Bloodlines - 14. Chapter 14

September 5, 1998

We lay there, in bed, wrapped around each other, enjoying the aftermath of another sexual experience. “So you going to come see me?” I asked.

“Not very often,” Cody said. I looked at him and blinked.

“What do you mean?” I was well on my way to pissed.

“Matt, I love you, but you have to do this, the college thing. Have fun, cut loose. If I come up every weekend it's gonna cramp your style. I know you don't want to think that, but it will,” he said.

“You don't want to watch my games?” I asked, teasing him.

“Yeah, I do. I'll come up. I will. I just don't want you to be there in your dorm thinking about me instead of going out and having a fun time.” In other words, he loved me enough to let me go. “No commitments, remember.”

“Got it. But that doesn't mean that I don't want to be with you,” I told him.

“Baby, you know I feel the same way. We've got four years to get through. We have to be mellow about it,” he said. I nodded, and then made him take a shower with me. When we were done I got dressed and grabbed my bag. All my other stuff was in the GMC.

I made to leave but he didn't move. “You coming downstairs?” I asked.

“Let's say goodbye here,” he said. I nodded then moved to him, ran to him, and wrapped my arms around him.

“I love you,” I told him. He looked at me funny. It was the first time I'd said it so directly.

“And I love you too.” I walked out of the bedroom, tears pouring down my face. I paused to wipe them off. I was leaving early to avoid a big scene, but Robbie, Brad, JP and Stef were there anyway. I had breakfast while Stef rambled on about how I should stop if I got tired, along with other wasted travel tips. Then it was time to go.

Brad hugged me first. He was so strong, physically and emotionally. For someone that he cared about, his hugs were like a tonic. “I want you to spend your summers with us. We could use your help and insight.”

“Really?” I was amazed. “That's awesome!”

“Yeah, it is. Keep Stef in line up there, OK?”

“You got it,” I said.

Hugging JP and Stef was no big deal, since I'd see them both later this afternoon. I gave Stefan a playful squeeze on his ass to lighten things up as I hugged him. He just giggled. And then it was time to say goodbye to Robbie. It was almost as bad as Cody.

I looked into his eyes, eyes so familiar, and then we embraced. He just held onto me and I held onto him. There was no way to stop the tears, no fucking way.

“I am so glad you found me. So glad,” he said.

“Me too,” I told him. Then I pulled myself away from them, hopped into the GMC, and drove away. I turned onto PCH and smiled. It was the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH to Californians. When I got here I would have called it Highway 1. I drove and wiped away my tears. This is exactly how I'd felt when I'd left Cleveland.

Cleveland. My parents. They'd be in Palo Alto in a week, with their attitudes and ideas about how I should live my life. In a way, I almost had it harder than a kid that wasn't adopted. If I told them I was gay and they hated me, what was left? There was no blood bond that would draw us inevitably back together. They could just write me off, cast me adrift. Would they do that? I tried to tell myself that they wouldn't, but I just didn't know. I pulled out one of the joints I'd rolled and lit it up, letting the THC transform my mood. I set the cruise control and just motored up I-5, flying over “the Grapevine” and then descending into the hot boring flatlands of Central California.

I had a cooler with Pepsis in it, so I downed a few of those. The end result was that I had to pee. Bad. I saw a sign for a rest area and decided to pull in. It was pretty non-descript, your typical rest area. I walked into the bathroom and for some reason, I opted for a stall. I dropped my pants and sat down, enjoying the feeling of releasing the gallons of piss that seemed to be in my body. It was only when I was done that I noticed a hole in the stall, opening up into the next stall. I looked through the hole furtively and saw there was another guy there.

It was pretty hot until I saw his hands; all tanned and grizzled, and knew that this had to be a really old guy. I'd been with Stef and JP, and I really had nothing against old guys, but this one, with his gnarled hands, just turned me off. I pulled up my pants, washed my hands, and headed out to my SUV.

“Ohio eh?” I heard a voice say behind me.

I turned around and found myself looking at a normal guy. He was probably in his late forties or early fifties. He'd lost all his hair, or shaved it, except for some gray that was tightly clipped on the sides. He was carrying maybe thirty extra pounds, but it didn't look bad on him. With his bald head, the weight made him seem beefy. “Yep,” I said.

“I just passed through there a few days back,” he said. “I drive a truck.”

“Cool. Which one?” I asked. He pointed to a Peterbilt, a red one. It looked new and clean. “That's a nice truck.”

“You like trucks?” he asked. He was trying to flirt, but it wasn't really one of his skills.

“Yeah, but I've only seen one, well, inside before,” I said, helping him along.

“Come on, I'll show you mine.” I grinned at the double-entendre and followed him over to his rig, as he called it. It was really nice, a lot nicer than the last one I'd been in. It was hot outside, but not inside. He had the air-conditioner running. And it smelled clean, not like the other one that had that odor of stale sweat. “Check it out,” he said, encouraging me to climb in the back. He followed me, like I knew he would. “So what do you think?”

“I think it's one nice truck,” I said. “So you stopped here for a break?”

“Yeah, I just went in to pee then I figured I'd take a quick nap,” he said shyly.

“It’s so cool to have your bed travel with you,” I said. “Must be nice to be able to pull over and have a quick nap.” I faked a yawn.

“I'm gonna sleep for an hour. You're welcome to sleep here too. It's big enough.” He was really uncomfortable now.

“You sure I wouldn't bother you? I could really use a quick refresher,” I said.

“Not a problem at all,” he said.

I pulled off my shirt. I waited until I got it off and then acted nervous. “I'm sorry, is this OK? I don't usually wear a shirt when I'm sleeping.”

He swallowed hard while he stared at me. “No problem. I usually sleep nekkid.” Nekkid? What a dorky word.

“I can work with that,” I said. I stood up and kicked off my flip flops, dropped my shorts and boxers, and then I was standing there, stark naked, semi-hard, watching his eyes feast on my body. He got up and stripped off his own clothes. He had a hairy chest with big nipples, and a hairy abdomen too. He dropped his pants and out popped his dick, hard as a rock, and all of five inches long.

I dropped to my knees and went down on him. He smelled pretty good, like he'd had a shower not too long ago. It was a blast, listening to his moans. I felt his hand on the back of my hand as he steadied me, then he started thrusting his cock into my face. He grunted, groaned, and then he came, a volume shooter, filling me up. “Thanks,” he said.

I got up and grabbed my pants but he stopped me. “You don't have to run off if you don't want to.” I felt his hand on my hard dick. He motioned me to lie down on my back and he started jacking me off. His calloused hands contrasting with his caring manner was super-stimulating. It didn't take me long before I blew. He watched, fascinated, as I spewed my wad all over my chest. “Hot,” he said. He pulled out a rag and wiped me off. This time, when I went to put my pants on he didn't stop me. I dressed; made sure I had all my stuff, and went to climb out.

“You ever see me on the road, let's do that again,” he said.

“OK,” I said, and flashed him a smile. I hopped back into the GMC, got back onto the 5, and headed up to Palo Alto. Despite my interlude, plus a stop for lunch, I still made it to Escorial by 5pm.

I entered the code and drove around to the back. Rafael came out to see me and handed me a remote control. “When you are here, you park in that garage,” he said, pointing to one of the stalls.

“Thanks Rafael,” I said warmly. I headed into the house and ran into JP right away.

“Long time no see,” he said, joking. “Welcome.”

“Thanks JP. It was an easy drive.”

“Do you have a minute?” he asked.

“I usually take longer than that,” I teased. He rolled his eyes, pretending to be irritated.

“I want to talk to you and Brian,” he said. I swallowed, and then nodded. He led me into his study and Brian appeared a few moments later. He must have summoned Brian before he even talked to me. Brian glared at me. What an ass.

“Have a seat, gentlemen,” JP said. I sat on the couch quickly, trying to look amenable and easygoing. Brian sat down grudgingly. “You two started things off on the wrong foot. We need to correct that.”

“I don't want anything to do with him,” Brian said. “He's ruined my relationship with Justin, and Cody too.”

JP eyed him coolly. “I have been lucky enough to be in several, loving relationships in my life. There were always people outside of that relationship willing to help screw it up, but the responsibility rested with me and my partner. The same is true of you and Justin, or you and Cody.” Wow. JP was scary when he was this intense.

“I can ignore him if he doesn't fuck my boyfriend,” Brian said petulantly.

“That's not good enough. I do not need or want tension in my house. It impacts everyone. I won't tolerate it. If you can't learn to get along, then you can't be here. It's that simple,” JP said.

“Look Brian, I'm willing to put the past in the past and try to start over again,” I said. I could see that didn't mean anything. “Yeah, I was a dick and I fucked Justin. But you kind of did the same thing to me with Cody. Fair is fair.”

“Justin and I are together, you and Cody weren't,” he said petulantly.

“So you think it is reasonable to line up all the guys so that only you can fuck them?” I asked. “Dude, you have to share.”

“No, I don't. You have Cody, so leave Justin alone,” Brian said.

“And if I do that, will you stop being so fucking bitchy?” I asked. He glared at me. “Fine, here's the deal. I'll be pleasant around here as long as you are. And I'll stay away from Justin as long as you stay away from Cody. The minute you break that deal, Justin’s in my bed so fast your head will spin. That work for you JP?” I was pissed now, and I'd directed a little bit of that toward JP, but he took it in stride.

He looked at Brian. “Fine,” Brian said, and then stormed off. I got up and walked over to JP and stood behind him, massaging his shoulders, trying to release the tension. He let me work his tense muscles for a good ten minutes, and then he shook my hands off politely and stood up.

“I want you to know that I'm not mad at you, and that I don't blame you for any of this shit,” he said.

“I understand,” I told him. “I kind of planned to try and reach a detente with him before I even came up here. It can't only be one-sided.”

“I know. And I worry about where this will end if he can't get his shit together,” JP said sadly.

“You mean if you have to throw him out?” I asked, worried.

He nodded. “And how exactly would he be able to keep working with Stef if he was persona non grata here?” It was possible, but uncomfortable.

“I want to talk to you about something else, if you have a minute,” I said.

“Go ahead,” he said, smiling at me, assuming an open and attentive posture.

“My parents are coming to visit me the week before school starts,” I said. The apprehension was audible in my voice, even to me.

“You're worried they'll embarrass you? That they'll make asses out of themselves? That when they meet Stef, his flamboyance will light a fuse and set them off?” he asked. I nodded. “Give them some credit. Have you ever seen them be rude to anyone?”

“No. But you've never met them. You haven't heard how they think,” I said.

“Matthew, how they think and what they say to you, their son, those things are entirely different from what they will do or say in public. Even my father was civil to my lover, polite actually, when he thought I was scum.”

He was reminding me of my world, and how different it was from Malibu. “I've been around all these people who are vocal about their opinions for the last month; I almost forgot what restraint was.” He laughed at that.

“I want you to know that I plan to extend an invitation for your parents to stay with us when they visit,” he said.

“Are you trying to kill me? I'd be freaking out every minute they were here,” I said. Was he fucking crazy?

“I think if they meet us, it will make it easier for them to accept us for who we are. And it may just make things easier for you when you ultimately decide to come out to them,” he said. “I'm almost offended that you think we'd make such a bad impression.”

“No, that's not it at all. I didn't mean that,” I objected. The last thing I meant to do is offend him. Then I saw his smile, the little shit. “Asshole.” He laughed and so did I. I gave him the contact info for my parents and then headed to my room. “My” room. How cool.

A long drive, an unpleasant confrontation with Brian and the thought of one with my parents had exhausted me. I collapsed on the bed and drifted off to sleep, thankful that at least when I was sleeping I didn't have to worry about all of this shit.

I woke up to feel a hand stroking my back gently. I turned around to find Frank there, and that really shocked me. I turned over and pulled myself up and gave him a big hug. “Welcome,” he said. “There's half an hour until dinner. I thought you might like a warning.”

“Thanks,” I said. “It's good to see you.”

“I'll see you at dinner,” he said, and then left. I was getting a picture of him as someone who rarely said anything. His coming in here like this; that was a huge gesture on his part. It was nice to be loved, I thought, as I hit the showers. I got to the dining room early this time. Jack and Claire were the only ones there.

“You're early just like us,” Claire said cheerfully.

“I was almost late last time,” I said. “Where do I sit?”

“Right here,” Jack said, patting the seat next to him. “But no groping.”

“Damn,” I joked. “Were you this handsome when you were in college?”

“Yeah. This handsome and more. I'm a god,” he said, cracking me up.

Brian came in and sat across from Jack, so almost across from me. He just gave me dirty looks. The tension in the air rose up exponentially.

“Hello Brian,” Claire said. She seemed irritated.

“Hello,” he said tersely.

“Brian, you got any plans after dinner? I was thinking about taking a drive up to the City,” I said. I hadn't planned anything of the kind, but I was willing to try. “You want to come along?”

“No,” he said.

“If you want to have some fun, Brad's old Ferrari is still in the garage. I was going to mention it to you anyway,” JP said. No one had heard him come in. We turned our attention to him immediately. “You may find it easier to drive around than your SUV, at least until you move your things into the dorm.”

“Thanks JP,” I said enthusiastically. “That sounds like a blast!” A Ferrari? I'd never driven one of those. The huge grandfather clock started to gong, and that seemed to herald the arrival of the others.

“Hey,” Ace said. “I was going to stop by your room but I got busy.” He looked sideways at Cass, who blushed.

“Oh yeah? What for?” I asked.

“I wanted to show you the gym,” he said. “I figured you'd need to do some work for hockey.”

“Thanks Ace. Maybe after dinner?” He nodded.

“Did you have a good drive up?” Stef asked.

“I did,” I said.

“Is Justin coming over tonight?” Stef asked Brian.

“Yeah right. Like I'd risk that,” he said, staring at me. Wow. This guy didn't know when to quit. Everyone ignored him after that and just ate. As soon as dinner was over I snuck back to my room to call Cody. I was lonely and miserable without him. So this is what love was, eh? Love sucked. Ace showed me the gym and I worked off my aggressions and frustrations on the weight set.

September 6, 1998

I drove up the El Camino, fighting traffic even though it was only afternoon. We were having our first hockey practice today at the Ice Oasis in Redwood City. Kind of cheesy, I thought, but then I'd chosen Stanford with its lame hockey program when I could have gone to any of the Ivies. I smiled to myself. I had no regrets.

I got to the rink and found my teammates hanging out, waiting for the coach. “Which one are you?” asked a big guy, older.

“Carrswold,” I said.

“I'm Turner. I'm the Captain. Welcome to Stanford,” he said.

“Thanks.” That was friendly. Then the coach came in, a guy who was probably in his 50s, with the beginnings of a pot belly and slicked back, gray hair that looked like he stole it from Boris Yeltsin.

“Over here,” he groused, rounding us up. “Turner, show the rookies where the locker room is. We've got ice in half an hour.”

“Coach, I have a question,” asked one of the guys. He was pretty cute. My height with light brown hair. And he had this killer southern accent, not deep south, like Alabama, but a softer, smoother version.

“And you are?” he asked.

“Danfield,” he said. “The dorms aren't open yet. We're not sure where to stay.”

“Oh for Christ's sake. How many of you are homeless, show of hands?” Eight guys raised their hands.

“Alright, you four,” he said, pointing at the guys closest to him. “You're at my house. I've got couches and beds for you. I'll see what I can work out for the rest of you.” Poor Danfield was one of the guys that were still homeless.

We headed to the locker room and I pulled out my phone. “This isn't the time for phone sex Carrswold,” Turner said.

“I was going to see if I could help out the homeless guys,” I said. He nodded.

“JP Crampton,” he said tersely, answering the phone.

“JP, it's Matt,” I said.

“And what can I do for you?” he said. He sounded irritated.

“I'm here at the Ice Oasis and there are a bunch of players who came in early for practice. They don't have any place to stay. The coach has made arrangements for all but four of the guys,” I said.

“And you want to know if I'll let four rowdy hockey players stay with me?” he asked. “You would trust them around Stefan?”

I laughed. “They're pretty fast,” I said.

“That's fine. I'll tell Maria to plan on more food,” he said.

“Thanks JP,” I said. We hit the ice, skating hard, and then did a scrimmage. These guys didn't pull their hits, but that was fine. I could handle that. It was great to skate with my new team, to push myself, and to see how they played. They were pretty good. The coach called us into a circle to bitch at us at the end of our ice time.

“We've got ice all week, same time. I want you guys in the gym in the mornings. Let's say 10am. That's all,” he said, dismissing us.

“Coach,” I said, stopping him. He gave me a dour look, plotting to do evil things to me. “The other players can stay with me.”

“Fine Carrswold. Thanks.” We hustled to the locker room and to the showers.

“So where are you staying?” Danfield said.

“I'm staying with Professor Crampton. He lives in Palo Alto,” I said.

“He's queer,” said one of the guys. I was ready to lunge at him, but his expression wasn't one of malice, it was just a comment.

“I ain't stayin' with a queer,” said one of the other guys, with a deep southern accent that was completely unlike Danfield's.

“Me either,” said another guy.

“I'll switch places with you then,” said one of the other guys, pissed off. He had reddish blond hair, almost the same color as Stefan's, and was handsome in a Teutonic way.

“Yeah Konrad, you'll be sucking his dick in no time,” said one of the other guys, joking.

“No, he'll be sucking mine. That'll give you a break,” he said. The other guys laughed.

“Works for me,” said Danfield.

“I'm fine,” said the other guy, Cramer. He was a real shit on the ice. He had blond hair, almost white, and looked slightly psychotic, but the boy could skate.

“Yep,” said the last guy. Weber. Cole Weber. He was the biggest guy on the team. Short dark hair and bright green eyes, with rounded features that matched his rounded body. He looked more like a football player than a hockey player. You didn't find many hockey players that were packing extra pounds, but Cole did. Maybe only 10 to 20 pounds, but it made him look bulky. I'd played against him during the practice, he was a defenseman, and the guy was like a fucking wall.

We hit the showers and I did what I'd done for years, looking without getting caught. There were some hot guys on this team. Konrad had the most classically sculpted body. He and I could almost be twins from the neck down. Weber got my attention though. There was nothing sculpted about him. Every part of him seemed to be padded. He looked like a big teddy bear.

“You should have played football,” Danfield said to him as we got dressed. Weber said nothing. “Don't you talk?”

“Nope,” Weber said. He looked at me. “Can I ride with you?”

“Sure,” I said. He followed me out to the GMC. The other guys followed me in their cars.

“Nice,” Weber said, presumably talking about my GMC.

“Thanks,” I said. “It was a Christmas present. Where are you from?”

“Nebraska,” he said. A farm boy? Hot.

“You don't have a car?” I asked.

“Nope.”

“How'd you get here?” I asked.

“Bus.” I gave up. This guy just didn't want to talk. His cell phone rang and he answered it with a brief hello. I could hear the chattering on the other end. Someone, a woman, was just going on and on and on. He didn't say anything, just let her talk. She talked non-stop for 15 minutes while we drove to Escorial. When we got to the gates and I opened them up, he finally spoke to her. “Gotta go Momma,” he said and then simply closed his phone.

“No wonder you don't say much,” I observed.

“Yep,” he said, and smiled at me. He had a cute smile, made cuter by the dimples that appeared in his pudgy cheeks. The other guys followed me to the back and parked, then piled out of their vehicles.

“You fucking kidding me Carrswold?” Konrad asked. “We're not staying here.”

“Sure we are. As long as you're still willing to let him suck your dick,” I teased.

“All night long if I get to stay here,” he said. I led them inside and the first person we ran into was Brian. He stared at the five of us, shocked.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked. Just then JP emerged.

“They are my guests Brian. You will treat them accordingly,” he said. Then turned to face us. “I'm JP Crampton. Welcome.”

“Thanks for letting us stay with you sir,” Danfield said respectfully.

“Well you're quite welcome,” JP said. Just then Stef appeared, his flame turned way up. “This is Stefan, my partner.” The guys looked at Stef, digesting his looks. Stef sized them up, and recognized Konrad as the cocky one.

“Well you are adorable,” he said to Konrad, making the rest of us chuckle. “I have a special room for you.”

“Uh, thank you, uh, Stefan,” Konrad said nervously.

“I am just teasing you. You are safe from my clutches,” Stef said, pouring on his legendary charm.

Konrad grinned, getting his mojo back. “That's too bad.”

I led them to rooms in the wing where I was staying. “Dude, the one guy was flaming,” Cramer said.

“So. Who gives a shit?” Konrad said. “They're letting you stay in their palace, you fucking ingrate.”

“I didn't say I had a problem with it, I just said he was flaming,” Cramer said defensively.

“Does it bother you?” I asked Weber.

“Nope,” he said.

“It's Sunday night and they dress up for dinner,” I told them. “So wear your rink gear.” They nodded. We were used to that. We were expected to show up to hockey games wearing at least a blazer and a tie.

“So what's he do for a living?” Danfield asked, referring to JP.

“JP is the chairman of the History Department, dumbshit,” I said.

“Shit, maybe I will suck his dick,” Konrad said. “What about the other guy?”

“Stefan?” I asked. He nodded. I laughed. “You stupid fucks. You just met Stefan Schluter. He's one of the richest men in the world.”

“I'm wearing a thong to dinner,” Danfield said. And dinner ended up being a blast. Even Brian had a hard time being all grumpy at the table, surrounded as he was by hot hockey players. I still hadn't seen Justin. The most surprising person of all was Ace, who seemed to thrive now that he was surrounded by jocks. After dinner we went out onto the patio. JP had eschewed getting high, probably not wanting to do it in front of them, but I had no qualms. We sat on the patio and I pulled out a joint and lit it.

“Carrswold, you are my favorite person,” Konrad said, taking the joint from me and inhaling deeply. Danfield and Cramer toked readily, but Weber looked at it nervously. He took the joint while we all watched and inhaled cautiously. Then he coughed hard, cracking us up. The joint made its way around a few more times. Weber didn't seem to get high, which was kind of a disappointment, since I was hoping it would make him talk more.