They may not mean to, but they do - 15. Fifteen

Almost as soon as they’d said goodbye to Alison and driven off in the car, Keith had returned to the issue of the holiday, “Why’d you think she asked us to come on that trip away?”

“Because everyone else that she would normally holiday with said no?”

“Think so?”

“Well, it is half term, that probably rules out friends with children. And Alison does rather keep work and life in separate compartments. Perhaps she sees me as being safely semi-detached, as we don’t actually work together. She’s more my landlord. And you and she seemed to hit it off.”

“I liked her; you feel you know where you are.”

“Don’t let that fool you, Alison has tricky depths too.”

“So, do you want to go?”, Keith had not quite worked out whether Thomas was being polite or not. “Don’t say, ‘if you do’. What would you like?”

Thomas thought, “Yes, I think I would. It's only three nights, expenses paid.”

“She’s paying!”

“Well, she’s already paid, that’s obviously the problem. And yes, she made that clear to me after. So, would you be up for it?”

“Like you said, be nice to have a lazy few days, late mornings in a big bed.”

“Lounging about doing…” The two grinned at each other.

“I’d need to sort a couple of things”, luckily Thomas was driving so Keith got out his phone. He checked his calendar and made a phone call, it answered almost immediately. “Mr Davis, it is Keith the electrician here. My apologies for phoning you on a Saturday, but I have a slight problem with the dates of our job.”

“Yes, the one starting on the Friday. An older friend of my boyfriend has had an operation on her hip. She’s due to go away that weekend, and the people due to accompany her are not able to. She has asked my boyfriend and me to accompany her, to help with her mobility needs. Of course, if it is inconvenient for you, I totally understand, but if I could delay starting the job that would be wonderful.” Another pause as Mr Davis responded.

“Yes, the Tuesday. Though I could start the Thursday before, but I understood that this was not convenient for your wife.”

“Brilliant, thank you. See you then.”

“All sorted”, Keith put his phone away.

Thomas looked at him and then guffawed, “I’d no idea you were such a plausible liar.”

Keith went a bit red, unsure whether that was a compliment or not. “Need to be in my game, clients are always more sympathetic to a good story”.

“I bet!”.

It was only then that Keith realised that he’d referred to Thomas as his boyfriend in the phone conversation, and Mr Davis had simply accepted it. It was one thing to talk about being open, but another to actually be so.

Thomas was driving because they were going up to his brother’s house. After all, by going to Thomas’ work, they were part of the way there and Nate had had a parish meeting cancelled so he was free for Saturday afternoon and evening, ‘To get to know Keith better’. Keith was partly looking forward to it and part dreading it, but what comforted him was that Thomas had admitted that he felt similar.

“So, are you and Alison mates?”

Thomas wrinkled his nose and thought, “Workmates, I think. We get on well, and we meet outside work for a chat and mutual support. We’ve each learned that the other can be trusted not to pass on gossip, so we form a sort of support network. We do different things, but a lot of the official bodies that she works with, I have to deal with as well. But during the long vacation, unless she comes into the office, I never see her.”

Keith nodded, “So this spending time together is new?”

“Yep, I’m not sure whether it’s a one-off, whether she wants to do more with us outside work, or whether it was a spur of the moment thing because she liked you!”

“Oh, come on, I’m not that charming.”

“Well, you did seem a hit. Perhaps she likes the rugged workman look.”

They both smiled, knowing full well that Keith never really looked like a rugged workman, and Thomas thought he sometimes did a good impression of a harassed schoolteacher. They continued in silence for a bit.

“When we get there, I’m finally going to have to address the ‘how did you meet’ questions. Caroline is bound to ask, brightly, politely and very insistently.”

“Haven’t you told them?”

“No. I’m a coward, I know but I just couldn’t face telling my brother, the vicar and his wife that I met my boyfriend at the male stripper evening at a gay pub in Leeds.”

Keith laughed, “Put like that, it does seem a bit sleazy. Surely your brother has been to a strip club?”

“Nate! You’ll have to meet him. If he’s been to one, it was probably for research only.”

“Well, at least people expect you to have a new boyfriend. How do I explain going from missing my girlfriend to acquiring a boyfriend?”

“Well, a few other things happened, and you do have history.”

“I know, but a mate in the pub doesn’t want history, he just wants a quick one-liner.”

“You’re going to have to practice”, Thomas’ grin was almost evil.

“But I’m crap at one-liners!”

-oOo-oOo-

"Come on Keith, don't dawdle."

"You sure this is OK?"

"Course it is. Donald said that I could drop in anytime to use the pool."

"Me as well?"

Tim laughed and clapped Keith on the back, "Course, Donald likes company."

It was the Summer holidays and to the two teenagers, they seemed to stretch endlessly. Donald rented the old mill house in the village where Keith and Tim lived, which meant that there was a millpond. It was one of the few bits of what passed for countryside in an area that had been rapidly industrialised and then later laid waste when the industry failed. When the mill house had been left empty it was not unknown for kids to swim in the pond, as it was only a short walk from the estate where the boys lived. But now Donald lived at the mill it was harder to swim there. Tim swore that Donald was a friend, and it would be OK.

The mill house was run down, and Donald was rumoured to be an artist using it as a studio, but no-one in the village had seen or heard anything of the guy's art and he kept himself to himself. Tim reckoned he’d been round a couple of times to sneak a swim and got caught by Donald, and supposedly been invited back. Keith wasn't sure whether to believe the boy, Tim often exaggerated.

At the back of the mill, space had been cleared in the weeds and a rough path led down to the edge of the millpond. A figure was sitting on the grass, and he stood up when he heard Keith and Tim, greeting them warmly and, in response to Tim's comment about them coming for a swim, saying that the water was invitingly cold. Donald was in his 30s, probably not much younger than Keith's Dad, but whereas his Dad was unfit, fat, and going bald, Donald was tall and lean, attractive. And entirely naked.

Keith had never been this close to a naked man before, and he tried not to stare at Donald's cock and balls. They were, in fact, only average, but if they were the first adult cock and balls that you had seen then they looked huge. Tim stripped off and equally naked, leapt into the water.

"Fuck. That's cold. Come on Keith, it'll cool you down" and Tim splashed water at Keith who was still stood with his jeans on.

"You don't have to strip completely, but it’s completely private, just the three of us so no-one will know."

It was Donald's sympathy that did it, Keith pushed down his jeans and underpants and slipped in the water, but not before he felt Donald’s eyes on him, eyeing him up. Keith was aware that there had been rumours about Donald at school, that he was queer, that he liked kids. But there were always rumours about strangers in the village, and Keith had discounted them. And now here he was, swimming naked with the man.

Keith's dreams that night were full of a naked Tim and a naked Donald. He only had a hazy idea of what guys might do together, but in his dreams, Keith did all that and more with them. As the visits to Donald became a regular part of the Summer life, so Keith's dreams became more vivid and his imagination wilder. The mill and its pond were a blessed contrast to their estate, all tightly packed houses and nowhere for lively lads to run. No-one said anything, but there were still rumours about Donald being queer. And truth to tell, Keith was a bit intrigued and was trying to get up the courage and risk being called a dirty queer by talking to Tim about it.

One afternoon, the sun was really hot, and Keith fell asleep. He had left Tim and Donald in the water, but when he woke up, they were gone. Feeling a bit woozy he wandered back to the house, to get a glass of water. Then he heard a sound, and almost hidden by one of the outhouses he saw Donald and Tim. Kissing. A proper kiss.

Keith was transfixed. He knew that he should disappear but was rooted to the spot, and so he saw quite clearly when Tim squatted down and took Donald's hard cock into his mouth. Right in. It was one thing knowing that people did things like that, but another seeing your best friend doing it to another guy.

Keith wasn't sure whether Tim had seen him, but Donald certainly had. Yet no-one said anything, the two boys were almost completely silent on the way home. And Keith's dreams that evening were particularly fervent. Then next morning his Father erupted into Keith's room, which was nothing new, but he was shouting about Donald, that pervert at the old mill.

Keith's Mother had died when he was young, leaving his Dad to bring him up alone just with the help of his Gran. It was an efficient if loveless childhood; they weren't rich, but Keith was decently fed and looked after. But he and his Father were never close, and the adult Keith wondered if part of his Father blamed Keith for his Mother's death. Not that they’d ever talked about that sort of thing. And then there were Keith senior's rages, sudden eruptions without warning and seemingly without reason.

This latest had a reason though. Donald had been caught. Keith never learned the full details, his Father's imprecations were difficult to decipher, and at school, the rumours would run riot. But it was clear, Donald was a filthy queer, and had been corrupting boys in the village. Keith’s Father’s solution was to beat it out of his son. Keith was grounded for the rest of the Summer, his life policed in great detail, with regular, vicious beatings from his Father. And if there was so much as the evidence for a wet dream, or anything like that, then the boy would be black and blue the next day. So, Keith learned to pretend to others and ultimately to himself.

He liked girls, and that was all there was to it.