The Barnstable Chronicles - Book 6: The Barnstable Cowboy - 9. A Cape Cod Yankee (Part 2)

I’m pretty sure I hit the roommate jackpot with Vic Greenley! The next few weeks could be described as the ultimate suck and fuck fest. The more we learned about each other’s bodies, the hotter everything got!

Vic said the “friends with benefits” thing was pretty new to him, but he was totally on board.

“It’s like this, Vic—all the fun without any of the pressure or expectations!”

We were both looking forward to Labor Day weekend—which meant three days away from training! Yes! Coach Ellis was kicking our asses in the pool. I know all three of us—Jerry, Vic, and I—were so ready for a break.

I told Vic that I was going to take him to Hippie Hollow for Splash Days. He looked at me like I was speaking in tongues. “Dude—Splash Days is a big ol’ gay party out on Lake Travis. Hippie Hollow is a nude beach that’s about 99% gay for the weekend. We’re gonna help you get rid o’ yer white-ass tan lines!”

Friday night was the start of our three-day weekend, but a lot of the guys on the team stayed around for the boys-only free swim that night. I don’t know—it must be something about hanging—literally—with the guys that means the most to you!

Afterward, Jerry and a few of the guys invited Vic and me to go out for pizza. “Sorry Jer. It’s Splash Weekend—I’m takin’ Vic downtown for some good ol’ boy-on-boy dancin’.”

As we headed back to the dorm, Jerry caught up with Vic and me and asked if he could go dancing with us. I stopped and turned around, facing Jerry. “Dude, we’re gonna be dancin’ at Rain. Rain is a gay bar—dude, yer straight—and a total hottie. You’d be gettin’ hit on by twinks and daddies all night. Some of ‘em’ll be feelin’ you up, too. You cool with that?”

“Hunter. Hunter. Hunter. Not all of us are from back-asswards Texas. I’m from Dallas. My best friend in high school was gay. He would take me to JR’s in Oak Lawn all the time. With our fake IDs, we’d dance all night. It was a blast. And just so you know, I’m cool with my hetero-ness and can handle a few hands feelin’ up my magnificent ass. Besides, there are always hot straight chicks at gay bars. It’ll be a blast!”

Vic just shook his head. “Dude, what the fuck? Do I get a surprise or a shock every day I’m here?”

Jerry laughed and put his arm around Vic’s shoulder. “Vic, it’s a pleasure, a joy, and a kick-in-the-ass to put our Yankee visitors in place when their preconceived notions about us Texans are chipped away little by little.”

“Asshole! Hey, two questions. First, why don’t you have a funny accent like my cowboy compadre here?”

“Vic, Hunter doesn’t have all that much of an accent, even though he’s from West Texas. Now you, on the other hand—"

“I don’t have an accent! I’ve never had an accent!”

“Whatever, Yankee boy! What’s your second question for Jer?”

Vic looked at Jerry with a serious face. “Are you telling me I could’ve been grabbing your hot little ass all this time, and it would have been cool?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time a hot boy has grabbed my ass—just sayin’.”

We were laughing our asses off as we walked into the dorm to head to the cafeteria. After dinner, Vic told Jer to meet us at the front door for our 10:00 Uber.

The three of us met as planned, and—if I do say so myself—we all looked great. I decided to wear my black skinny jeans and a burnt-orange Longhorn tee that hugged tight on my pecs and hung loosely from there down. Jerry had on grey skinny jeans and a Maroon 5 tee. Vic had on a pair of deep burgundy skinny jeans and a white v-neck that was now about a half-size too small from the conditioning and weight training that had been taking place.

It didn’t take long to get downtown and in line to get into the club. Damn! The place was already packed! Jer was able to get in with no problem since he was 21. Vic and I got in, but not before the bouncer dude drew big black X’s on the tops of our hands to show we were over 18 but couldn’t drink alcohol.

As soon as we got in, the three of us started dancing in the middle of the dance floor, which was packed with hot boys moving to a great mix of Kylie Minogue’s “Time Bomb.”

Once I got my groove going, I pulled my tee-shirt over my head and tucked it into the back of my jeans. Vic and Jer followed suit, and we even got some cheers from the guys dancing around us! Sweet! It only took a few minutes before half the guys on the dance floor were shirtless—and sweaty—and—oh, God—what a beautiful sight!

The energy inside the club was palpable, and after another ten minutes of dancing full out, we moved off the dance floor and went to the back terrace to have some water—and chill out a bit. Vic was having a blast. He decided the best thing about Austin bars was the lack of smoke. In addition to banning plastic bags, the city also had a smoking ban in all public spaces, including bars, restaurants, and public parks.

We danced our asses off for a couple of hours when I told the guys we should get going—we had a busy day tomorrow! I called Uber and lined up our ride back to the dorm.

On the way back, I had the driver stop at Walgreen’s to get some sunscreen. We definitely didn’t want Vic to burn his lily-white ass!

As the boys were waiting for their car, Vic said he had asked Jerry if he had a good time. He said, “Oh, fuck yeah! The energy in there was awesome as shit! And if I do say so myself—from the perspective of a hetero—you boys were the hottest things in there!”

Vic grinned from ear-to-ear as I hooted a “Fuck, yeah!”

Ya know, I kinda have to grin—on the inside—every time Jerry talks about his heteroness. He didn’t seem so hetero the way he liked his dick in my mouth—or his hand stroking mine to a hot-as-fuck nut! Hehe—just sayin’.

Once Vic and I got back into the room, we stripped off every stitch of clothing we had. Shit! My roomie is so. Fucking. Hot! “Damn, Yankee boy! You sure know yer way around a dance floor! You were hot as fuck tonight!”

“You too, cowboy! Where’d you learn those moves?”

“Aww, when I’d get bored at the ranch, I’d dance and prance around with the sheep!”

“You dufus! Get over here. Looking at all those hot boys made me horny tonight. How about you?” I gave Vic my signature seduction look, stepped forward, and began kissing him. Of course, being teenagers, it took mere seconds for our cocks to fill out and start dueling for space between us.

“Dude, I’m so fucking horny,” I gasped and broke the kiss so I could catch my breath. “My ass has an uncontrollable craving for a big Yankee dick. You good with that?”

“We’ve never—"

“Can’t think of a better time to start, dude. Follow me.”

He did—and we did—and holy shit! I thought Vic was a fantastic cocksucker. But everything about Vic fucking me—and I mean everything—was so fucking far and above anything I had ever experienced.

Okay—so we were both horny as fuck. Hell, we both nutted from just rolling around the bed together! I thought I would lose my shit when Vic scooped up our nut and slathered on his cock. What could I do other than take some more and lube my hole?

Vic’s cock was the largest I’d ever taken before—and I loved every damned inch of it! I decided to give my Yankee a little treat by massing his cock with my worked-out glutes. Just before I drove him completely crazy with my amazing ass, I pulled up and had just the top part of his cock inside me.

“Pound me, Yankee boy! Fuck the cum outta me!”

Whoa! Did he ever! That boy turned me into a blubbering idiot. The louder I blubbered, the harder he pounded. I leaned back just enough so Vic’s cock began to destroy my prostate. That position also had my cock pointing straight up—which caused my hands-free nut to literally fly all over the room. I’ve never nutted so hard—or so much—in my life!

Of course, my pulsing ass pulled a hot—and equally as loud—nut out of Vic! When we finally calmed down—and only because Vic’s cock slipped out of my ass—I pulled myself next to Vic. We didn’t say a word—didn’t need to—but we could feel the beat of my neighbor’s stereo through the wall!

“I guess we were a little loud, cowboy!”

“Wow, that was fuckin’ amazing. Best fuck I ever had, dude!”

“I’ll say! You covered the whole bed with your nut!”

We chilled for a bit more, then decided to sleep in the other bed—mainly because those sheets were dry! We both decided we had had the best sleep we’d had in a long, long time!

The next morning, we ended up sleeping in a bit. Okay—so it was 8:30 in the morning—but that sure beats the shit outta waking up at 4:30! After doing our morning business, Vic and I headed down to the cafeteria for some breakfast.

Vic was awfully quiet—and I could tell he had something on his mind. “You okay, Yankee boy? Did last night bother you or somethin’?”

“Oh no! Last night was awesome! I’m just thinking about being nude in public. Something I’ve never done before. I guess I’m just a little nervous about the whole thing.”

I leaned into Vic and whispered, “Dude! Really?? You stand in front of hundreds of people in that skimpy Speedo. And trust me—you aren’t hidin’ much at all—‘specially with the size of that awesome dick. This is like a half-step beyond what people see when yer standin’ on the block!”

“Well, shit! When you put it that way, I guess you’re right. How the Hell did a West Texas cowboy get so damned smart?”

“Fuck you!”

This time, Vic leaned into Hunter, speaking softly, “Oh, don’t worry, tonight you will!”

Oh. Hell to the yes!

We finished breakfast and headed back to the room. Of course, as soon as the door closed, we stripped down and admired each other’s bodies.

I reached down and cupped Vic’s balls in my hand. “Yankee boy, we got us three hours before we hafta leave. You horny now?”

Vic reached down and grabbed my already hard cock. “Why don’t you come with me and find out?”

Leading the way, Vic led us into my bed, which still smelled of the previous night’s sex.

“What’re we doin’ in here?”

“Your bed is already cummy. I can still smell last night’s fucking on the sheets, and that’s hot as fuck. Now, get me ready, and then give me your hot dick!”

And I did—after several minutes of kissing, humping, and sucking. I threw Vic’s legs up in the air and dove in, attacking his ass with an expert rim job and tongue-fucking.

It didn’t take long at all for Vic to thrash around on the bed, grab handfuls of sheets, and beg for my cock. “Now, Hunter! I need it now!”

I smiled and sat on my knees as I lined my dripping cock with Vic’s wet hole. As I started easing in, I asked him if he needed some lube. “Fuck no, cowboy. Give it to me—just go easy. It’s been a few weeks.”

I eased into the tightness slowly, pulling back out to the head—stopping long enough to allow Vic to relax and get used to my thickness. With the slight upward curve of my cock, I could tell I was at the perfect angle to stroke and press against Vic’s prostate. Each time my cock passed by Vic’s magic spot, he’d let out a moan that seemed to begin in his toes.

At one point, I held myself all the way in and began a slow, circular motion with my hips. That’s what did it—Vic pretty much went bat-shit crazy.

“Oh fuck! Ohhh fuuuuck! Do it now, cowboy! Fuck me hard, dude!”

And I did just as I was asked. I began pounding Vic faster and faster, destroying his prostate. It didn’t take Vic long at all to start thrashing around on the bed and grabbing handfuls of sheets.

By now, we were both dripping with sweat, and anyone close to the room had no doubt that we were having some amazing sex. Vic’s throbbing cock was harder than I’ve ever seen i—and bouncing up and down, yet never coming in contact with his taut abs.

After just a few more minutes of relentless fucking, it was Vic’s turn to spray the bed with a powerful nut, and the contractions in his ass were all I needed to fill him with shot after shot of scalding hot nut.

I fell forward and collapsed on top of Vic, panting and totally spent. We kissed and took a few minutes to recover.

“Let’s clean up and get ready to meet Daniel and Jonathan. They’re gonna meet us in front of the dorm in about a half-hour.”

“Awesome—just like that fuck, cowboy! Jesus! I felt shit I’ve never felt before!”

My softening cock eventually slipped out of Vic, and we hopped out of bed. I almost fell on my ass!

“Jesus Vic, you came all over the fuckin’ floor, dude! Damn!’

Vic giggled and thanked me for the awesome fuck as we headed to our showers. I’m pretty sure I could see some of my nut leaking out of his ass as he hurried to his bathroom

I cleaned up, got dressed, and headed out to the living room. Vic walked out, and I swear he was blushing when he saw my tee-shirt. It read “Boys. Free Protein Shakes” with an arrow pointing down to my dick. I don’t know why he was blushing—his tee-shirt said, “I like dick.” Gotta love my Yankee!

I loaded My bag with sunscreen, towels, and several bottles of water. I told Vic that Daniel and Jonathan would probably be smoking some pot on the way up but to make sure he didn’t partake if he was so inclined. The coaching staff will be doing some random drug testing when we returned to practice after the holiday weekend—at least, that’s what usually happens.

When we arrived at Hippie Hollow, we found one of the last parking spots left and made our way down the trail to the beach. I had to laugh at Vic’s face when he saw the “beach.” Instead of sand, there were a bunch of large, flat-top rocks that lined the hillside around the lake.

The four of us found some space fairly close to the water on one large rock that could easily accommodate the entire group. It didn’t look like there would be any swimming as the shore was packed with boats—filled with partyers.

Once we arrived at our rock, we began to strip down. As each one of us exposed our goods, there were cheers from the boys in the boats. Jonathan and Daniel, regulars at the nude beach, had no tan lines and weren’t bothered by the attention. On the other hand, Vic and I bared our white asses—and our hard cocks. Yeah—we got the loudest cheers between the four of us.

We laid face-down at first and helped each other with our sunscreen. “Damn, Yankee boy—you got yerself one lily-white ass. Don’t worry, though. We’ll keep them cheeks nice and coated so they won’t burn!”

It turned out to be a wonderful, relaxing time for all of us. Vic pretty much got used to being naked after about twenty minutes. The only downer was that Jonathan kept giving me these long and sad looks. It seemed he didn’t want our summer fling to end, after all.

About two hours into the sunbathing, Daniel and I decided to head up to the trees to take a piss, leaving Jonathan and Vic alone. When we were making our way back to the rock, I noticed Vic holding Jonathan in his arms. Was he crying? Oh, fuck me.

About two hours later, Vic and I were in the car's back seat as Daniel pulled up to the front of the dorm. Fist bumps, then hugs, then kisses were shared, and then we made our way to the cafeteria before heading upstairs.

We were starving and had a hearty dinner and then made our way up to the room. As soon as we closed their door, the clothes came off. We were both pretty happy not to have burnt our asses in the sun. We grabbed some water and went to the sofa.

“Hey Hunter, I had a nice talk with Jonathan while you and Daniel went to the trees. Man, he still has it bad for you. But he’ll be fine. It’s just going to take some time.”

“Yeah. I really hated endin’ things, but I couldn’t give JonJon what he wanted, ya know.”

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“There is someone, isn’t there?”

I paused and went deep into thought. “Yeah. There is. Jaime Vega. We became best friends in middle school, and from that time, things just got tighter and tighter—until graduation.”

“What happened at graduation?”

“Well, Jaime was the youngest of three boys. His oldest brother, Frank, joined the Army right after 9-11 happened. He ended up with some major PTSD issues. A few years later, his other brother signed up. Said he owed it to Frank.” I paused and took a deep breath.

“Carlos didn’t make it back. He was driving a supply truck, and it got hit by an IED. Carlos’ dyin’ tore up Jaime. At graduation, instead of coming to school with me, he signed up. Said he owed it to Carlos. It broke my heart, but I couldn’t stop him. He would never forgive me. Of course, he had to make it into Special Ops, so our contact is pretty limited.

“The last night we were together, he made me promise not to wait for him, that if someone came along, I should go for it. Well, that pissed me off. I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let him break us up. Jaime finally agreed that we would stay together while he was in Afghanistan, but he made me promise to have as much no-strings sex as I could since he figured I would probably explode if I went celibate.”

I had to stop talking—tears began falling down my face. Vic took me in his arms and let his roommate cry onto his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, dude. I feel like a fool now. You don’t have to do this.”

“Hey cowboy, you took care of me when I was going through my shit. I get to take care of you, too.” We just sat on the sofa, completely naked, and held on to each other. “How about a movie? I’ll make some popcorn, and we can just chill for the night.”

“Whaddya got?”

“Let’s see what’s on Pay-per-View.”

Vic scrolled through the list, and we decided on The Avengers. He went into the kitchen and threw a pack of popcorn into the microwave. In just a few minutes, we were into the film and munching on popcorn.

We were sitting side by side on the sofa with the popcorn between them. When it was gone, I moved the bowl to the other side and casually placed my hand on Vic’s crotch. Being eighteen, his cock quickly responded, and Vic placed his hand on my semi—which wasn’t a semi for long.

The strokes were intermittent and slow. Neither one of us was trying to get the other off. It was just something comfortable and relaxing. But when the movie ended, Vic took my hand and led me into his room. Without saying a word, we settled into a sixty-nine and finished off each other. I shifted and took Vic’s head in my hands while we shared a kiss as well as the remnants of each other’s nut.

“Hey, sorry about losin’ it earlier. It’s kinda embarrassin’ cuz I don’t usually share that personal shit.”

“That’s why it’s so fucking cool that we get to be here for each other. And honestly, I’m so happy that you have someone like Jaime in your life. And as long as he’s cool about what we’re up to, then I’m cool with it, too. It’s a little different for me to be in this kind of thing, but I’m going with the idea that this is a semester of new things.”

Dammit! The tears started again. “I just miss him so much. For me, it’s just been easier to not talk about him and do my thing.”

“Roll over, cowboy. I get to be the big spoon tonight.”

Vic wrapped his arms around me as I sniffed and let out a big, relaxing sigh. Within minutes, we were sound asleep.

The next several weeks were my favorite weeks of practice. Once the coaches had our individual routines set up, they had to leave. NCAA regulations only allowed a certain amount of time for the coaches to work with us in the pre-season. They would be back with us a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving to start prepping us for the season.

Jerry, Vic, and I worked with each other on our training regimens and tracked our improvement for the coaches. As far as the sexual activities went, Vic pulled himself away a bit. I guess he felt a little uncomfortable messing around when I was so in love with Jaime.

Don’t get me wrong—we would still have our fun times and hardly ever wore clothes in the room. Vic was totally getting into the life of a nudist—both in the room and on several trips to the Hollow. By the time the team was reunited with the coaching staff, Vic had no tan lines at all.

Neither of us particularly enjoyed getting up early again for their first practice back with the coaches, but we were dressed out and ready to go at 5:30 am. Just like the first day of training at the beginning of the year, everyone swam their races for the staff and was reevaluated.

The three of us had made some major improvements, and Coach Ellis was thrilled. He kept sayin’ shit like he had the strongest medley team in the conference and probably one of the top five teams in the nation.

Vic and I were on top of the world by the time Thanksgiving break rolled around. Vic had decided not to go back to the Cape since the break was too short for a good visit. Gran insisted I go up to the Ranch. She and my mother were planning this huge family get-together. She knew it would be okay since so many relatives were going to be there. I decided to invite my Yankee, and Vic was pretty excited to see his first ranch.

The drive to West Texas began right after the Wednesday practice since neither of us had any classes the rest of the week. I rented a Ford Expedition for the trip because the weather could be pretty unpredictable at that time of year. We stopped for lunch in Amarillo, about an hour from home.

After lunch, we were jamming to Maroon 5’s “One More Night” and having a blast despite our horrible singing. The last thing I remembered was the sound of metal hitting metal and breaking glass before everything went black.

The next thing I remembered was lying in a hospital bed. My left leg was in a cast and strung up above the bed. I looked over to my left and saw my Yankee in the other bed. Oh, fuck! Why are both of us in the hospital?

The next thing I knew was that I was hungry as fuck! “I’m hungry!!”

But then—I pretty much lost my appetite when I looked to the other side of the bed and saw both of my parents sitting—silently—looking at me like they were waiting for I-don’t-know-what.

“Can someone tell me what happened?”

“You and your roommate were about fifteen minutes from the ranch when a drunk driver hit your truck. He hit you between the front wheel and the door—right where your left leg was. A passerby put a tourniquet on your leg to slow down the bleeding. After about forty-five minutes, they were able to get you out of the truck. They flew you here and took you right into surgery. Your leg was broken, and they had to pin it back together.”

“Will I be able to swim again?” I was pretty terrified to hear the answer to that one.

“I never asked. You can talk to your doctor when he comes in this afternoon.”

“Right. You never asked—of course, you didn’t.

Dad mumbled, “You’re awake. We’re going to get back to the ranch. We have company, and we need to get back to them.”

“Yeah—of course.”

Mom and Dad got out of their chairs and walked out of the room—not a word—not even a goodbye. Gotta love ‘em.

“Hey, Cowboy—How’re you feeling?”

“I feel great. They have me on so much good shit, and I literally feel no pain.”

“What’s with your parents?”

“Oh them, they don’t like me much. Well—mostly, Dad doesn’t like me much. Mom’s not so bad—most of the time.”

“If you ask me, they don’t like each other very much. I don’t think they said one word to each other the whole time they were waiting for you to wake up.”

“Well, my family’s pretty fucked up. But Thanksgiving was gonna be okay with the relatives there. They’re great then. But then, I had everything planned out, so we wouldn’t have been around them much.”

Turns out Vic ended up with a nasty concussion, and they were keeping him here for a few days to make sure there was no swelling of the brain. He said his parents would probably be here in a day or so.

“How can they not like you, dude? You’re fucking awesome.”

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Coach Ellis walked into the room, looking kinda worried.

“Coach? What are you doing here? I mean, how did you know what was going on?”

“Coach Reese got a call from your parents, Vic. I was in Ft. Worth visiting friends, and Coach asked me to stop by. He’s going to come by tomorrow afternoon. We’ve all been pretty worried about you guys.”

As soon as I saw my coach, the tears began to well up. “Coach, I don’t think I’m going to be swimmin’ for a while. I got six to eight weeks in this cast, and then I have to start physical therapy.”

“Damn, Hunter! That sucks big time. But more importantly, how are you feeling?”

“I feel fine. But that’s probably because of the drugs they’re puttin’ in me. Hell, it’ll probably take three or four months before I could pass one of yer random drug tests.”

“How about you, Vic? You don’t look the worse for wear, at least.”

“I ended up with a fairly serious concussion. They’re keeping me in here for a day or two just to make sure there isn’t any swelling in my brain. But so far, I guess things are okay. I just have a killer headache.”

“That’s good. It looks like you’ll be back in the pool when things start back up next week. Don’t worry. We’ll be in close touch with your doctors and stay on top of things. As far as Coach Reese and I are concerned, your health and safety are more important.”

The three of us had a lighthearted conversation over the next twenty minutes before Coach Ellis excused himself. He had to drive back to Ft. Worth for dinner with his friends. The half-hour spent with our coach wore both of us down, and we settled in for naps.

The next thing I knew, the nurse was taking my temperature and checking my blood pressure. After she left, Vic told me he ordered dinner. I was pretty excited since I was so hungry.

“Dude, don’t get so excited. If lunch was any indication, it’s gonna suck big time. First, they get you all excited about the menu—and then it arrives.”

“Aw, Yankee boy, it can’t be that bad!”

“You’ll see, dude—you’ll see!”

Of course, dinner sucked. There was nothing tender about the pork tenderloin—it was more like a hockey puck, in my opinion. The nurse came in and drew the curtain so that she could remove my catheter. Even though I couldn’t get out of bed, I was happy that I’d be able to pee on my own.

About an hour later, as we were watching television, there was a knock on the door. Vic didn’t recognize the extremely hot boy walking in. On the other hand, I gasped and started to cry. “Jaime!? How? What—Oh my god!”

Jaime made a beeline to my bed and kissed me deeply. When he broke the kiss, I held my boyfriend’s face in my hands. “Please tell me they found out you like dick and kicked you out of the army!”

“Baby, Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell ended last year. Trust me, most of them know I like dick, a few more than the others. I got a three-week leave, and the first thing I did was go to the ranch, hoping you were there for Thanksgiving.”

“You went to my house? How’d that go?”

“Just like you’d expect. Your mom answered the door and just told me you were here. She didn’t even say hello.”

“God, she can be a total bitch, sometimes. But at least she told you where I am.”

“What the fuck happened to you? What happened to your leg?”

“We were—Oh! This is my roomie Vic. Don’t hold it against him, but he’s a damned Yankee boy!

“Hiya, Vic. I hope Hunter’s been takin’ excellent care of ya!” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and winked. “Well, except for this shit!”

“Oh yeah, he’s been great. But we take care of each other, you know.” Vic winked back at Jaime.

“So, baby, tell me what happened.”

I told my boy all about the accident and my prognosis. By the end of the story, Jamie was in tears. I reached up and wiped them from his cheeks. “I’m so glad I came home now. You’ll be staying with us when you get out of here. Mom and Dad love you to death—and maybe the best medicine for you, when you get out of here, is a houseful of love.”

“I thought that me bein’ away for more than a year would’ve made my parents happy to see me—or at least happy to see me alive. But—I think it’s even worse than the last time I saw you.”

Vic left Jaime and me alone in the room, and I ended up with one of the best blowjobs of my life! In fact, for the next week—even after Vic left—I got at least one hospital blowjob a day. I love my soldier boy!!

I finally went home—to the Vegas—and I had one more week before Jaime had to go back to Afghanistan. The bedroom fun was a little limited because of the cast on my leg. But if I have to be honest, the best part was holding each other all night.

After Jaime left, Mrs. Vega did everything she could to spoil me rotten. God, I love this family more than life itself. I still missed the fuck out of Jaime—Vic, too.

I pretty much spent the rest of the school year in rehab, physical therapy, and at the Vegas. I saw Mom a couple of times, but there was nothing much to share about that. By the time summer rolled around, I was ready to get back to Austin and work with the summer camps.

It was great seeing Vic again--in person, not on Facetime--and I have to say he was fucking adorable with his diver-boyfriend, Andy. They seemed to be really good for each other. I'm glad to see Vic Happy. Not-so-glad that I didn't have anyone to play with.

Okay--maybe I should clear that up--I was staying with Jonathan and Daniel. So yeah, I was fucking Jonathan again, but he seemed to understand that I just wasn't gonna be his boyfriend.

Sadly, my leg never got back to where it needed to be. The coaching staff was totally cool with letting me keep my scholarship, thank God. In return, I was an assistant coach. I mostly spent a lot of time with the red-shirts and younger guys--helping them with their programs.

I had decided to major in physical education. I think I want to be a teacher and coach. I guess that's the silver lining part of the whole accident thing. It helped me find what I wanted to do with my life.

I did one more summer of camps and hung around to see Vic and Andy graduate. I didn't get to see much of Vic—he was so tied up with family stuff. But, I did get to meet his cousin Ian. Damn! Is this family blessed with some kind of hottie gene? I guess I might now have a thing for hot, young, blond boys!

After camp, I was back home with Mr. and Mrs. V. It was nice to relax, even though after all this time, I was still doing physical therapy once a week.

It was my second week back, and Mrs. V. was driving me home when we both saw the black car sitting in front of the house. Neither one of us said a word, but I’m pretty sure we were thinking the same thing.

When we got out of the car, two men in military dress uniforms got out of the black car. Fuck! Nooooo! Don’t let it be!

“Maria Vega?”

“Y-yes. That’s me.”

“Mrs. Vega, we regret to tell you—'

“No! Not outside. Please come in and tell me what you have to say inside.”

All I could do was stare into space as I heard the words “killed in action” and “suicide bomber.” The tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

I think the military guys let themselves out. I’m not sure. Mrs. V. and I sat in the living room and silently cried our eyes out. Nothing was said until Mr. V. and Frankie came into the living room.

“He’s gone. We lost our boy.”

I’m in shock. I lost my swimming. I lost my boy. Why? Why?

The next two weeks were a complete blur. The Army sent some dude to help with the funeral arrangements. He was trying for some massive military thing. Mrs. V. finally convinced him that she wanted something small—just for the family.

She agreed to the 21-gun salute, the bugler, and the American flag on the coffin. But, she wanted him to do everything in his power to keep the press and the television stations away.

Mrs. V. invited Mom to the funeral. Of course, she didn’t show up. No surprise there. The service was small and short. The priest gave a nice talk about Jaime. I wish I could give you details, but I just don’t remember much of that.

I do remember Jaime’s coffin sitting above his grave—the flag was blowing in the breeze. I remember the soldiers folding the flag in that triangle thing and giving it to Mrs. V. I’ll never forget her handing me the flag, telling me that Jaime would have wanted it that way.

The end of the service was the worst. As they lowered Jaime into his grave, seven soldiers fired their rifles three times while the bugler played Taps. I relived that entire sequence nearly every night in my dreams—for the next four or five weeks, anyway.

I would wake up with a start, thinking the whole deal was just a dream. But, it didn’t take me long to realize that this was my new reality. This was my new life—a life without the boy I loved more than life itself.