, images of Jared flashed through my mind and caused me to forget about what I was supposed to be doing. Sometimes I would envision him out mowing the lawn in that tiny pair of shorts, while at other times he would be helping me clean the pool in that extremely tight swimsuit or I'd picture him coming down my stairs totally naked, but no matter what he was doing, it would cause me to have an erection.

There was no question about it. The boy was having quite an effect on me and I understood why I was so infatuated with him, but what I didn't know was how I was going to control my desires. It was getting to the point where I was beginning to fantasize about doing all sorts of different things with him, including sexual acts, which I knew I couldn't allow myself to get involved with. How was I going to pull this off without having to avoid this kid altogether?

I was still lost in my thoughts when the doorbell rang, and when I opened the door, I saw Jared standing there with that big grin of his sparkling at me.

"Hi, Bob. I'm back. What do you have that I can do for you?" he greeted me.

"Well, we could just watch a movie," I offered, "but if you feel you have to work, we could also go out and clean my Chevy Tahoe. It hasn't been washed in a while."

"Well, let's wash the Tahoe and then we can watch a movie after we're done," he suggested. "Would that be ok?"

"Sure, kiddo. That would be fine," I agreed. "You sure are a good worker."

Jared began to blush when I said this, but then he looked up at me, sheepishly.

"My mom tells me that too, cuz I do a lot of work around the house," he admitted. "She says I'm as good a worker as any person she's ever known."

After saying this, he looked down at the ground, because he seemed to be a little embarrassed by having revealed this tidbit of information to me. I thought his shyness was adorable, but I already thought most things about him were adorable, so this just made him even more fascinating.

Once he got over his bout of uneasiness, I took him outdoors and we began washing my SUV. He did a great job and scrubbed every inch that he could reach, while I did the parts he couldn't quite get to. When we finished, we were both quite wet, so he was reluctant to sit on any of my chairs to watch the movie when we went inside. I understood how he felt, because I went up to my room to change out of my wet clothes, and while I was there I looked for something he might be able to fit into. Unfortunately, all I had that might serve the purpose was an old t-shirt, which when worn by Jared would probably hang down to his knees.

Since that's the best I could come up with, I took it down with me, along with a towel, and told him he could wear the shirt temporarily, while I put his clothes in the dryer. I then explained that he could put them back on when the movie was over and it was time to go home. He thought that was a good idea and immediately began to strip out of his clothes. I started to say something, but since I knew it would fall on deaf ears, I let him remove all of his clothing and merely handed him the towel to dry off with, before I gave him the shirt, which he put on at once. I took his wet clothes out to the laundry room and threw them in the dryer, and then I came back into the living room and put in the DVD. Then, we sat down to watch the movie.

I was sitting in my usual chair and Jared sat across from me on the sofa, but when I looked over at him, I immediately recognized the fact that the shirt wasn't going to work out. Jared sat with his legs spread apart, so I could see his goodies, even though he was staring at the screen. I could even see that he had a semi-erection, but I wasn't sure what had caused it. There had been nothing sexual in the movie and I certainly hadn't done anything to elicit such a response, so it must have been something from his imagination. Even though that might be what caused it, I preferred not to think about what thoughts he might be having that were getting him so aroused.

I tried to concentrate on what we were watching, meaning the movie, but I would frequently catch myself staring at him instead, especially his cute little package. Doing that also gave me an erection, which I tried to hide by repositioning my body, but I think Jared caught me staring at him a couple of times. He never said anything about it, but merely smiled instead, as he repositioned himself to give me a better view. When he did that, I would then turn away from him and pretend that I hadn't noticed a thing. I'm not sure if my performance was convincing, however, because he appeared to be trying to give me an even better show.

When the movie finally ended, I ran out and grabbed his clothes out of the dryer, brought them back to the living room and tossed them to him, so he could put them on. He quickly removed my shirt and totally exposed himself again, before he slowly began to put on his own things. He could have just as easily put his underwear and shorts on under the shirt first, and then removed the outer garment, but it was almost as if he was putting on a little show, since he realized the effect it was having on me. All I knew was that I had to send him home quickly, so I could attend to my own needs, or I might explode, without any assistance.

He tried to resist my efforts to get him to hurry and leave, because he quickly suggested that we could watch another movie first, but I explained to him that it was getting late and I still had some work left to finish. I then emphasized that tomorrow would be a new day, with more things for us to accomplish, and we would see each other then. He finally agreed and started to take off, but before he went out the door, I urged him to be careful riding his bike home in the dark. I also wanted to know if he had a light on his bike, but he did not, so I went inside and grabbed two of my flashlights and a roll of duct tape, so I could fasten the flashlights to his bike.

I hooked the larger one onto his handlebars, to help him see where he was going, and the other I taped underneath the rear of his bike seat, so others could see him as they approached from behind. I then turned both flashlights on and told him to be careful, before I advised him that he could return the flashlights whenever he was done with them. He smiled, thanked me and then started riding off, but then he stopped a few seconds later, turned in his seat and waved at me, after having traveled only about thirty yards. I waved back, to let him know I had seen his gesture, and after seeing my response, he turned back around and continued his journey home. Once he was out of sight, I whirled around and went back into my house, ready to attend to my continuing problem.

After turning off the lights downstairs, I went up to my room, quickly got undressed and then I began to stroke my raging hard-on. As I did so, I pictured Jared sitting on the couch, his legs spread wide, seemingly proud to show off for me. I also pictured him with an erection and seductively looking over in my direction, before he offered it to me. In my mind's eye, I could see myself surrendering to his beckoning call and seductive look, so I walked over to where he was sitting and wrapped my lips around his enticing shaft, as I slowly bobbed my head up and down on his throbbing member.

That thought pushed me over the edge and I was now blowing my load all over the place. It was a seismic orgasm and my body shuddered with enjoyment, as my testicles released their manly fluids. After the last of those pearly drops had erupted from the end of my dick and my mind slowly came back down to earth, I cleaned up the mess and then headed back downstairs, so I could do some more work.

For the rest of the evening, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get thoughts of Jared out of my mind. Even having released a geyser just a short time before, I couldn't keep my thoughts from drifting back to that gorgeous boy. My hormones were still raging and my desire was just as strong as it was before, as my body began to ache in anticipation again from just thinking about him. How could I let this go on?

If I didn't do something about this soon, such as stopping him from spending so much time around me, then I couldn't be certain that I'd be able to keep my hands off him. There was just something about Jared that made me want to please him, as well as myself, and there were so many ways I could do this, but they were also activities that I knew I shouldn't become involved with. He was just so open, so inviting and so unashamed of showing off his lovely body that made him so desirable.

The problem was that since I was having these thoughts about him, I was no longer sure if I could trust myself to be around him. It was a dilemma that I didn't want to address, but I knew that I had to. I also needed to do it before it was too late.

Chapter 3
The Dilemma

The following day, I decided I would have to set some new ground rules with Jared when he showed up at my house again, especially if I hoped to prevent anything inappropriate from happening. I wasn't sure how I was going to approach this topic with him, but I knew it had to be done. When he rang the doorbell, I invited him in and led him into the living room, where we sat down. I then swallowed hard and wet my lips, before I began to speak.

"Jared, I think in order to prevent any more compromising situations from happening, I'm going to suggest that you bring a couple changes of clothes down that you can leave here. It should be something that you still fit into but won't miss at home if it isn't there, and if you don't have any extra clothes that you can leave here, then I'll write down your sizes and buy you a few things the next time I go shopping. That way, if you get wet, dirty or all hot and sweaty again, then you'll have something else that you can put on, so you won't have to run around the house naked. You can keep them in the guest bedroom upstairs, so that way there will be no excuse for you to come downstairs without having something on."

The expression on Jared's face told me that his feelings had been hurt as I explained this to him, since I think he felt this meant I didn't care for him. He might have also thought I was upset about the things he'd done, so I began to feel like a bastard for even bringing it up, but it was something that needed to be done. I knew he was showing his body off because he thought it would please me, but it was just bringing me closer to crossing over my own moral boundaries. As I studied his reaction, he let his head drop forward, so he was looking down at the floor, but I thought I could also occasionally see a tear fall toward the carpet, so I lifted his chin, so we could look at each other. As I began to bring his head up, he decided to speak to me.

"Don't you like me any more?" he wanted to know, in between sobs.

"I most certainly do like you, but that's the problem," I confessed. "I like you so much that I'm beginning to think about doing certain things with you, but they're not the sort of things that I should be allowing to creep into my mind."

"Tell me what they are and maybe we can do them," he offered, as his face began to brighten and his eyes pleaded with me.

"No, Jared. That's the problem," I admitted. "I shouldn't be thinking about doing those things with you, even if you wanted me to. You're not old enough to get involved in certain types of activities and I could get in big trouble if I ever did them with you."

"Says who?" he challenged, defiantly.

"The law, that's who," I answered. "You haven't reached the age of consent yet, so even if you did agree to do things like that with me, then the law would say I forced or conned you into doing them."

"That's not right and it's not fair," he shot back.

"Maybe it's not the way you might have wanted, but that's the way it works. The laws were made to protect kids like you and it's also the reason why I have to be so careful," I added.

He studied my face for a few seconds and it seemed as if he was trying to read my thoughts, but he obviously didn't find the answer he was looking for. After nearly a minute of doing this, he finally released a sigh, but then he began to cry. The poor kid wasn't just letting out a few tears either. He was sobbing and his chest was heaving, so it was breaking my heart to see him like this.

Instinctively, I reached out and tried to comfort him, by pulling his head against my chest and wrapping my arms around him. I'm not sure if it comforted him at all, but it did give me an immediate erection, which was exactly what I didn't want to happen. Jared must have noticed my little problem, even through all those tears, and he reached out and began to run his hand across it. At first I just enjoyed his gentle touch, as it didn't really register in my brain what he was doing, but when it finally clicked in as to what was happening, I pulled away from him and put some distance between our bodies.

"Bob, what's wrong? I thought you would like that," he cooed.

"Believe me, I did like it, but that's exactly what I was talking about," I confessed. "It's not something we should be doing."

"Why not?" he demanded. "If I want to do it and we're both enjoying it, then why can't we just keep going?"

"Jared, I just finished explaining this to you," I answered. "It's against the law, that's why. I could end up in jail or prison, if anyone happened to find out about what just happened."

"But that shouldn't matter," he countered, "because there is no way anyone else can ever find out about anything we do. I won't tell them, and I know you won't say anything, so how else could they know what we are doing?"

"Someone could accidentally see us doing something like that, since I have lots of different things delivered to the house, or you might even talk in your sleep. There's also a chance that someone could overhear a comment you make to me about doing something sexual or someone could find a note or a poem you've written down about something we'd done, even if you didn't intend for anyone else to see it. There are just a multitude of ways we could get discovered and then we would both end up with the short straw."

"This sucks. It really does," he spat out. "I finally find someone I really like and it's someone I think really likes me too, but I can't do anything with him."

"Well, at least not until you're a little older," I suggested.

My comment caused Jared to shoot me a disgusted look.

"Bob, did you ever mess around with another boy when you were younger?" he asked.

I thought for a minute before I answered, because I wasn't sure how truthful I should be with him. Finally, I decided I shouldn't try to hide my past from him, so I responded.

"Yes, I did and I think many boys have done those same types of things, whether they were gay or straight," I answered. "Being a teenager and going through puberty is a time when kids of both sexes experiment and learn about their bodies. I believe it's something most people do when they're that age, but the difference is, I'm not that age any longer."

"Well, I am, so I need to experiment and learn, but I want to do it with you," he answered.

"Yes, I can see where you might have a desire to experiment," I agreed, "but you need to do it with someone from your own age group, or at least someone close to your age, but not with someone as old as me."

When I finished speaking, Jared gave me another one of his looks, but this one was a mixture of confusion and desire.

"I've tried that, but I haven't found any other boys my age who want to mess around like that," he confided. "When I suggested it to someone before, he asked me if I was a fag or something, so I told him I was only joking and then let it drop. I don't need for the other guys in my class to start saying things like that about me at school or I'll probably end up without any friends at all. That's why it would be better if I did it with you. That way I'd be safe from having the other guys find out about me, because if they did, they'd make me suffer, big time."

I didn't know how to answer him, because I understood how cruel the other kids could be. I just knew that I couldn't be of any help to him either, at least until he was a little older. We sat in silence for the next several minutes and merely looked at each other, but that was only helping to make us both uneasy. Since I realized I couldn't let this continue, I asked Jared a question.

"So, do you think you're gay?" I pressed.

He looked up at me and then slowly began to nod his head.

"I'm pretty sure I am, because all I ever think about are other guys," he admitted, "but it's not just the ones who are my age either. I've been thinking about you almost every minute since we first met, because you are everything I've ever wanted. You could be a lot of different things for me – a father, a lover and a friend, all rolled into one."

I was touched by his comment, but I knew I couldn't let him weaken my resolve.

"Jared, I can be two of those things for you," I eventually replied. "If you want me to be a father figure, I will, and I can definitely be your friend. I will do either of those things for you, but I just can't fill that last role, at least just not yet."

Jared was half smiling at this point, but the tears were still streaming down his cheeks. I reached out and held his face with both of my hands, so I could look into his eyes. I needed him to know that I was being honest about this.

"Bob, I love you so much and I'd like you to be my father and a friend," he replied, "but I don't know if I can stop wanting you to be more than that."

"Well, we'll both have to work at controlling our desires then, won't we?" I responded.

As soon as I said this, he took a step closer to me, threw his arms around my neck and squeezed tightly. I gave in and did the same to him, since I knew what he was feeling, because I was experiencing the same feelings for him as well. The difference was, I realized that I didn't dare act on them. As our bodies rubbed against each other, we both sprouted wood, which caused us to look at each other and begin to giggle about it. We had an understanding between us now, although we still had to make sure that we didn't break that pledge.

Jared and I now went over and sat down on the sofa, so we could discuss how we would handle things from this moment on. He liked the idea that I would be like a father to him and agreed to bring some clothes down and leave them here. I also told him that I'd buy him a few extra items as well, so he'd have clothes that would be appropriate for the types of things we might do. He seemed to like this idea as well, because it showed I still cared about him. It also meant that I would have to make a list of items I thought he would need and write down his sizes, before I went shopping again. At this point, however, he decided that he also had a question for me.

"Bob, I know this is going to sound like something a little kid would ask, but as long as I'm pretending that you're my father, can I call you Dad too?" he almost pleaded. "It's really important to me to be able to do it, so can I? Please? Pretty please?"

He now had that pathetic, pleading look he'd given me before, whenever he wanted me to let him do something he thought I might not agree with. When I didn't answer him right away, he continued.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to have a Dad who actually wanted me around and did things with me, like we've been doing," he explained. "You won't need to do anything different or anything special, so will you please let me call you Dad?"

After saying this, he gave me another pathetic, pleading look, but I had already decided to agree to his request, as long as he realized he couldn't do it all the time, especially in front of others. I certainly didn't want this to get back to his mother and possibly upset her.

"Jared, I don't mind if you call me Dad when it's just the two of us here," I confirmed, "but I don't think it is something you should do at other times. I'm fairly certain that your mother or brother wouldn't appreciate hearing you call me that, and other people might infer that it means we are doing more than just pretending to be father and son."

"Like what?" he asked, looking puzzled.

"Like the other things you've been trying to get me to do," I answered. "Older and younger men sometimes do sexual things with each other while pretending they're father and son."

Suddenly, there was a glimmer of understanding in his eyes, so he flashed me a sly little grin.

"Well, we could do those things too," he suggested.

"Jared, we've already been down this road and I thought we had reached an agreement," I reminded him. "If you're going to continue to insist on doing things like that, then I'll have to reconsider my answer."

"I know I agreed," he replied, "but you can't blame me for trying, can you?"

"Well, maybe not this time," I conceded, "but I don't want you to keep bringing it up. As far as I'm concerned, it's an issue we've discussed and one that we've reached an agreement on, so I do not want to argue this point further. Ok?"

"I suppose so, as long as you know I'd still like to do those things with you," he added, before dropping the subject.

"I don't think I could ever forget that," I teased, as I made a face at him.

Seeing me make the face caused him to burst out laughing, especially after he realized he hadn't been very subtle in his efforts to seduce me. Now that we had an agreement and I felt he'd uphold his end of the bargain, at least for the time being, I thought it was safe to relax around him again.

We didn't do much work that afternoon, but we did enjoy each other's company, now that Jared's little games had come to an end. During this time, he told me more about his family and his life before I met him, as well as sharing some more information about his school. Then, he wanted me to tell him some more information about my life and what it was like for me when I was growing up.

As lunchtime approached, I told him I'd fix us both something to eat, but he asked me if he could run home for a few minutes first, while I was doing that. I told him that would be fine, so he raced about halfway down my driveway, hopped on his bike and began to pedal home. I assumed he went home because he had something he needed to do, like fix his brother's lunch, do one of his chores or possibly his mother had told him she'd call him about this time. Whatever the reason he had decided to go home, it really didn't matter, so I continued to fix our lunch and then waited for him to return.

When he came back, he was carrying a paper bag, which he tossed to me as he entered the front door. I looked at him oddly, since I was confused as to why he had done this, but he merely told me to open it. I did, although a bit tentatively, and when I looked inside, there were a pair of his shorts, a pair of his underwear and the extra-small swimsuit he had on the other day, when we were working on the pool.

"Those are the extra things you told me you wanted to keep here," he advised me. "Are those ok?"

"They're fine, but we need to sit down and eat now, and then I'll show you where you can keep them," I advised him. "Will that be ok with you?"

He smiled at me before he answered.

"Yeah, that would be great," he agreed.

After we finished eating our lunch, I took him upstairs to the guest bedroom and cleared out a drawer in the dresser, so he could keep his extra clothes in it. He had a look of satisfaction and triumph on his face as he placed those items in there, which I interpreted as meaning that he thought he belonged here now.

After we went back downstairs, we just watched some TV for the next hour or so, with Jared cuddled up against my side. I know I said I couldn't allow this to happen, but that was before we had reached our little agreement. Even if I got excited now, it was less likely that he would attempt to act on it, but I would also try to control my urges. Seeing that was behind us, I felt it was worth the risk to do this, so I could show the poor kid some fatherly affection, since I realized it was something he desperately longed for. Besides, I thought I was going to enjoy it too, now that I wasn't so worried about screwing up.

Jared loved this new closeness we now shared, so he just sort of melted against the side of my body. I lifted my arm and draped it over his shoulder, which caused him to look in my direction and smile, as this all-consuming glow seemed to radiate from his face. It was such a lovely sight to behold, but it also made me feel good to think that I had been the one who had caused this wonderful expression to suddenly appear. We continued to watch this program, but when a commercial came on, Jared turned to ask me a question.

"Dad, would you mind if I go get a soda? I'm kind of thirsty," he explained.

After saying this, he looked at my face, as if he were trying to gage my reaction to him calling me 'Dad' for the very first time. I thought I'd surprise him and possibly even get him to relax a bit with my answer.

"No, Son, I wouldn't mind at all," I told him. "In fact, would you bring one back for me too?"

Without warning, Jared jumped up, straddled my lap and threw his arms around my neck, so he could plant a very big kiss on my lips. It was a fatherly kiss, and not the open-mouth kiss of a lover, so I realized that he meant it to be a son kissing his dad. It was just his spontaneous response to me calling him 'son' in return, and he obviously couldn't contain himself and got a little carried away. It was kind of a neat thing to experience though, but it also made me feel really good that my saying that had turned out to be so special for him.

"Oh, Dad, it was so nice to hear you say that to me," he finally admitted, once our lips broke contact. "You don't know how much it means to me to hear you call me 'son.' Thank you. Thank you so very much!"

He was almost hopping up and down on my lap now, because he was so excited, but I eventually got him to settle down. Once he had regained a modicum of self-control again, I sent him off to get the drinks. As he was walking out to the kitchen, I called out to him again.

"The glasses are in the cabinet to the right of the sink and there's ice in the freezer, if you want either or both of those things, Son."

When he turned around this time, he was sporting the broadest grin I think I had ever seen from him. That smile was nearly splitting his face in two and extended from ear to ear, but it was also nearly as radiant as the sun.

"Do you want a glass with ice in it, Dad," he asked in response.

"No, Son, the can will be fine for me," I answered.

Before long, he came back carrying two cans of soda, one for each of us. He squeezed in beside me again, still sporting that huge grin, and we finished watching our program, while sipping our drinks. When the show ended, it was nearly dinnertime, so I suggested he'd better head home. He agreed to do that, although somewhat reluctantly, because it almost appeared as if he didn't seem to want to leave me now. I watched as he pedaled away, so I saw when he turned back and waved at me. He ended up doing this several times before he disappeared from sight, so I imagined I'd see him back at my door again later, just as soon as his mother left for work.

Almost as if right on cue, about an hour later I heard my front door open and a voice shout out.

"Dad, I'm home," Jared announced, followed by a little giggle. "Damn, that felt good."

I ran to greet him, not only because I was anxious to see him again, but I also knew it would make him happy. It certainly did and he lit up like a supernova when he saw me hurrying in his direction. I scooped him up in my arms, lifted him off the floor and swung him in a circle, as my way of welcoming him back.

"Damn, I missed you, Son," I told him.

"Why? I've only been gone for about an hour," he replied, while looking puzzled.

"It's because I miss you sooooo much, even when you're only gone for a minute," I answered.

Suddenly, his confused expression began to disappear, as a light went on in his head. He then started to hop around a bit, sort of like he was doing some weird and crazy dance.

"Do you have ants in your pants?" I asked, mocking his humorous antics.

"No, it's just that you make me feel so good every time we're together," he confirmed. "I feel so special when I'm around you and I don't ever want that to stop."

"Well, you are special, whether you're around me or not," I stated.

"You know what I mean," he replied, while giving me that 'don't make fun of me' look. "You make me feel like I belong here, that I'm part of your family and I'm loved. I've always wanted to feel that way and wondered what it would be like to have a father who really cared about me this much. My mother tries to do her best, and I know she loves me too, but a boy needs a dad. Women just don't understand that and can't fill the void."

"I know what you mean, so you don't have to try to explain any further," I agreed. "So, what would you like to do tonight?"

"I don't know," he answered. "As long as I'm with you, anything would be fine."

After saying this, he smiled at me again, so I tried to think of something that might keep us occupied.

"Hey, kiddo," I began, after being struck by a flash of genius. "What if I take you shopping, so we can pick up a few extra things for you to keep here? How does that sound?"

"Sure, that will be fine," he concurred.

"Are you sure you won't be missed?" I asked, just to be on the safe side. "I mean will anyone come looking for you and panic if you're not here when they show up?"

"Nah, they won't even think about me, until I go back home later," he announced.

"I can't believe that your brother spends so much time alone," I mentioned, since I knew their mother was working and Jared was always with me now.

"He isn't," Jared replied. "Seeing it's summer vacation, he usually has Mom drop him off at one of his friend's house on her way to work and then that kid's parents will either bring him back later or Mom will pick him up on her way home from work."

"I didn't know that," I admitted, but it did clear up another matter I had been concerned about. "Ok then, let's go hop in the Tahoe and head out for the store."

Jared and I went outside, got into my SUV and I started the engine. I understood I was breaking another of my rules, which would be to avoid going anyplace where other cute boys might tempt me to try something I shouldn't, but seeing I would be with Jared, I didn't think it would be a problem. While I was with him, I wouldn't need anyone else, so I wasn't concerned about being tempted. Besides, he'd probably kill me if I came on to another kid, especially after I had turned down his advances, so I'd just have to behave myself while we were out.

I pulled in to the parking lot of my favorite shopping location, the local Walmart, except I had arrived several hours earlier than I normally would have. We went inside and I led him directly to the boys department, so we could pick him up a few things for him. Seeing he was small for his age, I knew we could outfit him here, so I began walking around, to get an idea of what might be appropriate.

"Look around and start selecting things you like," I suggested. "I want you to pick out a pair of jeans and a polo shirt, a pair of nice slacks and a button down shirt, and I'd also like you to get a nice pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Then we'll go back to the shoe department to get you a pair of dress shoes and a pair of sandals."

"You don't have to buy so much for me," he objected. "I already brought some things down, but I can bring more, if I need to."

"I just want you to have these extra items at my house, in case we decided to do something at the last minute," I announced. "The jeans and polo shirt is if we go somewhere casual, the slacks and dress shirt are if we go someplace fancier and the shorts and t-shirt are in case it's hot out. This way you won't be taking things you might need at home and won't have to continually run back and forth to change."

"Are you sure you want to do all of this?" he countered.

"Hey, why can't Dad buy Son a few things?" I responded.

As soon as he heard me say this, the corners of his mouth began to curl up, and before long a huge grin had appeared on his face.

"Ok, Dad. I can live with that," he agreed, and then he gave me a big hug.

I started out by helping him pick out a couple of pairs of shorts and a couple of t-shirts to go with them, and then I selected a package of briefs, ones that I thought would look very sexy on him. I wasn't sure why I had the sudden urge to do this, because I'd only be adding fuel to the fire when I saw him wearing them, and I knew I probably would. I was fairly certain Jared would parade around in briefs whenever he could, since this wouldn't technically break our agreement and he wouldn't be naked, but I still knew this could end up tempting me to the limit. Against my better judgment, I decided to get them for him anyway.

Once we had those items, I took him over to pick out a pair of jeans and a nice pair of slacks, and then we went over to choose a polo and dress shirt for him. After we had those things, I had him pick up a couple of sweat suits, for when it turned colder, but I also led him over to the swimwear table, so he could pick out a couple of swimsuits.

"Why do I need these?" he asked. "I can just wear the swimsuit I brought down earlier or I can just jump in your pool without anything on, can't I?"

"That swimsuit was really tight on you and I don't think it would be such a good idea for you to go skinny-dipping in my pool," I replied. "You may pick out any two different swimsuits, whatever you want, but I think you will need one and a backup, especially if we go somewhere else to swim."

Grudgingly Jared gave in to my request and began to look around. He carefully checked out all the different styles and then I saw his eyes light up.

"Ok, I'll take two of these," he said, while pointing at the Speedos.

"Are you sure that's what you want?" I challenged. "What if we have company over or we go somewhere else to swim, like a public pool? Do you want other people to see you running around in something that skimpy?"

"If I've got to wear something in your pool, then that's what I want," he responded, quite forcefully. "Is that ok?"

"Hey, if you're sure that's what you want for the house, but what about if we go to a public pool? Don't you think you'll want something a bit more modest?" I urged.

"Nah, these will be fine," he answered.

"Ok, but you'll need to try them on first, when you try everything else on," I informed him. "You need to do this, because you can't return swimsuits later, after you buy them. It's a health issue."

Jared nodded his understanding and picked out a bright red Speedo first, but then he grabbed light blue pair to go along with them. Once we had everything, I directed him toward the dressing rooms, so we could make sure everything fit. I figured he would come out and show me one item at a time, so I began looking around to pick out some socks and undershirts for him.

"Hey, Dad, aren't you coming in with me?" he shouted, when he looked around and saw I wasn't with him.

"Do I need to?" I responded.

"Yeah, I want you to let me know if they look ok on me."

"Alright, I'll be right there," I answered, as I began heading in his direction.

Before I followed him inside, however, I stopped and picked up a handsome looking pair of trunks to wear in the pool, which I thought would look better on him if someone else was there with us, like possibly his brother or mother. I didn't want them to think I was making this kid run around nearly naked whenever we were together.

After I'd picked that item up, I walked over and caught up with him. I think I expected him to go into the dressing room alone, try on one item at a time and then open the door for me to see him in it, but that apparently wasn't what Jared had in mind. After he went into the dressing room, he turned around and held the door open for me, but when I didn't follow, he just stood there and stared at me.

"Aren't you coming in?" he asked.

"No, I thought I'd wait here, and then you could show me after you changed."

"Come on, Dad. Get in here," he basically ordered. "I don't want to parade around in front of everyone in the store."

"You won't be, but you will be wearing them in public, if we go somewhere else," I reminded him. "Besides, I think this way will be better."

"No, it won't," he challenged. "If you're not coming in, then I'm not trying them on and you won't have to buy anything for me."

"Jared, you know why I shouldn't do this," I advised him, in a hushed tone.

"No, I don't," he demanded. "You're my dad and dads can do this with their sons. So come on and get in here with me."

He looked very determined now, yet he also appeared kind of sad. That told me this was very important to him.

"Ok, this time I'll do it, but don't expect me to start giving in to you all of the time," I warned him.

Jared's face lit up when he heard my answer and he stepped back a little, so I could slip past him. As I entered the dressing room, I also carried in the pair of trunks that I had picked up, so he could try those on as well.

"What are those for?" he wanted to know, as soon as he spotted them in my hand.

"I want you to try these on too, just in case. Ok?' I offered.

"Why? Don't you like these?" he asked, while holding up the two Speedos in his hands.

"I like those just fine, except I think you might need something a little more modest, just in case there are times when other people around," I answered.

He thought about this for a second, before he commented about the idea.

"Ok, but only when other people are there with us," he agreed. "When we're alone, I'll wear one of these."

I nodded, granting him that little concession. Jared immediately began to strip completely naked and took off every item of clothing he had on.

"Do you really need to take everything off?" I asked. "Besides, you need to try the swimsuits on over your underwear."

"That won't let me see how they're going to look on me when I'm swimming," he objected. "I won't be able to tell anything if I'm wearing my underwear and socks. Besides, I took a shower earlier at your house, so I'm clean. Besides, I know they will fit, so I'm not worried about taking them back."

I didn't want to argue this point further, so I just let him continue. He did, however, seem to spend a lot of extra time just standing naked in front of me, while he played with one of those two swimsuits. For some reason, I think he just liked me to see his sexy boy body, and man was it sexy. I popped a rod almost instantly when I saw him like this again and I know he noticed it too, because he flashed me that sly, shit-eating grin of his. I tried to pretend I was oblivious to what he was doing and adjusted myself when he wasn't looking, so my erection wouldn't be so noticeable. However, I seemed to be a losing the battle as I gazed at the sight of him. My penis kept throbbing and trying to move up in my pants, as I sat there and enjoyed the show.

Jared tried on the red Speedo first, followed by the blue one, and then he asked which one I liked better, after I'd seen him in both. I told him they each looked great, but he kept insisting on knowing which one I liked best, although I wasn't sure why. Finally, I gave in and told him that it didn't matter, seeing we were going to buy both, but that's when I learned what he was really thinking.

"No, we're not," he objected. "Not if you're buying me that pair of trunks you brought in here too."

"Jared, it's not that big of a deal," I countered. "I'm going to buy them all for you whether you like it or not, so don't worry about it. Now, try the trunks on next. I want to see how they look on you too."

Jared stripped down again, but this time he did a little thing with his hips, which made his dick bounce and flop around a bit, with his groin almost in front of my face. I knew he was doing this intentionally, so I started to move away from him and threw the trunks on the bench behind him, instead of holding them for him. That seemed to upset him, so when he turned around to pick up them up, I smacked him on his bare butt, which caused him to jump and let out a little yelp.

"Hey, what did you do that for?" he wanted to know.

"For being such a smart-ass, that's why," I informed him.

He just shot me a sly grin in return.

"What do you mean?" he countered, trying to sound innocent.

"Don't play dumb with me," I told him. "What was that little hip gyration all about anyway?"

Suddenly, his grin began to broaden.

"I was only trying to make things a little more interesting for you," he replied.

This time he had a coy expression on his face, like he couldn't understand why that might have upset me.

"Well, I thought we had an understanding," I reminded him. "I thought you agreed to behave yourself while we were together?"

"I am!" he insisted, while trying to look shocked that I had said this.

"By shaking your thing in front of me that way?" I challenged, while pointing at his dangling penis.

"Hey, it was only meant to be funny," he responded.

"And that's how I meant it, when I smacked your ass," I countered, as I gave him my 'what do you think about that' look.

"But that hurt a little," he muttered, but then he thought about it for a second. "Ok, I get your point and won't do it again. Sorry, Dad."

When he looked over at me, he stuck out his lower lip slightly, to make himself look a bit more remorseful.

"Apology accepted, Son," I concurred. "I don't want you to get the idea that I don't like looking at your body though, because it's really gorgeous and very sexy, but you know what happens when you do things like that. I just don't want to be put in the situation where I have to stop hanging around you, in order to be able to control my urges."

When he heard me say this, then he began to look a little scared.

"No, don't do that. I'll stop then. I promise," he agreed. "I don't want you to ever leave me or stop me from coming down. I'm sorry for doing that earlier and I won't ever do it again."

I could tell he was serious this time, in fact he seemed almost panicked by the thought I might refuse to see him any longer, so I thought maybe I should try to assuage his fears, just a little.

"Jared, you know how much I care about you, and you also know how much I am attracted to you," I admitted, while keeping my voice low. "I love looking at you, all of you, but the thoughts I get when I do that scare me. It's not you, it's me, but I have to deal with that and seeing you when you look so sexy, it's just more than I can handle. That's why I need you to help me. That's all. Ok, kiddo?"

"Ok and I'm sorry. I really am," he confessed.

"That's ok, but now try those trunks on," I reminded him.

He did, and they looked adorable on him too. Over the next half hour, Jared tried everything else on as well, and after he finished, I rounded all the items up, while he got back into his old clothes, and then we left the dressing room. I placed all of the items in the shopping cart I'd dragged along with us and then I saw Jared looking up at me, to see where we were going to go next.

He was like a little puppy now, as he followed me out of the boys' department and we set out for the back of the store. He still wasn't quite sure where I was heading next, but he didn't ask any questions and merely shadowed my every move. Without saying a word to him, I went over to the sporting goods area next, to where they kept the bicycle supplies. When he saw where we were, he gave me another puzzled look.

"I'm going to get you a few things for your bike," I explained, "so I don't have to worry so much about you when you ride back and forth after dark."

A small grin suddenly appeared on his face, as I began to look at the lights and reflectors. After a few minutes, I selected a group of items, placed them in the cart with the other things, and then I looked up at him again.

"Ok, one more stop," I announced, as I led him toward the shoe department next. I then had him pick out a pair of dress shoes and a pair of sandals. I was also going to have him get a pair of running shoes, but he assured me the pair he had on were fine, so I didn't need to get him another pair. Hesitantly, I gave in this time, and then I looked at him and spoke.

"Anything else you can think of?" I wanted to know.

"No, nothing," he insisted. "This is way more than I need or ever expected anyway, so let's get out of here."

At that point, we walked back to the front of the store and checked out. As I started to pick up the packages, I handed about half of them for him to carry and we left the store. As we were walking through the parking lot and out to the Tahoe, I heard a familiar little voice say something to me,

"Thanks, Dad. You're totally awesome."

Chapter 4
The Tribulation

When we returned home from our shopping trip, I helped Jared take his things upstairs and put them away in the guest room. I'd previously cleared out a drawer in the dresser in that room, so he would have a place to keep his things, and he was tickled to have his own space. When we came back downstairs, I grabbed the bag with the things I purchased for his bike and we went out to attach them. Before I installed these items on his bike, I took a few seconds to remove the flashlights I had attached to it a couple of nights earlier. Then, I installed the headlight on his handlebars, and put reflectors on each wheel and on the back of his seat. After we finished doing all that, Jared just looked at me and said, "Thank you," once more.

I felt extremely good that I had been able to do this for him, because now I wouldn't be so worried when he was riding between his house and mine, especially after the sun had gone down. I gathered up the trash and flashlights and prepared to take them back into the house with me. As we made our way toward the front door, Jared moved closer to me and slid his arm around my waist, so I lifted my arm and draped it around his shoulders for the final few steps. Anyone going by might have thought us to be father and son, because this was something any father and son might have done when they were together and it was really a neat feeling.

It was now getting close to the time for him to leave for the day, so I told Jared that he probably should head home now. He began to argue with me about doing this and insisted that he still had a little longer before he had to leave, but I advised him that I didn't want to give his mother any reason to question why he wasn't getting home as early as he used to. I reminded him that I'd see him the following day, so he finally gave in and said goodbye, and then he walked down to his bike and got ready to leave. Prior to getting on his bicycle though, I saw Jared walk around it a couple of times, so he could check out all of the new items we had just added. He looked at it from all angles before he got on, because he wanted to get the full impact of how it looked now. He must have been satisfied, because I saw him smile, just before he hopped onto the seat.

After Jared left, I got ready for bed, but I also spent a great deal of time thinking about the shopping trip we had taken earlier, especially the little show he put on for me in the dressing room. He obviously knew what I liked and wasn't afraid to show it to me, but I really think he wanted us to do much, much more. I thought about how I never wanted to act on my urges and force a boy into doing things he didn't want to do, but here was a very willing young man, so now I was attempting to determine if this made a difference.

I definitely wouldn't be forcing him to do anything, since he seemed eager to do those types of things with me too, so that would take care of one of my concerns. The only problem was, no matter how badly I wanted to manipulate his willingness to prove this changed things, I had to admit that it was still illegal, since Jared had not yet attained the legal age of consent. Even if we both wanted to do these things with each other, I could still end up incarcerated if anyone found out what we were up to, so I'd have to put these thoughts out of my mind for the time being. No matter how much I might want to do this with him, the potential consequences would be devastating for me.

Now, I began to wonder if Jared would still want to do these things with me once he became legal, and if he did, how I was going to handle it at that time. After thinking about this in great detail, I concluded that if he was still willing at that time, then I'd have no reason to turn him down any longer, since I wanted it to happen far more than he would ever know. I decided that if the opportunity arose when he was older, then I'd be able to act upon it, because we would each be legally able to make such a commitment. I just wasn't sure if I'd last long enough for that to happen, although I sincerely hoped he wouldn't change his mind about me by then. If he did decide that he was no longer interested, then I'd have to accept his decision, but I was determined that I would still be like a father to him. No matter what else transpired, I would still fulfill that commitment, because it would definitely be better than losing him altogether.

My slumber that night was fairly restless, because my mind kept questioning what my future with Jared would be like. Of course, I dreamed about giving in to his antics and having illegal sexual contact with him, but then in another dream he would refuse to come down to visit me any longer, because I wouldn't give in to his desires. In yet a different dream, I would picture us getting together later, after he was of age, but then that was followed by another dream in which Jared found someone else and moved on without me.

By the time I finally awoke, not only was I still quite tired, but I also began to question how I was going to deal with Jared. I could remain adamant that we not do anything until he was of age and risk losing him, because he either became frustrated or moved on and found someone else before he became legal. On the other hand, I could risk losing my freedom and give in to him now, because there was always a chance that no one would ever find out about what we were up to. This was the dilemma I'd have to resolve before too much longer, while knowing that half of the outcomes were negative. Although there was always the chance I'd be able to have my cake and eat it too, so to speak, there was also a chance that I'd wind up either losing him or find myself locked up for a long time. Now, I had to ask myself if I was willing to take that risk, knowing the possible consequences. What was I going to do?

Since I was so preoccupied with my thoughts, I was running a little behind schedule this morning, so I hadn't finished eating breakfast by the time Jared showed up. I quickly asked him if he wanted to join me, but he said he'd already had his breakfast with his mother and brother, but he sat with me while I finished eating. He also made a couple of observations, while I was finishing up.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?" he wanted to know. "You look awful this morning and you're always done with breakfast by the time I get here."

"Yes, I guess I spent too much time thinking about my story last night and didn't get enough sleep," I offered, while making something up to explain this.

I certainly didn't want to tell Jared the truth and admit that I'd had a very restless night's sleep because I'd been dreaming about him and wondering if we had a future together. Doing that could potentially either make him even bolder about getting his way or he might go in the opposite direction and become totally discouraged. If that happened, he might stop coming down as much, possibly even at all, in order to prevent me from struggling with this inner conflict or because he was questioning my commitment to him. I hoped nothing like that would ever happen, but then again, he might feel it would be for the best to stay away, rather than have me ruin my health this way. No matter what I did, this all seemed like a crapshoot.

"Maybe you should just take it easy today, while I do the work," Jared offered. "Why don't you go back to bed and try to get some sleep? It seems like you could use it."

"No, I'll be fine," I replied. "I hadn't planned to do a great deal today anyway, because the pool guys are coming out to give me an estimate on the work that needs to be done. One should be here shortly and the other guy will arrive sometime after lunch."

"Ok, and then we'll take it easy in between," he offered, looking concerned. "You can work on your story, if that's what's been bothering you, and I'll just watch TV."

Now, I began to feel badly. Jared seemed to be thinking that he had caused this problem, because he had me doing all of these other things with him, so I wasn't spending as much time writing. I felt I had to dispel his fears, so he wouldn't stop coming down quite as much.

"I can try to write, but I'm not sure if that will help," I lied. "I'm just stuck on a problem in the story and can't seem to come up with a way to get around it, at least not without having to change a lot of the stuff I've already written."

"Tell me what it is," he suggested, "and maybe I can help you."

"I'm not sure that you can, since you don't know what I've written so far," I replied. "I'd have to go into great detail about everything I've written thus far, so you'd be able to understand the problem fully. Even if you did, you still might not have any ideas about how to solve the problem for me either."

He looked as if he was about to say something when the doorbell rang, and it turned out to be the guy from the first company coming out to look at the pool. Jared followed us, as I led the guy around to the back of the house and showed him the pool, and then the three of us walked around it, as he looked it over and pointed out the various problems he saw. Once he felt he understood everything that needed to be done, he sat down to work up his estimate, while we left him alone.

A short time later, he finished working up the estimate and handed me a copy. He then went over the details of exactly what he planned to do, and then I asked him some questions about his company and what other jobs they had done. After he gave me his answers, I told him I'd check with some of his previous customers and see how they liked the work he had done for them and then I'd get back to him in a day or two. We then shook hands and he left. Once he was gone, Jared began asking me a bunch of questions about the things the man said the pool needed to have repaired. I believe he was still thinking we could do the work by ourselves, but he eventually realized it was way out of our league, so he didn't even bother trying to tease me to do it ourselves.

After this had been cleared up, Jared and I went back inside. I sat down at my computer and attempted to work on my story, while Jared went into the living room and turned on the television. I realized that he wanted to spend time with me, but I felt that I needed to accomplish something on the next chapter or two, before my agent began to complain about my lack of progress. Besides, I'd told Jared that my current condition was because of a problem I was having with my story, so I thought it best to continue this ruse, rather than explain the real reason to him.

Jared and I continued on like this until lunchtime, and then I stopped to fix us something to eat. Shortly after we had finished our meal and cleaned up the mess, the guy from the second pool company showed up, so Jared and I took him out and showed him around the pool as well. I basically did the same thing with him that I had with the first guy, and then he basically told me the same things would need to be done. Once he had written up his estimate and given me a list of some of his firm's other clients, I told him the same thing I'd told the other guy. I said that I wanted to check out some of his other customers first and see if they were satisfied with his work. I added that once I'd done that, then I'd get back to him in a day or two and let him know whether I was going to use him or not.

Once he left, Jared and I took a ride and began checking out some of the jobs the two firms had done previously. Some of these were at private residences, so I knocked on the door of those houses, and when someone answered, I introduce myself and explained why I had stopped by. No one complained about me showing up unannounced like this, but I also think it helped that I had Jared with me, because I didn't appear very threatening with a kid in tow, especially since Jared looked younger than he actually was. I asked each of these people if they were satisfied with both the complete job and the people who had done the work, and they answered all of my questions. After they gave me their responses, I thanked them for their time and input before we left, but there were also a couple of places that no one was home when we showed up.

It also happened that each of these companies had done work for an organization too, so I decided to check with them as well. One of the companies had worked on the pool at the local YMCA, while the other had worked on the municipal pool. I drove over to each of those places and spoke with the person in charge, and once I had their input and learned if they were satisfied, I made up my mind.

The people I'd talked to that had work done by the first company had nothing bad to say about the work, but they weren't overly enthusiastic about the crew either. The customers for the second company, however, were extremely positive in their praise and stated that they'd hire that company again, without hesitation. It also turned out that the second company's bid was also slightly lower, so when we got back home I called each place back and informed them of my decision. I thanked the first company for coming out to give me the estimate and merely told them I'd received a lower bid, but I didn't give them any other information. Then, I called the second company back and set up a time for them to start work and the man said he could send a crew out the following day to begin prepping the pool. Since that was taken care of, I just had to wait for the work to be completed.

Jared was quite excited that this matter was taken care of now and that we'd be able to go swimming in a week or so. Although the pool guy had told me the work would take three to five days, depending on if they ran into any problems after they started, I also knew we wouldn't be able to use the pool for a couple more days after they finished their work, in order to give the paint a chance to dry. Once I confirmed that everything was set, I could fill the pool with water, but then I'd have to add the chemicals and let it set for another day, before we'd be able to swim in it.

After I explained all of this to Jared, I could tell he was hoping that I could speed up the process, but I had to tell him that we could only go so fast without damaging the repairs and also make certain that the water was properly treated. Reluctantly, he admitted that he understood and would try to be patient until it was ready, so I told him I'd try to make sure we did other things to occupy his time, so he wouldn't end up being totally bored.

Now that all of this had been taken care of, it was nearly dinnertime, but I felt we still had time to watch something on television together first, before I had to send him on his way. I could tell Jared appreciated being able to spend this extra time with me, and I had to admit that I was looking forward to it too. I sat next to him on the sofa, with my arm around his shoulder and Jared leaned against my chest. He seemed content doing this, so all was well. When the show ended, I sent him home for dinner, but he told me he'd be back later, if that was all right with me, and I told him it was.

Once he was pedaling toward his house, I quickly fixed myself some dinner and sat down to eat. While I was doing this, I started thinking about the dreams I'd had the previous evening and tried to evaluate what they'd meant. I also tried to think about all of the pros and cons of each situation, so I could make an informed decision about each scenario, because I didn't want to arbitrarily reject any option without good reason, since I certainly didn't want to risk losing Jared. I also didn't want to risk losing my freedom, so I had to determine the odds with each option, as well as deciding which would offer the greatest rewards.

I was just finishing washing my dishes and was thinking about going upstairs to relieve myself before Jared came back, when I heard the doorbell ring, so I went to answer it. There stood Jared, but I couldn't figure out why he had rung the doorbell this time, instead of just coming in, since I'd left the door unlocked. He generally didn't bother with such formalities any longer, so this had me a bit perplexed. That's when I noticed he wasn't alone this time and concluded that this was the reason he hadn't barged right in.

"Hi, Bob," he began. "I'm back, to do more work for you. Oh, yeah, and I brought my brother with me this time. He didn't want to stay home alone tonight, so I hope that's all right?"

"Of course it is. And your brother's name is?" I asked.

Jared looked a little embarrassed now, because he had forgotten to introduce us.

"Oh, sorry. Bob, this is Josh, and Josh, this is my friend and boss, Bob," Jared introduced us.

"Hello, Josh. I'm glad to meet you," I greeted him.

At this point, Josh stepped slightly forward and out of the shadows, so I could see him. He shared some similarities with Jared, like the gorgeous blue eyes and a slight facial similarity, but other than that, they really didn't look very much alike. Josh had mousy brown hair, compared to Jared's raven-colored hair, and Josh was pudgier than Jared, but he was still a fairly handsome young man, for a ten-year old. Meekly, he extended his hand in greeting.

"Hello, Bob, or shouldn't I call you that?" he asked.

"No, Bob is fine. Come on in, boys," I stated, and they followed me into the house. "As long as Josh is here, I think it might be best if we just forget about doing any work tonight and we'll just relax and have some fun. What should we do? Watch a movie or play cards, because I'm not sure if I can find my games."

"A movie would be fine with me," Jared answered.

"Yeah, that would be ok. What movies do you got?" Josh added.

"What movies do I have?" I corrected. "I have many, so why don't we take a look?"

I opened up the cabinet that I stored the DVDs in and the boys soon picked one out… well, I think Josh picked it out. He wanted to watch Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, since I have all of the Harry Potter movies, except for the final one that hasn't been released yet, so that's what we did. I started to go over and sit in my usual chair, but Jared grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the couch instead. I wasn't sure if this was such a wise thing to do with his brother here, so I hoped Jared would be able to control himself if we all sat together. I certainly didn't want Josh to get the wrong impression about what we'd been up to.

At Jared's direction, I sat on the sofa and he quickly sat beside me. I expected Josh to sit on the other side of his brother, but he walked over and sat on the other side of me instead. It wasn't a problem, but it did surprise me, since we had just met. As soon as the movie started, Jared leaned his head against my shoulder, but this time I didn't put my arm around him and just let him lean against me. Josh didn't do anything like that, in fact he didn't even sit that close to me, but I was still surprised that he had chosen to sit next to me, instead of beside his brother.

Throughout the entire movie, Jared continued to lean against my shoulder and I longed to wrap my arm around him, but I didn't dare. I was too concerned about what Josh might think or possibly say to us or to his mother when he got home, if he saw me doing that. Both boys were really into the movie, so they were concentrating on that, instead of anything else, and we were all enjoying ourselves immensely.

When the movie ended, I asked if they would like to go for some ice cream, since it was a warm evening and I thought a treat would do us all some good. They first told me I didn't have to spend money on them, but I was sure this was just a typical knee-jerk reaction to such an offer, precipitated by the fact that they didn't have a great deal and their mother had to work very hard for what little they did have. After overcoming their objections, we got into the Tahoe and drove off to the local ice cream stand.

When we got there, the boys insisted they only wanted a small cone each, but I wouldn't hear of it. I told them I was going to have a banana split and thought they should each have one too, or at least a sundae. They quickly looked at one another and exchanged some sort of unspoken language between them, before Jared turned back to me and responded.

"Ok, we'll have a small sundae then," he announced.

After they told me which type of sundae they wanted, I placed our order. It took a few minutes for the clerk to make our treats, but when they were placed on the counter in front of us, I directed the boys to pick them up and head over to a table, where the three of us could sit down to enjoy our ice cream.

While we downed these goodies, the brothers talked excitedly about the movie, in between spoonfuls, and advised me that they wished there really was such a thing as a wizard school and that they would be able to attend. As the boys became more and more engrossed in their discussion, I informed them that the book was even better than the movie, because the director had to leave many of the details out, in order to keep the movie from being too long. This seemed to ignite their curiosity, so now they wanted to know what had been left out, but I told them they'd have to read the book and find that out for themselves. They said they'd check the library, to see if they could sign the book out, after which I suggested that they should read the other books as well. I then informed them that I had read all of the books and went on to explain that even though I knew they were supposed to be children's books, I still found them interesting and enjoyed reading each and every one of them.

When we finished our ice cream, we got back in the SUV, but I decided against heading directly home. A little while later, when the boys noticed I was going in the other direction, they wanted to know where we were going and why. I wanted our destination to be a surprise, so I kept letting them ask, but with no response from me. Finally, we pulled into the local Walmart and they wanted to know why we were there, but I still didn't say a word. Instead, I got out of the Tahoe, with the boys trailing behind me, as we went into the store. Looking at Jared, I think he was a little concerned about what I might be up to, but he soon relaxed when he realized I was heading toward the area where they kept the books.

After we reached that location, I picked out two of the Harry Potter box sets, which contained copies of each of the books in the series, and handed one set to each of them. They immediately began to object and claimed they could share one copy, but I wouldn't change my mind. I told them I appreciated their concern, but stated that they should each have their own copies, so they could read the various books at their own pace. When they continued to protest, I turned a deaf ear to them, but they wouldn't let up. After listening to this for as long as I could, I finally told them that I was definitely getting copies for each of them, but then I offered to let them work the cost off later, if they felt they had to, but I wasn't about to change my mind. Once they gave in, we took the books to the register and cashed out, but I had the cashier put each set of books in a separate bag, so each boy could carry his set out to the car.

As we walked out to get into the Tahoe, both boys began to thank me and I merely told them they were welcome. I also told them that I expected them to take the time to read each of the books, now that they each had their own copies, and they agreed to do that. When we were just about to my place, I realized it was getting late, so I suggested I would just drive them home, since they had walked down this time. They agreed, although I could tell Jared would have preferred to stay with me a little longer, but I passed by my driveway and continued on to their place.

When we got there, I made sure each of them had their books and then we said our goodbyes. Jared then came over to give me a hug, but then thought better of it, so he just shook my hand and thanked me for what he called 'a wonderful night.' That made Josh come over to imitate what his brother had just done and then they both went into the house. Before they disappeared from sight, however, they stopped and turned back to wave at me one more time, before they closed the door.

As soon as they were inside, I drove back to my place, parked the Tahoe and went inside. The house seemed kind of quiet and deserted now, even though this was exactly what I had originally planned for and might have even wanted when I first moved here, at least until I met Jared. However, since he had come into my life, all of that had changed and now the house seemed very lonely without him around. I tried to put all thoughts of Jared out of my mind, since I knew I was fixating on him far too much now, but I couldn't get the kid out of my thoughts. I was totally consumed by his friendliness, beauty and attachment to me, which all combined to form my attraction to him.

Was I beginning to allow something to happen here – the very thing I promised myself that I had to prevent? Maybe I needed to start focusing my efforts on trying to eliminate the sexual attraction between us, although I wasn't sure if that would mean that I'd also have to severe the emotional and psychological bonds Jared and I now shared. When I considered doing this, I wasn't sure if I could pull away from him completely and go cold turkey, so to speak, but I knew I had to do something. I wasn't sure what that might entail, because I also realized that he meant far too much to me at this point to just let him slip through my fingers.

Jared was in my dreams the entire night again and magically moved from one visions to another, but those dreams were so varied that I wasn't sure what to think about them. Sometimes Jared and I would only be friends and merely hang out with one another, while in another dream we didn't even act like we even knew each other. In the next vision we'd be more like father and son, but in the one after that we were lovers, in every sense of the word. What was happening here? What were my dreams trying to show me?

When I awoke, I had a lot to think about. I know that life and love are quite complex, but it seems as if I still have a great deal left to learn. There are a number of different levels to every relationship and a slew of variables that could lead us down any of a variety of avenues throughout life, but I still had no idea where we might be heading. I was totally confused now, even more so than if I were a kid again, but that only made this more of an enigma for me, because I thought you were supposed to get smarter as you grew older. Aren't you supposed to be able to understand these types of situations better once you became an adult? Yet here I was at a loss about what any of this meant or what I was supposed to do, possibly even more so now, than if I were Jared's age again.

After going downstairs and fixing my breakfast, I continued to think about this for quite some time. I finally decided it would probably be best if I chose the option where we were more like father and son, but that meant I would also have to remember that there could be no incest in this relationship. I would be expected to help and guide him, but I would also have to be there for him whenever he needed me, which included whatever I could do for him, except for anything sexual.

Although this sounded easy enough, I knew it would test my willpower to the ultimate degree. I would have to be strong, but was I capable of doing that? I knew how much Jared needed a father, but was I the right guy for the job? And would this arrangement now include Josh too? Did I have to be a father to both of them, if I chose to do this for Jared, because I didn't know if they came as a package deal? How was I going to find the answers to all of these questions?

Before I had time to resolve my dilemma, Jared arrived and flew through my door with the usual huge grin on his face.

"Hi, Dad. I'm back," he announced.

"So I see. Did you sleep well?" I wondered.

"Great! Josh and I even started reading the books last night," he added. "You were right, because it IS much better than the movie. There's a lot more information in the book and it's really neat. I managed to read four chapters before I fell asleep, but I'm not sure how many Josh finished, but I know he likes it too."

"Great. I'm glad to hear that," I agreed. "I figured you boys might enjoy those."

"Thanks, Dad. That was really nice of you to do that for us, and Josh told me to tell you that too," Jared explained. "He thinks you're pretty neat."

"That's nice to know," I confirmed. "So why didn't he come down with you today?"

"His friend was coming over to the house and they are going to play games," he replied.

Jared then rolled his eyes back in his head, while also making a little face in the process, to let me know that he thought that was boring, and maybe even childish, but definitely not for him.

"Ah, I see," I acknowledged, while letting him know that I understood.

"Oh, and he said he was going to let his friend borrow his books after he read them," he added. "Josh thought his friend would like them too, if that's all right with you."

"They are your books now, not mine, so you boys can lend them to whomever you wish," I explained. "I would only suggest that you put your names in them first, so there won't be any question later, as to whom they belong."

"Oh, yeah. Good idea," Jared agreed.

"Thanks, I thought it was too," I teased, as I smiled at his innocent praise.

"So what are we going to do today?" he wanted to know.

"Well, it's Friday and the pool guys will be starting their work today, and I'd like to be here to keep an eye on them," I stated.

Jared didn't seem too bothered by that thought, since he wanted the work on the pool to be completed so we could go swimming, so he agreed that would be fine. He did run home first, to get his Harry Potter book, which he read while I worked on my story. We'd both go over and look out the window from time to time, to see how things were going, but the crew never needed anything from us.

The guys working on the pool were gone for the day, by the time Jared came back after dinner, so he and I sat down for a while, as he told me the things he'd discovered in his book that hadn't been in the movie. I was glad to see him so excited about what he was reading and knew he wouldn't stop until he had read each and every book in the series.

When we finished our discussion, there was still some time left before he had to go home, so we sat and watched television together. He sat cuddled up against me again, with my arm wrapped around him, so he was quite content with the way things went.

When he came down again the following morning, he wanted to know what we were going to do today.

"Well, the pool guys certainly don't need us to stick around," I stated, "since there isn't much we can do to help them, so I guess we can just take it easy and do whatever we want."

"Like what?" Jared followed.

"Anything," I answered. "If there is something you'd like to do, just tell me and we'll talk about it."

He appeared to be thinking now, so I merely stood there and didn't interrupt. A few seconds later, he looked up at me and spoke.

"Can we go to the park?" he asked, after a brief delay.

"Sure, if that's what you want to do," I agreed.

"Great! Can I call Josh to see if he and his friend want to go with us?" Jared asked next. "They're spending the day together again and they might like to go too."

"Sure, I don't see why not," I concurred, although the fact that he didn't want to be alone with me was mildly surprising.

Jared quickly dialed his house and asked his brother if he and his friend wanted to join us, and when they said 'yes,' then Jared asked him to bring their Frisbee along. He figured they could toss it around at the park and it might be something fun to do. After Jared hung up, we got into the SUV and drove over to his house, so we could pick up the other pair. That duo flew out of the house when they saw us pulled in to the driveway and raced to the Tahoe. They then jumped inside, obviously eager to do this, and Josh introduced me to his friend.

Josh's friend's name was Dean and we talked for a little while, so we could get to know each other a little better as I drove to the park. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot and the car came to a stop, the boys all jumped out and raced to an open area, where they began tossing the Frisbee around. At first, they merely played catch with it, while also getting me involved with what they were doing, but then they decided to make it into sort of a competition. They wanted to split into two teams and each team would score by throwing the Frisbee and hitting one of the two on the other team. The thing was, the person on the receiving end couldn't move or try to duck out of the way, because it was just to see how accurate the thrower was.

Jared automatically wanted to be on my team, but Josh and Dean didn't think that would be very fair, seeing they were the two youngest and smallest. Therefore, it was decided that Dean and I would be one team and would play against the brothers. The boys quickly made up the rules and decided the throwing team would get one point for each hit and the first team to 21 would win. Both teams would have the same number of opportunities, since both teams would get to throw in each round, so it was possible there could be a tie.

Once we started, I quickly discovered two things. These boys were very competitive and my Frisbee throwing skills had gotten pretty rusty since I had last tossed one around. I missed on my first two tosses, because the Frisbee veered away from my target at the last second, and this put my team at a severe disadvantage. Unfortunately, I never could make up for those early blunders, even though we all missed a few times during the rest of the game, so my team ended up losing. This didn't endear me to Dean, but it certainly made Jared and Josh happy.

Once that game ended, the boys decided they wanted to play around on some of the playground equipment next, so I told them to go ahead and I'd sit on the bench and watch them. Jared was going to sit with me and keep me company, but I finally talked him into joining the other pair, even though he insisted he was too old to do that stuff now. Regardless, he still seemed to have a considerable amount of fun as he went down the slide, played on the swings and monkey bars, went on the teeter-totter with both of the younger boys on the other side and then they started messing around on the merry-go-round. This wasn't one of the mechanical devices, with the horses to ride on, but the manual type where a person supplies the force to spin the others around, before he either tried to hop on or would simply stand back and watch the others spin around.

Jared decided to push the merry-go-round and get it spinning the first time, even though I had offered to do this for them. When he went to jump on after he got it spinning, he had difficulty and wound up falling beside it. It was fortunate that he didn't get hurt, except for maybe his ego, so after it stopped again, he hopped on and asked me to spin them this time. I agreed, but I didn't run beside it as he had done. Instead, I merely grabbed one of the bars that separated the various sections and yanked it forward, and then I grabbed one of the next bars as it came along and repeated the action. It had the same basic effect as running beside it, so the boys spun merrily around.

When they finished this ride and got off, Josh and Dean seemed a trifle dizzy and staggered around a bit. Jared didn't react as badly, but that might have been due to the fact that he'd only gone around once, while the other pair did it twice. However, once they gained their equilibrium again, we joked about it for a while, before we decided to take a walk around the park next.

It was a lovely day and it was very relaxing as we made our way around the perimeter of the park. The boys were talking about some of the things we'd done, such as how Josh and Dean were so heavy that they kept Jared up in the air on the teeter-totter, until they shifted how they were sitting. Once they had worked that out, they were able to continue for a while without any further problems. They also talked about the way Jared fell beside the merry-go-round and that Josh and Dean had become so dizzy. I wasn't immune to this treatment either, since the boys made fun of the first few throws I'd made with the Frisbee, but none of this was done maliciously. It was merely some good-natured ribbing and making light of some of our less than graceful moments, so no one took offense and we all had a few good laughs.

When we got back to where I'd parked the Tahoe, we quickly hopped inside and I took us over to Subway next, for lunch. When the boys noticed where I'd taken them, I merely told them that it wouldn't make sense to run home to eat in between, so we'd just do that here. No one argued with me, so we all went inside and ordered a 6-inch [15 cm] sub, with a drink and chips, and then chowed down.

When we finished our lunch, I took the boys to play miniature golf next, because there wasn't much else that I could think of doing with them. The boys weren't very good at this activity and the younger pair had a great deal of difficulty learning how to gauge the force needed to make their putts, but they did seem to enjoy themselves anyway. Jared caught on a little more quickly than the other pair and ended up doing better, so he was happy too. When we finished, they each thanked me and then I drove them back and dropped Josh and Dean off where I'd picked them up. Jared rode back to my house with me though, after telling his brother that he'd left his bike there and wanted to go back and get it. Josh didn't question his reason or say anything about it, but I knew Jared did this so we could have a little time alone.

"Thank you for doing that with us today," Jared told me, once we were at my place. "I wouldn't have asked you to include Josh and his friend too, if I knew you were going to take us out to eat and go miniature golfing, but it was really nice that you did. I know they both had a really good time and appreciated it."

"You know what? I did too," I admitted. "Even though they are both still young, they were well behaved and fun to be with, so I'd be willing to take them with us again, whenever we decided to do something similar."

Jared merely smiled, to let me know he understood and appreciated my offer. He didn't stay very long after our little conversation, since he'd told his brother he only wanted to come down here to get his bike, but he did tell me he'd be back after dinner. I told him that would be fine and he gave me a hug and a quick peck on the lips before he took off.

When he came back later, after having dinner with his mother and brother, Jared just wanted to chill out, so we decided to merely watch something on television. As we settled in to enjoy a movie that was on, Jared cuddled up against me, so I lifted my arm, wrapped it around his shoulders and held him tightly against my side. Jared barely moved a muscle during the entire movie, except when I got up to use the toilet and grab us a couple of drinks during one of the commercials, so it appeared that he was satisfied with what we were doing.

When the movie ended, we talked for a little while first, before I sent him home. I told him that I didn't expect to see him the following day, since I knew that Sunday was his mother's day off from both jobs, so I felt it would be best if he spent the time with her. He began to protest that he could come down for a little while, but I explained that I wanted him to spend the entire day with his mother, since he spent most of his time with me. After thinking about it for a few minutes, he finally agreed, but then he told me he'd see me first thing Monday morning, before he hugged and kissed me again, as he headed out the door.

I went to bed a short time after Jared left, but I couldn't get to sleep for over an hour. All I could think about was watching the movie together and how I had enjoyed cuddling with him as we did that. I thought this was something a father and son might do and didn't cross any lines, but then again I knew that my mind had constantly flashed to images of Jared being naked and doing a little dance for me, like he had in the dressing room at Walmart. I knew I shouldn't be thinking like that, but I couldn't help it, and now those same images were consuming my every thought as I tried to fall asleep. Eventually, I drifted off, but my dreams were filled with images of a naked Jared, and in some of those visions he even convinced me to do things with him – things I had promised myself I'd never do.

For that reason, I ended up sleeping late the following morning, but I was less than refreshed when I awoke. I may have fallen asleep from time to time, but the visions I'd experienced that showed me doing things with and to Jared kept me from having a restful slumber. In fact, it was probably the worst night's sleep I'd had in ages and it was all due to the fact that my mind was trying to tempt me to do things I had vowed I would never participate in doing. I couldn't hurt him, and even though Jared had indicated that he might be interested in doing those things with me, I just had trouble justifying doing anything sexual with him, even in my dreams, since I knew Jared couldn't legally consent.

Chapter 5
The Understanding

The first couple days of the following week just sort of flew by, at least for me. Jared and I spent some of our time watching the pool guys do their job, but I spent most of my time writing, while Jared entertained himself. I actually thought he might not come down again until the crew had finished their job on the pool, because I was concentrating on my writing and wasn't spending much time with him, but he showed up every day and stayed as long as he could.

Surprisingly, the pool guys finished doing the work in just four days, since the weather had been very cooperative and they didn't run into many unexpected surprises, and completed doing everything by Tuesday night. I had been impressed with the way they carried out their duties, while also respecting my property and cleaning up after themselves, so I was very satisfied with the job they had done.

Now that the work had been completed, Jared immediately began to pester me about filling the pool with water, but I reminded him that the patchwork and paint needed to set for a couple more days first, before we could do that. Undeterred, he pressed to know exactly when we could do that, so I told him the earliest would be Thursday night, but we might even have to wait until Friday. He wanted to know if we could go swimming then, but I reminded him that after the pool was filled, then I'd have to add the chemicals and we'd have to wait at least another 24-hours after that, which of course frustrated him even more.

"Will I at least be able to go swimming on Saturday then?" he whined.

I realized he was asking this because he knew he wouldn't be coming down the following day, since Sunday was his mother's day off from work. I wanted to be honest with him, but I couldn't provide him with any guarantees.

"Jared, I'll do my best, but I can't promise that will be possible," I responded. "At worse, you might have to wait until Monday to go swimming."

He wasn't happy with my answer, but he knew I'd do my best to make it happen, so he let the subject drop.

All day Thursday, Jared kept asking me, over and over again, if I would go out and see if the paint was 'dry' yet, so I could fill it with water.

"Jared, I said Thursday night at the earliest, not during the day," I reminded him. "Trying to push me to check isn't going to make it happen any sooner, so just be patient. I'll check it again after dinner, but I can't make any promises."

Jared followed me around the house for the rest of the day, as I did some of my household chores. I was going to try to write, but I knew I wouldn't get much accomplished with Jared hanging over my shoulder, so I did the laundry and cleaned the place up a little instead. Jared helped me do all of this, but I could tell that he was still thinking about the pool, because he was acting so antsy. Every now and then I'd see him walk over and look out the window, like that would magically make the pool fill with water, but he never said a word to me about it. When it was nearly time for him to go home for dinner, he finally got up the courage to ask me once again.

"Dad, can we go out and check the pool now, to see if it's ready?" he pressed, while giving me his pleading look.

"We'll do that when you come back later," I replied. "I've got to fix my dinner first, so the pool will have to wait."

Again, he wasn't happy with my response, but he eventually went home to have dinner, while I continued working on my own. I realized that he'd probably be back sooner than usual, since he was so anxious about doing this, so I ate quickly and then cleaned up the dishes. I had barely finished, when Jared came bursting through the door again.

"Ok, Dad. Let's go out and check the pool," he urged, as he came rushing up to greet me.

"Ok, champ, but whatever I decide goes," I warned.

He merely nodded, so we walked out the back door and headed toward the pool. As soon as we got there, I bent down and began to check it out. Everything seemed fine, as I moved around the edge of the pool and investigated each of the sections, and then I finally walked down into the pool, so I could check it out completely. When I finished, I looked up at Jared and spoke.

"Ok, I guess we can start filling it now," I stated.

As soon as I finished my sentence, Jared leaped into the air and began pumping his fist as he did so, which indicated to me that I had to issue him another warning.

"Don't get too excited," I warned. "It will take several hours for the pool to fill up, so I doubt it will be totally filled until long after you've gone home for the day."

Suddenly, Jared looked crestfallen again. I'm not sure if he thought he would immediately be able to go swimming after the water was added, but I had a feeling that he might have been thinking along those lines. Since it wasn't going to happen as quickly as he'd hoped, he merely sat beside me and we talked, as I kept an eye on the pool while the water began to flow into it. After a while, Jared resigned himself to the fact that this was going to take way longer than he'd hoped and eventually it was time for him to leave. We said goodnight and I walked him out to his bike, so I could watch him pedal up the road.

After he had disappeared from sight, I went out to the pool again, to see how things were going, but there hadn't been any noticeable progress. Since I wouldn't need to monitor this process so closely, I decided to use the time to think about my story. As I sat there, I attempted to mentally go over some of the details concerning the twists and turns I wanted this story to take and jotted them down on a notepad I'd fetched for this purpose. I then tried to iron out any incongruities in my proposal, but I was having very little success, because my mind kept drifting back to thoughts of Jared. Why was I so obsessed with this kid and why did I keep having sexual fantasies about him? I'd moved out to the country to get away from this type of situation, but landed right in the middle of one instead. What are the chances of something like this happening?

Once the pool was finally filled, I ran the standard tests on the water and then turned on the filtering system. I was supposed to let that run for a while before adding the chemicals and then I'd have to wait a little while little longer before the pool could be used. Now that the filter was running, I went inside and tried to concentrate on my story again and somehow I managed to complete a little more of the chapter I was currently working on, but I wasn't sure if it was anything I would wind up using, since I was still slightly distracted. Seeing I wasn't having much success doing this, I decided to go to bed early and hoped that maybe I could get a little more rest tonight.

I don't know if it was because I was totally exhausted or if something else had come into play, but I actually got a fairly decent night's sleep and awoke fairly refreshed the next morning. I didn't remember having any dreams about Jared either, but maybe that was a good sign. Whatever the reason, I wasn't in such bad shape when he showed up a couple of hours later.

"Hey, Dad. Can we go swimming today?" Jared asked, nearly as soon as he entered.

"I finished filling the pool last night and ran the filter," I advised him, "but I still have to put the chemicals in it first, before we can use it. After we add the chemicals though, we'll have to wait at least another 24-hours before we can swim in it."

"Why so long?" he wanted to know.

"Because the chemicals take about twenty-four hours to work and then I'll have to test the water again, to see if we can go swimming," I explained. "That's just the way it is."

"Ok, but why do we need to put chemicals in the water first?" he wondered. "It's the same water that we put in the bathtub, so why can't we just jump in and start swimming?"

"I put the chemicals in to kill any plant and microscopic animal life that may exist in the pool or the water, so we don't catch anything, such as a disease," I informed him.

"But we don't do that when we take baths and it's the same water," he countered.

"Yes, but you only keep bathwater in the tub for a short time, not for many days, like you do in a pool. Besides, the pool is outdoors, where many different things can find their way into the water, so adding the chemicals will make sure those things are killed, so they don't become a threat to us."

"Ok, I think I understand now," Jared replied.

"Good, then let me show you what we'll need to put in there, so you can help me with some of it," I explained. "Once we're done with that, then we'll clean up the area around the pool and pick up anything that might possibly end up in the water later, if we don't take care of it first."

Jared seemed fine with my plan, so I explained about the chlorine and shocking the water, before I told him what chemicals I had determined we'd have to put into the pool, as a result of the tests I had taken. When we finished doing that, we raked up the small twigs and leaves out of the yard, as well as pulling the grass out of the areas where it shouldn't be growing. We then put all of the debris into a lawn bag and set it out at the curb for garbage day.

Once we'd finished doing all of that, Jared said he wanted to take a shower, because he had not only gotten fairly dirty doing those jobs, but he had also become hot and sweaty while helping me with these chores. Since I clearly saw his predicament, I told him that would be fine. I then advised him that he could use the guest bathroom again, while I cleaned up in the bathroom in the master bedroom, because I had also worked up a bit of a funk while puttering around the yard. I then followed Jared upstairs and sent him into the guest bathroom, while I went into the master suite. When I finished, I dried off and went back into my bedroom, where I found Jared waiting for me, completely naked again.

"Why didn't you put something on?" I asked. "You have plenty of clothes now."

"Yes, I do, but I didn't know what you wanted me to wear," he stated, "because I didn't know what we'd be doing next."

Seeing him naked like this again caused my own manhood to perk up and begin to jut out from my body. Jared flashed me a sly grin when he saw my penis starting to come to life.

"You still could have put on some briefs or wrapped the towel around your waist," I replied, slightly annoyed. "Go put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, and then bring your dirty clothes downstairs with you. I'll throw them into the washer and clean them up, so you'll be able to wear them home later."

When I looked up at him this time, it appeared as if he was going to say something, so I decided to speak first.

"And no wisecracks. I'm not in the mood for anything like that, since you broke your promise that you weren't going to parade around naked any more," I explained.

"I just didn't know what I should put on…" he began, but I cut him off again.

"As I already stated, you could have at least wrapped a towel around your waist or put on your underwear," I shot back.

"Ok, but I don't see why it bothers you so much when I'm naked, since you obviously liked what you saw. I could tell," he observed, but I wasn't amused.

"That has nothing to do with it," I nearly screamed. "You'd made me a promise and I warned you that if you didn't keep it, then I wouldn't be able to allow you to come down to visit any more."

Jared suddenly looked panicked and nearly freaked out when I said this, so he quickly tired to apologize.

"I'm sorry and I won't ever do that again," he pleaded. "Just don't tell me that I can't come down here any more. Please, I'm really very sorry, but I didn't think it was such a big deal."

"That's what you always say and then you do it again," I reminded him. "You know what effect it has on me and how I'm trying to avoid such situations, but you continue to do things like this time and time again. It's just gotten to the point where I can no longer put up with it, because I'm afraid that I'll do something I'll regret later."

"You'll regret that you love me?" Jared asked, confused.

"No, I won't regret my feelings for you," I offered. "It's just where those feelings might lead. I'm having thoughts I shouldn't be having and you're not helping the situation any by doing things like this."

"I wouldn't mind doing those things with you," Jared offered, "so you don't have to worry about anything."

I glared at Jared after he'd said that.

"Jared, I've explained this to you before, so you know it isn't possible," I stated. "Maybe we should cool things for a while, because I don't feel as if I'm in control of the situation any longer."

"NO! I promised I won't ever do anything like this again, so don't stop me from coming down here to see you," he whined. "I don't think I could stand that."

"But you've made that same promise before," I pointed out.

"But this time I'll keep it," he pleaded. "I didn't think what I did was so bad and I just came in here to ask you what I should put on. Next time I'll use a towel."

His lower lip was trembling and his eyes were pleading with me. It was taking an enormous toll on me seeing him react this way. I didn't want to break his heart and leave him feeling unloved, but I didn't know how much longer I could resist the urges I was feeling about him. The temptation was becoming far too great for me to deal with any longer, so if he continued to do these types of things, I feared my willpower would buckle sooner or later and I'd end up giving in. When I looked up and saw the tears starting to cascade down his cheeks, I decided to relent and let him know what I'd decided.

"I shouldn't do this, but I'll give you one more chance," I offered. "The next time you pull a stunt like this, then we'll have to stop seeing each other for a while. Do you understand this time?"

"Yes, and I won't do anything like this again," he promised, as he raced over and hugged me.

"Jared, we're both naked and this isn't helping matters any," I pointed out. "So go put some clothes on and meet me downstairs."

"Okay, and I'm sorry, but I just wanted to hug you for not sending me home," he explained.

I let what he'd just done slide and then I met up with Jared downstairs a few minutes later, so we could throw his other clothes into the washer. While they were being cleaned, we sat down to watch a movie.

"Would you mind if I sat beside you," he asked, eyeing me suspiciously.

"That would be acceptable, as long as you don't decide to get naked again," I answered.

He looked up and studied my face, to see if I was smiling or looking stern. When he noticed the slight grin on my face, he started laughing.

"Ok, I promise not to strip out of these things until I get ready to change into my other clothes," he agreed.

We then sat down on the sofa together and I let him cuddle up against me. After a few minutes, I lifted my arm and wrapped it around his shoulders and he just sort of melted against my side. About halfway through the movie, when one of the commercials came on, I went out and took his things out of the washer and placed them in the dryer, so they'd be ready for him when it was time to go home. Then I went back into the living room and we watched the rest of the movie together.

When it ended, we went out to the laundry room and I took his things out of the dryer. I then told him that he could change right there, while I went out to the kitchen to start my dinner. When he came out to join me a minute later, Jared was wearing the same clothes he'd had on when he arrived, with the other clothes in his hands, so he planned to merely take those things back upstairs and put them away. He didn't feel they were dirty enough to need washing yet, since he'd only worn them for a short time and hadn't been very active, so I was fine with him doing this and watched as he raced up to the guest room to put them away.

When Jared went home for dinner, I wasn't sure if he'd come back again afterward, since I'd been so cross with him, but he did. I was working on my story when he walked in, so he immediately began to ask me questions about it. I was trying to tell him a little about the plot while I continued to work, but that only prevented me from actually getting anything accomplished. Since this was one of the few times I'd actually been productive in days, I asked Jared if he'd mind watching something on the television while I worked, because I didn't want to stop just yet. He said he was ok with that, as long as I didn't send him home, so he gave me some space and I continued to work. When I finished what I was doing, I went in and joined him for a while, before it was time for him to leave.

I actually slept fairly well that evening and woke up early again and I was quite refreshed. Once I got dressed, I went down to the kitchen and fixed myself a quick bite to eat, and then I went out and ran a quick series of tests on the pool water, before I started working on my story again. When Jared came in about an hour later, he wanted to know if we could go swimming today, so I told him I'd already run a quick test and thought we should wait until this evening. Jared wasn't happy about my decision, but he reluctantly agreed to wait.

Then, he asked what I was going to do today, so I told him I'd like to continue writing for a while, as long as the ideas were still coming to me, but I also had to go out a little later and do some grocery shopping, since I'd noticed that I was running low on quite a few essential items. Jared quickly offered to watch some DVDs while I worked on my story, but he also stated that he'd like to go to the grocery store with me, if I didn't mind. I told him I didn't care if he joined me, although it would probably be pretty boring for him, but that didn't seem to faze him in the least. He said he didn't mind, as long as we were together.

I continued writing until lunchtime and Jared gave me all the space I needed to do this. He watched a couple of DVDs while I worked, although he did come out a couple of times to see how I was doing and ask if he could get me anything. I did allow him to get us drinks at one point, but then he went back into the other room, until I called him to eat lunch.

Once we finished, I drove us down to the store, so I could pick up the items I had on my grocery list. I wouldn't usually have gone out this early to shop, but seeing Jared wanted to go with me, I felt it would be safe to do this. Instead of going to Walmart, I decided to stop at another grocery chain instead, to see if they might have that Walmart didn't offer. As we were walking around and checking out the various departments, I noticed a couple of handsome boys shopping with their mothers. I think Jared spotted me checking them out, but he didn't say anything, at least not until we got into the Tahoe for the drive home.

"Did you think those other boys were cute?" he asked, as I pulled out of the parking lot.

"What other boys?" I asked, trying to play it cool.

"The ones I saw you staring at while we were shopping," he answered. "Did you think they were cuter than me?"

"Jared, it's just that I always notice other people when we're out," I admitted.

"Especially the boys," he reiterated, "but did you think they were cuter than me?"

"No, I didn't," I responded. "They were cute, but not as attractive as you, so don't worry about it."

That seemed to suffice and we drove the rest of the way home without him mentioning the other boys again. Once I'd parked the car, Jared helped me carry everything inside and put it away, and then we went out to do another series of tests on the pool, to make certain everything was fine. After we tested the pH, alkalinity and calcium hardness of the water it appeared as if it was ready to use. We probably could have gone swimming then, but it was very close to the time Jared had to leave and go home to eat and I didn't want to have a hassle with him after only a few minutes about getting out again.

Instead, we mucked around outside for a little while longer and then I reminded Jared that we could swim when he came back later, but now it was time for him to go home for dinner. After he left, I sat down to write a little more and actually accomplished quite a bit, since I'd decided to only grab a sandwich and ate it while I worked. Even though I was fairly productive, my efforts were interrupted from time to time, as thoughts of Jared popped into my mind, but overall I was able to focus on what I was doing and got a lot done.

When Jared returned from having dinner with his mother and brother, he was rearing to go.

"Can we go swimming now, Dad?" he asked, the minute he stepped inside.

"Let's give our dinner time to settle first and then we can take a quick dip," I agreed. "We can go upstairs and change into our bathing suits in about a half hour and then we'll jump in the pool."

"Do we have to wear our swimsuits?" Jared asked, while flashing me a mischievous grin.

"Yes, we do!" I answered, with enough emphasis so he wouldn't have any doubts that I meant what I said. "Not only does this have to do with your promise again, but what if Josh came down and caught us naked in the pool? Don't you think that might create a problem for us, if we had to explain to him about what we were doing?"

"Yeah, I suppose so," he agreed. "Josh isn't like me and tries to keep others from seeing him naked, including me, but I don't mind if certain people see me without any clothes on."

"No! Really? I would never have guessed that," I shot back.

My sarcasm did not go unnoticed and Jared stuck his tongue out at me, to let me know that he didn't appreciate my sense of humor.

"Well, you're my dad now, so why should I be embarrassed about letting you see me naked?" he challenged, while trying to justify his exhibitionist gaffes around me.

"It's not that I'm saying you should hide your body," I replied, "but I have the feeling you were trying to accomplish more than just letting me see all of your fantastic parts."

"What do you mean?" he asked, while attempting to look shocked in the process.

"You know very well what I mean," I shot back. "I suspect you were trying to get me sexually excited and who knows what else you had in mind after that."

"Dad, I don't see anything wrong if you wanted to do some of those things with me," he stated. "It would be kind of like we were friends and just trying out a few things with each other."

"But that's the point," I answered. "If we were about the same age, then doing things like that might be fine, but with this huge age difference, then it's a totally different story."

"But why does it have to be like that?" he asked. "Why can't we just mess around a little? We could jerk each other off or maybe even try some other stuff too, so why would that be so wrong, especially if that's what I want to do?"

He was almost beginning to sound like a lawyer who was pleading his case to the jury.

"Jared, we've already covered this ground many times," I replied. "It's because you're underage and still considered a minor, at least in the eyes of the law."

"But it's a dumb law and we can just ignore it," he suggested.

"Ok, let's put it this way," I offered. "If we allowed people to just ignore certain laws, because they thought they were dumb, wouldn't everyone just do whatever they wanted then? Wouldn't murderers choose to ignore the laws pertaining to them, so they could go out and kill whomever they wanted? They could just claim the people they killed were really bad anyways, so it shouldn't matter. And wouldn't thieves choose to ignore the laws pertaining to robbery, so they could just get what they wanted without having to work for it?"

"But that's not the same," he argued. "They'd be hurting someone else and what we'd be doing wouldn't be hurting anyone. We'd only be doing it because we both wanted to and because we loved each other."

Hearing him make this argument, I began to think that possibly Jared WAS going to grow up to be an attorney! Now, I had to think of a better example.

"Ok, if you don't like those examples, let's say you were left millions of dollars from your grandparents, but you are only twelve-years old," I conjectured. "According to your logic, if you wanted to give all of that money away, then you should be allowed to do so, right? You wouldn't be harming anybody by doing it and the other people could probably use the money, so it's a good thing, right?"

"Yeah, if that's what I wanted to do and the other people needed it, then it should be allowed," he agreed.

"So let's say an older person tricked you into giving him some of your money by making you think you were doing a good thing," I continued, "but then later you discovered that he didn't really need the money and was using it to do bad things. Would that be all right too?"

"No, because he tricked me into it, so that wouldn't be fair," he reasoned.

"Precisely, so how would you know that someone wasn't trying to trick you into doing sexual things with them, just for their own pleasure and not because they had any feelings for you?" I challenged. "What if they didn't really care about you and only wanted to use your for sex? Do you think that would be all right then?"

He looked a little confused now, after I'd asked him this question.

"But, that's different," he finally responded.

"No, it isn't," I argued. "You'd have been tricked to giving something away both times, only for the benefit of the other person, and you'd be left with less than you started with."

Jared even more confused now, so I gave him a little more time to think this through.

"But what would I lose by doing those kind of things with somebody?" he asked, thus exposing the chink in his logic.

"You'd be losing your innocence and maybe even your virginity," I answered.

"Wait! I thought only girls could be virgins," he shot back.

"No, being a virgin only means that you haven't had sex before," I replied. "A guy can be a virgin too and it's something you might want to save, so you can share that experience with a special person someday. If you get tricked into giving it away to someone else, that wouldn't be any different than the person stealing your money or anything else you own. That's why the law sets an age for when they think the person is mature enough to make those types of decisions on their own, without being tricked into it."

"But older people can be tricked into doing dumb things too!" he countered.

"Yes, sometimes older people get to the point where they are easily confused and tricked into doing things they shouldn't," I agreed, "so that's when their relatives or others step in and have the courts declare them incompetent."

"Yes, but people your age can be fooled too," Jared insisted.

"Yes, that may happen, but it isn't because the people my age don't have the knowledge or experience to make the correct decision. It might be that they just lack the necessary wisdom to sort things out," I replied. "A young person, however, may lack both the knowledge to understand what the other person is trying to do and the experience to tell when it is happening. That's why there are laws, to protect young people from situations such as that."

"But just because a person is older, it doesn't make them any smarter or less likely to get fooled," he offered, defiantly, while trying to win this argument.

"True, but it's the only way the law can protect the most vulnerable individuals in our society," I added. "The courts often have to make rulings for those who lack the mental ability, regardless if it is result of a form of mental retardation or if the person has merely lost that ability due to effects of aging, injury or disease," I pressed. "Other than that, using a person's age is the only other fairly reliable way to determine if a person has attained the necessary requisites to be able to judge these situations for himself. By selecting and setting an age when most people would be able to make these types of decisions, then the law protects the majority of people in society from being taken advantage of."

"Ok, I see why it is done," he said, somewhat exasperated at this point, "but who decides what age that should be?"

"Unfortunately, that has been left up to individual states and countries to determine, so the age requirements vary considerably between them," I replied.

"See, so it's not fair!" he exclaimed, thinking he had found the proof he needed to convince me that he was right.

"That's only because kids in other countries don't necessarily have the same types of experiences as children here. They may be exposed to an assortment of circumstances that you wouldn't be familiar with or they might find themselves placed in situations at different ages than what you might experience," I offered. "That's the reason we can't use the same age all over the world. It might not seem fair to you, especially in instances such as this, but we have to obey the laws where we live or be willing to pay the consequences for disobeying them."

"You mean like going to jail?" he offered.

"Yes, that is one way countries and states deal with those breaking the law, but there are other punishments that might be used to deal with those who choose to ignore a particular law," I confirmed.

"Are there places where we could do things with each other now, without breaking the law?" he wanted to know.

"Yes, there are," I agreed. "In some countries the age of consent is as young as twelve-years old, but it can also be as high as twenty-one."

"But why is it so different?" he challenged.

"That's a good question," I agreed, "but it depends on what the people making the laws think an appropriate age is for where they live. They base their decision on what the young are exposed to at various ages, as well as using the cultural norms that have been established throughout the ages."

"Well, I think the places that say twelve is old enough are right," Jared advised me, emphatically. "We should just go there."

"We could, but then that might put us in violation of other laws," I suggested.

"Like what?" he asked.

"They could say I was just taking you to one of those other places for immoral purposes and that might break another law," I offered. "Or they could say I was kidnapping you, because we're not related."

"Damn, this is getting way too complicated now," he stated, slightly exasperated.

Suddenly, his head jerked up and he looked at me, with his eyes bulging out their sockets.

"Sorry," he told me. "I hope you don't mind me saying that."

"You mean because you used the word damn?" I asked.

"Yeah, my mom hates it when I do that," he confessed.

"I can understand why your mother wouldn't like it," I admitted, "but it didn't bother me. I knew you only did it while trying to resolve a problem for yourself and it was probably just a slip of the tongue."

"Thanks," he added, simply.

The only problem was, I didn't think Jared was any closer to resolving his issues, and it certainly hadn't helped me to come up with a solution for my situation either. I do think this exercise helped us both to think these issues through and possibly look at circumstances in a new light, so maybe one of us would eventually be able to come up with a workable solution for our mutual problem. Hopefully, it would be one that would also allow us to fulfill our fantasies, while remaining safe, but until then we would just have to abide by the current laws.

By this time, I felt it would be ok for us to go for a swim, so I suggested that we should go upstairs and change.

NEXT PART