Wayne Gray

Thanks for the comment! And all I have to say is, Clay knew what he wanted! 😀

Thanks, Danilo! I try. This story is going to run the gamut, so hang on!

I get James - I get trying to protect people. But I do think it can have the opposite effect when we close ourselves off to others. If all parties know the score, then why not allow for the risk? Leave the world loved. That is my goal in life.

Yeah. Not good at all. Where we are should see a much shorter outage. There’s even talk of turning our county back on tomorrow. We’ll see!

Thanks for commenting, Dave. You're right. PrEP is a great thing, but it makes some guys careless about everything else out there. That will come up in this story too!

Hehehe... thanks for commenting, molly. Yeah, Mason is definitely smitten, and Jeremy has hooked into his mind in a way nothing else has. You already know where we'll end up, but I'm glad the journey is worth taking again.

Thanks for the great comment, Parker. Jeremy has suffered a lot. Some of that is due to his diagnosis, though mostly it is human-driven. That will become more apparent as his story unfolds, and as we dive deeper into the lives of all of our men in the story. For the first time Jeremy met someone outside of medicine who accepted him immediately. That's an unforgettable moment for him.

Thank you for taking the time to comment, James. I'll be honest - this is pushing Mason. He's a teenager from the deep south of the United States, and this is the first time he has been presented with someone he knows who is positive. But, he believes in valuing a person beyond their physical attributes/situation. He values Jeremy in a way that he has never valued anybody. I know it's difficult to find a story where HIV is present, and not used as a death sentence plot device. Those days are gone, and our stories should reflect that. When that young man emailed, and when he was so devastated by his diagnosis, I went hunting for stories he could read - ones with positive messages for guys like him. There was nothing that I could find, so I set out to write one myself. And here we are.

Thanks, tim. I struggled with telling this story, and avoiding using HIV as a simple plot device. I know many positive folks, and I truly wanted to tell their struggle without belittling it. Respect. I wanted to show respect. I respect that you just live your life, tim. That you don't let the condition dictate your every moment. It shouldn't. We all should be able to just live.

Thanks for commenting, Tonyr. Like a few have said above, HIV doesn't prevent relationships now, though Jeremy is using it as a reason not to pursue anything with Mason. Then there's also the matter of his age, and his vigilant, policeman father. We'll see how this all shakes out. 🙂

Thanks for writing, Chris. The guys at the campground all know. But, Jeremy works in healthcare. He knows people are living longer, healthier, and having relationships with both other positive and negative partners. Sounds like something else is holding Jeremy back.

Jeremy has HIV. For many, thanks to today's regimens, it never has to become AIDS. We're going to learn a lot about the condition through the course of this story. All of what I will write shall be correct according to our current medical knowledge, and treatments. I work with a fantastic team of folks who specialize in HIV treatment, and I worked with them to get my information right. I started this story because a young guy wrote. He had just gotten his initial positive diagnosis, and he had found Guarded. He thanked me for the story, saying that he needed the distraction. He had a couple of days before the confirmation would report out, and he was understandably stressed. His next email confirmed his fears. He was positive, and devastated. At twenty-two years old, and just barely coming to terms with his sexuality, this young man ended his email to me in this way: "Who would love me now? Who could possibly love me now?" That's why I wrote this story. He deserves love, same as the rest of us. I don't know if he ever saw Camp Refuge, but I can hope. What I do know is that there were so many people who wrote to tell me how this little story touched them. Mostly, I write to help people understand. I'm a flawed vehicle for the telling, but I'm going to tell it.

May 19 (Saturday) It was early in the morning. Greg woke in a warm, comfortable, secure place - Officer Clay Jameson's arms. The man slept behind him, one arm around Greg's middle, and their naked bodies pressed together. Greg lay there and relished the moment. 'This feels so right.' The thought ran through Greg's mind, and he shifted himself slightly. Then his eyebrows went up. Clay's meaty penis was hard as a rock and now lay along the groove of his ass. Greg licked his lips and his br

Hehe. I'm glad you liked it well enough to issue forth such a command. 😉 I actually just heard from our power company that we're about to lose power, probably for the next two days, so I won't be writing much of anything for a bit. Thank you for reading and commenting, Danilo. This story was absolutely fun to write, and we're not nearly done with Jed, Wolfgang, Franklin, and Shawn.

Thanks, Jeffrey. Thanks for commenting, and I apologize for my lag in responding. I have said this before, but the beginning was a little wild. I knew I wanted a "different sort of shifter" tale, but I hadn't planned much beyond that when I began to write. The plot solidified a bit once chapter two was done, thankfully. And it was so fun to cut loose on the sex. I had never written anything close to this story in that respect, so that dip into debauchery was a good time. Thanks again. There's more coming down the line for our guys.

Thanks, molly! I like Mason a lot. He has his issues, but as you said, he is a teenager. He has a lot of growing up to do, and I hope his journey is believable. I'm glad you're enjoying the reread, molly.

Thanks for reading and commenting! Greg hadn't shared what happened so long ago with anyone. So it remains to be seen if he chooses to reveal it to Clay. You're right - if Clay heard some other way it'd be a bit hurtful.

Thanks, Thorn. 🙂

Thanks, rick. Mostly it's thanks to @Thorn Wilde's help. Though, I've been told that I'm improving. 😛

Thanks for reading and commenting, Parker. Mason is doing the things his teenager brain and hormones want him to do. Jeremy isn't far ahead of him in age, so it's not like he's immune to those things either. But, again, something is holding him back. Greg and Clay are making a go of it. We'll see where they all end up. 🙂

Thanks, molly! I'm glad you're a fan of the story. I hope this edited version makes it worth reading it again.

I set out to reach a single person. I wanted to show him that he was worthwhile, loveable, and that he could have a life if he wished it. This story really did become more than that, and I'm happy it touched the folks who emailed and messaged me over the span of my postings on Nifty and Storylover. This chapter got a lot of feedback, and I began to realize that the story had grown beyond the original purpose. 🙂 Thanks for commenting and reading, Tom.

Thanks for taking the time to comment, Dave! I'm glad you're enjoying the revision. Everyone has their demons, and Jeremy is not excluded from that - as we'll see.

There is a trans character in this story, though it's not Jeremy. 🙂 Thanks for reading and commenting. Jeremy is upset. He let down his guard a little, and he just doesn't do that. Mason sort of blindsided him - he didn't expect to feel what he does, and he's angry with himself about that. There's more to come as to why.

Thanks, Fae. Yeah, he turned into one of my favorites too.