Sam the Ham

Sexing For A Million

Chapters 8-14

Chapter Eight

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 smiled at Nick as he jumped around naked, pretending the dildo in his hand was a microphone. The song he was attempting to sing was one Josh's sister usually listened to. Well, Josh was pretty sure it was the same song, enough of the lyrics were right, but the blonde also seemed to be making up some as he went along. A detached part of his brain wondered why he was indulging Nick. Then the boy turned and wiggled his butt and he remembered why.

Nick was cute. He was also just fun to be around. Josh wondered if this was what it was like to have a little brother, but then again brothers weren't supposed to do what they did together. So maybe he was in love. His dad joked that girls made boys stupid and Nick was doing that to him. They had switched their handheld video game systems so Nick now had the newer one. Then, when he had called home last night, he had introduced Nick to his mom. It was only after the phone call that he started to wonder what his mom was thinking.

Alright, his parents probably strongly suspected he was gay at least. Going on the show was probably a big red flag to them because they didn't know that he knew about his diagnosis. So, they were probably okay with that. Now, whether they would be okay with him having an eight-year-old boyfriend, well he was pretty sure they wouldn't be expecting that in the least. After another second of reflection, he had to admit that Nick probably didn't think of them as boyfriends either. They were just friends who messed around, which wasn't too uncommon. If Nick did think they had a special relationship, why was Akira sitting next to him on the bed naked?

Sparing a glance over at the other boy, Josh guessed he was enjoying the show, judging by how hard he was. Josh added jealousy to his list of reasons he was probably in love with Nick. Damn, maybe those terrible teen romance movies his sister likes were not that far-off. This was all the fault of the next challenge too. They had been advised that it would be a good idea to use the dildo they all had in their rooms before they landed. Nobody had been offered to help them this time, which he was secretly grateful for. That first time had been really embarrassing for him, though, he really didn't care anymore. He just wished he had waited to ask Nick if he wanted any help after Akira had gone to his room because the little blonde turned around and invited his other friend right away. Now that he thought about it, he wondered if he should have invited Lauro too, even if he was the next on the chopping block. His conscience was bothering him about that, but he pushed it aside.

Instead, he just concentrated on listening to the song and then they would get to work. He briefly toyed with the idea of a threesome to relax them. It was kind of fun how they had done it on the stage and that only reminded him that Lauro had been the one to save the day there and that made him feel guilty again. The kid deserved better.

When Nick had finished butchering the song, Josh slipped out of bed and kissed him on the forehead before slipping behind him and delivering a slap on his butt. Nick jumped onto the bed holding his offended posterior. "Meany," Nick shouted at him.

"Yeah, I am mean."

"Yes you are," Akira agreed.

Akira and Nick looked at each other and said simultaneously. "Let's get him."

The two boys pounced, each grabbing one of his arms and pulling him down. Someone jumped onto his back and he felt a slap on his ass. Rolling over, he hooked the leg of the kid sitting on his back and reversed their position. It was Akira and with his shoulders pinned against the floor, he tried to get free by swinging his legs around but Josh kept a tight hold on his thigh.

"Help!"

Nick came to his friend's aid by pushing Josh, but the room had run out of space so he hit the wall and was able to hold onto Akira's one leg as he slid down. Locking his legs around Akira he grabbed Nick's forearm and wrist. The boy tried to twist away, but he just ended up having his arms crossed as Josh pulled him down next to Akira who tried to dart away but not fast enough.

Josh now had both of the boy's legs beneath his own and on their stomachs. They tried to squirm away but with no luck. "Hey twin moons." Josh said running his hand from one to the other. "You give."

"Never," Nick shouted as Akira's body shook with laughter.

Josh sighed, "All right, but you made me play the drums." Before either boy asked what he meant he slapped one cheek and then the other in rapid succession.

"I give," Akira cried.

"Me too," Nick added.

Josh shifted his weight and the two boys scurried out from under him. Nick, however, immediately turned and pounced, wrapping his arms around his neck. "That was mean."

He kissed the blonde on the cheek and let his hand slide down Nick's back to his butt. "Did I hurt you?"

"No." Nick replied while trying to sound as if he was angry and failing. "It was just mean."

Unexpectedly, Akira crawled up to join them and curled up on his side. Josh threw an arm around him just for comfort but the boy seemed determined to use him as a pillow.

"That was fun," Akira announced. "I can't ever do that stuff at home."

"Have your butt smacked like a bongo drum?" Josh asked.

Akira giggled and moved closer. "No," he drew out the word. "Rough housing. When I have a friend over, we can't make too much noise since someone's always studying."

"What about when you go over to their place?" Nick asked.

"Sometimes, but my mom doesn't let me do that too much."

"That sucks," Josh said weakly.

"I never slept away from my parents until I came here. I was kind of scared at first, but it's kind of fun," Akira said.

"Yeah, I wanted to go home at first too, but now I'm glad I didn't." Nick said.

"Out of curiosity," Josh asked, "what do you think of the events?"

"They're okay," Akira said. "Some of them are fun."

"Like when we got to dress up like Indians and run around the woods." Nick supplied. "Which one was your favorite, Josh?"

That was a question Josh hadn't thought about. He had been thinking of the events as challenges, something to be overcome and not enjoyed. Still he thought about it. Even though he was pretty sure he was gay anal was definitely not his preference or at least being on the receiving end. Being in Nick's ass on the other hand was something else. "The last one, it was fun working together."

"Yeah," both of the boys echoed.

The two boys started talking over each other, telling each other how awesome they thought it was. He tried to get a word in edgewise, but the two boys had retreated into their own world of half sentences. He tried to listen and follow but then a knock at the door interrupted the conversation.

"It's event time."

"What?" Nick said.

"We didn't prepare," Akira said worriedly.

"I know," Josh echoed realizing it was his fault for not keeping them focused.

***

Lauro sat in his room, his stomach tied in knots. He wasn't sure if he was feeling bad because his teammates had so completely ignored him or was just nervous about the next event. Then again, maybe it was just what he was planning to do that was getting to him. There was a part of him that wanted to call his mom, but he also felt like he had to deal with this on his own. That was how he had dealt with everything so far. Even after his parents had agreed for him to go on the show, they still had told him they didn't want him to go. He was starting to think they were right.

The plane was fun, particularly the video games and the big screen TV. He liked some of the places they had gone and then there was Zeke, who he had really liked. Unfortunately, the other events had not all been like that. He had hated the first one and judging by what they were told, this next one would be like that and he had to win. Maybe if he was always partnered with Zeke, he would feel different, but then he remembered how big his erection had been, a lot bigger than his yellow dildo.

He wanted to go home.

There was a knock at his door followed by Oliver shouting, "Can I come in?"

Lauro smiled. Oliver was another nice thing about being on the show. "Yeah, come in."

The nine-year-old stuck his head around the door and smiled broadly. "You haven't started yet? Good." Stepping into the room with his arms full of his own dark purple dildo and some lubricant, he kicked the door closed behind him. "Everyone else is doing this together, so I figure we should too." Oliver dropped his stuff onto the bed and gave him a little shy look. "Actually, I've never done this by myself, so I was really hoping you would at least help me."

Lauro frowned, "Didn't you get that package before coming on the show?"

Yeah, but first my brother's friend helped me out with it and then when my brother put an end to that, my two friends helped me." Oliver glanced over at him. "No one helps you?

He shook his head no.

"Wow, um well…" Oliver trailed off and then said, "Well, I think it's easier when someone helps you and in fact," he did a weird deep voice, "I guarantee it."

Lauro frowned in confusion.

Oliver was giving him a skeptical look in return. "You've never seen Middle School? It's like the most popular show ever."

"I've heard of it, but haven't seen it. I don't have cable."

"What? You're parents have something against cable or something?" Oliver asked.

"No, we're just poor." Lauro said flatly. Oliver seemed a little uncomfortable and Lauro didn't like that so he explained. "Well, not really. My parents send some money to relatives in the Philippines. A little here goes a lot there." That was the expression his parents used.

Oliver plopped down onto the bed next to him. "So you're originally from the Philippines?"

Lauro shook his head. "No, I was born in Canada. I've never been there."

"Oh," Oliver seemed to consider and then asked, "Is that why you're hair is so long? I mean is it because your parents are originally from the Philippines?"

Unconsciously Lauro touches his long dark hair and pulled some so that some of it was in front of his eyes. "No. My mom just says she likes it on me. Why would you think that?"

Oliver shrugged, "Foreign customs are weird."

Lauro's brow crinkled with thought. "Like what?"

Oliver shrugged again. "I don't know. My mom was born in Canada and my dad was born somewhere else. My mom doesn't talk about it but my brother told me they used to fight a lot. He once told me, but I don't believe him, that our mom changed both of our first names when my father left."

Lauro fiddled with the dildo in his lap. He really didn't know what to say to Oliver's story. The silence between them stretched into minutes. Eventually he said, "So, um shouldn't we do this. They said we should."

"Yeah," Oliver chimed in. "How do you do this by yourself? Maybe I'll try it that way and you can try it my way."

"Oh, um okay. I just took off my clothes and put on some stuff and just sort of squat down on it. What about you, Oliver?"

The other boy was sort of staring at him and then asked, "You didn't get off before?"

"Get off?" Lauro repeated not understanding.

Oliver gave him an odd look and then said, "Getting off, jerking off, masturbating?"

"Oh yeah, masturbating. I never heard it called that before." He felt a blush warm his cheeks. Oliver seemed to know a lot more than he did.

"Yeah, well getting off relaxes you and it goes in easier. It's also easier if someone else puts it in for you. At least I think so." Oliver grinned, "So, you want to get started?"

Lauro nodded. "I can masturbate while you try it my way."

"Well, we could do it that way," Oliver said, "but blow jobs are better."

Lauro's eyes widened. "You would do it just like that?"

"Why not?" Oliver asked, "It's not like it's a big deal."

Lauro kind of thought it was a big deal, but he could see what Oliver was saying. He had done so many things since coming on the show it was weird. What was even weirder though was he didn't think they were weird. They just sort of happened. If he was at home maybe he would've thought twice about undressing in front of another boy, but now he didn't think twice about it especially since Oliver was doing the same.

They faced each other both taking a good real look at the other. For once they weren't racing a clock and Lauro suddenly felt a little shy. He started to cover up, but Oliver stopped him by grabbing both of his wrists.

"Come on, let me see." Oliver released his wrists and ran a finger from base to tip. "It's long. Does it get bigger or does it just get wider?"

Lauro giggled nervously. "I don't know."

The other boy smile turned sly, "Well, I'll have to find out." He started to stroke it and Lauro twisted away only to be pushed down on the bed. Oliver's hand found its way between Lauro's legs.

"Stop," Lauro said, even as he laughed.

Oliver rolled Lauro onto his back and ran his thumb up the Filipino's length and rubbed the tip with his two fingers. "You still want me to do it?"

Lauro nodded wondering if it would be like the time with Zeke. Oliver spread his legs and stroked him a few times before leaning down. Lauro watched with fascination as the other boys head lowered even as his two fingers holding his erection made small circles. The small movements made Lauro push his hips into the mattress. Oliver's tongue quickly shot out and did a quick circle around his tip before quickly flicking back and forth on the underside of his head.

Lauro felt that funny, good feeling rising again as Oliver's tongue slathered over his erection. His toes curled and his hands gripped the sheets as a warm feeling rushed through his body. The peak of the good feeling lasted only a few seconds, but the warm relaxed feeling lingered. At least until Oliver grabbed the pillow from underneath his head. "Hey," Lauro objected weakly.

"Rollover and tuck your knees under you," Oliver ordered.

Lauro did as he was told trusting Oliver who slipped the pillow underneath his chest before spreading his legs a little and then tickled the bottom of his foot which caused him to giggle. "Stop that!"

"Ticklish? That's good to know." Lauro was about to ask why, when he felt something slip between his butt cheeks. "Ready?"

Hesitantly Lauro nodded but after a moment, realized that Oliver couldn't see, so he said, "Yeah."

"All right, here it comes."

Lauro braced himself for the pain or at best the discomfort, but it didn't come. Instead he felt the hard thing making small circles around his butt hole. Distractedly he tried to remember the proper name for that part of his body. His parent's reminder not to use slang because it was only used by the uneducated and lazy came through even now.

As Lauro tried to remember the proper word, he didn't notice the increasing pressure at first. Then he couldn't miss it and before it was a half an inch in he had tensed up, fingers tightening and toes curling.

"Relax." Oliver ordered.

"I am." Lauro grunted even though he wasn't. Then he felt a finger stroking the sole of his foot. It kind of felt good but not like it usually did. Then a few more fingers were added and unconsciously he was smiling again. He was aware when Oliver started to push in again, but it slid in a little easier. Then it reached that point where there wasn't resistance and it kind of felt good but not that good.

When Oliver stopped pushing it in Lauro could feel the dildo being pushed back out by his body. When he had done this at home he usually just held it in there, but Oliver seemed to have a different opinion. Without warning Oliver threw his body onto Lauro's back and his arms around the Filipino boy before they both collapsed onto the mattress.

Oliver gave Lauro a peck on the cheek and asked, "How are you doing?"

"Not bad," Lauro said, his voice sounding strange even to his ears.

"We'll just stay like this for a little. So did I tell you your hair is longer than my girlfriends?"

Lauro was caught offguard, "What?"

"Well maybe not longer just as long." Oliver said casually.

"Girlfriend?" Lauro repeated confused.

"Not like that. She's a girl who is a friend." Oliver repeated.

"Oh, guess I have a few of those," Lauro said slowly. "So you don't like kiss or anything?"

"No, but I kind of think she's pretty," Oliver giggled which caused Lauro to smile.

They continued to talk and looking back Lauro would think it was kind of weird. They were lying on the same bed naked with a dildo in one of them and they were just talking like it was completely normal. It kind of worked though. He could always feel that something was inside him but it almost felt good.

Then there was a knock at the door saying it was competition time. When the dildo was pulled out of Lauro he felt very greasy down there. He didn't like it. As they were starting to get dressed, he realized that Oliver hadn't done anything. "What about you? Don't you need to stretch?"

Oliver shrugged, "No time. I'll be okay."

Lauro frowned at the other boy suddenly feeling guilty.

***

Ryan looked around thinking this was not too bad for a rush job. Finding people at the last minute had not been too hard and the men had not complained about being called up early. Well except for the two that wouldn't be participating this time around. They would get to go to the finals so it was a wash as far as he was concerned.

His eyes wandered over the red curtains that now formed a small room in a large hangar. The lights that illuminated the inside of the small room were not too bright, unless you looked right at them and they did make the fake Persian rug look good. Then his eyes roamed along the materials that would be used for the actual competition. Two pommel horses, one red and the other blue stood in the center of the room. The only modifications to the two horses was the addition of a small electronic bell located at the bottom of each.

Grimacing he shook his head. He had a complicated relationship with his fans. He had never done any official analysis, but from the Internet community that had sprung up around the show he had a certain opinion of the average viewer. For the most part they were attracted to boys and genuinely liked them. Oddly though, there was a growing number that just seem to enjoy the show. Small groups would form on the Internet rooting for one boy or another. It was funny to watch the forums where people would argue why person A would obviously win over person B. and so on. It was good natured.

Then there was a small group that he didn't like. A group that always wanted to push the envelope past what he thought was decent. Ryan suspected that this group didn't really like boys, but lusted after them. They kept the forum moderators busy in the suggestion forum, shutting down S&M threads and were the chief reason he had started a nominal fee to post on the forums, although he caught flak from all different directions because of that.

Still, over the years, he found throwing them a bone helped. It was never what they really wanted, but they would never get that anyways. As he watched the boys cross the field, a twinge of guilt touched Ryan. They were all handsome; who could ever hurt one of them? Then his eyes fell on Nick and he knew it was possible. Damn, he hoped Sarah had found some relatives by now.

There was little to be done this time around. The tourist part of the leg had been canceled because they hadn't had the time to reschedule things. Ryan regretted that because he had been looking forward to going on the safari. Unfortunately, Oliver and Lauro's little stunt had preempted that. So it would be straight to the competition and back on the plane.

The boys lined up and he started his spiel. "Welcome back to Sexing for a Million. Today we're here in South Africa for the next leg of the competition." He paused and allowed a lopsided grin to cross his face. "This round will be a little different than the others. Each team will volunteer one person to take on this challenge alone. However, the winner of the round will have the unique chance to pick the person they want to have eliminated from the competition, even if they're on their own team."

Ryan paused, hoping the cameraman got a nice reaction shot to the news as he continued, "Before we ask for volunteers, let's see what they will have to do." He gestured towards the curtain and right on queue the curtain opened.

Four very large black men, naked as the day they were born, stepped through. They had little fat and no hair except for thin eyebrows. The lack of hair was part of an optical illusion. A popular request on the forums was for big dicks up the contestants' asses. Anal always played a part in each season, but he always tried to find people below average to average. These men were bigger than average but not porn star material. The lack of hair should add an optic inch, or so many claimed. Ryan wasn't sure if it was true, even though he was staring at several fine examples right now.

Clapping his hands together to bring the cameraman back to him he said, "This round is simple." He walked up to the right horse and gestured with his hands. "The volunteers will lie down on the horses and then two men will slowly insert their erections into both the mouth and the butt." He knelt down and picked up the little buzzer. "Once they think they can't take any more, they press this," he pressed the button and there was a ring from the bell. "That will end their turn. The men will mark their positions and pull out. When both bells have rung, we will see who has taken more."

The cameraman zoomed in for a close-up of the bell and by prearranged agreement stopped filming. It was one of the tricks the viewers at home would never be aware of. Ryan stood and double-checked to make sure the boys fully understood the rules. He also reassured them that there was a doctor standing by, but that seemed to have the opposite effect. He explained about the mouth guard, a small device that would cover their upper and lower teeth so their teeth wouldn't hurt the man.

When he was done he crouched by the horse and both cameramen started filming again as if there had not been any interruptions.

"So, who's ready to volunteer?" He asked.

Lauro's hand shot up right away and none of his teammates wanted to argue the point. The other team was a little more hesitant. Reluctantly, Oliver's hand started to rise, but so did Robert's. "Only one," Ryan chided. The three of them had a brief conversation that he couldn't hear and after a moment Oliver stepped forward. That was a little worrying. He wondered if Oliver had told his teammates about what he had done. He would have to review the recordings.

The boys undressed and Ryan watched with half his interest and the other half making sure the cameraman kept their distance and used the zoom function instead of getting right on top of the boys. They both seemed a little more self-conscious now that they were the only ones naked. Both needed help getting onto the horses which the men were happy to provide. He made sure that the cameraman got a shot of the men putting on the new super slick condoms. It was one of those products that were designed for a niche market that his show catered too.

The doctors made sure the mouth guard and lubricants were applied correctly. There would probably be some gagging if the competition went on for any length and he just hoped there wouldn't be any vomiting, which reminded him about the others.

Turning to the boys who weren't participating, he reminded them that they should cheer their teammates on. It took all of his miniscule acting ability to sound enthusiastic about starting the competition. This time he used a boxing bell to start the round.

It wasn't all that impressive to watch. From his angle and from the boys', most of the action was blocked by the large bodies of the men. The two cameramen were getting better shots and the men seemed to be moving slow enough.

The round was a disappointment, but he had expected it would be. Less than a minute into the round, Oliver's bell went off. It was faster than Ryan had been expecting and judging by the one man's reaction he didn't feel satisfied. Still both marked their position and went to be measured by the doctor. He expected Lauro's to go off at any second, but it didn't.

He went on for a few more seconds and then a few more. After about a minute, Ryan tried to get a better look and saw tears running down his face. "That's enough!" Both of the men looked at him and after a second of hesitation started to pull out.

Lauro coughed and spat out the mouth guard as the doctor rushed over. A quick examination and the doctor produced a bottle of water and urged him to drink. He did so, but coughed as he drank, spitting out some of the water.

"Is he all right?" Ryan asked.

"He'll be fine," the doctor said. "A little sore, but no tearing."

"I didn't quit," Lauro protested weakly.

"You won," Ryan answered without hesitation. The boy had taken a little more than half the man's length in his mouth and presumably something similar for the rear. "Didn't you hear the bell?"

The boy shook his head no.

It was several minutes before they started filming again and they only did so when Lauro said he was okay. He and Lauro stood on one end of the room with the horses now removed and the other boys lined up on the opposite wall looking a bit nervous. Ryan went through his spiel trying to sound enthusiastic, but again his heart wasn't in it. He asked Lauro who he was going to kick off and with only a second of hesitation he raised his arm and pointed and said, "Nick."

Chapter Nine

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

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

Fuck. That single word summed up the situation pretty well Ryan thought. Normally he didn't care who was voted off, but the one time he did care about a kid, that was the one that got knocked off. Damn it, he should have seen it coming! Nick was safe in his little alliance with Josh and Akira, but he had to go and mess things up. Ryan mused he could have handled the situation differently. He should have said to hell with his schedule and to hell with the budget. It was better than losing the entire show! He tried to calm himself. It had been a stressful day. Nick being voted off had only been the start of his headaches.

When it had registered with the little blonde boy what was happening, he almost had a breakdown. Ryan had seen kids cry before when they were voted off, but never this bad. Nick had been inconsolable. Ryan ordered filming be stopped. The sight of Nick's meltdown had killed every erection in the room! Even the other boys had been uncomfortable and all but Akira and Josh had been shuffled away. Even then, they weren't able to calm him down. In the end, Nick exhausted himself and he was currently sleeping in the infirmary. Nick would probably end up in a foster home and critics of the show would use this as ammunition to destroy it. Maybe, Ryan hoped, Sarah might have found some family member to take Nick in and that would keep things quiet and he would be with someone who cared about him? Now, if only Sarah would pick up the damn phone and tell him of this benevolent relative.

He gave up and slammed down the phone again for the third time. The trouble with going around the world was all the damn time zones. He was currently 11 hours ahead of her which made it about five in the morning where she was. Apparently she didn't live in her office.

The vibration of his onboard phone in his pocket startled him. He checked the caller ID which only said 'Private Caller'. Unsure who it was, he answered. "Hello?"

"What's the emergency?" Sarah's voice asked over the phone.

Ryan was a little surprised. He really hadn't been expecting to actually contact her for at least another hour or so. "Sarah? Are you masking your company's ID?" He suddenly had a fear she was trying to distance herself from him.

"I'm not. Whenever the same number calls my office three times in under ten minutes, I get a message at home." Suddenly there was another voice that was audible over the phone, but he heard Sarah reply faintly, "Go back to bed dear. I'll be back shortly." It was an unexpected peek into her life and he suddenly felt like a voyeur. Unlike when he watched recordings of the boys in their private rooms, which he knew was more than just business, this little peek into her life was a little uncomfortable.

"Have you made any headway in finding someone for Nick? He just got voted off."

There was a sigh followed by a long silence. "The kid's got no one. All of his mother's relatives are either dead or so distant they're hardly related."

"So that's it then." He tried to convince himself that this might not be the end. It was possible, that no one in the police, the child protective services or the neighbors would think it was worth violating Nick's privacy to attack the show. Even if that happened, it would only take one reporter, one confidently moral reporter, to find out and in typical reporter twisted logic, believe they were doing the right thing by splashing it all over the media. The pessimist inside him said that was the most likely outcome.

"Maybe," Sarah began.

"Do you have an idea?" Ryan demanded.

"Long shot, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take it."

"I'm listening."

Sarah paused. "What about that other kid's family? Might you be able to convince them to take the kid?"

"I don't think so. Why would they?"

Sarah sighed, "It is a long shot I will admit, but you said one of them used to work for child protective services and he might have certain sympathies. Also their son is crushing hard on the boy from what you tell me. This way they'll get to be with each other at least, so you may be able to enlist the kid's help in persuading his parents to do it."

"First of all, that was his uncle the boy was confiding in, and secondly, Sarah, taking in a kid is a big responsibility. There's no way they would do it on a whim like that."

"Unlikely, but not impossible," Sarah interrupted. "Just put it out there and be honest. See if you can scrape some money from the budget to put in a trust to offset the cost if you can. The only other option is the government which you can still go for."

Ryan's stomach churned. "I don't even know how to go about that."

"It's not too hard nowadays." Sarah said reassuringly. "They simplified the process a few years back. Basically, the legal guardian signs a piece of paper saying they're giving over their parenting rights to the other party and then six months later, they go before a judge and if nothing seems wrong, it's made permanent."

"What about Nick's mother? We have been assuming she would let go of her kid, but what if she doesn't?"

"You leave that to me," Sarah said. "Listen, call me back in a few hours when you've made your decision. I'll know which way to go from there. How much longer can you keep the kid anyways?"

"After being voted off, we're supposed to get them home within 48 hours. I have neglected to inform his guardian and he's on the plane with us underway to the next location."

"Good. We have some time to play with. Call me when you make a decision."

He heard the sound of her phone disconnecting. Almost immediately, he felt a wave of nausea so bad he darted towards the bathroom, but thankfully nothing came up. He hadn't signed up for this crap. He was supposed to be the host of a fun little cable TV show. Still, after a moment, he headed back to his computer and started to look at the budget for the show.

***

Josh looked at Nick sleeping. He felt strange. When Nick cried, it had crushed him. He had just wanted to make his friend feel better, but he hadn't known how. It was weird. His confusion had turned to anger. He was angry at Lauro for picking Nick. He was angry at this stupid show, and he was angry at himself for being scared.

Nick stirred, his cheeks still flushed from his earlier crying. Blinking, he looked up at Josh and the boy forced a smile. "Hey."

"Hey," Nick repeated looking around. "Where are we?"

"The infirmary aboard the plane," Josh answered. "You um," he trailed off.

"I'm thirsty," Nick said.

"Oh, yeah here," he twisted around and grabbed a cup of water off the table. "They said you would be thirsty."

Sitting up, Nick took the glass and drank. They were quiet for what felt like several minutes until Nick spoke up, "I don't want to go."

Josh's smile faltered. "I don't want you to go, but at least you can be with your mom again." He felt a twinge of guilt. He had never quite figured out what was going on there.

Nick tucked his knees up to his chest and spoke into them, "Mom's not going to be happy."

Josh hesitated but decided not to be a coward. "Does she hurt you?" The look he received was unreadable to him.

"Mom ignores me when she's angry with me. So I tried to do good, but I didn't win, so she will be angry."

The way Nick had laid it out was so simple that Josh understood and at the same time he didn't. It sounded like Nick's mom could turn herself off and on. It didn't seem right. People shouldn't do that. He was about to hug his friend because it seemed like the only thing he could do, but a voice broke into their privacy.

"You're awake. That's good. Josh, may I speak with you privately?"

Josh shot a glare at Ryan. "What do you want?" He spat the words out.

The host, who was usually so confident, hesitated, "Well, Josh, there's something important I need to discuss with you and it's not about the show."

"Fine, what is it?"

"It's about what you talked over with your uncle." The host replied.

His head started spinning the moment Ryan said that. He was trying to figure out how he learned about his uncle before remembering that everything was recorded except for going to the bathroom. The cameras were well hidden and he had completely forgotten about them. He stared blankly at Ryan for a full minute. Something was telling him that Nick shouldn't hear this. Getting up, Josh followed Ryan out of the small room. Crossing his arms, he glared at the man not knowing what to expect. "What?"

Ryan knelt down to be at Josh's eye-level. "Listen, I was editing the show together and I heard your conversation with your uncle. It got me concerned, so I hired some private investigators to look into the matter. It turns out, you're right. Nick's mother is not a good person."

"So tell the cops." Josh suddenly felt a little disconnected. He wasn't sure what was going on. Suspecting abuse and actually confirming it felt differently than he suspected it would.

"I would like to, but it's not as simple as you might think. Unless Nick has given you some details, there's not much to go on. The stuff that we gathered on her isn't something the police can use. If Nick says everything is fine, there's not much the police can do. She's covered her tracks very well. So, what do you think Nick would say if he was asked about his mother?"

Josh had to think for a minute. If you were in trouble, you went to the police. The idea that they couldn't help was weird to him. "He probably wouldn't rat on her." He remembered Nick hugging his knees just now. "We have to do something."

"Yeah, we do. That's where you come in."

"Me?" Josh said.

"Sort of," Ryan repeated. "It is pretty easy to transfer legal guardianship nowadays. I'm pretty sure she will sign off that she's an unfit mother if we commit not to disclose what we found out about her. Problem is, we need someone to take guardianship. Do you think there's any chance your parents would be willing to do so?"

His stomach churned. He thought about Nick. He was in trouble and needed help. His parents had always told him you should help others, but Josh also knew the world really wasn't like that. "I don't know. I just don't know." His voice had ended on a high squeak that was embarrassing.

A hand landed on Josh's shoulder and he looked at Ryan. "It'll be okay. Do you want to tell him what's going on or should I? He can't stay with his mother and if your parents can't take him, he will go into foster care."

"I'll tell him," Josh answered immediately pushing the hand off his shoulder.

"All right," Ryan said standing. "I'll be calling your parents in about an hour. I would prefer waiting but we really shouldn't. You think you'll be up to being there by then?"

"Yeah." Josh said, not really paying attention.

When he went back into the room and related what he had been told, the boy really didn't react. He just hugged his knees to his chest and hid his eyes. The silence was uncomfortable.

"I know she doesn't like me." Nick finally spoke but did not look up. "I tried to be good like those kids on TV. I love her. Why doesn't she love me?" Josh didn't want to say. "Then she told me about the show. If I win, she wouldn't have to work and could spend all her time with me."

Josh gave the boy a hug. "You don't have to do anything. I love you."

The words had come out without any thought and in Josh's 12-year-old mind they were true. Josh started to talk about his house and the people that lived there. The more he talked about it, the more he missed it.

When he sat down next to Ryan to call his parents, he still felt disconnected. The conversation was awkward. His parents started out by asking if he was okay and all he could answer was he was worried about a friend. Then he sort of tried to follow the conversation as other people talked. Some woman talked for a while about giving them some money, and when that was mentioned, his parents got angry but then they calmed down. He wasn't sure, but it didn't sound like they were going for it.

"Mom." The single word stopped the conversation. "I love him."

"Honey," she began.

"I love you. I love Dad, and I love Bethany. I also love Nick." He paused, not really knowing what he was saying. "His mother doesn't love him. He told me that, but he loves her. I just want him to be happy."

The silence that followed was long.

"As I said," the woman started again, "whether you think we're doing this to try to cover ourselves or not is irrelevant. Nick can either go into foster care where he knows nobody and risks getting damaged in the system, or he can go with you where he knows Josh and will be safely cared for."

Josh watched the monitor and saw his parents looked at each other for a long time. They were doing the thing where they didn't talk but still communicated. When his father looked back, Josh didn't know what he was going to say.

"What do we have to do to make this happen?"

***

Robert's fighter took a hit from an energy attack and fell to the ground. He glanced away from the handheld screen and over at the boy sitting next to him on his bed. "I thought you said you didn't play this that much?"

"I don't," Dave said before smirking, "doesn't mean I'm not good."

Robert shoved the other boy playfully hoping to start a little wrestling, but Dave just sat back up and sent a request for another match. Disappointed, Robert accepted and they played another match in silence. When the next request came Robert accepted and asked, "Something bothering you?"

Dave pulled off a combo that sent Robert's character flying through a billboard.

"Nick," he said.

"The crying?" Robert questioned.

"Yeah, that was weird." He couldn't remember his little sister ever crying that long, but then again she had been a pretty quiet baby.

"I've been trying, but I can't remember why he said he was competing, do you?"

"No," Robert said. "I never really talk to him. He and Josh were pretty inseparable. I'm pretty sure he would have told him. Things like that always come up in pillow talk."

"Pillow talk?" Dave repeated.

"Talk you have after sex. It's easier to talk about some things after you've had an orgasm."

It was quiet for a moment as Robert finally gained the upper hand in the game only to have a move reversed on him as Dave asked, "You never told me why you were competing?"

Robert shrugged, "A million is a lot of money." That was only partially true. The part he couldn't tell was his coach had a plan. Apparently, the show was popular enough that people actually bet on who would be voted off. Since the show didn't air until it was complete they weren't supposed to talk about it until the season was over. If he fed his coach the right names in the right order they could both make a little guaranteed money. Not a million, but at least the money wouldn't have to go through his parents. It didn't really matter if he won or not as long as he stuck around for a little while longer. Not that he would complain if he did win.

"Seriously, it is just that?" Dave asked.

Robert felt a little guilty, but turned the question around. "Well, your house can't cost $1 million. What's up with that?"

They fell silent for a second. "I told you, it not just the house. I don't really understand, but my parents took out a loan against the house to fund their business and it's not doing so good. They told me we had two mortgages on it. I don't want to move into an apartment. Right now we've got a lot of land I can wander around on and there are some good spots to find fossils."

"Why do you like fossils anyway?" Robert asked as he tried to block a combo.

Dave smashed through his defense and delivered a fatal blow. "Fossils are cool. I have some shell fossils that I found and their millions of years old. They are amazing."

Robert didn't know what to say so he just waited for the next challenge to come. Instead he was pushed over and before he knew it, Dave was grinning down from on top of him and pinning his arms to the bed. "I think we just had pillow talk before doing any sex thing. We should fix that."

Robert smiled as he felt himself become hard. "Kiss me."

The other boy leaned down and did as asked. Dave had come a long way in less than a month, but he had not done much kissing. Robert sort of regretted that. Kissing had not been one of his favorite activities, but with Dave he was the teacher. He felt himself getting hard in his shorts as was his friend. There was a part of him that wanted to rip off their clothes, but then they would have to stop kissing.

Robert wrapped his legs around Dave to push them together. When he did this with his Coach, he could only lock his ankles together and it felt like he was just clinging on, but with Dave he felt like he had control as they ground into each other. It felt good. He wasn't sure if they were having sex or making out but really didn't care. All he wanted was the feeling of an orgasm.

Dave came first, breaking the kiss and letting out a little moan. He let Robert finish, using his body as the source of grinding before rolling to the side. They lay there in silence panting. Robert looked over and against Dave's flushed cheeks was a line of drool.

"You've got something on your cheek."

The boy's hand went up and when he felt it, he bolted up and started rubbing it vigorously. Robert laughed which got him a dirty look, which caused him to laugh harder.

"It's not funny. It's disgusting," Dave complained.

Robert grinned, "We were just playing tonsil hockey." He lowered his voice and mock whispered, "We might've swapped a little spit."

The other boy just glared at him, but the argument ended when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," both answered.

The door cracked open and Oliver stuck his head in. "Good, you're both here." He then seemed to notice the red faces and added, "I can come back."

"We're done," Robert answered as Dave looked embarrassed.

"Okay," Oliver said, stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. Robert thought the room suddenly felt crowded with three people in it.

"I wanted to tell you this first." Oliver hesitated and then blurted out, "I'm dropping out."

Robert and Dave both looked at each other and Robert ventured, "Why?"

Oliver was looking down at the floor. "It's complicated."

"Is it because of Nick?" Dave asked.

"Sort of," Oliver answered.

"So you're just going to abandon us?" Robert demanded, feeling angry as the information sunk in.

Oliver glared at him. "Yeah, like I wouldn't be the one voted off if we lose the next round. You two are friends, I'm just a teammate."

"Yeah, but with one less team member we might lose anyways. You're not being fair to us," Dave said.

Oliver bit his lip. "Usually, the teams are dissolved when there are only five contestants left, voting is dropped when there's three."

"And there's three of them," Robert observed. "You're eliminating us!" He didn't really care about winning or losing, but this sucked.

"I'm not," Oliver protested. "Josh and Nick were like you two. Akira was friends with Nick, if they lose the next round, Lauro is out. If the teams are dissolved now you two and he can be the final three."

"Why do you care what happens to Lauro?" Dave asked.

Oliver didn't answer so Roberts supplied, "You like him?"

"No," Oliver snapped.

"Then why?" Dave reiterated.

"Because it's my fault," Oliver shouted. "I told him about Josh and the others. I threw the round because I knew he would pick one of them. Now I feel guilty about it and I just want to go home!"

"So are you two doing stuff?" Robert asked.

"Not like that," Oliver snapped. "I mean we are friends, but not like the way you two are. It's just I think he deserves the money. I mean when I started I thought it would be nice to win, but my mom just wanted me to raise my profile. Lauro really wants it. It wouldn't seem right if I got it all."

Dave glanced at Robert who shrugged. "They better dissolve the teams."

Chapter Ten

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

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

Australia had not been one of Ryan's first choices to place one of the rounds, but neither had he held anything against it. In the end, he had decided to go there so they could hit all six continents. His mind was not properly focused on the competition lately with the Nick situation, but between having most of the stuff already set up and Edward stepping up, there had been no problems.

Edward had really bounced back since the Nick situation had been resolved and that pleased him. He had also been the one to inform him of the good news – the first he had heard in a very long time. He could've almost have kissed Edward when the intern had told him about the special guest star. It had made all the hassle with the reshoot of Nick's farewell a minor bother.

With that behind him, he started to think about his fortune in landing a guest star for this episode. The marketing for this one episode could go through the roof as they tapped into the teen girl market. He couldn't imagine them sticking around. Still, there would be millions of teen girls begging their parents to tune into this one episode. It would make up for the loss of an episode as a result of Oliver's quitting.

Remembering Oliver brought up mixed emotions. When he had teamed up with Lauro, he could tell he had been acting out a plan given to him by someone. Throwing the match sort of made sense since it brought the teams down to 3 to 3 instead of 2 to 4 if he had picked one of his teammates. His departure had been so unexpected that Ryan had checked to see if Oliver had made any phone calls home and sure enough, he had. He seemed to feel guilty because he had kicked Nick off. The logic he used to reach that conclusion was something Ryan couldn't follow, but the kid's mother had not complained.

On the one hand he felt bad that the kid was blaming himself for something that wasn't his fault, and he was annoyed that he would lose an episode. On the other hand, it showed the Nick situation was tightly under wraps and maybe wasn't such a bad thing having one of the contestants walk off. After all, the safety of the contestants was the number one priority and if one of them chose not to participate, they could always leave. How many times had he said that? Usually he would've tried to persuade him to stay for a little while longer, but he had just been exhausted. He was probably just trying not to regret that decision.

Well, both troublesome boys were gone now, flying back to Canada. Now he had to deal with the next round. The remaining contestants were milling around not really talking to each other. They were in the middle of nowhere without abuilding to be seen in any direction. It was pretty desolate, which made the blue wall all the more bizarre.

Edward emerged from one of the mazes' entrances and walked up behind him. "He's ready."

"All right, so what did you think?" Ryan wasn't sure why he asked that question. He wasn't sure if Edward was gay or not. Though, judging by the interesting shades of color his face had turned, Ryan had hit the mark.

"He's not really my type," Edward ventured.

So at least gay was what Ryan heard. "Alright." Stepping forward, he raised his voice and shouted, "Boys, lineup."

Ryan waited a moment before smiling and this time he didn't have to force it. When the camera light went on he started his spiel. "Welcome back to Sexing for a Million! Today we are just outside of Darwin, Australia where a fan favorite is making its triumphant return to the show." The camera shot widened here as he spread his arms and announced, "The Blue Beast is back and bigger than ever."

The Blue Beast had appeared in every season. It was nothing more than a series of mats and inflatable walls that formed a large maze. Every year it grew and while getting through it was a consistent goal, the obstacles thrown in were always different. Fans seem to like it.

"This time around, our contestants will be doing a scavenger hunt. In each section of the maze there is an item they have to find before going forward. Each new section is guarded by a Guardian that they'll have to get off before advancing. There will also be two roaming trolls and if they catch a boy, he'll have to give up either one of these," he held up a plastic amulet, "or blow them away." He paused for a second.

The cameramen were supposed to get reaction shots of the boys, but he would be surprised if any of them were shocked by now. "Now, before the boys learn what items they will be looking for, I have two announcements." He started to walk backwards so that he was no longer between the two groups. "The first is Oliver chose to drop out of the competition and he will be missed. This leads to my second announcement. With only five contestants, the teams are now officially dissolved and there will no longer be voting. From now on whoever comes in last is eliminated." That would probably get a reaction, Ryan thought.

This entire time he had been walking towards an invisible mark. "Now, instead of just telling the boys what they will be finding in the maze, we have a very special guest." His smile widened, "That teen singing sensation, Austin Otter!"

A 15-year-old shaggy haired blonde boy ran out of the maze. He wore a set of dog ears, a black collar, a pair of gloves that look like dog paws and nothing else. Before he came to stand next to Ryan he did a little spin showing off a dog's tale that was obviously connected to something in his butt. When he came to a stop he smiled and said, "Hi, I hope you don't get lost in there."

The other contestants had turned around, but not being female didn't seem particularly impressed, though both Josh's and Robert's eyes were lingering on his down under parts. "So, Austin, why don't you tell the boys where they can get all this stuff?"

"Well they're each going to start out with a collar. There's a small camera here," he pointed to the silver buckle, "that will allow everyone to see what you see. In the first section they will find the ears, followed by the tail in the second." Here he turned around to show off his butt again and wiggled it to make it look like he was shaking his tail. "And in the last section they can find the paws," he held up his hand showing cartoonishly oversized dog paws.

"Well Austin, thanks; is there anything you would like to say to the contestants?"

"I would just want to wish them gool luck."

"Then let's get this round underway," Ryan said trying not to look at the blonde next to him. The camera light went out and he said in a normal tone, "We got it in one."

"That's good," Austin said turning away from him. "I can't wait to get dressed."He walked off to where his manager was and Ryan watched as the tail swayed back and forth. Well, he knew what he'd be fantasizing about tonight. "Where's my damn robe?" Austin shouted at his manager, "I want it now! You better be right about this dumbass stunt."

He ran through the rules with the boys again to make sure they understood and then told them to get undressed. Affixing the collars was not much trouble except for when it came to Robert who looked pissed off and said, "This collar is fucking stupid."

Ryan felt the need to apologize which was strange, but the sudden hostility from the kid was uncomfortable. He was the only one who seemed to have a problem with it though as all the other boys took it in stride. They each picked an entrance and with the cameras rolling again, Ryan did a countdown and with earplugs this time, he fired the starter pistol.

***

A fucking collar, he was wearing a fucking collar. His Coach was not going to let him live this down. From time to time, his coach had asked him to wear a collar, at least when they were in bed. Robert had done it once in the beginning thinking it kind of looked nice on him when he wasn't wearing anything else, but that time the sex had been different. Not really rougher or anything, but he hadn't felt like he was in control that time. Since then, he had refused to wear it again. He hated the damn things.

Unfortunately, he hadn't seen a way around it this time. So when the starting gun went off he just ran into the maze not really having any idea what to do. Despite that, he started to grin. The Blue Beast had always looked like fun and as he bounced off the inflatable walls and crashed into the mats, it was lots of fun. He tried to remember he was looking for something, but it seemed every time he turned the corner it was either a dead end or more blue walls. Occasionally, he saw another contestant and one of them, Josh, already had a set of dog ears.

He gritted his teeth at that. When he watched the show with his coach, it looked so easy. Usually there was a camera overhead and he would always shout and scream when his favorite contestant would make a wrong turn because it was so obviously wrong, but from this point of view, things weren't so easy.

His thoughts were broken as he rounded the corner and smashed into something. On his back, he looked up to see a large naked and hairless man wearing a rubber troll mask. On closer inspection he was well muscled and tan except for where he seemed to usually wear a Speedo. The skin color there was a pale white. His junk was pretty large, but strange as he only seemed to have one ball which looked twice the normal size. It was only when Robert was looking between his legs that he noticed the white pedestal behind the man. Tilting his head to see around the man's leg, he saw a manikins head with a set of dog ears on it.

"Kid, either suck me or give me your amulet."

Robert grimaced and pulled the amulet free from his wrist before offering it to the man. The man accepted it and helped him to his feet before giving him a slap on the butt which he ignored. Jerking the dog ears off the manikin, he placed them on his own head. They squeezed his head a little like a tight helmet. The ears acquired, he turned and retraced his steps until he came across the split again and went the other way.

Rounding the corner he came across another man. This one was without a mask and had the word "Guardian" written in bright orange letters on his chest.

"You're in last place, mate. Best hurry up."

Glancing down at the man's member he saw this one hadn't shaved, having a thick bush of brown hair above his crotch and sparse hairs on his balls. The man was partially erect and all Robert thought about that was it would take him longer to get by. Taking the organ in his hand he pulled back the foreskin and paused. "I just have to get you off, right?"

"Can't let you pass till you do." The man answered even as his organ grew.

Robert smiled to himself and squeezed the man's dick several times to make it engorge faster. As it became like steel in his hand, he swallowed the man's little head without warning, letting his tongue flick across the underside before running up the little slit. With his hand on the hot shaft, the man arched his back pushing more of his shaft into Roberts's accepting mouth. It filled him like his coach's did. He tilted his head slightly and pushed his tongue against the underside of the man shaft trying to fle his tongue. The pre-cum started and then came the liquid that he was so accustomed to.

The man grunted and thrust deeper into his throat, causing Robert to gag and pullback. A second load struck him in the cheek and throat. It was warm and he tried to wipe off some of it before wiping it on the wall.

"Sorry," the man said sheepishly as he stepped aside. "I was just expecting a hand job." Robert stepped around the man not saying a word, but couldn't help smiling. He liked surprising people.

He picked a path and started running. Up ahead, Akira stepped out from an offshoot looking as frustrated as he felt. They both paused and stared at each other for a moment before the younger of them spoke. "Did you just get here? I think I got turned around."

"I'm not telling you," Robert said noticing the boy's white tail.

There was a moment of silence when neither of them moved and then Akira spoke again, grinning. "I know where there is another tail."

"You going to tell me?" Robert asked approaching the younger boy. He could see the kid still had his amulet and was sweating.

"You going to answer my question?" Akira repeated.

"You first," Robert said wondering if he should tell the truth or not.

Akira looked at him apparently trying to make a decision. "If you lie, I'll tell everyone else."

"Fine, but I'm doing the same."

The kid pointed the way he had come. "Down here and to the right, it's in an offshoot."

Robert nodded. "I just got here," he gestured his over his shoulder, "Back and to the left."

With that said, they went in opposite directions. Robert shot down the corridor and Akira went down the corridor that Robert had been in. He followed the boy's directions and just as he had said, in a little alcove was another pedestal, this time with a tail and a bottle of Super Slick lubricant. He recognized the bottle as it was the type his coach bought.

Approaching the pedestal, he picked up the tail and saw that a string went into the open bottle. Curiously he pulled it free discovering several small balls were attached to the string. They started out larger than his thumbnail and were reduced by half each time there was another one. They were covered in the lubricant and he immediately understood how it worked.

Robert lay on his back until he was almost on his shoulders and his feet were resting against the wall. When he looked up between his legs he saw a camera mounted overhead and immediately realized why it was there. Ignoring it he picked up the tail and tried to get the first ball between his cheeks and in the general direction of his ass hole. He used his other two fingers to spread his cheeks and when he felt the first ball come in contact, heused his hand to guide it to his whole. Trying to relax, he pushed it in a little before grabbing the next ball and pushing it against the first. The sensation was kind of weird. It was a little uncomfortable at first, but as he pushed them in further, it kind of tickled and was making him hard.

Once the fifth and last one was in, he swung his legs down and the sudden impact with the ground against his bottom sent a jolt through his body. Rolling onto his side he tried to catch his breath for a minute and absentmindedly tried to wipe the lubricant off by rubbing his fingers against the mat. That got most of it off, but there was a thin layer left behind. When he started to sit up, he could still feel the five little balls inside him. When Robert started to run it was really noticeable, it kind of felt like having Dave's dick in him, which wasn't an unpleasant thought.

Unfortunately, that started to make him hard and without any waistband to tuck it under, his erection was uncomfortable as it flopped back and forth. Then an idea hit him and he retraced his steps heading back to the bottle of lubricant. He had always wanted to do this.

He picked up the bottle of lubricant and turned it upside down before pushing the bottle down onto it. Lubricant oozed out as it surrounded his cock in a tight, but giving mass. It was incredible, but his dick's tip hit the bottom of the bottle just short of engulfing his full-length. As he twisted the bottle a large gob fell out, hitting the ground right between his feet. When he pulled it free his member was covered in a semi-clear substance. Dropping the bottle he used his right hand to start stroking himself wishing Dave was there.

The feeling was bizarre as his hand slipped over his erection like a piston in a souped up sports cars engine. The orgasm was enough to bring him to his knees and even after he became soft he was reluctant to pull his hand free. Remembering the competition, Robert climbed to his feet and started jogging instead of running wiping his lube covered hand along the wall as he went.

Remembering which way Akira went, he retraced his steps and went down the same path. He came across another guard and repeated his first performance. The next section was thoroughly baffling and he felt like he was just walking around in circles. He came across two ogres. The first had already captured someone and judging by the boy's skin color it was Lauro. The second one would've seen him if he had turned around, but fortunately he was preoccupied with watching what his ogre buddy getting blown by the captured boy.

It took him ten minutes to find the dog paws and when he put them on they felt like oven mits. He had to pull the second one on with his teeth. He started to wander around again. He was just starting to wish he could rip down some walls when he rounded a corner and saw the exit. There was no guard this time, but simply an exit that had a painted on dog house that he had to crouch to get under.

Through the hole, he saw a banner with finish line printed on it. There were several people standing next to it. From the corner of his eye, he saw someone else emerging from another hole and he panicked. Suddenly, he was afraid that he was about to be in last place and he started to run.

***

Josh had never heard of Darwin, Australia until he had landed there. They had gone on a historical tour and the only thing he could remember from it was that they had been bombed by the Japanese. Well, he did remember that it was technically winter here or the dry season as it was called. At 27°C [81 F] in the morning, though, he found it pretty comfortable not wearing clothing.

They had been told a lot more, but his mind wasn't really paying attention. He kept thinking about Nick and their last talk just before he left. Josh had walked into the infirmary room one last time to see Nick, who was sitting on his bed looking like he had just been told that a truckload of puppies had been hit by a train.

"You okay?" Josh asked freezing in the doorway.

Nick nodded, but he didn't look up and he pulled his knees closer into his chin.

Josh took the three steps to the bed and sat down. "You suck at lying. What's up?" Nick muttered something into his knees and Josh leaned in and said, "Yeah, what was that?"

"I'm not going home," Nick said much louder.

For a second, he didn't know what to say. Was Nick refusing to leave or was he simply saying he wasn't going home. "Well, yeah. You're going to my place. You talked to my parents, remember? You said they seemed nice. They are." That was something he was starting to really realize now. The more he thought about it, the more astonished he was.

"My mom isn't going to be there. She didn't even call. She really doesn't like me."

"Her loss," Josh said quickly. "I like you and my parents like you. We see you're special." He had hoped that would make the younger boy smile, but he just seemed to ignore him.

"What's wrong with me?" Nick asked. "Why doesn't she love me?"

Josh tried to think of a lie or at least a nice way to say what he really thought. Unfortunately, he couldn't. "I don't know. Maybe something's wrong with her because I like you and I don't know why anyone wouldn't."

"My mom is never going to care about me, is she?"

"I don't know," Josh said. "I know I care for you. So it's not something that's wrong with you." He didn't usually talk like this, but with Nick, things just kind of came out.

"I'm scared."

"It'll be okay." Josh had a thought that might distract the kid. "Listen, I have some money between my mattresses. Go buy something that you like with it. That's going to be our room so you should have something you like there." Part of his mind couldn't believe he was just giving away his stash of money. It was only a little over 200 dollars, but it was what he had saved up.

"Really?" Nick seemed to brighten at that. "You're just giving it to me?"

Seeing the younger kid happy made the money seem like a small sacrifice. "Yeah, and when I win, I will buy you something big. Whatever you want, it's yours."

He seemed to give it some serious thought for a second and said, "What about bunk beds? I always wanted to sleep on top of one."

Josh laughed and said, "Sure, bunk beds. I kind of want those too." He didn't add that he hadn't thought of them since he was seven.

Nick had hugged him unexpectedly and he had hugged back. The kid was warm and nice. Josh thought jokingly to himself that the only time Nick was going to be on top was when he was in his bunk bed. A few minutes later, they had filmed his sendoff. He guessed it was sort of fake, but no one complained. Akira hadn't said anything to him since Nick had left which had left him unsure about their alliance. Then again alliances didn't matter anymore.

Josh had tried to close out his mind and not think about Nick. When he entered the maze he jerked and sucked as needed, having so much cum covering his chest and chin he could've made a billion babies. He didn't care. Josh just wanted to get through this and with the paws on his hands he slipped through the doggie door only to see someone else running for the finish line. Frighteningly, they pulled ahead of him. He dug deep, trying to find a reserve of energy to cover the last 20 meters [65 feet]. Diving over the finish line, he started coughing. His throat hurt as did his butt from where the tail was implanted Then he heard the host announce.

"We'll have to go to the replay to see who came in third and who came in fourth in that exciting photo finish."

***

You learn something new every day, Ryan thought as he leaned into his office chair, back on the plane. Today, he had learned two things – 43 minutes to complete the Blue Beast probably meant it was too large. He had also learned that Akira had quite the mouth on him. The kid had let out a string of curses when he learned he was in last place. Ryan had no trouble with the English or French words, but the third language seemed to be Japanese. At least that's what it sounded like.

He really couldn't fault the kid. Apparently his family had been putting a lot of pressure on him and losing by a minute and a half would seem a bit unfair especially since he had been waylaid by two different ogres. That's how it was sometimes though and once he had let all his frustration out, he had been surprisingly calm. It would play out interestingly on screen, if nothing else. Most of the time, the kid had seemed so calm that his uncharacteristic outburst would shock the audience. It was one of those things that you just couldn't script. The kid had even looked embarrassed afterwards.

The boys were now showered and dressed and the new goodbye ceremony had them all lined up shaking Akira's hand who was again being very polite. He even asked Josh for his e-mail address so they could, as Akira said, "stay friends."

Then Akira walked up to him and couldn't look him in the eye as he started the interview. "Well, it looks like you just had bad luck Akira. Losing your amulet early on and then running into those two ogres. No one can say you didn't try."

"I tried my hardest," Akira said quietly.

Ryan smiled not unsympathetically. "That you did. So what did you think of competing?"

This time the boy hesitated and slowly smiled. "It was fun. I got to see a lot of stuff and I think I made some good friends. I just wish I didn't have to go."

"Well, you were a good competitor. What do you think you'll do when you get home? Have any big plans for the rest of the summer?"

"Not really."

"Well, try to have some fun," Ryan said, patting him on the shoulder. "Your first class seat is waiting for you."

Chapter Eleven

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

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

Robert joined the other remaining contestants when the four pizzas arrived around the table. There were two thin crust pizzas and two thick crusts. "Thin crust or thick crust, which is better?" Robert asked as he took a piece of the thin crust.

"It's all the same to me," Dave said taking a piece from the square pizza.

"I usually like round pizza, but this one is paper thin. I bet I could shove a whole piece in my mouth."Josh said from the other side of the table.

Robert grinned, "I dare you."

Josh looked at him and smiled before dropping his half eaten slice on his plate and picking up another. Tilting his head back he lowered the triangular slice of pizza slowly. When it reached the halfway point Josh snapped the crust in half and forced the last little in with his fingers. When he looked down his mouth was full and his cheeks were bulged out like a squirrel. Robert and Dave both started laughing as Josh tried to chew the mass in his mouth.

With effort the redhead swallowed with his eyes tearing up. "Told you."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure if all of it was in your mouth the whole time." Robert said grinning as Josh flipped him off.

"This pizza is pretty good though," Dave announced. "Kind of reminds me of this one place near my house only it's a little more crunchy."

"We've got this pizza place where I live," Josh started, "that says they can put anything on it you want. I asked for ice cream once, that wasn't a good idea."

"I once had pizza with crocodile on it," Dave chimed in. "It wasn't bad. It tasted sort of like chicken, but I think I prefer pepperoni."

"Pepperoni's the best," Robert confirmed before glancing at the fourth member who was quietly nibbling at a square piece. "What about you Lauro? What do you like on your pizza?"

Lauro had been keeping to himself and there was definitely some residual bad blood between him and Josh. A part of him thought this was probably good and maybe he should try to make the situation worse, but it just wasn't in him. He knew reality shows were supposed to thrive on that sort of thing, but to pick on Lauro kind of felt like kicking a puppy.

"I've only had cheese pizza before. This is a lot better than the stuff they serve at my school."

"You've only had school pizza?" Dave asked surprised.

Lauro shrugged "My mom says fast food is overpriced."

"Pizza isn't fast food," Robert countered. "It's a treat. My family orders it every Saturday."

"Well, I never had it outside of school."

"So you've never had fast food?" Dave questionned.

The dark skinned boy shook his head. "Never."

The silence that fell was a little uncomfortable. Robert couldn't take the silence and said, "Let's play a game."

"Like what?" Josh asked. "I think there are a few four-person player games over there," he nodded towards the turned off TV.

"No, let's play something different. How about Truth or Dare?" Robert suggested.

The three spoke all at once.

"I don't know," Dave complained.

"That's dumb," Josh said.

"I never played it before," Lauro responded.

"Oh, come on guys. It's a way we could get to know each other a little more. We could even make it Ultimate Truth or Dare so we can't gang up on anyone."

"Ultimate?" Josh question sounding interested.

"Yeah," Robert said making it up on the fly. We each write down a question we want to ask everyone and then we write down a dare below it. We mix them up and then one of the draws. They read the question and anyone who doesn't want to answer or can't answer the question, has to do the dare. It's fun."Actually he had no idea if it was fun or not.

"We couldn't dare to do something dangerous right?" Dave asked.

"No, just stuff." Robert clarified.

Josh was gnawing on his lower lip. "All right, one round at least."

"What type of questions?" Lauro asked.

"Anything you want, but don't ask anything dumb like what your favorite color is. Just something you would want to know or at least embarrassing."Robert said getting up and getting a pen and a pad of paper that was kept by the TV for scorekeeping. He tore a sheet free for everyone and wrote his question down first before handing the pen to Dave. When all four had written their question in there, he told them to fold the paper in half and put them in the center of the table. Robert mix them up, but try to keep his eye on his.

"I'll go first," and before anyone could object he snatched a piece of paper only to discover it wasn't his once he opened it. "Alright here's the question. Of the four of us if you couldn't win, who would you want to win?" He shrugged, "For me it's Dave."

"For me it's Robert," Dave said smiling at him.

"I don't know," Josh said.

"Josh," Lauro said without hesitation.

Josh looked over at the younger kid who seemed to shrink in his chair. "Why me?"

"Because I picked one of your friends to go," Lauro said almost shrinking below the table.

"No side questions," Robert interrupted. "So Josh your dare is…"

"Hey, I answered," Josh objected.

"No," Dave jumped in, "you couldn't answer. You said I don't know."

For a second Josh looked like he was about to argue and Robert knew that would end the game before it started but then Josh's scowl turned into a sheepish grin. "All right."

Robert smiled and relieved said, "You have to suck on everyone else's big toe." He started chuckling as he read the last three words.

Dave was grinning and even Lauro was smiling at the look of surprise on Josh's face. "Fine, socks off," the redhead commanded.

Everyone peeled off their socks and in sat so their feet were sticking out as Josh knelt on the floor. Josh started with him removing a piece of lint before grabbing his heel and putting Roberts to win his mouth. Robert felt the second of suction that sort of tickled, but it was over with before he really felt anything other than a slightly warm sensation. The other toe was over just as quickly and then Josh was on the Dave who giggled like he had. Lauro was last and just sort of smiled.

Josh stuck out his tongue in disgust when he was done and took a long swig from his cup of soda before announcing, "Disgusting."

"At least they didn't say for a count of ten or something," Robert suggested.

Josh made a disgusted face and said, "My turn," and grabbed a piece of paper. He squinted for second and said, "What are you going to do with the prize money? Is that the ten thousand or million?"

"The million," Dave responded quickly enough to make Robert suspect he had written the question. "The ten thousand is just for participating and I'm going to pay off my family's debts and anything left over goes into a college fund."

"I'm giving it to my parents," Lauro answered.

"Spend it," Robert said."

Everyone looked over at Josh who seemed to hesitate. "I don't want to answer."

"Hey, Lauro," Dave said clearly nudging the younger boy under the table. "I don't think Robert really answered the question what about you?"

The dark skinned boy seemed confused for a second before comprehension dawned. "Yeah."

"Meanies," Robert said not really wanting to argue with them. "So what do we have to do, Josh?"

"Kiss someone we've never kissed before."

Robert stood and leaned over the table gesturing for Josh to do the same and they both picked each other on the lips.

"You go next, Lauro." Robert said sitting down and wondering where exactly his question had disappeared too.

The youngest boy grabbed the closest piece of paper and unfolded it. He frowned for a second. "Are you gay?"

"Yeah," Robert answered immediately glad to see his question.

"Me too," Josh said.

Robert turned towards the other two boys waiting for their answers. After a moment Dave shrugged, "I don't know."

"I don't think so," Lauro said.

Dave's answer was disappointing, but Robert was surprised by Lauro. Given that the kid could see what he would have to do, well he would've lied. "What's the dare?" He wasn't sure, but Lauro might be blushing.

"Put an ice cube up your butt for a minute."

Josh's cough sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

"Is that safe?" Dave question.

"I think we've all had bigger things than an ice cube up there by now," Robert said helpfully. "A little lube and it should be all right. I'll go get some." Standing he ran to his room all the time thinking how funny this was going to be.

Running back he smiled and announced, "Pants down."

"This was your idea, wasn't it Robert?" Dave asked as he stood up and started to pull his pants down.

"In Ultimate Truth or Dare you aren't supposed to tell that." He tried not to smile. It was fun to make the rules up as you went along.

"Yeah," Dave said laying over the seat of his chair. "You ever do this before?"

"No," Robert said fishing out an ice cube from the bucket. "Should be funny though."

Dave made a sound of disagreement as he reach back to spread his butt cheeks. Robert dipped the ice cube deep and knelt down. When the ice cube first touched Dave's hole it contracted, but then relaxed. Robert used his own fingers to widen the hole a little and then just pushed the ice cube in. It went in surprisingly easily, but almost instantly Dave's leg shot out stiffening and he let out a kind of cry as his buttocks clinched. His hands started rubbing back and forth across his cheeks as Robert started to count. As Robert reach 60 David darted for the bathroom.

Lauro's smile faded when Robert gestured for him to drop his pants, but he did so. He was starting to think the younger boy was a bit weird. Only eating school pizza and answering a question honestly even though he knew what he would have to do. Well, maybe he wanted an ice cube up his butt and that would make him really weird Robert thought. Dave got back just in time to see Lauro jumping around the room his pants around his ankles and his dick flopping all around.

Dave grabbed the last piece of paper once Lauro made a short trip to the bathroom and read out loud, "Do you like the stuff we do on the show?"

Robert grimaced at the lame question. "It depends on the event. I mean I had some fun in the maze and a couple of the other events were like okay this is weird and sometimes it's fun and sometimes it's not. I don't like losing, but that strip show and wrestling was kind of fun. That food thing was just weird and I don't think I would do it again, but it was all right. Just weird or just there."

"I hated wrestling," Lauro chimed in. "That Cowboys and Indians thing though, that was kind of fun. The maze started out as fun, but I got angry at it towards the end." He looked down embarrassed, "Actually, I don't like when they put stuff up there."

"Then why didn't you lie last time? You could've just said no." Robert said forgetting his rule about side questions.

"That would've been against the rules," Lauro said looking directly at him as if lying had never occurred to him.

"I'm not sure if I liked anything are not," Josh said. "I mean I was kind of really focusing on winning and really didn't think about was having fun or not. I think I enjoyed the strip show, but most of the events are sort of just out there. I guess that food thing was kind of fun just because it was so weird. Kind of like the first time you go on an amusement park ride. Fun the first time but only the really good ones are fun the second time."

"Yeah," Dave said. "The stripping one was sort of fun and the maze, but most of them are just sort of like okay were going to do this now."

"That's because you always get the fat guys," Robert said just before getting punched in the arm by Dave for his comment. Everyone sort of laughed nervously.

"Did any of us answer?" Josh asked.

Robert smiled and asked, "What's the dare?"

Dave glanced down at the paper. "Lick the table."

Robert considered for a moment and then leaned over and licked the tabletop. One by one everyone in the group did the same. "Another round?"

No one disagreed. When the pen was handed around again Robert considered what he would write before having a great idea. He crossed out the question and the dare and wrote under them one he was pretty sure no one could answer and he would deny answering. He then wrote the dare.

He doubted anyone knew the name of their first anal partner and he would say he didn't want to answer. That meant they would all be getting naked and staying that way for the remainder of the game.

***

Seeing the glaciers in Argentina had required a little persuading. They had needed special permission to have a helicopter fly them into Parque Nacional Los Glaciares to see the glaciers in the allotted time. The boys had loved the ride and the glacier. They had a picnic with one of them insight. That was a money shot there. The truth or dare game they had played on the planes had seemingly relaxed some of the tension in the group. Ryan wasn't really too concerned since editing switched things around easily enough.

Unfortunately, the construction for the next set had been delayed because of a rainstorm and to get things back on schedule he would have to pay overtime. Instead of having the boys simply sit around on the plane for an extra day, though, Edward had arranged a visit to a petting zoo. That had provided a funny moment where Lauro had foolishly put animal feed in his pocket and was quickly overwhelmed by several young lamas. Little Lauro had to be rescued and nearly lost his pants.

That had been yesterday and today their number would be drawn to three. Rising before dawn, which wasn't too hard considering how screwed up his internal clock was, Ryan had inspected the obstacle course himself. It was a big investment, but he hoped he could modify it for next season's use. That of course assuming there would be another season. Yeah, the Nick situation had not blown up yet. He tried to squash the little pessimist in him.

When the boys showed up driven by Edward he told them to get properly undressed. This time around that meant, a helmet, mouth guard and shoes that were nonslip. He didn't like covering up their cute toes, but the last thing the show needed was one of them slipping and breaking something.

Having them lined up he began as the little red light turned on. "Welcome back. The boys have enjoyed the beauty of Argentina and are ready for the next round of competition. This time it's going to be an obstacle course with a twist." Here they would start panning over the obstacles as he described each of them.

There were actually four courses but each was identical to each other. At the end of each there was an island about 3 m [10 ft] in the air where the last two obstacles would be. The camera started at the beginning where there were five inflated condoms. "Now condoms are not supposed to break, but neither are they meant to be inflated to past porn star size. Each boy will have to pop five of these things and be careful they're pre-lubricated." Ryan didn't think there was any point in adding they were originally the kid sized ones.

"After that they'll have to climb Dildo Wall." This was exactly what the name implied. The wall had dozens of hard dildo sticking out of it of different lengths and colors. "Once they climb the wall, to a run down Squirt Alley." This was roughly 10 m [30 ft] run. The squirt part of the name was provided by the dozen penis shapedlike objects on the wall that would squirt milk as the contestants ran past.

"From there it's a ride down the slide and a jump onto the raft. That'll take you across the raging river." The water was not deep, but it was already churning in addition to several garden hoses shooting water into it. The rafts were actually inflatable male sex dolls. "If they fall off the raft it's back to the beginning."

"Once they cross successfully, it's a climb up the cargo net and a swing over to the island. Where they will have to jerk off the dick and then sit on the dildo to ring the bell." The dick was sticking out of a hole so the man it was connected to couldn't be seen.

He made sure he was smiling at the camera as it should cut back to him at this point. "A simple little obstacle course with our show's unique twists." The camera shut off and he explained the obstacle course to the kids again, but this time emphasizing the padding and that if they needed help out of the water it would be there. With no questions he told the boys to pick a course and with a blast from an airborne mounted on top of the island the race began.

***

Robert had enjoyed the last few days. Ever since his little game any sort of felt like they had all become friends. Maybe it was just because the group was so small now you couldn't really avoid each other anymore. Josh wasn't a bad guy and Lauro was quiet, but really nice if a bit shy. Through the game they had all warned that Lauro was pretty much the only one who had not partnered off with someone at some point. Robert really didn't think the Oliver thing had really counted. His offer of a threesome had been turned down by the boy however.

He was hesitant to call them all friends now, but he certainly like them. It had made the extra day of waiting more fun. There was a part of him that just sort of wanted to stop and enjoy hanging out. However, like his coach said life wasn't fair. So he took his place at the beginning of the obstacle course and wondered how you were supposed to pop a condom even if it was 50 times its usual size.

The air horn went off and he jumped on the first condom trying to sit on it. The expanded condom shot out from between his legs flying up in front of him. Quickly grabbing it with his arms, he squeezed it tight, wrapping his arms and legs around this time. It refused to pop and he rolled over on top of it rocking back and forth on it and it slipped away again. Grinding his teeth against his mouthguard he grabbed the thing again and pulled it towards him. Laying on his back and he held the condom tightly with his legs, trying to rip through it by using his fingers. After a few seconds of struggling he poked a hole through and things started to deflate. Crawling over he grabbed another one and repeated the process until all five looked like three-day-old party balloons.

Rolling to his feet he raced towards the wall of dildos. He had been to indoor rock climbing walls before, but this was a lot easier. There were so many handholds that he was up and over in less than 5 seconds and running down Squirt Alley. Whatever the stuff the mounted dicks were shooting out it wasn't sperm and it was cold. One jet of the stuff hit him across his back and his legs multiple times. It probably made him go down the slide faster because when he hit the bottom, he had to roll and nearly fell into the water.

Looking at the raft he almost laughed. The inflatable man had his mouth in an O-shape making him look surprised. He also had a stupid mustache. Judging by the rocking of the waves he jumped trying to land on the raft and it immediately flipped out from under him sending him under the cold water. He could feel the waves of water above him even as his feet and hand touched the bottom. Standing he surfaced nearly colliding with a man who was offering him a hand up. By the time he was pulled out of the water his proof of boyhood had shrunk.

Determined not to repeat his first dunk he was more careful this time. Instead of jumping he crouched and when the wave was low he dove onto the doll wrapping his arms and legs around it. Robert felt it tipping to the side and he kicked out with both of his legs. That seemed to counter the tipping motion and he squeezed so tightly that he could feel the plastic on the backside pressing against the front. The raft started to move forward and he buried his face in the man's neck as waves and water splashed over him. When the waves became less violent and he didn't feel like he was moving anymore he looked up to see it reach the far end.

The cargo net was the next obstacle. His foot slipped halfway up and it took him a minute to get climbing again. The rope swing was waiting there for him in this he looked over to the island he saw Lauro already sitting in his dildo with the light above him. Without consciously thinking about it he remembered the kid didn't like when things went up there so coming in first must kind of suck. He swung over and just fell on the island the thick padding cushioning his fall.

When he stood he saw Josh preparing to sit on his dildo and he rushed over to the white box with the dick sticking out. He grabbed it and started yanking fast. From the corner of Robert's eyes he saw Dave land on the island. A moment later the man erupted shooting white lava into the air before landing on his knuckles. He headed for the dildo, but as he was turning around to sit down on it he realized he would be eliminating Dave. He didn't know why that thought came to him now, but it froze him.

Glancing across the island he saw Lauro's back as rigid as a pole. Lauro really wanted to win. Robert glanced over at Dave still trying to go as fast as he could desperate to win. Suddenly he felt like curling up into a ball as something that was worse than pregame jitters washed over him. He suddenly realized he didn't want to play anymore. He didn't want to knock out his friend. He stared at the dildo covered in lubricant and then glanced back over at Dave who had just finished up. Dave quickly ran over, but saw him standing there. He stopped and looked at him. Robert gestured for him to go on. His friend hesitated, but after a second continued on and impaled himself. The air horn went off again.

The drive back was uncomfortable for Robert mostly because Dave wasn't looking at him. When they arrived back at the plane the other two and Edward stepped out and it was only then Dave turned to him. "Why did you do that?" His friend demanded.

Robert shrugged not really sure how to answer.

"You let me win." Dave said. "You've got eliminated."

"I didn't want to eliminate you," Robert said.

"So I had to eliminate you!"

Robert flinched. "Yeah, but you won't lose your house."

Dave scowled at him, but then looked away. "Is that why you did it? I thought you wanted the money."

"I did," Robert hesitated, "but you wanted it more. I just wanted it for myself but you want to help your family and I didn't want you to lose it. You're my friend."

"So you lost because we are friends?" Dave questioned.

"Yeah, I guess." He wanted to say that his Coach had an idea how they could make some money, but he wasn't supposed to tell anyone.

Dave looked up at him and then leaned over and kissed him. Robert's stomach felt like it was doing flip-flops even though it was just a peck. It felt good though. When day broke the kiss he said, "We can call each other right?"

"Yeah," Robert said not feeling bad at all about losing.

He packed his stuff and they did the goodbye ceremony. Instead of shaking Dave's hand he gave him a French kiss that left both of them blushing. He stopped for the interview right where he was supposed to. Ryan gave him a smile.

"So, I would say you lost but you seem to have thrown the match. Care to tell us why?"

Robert shrugged. Telling Dave had felt important, but here it just seems pointless. "I didn't want to eliminate Dave."

"You gave up the chance of winning a million dollars just so you didn't have to eliminate your friend? You must really like him."

Robert shrugged, but got nudged. "I guess."He was starting to feel like what he had done was stupid and he didn't want that.

"Well, what did you think of the show?"

Glad for the change of subject Robert answered. "Well, being on the show is a lot more fun than just watching it. It's weird, but I think I made some friends and I definitely had some fun."

"Any plans for the rest of the summer?"

"Video games, TV, sex and not necessarily in that order." He grinned trying to say it in the same tone as Coach said it.

"Good luck with that. You're first-class plane trip is waiting on you."

Robert smiling took one last glance at Dave who smiled back. Robert gave him a thumbs up and headed down the stairs.

Chapter Twelve

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

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

Ryan sighed as he settled back in his chair. Since Robert's departure, the footage from the boys had become so vanilla that it was mostly useless. They played video games, watched TV and had conversations about nothing. It wasn't that he had not prepared for this. Usually when they got down to the final three, the boys either had an alliance collapsing around them or they just sort of hung out. The first situation could provide some tear jerking moments while the second was just boring. He had hoped that the considerably more confined space this season would spark a little more action, but no luck.

Previous seasons had prepared him for this however and with this season, the filler content would be easy. Japan was the last country they would be visiting before the finals. Ryan had a soft spot in his heart for the country. The birthplace of Shotacon had always had a pull on him even when he was a kid. When he started his show it had been quickly picked up in Japan and was a big hit. It took the number one slot for non-English speaking countries easily and had even inspired a few ripoffs that for whatever reason had never quite taken off.

Repaying the country by having a stopover was the least he could do, but when he had gone to do the preliminary work, he quickly found that walking the streets of Tokyo became a problem. He was recognized. That didn't even happen in Canada or least if he was recognized, the people didn't bring attention to him. To his surprise however, in Japan he was a bit of a minor celebrity. Ryan had even been more surprised to find doujinshi of the show's previous seasons for sale where such things were sold. He knew that was a legal battle not worth fighting though. In one interview he had politely asked that the creators of such material not use the actual likenesses of the boys, but he wasn't exactly sure how effective his plea had been.

Yes, the show was big in Japan and particularly Tokyo. For the sake of simplicity, he had decided not to place an episode in Tokyo. Instead, he decided to place it in Kyushu which was the third-largest island and the most southern of the four main islands. Precisely, they would be going to Fukuoka Prefecture and for once they would be going all out. They would even be staying at a traditional inn. Ryan smiled to himself. This was going to be good.

***

Lauro rested his head against the glass window of the van. His mom hated when he did that, but the glass felt so cool and he was still hot from the Hot Spring this morning. Japan was weird, at least when it came to bathing. You were supposed to wash before getting in the Hot Spring. He never scrubbed himself before jumping in the public pool and the Hot Spring they had visited seemed a lot more like a small pool than anything else.

Still, overall he had been having a good time. They had arrived late the first day and had been rushed off the plane which was unusual. They had been taken to a tall tower so they could overlook the city and then to the museum where they had been shown a lot of weird art while being told a lot of stuff he really couldn't remember. Lauro hadn't liked that too much, but the next day they had gone to an amusement park where he had experienced his first roller coaster, quickly followed by his second. That had been simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. He would've made it a hat trick, but he was too short for the third one. There had been a few other rides, like a trip to Mars and a journey through a black hole, which had been fun along with his first visit to an IMAX theater. By that point he really didn't care to listen to the translator because he had been so simply floored by everything.

From there they had gone to an old Shinto Temple where they were performing some ceremony. Lauro had dozed off only to be nudged awake at one point. The final thing they had done was watch a junior sumo wrestling tournament where kids, some as young as 3 and others as old as 13, had competed. That had actually been kind of weird since for a change, he was one of the more clothed kids.

After that, they had retired to a traditional inn as it was described to them. That meant no beds or even a private bathroom for their room. Still, he had slept well simply from being so tired. This morning, they had gone to the Hot Spring again and then told they were heading off to their next elimination round in the van.

He was scared since he had no idea where they were going or what they would be doing. Neither Dave nor Josh talked as they drove, but the three of them had been pretty quiet with each other. Lauro thought of trying to start a conversation, but he didn't know how. So they just rode in silence. They were outside of the city driving along some country road surrounded by trees on either side.

"There it is," Edward said gesturing forward.

Like the other two, Lauro leaned forward and was a little disappointed to see a two-story, white building. The maze had been cool and the obstacle course had been different, but this was kind of boring.

"What is it?" Josh asked.

"You know I can't tell you," Edward said as they started to pull up the long driveway.

Before they could speculate, they were out of the van and being told to line up on the grass in front of the building. Lauro glanced behind him one last time, suddenly wishing he could read Japanese since he was sure the sign would tell exactly what this place was. Then they were shooting and he tried not to fidget, like he had been told. It was a windy day today, and the host had to start his monologue a second time when a leaf hit him in the head causing all three of them to laugh. Once they heard what this place was and what they were supposed to do, though, they didn't find that funny at all.

"What!" Josh exclaimed interrupting Ryan.

"Cut," Ryan shouted before turning around. "Is there a problem?"

Lauro flinched at the tone. The man was not shouting, but just like with his father, the tone said it all.

"Yeah," Josh complained, "a test? It's stupid. You didn't say anything about a test."

"Josh, calm down," Ryan said, his tone switching to soothing. "Why don't you let me explain the whole thing and then we can talk about it, okay?"

Josh shifted, clearly agitated. Lauro wondered why.

"Japan is a very big market for this show and in Japan tests are big. It's something that would appeal to our demographic in Japan at least."

"Demographic?" He repeated the word carefully. "What does that mean?"

Ryan glanced over and smiled, "It means a particular group. Usually certain shows target certain audiences. Like teenagers or 18 to 34-year-olds. My show is kind of unique. Our audience is largely male, but age wise it's all over the map."

"Still," Josh complained, his pale skin now red as a tomato.

"It's not like it's going to be a real test with pen and paper," Ryan said. "It's going to be like a game show. You will be dressed in school uniforms and as you answer,you will remove your clothing every time you get an answer right and the winner is the first to stick the dildo up their butt.

"What?" Dave asked his eyebrows raising.

Ryan smiled, showing off his teeth. "Well, let's not forget the nature of the show. All right?"

Josh nodded and they started shooting again. This time it went off without a hitch and they were let inside. It took Lauro about 30 seconds to realize that they were going into a school. The classrooms were empty, but it was definitely a school. They were led to an auditorium where they changed into school uniforms – long black pants, white T-shirt and a black jacket and shoes.

There were three stools on stage and they each took one. They were then mixed around by Ryan before being handed a little buzzer that connected to a light under the stool. It was weird, but that pretty much describes the show. Lauro was just starting to wonder what type of questions there would be when the hair and makeup person descended on them.

Lauro had come to hate her. His hair was naturally curly and long and without his mom to brush it, it was getting knotted. The makeup was just some stuff that he didn't really notice. Then they just sat and waited. Brian disappeared from a while and pointed out a piece of tape that they were supposed to stand on when removing their clothing.

Then Ryan came back in wearing a tuxedo with his hair slicked back. He had a microphone in hand and talked to Edward for a minute before coming on stage with them.

"Everyone ready?" Ryan asked ,and when they each nodded, said "Good, sit up straight and let's begin."

Lauro did as he was told and listened as Ryan began again. He guessed the man was doing his best imitation of a game show host, like those shows where you had to guess the price or something. Then, he ran through the rules which they had already heard. Then Ryan turned to them and said, "All right, let's begin. I hope you were paying attention on all those tours."

Lauro tried to swallow the lump down his throat.

The first question was asked and to his astonishment, his finger pressed the button and he shouted the answer, Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.

"You are correct," Ryan said expansively. "Leonardo da Vinci did paint the Mona Lisa. The dimensions of the painting are 77 cm by 53 cm [30.3 x 21 inch], a size that surprises many viewers.

Lauro grinned to himself, maybe this wouldn't be so hard. He approached the small piece of tape on stage where they were supposed to take off their clothing. The first piece to be removed was just his shoes, but he had to stand on his toes and spin around as the cameras filmed his stocking clad feet. It was weird, and he was glad when he could go back to his stool. The next question was,"Where is the Mona Lisa housed? " Lauro blanked on this one, but Dave didn't.

"The Musée du Louvre," Dave shouted, pronouncing the French words perfectly.

Lauro watched the other boy take off his shoes and frowned. Dave was smart, he knew that. Dave would probably know the answers to all of the questions, so he would just have to be quicker than Dave even if he didn't know the answers for certain. The next question was about the Taj Mahal and he clicked on his button even before the question was finished being asked. To his surprise the delay didn't go off at first and he clicked again and again. Ryan stopped asking the question the second his light lit up. Luckily, he remembered that the Taj Mahal was actually a tomb, and he got to remove his socks.

With the next question, he did the same thing and it was only then he realized the light would only go off after Ryan stopped asking the question. He was so excited, he almost laughed when he realized what he had to do. Even before the question was finished, he would start clicking on his button and he would always ring in first. However, just because he was the first to ring in, didn't mean he always knew the answer. Still, having first crack at it pulled him into the lead.

Soon he was naked and Lauro could tell that Josh was eyeing him suspiciously. Still, by this point, he had too much of a lead and when the last question was asked, he grinned ear to ear, knowing the answer.

"The four main islands of Japan are Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, and?" Ryan left the sentence unfinished.

Lauro rang in and shouted, "Honshu!"

"You are correct!" Ryan said smiling broadly. Honshu is the largest of the four main islands. You certainly paid attention Lauro. Congratulations, claim your dildo."

It took Lauro a second to realize that he'd made it to the finals against all odds and even the prospect of shoving a dildo up his butt couldn't take him down from the cloud he was on. He stepped to the mark again and was handed a yellow dildo that had a pair of plastic balls at the end. He was told to place it on the floor and sit on it.

It was a bit difficult at first. He tried to squat and poked himself in his sack the first time. The second time he was more careful. He let the plastic phallus touch his lower back and then slowly slide down his crack as he held the plastic shaft with one hand between his legs. Lauro had been so distracted by trying to get it in his hole that it almost came as a surprise when it slipped in, sending a jolt up his spine. He straightened with surprise and his legs already bent at an awkward angle gave in, and he slid down the shaft.

The feeling wasn't too bad. He could feel his butt trying to push the intruder out, but in a strange way, it felt kind of good even if a little painful. Then he pushed down, not sure how far it had to go in. It hurt a little, but it was more of a discomfort than it was a pain. It was complicated. He felt himself start to get a little hard and he stroked himself as he slid down a little further.

Lauro sat there for a moment lost in a world of his own, forgetting that millions of people would be watching this, until he bottomed out and felt the plastic balls pressagainst his butt. Then he remembered where he was and he blinked at the cameras before looking down, suddenly feeling embarrassed. He remembered that he was still absentmindedly stroking himself and he stopped. Barely a moment passed before he asked, "Am I done?"

***

Ryan had toyed with the idea of stopping the competition and having one of the tech boys do something about the buzzer system. Lauro had figured out the program they were using was voice-activated. Well, maybe he hadn't realized that the program they were using only turned on once he said certain words, but he had figured out how to be the first to ring in on every question. Hindsight being twenty-twenty, Ryan realized he should have had a penalty for getting a question wrong or he should've paid for a more complicated system. "Why hadn't he wanted them to be locked out again?" he wondered.

It was clear that Lauro's fast reaction was upsetting Dave and pissing off Josh, but they were pretty even as they fought for who would come in second. Anyway, they both had their shirts off by the time Lauro took first place.

The questions were mostly based off of the historical tours they had been given, but occasionally, there was a question about the actual contest itself and Josh seemed to do better on those than Dave.

Ryan flipped to the next index card which was such an antiquated thing now that he thought about it, and asked, "Darwin, Australia was bombed by the Japanese for what technical purpose?"

There was a second silence from the two remaining contestants which seemed prolonged considering how fast Lauro had been ringing in. Then they both moved so fast that only a computer could've decided who buzzed in first.

It was Josh's light that lit up and the boy said, "It was a naval port and there was an air base."

Ryan let the silence stretch for a second before smiling and saying, "You are correct. Darwin was bombed because of its strategic importance. The city was actually bombed twice during the course of the war."

One of Ryan's personal favorite things was to watch a boy stripping and his eyes certainly lingered on Josh's milk white chest and pinkish nipples. Josh seemed to realize the purpose of stripping and played it up a bit more than the other two had done so far. Well, at least he didn't need encouragement to show off.

Ryan's eyes lingered on the boy's back as he walked back to his stool and almost reluctantly went on to the next question. It was one of those more contest related questions. "During the filming of the show, we had a special guest star in Australia. What was his name?"

Josh rang in fast and shouted the teen singing sensation's name as if he was his biggest fan, "Austin Otter!"

"You're correct! Congratulations Josh, you take second place." As Josh followed in Lauro's footsteps, Ryan's eyes flicked to Dave. The boy looked like he was about to cry, and he really did feel bad for the boy. His friend had sacrificed for him and the next round, he had been eliminated. That couldn't be easy on him.

Back at the plane they went through the goodbye ceremony. It was more somber than ever. Edward had mentioned to him that Dave had cried a little on the way back, but the tears had not been caught on camera and they had been silent. The boys shook hands and Dave, being a good sport, wished both of them good luck.

He stopped by Ryan before leaving the plane for the interview, just like he had been told to do. Ryan smiled down at him and said sadly. "You tried your hardest."

Ryan nodded, not unsympathetically. "So what did you think of the competition?"

The boy hesitated for a long minute. "It was interesting. I think I made a friend or two and some of the events were fun. I liked seeing all the different stuff, but I wish I could have won."

"Yes, well do you have any plans for the rest of the summer?"

"Probably not." The boy seemed to shrink into himself, but then suddenly brightened. "Maybe I could go camping? Yeah, there's some fossils back there I'm sure."

It took Ryan a second to realize that was the extent of the answer he would get out of the kid. "All right, your first class seat is awaiting you."

Chapter Thirteen

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

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

Ryan absentmindedly flipped through his expense report and came to no conclusions. He knew expenses would be higher than usual this year because of the nature of the world travel and he had tried to offset as much of the additional cost as he could. There was a lot of subtle advertising, but he had always tried to work such things in. With the expenses as they currently stood, though, he couldn't see the executives paying for another world tour series, but they hadn't aired the first episode yet so it would really depend on the viewer's response. It was out of his hands and with mental effort he turned away from that problem.

The finals would be taking place the day after tomorrow in Montréal. Strangely, it was one of the few places that had not been willing to make a deal to show off their city. The Québec government had not been an impediment, but they had not been helpful either. Texas had been similar, but unlike in Texas he had almost been tempted to give them free publicity. Québec had gained its independence from Canada a few years back, but there wasn't any animosity between the two countries and he guess he felt some loyalty to the former province. He wondered if the tourist board had just been assuming they would do some filming once permission was given to film the final episode there.

His guilt about not doing the tourist thing was mitigated by the complicated situation. When he had been planning this out, he had the brilliant idea that each of the finalists could recall someone from the competition to spend the day with them. He had thought of it as a way to relax the finalists and it would've looked pretty good. He still made the offer to the two boys and predictably, Josh had chosen Nick, but Lauro unexpectedly requested Zeke from Texas. The first had been obvious, but not the second. Of course, Zeke had been all too happy to oblige. He had even paid for his own plane ticket.

It couldn't just be Nick coming now either. The whole newly expanded family had to come. Ryan definitely didn't want cameras filming that. So they would have private time together to do whatever they wanted around the city. He was looking forward to the end of the season, more so than at any other time.

***

Josh wiped his hands against his shorts and stared nervously around the hotel lobby. The longer he waited, the more nervous he became. In his mind, he reviewed his phone calls home since Nick's arrival. The first time Nick had been visibly scared. The second time, he was a bit more relaxed and had even smiled a little as he had told him about his trip to the mall. Then he had missed his call because of what was happening in Japan. When he eventually did get around to calling, Nick was upset with him although his parents said he was doing remarkably well. So, he didn't know what to expect.

"You look more nervous than before the first round," Ryan said from where he was leaning against the wall.

Josh shot the older man a glare. Ryan had driven him from the airport to the hotel room for the final night and at sometime between the plane and the room, he had decided he didn't like him. So, he didn't rise to take the bait. He suspected he was being filmed and Ryan wanted some kind of reaction from him.

As he glared at the man, his gaze necessarily had to leave the entrance and the cry of, "Josh," caught him by complete surprise. He turned just in time to brace for impact as Nick ran into him with enough force to send him a step backwards. Looking down he was greeted with a ten thousand watt smile that assured him his missed phone call from Japan had been forgiven.

Then he looked up to see the rest of his family coming over and his heart felt like it had forgotten to pump even as his father and mother smiled and came to hug him too. His sister held back, but only until his parents let go. She then gave him his own full frontal hug which was a bit difficult because Nick was still hugging him.

The conversation that followed was strange. His parents made a few jokes about him growing and he was embarrassed by that. Then Ryan jumped into the conversation saying he really should be back to the hotel by six and they had dinner reservations in the small restaurant here which would be paid for by the show if they chose to use them. This whole time, Josh felt detached as his home life interacted with the life he had assumed with the show. His world felt upside down or something.

Then he was being ushered into a van because they were going somewhere, and Nick was talking like a machine gun about everything that had happened, and his sister was smiling at him like she knew something, and he could tell his parents were both grinning even though they were sitting in the front seats. In all of this, his mind somehow registered the complete lack of cameras. They had become so prevalent that their absence felt weird now.

***

Lauro chewed on his lower lip nervously as he sat on a couch in the lobby of a hotel. He had wanted to see Zeke again, but now that it was about to happen, he wasn't sure. His stomach was turning itself into knots and he wasn't exactly sure why. Edward, the guy who had been sitting with him had tried to talk to him a couple of times, but Lauro didn't feel like talking.

Then with no preamble, Zeke entered the lobby. He seemed taller than Lauro remembered him and he still wore his hat and cowboy boots. When the man's eyes landed on him, however, a small smile crossed his lips. The man came towards him and knelt down to his eye level. "Howdy there, Lauro, it's good to see you again. Congratulations on making it to the finals."

Lauro felt his cheeks warm and he looked down before remembering that wasn't polite and with an effort, met the man's gaze. "Thank you. It's nice to see you again."

"The pleasure is mine. I've never been to Québec or Montréal before, have you?"

"No," a nervous giggle escaped his lips and he clamped his hands over his mouth to stop it.

Zeke just smiled. "Well, I guess we can discover it together then. I looked up a few places online and understand a poor English speaker like me shouldn't have too much trouble." Then for the first time, Zeke looked towards Edward. "That is with your permission I am assuming."

Lauro looked at Edward for the first time since Zeke had arrived. He had a strange expression on his face, but he did nod his head rather stiffly. "Um, yes." He then stuttered out, "Actually for legal purposes you are now technically an unpaid consultant for the show. This means you have the consent of Lauro's parents to spend your time as you wish, assuming his consent. The finals are tomorrow though so please keep that in mind."

"I would never presume consent." Zeke's tone lowered and Edward flushed.

"I never meant to imply anything. You have…"

"If you're ready, Lauro, I believe there's a lot to see."

Lauro realized something had gone on there, but he wasn't sure what exactly and he really didn't care as he took Zeke's hand. He was led to the parking lot and in his mind's eye he had been expecting a pickup truck, but to his surprise the man led him to a normal looking car. It had to be a rental.

***

"I've got to go to the bathroom," Josh said by way of excusing himself and his family. Nick waved at him as he left, but quickly turned back to the spider monkeys he was watching. The zoo was a pretty big place, but he could see the sign for the bathroom. Having now spent several hours with Nick and his family he had relaxed quite a bit. Nick fit in well. At least his parents seem to like him and his sister too. As he started to wash his hands, he started to wonder if it would be like when a relative was visiting? You got along with them at first, but after a while you kind of wanted them to leave. With that unsettling thought, he pushed open the door to the bathroom and was grabbed.

He nearly shouted as his forearm was pulled, but he looked up into the grinning face of his sister. "Hey there little bro or am I supposed to say big little bro now?"

He shook off her grip and rubbed where she had grabbed, his pale skin turning red. "Don't do that."

She shrugged, dismissing his complaint. "I wanted to talk to you. When you would call home, you always asked to talk to our uncle, our parents, and now Nick, but never once did you ask to talk to me. That hurt, you know."

He stared up at her trying to figure out if she was serious or not. "Sorry," he ventured.

"Anyway, you were supposed to bring home $1 million and instead you brought home a new sibling for me. It was all very strange you know. It came out of nowhere."

"Yeah, well I didn't exactly plan it either," was what he wanted to say, but kept his mouth shut.

"Not that I don't like him. Actually I think I might like him a bit more than I like you."She smiled, but Josh couldn't tell where this was going. "You should've seen him the other day. Mom and dad took him shopping for some clothing and I went with them. He kept asking me what you like." She snorted at this. "I actually believed you about just wanting the money. Turns out, you just wanted to sleep with men, nice cover."

"Shut up, I need the money." Josh regretted losing his temper immediately.

"Need? Why is that exactly? I mean mom and dad aren't exactly filthy rich, but it's not like we're poor either. When did you become so obsessed with money anyways?"

Josh bit his lip, not wanting to talk about his situation. He didn't want to admit he was afraid of becoming like his uncle, dependent on others for charity. His sister tried to wait him out, so he countered by trying to change the subject. "So you like Nick? I mean is he really doing okay? I think he's good at pretending."

His sister seemed to hesitate, not wanting to abandon her first objective, but gave in to sibling obligation to relieve his anxiety. "Listen, this hit me all at once. I think I was still stunned when I first saw him. He was scared I guess, and I think I was too. Still, there's something about him."

She hesitated and he supplied with a small smile, "Like a puppy?"

"Yeah," she allowed. "So, are you two like really together? I mean he talks about you a lot but you don't seem all that interested in him."

Josh frowned, "Of course I like him. I mean, …" This time it was his turn to trail off.

"Then do some PDA with him. You know he isn't shy. I have enough blackmail on you now that you'll be doing my chores until I decide to move out anyways. Go kiss him or something. I mean you already outed yourself, so you might as well enjoy it. Mom and dad wouldn't let my boyfriend move in with us, but yours will be sleeping in your room. That's pretty smooth."

Josh laughed, but also winced inside. What had the little twerp been telling her? Couldn't he sense how evil she was? "It's just hard. I mean mom and dad are right there."

"And they're okay with it," she added. "Come on, just give him a hug. Heck he's already comfortable doing that with me."

Reluctantly, Josh nodded and headed back towards his parents and Nick. The boy was leaning against the railing staring at the monkeys and as casually as he could Josh wrapped his arms over his shoulders and smiled down at him. Nick glanced up, smiled and then without warning stood on his tip toes to kiss under Josh's chin. Josh blushed and looked over at his parents, who were just smiling back. All right, things seemed okay.

***

Lauro plopped down on a stone bench and let out a sigh. Zeke sat down next to him and smiled. "Tired?"

"I'm okay," Lauro said forcing a smile. Spending the day with Zeke had been nice. They had gone to the top of this weird shaped building that tilted so they could look straight down. Then they had gone to an atrium that had birds flying around inside of it. Then they had gone to a Bug Museum and then a walk around the botanical gardens of Montréal. He really wasn't sure what made Butchart garden different than a regular garden, but there were a lot of flowers and squirrels.

"I wonder if this is Chinese or Japanese?" Zeke asked looking around the small enclosed space. "I would venture Chinese since it sort of looks like some other gardens I've seen, but I've never actually been to any traditional Japanese gardens, so I'm not sure."

"I've been to one," Lauro said, a bit too eagerly and quickly reiterated, "Well, we stayed over at a traditional Japanese inn. They had a garden, but I didn't really look at it."

Zeke smiled over at him. "So Japan was another one of your stops? You may have seen more of the world than I have. I've been to three countries outside of the United States." He raised a hand and started taking them off, "Germany, China and Brazil." He chuckled, "Québec now too, I guess."

Lauro sprung to his feet and started counting all the places he had been to. "I've been to Greece, France, the United States, Australia, South Africa, India, Japan, Argentina and Québec."

"Well, you're a worldwide traveler. Did you have a favorite country?"

He thought for a moment and said, "Japan. We went to an amusement park there." Zeke laughed which made Lauro laugh. Then he realized something and frowned as he tried to figure it out.

"You have a question? Go ahead and ask, I don't mind."

Lauro frowned as the man waited patiently. His father had always said it was impolite to ask adults about money issues, but Zeke didn't really feel like an adult. He was like an adult and he was like a kid. He belonged to a third category that he didn't have a name for. "I kind of thought you were poor, but you said you've been to different countries and isn't that expensive?"

The man leaned back resting his arms on the edge of the bench. "Lauro, what do you think I do?"

"Cowboy," he ventured cautiously.

Again the man's smile seemed to make everything okay. "Well, I certainly dressed the part and I do own a ranch, but that's a hobby. Believe it or not, I own my own software engineering company. It is small, but it's made me a millionaire 12 times over. Those countries I visited were on business trips and yes, I always wear the hat," he tugged on it as if to reassure himself it was still there.

Lauro stood there shocked. The idea and the image just didn't match. Zeke's clothes didn't look expensive and his car had been nothing special. "But you're not rich looking."

Zeke cocked his head and looked confused. "Rich looking? What should I look like?"

"A suit, nice clothes," Lauro trailed off. He had a list of things that rich people should have.

"But I like these clothes," Zeke said tugging at his shirt. "I don't have to worry about getting dirty and if I do, I can just throw them in the washer. Suits are more complicated. You couldn't roll around on the grass in one or ride a horse." After a moment the man leaned in towards him and said in a confidential tone, "Lauro, what do you want to do with the prize money?"

Lauro had been asked that question so many times. Saying he wanted to help his family was usually the easiest answer to give. It was mostly true, as he opened his mouth the words caught in his throat because it wasn't true enough. Instead he looked down and kicked at the stone underfoot. Zeke was still waiting for an answer and he was still waiting a few seconds later and then a few seconds later still.

"I want things to change."

"How?" Zeke asked.

A damn broke in Lauro and everything came pouring out. "I want my dad to spend time with me. I wanna have cable. I want to eat out. I want to be like everyone else." His shoulders slumped even as he felt arms wrap around him.

Zeke's neck was a comfortable place to bury his face. He had a spicy smell that Lauro felt like he could almost taste. Lauro stayed like that for a while. He didn't cry, but for a while he thought he might. It was nice being held.

After a while Zeke asked, "Can I show you something?"

Lauro reluctantly pushed away and nodded. Zeke shifted his weight and pulled out a cell phone. It was the first expensive looking thing he had seen Zeke have. "They say money doesn't make you happy, but it does make it easier to be happy. If I worked really hard, I could turn my 12 million into 20 million, but that's not for me. I have enough money that I can do what I like. Come take a look at this."

Curious, he stepped to the man's side and glanced at the screen. After a few menus were clicked through, an image came up of a boy with flaming red hair like Josh's, but was probably into his teens. The image changed to another boy a few years younger and he was followed by another.

"Okay?" Lauro said questioningly.

"Each of these boys have been someone special in my life. Whether I was with them for months or years, they've left an impression on me, and I hope I've done some good for them in return. My money has allowed me to be there for them and that has made me really happy. In the end, it's the experiences more than the things."

Lauro didn't understand what Zeke was driving at, but that only brought out his stubborn streak. He stood there thinking for what felt like a long time and didn't come up with anything. Zeke sat patiently, though, allowing him to think. He had just always thought his life would just be better with money and really didn't see a downside. Lauro thought of what it would be like living in a house and playing video games. What it would be like to go on a family vacation and come back with stories like his friends. Then he realized something. Every time he imagined a future, his father was there. Like his friends, he imagined his father cooking in the backyard or playing a videogame with him and taking him camping.

"I want to spend time with my dad."

The thought was not familiar to Lauro. He had had it before, but only now realized that the things he thought he wanted was simply stage dressing. His thoughts were not so profound or clear, but on some level, he realized his thoughts simply boiled down to, dad paying attention to him.

"Are you okay?" Zeke asked.

Lauro nodded even though he wasn't sure if he was. Not wanting to talk anymore, he quickly looked around and saw an old man making something. "What's that?" He said with forced enthusiasm as he rushed over and pretended great interest.

Zeke didn't bring up the subject again and when dinnertime rolled around, like with lunch, Zeke asked where Lauro would like to eat. The boy suggested another fast food place. As they sat at the table, Lauro became lost in thought again. However, this time he felt the need to share.

"Zeke, those pictures of the boys you showed me, you did stuff with all of them right? Like you know we did." He suddenly felt very aware they were surrounded by people and shrunk into his chair.

The man smiled at him. "Well, most of them didn't dress up like Indians, but yes. Not all, but most.

Lauro rocked back and forth in his chair nervously before blurting out, "Would you like to do stuff with me again?"

***

Dinner for Josh went as well as any time they went out to eat. His father talked about all the chores he wanted Josh to do with him and Nick when he got back home. Cleaning out the garage and switching the blades on the mower didn't sound like fun. His mother asked how he was doing and somehow, both he and Nick managed to talk about the show without ever talking about sex. His sister was, well, his sister. She was the one who threw the monkey wrench into the conversation as they finished dessert.

"So is Nick coming back to the hotel with us or are you two having some alone time? I mean you'll probably want to be rested for the finals, right?"

Josh's stomach twisted around as he just sat there unsure of what to do. Nick didn't feel any such reluctance as he bounced in his chair. "Can I stay with Josh pleaseee?"

His mother shrugged off the petrifaction first. "Well, I know you want to spend time with him, Nick, but I think he needs a goodnight's sleep for tomorrow."

"I wouldn't mind," Josh blurted out. He looked down at the table. A part of him wondered if this was how it would always be. Then he remembered his sister. Her sleepovers, that at some point, turn sexual with friends. He knew that, and her parents that he and his parents knew that. At some point she started sleeping with boys and while his parents weren't happy about that, but since she was using protection they couldn't complain. He was using proper protection. Hell, he had swiped every cub sized condom before leaving the plane. Raising his head, he said more firmly, "I want Nick to spend the night with me."

The silence that followed this time was more stunned and shocked and his father recovered first. "He'll probably sleep better with him there than without him."

This got a shocked, "Daniel," from his mother which made his father start laughing along with his sister and in the confusion, Josh grabbed Nick's hand and ran from the table without waiting to be excused. In the elevator, he glanced over at his pint size companion and they both erupted in nervous laughter. It was a weird experience opening a hotel door, knowing he would be the only one in there tonight. It was surreal in a way.

The air-conditioning had been left on high and a wave of cold air hit Josh as he opened the door. Nick zipped past him and quickly kicked off his shoes as the light automatically came on. Josh followed more sedately and smiled as Nick started bouncing around on the bed king-size bed.

"You're happy."

"Yeah, it's sort of like," he paused and finished jumping and trailed off.

"Sort of like what?" Josh prompted.

"Can't tell you, it's a secret."

Josh smiled, "Come on, you can tell me."

Nick shook his head. "Your parents told me not too, it's a surprise."

"Oh, well you better tell me then, or I'm finishing taking all your clothes off and you won't get them back."

"No!" Nick said firmly and the chase was on.

Josh hopped up onto the bed just as Nick jumped off. Then the two of them ran around the room. Josh would catch Nick and he would strip off a piece of clothing before the boy would squirm free. A sock here and a shirt there and soon the boy was naked. The redhead had to take his own clothes off and walked over to his bag to find a kid sized condom. Nick waited on the far side of the bed, prepared to run over or around the bed.

Josh started going around the bed and tackle Nick as he tried to go over. They rolled around in a tangle of naked limbs and laughter. Eventually Josh got Nick on his back and pinned his arms above his head. With his free hand he tickled Nick's armpits and sides while shouting, "Tell me the secret!"

"No, no, no!" Nick shouted back.

"All right, you asked for it." Josh had palmed the condom in the hand he was using to restrain Nick so he had to switch hands and use his teeth to rip open the condom packaging and take another second to put it on. "Since you won't tell me the secret I'm going to put this," he raised his hips to show off exactly what he meant, "up your nose."

"Eww," Nick said shaking his head back and forth. "Anywhere but there."

"If not your nose, then it goes up your ass."

"Yes! Put it up my butt, not my nose."

Josh had to choke back a laugh as he rolled over and spread his cheeks. Nick's whole body almost felt like it was welcoming him as he slipped in with little resistance. Slipping his hand under the other boy, his hand found the small joystick and Josh started pumping and stroking. This time it was fast and uncoordinated. Nick came first and his ring pulsed around Josh's penetrating shaft. That pushed him over the edge and after one last deep thrust he rolled to the side, pulling Nick on top of him.

The younger boy's face was beet red and his eyes were sparkling as he asked, "Can we do it again?"

***

Lauro felt like the entire migrating population of Monarch butterflies were in his stomach as he led Zeke to his room. They had learned about Monarch butterflies in school. They had even raised some. Yeah, the idea of thousands of them fluttering around in his stomach with their little wings and legs touching him felt right.

"You've never done this before." Zeke stated as he walked beside him.

"I have." Lauro said quietly as they came to his hotel room door.

"I mean outside of the show. You've never done stuff like this with a full-grown man before, or am I wrong?"

"No," Lauro allowed, as he pushed the door open and walked inside.

"You know you don't have to," Zeke said, staying on the opposite side of the threshold.

Lauro hesitated. He really didn't understand why, but he said, "I want to."

"All right," Zeke said, his tone making it obvious his arm wouldn't have to be twisted as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

"So how do we do this," Lauro said trying to sound like he wasn't nervous.

Zeke didn't respond at first. He kicked off his boots and placed them against the wall. Smiling, he moved over to the bed, sat down, and patted his lap. "Come here."

Lauro hesitated, but climbed up on the man's knee and then leaned into him with an arm around his waist.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

Lauro stiffened at the reference and looked down at his shoes. He felt like the pressure in the room had tripled and his shoulders slumped under the pressure.

"Are you just trying to forget about it for a while? Not think about it?"

Again he nodded.

"All right. Here's how I think we should do this. I am going to give you a kiss and then place you on the bed. Then I'm going to undress you. Then I'm going to undress myself. I'm going to give you one heckuva blow job and we'll see what happens from there. If you want to stop at any time just say so. All right?"

"Okay," Lauro said as a nervous laugh escaped his throat. Fortunately, Zeke also laughed and then silenced him with a kiss on the lips. It was weird. He had kissed people before, but this felt different and just as he was getting used to the feeling, it was over. He felt strong hands lift him up and place him on his bed. Zeke smiled and then knelt in front of him. Lauro could feel his shoes were being untied, but when he looked down his view was obscured by the hat. He felt his shoes tugged off, followed by his socks. A calloused finger was run from the ball of his foot to the tip of his toes and he giggled nervously.

Then he felt a hand on the back of his ankles. Then Zeke stood and rolled him over. Hands descended onto the waistband of his shorts and with one swift movement, they were pulled off, exposing his flaccid penis. Sitting up, Lauro held his arms over his head for his shirt to be pulled off, just like when he had been little and his mom undressed him. When the cold air from the air conditioning hit his nipples, he felt them become hard. He hardly noticed that though, as Zeke stared at him and Lauro kind of liked the attention and shifted his legs so the man could get a better view.

"Lauro, you are worth a million bucks. You really are."

Lauro felt himself blush and looked away, but the movement from the corner of his eye made him look back at Zeke. The man was wearing a button-down shirt and was carefully undoing each button. He slipped it off revealing a thin carpeting of hair on his chest. When he started to undo his belt Lauro felt his little thing become hard and almost unconsciously started to stroke himself, not sure if he was excited because of the scene or because of what was going to happen.

Zeke pulled down his jeans to reveal tight white underwear that was doing a poor job in holding back his substantial erection. When the underwear was pulled down, showing the man's monstrous length, Lauro felt a shiver go up the spine. Like the first time, it was devoid of hair and it was the only part of his body that was like that.

"I think I can handle that for you," Zeke said nodding towards him.

Looking down Lauro stopped stroking himself and leaned back onto his elbows as Zeke started to crawl across the bed towards him. His feelings at that moment were a confusing mishmash of everything – scared, but eager. Despite everything he had done on the show, some part of him realized this was different, but he didn't know how it was different.

Then Zeke was so close to his face that they were breathing the same air. First, for a brief second, he thought they were going to kiss again, but instead, Zeke leaned down and kissed his chest. Then he felt another kiss a little lower down and then another. When the man reached his belly button. He stuck his tongue in and moved it around which tickled so badly, Lauro tried to squirm away. Then Zeke was lower than his belly button and Lauro didn't want to go anywhere.

Zeke didn't go straight for Lauro's stiff shaft. Instead his tongue explored everywhere around it. It examined the spot where his shaft entered his body and then down one side of his sack to the underside. Each one of his balls were not only licked , but seemingly cupped and weighed. It was only after several minutes of a very thorough exam that Zeke moved to his shaft.

When the man's lips wrapped around his little head, Lauro could feel he wasn't that far away and as the man took his entire length into his mouth and then slowly released it, Lauro felt the feeling coming and he tried to hold it back. He clenched his butt cheeks and his hands grasped at the bed's comforter. By the third time, the battle was lost and the feeling of orgasm washed over him as his body desperately tried to pump non-existent sperm into the man's mouth.

For a minute or maybe an hour, Lauro laid floating on a cloud of bliss. Slowly, though, he became aware of the body lying next to him. It seemed to radiate warmth that he just wanted to wrap around. Then sluggishly, his mind reproduced the image of the massive erection. Its confinement in the underwear, its subsequent freedom and the site of it still hard as the man crawled towards him.

Maybe it was just his sense of fair play or maybe there was something deeper, but he started sliding down the man's body. Reaching his destination, Lauro stroke the man's large balls and leaned in to kiss the side of the large shaft. He then slowly licked until he reached the tip. There he began kissing it and feeling the salty pre-cum on his lips. Opening his mouth, Lauro explored the slit with his tongue which caused Zeke to push into his open mouth. The head easily filled him and he cautiously explored, tilting his head from side to side as he began to stroke the man's sack.

"Lauro, I'm going to cum," Zeke said through deep breaths.

He pulled back a little, just in time for a hot jet of liquid to strike the top of his mouth. The first load itself was too much for him and he pulled free as he swallowed what he could. The second and third came in rapid succession weaker and less plentiful, but they landed on his face. For a few seconds, he just sat there not sure what to do as the white stuff started to cool rapidly.

As he started to wipe the stuff off, he felt Zeke move again. Again, he felt strong hands pick him up, but this time he was placed on the man's chest, and he was able to look down at the smiling man.

"I made a bit of a mess there and you should always clean up your mess."

He gestured for Lauro to lean down and he did so, but he wasn't expecting to be licked clean like a dog. Not that Zeke's tongue really felt like a dog's. Lauro had a friend who had a dog. He had only met the dog one time at a birthday party, but he liked it. When he rested his hand on the man's chest, thoughts of dogs filled his mind. He hardly noticed the man's hair which he thought would be rough was kind of soft. Not quite like a dog's fur though. Lauro wanted a dog, but his apartment didn't allow pets, not even fish, which he thought was stupid. He drifted off to sleep thinking about dogs and having a very odd dream of a big house with hundreds of them.

Chapter Fourteen

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 woke up to the sound of running water. Reluctantly opening his eyes he glanced at the clock which read a little before seven. He wanted to go back to sleep, but his bladder seemed to have other ideas. Looking over to the other side of the bed, he didn't see Nick anywhere. His muddled mind put together the fact that Nick had to be in the bathroom. Climbing out of bed, Josh made his way to the small rooms still naked.

The smaller boy was standing at the sink and Josh took a few seconds to take in the pleasant sight. His eyes lingered on Nick's butt which had brought him to climax three times last night. Then he realized that Nick was just letting the water run. "You shouldn't waste water."

The blonde boy startled and quickly turned off the faucet before looking over at him. "Sorry."

Josh frowned at Nick. There was something off about him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Nick said scratching the back of his leg with his foot.

"Yeah, you're lying." Josh said casually. "Come on. You can trust me."

Josh stayed silent waiting even as he felt his need to pee grow. Eventually Nick gave in. "If I was in the finals, would it have made a difference to my mom?"

Josh sighed partly because he didn't know how to answer and partly because he wondered how many more times this would come up. "I don't know. I don't think you're supposed to like people on conditions, though. I mean you would like me even if I didn't win, right?"

Nick was quiet for a few seconds and then he smirked a little, "Maybe a little less."

"You," Josh growled as he charged into the bathroom and grabbed Nick, tickling his sides. The boy squirmed and laughed until Josh let him go. Nick spun away and stared up at him.

"I love you."

Josh felt himself smiling. "I love you too." Josh had spoken those words to his mom, his dad and even his sister, and he heard them back from them before, but the word had never evoked this kind of feeling before.

***

Lauro awoke reluctantly. It wasn't because he was tired, but he was just so comfortable. He was warm, but not hot. The sheets had twisted around him snugly, but not uncomfortably tight. More important though, he could feel the steady heartbeat of another as his nose was filled with an intoxicating scent. His head turned on the hairy chest so he could become closer to the smell. As he turned his head, the hairy chest shook with suppressed laughter.

"I can tell you're awake."

"Comfortable," Lauro muttered.

"All right," Zeke said patting a hand on his head. "Use me for a pillow as long as you want. You have a big day."

Lauro tried to figure out what Zeke was talking about, but sleep claimed him again. He awoke sometime later and this time rolled over and looked up at the older man. "Morning."

"Morning," Zeke said smiling down at him. "You remember waking up before?"

Lauro made a so-so gesture with his hand before glancing at the TV which was on, but had the volume turned off. Snuggling into the crook of the man's arm, he watched the TV not even trying to read the words appearing at the bottom. Unconsciously, he began to curl into the man as he remembered the finals and began to worry.

"You worried about today?" Zeke asked.

"Yeah," Lauro said quietly ; until now, he had managed to put it to one side, but he couldn't do that anymore because it was too close.

"Well, I would like to give you some advice, but I checked the finals of the previous seasons and they don't have anything in common as far as I can see. If it were me, I'd tackle it like any other problem, one step at a time."

Lauro made a sound of agreement, though, he didn't feel any better.

"Oh," Zeke said, as if something just occurred to him. "I'll be right back. Stay here." The older man rolled out of bed and Lauro sat up and watched as the man walked over to where his hat had ended up last night. "This hat has got me through many a business deal. I think there's a little bit of luck in there." He walked over and placed it on top of Lauro's head. "I hereby bestow upon you my lucky hat."

Lauro smiled as the hat covered his eyes.

***

Ryan glanced at his watch as Edward came into the room. "Everything must be going well; you're running ahead of schedule."

Edward smiled, "The men are all here and the boys are having their hair done. Josh should be done in a few minutes so I'll show him in first."

"Excellent." Edward didn't move and he waited to see if there was more, but after a moment he prompted, "Yes?"

The younger man straightened. "I just want to thank you for this opportunity you've given me. Being an intern on the show has been challenging at times but I believe I've learned a lot. Thank you."

Ryan paused for a moment. "You've been unusually competent." He hesitated and then added, "Would you like a job, as my assistant? It's basically what you've been doing now, only you would be paid."

Edward hesitated longer than Ryan expected, only to venture, "Are you sure?"

He considered for a second, but realized Edward had been considering the way he responded to the Nick situation. "You still need to work on your patience, but you have exceeded my expectations. Perhaps we should continue to discuss this over dinner tonight?" Ryan wasn't sure if he was arranging a business thing or asking the man out.

"I think I would like that," Edward said smiling before glancing down at his watch. "Josh should be ready."

"All right," Ryan said wondering what the other man was thinking.

When Josh walked into the room a minute later, he glanced around curiously. The room was draped with black curtains and had two directors' chairs facing each other. Instead of the cameraman there were two cameras behind and slightly to one side of the chair.

"Have a seat." Ryan said, trying to be friendly. "This is the big interview before the finals."

"I know," Josh said taking a seat in the chair.

"All right," Ryan said a bit miffed. "Just don't stare directly at the camera behind me and try to give long answers. We can stop and start, but let's try to get this in one." Leaning over, he flipped a switch and settled back into his chair. "So, Josh, you made it to the finals. What's it feel like?"

"All right," the boy said before remembering to give longer answers. "It's weird. I thought I would feel differently?" He laughed nervously. "I kind of just want to get it over with."

Ryan smiled understandingly. "Well, I'm not sure if you're aware but you're the first 12-year-old to make it this far. You are also facing off against the youngest person ever to make it to the finals. That has to give you some confidence?"

"Maybe. I watched the previous seasons and I think it will depend on what you want us to do. Like in the first season where they had to run and get a guy off in different ways every 100 meters [300 ft]. I think I would have an advantage there. If you want us to capture a flag like last season however, I think I would prefer to be small."

Ryan nodded. "You've given this some thought. So what has it been like competing?"

This time Josh seemed to shrink down in the chair and he started to play with his hair. "It's weird. I thought it would be one thing and it turned out to be another thing."

"Do you regret signing up?"

"No!" Josh said with enough emphasis to surprise Ryan. "I would have been just sitting around the house anyways."

Ryan quickly moved on. He could always edit later, but he didn't want Nick's name mentioned in that context. He suspected the boy was partly why Josh had been so firm in his answer. "Did you have a favorite part? Make any friends?"

"Nick is definitely my friend. Akira seemed nice to. There really wasn't anyone I really disliked, at least on my team. The amusement park in Japan was the best. As for the events, I guess the maze was kind of cool."

"What about, Lauro?" That question had not been planned, but it seemed right, given the circumstances.

Josh looked down and was quiet for a moment, thinking. "At first, I was angry with him, but he was just playing the game."

"Don't hate the playa, hate the game." Ryan quipped, but Josh just gave him a quizzical look and he was thankful for editing. "So, what will you be doing with the money if you win?"

"Spend some, save some. I can buy a lot of games with it."

Ryan waited for more, but when it was not coming he reluctantly moved on. "Would you like to say anything to those who are thinking of competing next year?"

Josh was silent for a long time, but he was clearly thinking so Ryan waited. Then the boy spoke slowly. "It's not going to be like what you think it will be like."

"That's some good advice." Ryan smiled, "Good luck in the finals."

"Thanks," Josh said smiling.

Ryan reached over and switched off the cameras. "Good job. You can wait in the room across the hall until it's time." The boy left wordlessly and he wondered why boys never seem to give him the time of day.

A few minutes later Edward showed Lauro to the room. It was the first time Ryan had seen him that day and the cowboy hat that was secured to his back by a string around his neck looked familiar. "Did you have a good time with Zeke?"

"Yes, I did."

The boy smiled as he took a seat and Ryan thought the boy seemed more confident somehow. Of course, the hat was a problem for consistency sake. "Here, let me take your hat so you don't crush it."

Lauro hesitated, but handed the hat over. Ryan took it gingerly and carefully placed it just outside of camera range. "Well, this is the interview before the finals. Try not to answer any of the questions with just one or two words and don't look directly at the camera right behind me."

"All right," Lauro said in a chipper tone.

Ryan smiled as he flipped the switch to start the cameras and settled back in his chair. " Lauro, you made it to the finals, what does it feel like?"

"I'm kind of excited and a little scared."

The boy had added the last part a little reluctantly, making him sound really cute to Ryan's ears. "Well, I'm not sure if you're aware but you're the first eight-year-old to ever make it this far in the competition. You are also facing off against the oldest person to make it this far in the competition. How does that make you feel?"

Lauro shrugged. "I'm going to do my best. He's going to do his best."

Ryan didn't see any way to have the kid expound on that, so he continued. "So what has it been like competing?"

Laurel smiled a little sheepishly. "At first, I was kind of scared. Then it was like doing your homework. It was just something I had to do."

"Do you regret signing up?" Ryan said a bit warily.

"No. I'm glad I could convince my parents to let me come on and compete. I met a lot of nice people and I have had some fun. If I hadn't, I wouldn't have met Oliver and I hope we can be friends even after the show. I met a lot of nice people. I saw a lot of cool things too."

Ryan had to modify his remaining questions. "Did you like any of the competitions?"

"The Indian one was fun." He thought for a second and added. "The obstacle course was fun too. It was weird, but kind of fun, but I didn't like the ending."

Ryan smiled and made a mental note to try to make the activities more fun next year. This wasn't the type of free advertising he wanted. If you win, what will you be doing with the money?"

"Give it to my parents. If they have all that money, my dad won't need to work two jobs."

"Is there anything you would like to say to anyone who might be thinking of competing next year?"

Lauro thought for a second. "Make alliances."

"Good advice. Well, best of luck in the finals, Lauro."

***

Josh was led onto the set with Lauro close behind him. Both boys looked at the set with a quizzical expression. "That's a lot of pillows."

"Yeah," Lauro agreed. "What do you think they want us to do?"

"I don't have a clue," Josh said honestly. Although as he looked at the set he noticed two platforms that were almost lost in the pillows and guessed they had something to do with it. Then he felt a tug on his elbow and looked at the smaller boy.

Lauro smiled up at him and held out his hand. "Good luck, Josh."

Josh hesitated and then smiled taking the hand and shaking it. "Good luck, Lauro."

Before the moment could become awkward Ryan strutted onto the set in full tuxedo. Clapping his hands, he asked, "Are you two ready?"

"Yeah," they coursed in unison.

"Excellent. Josh you stand here and Lauro you stand there." He pointed to two different spots on the stage. When they were both standing where they had been told to, Ryan continued, "This is how it's going to go. You both get undressed and then stand up on that ottoman over there. The cameramen are going to get some close up shots, so try to stand still for that. Then, I'm going to do my intro and introduce the final challenge. After you find out what it is, you have five minutes to figure out how you want to accomplish the challenge. We will still be filming, but I'll just edit it together later to remove the long pause. Any questions?"

"Yeah, what do you want us to do?" Josh asked not really expecting an answer.

"It'll be a race, but that's all I can tell you now."

"A race," Josh thought as he started to undress. There wasn't a lot of room on stage and what kind of race needed all these pillows. There were more pillows here than on his crazy Aunt's couch. They were bigger too. He could easily lay down on one. He stood on the platform or ottoman and bounced a little nervously. It was very soft like the carpet. The cameraman told him to look in the distance and stand still as he circled around him. Of course, when you're supposed to stand still was when you had to scratch the most.

***

Ryan rubbed his hands together nervously before he stepped onto the set and accepted the microphone. He glanced down to make sure his tuxedo looked all right. The tuxedo was uncomfortably hot and the lights weren't helping any. Glancing over both of his shoulders to see if both boys were ready, he began.

"Welcome to the season finale of Sexing for a Million! Today we are in Montréal Québec where our two finalists will compete for the grand prize. On my left is Josh, the luscious 12-year-old redhead." He paused for 5 seconds. In editing they would show a montage of Josh's best moments. "And on my right, the eight-year-old Filipino beauty, Lauro," again he paused for a count of five. "Now, before we continue, I took some time to interview the boys earlier today." He waited another few seconds reflecting that this was one of those things people never thought of when they were watching at home.

"Well, these boys both certainly want to win, but there can only be one winner. This year's finals competition will be a race. The race will be to see who can bring five men to orgasm first!"

As he spoke ten men filed in – five to each side. They were naked and most were at least semi-erect. In both groups there was at least one tall, black man, who had been bumped from the South Africa portion of the show. Ryan thought they were a nice touch now though. "Boys, you will each have five minutes to decide how you wish to do this. The man may not offer suggestions, but they will follow any direction you give them exactly. Condoms and lubricant are in the ottoman. The countdown starts now!"

***

Josh stared at the five men as his stomach did a nervous flip. Unconsciously, he shifted his weight and scratched his scrotum. One of the men laughed nervously and Josh just scowled back. What was the fastest way to get off? He tried to think back on the things he had done, but nothing came to mind. Well, that wasn't really true. Sucking went faster than a hand job and anal too. That gave him an idea.

Hopping off the ottoman he looked down and tried to figure out how to open it. It took him a second to find the handles which were the same color as the red material. Inside there were five condoms and a squeeze bottle of lube. Looking up he asked, "Who wants to put it up my ass?" Not surprisingly to Josh all five men raised their hands. He pointed to a man whose cock was long and thin even considering it was partially erect. "You get behind me. You, you and you stand there, there and there." He pointed to the black man and two guys who looked like they were still in their early 20s. The fifth man stayed where he was.

Josh pulled out two condoms and the bottle of lube before replacing the top of the ottoman. Grabbing one of the big pillows, he placed it on top and began to explain. "You're going to put it up my butt." He said gesturing to the man standing behind him. "You and you, I'm going to give hand jobs to." The large black man was included this time. "And I will suck you off. That leaves you." Josh walked towards the last man and handed him a condom. "You take the place of whoever comes first." Secretly he hoped he would finish one of the guys in front before the guy in back, but with the money so close, he didn't care too much.

***

Lauro stared at the five men for about a minute in a stupor. Being told what to do, but not how to do it was hard, and he didn't have anyone to turn to this time. Then he remembered Zeke's words and a plan started to form in his mind.

"You three are first. Then you and you."He started with the people on the far right and moved his way left down the line. "Just stand there and when you're done, go over there." He pointed to the wall. "The next guy stands where the guy left was. Understand?"

They nodded and Lauro hopped off of the ottoman and tried to get the top off. He couldn't find out how it opened so he just tipped it onto its side. The top fell off and he looked inside. Pulling out the bottle of lube, he began to squeeze it onto his hands. His plan was to suck on the big black guy first and stroke the other two with his hands. Just before the waiting time was about to expire he decided to keep switching things up in hopes of getting them off faster.

Ryan glanced at his watch as time counted down. When the buzzer went off he said, "Time. No more talking; get into positions."He stared directly into the camera and smiled. It was a slow practice; one that conveyed the impression of anticipation. "In a few minutes, one of these boys will be a millionaire. That will be their money, not their parents. It all boils down to the next few minutes. It's been a long journey for both boys and I know some of you have been cheering them on all the way. So, let's get right to it."

He stepped back and spun away from the camera and shouted, "Boys. Ready, set … go!"

The men had been instructed to follow any orders very precisely. So the man who was supposed to put it up Josh's ass was only partially erect, so when he tried to put it in, it was a little like a wet noodle. The first attempt was a failure as was the second. By the third the man had become hard enough and it began to slip in. This was so distracting to Josh that he had to stop sucking as he pursed his lips together.

Lauro, on the other hand, was running into a different problem. He was stroking two of the men just fine, but the black man he was sucking on was a bit too tall for him. The cock kept slipping out of his mouth. He was trying to stand on his tip toes, but that wasn't happening. After the third time he gave up and let go of the other two men and began stroking the big man with both his hands while preventing the cock going up towards his stomach. After about a minute of this personalized attention the boy pulled free to a spray of white.

"That's one for Lauro." Ryan announced. He would go back and at the commentary later, but he wanted to keep the two boys abreast of each other.

Josh was now getting pounded. Each thrust sent him forward onto the cock he was sucking. He seemed to be having some difficulty keeping his two hands going as he was thrust forward and then pulled back as the man withdrew. On one of the backward draws, the erection slipped out of his mouth and the man stepped away, going limp.

"That's one for Josh. One to one." Just as Ryan finished speaking one of Lauro's men squirted, spreading a sprinkling of white droplets across his arm and back. "Two for Lauro, it's two to one."

After a few more strokes, Josh fell into more of a rhythm. When the man from behind would thrust forward he used it. Instead of trying to stroke the two men independently with his hands, he just let his hands move forward and pull back. Then with one last thrust, the man fucking him thrust deeply into Josh's ass and almost simultaneously, one of the men in his hands also climaxed.

"Two more for Josh, it is now two to three in Josh's favor." Ryan shouted the news and adjusted himself. Josh's face was now beet red as he moved on to the two remaining cocks. Lauro either didn't hear the news or wasn't ruffled by it as he continued at the same pace. He quickly brought another man to climax by using his mouth. He took the time to spit some of the sperm out as Ryan announced, "Tied at three to three."

The two boys continued sucking and stroking. Lauro was switching between the two men,stroking and switching who he was sucking on. Josh concentrated to suck on one man while stroking both with his hands. As Ryan watched up close, he pulled back just in time as one of Josh's men shot white cum onto Josh's face. "Four to three, Josh is in the lead."

As Ryan moved over to watch, Lauro switched from one man to the other. Just as he was switching the first exploded, hitting Lauro in the chest. "Four to four, it's all tied up. Next one wins!"

Both of the boys seemed to have heard him as they redoubled their efforts. They were both sweating, and both had more than a little cum on them. They both sucked and stroked with their hands moving up and down their man's shaft. Lauro let one of his hands stroke the man's balls, his fingers disappearing in the dark pubic hair. Then with an audible groan, the man thrust forward and Lauro pulled back coughing as what was probably the second load dribbled onto his shoulder.

"That's it! We have a winner! Lauro has won the million dollars!" Ryan paused only long enough for the man to step aside, so he could rush in and kneel down to the boy's height. "Lauro, you've won! You're a millionaire! How does it feel?"

Lauro just looked up at him and smiled. before jumping to his feet with his fists in the air and his little genitals flopping wildly as confetti started to rain down on him, sticking to his sweaty, cum covered body.

Epilogue

Each boy who was on the show went back to their normal lives for the most part. Some had found confidence in themselves they had not had before and others simply fell back to their normal routine.

Bahram the first one voted off and the first back home found the confidence to confront feelings he had for a friend. Unfortunately, his friend didn't return the feelings, but pointed out that the goalie had been eyeing him for some time. His family was not particularly happy with the relationship, but did little to stand in the way as long as they weren't overt.

As for Philip, his family's restaurant noticed a marked increase in customers. When he did the waiter job, his tips were unusually high. One particular young man was especially generous and particularly nice. With his parent's permission, they began to run in the evening together and sometimes they retired for some more acrobatic exercises.

Michael was picked up at the airport by both of his fathers. After an embarrassing amount of hugging and kissing, both fathers stepped aside to reveal a third man. The man, who Michael had had a crush on for so long, warmly embraced the boy and joined the family for dinner. Afterward, they both retired to Michael's room for dessert.

Akira returned home to a family that tried to hide its disappointment. A little hurt, he resisted the urge to fall back into the usual pattern of studying. He still studied, but he was able to persuade his parents to let him join a swim team where he made friends with one particular boy who introduced him to a group of friends. Secretly, they called themselves the Cock Sucker Association and together they had a lot of fun, which was not all sexual.

Oliver's life didn't change dramatically except for the amount he was paid for his modeling deals. He continue to mess around with his friends and it would be several more years before he realized the girl he was messing around with would be the one he would marry.

Robert's relationship with his Coach began to change almost immediately. Robert was more than happy to give the names of who was eliminated, up until the point he could at least. Of course, he demanded that 50% be given to Dave's family. It only amounted to about $3000, but it was all he could do for his friend. His Coach was also happy to drive him to Dave's house whenever a camping trip seemed possible. However, the man was thoroughly disappointed that a threesome never emerged.

Dave and his family were able to keep the house, if just. The $10,000 Dave received, plus the 3000 from the illegal gambling, was just enough to keep them in the house until business picked up. Dave and Robert continued to have sex, and Robert was introduced to the wonderful world of fossils.

Nick's transition to his new home was rocky at times, but Josh's family did everything they could to make the boy feel welcome. His frequent thoughts about his mother faded to mostly unpleasant memories. Such melancholy thoughts became less frequent when he joined a children's acting group that performed at a local theater. He never became a star, though Josh said he shone the brightest on stage.

Josh loved Nick. In fact he loved him so much that his sister began to complain she couldn't sleep at night. The big surprise Nick had alluded to when he visited him before the finals happened to be bunk beds. They actually did use both beds. One was for having fun and the other was for sleeping, though, they were interchangeable. Josh's dread of the onset of Scleroderma became significantly less pronounced now that he had a bundle of energy in his life. He was happy as long as he had Nick.

Lauro proudly handed his check over to his parents. More importantly, though, they talked. Lauro got his house in the same neighborhood he had been living in. He also got his dog, a big Mutt which he loved to pieces. More importantly though, his father agreed to only work one job, and they sent the money from that job back home to family in the Phillipines. His parents wisely hired a financial assistant. With the house being the only big purchase, they were able to live quite happily on the remainder with most of the money invested in bonds. From time to time he would call Zeke, but just to talk.

As for Ryan and Edward, they hit it off quite well on their date. They began planning for next season although both agreed it would be hard to keep coming up with new ideas. Ryan wasn't too worried about that though. He was sure his fans would come through.

The End