Sam the Ham

Sexing For A Million

Chapter One

From the host's point of view

Everyone thought he had an easy job. Being a reality show host could not be that hard. Ryan begged to differ. He was not just the host, but also the producer of the show now called Sexing For A Million. The combination of the two jobs was tiring, particularly as they approached the fifth season. Perhaps he could just coast, as every year the ratings went up and up, but he was a pessimist by nature and worried about his little empire's collapse.

Stretching his back he gazed into the cloudy sky and mused how his idea would have been deemed inconceivable just two decades ago. Thankfully, the various movements of minimal government intrusion and self-responsibility had eventually coalesced in a general society where people believe individuals were capable of making their own decisions and taking responsibility for them. The realization by the world that people were competent individuals was something that had not reached every corner of the planet yet, but it seemed to be on its way to doing so.

There had been no one turning point really, but there were several legal cases frequently pointed too. The one that always stood out in Ryan's opinion though had involved a 14-year-old boy. With the backing of some very understanding parents he had successfully sued the state of New York for inflicting emotional distress by arresting his neighbor who he had been pursuing a consensual relationship with. His lawyer successfully argued that if five-year-olds could be legally responsible for their actions then so was he. It was a double standard where he had the burdens of a citizen but none of the rights. The court had agreed. The fallout in the US had been complicated with laws being rewritten and challenged, but by this point other countries were facing the same problem. In one of those strange coincidences in history the cause was taken up by the Localization movement which had swept through most industrialized nations. The general consent became that an eight-year old could give simple consent. However, the parents up to the age of fourteen had to be informed. At least that was the law for adult child relationships. Kids could get it on with kids without legal consequences.

The effects were varied, but such things as prostitution were widely considered legal if regulated by local laws and the idea of legal consent was much more flexible. Naturally, religious groups and old folks continued to fight against the trend and social acceptance was still evolving. As a result of all of that, when he had pitched his idea for a reality TV show where ten boys would compete in various sexual activities for prize money, he had not been thrown out of the studio or arrested. Instead they had engaged in a legitimate discussion.

Their concerns had been threefold. Was such an idea marketable? Was such an idea viable for prime time or should this be more of a pay-per-view event? The third and the only one he had actually worried about was if he could find ten boys who would be willing to do such things in such an exposed way. The elimination of statutory rape from the books had not exactly opened up the floodgates of hormonal boys desperate for older partners. He knew most boys messed around with each other, but it was usually kept close to their peer groups. However, Ryan had been confident that the then one hundred thousand dollar prize would be enough to motivate at least some people. To his surprise, the casting call resulted in hundreds of hopeful candidates.

Halfway through the first season, it was recognized he had a cash cow on his hands. Having it as a pay-per-view event had probably been the best decision. Those who weren't interested couldn't even claim they had come across the show by channel surfing and there was surprisingly little in way of protests. Even though primetime had been pushing the envelope recently, this was still too far beyond the boundary for the old folks and religious fanatics determined to meddle in others lives. With no concern on that end, millions were brought in. The second season was highly anticipated and he seized the opportunity.

He introduced a participation prize so all walked away with at least some money. With no shortage of boys willing to compete, he had turned to the second half of the equation. The men on the show had always been volunteers and received no financial compensation. This pleased the executives as it increased their bottom line, but now he made them pay for the privilege of being on the show! Heck, they had to pay for just the opportunity of being considered. Yes, money was not a concern.

"Sir."

The voice broke into his thoughts and he turned to see one of his assistants, which was really just an unpaid intern. "Yes?"

The college kid smiled a bit nervously. "The boys have been stretched and lubricated. They are ready to start."

He smiled and resisted the urge to run a hand through his black hair. It was a nervous habit of his and the last thing he needed was hair and makeup people to fuss over him again. None of them could be in a good mood after dealing with ten boys between the ages of eight and twelve. "All right then. Bring them out and we'll start filming right away."

"Yes Sir," the young man replied. Ryan made a mental note to try and remember this intern's name and maybe consider him for a permanent position. He was polite and efficient, very rare these days.

He moved to his mark as the boys were led to their spots already dressed in tight Speedos and flip-flops. The ethnic diversity this year was nice. Two of the boys were of Persian descent. There was also one Filipino, one Asian and an African-American boy. The rest were white. They were all Canadian citizens though, despite their ethnic backgrounds.

Personally, Ryan also thought they were all rather cute. His goal was to appeal to a broad audience, but he liked them all, if purely on a visual level. He could easily remember the audition videos they had sent in, explaining why they wanted to be on the show. Not surprisingly, most were after money for various reasons. He respected them for that. Some may have been coerced into submitting a video by their parents, but he made sure they knew they could drop out of the competition at any time. Over the last two days they had watched episodes of the previous seasons to ensure they knew what to expect.

Ryan saw the red light come on and he began. "Welcome ladies and… well who am I kidding? Welcome back guys. This is the fifth season of Sexing For A Million. You know what that means? A brand-new competition is about to start. Ten boys ages eight to twelve are ready to compete for the grand prize of one million dollars!"

He smiled grandly. "Before we get started there's one big change I need to tell you about. This year, we will be traveling around the world in our own modified jet. That means we'll be filming in all sorts of exotic locations like where I am now. Greece! Before the games begin though, let's meet our competitors."

The light went out on his camera as the first boy introduced himself. He was the oldest at twelve years and nine months. He was one of the kids of Persian descent with dark hair and olive colored skin. "Hello, my name is Bahram. I am 12-years-old and my favorite sport is soccer! I'm competing to help a friend of my dad who wants to immigrate to Canada."

The camera panned down to the next participant. First, his fiery red hair appeared, then his milky white skin of his forehead until the lens focused on his cute face. "Hi, my name is Josh and I'm 12-years-old too. I love to play videogames with my friends. I do pretty good in school and my favorite subject is math. I'm competing for the million dollars, well, because… I want a million dollars!"

Ryan raised his eyebrows when he heard that. He guessed it was true, but it wasn't the whole truth he had been told. Well, if the boy didn't want to share some of his business that was okay.

Next in line was a black boy. As tall as the first 12-year-old, his hair was cut short. He nodded to the camera nervously, "I'm Michael. I'm 11 years old, get straight A's and am a good soccer player. I've watched this show for years and always thought it would be fun to be on."

The camera zoomed over to the next boy who was blonde and more than a little overweight. "Hello my name is Philip. I'm 11-years-old and I enjoy wrestling and studying Aikido. My favorite subject's is history and the reason I'm competing is, I want to save my mom and dad's restaurant."

The next boy in line was the cutest in Ryan's mind. He had brown hair that didn't quite reach his shoulders with matching brown eyes. He was probably the least nervous looking of them all. If his secret ever got out, some fans would doubtlessly claim he had an unfair advantage. "Hello my name is Robert and I'm 10-years-old. I like playing hockey and I'm the goalie for my team. I'm here for the money, plain and simple."

The sixth boy looked the most nervous. His hair was light brown and he fidgeted as he spoke. "My name is David, but everyone calls me Dave. I'm 10-years-old and I like looking for fossils. I'm here because I don't want my parents to sell our house."

The next one was the other boy of Persian descent. His hair was cut in a bowl shape and his smile, albeit fake, was still endearing. "My name's Oliver and I'm 9-years-old. I've been a model for like forever and I like having fun." He fell silent and it took half a second for everyone to realize he wasn't going to say anything more.

The third to last in line was the Asian kid. His hair was long and unruly. He was fairly light-skinned, but Ryan guessed he was a little more nervous than he was letting on, as he almost shouted his introduction. "My name is Akira. I'm a good student and like every subject. I have four older siblings' three sisters and one brother. I'm competing so we can all go to college and concentrate on our studies there." Suddenly, he seemed to realize he had been shouting and he blushed in embarrassment as the camera migrated to the next boy.

The ninth boy was blonde with blue eyes. Tall for his age, his cheeks were already colored red. "My name is Nicholas, but people call me Nick. I don't really like school except for the time we put on a play. I'm competing because if I win, my mommy won't have to work anymore and she can spend more time with me."

The last boy was the Filipino boy. His skin was dark, but lighter in color than the Michael's. His hair was darker and reached his shoulder blades. When he spoke he had a trace of an accent, but only those paying close attention could notice. "My name is Lauro and I'm 8-years-old. My favorite subject is science because I like learning how things work. I always try my hardest even in the subjects I don't like. I'm competing so my dad doesn't have to work two jobs to support us. I love you mom and dad."

The camera cut back to Ryan's genuine smile. Earlier, Lauro's parents had left an impression on Ryan. 'Loving' was the best word to describe the family. Most parents may love their kids, but the three of them had just seemed so content with each other. He was too professional to have favorites in the competition, but if anyone deserved the money, it was them.

"All right, those are the new competitors. Now, there's only one thing left before the games can get underway and that is dividing the boys into two teams. In the past we have done blondes against brunettes, old against young and even selected team captains one year." His smile widened as he showed his blindingly white teeth. "This year will be a little different. We're going to have an event to determine who will be on which team."

"In a moment each boy will be showered in olive oil and then matched against a man to wrestle against. They won't be trying to pin each other though. Instead the men will be trying to get into their asses. The matches will continue until nine of the boys have been penetrated. Numbers one, three, five, seven and nine will be called the Odd Team and two, four six, eight and ten will be on the even team."

Turning to the kids, he shouted, "All right boys it's time to hit the showers."

The boys turned and ran to the opposite end of the field where the showers had been set up. Ryan watched them as they ran over the mats and avoided the large marble stones. Briefly, he wondered how many people at home would figure out that the boys had heard about the first competition days ago and not just right now? He would edit it so it would look that way of course. Perspective was part of his job.

Following lazily after them, he already knew exactly how long the showers would run for. That scene was to be filmed for five minutes from different angles, making sure they captured several shots of their little naked bodies. Ryan figured he could cut it down to two minutes with some music playing in the background when postproduction time came around. Of course, when they would release Season Five on the new Platinum-Ray format, the fans would get all five minutes as a bonus.

Watching the last minute or so of the shower, he admired the work of the oil. Filming outside could be a hassle, but the bright Mediterranean sun which had just broken through the clouds really accented the olive oils deep color. When the shower heads shut off simultaneously the boys just stood there for a second as excess oil dripped off them. His eye was drawn to Michael in particular, his penis seemed half erect. The oil dripping off of it almost made it look like he had just finished peeing.

Then in the distance, chanting could be heard. All eyes and cameras turned towards the hill as two rows of five men crested it. They, too, glistened with oil but were naked except for a tube sock over their erections. Some of the men were muscular while others carried extra weight. He probably should have spent more time choosing better specimens, but for the first round at least, he had been mostly concerned about their penis size.

The men continued their chants weaving through the wrestling mats with a man peeling off every time they passed one. When the last man was in place, the camera was turned back to Ryan. Turning to the boys, he shouted, "All right boys, choose your man."

This was another little deception on the audience. He himself had picked the matches, but it was a small deception. Some of the boys sprinted over to their mats while others were more hesitant. Before stepping onto the mat, each boy removed their flip-flops and took their mark. The mats were squares with white circles on them. His other intern ran up to him carrying a referee shirt and a starter's pistol. He quickly donned the shirt, made his way to the center of the mats, and raised his voice.

"Once you hear the shot, begin and don't stop until you hear the shot again." He paused and added, "Well, unless you're in the middle of something." Silently counting to three, he pulled the trigger and there was a deafening ringing in his ears. He made a mental note to include earplugs next time.

Later, he would add commentary to each match, but for now he would just be watching. Each man's first action was to pull off their tube socks to reveal glistening members. They were all average length, but a few facing smaller boys were a little smaller. Upon being accepted, each boy had been sent a packet of information that details how they should prepare themselves for the competition to avoid injury. Still, he tried to keep the sizes reasonable for the event. Occasionally, an event required a large penis so a special casting call had to be made for those.

His eyes fell on Robert, whose hair was now plastered to the side of his head. He sidestepped his opponent as they charged, but the oil made him slip and he fell to the ground. The man tried to grab his leg, but Robert was able to slip out of his grasp. Sliding across the mat, the boy regained his feet prepared to dodge to either the right or left.

There was a cry of surprise from behind Ryan and he turned to see 9-year-old Oliver on his back with his opponent on his knees. Oliver tried to use his feet to kick away, but the man was one of the fat ones and between the oil and roundness of the man stomach Oliver's feet just slid to either side. The man grabbed his calfs and pulled the boy towards him. It took another second, but Oliver was the first one to lose his match.

Oliver's shout had also distracted Josh for a second who was on the next mat over, because he suddenly found himself in a bear hug. Man and boy were almost face-to-face. The man gray-haired, but not feeble was trying to turn Josh around while simultaneously lifting the boy up at the same time. He was able to get an arm under one of the redhead's legs and hoist him up and for a second, it looked like Josh was about to be impaled, but the oil proved effective and Josh slipped out of the man's grasp and crashed to the ground. The boy tried to slip away, but the man grabbed his ankle and pulled the boy towards him the oil now working against the boy. A second later, the man was pumping his shiny dick into the redhead. He seemed more surprised than anything else.

Bahram was the next to fall. Actually he just sort of seemed to give up by simply rolling onto his back with his knees in the air. The other boys followed one by one. Somehow, when Robert lost his match, he ended up on top of his opponent bouncing up and down enjoying his defeat. Ryan had long since become erect watching all of this, but when Robert leaned his head back and moaned with his oily hair dangling behind him, he almost came right there in his pants. The man and boy seemed to have their orgasms within seconds of each other. He made a mental note to watch that particular match in detail later.

The last two boys were Michael and Philip. He guessed he shouldn't have been surprised by that. Michael was in good shape and Philip was used to wrestling. Ryan also remembered that a key to Aikido was to reverse an opponent's attack and use their strength against them. Between that and wrestling, he would place money on Philip to be number ten.

The two remaining matches drifted on for several more minutes. Most of the other men finished getting their reward from their particular boy, although Dave's opponent seemed to be edging, or perhaps he was just that out of shape. The man would make several thrusts and then pause for a little before thrusting again. Dave looked ready for it to be over with.

The two matches continued, both men and boys were sweating profusely from the sun and their exertions. Michael managed to squirm away from another hold. Meanwhile, Philip grabbed his opponents wrist as the man made a grab for him and pulling on the man's arm, he spun his opponent partially around as he slipped behind him. In spite of carrying so much extra weight, Philip carried it off rather gracefully.

It was Michael who slipped up first, literally. Darting to the right, he tried to stop, but his foot kept on moving and he fell to one knee. His opponent came towards him, legs spread wide, prepared to dart either way. Michael took the third option and tried to slide between his legs. The man simply collapsed on top of the black boy.

Michael almost made it past him, but the man managed to sit on the boy's knees. Now, having finally caught his boy, the man was not going to let him go easily. Grabbing the boy's ankles, the muscular man twisted around being very careful to keep as much of his weight on the boy as possible.

Michael seemed resigned to his fate, accepted defeat, and spread his own cheeks to allow the man to push into him easier. Ryan watched lustfully for several thrusts before remembering he was supposed to end the other match. Raising the starter pistol, he shot it again. That didn't stop the anal play already underway, though, and the last cameraman didn't stop filming until they were all done. Towards the end, Michael slipped a hand under himself and for a moment Ryan wished his show was straight up porn. Unfortunately, the cameraman wasn't able to get a shot to confirm what they all knew Michael was doing. He probably should look up the newest innovations were cameras. There had to be something to get close-ups of the boys when they were in that position. Then again he could give that task to one of his interns.

The next ten minutes was a flurry of activity for everyone except those behind the cameras. The men were led off, including the loser that had to please himself with his own hand. The boys were asked if any of them were hurt and none were. For many of the boys, this had been their first time being penetrated by a real man. Stretching beforehand along with ample lubricant had proven successful. All this took place during one of the few times the cameras were not filming.

Most of the boys had to be told which teams they were on and they lined up for what would be the final shot of the episode. When the camera was turned on, Ryan went into his prepared speech. "Now, there's a sport we will never see in the Olympics. I think each of these boys did an excellent job. Now, just for those who might have been distracted…"

Raising his left hand, he said, "On the Odd Team, in order of age, are Bahram, Michael, Robert, Dave and the youngest, Oliver!" Raising his other arm he continued, "And on my right is the Even Team. The oldest being Josh, then Philip, Akira, Nick and Lauro."

The camera panned slowly over each boy as they were introduced again, smiling and waving. As they were still naked, the shots took in more of the boys' tantalizing bodies. When the camera flicked back to Ryan, he was still smiling. "So what will happen next? Who's going to be eliminated first? I can't tell you that because even I don't know. You have to tune in for the next exciting episode of Sexing For A Million."

Chapter Two

Odd Team: Bahram (12yo), Michael (11yo), Robert (10yo), Dave (10yo), Oliver (9yo)

Even Team: Josh (12yo), Philip (11yo), Akira (9yo), Nick (8yo), Lauro (8yo)

Josh looked around the little space that was his room. It was smaller than the one he had at home, but the one he had at home didn't fly. For a second, he couldn't believe that he was actually here competing for the grand prize of $1 million. It was a fleeting disbelief; however, he had had a lot of those over the last few days.

He had never been so far from home or his parents and he still wasn't sure what exactly to make of everything. Tossing his duffel bag onto the floor, he collapsed onto his bed and felt a twinge of pain from his rear and rolled over onto his stomach. An hour ago, a man put his dick up his ass and it had been nothing like he had imagined. He had built it up so much in his head that when it actually happened, it just wasn't what he had been expecting. The dildo he had been using for practice wasn't even close to the real thing.

Putting that out of his mind, he tried to concentrate on why he was here and that was the million dollars. Once he had been told he would be on the show, his uncle suggested that he should watch previous seasons, which his Uncle Gerald had copies of. Josh hadn't really wanted to watch them with his uncle, but he had pointed out some strategies to Josh that work.

For the most part, it wasn't the person who did best in the games who won, but the ones who formed alliances. The last four seasons had been won by two 10-year-olds, a 9-year-old and an 11-year-old. Those kids had been either lucky or smart with their alliances, but the secret seemed to be keeping them small. Usually they were just made up of two core members, which actually made up 20% of the team, and that percentage would only get bigger as the games moved on. That way, they only had to convince one other person to vote with them. Sometimes, an alliance involving three was made, but those fell apart. So if he could form an alliance with at least one member of his team, he should make it until there were only two members of his team left and if the games went right, he could make it to the final three. After that, all bets were off.

Of course, alliances didn't help winning a round, which was the most important thing. In the second season, one team had won all the games until there was only one member of the other team left. The remaining six had been divided again into two teams of three, which was another reason to avoid big alliances. They needed to be kept secret.

So the only thing left for Josh to decide was who he should form his alliance with? Philip seems like the obvious choice at first, but would he really want to face Philip in the finals? When he had first seen the chubby boy, Josh hadn't thought much of him, but he had won the first round. Maybe it would be better if he was the first to be voted off? Of course, he might actually win some games depending on how they were meant to be played and if some of the younger boys form an alliance, they might try to pick off the older ones as had happened in season three and four.

Josh shook his head to clear it. He was thinking as if he already had an alliance. That had to be his first priority and he had barely talked to any of his teammates. Like most of them, he had fallen asleep on the bus ride to the plane and had only woken up when they arrived. A cold hand of fear gripped his stomach. What if someone had already formed an alliance while he had been sleeping?

Springing to his feet, he dashed out of his room. The plane was separated into five distinct sections. The ten rooms for the boys were at the back with five on each side of a narrow hallway. Right after the rooms were two shower rooms followed by the communal room. The rest of the plane was off limits.

Bursting his way through the beaded curtain, he looked around the communal room which was empty. At least that's what he thought at first glance, but then he saw a blonde head that barely stuck out from over the couch. He let out a sigh of relief. The only two blondes were both on his team and judging by his height, this should be Nick.

The couch was slightly oval shaped and Josh put on a smile as he walked around it. At his uncle's suggestion, he had been going to the park lately and making friends with younger kids. Still Nick didn't seem to register his approach even when Josh sat down on the far end of the couch. The boy simply continued to stare at a spot on the wall.

"Hey, Nick right? Are you okay? If your butt is bothering you I can get the nurse."

The blonde turned and seemed to realize he wasn't alone. "I'm fine. My butt doesn't hurt."

Josh made a mental note to ask him how he had prepared for the competition later on, his butt hurt like hell at least one he tried to sit down, so he obviously must've done something wrong. "Well you looked so down, so I wanted to see if there was anything I could do for you. We're teammates you know." He briefly wondered if he was laying it on too thick.

Nick turned towards him pulling his feet covered socks up onto the couch. "I miss my mom."

Josh nodded and a lock of his red hair slipped into his eyes. Pushing it back he said, "Yeah I kind of miss my mom and dad too."

"Don't have a dad," Nick replied.

"Oh," he recovered quickly, "Well, can you call her yet. I mean does she work Sundays? Where do you live anyways?"

"Call?" The boy looked confused.

"You didn't pay close attention during orientation did you?"

The younger boy's cheeks colored, "I tried."

Josh stood and walked over to the younger boy. He ruffled the boy's hair, which got him a strange look. "Come on, I'll show you."As Josh stood he noticed a duffel bag sticking out from the other end of the couch. "You haven't unpacked?"

"No," Nick said kicking the bag with his toe.

"I'll help you unpack too."Josh picked up the bag and throwing an arm around the boy they walked back to his room.

Each room had a piece of masking tape with their name written on it. The doors had no locks. Stepping into Nick's room, Josh noticed that the room was identical to his. He watched the boy unpack, noticing he wore the old-fashioned tight white underwear. Josh was surprised they still made those and the boy's handheld gaming system was a generation behind his own.

When Nick was done, Josh brought him over to the videophone. Videophones weren't new, but he knew the show had upgraded his family's phone for the purpose of the show. "You know your phone call will be recorded for the show right, Nick?"

"Yeah, they said they are recording everything."

"That's right. Come here. See, they put your mom's number in your phone book. So whenever you want to call home you can just select home on the screen." Josh was about to select it himself when he saw the clock that represented the local time of the phone number. "Where do you live?"

"Victoria, British Columbia. Why?"

Josh couldn't believe his luck. "Hey, I'm from there. I guess we should stick together." Nick grinned at his words and the redhead was suddenly very confident in making this boy his ally. After all, they probably had more in common with each other than anyone else.

There was a ten hour time difference between British Columbia and Greece. Josh had figured that out on his own earlier. It was Sunday and a little past nine o'clock in the morning, local time, so he thought the boy's mother should be home. He moved out of view of the camera and watch as Nick shifted impatiently. Josh could see the screen when it flashed a message visual signal off.

"Hello." The voice sounded like it had just woken up. Before Nick could say anything, the voice added sounding annoyed. "Nicholas, you woke me up! Why are you calling?"

Josh frowned at the tone. Even if he had just woken his mom up, he couldn't imagine her speaking to him like that.

The blonde boy shrunk away from the phone. "Sorry mom. I just wanted to talk to you."

"About what?" Nick bit his lip and hesitated and the voice prompted, "Out with it."

"Um, mom, they said I could go home whenever I wanted to. I know you want me to win, but I want to come home, I miss you."

There was a long second of silence and then the voice came back sounding sweet and fake to Josh's ears. "Honey, I miss you too, but that's why you're doing this. If you get the money, I won't have to work and we can spend a lot more time together. I'm really depending on you and you don't want to disappoint me, do you?"

"No mom."

"Good. Now, I want you to try your hardest to bring home the grand prize. You got that?"

"Yes mom."

"All right, now make me proud."

"I will."

"Goodbye."

"Goodbye mom."

The connection broke ending the call. For a moment Nick just stood there and Josh was riveted to the bed, his head spinning at what he had witnessed. Even he could see how she had manipulated Nicholas, but he couldn't quite comprehend it. Had that really been his mother?

Nick eventually moved to the bed, his shoulders slumped as if he didn't have a friend in the world. Josh knew he was moving to sit next to the boy and throw an arm around him, but it wasn't a conscious thought. The boy turned into him and for a moment they just stayed like that.

After some time had passed, Josh said, "If we stick together, I think I have a plan to make it to the finals."

"Really?" Nick said looking up at him.

"Yeah, you just have to vote the way I tell you, if we lose."

The blonde response was to throw his arms around his neck and hug him tightly. Josh realized something at that moment. He had secured an alliance, but he had never realized he could feel this bad about it.

***

Robert dropped his duffel bag as he stepped into his room and instinctively turned to lock the door before remembering he didn't have a lock. Instead he kicked his duffel against the door to use it as a makeshift doorstop. He started shedding his clothes. Kicking off his shoes first, he pulled off his shirt before dropping his pants and boxers. Walking over to the videophone he stepped on his toes to pull his socks off.

His phone had two contacts. He touched on the one that was simply labeled Coach. He waited for the connection to go through.

"Robert."

The voice sounded both hurried and excited and that was enough to make Robert smile. He really liked his coach and his coach really liked him. Sometimes the brown haired boy thought that maybe his coach loved him more than his parents did. The man always found time for him no matter how busy he was. Not that his parents neglected him or anything, but his brother was always in trouble and his sister was just learning to walk. Compared to those events being an average student and a goalie on his hockey team just wasn't of much note.

"That is you, right?"

"Yeah," Robert said his smile dimming. "Are you getting a visual? I'm not."

"No, I'm not. My videophone isn't working for some reason and the technician will not be here 'till tomorrow."

"Oh, that's good. I was worried for a second."

"Really? Why?"

Robert covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. "Well usually when I'm naked you say something." The silence that followed was almost tangible.

"Damn, really?"

"Yeah. I'm not even wearing socks." He smiled suddenly having an idea and moved to the bed. They said the rooms were soundproof so now would be a good time to test that out. Raising his voice he said, "So what would you do if I was at your apartment right now?"

"What would I do?" His coach sounded thoughtful. "Well, the first thing I would do is brush your long hair behind your ears and kiss you on your forehead."

"I would wrap my arms around your neck when you tried to pull away," Robert added starting to play with his semi-erect penis. He ran his fingers over his hairless balls before stroking his shaft.

"I would have to pick you up then. Your skin is so soft under my hands as I wrap an arm around your waist. The middle finger of my other hand slips between your butt cheeks stopping to rest right at your hole."

Robert could tell his coach was masturbating. He could hear it in his voice. In his imagination, though, he was in his coach's arms. They were comforting and he could feel the finger pressed against his hole, making small circles. "I want you to put it in me, just like you did after the last game."

"Oh damn."His coach muttered. "So I pick you up and carry you to the bedroom and lay you on the bed. I kiss you once before rolling you over. You are lying on top of the comforter. I kiss your neck before starting down your body with my hands. I feel every inch of you. My hands pass over your ass and down each of your thighs, then your calf's before my fingers pass over your heels and down your arch to your toes."

"You're still wearing clothes," Robert observed half lost in touches from the past.

"Yes I am. I climb off the bed and began to take off my clothes. Every time I take one off I throw it over the bed and that's the only way you can tell what I'm still wearing. My boxers are the last thing to go."

Robert tried to slow his stroking, but he really didn't want too. He curled his toes trying to hold back the feeling. "Hurry." He forced the words out between his teeth making it an order.

"I'm placing my hands back on your cheeks. They are two glorious half spheres. Spreading them with my thumbs, I lean down. You can feel my breath as I stick out my tongue and lick your little pucker. At first you tense, but then you relax as I swirl my tongue around your hole."

Robert remembered feeling this. At first it had been so weird, but he had learned to give things a chance. Still he was close, so very close. "Put it in me."

"All right," his coach sounded a little disappointed. "The tip of my head is at your entrance. I begin to push in slowly. Pushing past your tight ring, I can feel the warmth of your body. We're joined. The warmth of your body and the warmth of my shaft make us one. You think you can take it all?"

"Yeah," Robert gasped.

"I'm pushing in." There was a second of silence and only the grunting of man and boy could be heard in the room.

"I can feel the hair on your balls against my butt," Robert said starting the role play again.

"Yes, I start pulling out slowly and push back in just as slowly. As I feel the heat in my balls, I start to speed up. Tell me when you're about to cum."

Robert could feel his orgasm coming. He had been trying to hold back, but as he continued to stroke himself and imagined his ass full of his coach's cock, it just couldn't be held back. "I'm cumming."

"So am I. You're so tight now I can hardly move. Can you feel it? Can you feel me shooting inside you?"

Roberts's orgasm washed over him, racking his 10-year-old body. It was so much better than the one he had earlier that day. "Yes!" He collapsed back into the bed. His feet were still on the floor as he caught his breath. The sounds from his phone assured him his coach was in a similar situation.

The silence that followed was comfortable for Robert. With his eyes closed he could almost imagine his coach lying next to him.

"You still there Robert?"

The brunette had been slipping off to sleep after enjoying his second orgasm of the day. Sitting up he shook it off and stood. "Yeah."

"Does this mean you want me to try rimming on you again?"

Robert thought about it for a moment. He thought it was weird and a little disgusting, but he had been the one to suggest that scenario. "I don't know. Still, if we do, I don't want you kissing me until you use mouthwash."

His coach chuckled. "Fair enough, just know I'm always willing. So does this mean you survived round one?"

"No, we just divided into teams today." He thought for a second and then added, "It was sort of like a round though. They covered us in oil and had us wrestle men. We were teamed up in the order we were penetrated."

"They fucked you?"

Robert frowned. To him it seemed all right to use dirty words when you're talking about sex, but otherwise you shouldn't. If his mom had heard that, well she wouldn't have been happy. "Yeah."

"Well, I hope he wasn't bigger than I am." His coach tried to make it sound like a joke, but he couldn't keep the concern out of his voice.

"You're bigger," Robert said.

"That's good. So you think you can keep to the strategy?"

Robert nodded before remembering his coach couldn't see him. "I'm going to try."

"You're going to do great," his coach said. "By the way have you called your parents yet?"

For the first time the boy was grateful for the lack of visual because he blushed with embarrassment, not that it was noticeable right now. "No, I'll go do that right now."

"You do that. They love you and so do I," his coach said.

"I love you too," Robert replied, as he ended the connection.

Despite what he said, Robert didn't call his parents right away. He hummed quietly to himself as he got dressed and packed away his belongings. More relaxed and recovered from his orgasm, he called home and assured his parents he was fine. After he hung up he wondered if he should take another shower. His masturbation session had him sweating again, but he decided two in one day was enough. Well three really. His morning shower, the oil shower and the clean up shower. Instead he headed for the common room. He had a strategy to put into effect.

***

Editing was going to be difficult this year, Ryan thought to himself as he examined a rather ornate column. Two days into the competition, he was still working on the opening episode. However, that didn't mean he wasn't keeping an eye on the boys. They were providing more than ample material. That was nice, but having too much was almost as bad as having too little.

Josh and Nick had hit it off although how he would include Nick's conversation with his mother, he still didn't know. If both of them survived tonight's event, Ryan wouldn't be surprised if their relationship turned physical which would be nice. They were rarely separated from each other, although Akira seemed to have befriended Nick when Josh had been busy with an improvised videogame tournament.

Robert's conversation with his coach would have to be referenced somehow, but on a purely visual level it wasn't that interesting. They had not repeated the performance either and Ryan wondered what it would have been like if they had a visual.

As for the rest of the boys, Bahram seemed to spend most of his time in his room. From time to time, he would masturbate to a photo of his soccer team. Michael had seemed to take the lead on that team trying to align everyone against Bahram. Whatever strategy Robert and his Coach had come up with, he didn't seem to be trying to put into effect yet.

Philip didn't seem to be making any alliances and actually seemed to be alienating himself. Oliver spent most of his time in the communal room, but faded into the background. Lauro and Dave seemed to be getting along with everyone, but as far as he could determine they weren't trying to make alliances. Of course, there was no way he could review every second of every conversation. Future events would determine a lot of what would be included in the episodes. If there was an alliance that had gone undetected by his casual viewing, well, his intern would have to find it.

Speaking of his intern, Edward was working out rather nicely. He had experience with wrestling and had spent most of his time writing commentary for the first event. That had left Ryan to do a chaperone run for the boys.

When he had decided to do a world tour for the fifth season, he knew the plane wouldn't always be enough space for the competitors. It was stocked with video games and other entertainments, but a trip to Paris France almost required a trip to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, though he doubted the boys had enjoyed the latter. Still, it will look good in a montage and seeing the culture the boys were being exposed to would probably only increase the number of next year's submissions.

His phone vibrated and he answered, "Yes."

"We're on our way up," Edward's voice came over the phone.

"All right, you played the tape for them, right? How did they take it?"

There was a second of silence and then his intern answered. "I never thought a van of ten boys could be so quiet. They seem to be stepping out of their shock now, though. "

Ryan smiled, "Glad to hear that." This would be the last time the boys were given forewarning of what they were supposed to do. From now on, they will learn about the events as the audience thought they always did. He had only done it this time because it was so unusual. "All right, bring them through to the kitchen when you come up," Ryan said, as he made his own way there.

Everything was already set up and they were just waiting on the arrival of the boys. A moment later they filed in, all wearing clothes this time. Dave and Bahram were wearing shirts they had bought at the Museum. Dave's had a picture of the Mona Lisa on it while Bahram's had a surrealist painting.

The kitchen had four large islands for preparing food and each group stood in between two of them. There was a large silver platter on each island, but nothing else. The kitchen was eerily quiet as he took his mark next to an oversized clock. The camera light flickered on and he went into his prepared speech.

"Paris France, City of Lights," Ryan started to walk forward as the cameraman followed him. The boys came into the peripheral view of the camera. "It is known worldwide for its culture and monuments, but what it is possibly best known for is its food. That's why we are here, in the world-famous La Fourchette with our special guest Chef Jacques." He stopped next to the man he just introduced who radiated all the warmth of a glacier.

"This man is known for his daring culinary art. Food is his paint and plates are his canvas. Lately, though, he has been using a new canvas, the human body." Ryan smiled, showing off his teeth, which was his version of a wink and a nod to the audience. "Now this certainly isn't new, but Chef Jacques has brought this medium to an art form. So we thought we should give our boys a chance to try it out themselves."

"Each team will select two members to become a human platter while the other three will have to prepare them in only ten minutes." He turned and said to the two teams, "All right boys, this time, you can play with your food. Begin!"

Ryan made his way out of the room to the hallway. Two monitors were already set up, each showing a different team. Edward offered him a set of headsets. He concentrated on the Even Team for the moment where Josh was speaking.

"So Philip do you have any ideas?"

The 11-year-old cut the redhead off. "What, because I'm fat you think I know all about food? In case you haven't noticed, I don't eat a lot. I just have an underactive thyroid."

Josh pursed his lips as his cheeks colored red. "What I meant was, your parents own a restaurant. I thought you might know something about presenting food because I certainly don't."

The other boy didn't respond and the group was quiet for a second. Akira broke the silence. "Maybe we should decide who is going to do what first."

"Well, I'll do it unless someone else really wants too," Josh volunteered.

"Contrast," Phillip said as everyone looked over at him. He shrugged and explained, "My family's restaurant has two sets of plates. Most of the time we use these white ones, but for some dishes like chicken which is light in color we use these black plates. It makes the plate look fuller."

They looked at the food that had been brought out. Small cooked mushrooms filled with something and something that looked like little yellow pieces of sponges.

"I guess I should be the other one then," Lauro volunteered.

As the two boys started to undress Ryan turned his attention towards the other team. They didn't seem to be make any headway.

"You two should do it," Michael said pointing to Bahram and Oliver.

"Why should we do it?" Bahram demanded.

"Because," Michael pointed across the room, "they chose their oldest and one of their youngest so we should too."

"They also chose their lightest skin and darkest skin. Maybe you should be up there." Bahram snapped back.

Ryan was surprised by how argumentative Bahram was being. He guessed it came from always being in charge of his siblings. The other three members of the team just watched the older two argue as time ticked away. He checked his watch, seven minutes left. He would make an announcement at five.

A few more seconds ticked by and then Robert interrupted them. "I'll do it." He turned to Oliver who was hovering a few steps away from the group. "You said you were a model. Any suggestions for a pose?"

Was that his game, Ryan thought. Let someone else take the lead, but show himself as some sort of alternate sort of leader. A group within a group? He had seen that before. Granted, this time it seemed more conscious, but it would make good viewing. Smiling to himself he wondered if that had been Roberts's idea or his coaches.

"Sir, the five-minute mark is approaching."

Ryan's eyes lingered on the screen as the two boys started to undress. "Thank you Edward."

His five-minute warning sent the boys in overdrive, although it looked like the Even Team seemed to be almost done while the Odd Team had just started. When the one minute mark rolled around, Akira and Philip seemed to be fussing over miniscule placements, tilting a mushroom here or a yellow square there. While on the other side, they were still trying to get all of the food placed.

"Five, four, three, two, one," Ryan counted down the last seconds watching the large clock as the buzzer went off. "All right boys, it's judging time." He nodded towards Chef Jacques to proceed.

The man proceeded to the first island where Oliver was. The nine-year-old was sitting up with his legs spread wide in front of him. He was slightly leaning back with support from his arms. Most of the mushrooms were on his legs though a few were spread out between his legs while a very few were on his stomach. Chef Jacques examined the spread for moment before making a few comments in French that would have to be translated later. He then reached out and grabbed one of the mushrooms and popped it into his mouth. His knuckles brushed up against the boy's tight scrotum and Oliver flinched causing the food to shake but none fell off him.

Jacques turned and examined Josh who was also his team's platter for the mushrooms. Again the man examined the boy and made several comments. Josh was almost lying down with his elbows supporting him. The mushrooms were spread out across his legs and chest. His nipples were covered by two mushrooms and upon closer inspection several of the mushrooms formed an arrow pointing towards his crotch where the largest of the mushrooms had been put. It must've been cold up there though because his penis and testicles were trying to climb back into his body. When the chef grabbed the mushroom indicated by the arrow, the boy didn't seem to flinch.

Chef Jacques crossed the room to Robert next. He was lying on his stomach with his head resting upon his hands and his feet were in the air. The little yellow cakes were across his back and butt. They were also one on each of his feet. Those two were examined in particular detail. Ryan first suspect the man had a foot fetish, but then realized that the professional chef was probably seeing if he could keep his legs like that. He grabbed one of the cakes off of the boy's foot and watched as the legs swayed slightly.

Lauro was the last to be inspected and the process repeated itself. Of the four boys, his position was least imaginative. The boy was simply lying on his back with his legs together and the yellow cakes spread across his body. At first Ryan thought there wasn't a pattern, but then he saw it. Just under the boy's throat was one yellow cake and then two which covered his nipples. A few more inches there were three and then four in a small arc. His bottom half repeated this pattern starting with the single cake just above his ankles and moving on up. The two rows of four formed an oval shape that encompassed his testicles and a single cake. Chef Jacques took that one and ate it. Lauro didn't flinch.

Chef Jacques retreated to the center of the room and glanced at both teams before inclining his head in thought. Then, he raised his arm to point to the side of the room the Even Team was on and said, "Vainqueur."

The winners cheered. Nicholas and Akira gave each other a high five as the two platters brushed themselves off. The cameras recorded the little celebration before they cut back to Ryan. "Well, it looks like round one will be going to the Even Team." He turned to face the losers, "You tried your hardest, but you'll be sending one of your teammates home as soon as we get back to the plane. You'll want to think about that on the drive back."

The camera shut off and they prepared to leave. Ryan left Edward and a cameraman behind with the chef to explain his decision while he and the boys drove back to the plane. The drive was short and odd. The boys on the winning team were very animated while the losers were not. Arriving back at the plane, the winners were told to wait in their room while the Odd Team was led into the communal room.

There were five small red controllers sitting on the oval couch. Each boy took one in hand and sat. The controllers had five buttons each on them above which was each of their names. When the camera turned back on Ryan started to explain the process to the boys, even though they had already been briefed.

"All right guys, I know you tried hard but you lost and that means you have to send someone home. Everyone has to vote so you can do that now." Most of the boys voted right away. Michael's alliance held firm with four votes appearing on his handheld screen for Bahram and one for Oliver. He tried to wait a few seconds in hopes of editing dramatic tension into the moment, but with the boys putting their remotes down that wasn't going to happen. "All right, the votes are in and," he looked over at Bahram, "sorry Bahram, but your team has voted you off."

To his credit he just nodded and got up without saying a word. The next few minutes were perfunctory and Ryan already knew how he would edit them. A single cameraman filmed Bahram packing his belongings and later a voiceover would be added to this. Meanwhile, he lined up his former teammates to say goodbye which were perfunctory.

Before leaving the plane he stopped Bahram. "So what do you think about being eliminated?"

The boy shrugged. "I wanted to win, but if I had to be eliminated I guess I would prefer to be eliminated early."

"What did you think of competing?"

Bahram thought for a second, "I guess it was alright. I mean, it's one thing to watch at home, but when you're doing it, it's completely different."

"What are you going to do when you get home?"

This time, the boy smiled. "You know I spend a lot of time taking care of my two brothers and a sister. It was kind of nice to have a break from them and I think that's why I spent so much time in my room, but I kind of miss them. I think I'll give each of them a hug when I get back."

"Alright, thanks for competing. There's a car at the bottom of the stairs to take you to your plane. Enjoy your first-class trip home."

The boy nodded as he stepped off of the plane.

Chapter Three

Odd Team: Bahram (12yo), Michael (11yo), Robert (10yo), Dave (10yo), Oliver (9yo)

Even Team: Josh (12yo), Philip (11yo), Akira (9yo), Nick (8yo), Lauro (8yo)

Josh had slept in. However, he wondered if it was really sleeping in if you didn't have to get up at any set time? Either way, when he got out of the shower, everyone seemed to be awake. Most were watching some movie on the big screen TV while Nick and Akira were sitting at a table. He didn't like that. Maybe they were just becoming friends, but the competition put everything in a different light.

He made his way over to the two, who were bent over a pad of paper. Nick seemed to be putting the final touches on a sketch.

"Hey."

"Josh," Nick looked up from his drawing and smiled. "You're up."

He smiled back at the blond. Since their little talk in his room, the boy had rarely been gone from his side. It was a little annoying, but he kind of liked it. There were times he was pretty touchy-feely, but even that Josh didn't find annoying, as he normally would have. The boy seemed to crave affection and Josh didn't mind giving it to him.

"What are you drawing there?" The blond boy held up the pad of paper which had a sketch of each of their teammates' faces on it. Josh's shock was genuine. Nick's sketches were incredible. It reminded him of the time he had gone to his sister's high school for a play she was in. There had been a few pieces of student artwork hanging in the hallway and this could have gone up next to them. "That's incredible. How long did that take you?"

Nick beamed with pride. "Not that long. I just did them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I watched him draw them just now." Akira spoke up, vouching for the other boy.

Josh pulled out a chair and Nick pushed the sketch over to him. "You really like it? You can have it if you want," the blond offered.

He hesitated to accept. It was a very good sketch, but the redhead wouldn't know what to do with it. Still, if he had learned one thing about Nick, it was his feelings were easily hurt. So instead of saying no, he said, "If you're sure you don't want it?"

"No, it's okay," Nick said. Josh shrugged and started to carefully tear the sketch out of the pad. Akira nudged Nick, who seemed to remember he was supposed to say something. "Hey, Josh I think we should have Akira join our alliance."

The redhead looked up from the sketch at the two boys who were both grinning and then he quickly glanced over at the rest of the group, who all seemed involved in the movie. Looking back at Nick, he had a sudden urge to hit the boy. He wanted to say no, because inviting Akira in, would make the alliance too big, but if he didn't say yes, Akira might run off and tell the others.

"All right, I guess he can join." The two boys high-fived each other and Josh made a mental note to pull Nick aside later.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen until the day was almost over. The three of them hung around all day. Akira wasn't bad to have around and that just made Josh feel worse. He wished he could find a reason not to like his new ally, but he couldn't. Instead, he tried to think about the money and that was enough.

He waited until some of the boys had started to go to bed and asked Nick to meet him in his room. Sitting on his bed, Josh waited for the younger boy to show up. The boy slipped in without knocking and was grinning from ear to ear.

"We need to talk." Josh tried to sound serious and it did wipe the smile off Nick's face.

"What's wrong?"

"You," Josh said, already starting to waver at the boy's concerned look. "You told someone about our alliance. It was just supposed to be me and you in the finals and now there's three of us." Nick just blinked at him clearly not getting what he was getting at.

"But there are three of us now. So we can vote off the other two." The boy held up his hands and used his fingers to apparently show that three was bigger than two.

"Yeah, that'll work for now, but once there are only five players left in the game the teams are done away with and I will be the oldest with a big alliance. They're going to try to get rid of me. Is that what you are trying to do? Do you want to get rid of me?" Josh hadn't intended to go this route, but it seemed to be having an effect on the boy and he knew he had to drive home the blonds' mistake.

Of course, Josh realized from Nick's point of view, this may not have been a bad thing. If he hadn't spent so much time around him, Josh would've suspected he might have planned it that way, but he didn't think the boy had it in him. The younger boy was staring at his feet and then he let out a sob that cut through Josh.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to." Nick used his sleeve to wipe at his eyes. "Do you hate me now?"

Josh didn't think about getting up and going to the other boy. It just happened. He fell to his knees to hug the boy and Nick's arms wrapped around him. Rocking the smaller boy, Josh whispered that everything was okay and he didn't hate him.

Eventually the younger boy calmed down enough that they were able to move to the bed. Josh pulled Nick onto his lap and continued to rub his back. The little boy's face was tear streaked and red from crying. The redhead had a sudden urge to kiss the younger boy.

Josh was pretty sure he was gay. He had several childish crushes before, but always on classmates or TV stars. The only time he had a crush on a boy Nick's age was when he had been that age. He wondered if he saw the other boy as a little brother or not. He was certainly having thoughts that weren't brotherly. So he just held the little blond. Then, he felt lips pressed against his cheek. It was only a second, but it was enough to arouse him.

"Thank you."

The action and words caught Josh off guard. "For what?"

Nick looked sheepish. "Just for being nice to me. I like having you as a friend."

"I like you too." He said the words easily, although he wasn't sure what he meant by them.

"You want me to take care of that?" Nick pressed his leg against Josh's erection.

Josh inhaled at the sensation. It took him a second to answer and he struggled to think with his big head. "You know how?" That was a stupid question since he was here on the show.

The blond nodded. "My mom hired a teacher and he taught me everything."

That sentence was almost enough to cancel Josh's erection. Nick loved his mother, but the one conversation Josh had witnessed between the two of them had turned the redhead against her. Fortunately, he was thinking with his little head now. "Only, if I can do it to you too."

The blond nodded, "Deal."

***

On their second day out of France, Robert finally admitted he had a problem. He and his Coach's plan had run into a snag neither of them had thought of. Originally his plan was to sit back and let an alliance form, then try to co-opt it. That part has worked just fine. Michael had aligned them all against Bahram. It was perfect. His coach had even thought so, when they had talked about it.

Unfortunately, the second stage of the plan wasn't working well. He needed to form an alliance with one of the other two, but that was where he was running into a problem. At first, he had planned to go for someone who likes sex, but there didn't seem to be as much of that going on as the episodes always seemed to depict. That meant, he had to make a friend, which wasn't easy, given his two options. Oliver was really shy and it was hard to talk to him. His other teammate, Dave, wasn't much better. Robert was pretty sure he was a geek.

Dave was usually the first to wake up, followed by himself a little later. Twice so far, he had caught the boy watching a documentary, which was always immediately shut off. He also seemed to spend a lot of time reading on one of those virtual book things. Considering the one thing they didn't have, was Internet access, he must've downloaded a lot of stuff beforehand.

Robert didn't have anything against geeks, but he didn't have much in common with them either. At least Dave played video games, and if he was smart, he would see the benefit of his plan. So his decision was made. When Dave went on to take his evening shower, Robert followed a moment later.

The shower rooms were not assigned, but each team had adopted one depending on which side of the plane they were on. Grabbing a clean set of boxers, he headed into the shower room. The shower room was not a bathroom. It had no toilet, although it did have two sinks and shelves for clothes. The actual shower part of the room was sealed off by sliding glass doors. The room had four shower heads, one of which David was under.

Robert's entrance had gone unnoticed and he took a second to observe the boy's body. His light brown hair was now a lot darker and he was thin. Robert was pretty sure he could count the other boy's ribs. Dave's butt curved out a little and his legs seemed to be very long. Whether he would be considered attractive or not, Robert couldn't tell, but he wasn't ugly.

Starting the shower next to the other boy, Robert smiled when Dave looked over at him. "So what do you think of the competition so far?"

Dave glanced over and shrugged. "It's okay, I guess."

"Yeah well, I thought there was a lot more sex involved. I mean, not just in the competition, but just, you know, friendly stuff. At least, that's how the episodes always looked."

"I never really watched the show. Well, other than the episodes they showed us." Dave ducked his head under the stream of water.

Robert waited until the other boy finished rinsing his hair out and said, "Really? So is that why you don't have a plan?"

"A plan?" The other boy turned off his shower and then stared at him.

Robert did the same thing even though his hair was still dry and grabbed a quick look at the other boy's package. It looked pretty much like his, but it might've been a bit longer. Pulling his eyes away from David's genitals, he said, "Yeah, a plan to survive being eliminated or are you just going to vote how Michael tells you too?"

"No, it's just …," Dave trailed off, obviously thinking.

"Well, I have a plan," Robert said as he leaned against the tile wall. "I just need someone to help me with it."

"And that someone would be me?"

"Yeah."

"Why me? Why not Michael or Oliver?"

Robert had to think about that for a moment. "Michael thinks he's in control. He thinks he can make it to the finals because we're all too scared or stupid to go against him. So, if I approached him about an alliance, I think he would try to vote me off. Oliver, well, I really don't know what he would do if I asked him."

Dave nodded, "All right, so what's your plan then?"

Robert relaxed. He hadn't thought forming an alliance would be this hard. "It's pretty simple, really. Michael will tell us how to vote next time we lose, and if he says Oliver, we'll vote against Michael, but if he says one of us, we'll have to try to convince Oliver to vote with us or go for a tiebreaker. Then, we will vote off Oliver."

The other boy frowned. "So unless he tries to get Oliver out, were not much better off."

He hadn't thought of it like that before and it took him a few seconds to recover. "Well yeah, but at least this way, we'll have a heads up if he's going after one of us and if I was Oliver, I wouldn't want to face Michael in the finals. I would prefer to face someone only one year older than me instead of two years older."

"Will that really matter?" Dave asked.

Robert shrugged, "Hard to tell. Sometimes, the more experienced you are with sex, the better you do, and sometimes it doesn't matter." Dave frowned at that comment. "Something wrong?"

Dave hesitated. "I really don't know much about that stuff."

"What?" Robert shouted, before seeing the other boy's expression, quickly adding, "It's just, I thought, you know, everyone would have experience. I mean, you have to have done something right?"

David shifted uncomfortably and Robert could see goosebumps starting to rise on his skin. "Well, I used a dildo to prepare for the show, but that's about it."

Robert stared at the other boy in disbelief. "So the first time you actually had sex was with that fat guy?" He used his arms to emphasize the man's size. When the brunette nodded, he said, "That sucks. I mean you didn't look like you were having any fun, but for your first time, that sucks."

He realized he was repeating himself, but the guy had been pretty fat and ugly. Dave couldn't have enjoyed it and that seemed wrong to Robert, because he liked sex. Then he had an idea. "You want to do me?"

The boy blinked at him. "What? Just like that?"

Robert shrugged, "Yeah why not? I mean, I like to have sex, so why not have a little fun? You could consider it a benefit of our new alliance."

To Robert, Dave seemed to take a long time to decide. Finally, though, his new ally said, "All right. Um, where should we do it?"

"My place," Robert said with a smile. He always wanted to say that.

He was prepared to go back to his room the way he was, but Dave insisted they both got dressed. The boy wore dark blue pajamas to match his boxers and T-shirt. Robert had to admit, though, they did look pretty good on him. His pajama bottoms went down to the bottom of his feet and his sleeves covered most of his hands. It made him look smaller than he was.

Flipping the light on in his room, he grabbed Dave's hand and led him to the bed. His partner was grinning, but it was a nervous grin.

"So what have you done?"

Dave looked away. "My sister had a party a few weeks ago and there was a kissing game there that I kind of got dragged into. Only one girl though. She was 14."

Robert tilted David's head to face him. "I never kissed a girl. Let's start there."

David's tongue wet his lips slowly, and Robert waited until he started to lean in and met him halfway. It was disappointing. The kiss was as if a butterfly landed on his lips and quickly flew away.

"Is that it?" Robert questioned. "That's how I kiss my grandmother."

Dave's face turned red and Robert suddenly felt guilty. He suddenly realized that one year ago he was David, and the one thing his coach did that annoyed him, was teasing him about his ignorance. "Sorry. I didn't mean to make fun of you."

"It's okay."

Putting his hands on the other boy's shoulders he realized for the first time that Dave was slightly taller than him. "Okay, I'm going to kiss you, this time, but relax. Just do whatever you think is right."

This time, when they kissed, Robert let his arms fall from around the boy's shoulders to his back and slide down to his waist, pulling him close. Dave got the idea and wrapped his own arms around him. The kiss, itself, started out tentative, but Dave's confidence quickly grew with Robert leading the way. Soon Robert invaded the taller boy's mouth and their tongues touched.

Robert was already hard, but now he could feel Dave getting that way and he pushed their hips together. Then, pushing the other boy away, Robert said, "Let's get those pajamas off."

Dave seemed reluctant, so he slipped his own shirt off first and threw it to the side. Dave was staring at his chest, so he struck a pose to flex muscles he didn't have. That got a nervous smile, but no movement. "What's wrong? You were naked just a few minutes ago."

The slightly taller boy bit his lower lip. "I don't know what to do."

Robert almost sighed, but he was too impatient for that. Stepping forward he started to undo the buttons on the boy's top. "There's nothing to worry about. It's fun. I do this a lot."

"Really? How often?"

Robert shrugged. "Maybe once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less, I have done stuff with my cousin and a friend." His friend was his coach, but he didn't see why he should specify that. They weren't doing anything illegal, but some people still frowned on those types of relationships. Even in the beginning, his parents had not exactly liked it. There was also a more tactical reason and that was, he didn't want anyone to know about his experience.

"All right then, what do I do?" Dave asked.

Undoing the last button, he slid Dave's top off his shoulders and it fell to the ground. "Well the first thing you do is get naked." As he said that, he crouched and pulled the other boy's pants down. Dave's erection popped free, nearly hitting Robert in the eye.

They both laughed at that and Dave said, "Sorry."

"No biggie."Robert thought for a second and then laughed at the unintended joke. Dave was definitely not big, at least compared to his coach. It was maybe a little longer and thicker than Robert's middle finger. That was fine with him, though. Standing and dropping his own boxers to expose himself, Robert held up a finger. "One second."

There were six drawers under his bed and all had been empty except one, when he had moved in. That drawer contained a plastic penis, several tubes of various lubricants and even a small jar of Vaseline. There were also several boxes of kid condoms. Everyone on the show was given a thorough exam before participating, but kid condoms were heavily lubricated, which would save time.

Tearing open the wrapping, he gestured for Dave to come closer. He did so with his hands on his hips with his dick sticking out. The miniature condom slipped on easily enough and Robert even grabbed a quick feel of the other boy's tight, ball sack with two of his fingers. It was smooth, and he liked the feeling of it.

Robert rolled onto the bed with his anus facing Dave and tugged his knees to his shoulders. He used his arms to steady himself, and then spread his butt cheeks. Pointing with both of his index fingers he said, "Put it in."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah," Robert answered thinking his coach's index finger was bigger than the other boy's erection.

It took the other boy a second to line up, but Robert could feel the boy's tip at his anus and when he started to push in, he let out a small moan. He couldn't help it. It was warm, and he liked the feeling of something sliding into his butt. Dave didn't just slam it in there, either, but gently pushed, and that made Robert imagine he was much longer than he was. It felt like an eternity until the other boy was flushed against him.

For a moment he just enjoyed the feeling before he opened his eyes having not remembered closing them. Dave was staring at him and he smiled up at the other boy who smiled back. Then he felt a pair of hands land on his thighs as he started to pull back before he pushed back in. At first Robert enjoyed the slow pace and he didn't know how long it went on for, but it was different than his other experiences. Still, at this pace he thought it would take forever for either of them to climax.

"Faster," he said.

Dave hesitated and answered, "I don't want to hurt you."

Robert smiled. "You won't. Do it faster. Clench your butt cheeks and go as fast as you can."

It was like shifting from first gear to fourth gear on a lawnmower, Robert thought, as the other boy's pace quadrupled. The thrust started to move him back further in the bed and he had to use one of his hands so his head wouldn't slam into the wall. He didn't really care, though, it felt great and he started to stroke himself with his free hand.

Sweat broke out on both their bodies as the thrusting continued. Groans and gasps were all that could be heard, and Robert could feel his approaching climax. He tried to stroke himself faster as he pushed back against David's thrusting. Robert's toes curled as his orgasm hit him. He went limp as Dave continued to thrust into him and a minute later, Dave reached his own orgasm with one long thrust before slipping out and falling to his knees between Robert's legs.

Between his legs, Robert could feel the other boy panting, and he knew the other boy's head couldn't be far from his crotch which was almost enough to make it hard again. After a few minutes he sat up and wrapped his arms around the other boy's neck. It was only then, he could feel the condom still stuck in his ass, and he had to shift his weight to pull it out, before tossing it in the general direction of the trashcan.

Dave hugged him back, and they shared a quiet moment before Robert asked, "You want to sleep here tonight?"

The question came as much of a surprise to Robert, as it did to David, who asked, "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," Robert answered. It was only after they were sharing a pillow with their legs intertwined that he wondered what his coach would think. Before drifting off to sleep, he decided his coach would be cool with it. After all, he always said, "Never let an opportunity pass."

***

Waking up nine boys at 5:00 a.m. was not the easiest task in the world. But Ryan thought it was rather enjoyable. It was particularly enjoyable, discovering that two of the boys hadn't spent the night in their own rooms. That would make for good viewing later on. They all dressed quickly, with poor Dave having to run back to his room carrying his pajamas.

Three minutes later, they were all piled into two jeeps and driving to the site of the next event. They didn't bother fixing up the boy's hair this time. He thought the 'bed head' look might go well with the next event, and even if it didn't, he liked the look.

It took them almost an hour and a half to reach the site where the event would take place. The city had fallen behind, as had suburbia, and they were now way out into the country. None of the boys had fallen back asleep, and the atmosphere in the Jeep was both nervous and excited. Both Josh and Philip tried asking questions, but Ryan gave nothing away and he knew Edward in the Jeep behind him was probably in a similar situation. The last ten minutes was pure off-road and they finally arrived at their site. The boys didn't seem impressed. There was just a small tent with a group of men milling about along with some horses.

This was Texas, and when they stepped out of the Jeep, it was already hot. The sky was a pure blue and if the weatherman was to be believed, the temperature was only going to climb. That had been the key factor in moving the event to earlier in the morning, instead of later in the day as he'd originally planned.

Clapping his hands, to draw the boy's attention to him, he said, "Alright, this event requires a costume. You can each change in there." He nodded towards the tent. "If you have any problems, just shout and I'll come in and help."

"What do we have to do this time?" Michael asked.

He smiled, "I'll tell you after you change."

The boys were nonplussed by his answer, but filed into the tent. It would have been interesting to see the boys' reactions to the costumes, but it would never have made it into the cut, so he gave them their privacy. It was several minutes before they started filing back out.

They were practically naked. The only thing that kept them from being completely naked was a small loincloth. The loincloths were all identical, which meant the smaller boy's were covered a little more than the older. They had tied the small piece of leather tight so it left a small indent on their skin. The only other thing that they were wearing was a very flexible shoe that didn't go up to the ankle.

Edward handed out the last item they each would be wearing. It looked a lot like a digital watch, but it wasn't. The device had multiple functions. It was a GPS tracker, an emergency beacon and most important for this activity, a stopwatch. Edward explained the functions to the boys.

"All right boys line up over there and we can start shooting." Ryan announced when the other man was done, as he put on a white cowboy hat. The boys did so, lining up on either side of him, according to their teams.

When the camera turned on, he started in his best Texas accent, "Howdy. Today we're here in Texas for the next round of elimination. Today's game is somewhat inspired by history."

The camera started to pan over the boys, "As you can see, our competitors are dressed as Indians or Native Americans for those who like to be politically correct. In a moment, they're going to start running because cowboys are about to be after them. If a boy is caught, he will have to give his captor a blow job or two, depending on how much time's left in the game, which lasts three hours. The team with the most boys not caught by the end of the round, will win. If all the boys are captured, then the team with the last three members caught, will be declared the victor." He turned to face the competitors. "Alright boys, you got a ten minute head start. Go!"

The boys started to run, most heading for a tree line, but a few veered off in different directions. They all seemed to be running as fast as they could with their loincloths flapping behind them, showing off their bare asses. It was a nice site.

Chapter Four

Odd Team: Bahram (12yo), Michael (11yo), Robert (10yo), Dave (10yo), Oliver (9yo)

Even Team: Josh (12yo), Philip (11yo), Akira (9yo), Nick (8yo), Lauro (8yo)

Lauro was stubborn. He had been told that enough times. Sometimes it was said in praise and others time in scorn. It didn't seem to be in his nature to give up which was a trade he shared with both of his parents. If he didn't get something in school, he studied harder. If a bully knocked him down he got right back up. If he decided he was going to do something, he would do it.

So he ran determined not to get caught. He ran as fast as his eight-year-old legs would carry him. He didn't have a real plan, just head for the woods. Some of the other boy's were splitting off and once he hit the woods he did too. Unfortunately, after a few minutes when he stopped to catch his breath, he realized he had somehow become turned around and had been heading parallel to the field he had started in.

His watch gave off a soft beep which was the signal that the first ten minutes had gone by. Through a screen of trees he could even see the horsemen coming. Adrenaline shot through him accompanied by an emotion very much like fear as he started to run.

The ground was flat with only a few roots sticking out and they were easily avoided. Lauro continued to run until he had to stop. Leaning against a tree he looked behind him. It was just the empty woods. He sat down against the tree the bark scratching against his back with every breath. Looking at the stopwatch he saw there was 2 hours and 21 minutes left. It felt like it should only be minutes.

He was tired, but was feeling good. Looking at the trees he thought about climbing one to wait the rest of the game out, but they didn't look climbable. Turning towards the field he wondered if trying to make it to the next clump of trees would be worth it or not.

As he thought about it something made him look behind him again and he saw two men on horseback, one was dressed as a cowboy and the other carried the camera. For a second he was frozen, but it was obvious the man was making his way towards him. Springing to his feet he started to run, but in his panic he ran right out into the field. Lauro could hear the beats of hooves behind him has the horse broke into a trot.

He could hear the horse coming closer and closer and he spared a glance behind him only to see the man now had a lasso whirling over his head. Lauro suddenly turned right hoping to be able to get back to the woods, but he tripped and did a header into the ground. The ground was hard, but his arms absorbed most of the impact.

Before he could get back to his feet the lasso wrapped loosely around him. He heard the horse come to a stop and a quiet voice asked, "Are you okay kid?"

Lauro fought back the urge to cry. He wasn't hurt, he was just angry that he got caught. When he finally spoke his voice was under control. "I'm fine." He could hear the man dismount and he turned to look at his capturer but the sun was at the man's back.

"Your knee is bleeding."

The boy looked down at his knee to see a small drop of blood. "It doesn't hurt."

"You still should get it clean. Wait a minute they gave us a first aid kit."

Lauro didn't argue. He was a little surprised though. He thought the man would want him to suck right away, not that he was looking forward to that.

When the man came back the boy was able to get his first good look at him. He wore one of those cowboy hats and had brown eyes. What he really noticed, though, was the man's smile. It seemed genuine and not one of those fake one's adult sometimes used. The man squatted in front of him and as he opened the first aid kit Lauro noticed that his arms were really hairy.

"You're lucky we got this new antiseptic stuff. My mom used to use iodine and that stuff hurts a lot more than any cut I ever had."

Lauro didn't know what to say to that and he glanced over at the cameraman almost expecting him to say something, but the man just continued to film.

"There you go."The man said as he applied the Band-Aid. The man offered him a hand up and said, "We got some time so let's find some shade."

"Don't you want me to give you a blow job?" Lauro asked.

The man chuckled. "You're an eager one. You have a friend you've given blow jobs to before?"

Lauro shook his head. "I just want to get it over with."

The man placed a hand on his shoulder. "We've got time. Let's talk a little first."

The next 40 minutes were odd for Lauro. The man's name was Ezekiel, but he said he should call him Zeke. That in it itself was weird because adults never let him call them by their first names. What they talked about was also strange. It was just stuff.

At first Lauro told him about how he came to be on the show. He had been looking for a way to make money for his parents and had eventually come across Sexing for a Million's website. He told how his parents were against the idea at first, but he wouldn't take no for an answer. When his eighth birthday rolled around they asked what he wanted and he had replied to simply audition for the show and they had given in.

He explained how his father worked two jobs and his mother worked another and how they send money back to relatives in the Philippines every month. The 10,000 alone would mean a lot, but he wanted the million. He also admitted something to Zeke he hadn't even admitted to himself. If he won the grand prize maybe his father could spend more time with him. Lauro was embarrassed by that, but Zeke seemed impressed by what he was doing.

The conversation wasn't all serious. Lauro was teased about his long hair and Lauro fought him off when he touched his hair. It was all playful. Eventually, though, the conversation turned towards sex and in particularly blow jobs.

"There's really not much to it. I'm pretty big so don't try to get any more than just my head in your mouth. Mind your teeth and just try out different things. Use your tongue. You might like it." Zeke smiled.

Lauro nodded at the inevitable. Be didn't think he would enjoy it. He knew about sex or at least he thought he did. He had look stuff up on the Internet in addition to information the show had sent out. Initially he had thought having something put up his butt couldn't be any worse than taking a large poop, but that had not been completely true. So he didn't think sucking on an erection would be much better.

Zeke stood showing a strange lump in his denim jeans. He kicked off his boots and undid his belt before unbuttoning his shirt. Lauro's heart was pounding and he wet his lips nervously. Zeke entire body was as hairy as his arms were. When the man dropped his underwear, though, Lauro forgot about the hair. The man's erection was huge. It had to be longer than his head. Strangest of all though it was devoid of hair and as the man turned towards him, he said running his hand along it, "8 inches. I think that's about 20 cm."

Lauro nodded although not to confirm the conversion. Knowing he had to do this if he wanted to stay in the competition he stood before a hand was placed on his shoulder. Zeke reposition them so they were standing diagonally on the blanket. Then the man sat back down and spread his legs wide as he pulled the boy down with him.

The thick blanket felt soft under Lauro's knees and he noticed a smell as he stared at the man's large balls. There was a little of what he guessed was precum glistening on the slit of the man's penis.

"There's nothing to be nervous about now," Zeke said reassuringly. "Feel free to take your time, but you might want to put one hand or both on the shaft to steady it. Remember not to try to take anything more than my head."He pointed to show exactly where he was talking about.

The boy nodded and started to inch closer. Sticking out a small hand he grabbed the shaft his fingertips barely touching his thumb. It felt warm surprisingly so. As he got closer Lauro noticed the smell became stronger. It wasn't exactly pleasant or unpleasant. It was just there. When his mouth was centimeters away from the tip he stuck out his tongue and licked it. Immediately he pulled back but nothing happened. For some reason he found that reassuring and wondered if it wouldn't be like sucking on a finger. Well except for the liquid.

Going back in, he licked again, but this time it was along the opening of the penis. The substance didn't have much of a taste to it. Maybe it was a little salty, but it was really hard to tell. Emboldened by no adverse consequences Lauro found courage and opened his mouth wide and took in the entire head.

It filled his mouth and he breathed through his nose. After a few seconds he started to use his tongue to explore the warm head in his mouth. Again he started by using the tip of his tongue to explore the man's opening at the tip of his penis. At that moment he didn't think about urine coming out of there, but he was just curious about the liquid. Collecting some, he smeared it across the top palate of his mouth.

After that he ran his tongue to the top of the head. From there he had his tongue slide around the man's member tilting his head slightly to go on the side. When he reached the bottom Zeke let out a moan which was the first noise he had made sense Lauro had first taken his head into his mouth. Thinking that must be a good spot, he flicked his tongue over it again.

For several more minutes the dark skinned boy continued to experiment. He pulled back his lips brushing them over the head and tried licking it like a lollipop. What got the biggest reaction though was when he completely removed his mouth and licked from the base to the underside of the tip which fell like a longer journey than it was. He even used his hands to play with the man's testicles.

"I'm getting close," Zeke said suddenly. "Put both of your hands on my shaft and pull back a little, I'm going to cum."

Lauro followed the suggestion. He pulled back so only about half of the head was in his mouth. As he did that his other hand went to the man's shaft and started to slide them up and down. The heat had taken away any trace of saliva he might've left earlier.

Zeke was breathing heavier now and between breaths he was able to get out. "Here it comes."

Lauro knew what to expect, but the first shot still caught him by surprise. Instinctively he swallowed it and pulled free as another shot hit his cheek. Pushing the erection away from him the third and fourth shots landed on the man's stomach. His hand still on the man's penis he could feel contractions as blanks were fired.

Zeke's head was tilted back his elbows propping him up. Not knowing what to do Lauro scooted back and waited. Wiping the cum off his face with the back of his hand he noticed the smell that he had noticed when he had been near the man's crotch was on his hands. Sniffing the other one confirmed it was there too. He still couldn't decide if the smell was bad or not.

"Well that was nice," Zeke said as he sat up. "What did you think?"

Lauro thought for a moment. "I don't know. I thought if I was caught I would really hate it, but it wasn't bad, but I don't think I would want to do it again."

Zeke smiled at him. "Well, that's probably because you haven't received one. I have never met anyone who didn't like getting a blow job. Would you like to know what that's like?"

Lauro hug his knees to his chest and glanced at the cameraman who was now using a tripod. "I don't think the rules allow that."

"Sure they do. The rules say you have to suck me off, but it doesn't say I can't do anything in return. It's your body and you can do with it as you wish. I'm just offering you know, if you want to know what it feels like I'm willing to do that now."

Surprisingly the boy actually had to give it some thought. A few hours ago he would've said no, but Zeke had been nothing but nice to him, well besides catching him. There was a part of him that wanted to know what all this fuss about sex was anyways. "If it's really okay, then yeah."

"Great," Zeke said starting to crawl his way across the blanket. "Why don't you lie down on your back and lift up your loincloth?"

Lauro did as suggested. It felt a little weird to expose himself like that, but preparing for the show had been weird and so was being on it. The butterflies flying around his stomach were a lot less than when he had been showered in oil.

"I'm going to have to touch your privates, is that okay?"

"Sure," Lauro said and a second later felt two fingers touch his testicles and he jumped in surprise.

"You okay?" Zeke asked.

"It feels weird."

"Well if you really want me to stop say banana. Can you do that?" Zeke said.

"Banana?" Lauro questioned.

"Yeah, I know this may sound weird, but it's your first time. Some boys will say no when they really don't want me to stop. If you really want me to stop just say banana, all right?" Zeke finished by stroking the boy's scrotum with a finger.

"Banana, got it," Lauro said feeling a tight smile cross his face.

The man's hands went back to his genitals. Lauro felt the man's fingertips feel along his ball sack and stroked his shaft. He could feel himself becoming stiff which was still a new sensation to him. Then Zeke pushed his hat off before he ducked his head down and Lauro felt his mouth go around his penis. The sensation was weird, but some part of his eight-year-old mind liked it and he arched his back to try to get more of the feeling.

He could feel the man swirl his tongue around his erection before pausing and taking his sack in his mouth too. Zeke's tongue bathed his genitals and the attention cause Lauro curl up into a ball as his mind was assaulted with new sensations. His fingers gripped the man's dark hair as his knees were pushed against the other side of the older man's head. Deep down in his stomach he could feel something, something that felt wonderful. It grew in intensity and he let out a cry as his very first orgasm wracked his body.

Lauro collapsed back onto the blanket, chest heaving as his cheeks flushed. Closing his eyes he could hear blood pumping through his ears and hardly noticed when the man's mouth left his body, but he could feel as the man lay down next to him. It took him another minute to open his eyes and stare into Zeke's.

"Looks like you liked that," the man said with a smile.

All Lauro could do was smile back.

***

"How are you going to edit this?" Edward asked from behind him. "I mean there's a lot of stuff here."

Ryan glanced away from the monitors noticing that Edward didn't. He also noticed that the man's pants seem to be a bit snugger on him. He smirked, "It's a balancing act. The type of people who tune into the show all want something different. For example, there will be those who would like to see the entirety of Lauro and Zeke's adventure. Others just want sex. So I'll probably edit in some of the talking followed by their first blow jobs. Maybe I'll add their round two into a montage as a sort of recap near the end and maybe show the horse ride as the credits roll."

He really had to shake his head at Zeke's rather long encounter. This was taking place on his land and the man knew something about tracking. Still, he now understood why the man's list of references had been so extensive. It was obvious he clearly liked boys and furthermore they seem to like him. He had managed to put Lauro at ease in such a way that it was clearly genuine. It was just in his nature.

Ryan admired that. In his late teens he had a similar effect, but it seemed to have been washed away by the tide of time. It wasn't that he no longer was attracted to boys and still generally liked them, but making that connection was difficult.

"Then there will be those who like that," he gestured towards the monitor to where they had watched Michael's little show. The man's cock had been like a piston going in and out of the boy's mouth. Normally he would've contacted the cameraman with orders to stop it, but it had been Michael's idea. His erection had lifted up his loincloth exposing his genitals and he stayed like that with his penis against his stomach until relieved by his hand. Ryan thought back to his wrestling match where he had spread his cheeks in surrender and wondered if there was more to the boy then he knew.

"Everyone else's will probably be glossed over," Ryan continued. "Just show a little to please the fans of each boy and promise more on the Platinum-ray."

"What about those two though?" Edward gestured to two monitors. "What happened there might add some drama. Don't you think?"

Ryan smiled unexpectedly pleased that Edward had picked up on that. Josh and Nick had been the only two boys to actually stick together. The two had been caught in an open field and had tried to run for some thick brush, but Josh had known they wouldn't make it in time and had run straight at their pursuer. His sacrifice had proven worthless though as once Nick realize Josh was not behind him anymore, Nick had turned to follow him. Josh had been captured and before that had really registered with Nick another man had appeared and snatched him. Both men had taken their blow jobs and were still recovering.

"You mean playing up their friendship? That's a nice catch."He could see Edward smile from the corner of his eye and he allowed him to think that he caught something he had missed. There was no real harm in it he supposed, but why did he care. He usually treated the interns like the cheap labor they were. Trying to shrug it off he considered what else he had on camera.

David's captured by a fat man had been nothing spectacular. There might be some who found it amusing he always seem to end up with the largest man though. Robert had betrayed his skill again which would turn on as many as it turned off or so he suspected. Akira's capturer had been small in size where it counted and Philip had been captured by a black man which would please a certain segment of the audience.

That left little Oliver still uncaptured. Glancing at the GPS tracker which showed both cowboys and Indians it looked like it would remain that way. "Go collect Oliver."

"There still time left," Edward protested.

"There are two minutes left and the last cowboys a mile away from him. Get him, time will be up before you get there." As his intern left, he sat back in a collapsible chair and wondered who would be voted out.

It took 20 minutes for all the boys to arrive back at the initial starting line. Oliver, the winner arrived first on an ATV followed by the rest of the boys on horseback. They were all given plenty of water and most used mouthwash which was purely for psychological purposes. Upon hearing of their victory Oliver was given a traditional sporting gesture by having the remainder of the water jug poured on to him by Michael and Robert.

The drive back this time was quiet in both jeeps. The losers didn't say much while most of the winners grabbed a quick nap. The voting ceremony took place on the same couch as it did last time and again the voting was four to one. Judging from what he had seen Ryan Guest he shouldn't have been overly surprised by that.

"Sorry Philip, but you've been voted out."

The boy seemed a bit surprised as he shot a dirty look at the rest of his team. Ryan was silently grateful there hadn't been any big outburst yet when someone was voted off. There was usually at least one a year. Alliances fell apart, people were betrayed. Philip though just quietly collected his belongings. The goodbyes were a bit more strained than the last time. Philip had probably argued with or bullied each of these boys at one point or another.

Putting on his smile Ryan stopped Philip for the interview. "So what do you think about being eliminated?"

The boy glared at him. "It sucks. It was because of me that we won the first round and they thank me by throwing me out when we all fail."

"What did you think of competing?"

"You're all perverts. I was only doing it for the money."

Ryan could easily imagine why this kid had been voted off unanimously. "What are you going to do when you get home?"

"I don't know. I don't think ten grand will be enough to help my family's restaurant stay in business."

Ryan decided to throw the boy's family a bone. For once he would allow free advertising. Yeah, the kid was a jerk, but he was still a kid. "What's the name of your family's restaurant and where is it, anyways?"

The kid glared at him for a second before he seemed to catch on and then his eyes lit up with surprise as he recited the name and address.

Ryan repeated it and made a vague reference he would try it out sometime. He smiled and patted one shoulder then as he added, "All right thanks for competing. There's a car at the bottom of the stairs and he'll take you to your plane. Enjoy your first-class trip home."

Without another word the boy left and then there were eight.

Chapter Five

Odd Team: Bahram (12yo), Michael (11yo), Robert (10yo), Dave (10yo), Oliver (9yo)

Even Team: Josh (12yo), Philip (11yo), Akira (9yo), Nick (8yo), Lauro (8yo)

"Come on, pick up." Josh muttered as he tapped his fingers against the wall, waiting for the connection to go through. He wasn't sure if he wanted it to go through, though. The time told him that his parents would be at work, which meant his uncle would be home alone.

Josh's relationship with his uncle was complicated. His earliest memories of him were as a babysitter. He had been the ideal babysitter for a boy. Always ready to roughhouse. Plus, there was nothing breakable in his apartment. Then he got sick. It took a while for the doctors to figure out what was wrong, but they finally came up with a diagnosis of Scleroderma, and to be precise, diffuse systemic sclerosis/scleroderma.

Basically, what was happening to his uncle was, parts of his skin were becoming hard and it was affecting his internal organs. What was worse for Josh, though, was that the disease was genetic, which meant it could be pass down in the family. His mother had him and his father tested and sure enough, he carried a genetic marker for the disease. They had never told him about the diagnosis, but he had overheard the conversation one night, when he got up for a drink.

Of course, there wasn't a guarantee he would develop the same disease, but Josh knew he shared something else with his uncle that his parents didn't know about. His uncle was gay, and he was pretty sure he was too. After that night, he found it difficult to be around his uncle. It was like looking into the future and he didn't like it. The situation had been made worse, when his uncle had moved in with them. With today's sensibilities, it was embarrassing to rely on others like his uncle had to, and Josh was determined not to let that happen to him.

"Hello," the screen flickered to life, revealing his uncle's face, which lit with surprise. "Josh, it's nice to see you."

"Hi Uncle George," Josh said quietly. How are you?"

"Not bad, not bad at all," his uncle said scratching at his chin. His fingers were swollen and two of them were virtually unusable. "More importantly, how are you? Hope you're not calling with bad news."

Josh bit his lower lip. "My team lost the second round, but I'm still here."

"Well, you can't win them all," his uncle said consolingly. "How's the plan holding up?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about actually." Josh trailed off not really knowing where to go from there.

"What's wrong?"

Josh shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I made an ally but… I kind of like him."

"What do you mean, you like him?"

"He spent the night and we did some stuff. I don't know. We might do it again tonight. He's really nice and I kind of feel bad for him because his mother seems like a jerk, and I'm using him." Josh could hear his voice start to crack and he shut up, not wanting to cry.

"Hey, calm down Josh." His uncle said, waiting for him to compose himself. When he looked back at the monitor, his uncle continued. "Listen, how are you using him?"

"What? To get to the finals."

"And he doesn't want to go there?" His uncle asked.

Josh opened his mouth but caught himself. "No, he wants to win."

"See, you're not using him. You have an alliance. You know the difference. So what's really bothering you?"

He winced at the question. Hiding stuff from his uncle had never been easy. The man seemed to read through him sometimes. "I don't know. It's just, well," he ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath, "I was with him when he called home once. He asked his mom if he could come home and she said no. Then, we were sort of doing stuff and he mentioned his mom had hired a teacher to teach him the sex stuff. I don't think that's how it is, though."

His uncle was quiet for a moment as he nodded to himself. "You are jumping to the conclusion he's being abused, right?" He waited for Josh to nod. "It's possible," his uncle continued. "However, it is possible that you're jumping to the wrong conclusion. What do you really know? His mother is pressuring him to compete, but that's not technically abuse. He had someone teach him some stuff, but you'll recall, I offered to do that for you, too."

"Yeah," Josh interrupted "but I don't think it's the same here."

"That's right. You think." His uncle cut him off. "Unless there's something you're not telling me, I don't see it here. I'm not saying you're wrong, but you need to find out more information."

"You really think so?"

"Yeah Josh, I do. Listen, you're really empathetic and actually, I'm inclined to think you're right, but more information is best. Trust me, I used to work these cases, remember?" He smiled wistfully remembering his former life. "Either way, you're a good kid. A lot of people just ignore that sort of thing, but you want to do something about it, don't you?"

"I like him," he felt his cheeks warm at saying that. It wasn't just that he was admitting possible feelings, but the praise was getting to him too.

"I know. Although, I think you'd be doing this even if you didn't like him. Like I said you're a good kid even if you can't stand the sight of me." Josh opened his mouth to deny it, but his uncle was holding up a hand. "Don't deny it, you're a bad liar, and relax, I understand. Now go talk to your friend."

"Alright, bye." Josh said, as the connection was broken. He stood there for a moment feeling bad that his uncle knew his secret and feeling worse for having it. It wasn't that he didn't like his uncle, he did. If things had been different, well, he didn't know. After a moment, he quietly gathered his pajamas and headed out.

As he started towards the shower room, he smiled. "Hey Nick, you didn't have to wait for me." He placed a hand on the boy's head as he walked up to him.

Nick smiled up at him, his lips a small line. "I wanted to wait for you."

"Alright, let's take a shower at nine thousand meters then," Josh said, opening the door.

"Are we really that high?" Nick asked, following him in.

Josh put his pajamas on a shelf, "I think so. These planes fly around that high, I think.

"Cool," Nick exclaimed, as he started to undress.

The redhead found himself watching the blonde. His shirt came off quickly, followed by his pants and underwear. The younger boy pulled his socks off by stepping on his toes and pulling them free. He covered nothing, but as he collected his clothes and threw them in a basket, Nick looked up at him with a quizzical expression and asked, "You going to shower with your clothes on?"

Josh shook his head and laughed. "It would save water."

Nick giggled. "Yeah, but you wouldn't get clean."

"You're right. I guess I should take them off." Josh pulled his pajama top over his head and noticed Nick wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was watching him. It was only then that it hit him, why should he? Not just because they had already messed around, or even that they were on a TV show that would show their bare asses around the world, he liked Nick and Nick seemed to like him, so why hide it?

The simple realization made Josh relax, and he quickly joined his friend in being naked. They went into the showers together. Turning one of the nozzles, Josh's body was immediately doused in warm water. It was so much nicer than taking a shower at home, where it always took several minutes for the water to warm up.

Nick bumped into him, playfully, and when he looked down, the boy grinned up at him. Josh shoved him back and Nick took a swing at him. Grabbing his arm, Josh pulled the little blond towards him into a tight hug. The little boy wiggled in his grasp, which just made the redhead hard, and he pushed his erection against the boy's lower back. To his surprise the other boy pushed back and looked up at him.

"You want to put it in my butt?"

Josh looked down at the boy, who looked more than eager enough. "I, um, don't have a condom."

"I'll get it!" Nick pushed away from him and before Josh could stop him, he was out of the bathroom, not even bothering to stop for a towel. A moment later, he came back, grinning triumphantly and holding a foil packet in his hand.

Mechanically, he held out his hand for the packet and Nick gave it to him. Josh's eyes drifted down Nick's body, stopping at his little erection. To him it looked just right for his body, but it was thicker than he would've expected. Yesterday, when it had been in his mouth, he had noticed that too, but it didn't really bother him, even though Nick was almost as thick as he was.

Nick made an impatient sound and snatched the foil packet back from him. "I'll put it on for you."

He ripped it open before Josh came back to his senses and said, "Hey?"

The boy ignored him, pulled the kid condom free, stepped forward, grabbed Josh's erection and slid it on. Nick grinned up at him and retreated to the opposite wall. There, he spread his legs and leaned against the wall with his back to him.

It took Josh a second to realize that was the position Nick wanted to have sex in, but there was something unsatisfying about it. He walked over and pulled Nick around by his arm. Nick looked up at him confused. "I want to do it my way," Josh explained.

He pulled the boy under the warm water of the showerhead and leaned down and kissed him. Josh's tongue invaded Nick's mouth. He only put up a token resistance. Josh's arms wrapped around Nick's shoulders and Nick responded by throwing his little arms around Josh's waist. Almost unnoticeably, they started to sink to the floor.

They didn't break the kiss until they were both on their knees. Josh was trying to copy a position he had seen on the Internet, and it took him a few seconds to get it right. Knees slightly spread and his feet under his ass. Nick waited patiently for him to finish before being pulled onto his lap. They kissed again, and it wasn't hard for Josh to imagine himself in one of those cheesy romance movies his sister likes. He imagined they were maybe on a tropical beach with a storm breaking overhead.

With a little assistance from his partner, Josh was able to line himself up with the little boy's hole. When Nick started to push down on Josh's erection, Josh thought he would have certainly bit through his tongue, if it had been between his teeth. The boy was tight and warm. It was everything, and nothing, like he expected.

He was surprised when Nick's butt came to rest on his thighs. Josh looked at Nick who had a small smile on his face and when he pushed up, that smile turned to bliss, as he tried to push him back down. It took them several minutes to find a rhythm, but when they did, it was wonderful.

Josh didn't care they were being filmed. He didn't care that someone could walk in on them. All he cared about was the boy in his arms and the warmth wrapped around his dick. The water didn't let up, but Josh started to feel the rhythmic motion. His back started to hurt a little and his thighs started to burn.

Then, Nick seemed to become tighter around his erection and his little squeaks turned to a higher pitch before going limp in his arms. It was the final thing that pushed Josh over the edge, and with one last thrust, Josh felt his orgasm wash over his body. It was mind blowingly strong, and even as Josh maneuvered the two of them down onto the tile floor, Nick's anus continued to throb.

They both lay there with water still washing over their bodies. Josh pulled out of the younger boy after he laid him down, but it took him another minute to summon the strength to pull off the condom. It took him even longer to summon the strength to sit up and turn off the shower, which was starting to become annoying.

Propping himself against the wall, he looked over at Nick, who was red-faced and panting. Josh wondered if it was the lingering effects of the orgasm, but he was pretty sure he had never desired anyone as much as he did at that moment.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, just looking at each other, but slowly, Nick sat up and crawled over to Josh, who didn't hesitate to throw an arm around him and cuddle up next to him. It was a little weird, sitting on a hard wet floor, but Josh really couldn't bring himself to care.

"I didn't know you could do it like that," Nick said quietly.

Josh hesitated for a second, looking down at the matted wet blond hair "Really? I saw a website that has all sorts of positions to try out. Your teacher never showed you anything like that?"

Nick hesitated, but eventually answered, "No."

Josh nodded, although the boy couldn't see him. "He couldn't have been that good of a teacher then."

Nick seemed to try and bury himself deeper into his bare chest as he said, "I didn't really like him."

The redhead hesitated, but pushed. "Why not?"

"Can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

Josh wondered why the boy had not answered his question, but answered the question posed to him. "Anytime you want too."

Nick looked up at him and kissed him on the cheek. "I like you."

"I like you too." Josh replied, without thinking.

***

Robert's bare feet made little noise as he entered the communal room. The TV showed a bunch of dark clouds shooting lightning. Even without seeing the brown head of hair, he could tell Dave was up. An idea occurred to him and he started edging towards the couch, as quietly as he could. The boy was engrossed in the documentary and he was able to sneak up right behind him before laying a hand on his shoulder and saying too loudly, "Good morning!"

David jumped, and grabbed for the remote as Robert laughed. "Leave it on. I know you're a geek."

"I'm not a geek," Dave said, defensively.

Robert glanced back at the screen, which had some guy talking about lightning. "Whatever you say."

Jumping over the couch, he sat down close to Dave and tried to listen to the documentary, but quickly became bored. "What's this about?"

"Lightning."

"So you like … weather?" He tried to remember the official name for that, but it slipped his mind.

"Meteorology, and not especially."

Robert leaned back and crossed his arms, "So why are you watching it?

"Because it's interesting."

Robert thought that had to be the geekiest thing a geek had ever said. "But you just said you don't like meteorology?"

Dave shot him a glare. "I didn't say I didn't like it."

"So what do you like?"

"Geography and paleontology, but really, I just like learning about stuff."

"Why? Isn't it boring?" Robert questioned.

Without saying a word, David flipped the TV off and looked over at him suspiciously. "What are you doing? We're already allies?"

Robert stared back at the other boy, confused. "Yeah, but does that mean we can't be friends?"

"Friends? You just called me a geek?"

"Well, I think you are one." He saw the other boy's expression start to darken so he quickly added, "That's not a bad thing. I mean, you probably get really good grades and stuff. Besides you are not a geek geek. I mean you're good at playing video games and stuff. So why can't we be friends?"

Dave stared at him for a few seconds and then said, "Are you serious?"

Robert felt his cheeks warming for some reason. "Yeah."

The boy looked away from him and muttered, "I don't really have friends. Don't really know how to be one."

"What? I mean, why?" He shook his head in surprise. "I mean, you have to have friends, right?"

The brunette shook his head. "Not really. Like in kindergarten and first grade, but like you said, I'm smart. I used to always raise my hand to answer questions and always got the right answer. That annoyed everyone, so they just kind of stopped hanging around me. Now I don't raise my hand, but everyone still thinks I'm a showoff."

Robert stared at Dave for a moment, feeling sorry for him. He tried to imagine what it was like not to have friends. Not anyone to hang out with or just talk to. Without really thinking about it, he nudged Dave with his foot and smiled. "So, you want to be my friend then?"

Dave smiled and nodded.

***

Ryan was editing what would become the second episode of the season, when he heard Edward approach from behind him. He had only a few seconds before acknowledging his presence. "Yes?"

"Sir, there's something I think you should see. It might affect the integrity of the show." He placed the laptop down on the table and started to play a conversation between Josh and his uncle.

He listened to the video and felt his stomach sink. When it ended, he nodded and said, "Thank you for bringing this to my attention."

"What are you going to do?" Edward asked.

Ryan thought for a second before saying, "The man was right. We need more information and I know who to call to get it." He turned away, but Edward didn't move, and after a second, he turned back to the intern. "Yes?"

"You can't sit on this."

It took a lot for Ryan to lose his temper, but that implication was enough. He sprang to his feet. "Listen, I know what some of my critics said about me, that I exploit these boys, but that is simply not true. I do everything I can to make this competition safe. I do care about these boys. I love boys and have no desire to see them hurt. Yes, something like this would reflect badly on the show, and I will do everything I can to protect the show, but not at the expense of Nick."

He stared down the younger man before continuing. "I'm going to make a call to someone I use to check out the men who participate in the show. It is a private investigation service. They do good work and are not cheap. If anyone can find evidence, they can. What I will do from there, I'm not sure but I will not cover it up."

Edward looked suitably convinced and Ryan sat back down before adding, "I appreciate your concern, though. To put your mind at ease, stay here and I'll put the conversation on speaker." Of course, Ryan had said that before considering the time difference. Although they were about to land in India, the person he was calling was a workaholic, and even if she wasn't there, someone else would be.

The phone rang twice before a feminine voice answered. "Well if it isn't my best client. Are you already planning another season?"

Despite the situation, he found himself smiling. She had one of those voices that put people at ease. "I'm afraid not Sarah. I need you to investigate someone and I would like you to put your best people on it."

"All my people are the best or they'd be working for someone else," Sarah said this as if it was simply a fact.

"Will I need you to investigate one of the parents of a contestant. There are some questions about his home life. I'm sending you a video."

Chapter Six

Odd Team: Bahram (12yo), Michael (11yo), Robert (10yo), Dave (10yo), Oliver (9yo)

Even Team: Josh (12yo), Philip (11yo), Akira (9yo), Nick (8yo), Lauro (8yo)

Agra India, of all the places Ryan had visited in preparation for this season, had been the one place he wished he could have stayed longer. Maybe he should plan a vacation here after this season was wrapped up. It wasn't just the architecture, but the history. Unfortunately, the remaining eight boys didn't seem to share his interest.

The Taj Mahal and Agra Fort had held their attention, but as the tour continued they became increasingly restless. It had been a little difficult, but they had also gotten a few shots of them apparently enjoying the Akbar's Tomb and Guru ka Tal. He wasn't looking forward to editing all this together. If it wasn't for the deal with the tourist authorities, he would've done it in a montage, but he would have to dedicate at least seven minutes to it now. At least the dinner cruise on the Yamuna River had gone well. Several of the boys had made a game out of how much spicy curry they could eat without drinking something.

That had been yesterday, though, and today, after a more Western-style breakfast, the next leg of the competition was about to start. This particular competition would probably be the most time-consuming as the boys would be given some time to prepare. How long the actual competition would last, well, that was harder to tell. He hoped it would go for some time, if for no other reason, so it could be one of those extended scenes for the platinum release.

The boys filed into the nondescript building and he smiled as he said, "Line up, we're shooting right away." The two groups flanked him, familiar with the routine by now. He caught Edward's eye and the man's expression was colder than before. That hurt and before he could think why that bothered him, he was pulled back to reality.

"Whenever you're ready, we can start filming," the cameraman said.

Ryan shot a glare at the man, only to see that he had missed his mark. Squashing his annoyance, he put on a fake smile and started. "Today, we are at an undisclosed location somewhere in Agra India." He smiled and tried to convey a wink and a nudge to the audience. "Today's competition will be the most challenging yet! The boys so far, have done anal, showed off their creativity, and showed they can suck with the best of them. Now, they will have to use all three of those skills."

The camera light stayed on, but the next part of his speech was just going to be a voiceover as one of the monitors already set up, flickered with an image. It showed a dark room filled with tables and a stage with four poles that should make the purpose of the setup obvious to anyone. The only thing that might throw someone was the large white curtain that stretch from ceiling to floor and divided the room in two.

"The boys will be putting on a bit of a performance today." The shot changed to a backstage room with a large clothing rack that had different costumes of various sizes. "Each team will have three judges. Whichever team makes their judges squirt first without touching them, will win. If the hour passes with no clear winner, then whoever's in the lead will be declared the winner. In the event of a tie, there will be a tie breaker."

The screens went blank. "Now, as for the rules, the performers can do anything they want to, but they cannot touch the judges. Other than that, stay safe and have fun." He clapped his hands together and finished by saying, "Even team, follow the orange markers to your room and Odd team, follow the yellow. Good luck to you all"

***

Josh stared at the rack of clothes before glancing at the full length mirror on the opposite wall. Like the rest of his team, he had hurried here, but now he had no idea what to do. He glanced up at the digital clock and willed the numbers to stand still, but to no avail.

"What should we do?" Nick asked, looking up at him.

He shook his head, "Not really sure."

Akira chimed in, "Were supposed to put on a show right? I mean like stripping and maybe sex with each other? That's what porn is like, right?"

All eyes turned toward Josh and he felt his cheeks turn red, flushed with heat. "Something like that. I mean, it's not like I've seen a lot of it."

"Probably more than any of us," Akira said smiling. "I think you should pick out the costumes because," he pulled down a construction outfit which had plastic tools around its belt "I can't imagine why we would wear this."

***

Robert had tried to hide his satisfaction when he heard the challenge. He had never taken dancing lessons, but he certainly knew how to arouse his coach. The problem was Michael. He had taken charge, which would be fine, but his idea to win was to go straight for sex. Dave and Oliver were going right along with him, but he knew that wasn't going to work. Sex could be really boring to watch. If you wanted to arouse someone, you had to create a little suggestiveness.

He had to make a decision. If he spoke up, he would reveal he had an older partner and he wasn't sure how that would go over. Michael would want to eliminate him partly for opposing his leadership and partly because he would be experienced. It was the latter half that had really worried him. How would the other two vote if they knew about his coach.

If he kept his mouth shut, though, they probably had an even chance of winning or losing. With his alliance with Dave, he was pretty sure he would survive the vote and since his goal wasn't necessarily to win but to survive as long as possible, this would be a better choice. He could almost hear his coach walking him through the problem. The only problem was, he didn't want to lose. He didn't like when it happened in a hockey game and he didn't like when it happened on this show.

"It's not going to work."

Three pairs of eyes turned on Robert, but it was Michael who spoke up. "Why not?" It was a question, but it was said like a challenge.

He took a deep breath, too aware he might be sealing his fate. "Because, if you just go out there and shove your dick up someone, it's going to look pretty boring. It's not like this is a porno movie where there are different camera shots. The judges will only see from where they're sitting. You're going to have to arouse them and then move on to something more."

"And what makes you such an expert?" Michael said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Robert could hear his coach practically screaming at him that he was making a mistake, but he didn't want to lose. "Because, I've done shit like this before. I know how to excite a man."

"You're a bumboy?" Michael said astonished.

He felt himself blush at the slur. No one had ever called him that before. "Yeah, so I actually know a thing or two."

The room grew quiet enough that you could hear a pin drop and then a grin spread across Michael's face as he crossed his arms. "All right, bumboy, you take charge, but if we lose, everyone, including yourself, have to vote you off."

"Fine." Robert agreed, feeling he had just made the biggest mistake of his young life.

***

Ryan smiled to himself. He suddenly realized how he would need to edit, not only this episode, but the third one and maybe go back and change the second one around a little. He would have to emphasize Michael's growing leadership role to make Robert's challenge more dramatic. Of course, what was Michael thinking, using words like bumboy?

He had never deceived himself into believing that all the boys that participated on the show were gay or even bisexual. There was probably a higher percentage of those individuals, but for most, sex would just be play. Still, given Michael's background, he was a little surprised. He came from a same-sex home and his parents had allowed him to participate, so it seemed unlikely they would use such a word. Besides, technically, they were all bumboys by this point.

Was it not a slip, but intentional wording? Was he trying to use the stigma of that word? That would be a risky move, but if the previous seasons had taught him nothing else, it was that kids could be cunning. It made him reconsider his position on confession cams. He would really like to know if something deeper was at work here, but given the ages of the participants, he found it difficult to imagine them spilling their guts. Then an idea hit him. He could prompt them with questions like an interview, but done sort of secretly. He filed the idea away, thinking he might use it for next season.

"Coming up on five minutes," Edward said.

He glanced at the digital clock and shrugged. "It's not a firm deadline, it's just the earliest they can start."

"It's a tough challenge. I wonder if it's even possible."

"It won't be easy," Ryan said, knowing they were just ignoring the elephant in the room. He decided to shoot the damn elephant. "Sarah will probably have something for us by tomorrow. We'll know how to proceed by then."

"Maybe we should tell the authorities anyways," Edward suggested.

"Feel free to do that if you desire to. I'll wait for a report. After all, for all we know Nick has been manipulating Josh." Ryan really didn't believe that, but it gave Edward something to think about.

The remaining time expired without either of them saying a word. Nothing happened right away, but then on the Even Team side there was a flash of blonde hair from around the corner but it quickly withdrew. Ryan put on his headsets just as three heads poked out from around the curtain and he could hear a laugh that was quickly stifled. The second cameraman panned to the judges.

Each team had a set of three judges who were natives of India. Not that this was the first thing anyone would notice. Since the key to this particular challenge was how much the performance could excite the judges, they couldn't allow any external factors to influence them. So, not only were the judges naked, but they were strapped to their chairs, legs spread wide, their members limp and gags in their mouths so they couldn't shout suggestions.

Ryan leaned forward and activated the microphone on the table. "The clock has started."

That seemed to kick everyone into gear and a second later, music started playing from the Even Team's side, an un-remarkable piece with a strong beat. Then, with what had to be a running leap, Nick appeared onstage. The little blonde was barefoot and wearing a pair of cutoff jeans so short that the little white pockets were sticking out. On top of his shorts was a tool belt lined with plastic toys. His chest was bare but on top of his head was an orange hardhat.

The eight-year-old spun around shaking his butt to the beat. Pulling out an orange screwdriver he waved it above his head. It caught the light showing it had lubricant on it. Turning around, he lowered the screwdriver to his waistband before sliding it between his butt cheeks.

The show had started on the other side of the stage with music that sounded like it was coming from a sitar. Robert drifted on stage and his costume could not have been more different than Nick's. He was barefoot but there, the resemblance ended. The boy was covered in veils, each a different pastel color. As he did his best interpretation of a belly dance, veils seemed to slide off. Ryan's eyes flicked over to a third monitor which had a split screen of the judges from overhead. The judges seem to be agreeing with him. Two were hard on Nick side, but all three were hard on Robert's and he was barely bare chested at this point.

Back on the other side, Nick's shorts had fallen and the screwdriver was being used as a dildo. He was joined by the rest of his team. Josh was naked except for an oversized cowboy hat and two six shooters with an oversize belt buckle. Akira was in a brightly colored Speedo. Lauro's hair was tied back into a ponytail and he was already naked and hard.

Josh pulled a plastic hammer from Nick's belt and bending the boy over tapped the screwdriver, causing the boy to jump. The redhead then pulled another screwdriver from the boy's belt and gestured Lauro over. The dark skinned boy dutifully did so, standing on the other side of the older boy. Bending over the boy, he spread his cheeks as the other screwdriver was inserted with a few taps from the hammer.

Josh then gestured for Akira to drop his Speedo even though there were no more screwdrivers. Akira did as he was told but when Josh approached him Akira pushed him over in what seemed like an obviously preplanned move. The Asian boy jumped on the taller boy and snatched one of the guns from his holster, before pointing it at the older boy's head. For a second, there seemed to be a standoff, then the redhead opened his mouth and the boy's captor inserted his half flaccid member.

Back on the other side of the stage, Robert was now naked and gesturing for someone to join him on stage. Dave appeared, already naked, and walked to the other boy who pulled him close and kissed him. It wasn't just a kiss, however, it was a kiss from the end of a romantic movie, long-lost lovers reunited.

"We got one," Edwards said.

Ryan pulled his eyes away from the screen to the one that showed the judges. One on the Odd Team side had definitely ejaculated. The milky white liquid was on the chair in front of him. He pushed a button and there was a buzzing sound as the two scoreboards showed the Odd Team had taken the lead.

On the Even Team's side the boys seemed too engrossed in their performance to notice the buzzing sound. Well, except for Lauro, who was just twisting the plastic screwdriver, still in his ass. Nick had removed his screwdriver and inserted Josh's dick instead. It made Josh almost look like a seesaw, Akira would push down, raising Josh's hips and Nick would push down raising Josh's head.

On the other stage, Robert and Dave were both hard and had taken each other's erection in their hand, stroking it, before separating and heading to the poles. They slowly walked around the poles before waving their butts at the judges. Mike and Oliver came on next, dressed in fairly ordinary clothes. They then proceeded to undress each other. Once Michael's pants were dropped, it was obvious he was already erect. His dick nearly hit the smaller boy in the eye before slapping against Michael's belly. The boy took the thick black organ in his mouth and started to bob up and down its full length. That sent another one of the judges over the edge, making the score 2 to 0 in favor of the Odd Team.

"We could have a shutout." Ryan muttered.

"Yeah," Edward added absentmindedly.

Lauro seemed to be the only person to notice that the score had changed again. He stopped twisting the screwdriver back and forth and glanced at the other three before looking at the judges. Ryan was just starting to wonder what the boy was planning when he suddenly stood and hopped off stage.

"Camera two, follow him," Ryan said into his radio.

The cameraman did as he was told as Lauro kneeled in front of the first judge. He briefly wondered if the boy had forgotten the rule about not touching the judge, but he took a deep breath and slowly started to blow on the man's erection.

"Is that within the rules?" Edward asked.

Ryan thought for a second before smiling. "He's not touching the judge."

The judge had been producing pre-cum and the boy's single, hot breath was apparently the stimulus needed to start shooting. The stream of white liquid hit the boy's face before he could pull away. Ryan put one point up for the Even Team as the boy moved on to the next judge. His three teammates had stopped their show, but the second judge was, if anything, quicker than the first and another point went up on the board for them.

The Odd Team attempted to kick it up another notch. Oliver stood up. Robert and Dave trapped the other two boys between them and started to grind against them. Meanwhile, Lauro had moved onto the third and final judge repeating his previous performance. This man took the longest to shoot, but when he did, it was more than the other two combined, which resulted in Lauro receiving a substantial facial.

Ryan racked up the third point as he flicked on the intercom and announced, "The win goes to the Even Team!"

He decided to do a quick interview with Lauro because he couldn't remember any other time when one boy had won an event for his team so decisively. As the other boys went to clean up, he held the boy back and they both sat down on the stage their legs dangling over the side.

Putting on his best smile he asked. "Lauro, I think your team owes you a big thanks. It looks like you single-handedly won this competition for them."

The boy stared at the camera for a second before smiling nervously and wiping at some white liquid on his ear. "I couldn't have done it without my teammates."

"Modest. So, what gave you the idea and weren't you afraid of being disqualified?"

Lauro smiled nervously. "Last year my parents took me to a water park. I thought it felt really good running around when you're wet. So I thought maybe blowing on a…" he trailed off.

"Erection?" He offered for some reason not wanting to use one of the cruder words.

The boy nodded. "An erection would feel good."

"And you weren't afraid of being disqualified?" Ryan asked reminding him of the second part of his question.

This time he took his time to answer. "Not really. You said we couldn't touch them and I didn't."

He patted the boy on the back affectionately. "Well you certainly didn't and I think you have a fine legal profession in your future." The boy didn't get the joke, but Ryan turned to the camera and said, "Well, thanks to some quick thinking by the youngest member of their team, the Odd Team faces another elimination. Will Robert face the consequences of not winning or will it be someone else. We will find out very soon."

The trip back to the plane was uneventful. The victorious team was tired and the losing team was quiet. Michael seemed pretty confident though.

Back on the plane, the losing team took their seats on the couch and Ryan went into his usual spiel. It really was hard to make it sound exciting every time. He waited for the votes to come in and they surprised him.

"Well, we seem to have a tie between Michael and Robert." All four of the boys looked at each other. "As a result of the tie, we're going to have a revote and if the result is the same, we can go to a tiebreaker." Ryan smiled, even as he tried to remember what he had set up in case of a tie. He honestly couldn't remember. "For this revote, Michael and Robert won't be voting, so it's up to Oliver and Dave." He cleared his screen and said, "Vote now."

Both boys quickly voted and again Ryan was surprised by the results. "Well, it looks like Robert honored his word about voting for himself. Michael, I'm sorry, but you've been voted off."

"What!" Michael stood and glared at his former teammates. "We had an agreement. He's the one who lost us this round!"

To everyone's surprise Oliver jumped to his feet. "You had an agreement, bumboy. I didn't."

While this made for good television Ryan couldn't let an actual fight break out and that was the mood of the room. Interjecting his body between the two boys, he said, as calmly as he could, "Now, let's all be good sportsmen. The team has voted."

To Ryan's relief, Michael was able to get a hold of himself and turned to pack his bags. The goodbye ceremony was a little forced, particularly when it came to Oliver and Michael, who both acted like the other had the plague. Fortunately, he was up for the interview and Ryan decided to add one question beyond the standard ones.

"So what do you think about being eliminated?"

Michael shifted, still angry. "It sucks. I thought I had a deal. Nothing I can do about it now though."

Ryan nodded sympathetically. "Well, what did you think of competing overall?"

The boy smiled a little showing off his white teeth. "It was kind of fun. I mean the food thing was a little weird, but fun."

"What are you going to do when you get home?"

"Well, it's still summer vacation." He hesitated and Ryan waited, knowing he was going to get something out of the boy. "I was hoping, if I won the competition, my dads would let me do something. You see, there's this friend of the family, and, you know, I always wanted to do stuff with him, but my dads say I'm not mature enough. I was hoping to show them that I'm ready."

"So, do you regret calling Robert a bumboy?" He didn't add, "because you want to be one."

The boy had enough sense to look ashamed. "It slipped out. I didn't really mean anything by it."

Ryan wasn't so sure of that, but he didn't see any way to press the issue. "Alright, thanks for competing. There's a car at the bottom of the stairs and it'll take you to your plane. Enjoy your first-class trip home."

Chapter Seven

Odd Team: Bahram (12yo), Michael (11yo), Robert (10yo), Dave (10yo), Oliver (9yo)

Even Team: Josh (12yo), Philip (11yo), Akira (9yo), Nick (8yo), Lauro (8yo)

"Thanks for not voting me off guys," Robert said, shifting uncomfortably as he faced his two teammates.

"Michael was a jerk," Oliver said dismissively before walking past Robert into the showers.

He watched Oliver go before turning back to Dave, who was examining the wall, which suddenly made him feel very nervous. Was Dave having second thoughts now that he knew about his older friend?

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Robert swallowed the lump in his throat and shrugged. "It never came up." Dave glared at him and started to turn and walk away. Robert grabbed his arm, "It's not like it's something you tell people."

"We're all bumboys." Dave snapped, repeating what Oliver had said earlier.

"No, we're not." Seeing the confusion in the other boy's face, Robert explained. "I like the stuff I do with my Coach. I like sucking his cock. I like when he sucks mine. I like when he puts it in me. I like when he kisses me and hugs me and just about everything else we do. This show is different. I'll admit I'm having fun, but it's not the same. It feels different."

"So I'm just fun?" Dave asked.

"What? No, I like you. We're friends. I like doing stuff with you."

Dave was still frowning, not understanding, and Robert couldn't even guess at what his friend didn't understand. "So you love him?"

Robert felt his face turn red just like when his mom asked him that question. "I don't know. I like him."

"Like you like me?" Dave asked.

"No, I don't know. It's different." Robert didn't like talking about feelings like this. It was uncomfortable and that was when he had an idea. "Dave, you want to talk to him?"

"Hm?"

Robert grabbed Dave's arm and pulled him to his room. He was already making the call before he glanced at the time and realized it was 6:30 in the morning there. Well his coach was usually up by now. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but his coach would help him out. He always did.

The connection finally came through and his Coach appeared on the screen a little bleary-eyed. "Robert?"

"Hey, Coach. Sorry, I thought you would be up."

"Robert, I only get up early when I have to or when you," he trailed off, his eyes focusing on Dave. "Hey there."

Robert pulled Dave to the center of the screen. "Coach this is my friend Dave. Dave this is my Coach, he's my older friend."

They muttered greetings to each other before a silence fell that hung over their respective continents. Robert was just starting to think this might not have been a good idea when his Coach spoke up again.

"Dave, if you don't mind me asking, do you have an older friend?"

"No sir."

Robert smiled as his Coach laughed. "Please don't call me sir. It makes me feel old. Still, it's interesting. Robert's never introduced me as his older friend before, to any of his friends at least. He must really like you."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I mean his parents know and everything, but as friends go, you're the first. Where about do you live?"

Dave hesitated, but answered. "Near Winnipeg, outside of a small town. Why?"

His coach nodded to himself. "Well, if you two want to stay in contact after the show, I could probably drive Robert to your house on occasion. That is, if you want to hang out and your parents are okay with it. Just saying, I'd be happy to help you out there."

"You would do that?" Dave asked.

"I don't see why not. Robert seems to like you and he trusts you."

"Maybe?" Dave said noncommittally.

"Well, I'll just leave it up to you and Robert to sort out those details. Talk to you later Robert, and it was nice meeting you, Dave."

With that, the call ended and Robert shifted, still uncomfortable. His coach usually came through for him.

"He seems nice," Dave said.

Robert shrugged. "He is, most of the time. I don't like when he teases me sometimes but, you know."

"Yeah, so I'm really the first of your friends to meet him?"

"Well, he's a coach for my hockey team, but you're the first to know we do stuff. It's not something I really want everyone to know. My brother picks on me sometimes because of it."

"So, you two really do it?" Dave questioned.

"Well, yeah." Robert glanced down at the floor.

"Why?" Dave asked.

"Because it's nice and I like it." Robert suddenly had the feeling that this conversation was going to be like ones he had with his brother and those didn't end well.

"I don't like doing it."

Robert looked up suddenly angry and demanded, "Then why have you been doing it with me all this time?"

The other boy took a step back and he looked like a dog that just had his nose whacked with a newspaper. "Not the stuff with you, with them, the men."

"Oh, okay. It never looks like you're having much fun. It's not for everyone I guess." Robert had a thought, but he had to know something first. "Are we still friends or you just angry at me?"

Dave smiled nervously, "Sorry. I was just… never mind."

Robert smiled and nodded. "Well, do you want to stay in contact after the show? We could call our parents and see what they think."

"Alright, but maybe we should wait a while. I don't think mine will be up yet."

"Yeah, mine neither. We could pass some time in bed if you want?" Robert was actually hoping for that. The last round ended before he could deal with his hardon.

Dave's shoulders slumped. "If you want, but I'm really not in the mood."

"That's okay. Let's grab the TV before anyone else leaves their room."

***

Lauro's car crashed into a barricade and spun back into the street taking out several other racers which in turn crashed into others. The game immediately launched into an instant replay from a higher angle as the other boys shouted and laughed. Smiling, he handed off the controller to Dave who was next. As he settled back into the couch he felt a tap on the shoulder and looked up to see Oliver standing behind the couch.

"Follow me," the boy said, nodding towards the rooms.

Lauro glanced back at the screen, but it would be a while before his turn came around again. Getting up, he followed the boy to his room wordlessly. Oliver hopped onto his bed and gestured for him to close the door before speaking up. "So you're in the same position I am in."

"What?" Lauro said confused.

"We're both going to be eliminated when our teams lose next."

"What? I'm not going to be eliminated. Why are you saying that? You don't know!" He would've left right then if Oliver hadn't propped himself up on his elbows and gave him a pitying look.

"You haven't noticed?" The boy took his silence as a yes. "Josh, Nick and Akira are going to stick together and vote you off next. It's the same for me with Dave and Robert."

Lauro frowned. He hadn't really thought about it. "But I won the last round for my team? Isn't that important?"

The other boy shrugged. "Not really. The best you can hope for is that your team doesn't lose any more rounds because when there are five or six players left, that's when the teams are dissolved usually. Either way, it's one of us who is going to get kicked out next."

It took Lauro a moment to understand what Oliver was saying. Oliver really hadn't talked much to anyone, so Lauro didn't really know if he was trustworthy, but now that he thought about it, Josh and Nick were usually together. They even slept in the same room. Akira seemed to like Nick, but he hadn't thought this competition was about friendship. Why try your hardest if it didn't matter? He chewed on his lower lip for a moment trying to figure it out.

Reluctantly, he came to the conclusion that he had voted Philip off because he hadn't liked him. Philip had not cost them the round or anything, and if anything, had probably helped them win the first one. He had sort of kept to himself, unlike the others, so he guessed what Oliver was saying made sense. It kind of hurt, though, since his teammates had been so nice. Lauro stared down at his sock covered feet, realizing he had failed his parents.

"Don't cry, I have an idea," Oliver quickly spoke up.

Lauro sniffed and wiped his eyes just to be sure. "I'm not crying."

"Whatever," Oliver said swinging his legs over the side of his bed and gesturing for him to come closer. The darker skin boy did so eagerly. "You know we can drop out right?"

"Yeah, but then we can't win," Lauro said frowning in confusion.

"True, but no one has ever done it."

"How do you know?"

Oliver shifted and looked a little chagrin. "My brother has an older friend and he's a big fan of the show. He told me all about it."

"An older friend?" Lauro echoed. The word sounded familiar, but he couldn't place it.

"He's a bumboy," Oliver said.

That word clicked immediately. It was like a bad word you weren't supposed to say so of course he had heard it. "Oh."

"It's not a bad thing. He's a really nice guy and my brother has been a lot nicer to me since they started hanging out. They even let me come along sometimes when they go out."

"Yeah I get it, I guess." Lauro said quickly, remembering Zeke. The man had been nice and gentle, and he really hadn't minded getting caught, except for the fact that his team lost. He really hadn't liked the wrestling, but perhaps if it had been with Zeke it might've been different. Then he tried to imagine Zeke's penis going into him and he had second thoughts.

"Earth to Lauro, you still there?"

He shook his head to clear it. "Yeah."

"So anyway the show has to be prepared for at least one of us quitting. I mean if one of us went home early they would lose an episode or at least a challenge. However, if both of us threatened to quit then maybe we could cut a deal."

"A deal?" He wasn't following the other boy's thoughts.

"Yeah, Alex that's the name of my brother's friend said it would be worth a try if I got into a situation like this."

"What type of deal?" Lauro said again.

Oliver shrugged. "Maybe we could have them break down the teams now or at least get a little more money. If that happened the two of us could make the alliance with one of the others, probably Robert and David."

"Why not the others?" He sort of felt some loyalty to his team.

The older boy rolled his eyes which made Lauro a little angry. "Because right now, unless your team hit a losing streak, it's going to come down to the three of them. I don't know if Akira is planning anything but I know Josh and Nick are special friends so they are going to be in the finals unless one of them is eliminated. If we could team up with David and Robert, we get rid of one of them."

Lauro thought about it for a second and he started to feel something in his stomach. His mom always told him that was his conscience telling him he was about to do something wrong. "It's not right."

"It's not wrong either," Oliver countered. "There's no rule against it. I mean they didn't say we could form alliances, but everyone but you and I have."

He frowned, sort of understanding what Oliver was saying, but it still didn't feel right. "I don't know. Let me think about it. You're smarter than I am."

"A lot of people tell me that," Oliver said grinning showing off his perfect teeth. "One of my teachers told me that if my mom didn't take me to so many damn modeling shoots I could've skipped a grade."

Lauro didn't like the swearing, but seized the opportunity to change the subject. "You don't like modeling?"

"It's all right, and I kind of like getting out of school sometimes, and sometimes it's fun. Like this one time, I was doing a bathing suit shoot with a friend of mine. Anyway, he got hard for some reason so the photographer told him to go deal with it. So he went to do that and I followed him and gave him a blow job. Of course, that got me hard and he had to give me a blow job. Now every time we work together, we have to do that beforehand."

"Really? I never did anything like that until I got on the show."

"What? Never?"

Lauro shook his head.

"I have two friends I mess around with. So, you have an answer yet?" Oliver grinned.

"I don't know."

"I'll do all the talking." Oliver offered.

Lauro was caught. On one hand he wanted to do the right thing, but on the other hand, he didn't want to lose. In the end, though, it came down to money. Money was why his parents worked so hard. Money got you things. That was easy enough to work out. Besides, if it wasn't against the rules then it was only sort of wrong, "I'm in."

***

"Two of the contestants want to see you." Edward announced to Ryan.

Edward's voice pulled Ryan out of his thoughts. "What?"

"Two of the contestants are requesting a meeting." Edward said slowly.

"Alright, show them in," Ryan said, standing from the editing table. The only reason a contestant would want to see him was either there was something very wrong, or they wanted to drop out. The latter had only happened once before, during the first season. He had been able to convince the kid to sleep on his worries and the kid ended up taking second place. That was one of the reasons he insisted on a participation fee to avoid that situation again. Of course, something being wrong seemed unlikely, since there were cameras everywhere, except for the toilet.

As he stepped into his rarely used office, he found the two boys already waiting for him. Oliver and Lauro was a combination he had not been expecting. "Boys, sit. What's up?" He tried to sound confident and casual, but the pessimist inside him was saying something was very wrong.

The two boys plopped into the available chairs, Lauro in a very defensive posture his arms crossed over his chest, while Oliver was looking confident.

"We're out," Oliver said without preamble.

The words hit Ryan like a truck, but it took him a second to recover. "Both of you?"

"Yeah, me and Lauro talked about it. We both want out." Oliver said quickly.

Ryan glanced over at Lauro who shifted uncomfortably. The boy probably hadn't spent any time in the principal's office or in front of a teacher for that matter. "May I ask why?"

The question was directed at Lauro, but Oliver answered. "Because we know we're going to be eliminated, so why bother?"

"You'll be forfeiting your participation fee. You know that right?" Ryan said, knowing something was up, but not sure what. He had worked on this show long enough to know kids could come up with plans, even if they weren't always well thought out.

"Only part of it," Oliver chimed in. "If we choose to leave the show before being eliminated, we receive a thousand for every episode we were in." He smiled, "My mom read the contract very carefully. She's good at things like that."

Ryan wasn't sure if that was accurate or not. Sure, he knew the broad outlines of the contract, but when it came down to the nitty-gritty stuff, legal was in charge of that. "Well, that may be, but why not stick around and get the full amount. You get that no matter when you're eliminated."

"Yeah, but then you wouldn't lose two episodes if we did that." Oliver grinned, as he played his trump card.

At that moment, Ryan realized two things. The first was that someone had to have helped Oliver with this plan. It was too abstract for a kid. The second thing was, this was a negotiation which was worrying. "I'm guessing there's something that would keep you here?"

"Yeah, more money, or you could dissolve the teams now and give us a fighting chance," Oliver said, relaxing his posture.

"I see," Ryan said as he leaned back in his chair and thought. He juggled things in his head. Someone had clearly thought this through. He could argue that this was in breach of contract, but the critics of the show would latch onto that, and much like the Nicholas situation, it was publicity he didn't need. More money would require clearance from higher up and he didn't like the idea of angering them. Dissolving the teams while there were still seven contestants left would seem odd to the viewers.

He thought about the future events he had planned and an idea occurred to him. "Why not a third option? In the later rounds, voting is usually done away with and one of the later events was designed so that the winner could kick anyone off. I'll make that the next one. Then you'll just have one round before the teams are broken down. How's that sound?"

For the first time Oliver looked over at Lauro clearly unsure what to do. His confidence was gone and that confirmed to Ryan that someone else had planned this. They weren't prepared for a third option. He made a mental note to exclude anyone who had any show business experience from future competitions.

"That sounds good. Right, Lauro?" Oliver asked, as the other boy nodded.

"Well, I'm glad we could work this out. I wish you both the best of luck."

Both the boys nodded and left, looking relieved that the meeting was over with. Once they were gone, Ryan just shook his head. He was annoyed, but kind of felt bad. Lauro had seemed more terrified than when he had been caught during Cowboys and Indians. He supposed it was inevitable though. Parents or other adults would suggest strategies to their kids. He made a mental note to look over the contracts more thoroughly before next season started.

Leaning back in his chair, he thought about taking a nap when there was another knock on the door. "Come in." Ryan said, without opening his eyes.

"Sarah's on the line for you," Edward said closing the door behind him.

When it rains it pours Ryan thought as he opened his eyes just in time to see Edward take one of the vacated chairs. He wasn't sure if he liked the young man's assumption or not as he hit speaker on the old-style phone. "Sarah, you have good news I hope."

"I have news," she said, her voice sounded unusual. "This woman is a real coldhearted bitch."

Ryan felt like he was in freefall. He knew Sarah on a professional level and in all that time, she had never been anything but professional, delivering her oral reports in a calm and collected manner. Then again, she'd never found anything too bad before.

"Is it that bad?" Ryan questioned.

"Ryan, there's something you don't know about me. I have a special place in my heart for kids. I like them, they are very genuine. The more investigations I do, the more I like them. There's so much crap out there and I'm not just talking about spouses cheating on each other. I've investigated politicians; have done counter corporate espionage and the bread and butter of my company is background checks. I've seen a lot, but this woman is in a special class I haven't seen outside of the Third World before."

"Details Sarah, please." He really didn't want to hear more. So far, he had put the situation off to one side and pretended everything would be okay, but it was becoming all too real now.

"Right, well, I did a background check on her before for you, and don't think someone's not going to lose their job over missing something like this, but Rachel Douglas is 32 years old, single, and lives with her one son. She went to college and got a degree in French literature and with that type of education she ended up working for a rather racy bordello called the Lakefront. It's licensed, legal and generally, a pretty high-class place.

"Rachel was never a prostitute though. She's worked there as a waitress and tips are pretty good. Her current coworkers say she's a bit distant, but you pretty much know all this already. Here's the first piece of new information. We tracked down one of her old coworkers who told my investigator that Rachel had a little side business going. Like I said before, this bordello is pretty high-class. They have live performances and everything. To actually have sex with a girl is pretty pricey, so those who can't afford one of the girls, can afford Rachel. I'm guessing, one of these men turned out to be Nicholas' father since he's not named on his birth certificate.

"She's not licensed, so it's illegal, but that's just a fine these days. I doubt the owners would approve, though, since they would be facing a much larger fine. Anyway, for whatever reason, she kept the baby. Everyone says he's a sweet kid. I guess gold can come from shit."

"Sarah, with all due respect, this isn't what I was asking you to investigate."

"This is background." A sound came over the phone like she was adjusting her chair and Ryan could almost picture her rolling her eyes. "Anyway, that was years ago. She's getting a bit long in the tooth for it. In fact, I would say she stopped her side business about a year after her kid was born. Her spending habits changed, not dramatically, but subtly."

"How could you tell that?" Ryan asked, interrupting her again.

An audible sigh came through the phone. "Laws can be such an impediment sometimes. Not saying I broke any, just saying."

"I see." Ryan decided not to ask more questions.

"Anyway, in the last two months her spending habits had reverted to when she had her side business. So, we thought to look into her e-mails and lo and behold, we found a brief correspondence that she attempted to delete. Not sure exactly where she met this guy, but they were pretty blunt. She was prostituting her son for $1000. They've set up another appointment for after the show ends too. Either, she doesn't have much confidence he'll win or she's just covering her bases. The next time only cost $250 by the way."

Ryan felt his stomach turn. Watching the kids during the events and over the closed-circuit camera, you could get a pretty good sense of their personality. Nick was sweet and he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the show and being a prostitute, at least not just yet. And it didn't help that accusation was often leveled at his show, which the media would jump all over. Once this hit the media, he was probably going down. "Alright Sarah, thank you. We will proceed from here."

"Wait Ryan, what are you going to do?" Sarah asked.

"What else? Tell the cops."

"When did you get stupid?" Sarah said calmly. "Most of the stuff I have won't stand up in court. At least not the way I obtained it. Besides, Rachel Douglas may be a worthless human being, but she's clever. You only had suspicions when you came to me, which wasn't enough for the cops. You might get her on tax evasion, but like I said, she's clever. She puts her legitimate money in bank accounts and pays all the necessary taxes and then lives off the other stuff. It's pretty subtle and for the amounts involved, I doubt they'll bother. The best thing we could do right now is to make an anonymous tip to the cops and that could take months unless the boy would go along with the cops."

"It's the right thing to do," Edward said, speaking up for the first time. "We can't let this go on."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line and then Sarah said softly, "Who are you?"

"His name is Edward and he's one of my interns. He was worried about Nick and wasn't sure if I would do the right thing." Ryan wondered if he should of mentioned that earlier.

"I see. Well, that's not something I was worried about with you, Ryan. Despite what people say, I know when push comes to shove, you come through. Besides, our top priority should be protecting Nick. Not sure how child welfare services work these days, but I was in one of those systems and it's not ideal. It's a bit on the shady side, but if we can get him away from his mother he would be out of danger. I say we show her some of what we've obtained, then according to the profile I have developed, she would be inclined to sign over custody. She's quite a narcissist after all."

"Would it really be that easy?" Edward asked.

"Well, I presumed you would want to follow this strategy because it has the highest probability of success. I'm searching for relatives right now, but no luck as of yet. Her parents both died when she was in her 20's, so no loving grandpa or grandma. We'll continue the search though. You just have to keep Nick away from his mother for now. This is, of course, unless one of you wanted to try to go to the cops, which has a pretty low probability of success, in my professional opinion."

Ryan looked at Edward, who didn't seem too happy, but then again, he wasn't happy either. Still, this strategy Sarah was suggesting, seemed promising. There was a nagging part of him that questioned if he was doing this because he thought it was best for Nicholas or best for the show. Scandal seemed to loom either way. "Thanks Sarah. Keep us posted."

NEXT PART