The Island's Secret - 10. Friday

I woke up slowly, aware of Asher’s quiet breathing, and I realized he was awake. I smiled and looked over at him, and found him smiling back.

“Where should we go today?” Asher asked, quietly so we didn’t wake Bear.

I shrugged, happy to go anywhere with Asher. “Let’s start hiking,” I said. “We can camp at the top of the highest hill we can find.”

Asher nodded, still smiling, and wiggled out of his sleeping bag. I tried not to stare as more and more of his body came into view, but it was hard. He crouched, and I admired the muscles in his legs. He was close enough that I could reach out and touch them, and run my hand up his thigh to his perfect ass. I ignored the urge, and began to get out of my sleeping bag. Asher waited at the door for me, and I followed him out. We woke Bear, and took everything out of the tent and packed it up. When it was empty, we closed it up again and went for a swim. I’d been trying my hardest not to get a hard-on from watching Asher’s tanned legs and hot ass. The boxers he was wearing clung to his ass, hinting at the wonders I’d seen before. Asher walked into the lake, stopping when he was up to his knees, and looked down.

“It’s a cliff,” he said, surprised. “I thought it’d be shallow.”

“Tommy told me it’s a deep lake,” I said. “I don’t think there’s as many shallow areas as you’d expect.”

Asher nodded his understanding, and we walked side by side along the cliff, looking for a shallower area. We didn’t find one, so Asher decided to push me off the cliff. I didn’t bother coming to the surface, instead grabbing Asher’s foot and pulling him in after. We splashed each other and laughed, and it soon turned into an underwater wrestling match. I almost forgot that we were near naked, distracted by the amount of fun we were having, but I got a pleasant reminder when Asher swam back onto the ledge and sat in the shallow water. I followed, trying not to stare as I realized his boxers were pressed almost skin-tight by the water. He reached down and adjusted them, realizing at the same time as I did, and I copied him before sitting next to him.

Bear had decided to run around on the ledge without going fully in, and he almost ran into us as he came to say hi. I grabbed his head and put him in a headlock, and we began to play. Asher laughed, and rushed to my aid, and we tried to pin Bear down. He pounced back and forth, and when we chased him farther from the ledge he began to run circles around us. We edged back over to the ledge, hoping he’d fall in, but he was too smart. He trotted over to us, panting, and pressed against our legs like he wanted to be patted. As soon as Asher bent down to pat him, Bear leaned harder, and pushed him off the ledge. He stood on the edge and watched Asher curiously, trying to figure out why he’d stopping patting, and I burst out laughing.

Bear decided this meant I’d be willing to pet him, and came over to lean against me. I tried to sidestep around him, but he ended up tripping me and I fell in too. Asher and I laughed as Bear wondered why we were so incompetent at patting him, and we decided to dive to the bottom and see what he’d do. We swam down, looking behind us often, and we could see Bear’s shaggy head sticking out over the ledge, staring down at us. Soon, we were sure he couldn’t see us, so we stopped. Asher blew a bubble, and we tried not to laugh as it popped at the surface and startled Bear.

He jumped on top of it, and began swimming in circles above where he’d seen us go down. Asher and I looked at each other, and wordlessly decided to swim to the other side of the island. We still had half-lungfulls of air, so we had no problem making it, and we climbed onto the ledge quietly. We crept across the island to where Bear seemed to be trying to dive, and cannonballed into the water behind him. He turned around and freaked out with delight as he saw us, earning his ‘big furry tornado with claws’ nickname all over again.

Eventually, we swam onto the ledge and stood up to get dressed and pack the tent away. Asher’s boxers were pressed against his skin, and some of the lighter color of his ass was visible. The boxers were displaying everything almost to its full glory, so I headed over to the tent to pack it up, hoping he’d stay undressed a bit longer. He hesitated, but followed, and I jumped for joy inside. We packed the tent away, and I got a few eyefuls as he bent to pick up the tent poles. His ass was mesmerizing, and I couldn’t take my eyes off it as he leaned down to pick up the tent bag. He turned around, standing up, and I realized I was holding the rolled up tent. I walked over to him, and we managed to make it fit into the bag.

“Shit,” he said. “I’m starving.”

I nodded, and we went to grab the food bag. Personally, I wasn’t very hungry, and I didn’t know why Asher was, because he never ate breakfast either, but I didn’t complain. It would keep Asher out of his pants for just a little bit longer, and for that, I’d eat until my stomach burst. We each had a sandwich that we’d prepared before leaving, and a juice box that we’d frozen so it would remain cold. It was closer to room temperature than to cold now, but we didn’t care. I stopped eating after finishing the first half of the sandwich, too full to continue, and I watched as Asher did the same.

“Maybe I shouldn’t be eating this much if I never usually have breakfast,” he said, putting the sandwich away. “I’m totally stuffed,” he explained, pressing a hand against his stomach. I noticed that even eating hadn’t managed to make his six-pack disappear, and the muscles were still defined.

I grinned. “So am I,” I told him, and we lay down with our feet in the water. Bear came over and lay down on Asher’s chest, and for the first time in my life, I was jealous of a dog.

Asher soon pushed Bear off, so the sun could dry him off, and Bear lay down on me instead. I laughed, and let him. I patted Bear for a while, and when I looked over I saw Asher was watching. He grinned, indicating the look on Bear’s face, and I leaned up so I could see it. Bear looked like he was in heaven, his eyes closed and drool coming out of his mouth.

“Eww, Bear!” I complained, tipping him off me before the glob of slobber landed on my chest.

Bear trotted towards Asher, and he jumped to his feet to get away, presenting me with a perfect view of his ass. Unfortunately, he’d mostly dried off, and his boxers weren’t sticking anymore. I grabbed my camera, and took a picture of Bear chasing Asher. Asher didn’t even notice, because he was so absorbed in playing with Bear. I took a few more pictures, and soon we all sat down by the water. I turned the camera around to take a picture of us with Bear in the middle, and Asher laughed.

“You’re taking a picture of us in our boxers?” he asked.

I laughed too. “It’s not like these will be the worst on this memory card,” I said, and he nodded.

“I guess so,” he agreed, and I showed him the picture. I showed him the other’s I’d taken, of him playing with Bear, and he laughed. I promised to send these to him too, and decided to get changed now. We faced away from each other as we stripped off our boxers to put on clean ones, and I resisted the urge to look. I don’t know how I managed, but I didn’t glance over at Asher until we were fully dressed. I took another picture of us, and we packed everything into the canoe. I watched Asher’s ass, which looked amazing my shorts. He was wearing the pair I’d first picked for him, since we’d decided to just throw our clothes together and wear whatever, and it looked delicious.

We rowed for half an hour, trying to find a good spot to go ashore and start hiking, and we finally found one in the form of a small beach. My first thought was to try to instigate a sand fight so we’d go skinny dipping again, but we both wanted to get much further before the day was over, so I controlled myself. We pulled the canoe onto the beach, making sure it was far out of reach of the water, and put the backpacks on. We began walking at a decent speed, and Bear ran through the forest around us, sniffing everything.

The air was clear, and tasted good. It smelled like trees, and there was an excess of oxygen in the air, making it easy to walk further than we usually would. We eventually stopped when we came across a clean looking pond, and we set up our tent nearby. It was almost dark.

“I’m gonna go wash off,” Asher told me, grabbing the shampoo.

“I’ll wait in the tent,” I told him awkwardly, since he seemed to want an answer.

He nodded, his face not giving me any hints as to whether or not that was the right answer, and walked towards the pond. I wondered what he’d have done if I’d offered to go with him, but I didn’t want to push it. As much as I’d love to see him naked again, especially if he was rubbing his hands all over his body, there was nothing I wanted less than to hurt our friendship. Bear stayed with me, and I patted him as I imagined what was going on out there.

“Hey Ben!” I heard Asher call, sounding perplexed. “Look at this!”

I jumped out of the tent, hoping for all I was worth that he was still naked, but I was disappointed to see that he’d put his shorts back on before calling me. I could still see his boxers and his shirt hanging from a tree branch, so he must not be done his bath.

He waved me over to him, and stepped on a log to raise his leg.

“Check this out,” he said, rolling the leg of his shorts up. I swallowed as he kept moving it higher and higher, but he stopped when it was a bit more than halfway up his thigh. He pointed, and I saw a large leech on his thigh. “What is it?” he asked.
“It’s a leech,” I told him, surprised he didn’t know.

“That’s a leech?” he asked, disbelieving.

I laughed. “What did you think they were?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Not that.”

I laughed again, but he frowned.

“I can’t pull it off,” he said. “It’s a stubborn little fucker.”

“You can’t pull it off,” I told him. “There’s a certain way you need to do it.”

“You use salt or a hair drier, right?” he asked.

“We don’t have salt, or a hair drier,” I told him. “And you shouldn’t do it like that anyway.”

He laughed. “There’s halite veins in these rocks,” he told me. “We have all the salt we need.”

“Using salt makes them regurgitate into the wound,” I told him. “It makes infection more likely.”

“How do I get it off, then?” he asked.

“You don’t do anything,” I told him, grinning. “If it’s not done right the leech will just latch on again.”

“OK,” He said, holding up his pant leg higher. “I guess it’s time for Dr. Benjamin to do his work.”

“That’s not really my name,” I told him, trying to distract him as I worked.

“It’s not?” he asked, surprised. “Where’d ‘Ben’ come from, then?”

I laughed. “My name is Ben,” I told him. “Just Ben.”

“That’s what it says on your birth certificate?” he asked, surprised.

I grinned. “Yep,” I told him. “My parents knew I’d be a ‘Ben,” so they decided not to saddle me with the full name.”

“Huh,” he said, interested.

“I’m done,” I told him, holding up the leech.

“Thanks,” he said gratefully, looking at the wound on his leg, and walked back to the pond to wash the blood off.

“Shit,” he said, and I ran over to him, worried. “It won’t stop bleeding,” he said. “I’m not worried about the blood loss, but I don’t want to ruin your shorts.”

“Just wear your boxers, then,” I told him.

“No way!” he laughed. “I’d feel like a stripper!”

“We just spent an hour running around in our boxers!” I said, amused.

“Yeah,” He said. “That’s different. We were both in our boxers, because we couldn’t soak our clothes.”

“Fine,” I said. “I’ll wear mine, too. Happy?” I joked.

“OK,” he said. “But I still think-”

“I’m not letting you ruin one of my favorite pairs of shorts,” I interrupted.

He nodded. “Looks like we’re both going to be strippers, then,” he said, grinning. I turned to go, and he pulled off his shorts, stepping back into the pond to finish washing up. I managed to glance over surreptitiously as I ducked into the tent, and I got another perfect view of his perfect ass.

Wow, I thought, the image staying in my mind as I sat down. To distract myself, I picked up my phone and looked at it. Fiona had texted me, asking how my day had been, which was her way of asking what had happened between Asher and me. I told her everything, grinning the whole time, and explained where I was right now. She freaked out, and begged me to get away from Asher for a little bit so we could Skype.

No, I texted. Sorry, but Asher just got bitten by a leech and now he has to wear his boxers. I’m not leaving while he’s not wearing pants.

Then Skype me with him there! She pleaded. That’d be dream-fuel for months!

I’d have to ask him, I said. He’s making me stay in my boxers too, though.

I’m starting to think you’re making this up to tease me, she said. The two hottest guys in their underwear together, willing to Skype me.

I’m starting to think you’re saying that just so I’ll do it, I responded, grinning.

Just then, the tent flap was pulled back and Asher stepped in, naked except for his boxers. He wasn’t looking at me, so I felt free to stare. When he finally did look at me, I looked back down at my phone and realized Fiona had texted and I hadn’t noticed the vibrations.

That is why I was saying it, but it’s still the truth, she said.

He’s here, I told her.

SKYPE ME! She begged, and I laughed. Asher looked over, curious.

“I’m texting Fiona,” I explained.

He nodded, curious but not wanting to pry.

I have to wash off first, I told her. Then I’ll ask him.

Ask him to come with you! She said.

He already bathed, I replied.

You didn’t go with him? She demanded.

No, I said sheepishly. I don’t think he wanted me to.

Ugh… Fiona sent. Fine. Have a bath, and then Skype me. Both of you better be in your boxers. If you lied, I’ll probably cry.

Hah, I texted. I can’t even imagine you crying.

No, She agreed. I wouldn’t cry. I’d just tell him everything.

As if you would, I laughed.

Fine, She admitted. I’d be really angry at you, though.

I’ll go wash off now, I told her. Then I’ll ask Asher if it’s OK if I Skype you.

OK, she said. Hurry.

I sent a smiley face, and put down my phone, deleting the messages, just in case. I left my phone in the tent, and went outside, finding the biodegradable shampoo where Asher had left it. I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the water, on the lookout for leeches as I bathed. I finished as fast as I could, because I wouldn’t put it past Fiona to spam my phone until Asher picked it up, and I didn’t want her talking to Asher without me there. She’d probably ask him what he thought about me or something, and that could result in awkward questions being asked. I dried off with my shirt, and put my boxers back on. When I walked into the tent, my phone had no new messages, thankfully. Asher looked up from where he was sitting, and I decided that I might as well ask now.

“Fiona wants me to Skype her,” I told him. “Are you OK with that? I’ll try to keep the camera above the waistline.”

Asher shrugged. “Sure,” he said. “I don’t mind as long as I’m not the only one who’s almost naked.”

I grinned. “Thanks,” I said, calling Fiona. She picked up immediately, and she grinned when she saw my bare chest.

“Hey Ben,” she said. “Where’s Asher?”

I scooted over to him, trying my best to keep the camera above the waistline like I’d told him I would, but I think it did go a bit lower at one point, because Fiona’s grin widened.

“That tent is like the Bulk Barn of eye candy,” she commented, making us both blush. “How much would I have to pay you guys to kiss right now?” She continued.

“I’m about to hang up,” I warned.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll stop. I was serious, though. Keep that in mind. If you guys want some extra spending money…”

“My finger is right over the ‘end’ button,” I said, and she stopped talking.

“I don’t know,” Asher said, deciding to join her and tease me. “I’d kind of like to be able to afford going to the diner more often…”

“I hate you both,” I said.

“I’d do it for fifty dollars,” Asher decided, still joking.

“Fifty’s a bit expensive to kiss someone as hot as Ben,” Fiona said. “Look at his lips. You’d do it for twenty, right?”

“Hmm,” Asher said, laughing at my discomfort. “Maybe for thirty,” he said.

“Done,” Fiona responded. “What’s your price, Ben?” she asked, grinning knowingly at me.

“I’m not going along with this,” I said, blushing furiously. “The joke is over.”

“Who said it was a joke?” Asher asked, leaning towards me and making kissing noises.

Fiona burst out laughing at the look on my face, and Asher grinned, leaning back.

I glared at Fiona, and she laughed even harder. I couldn’t be mad at Asher, partially because he didn’t know how his joking was taunting me, and partially because if I tried to glare at him I’d get distracted by his sexy body, almost fully exposed. Fiona, however, had no such protection. She knew exactly what she was doing, and while she was pretty, I’d have no problems keeping my eyes on her face. She smiled mischievously, and held up her purse.
“So, Asher,” she said. “You seem to be more of a whore. If you’d kiss for thirty, what would you do for a hundred?”

Asher burst out laughing, and I couldn’t keep from laughing a bit either.

“Can you even call a guy a whore?” Asher asked thoughtfully. “By definition it’s fine, I guess, but in use it’s only ever said to women.”

“You were willing to kiss in front of a webcam for money,” Fiona said. “I think that makes you a whore regardless of your gender.”

Asher nodded, grinning. “I guess you’re right,” he laughed.

“You’re turning into the town slut,” I told him, grinning. “Skinny dipping yesterday, and half-naked kissing for money today.”

“I think we’re a bit more than half-naked,” Asher said. “We’re probably three-quarters naked. And for the record, we didn’t kiss, so I’m only a slut theoretically.”

“OK, you guys can’t just sit there and discuss how naked you are without giving me a look. How else am I supposed to have an opinion?” Fiona asked.

Asher grinned at me. “Should we?” he asked, and I grinned back.

“I don’t see why not,” I said, moving the phone back so Fiona could see everything.

“Wow,” she said, holding up her hands and taking an imaginary picture. “I think I agree with Asher. You guys are three quarters naked. How much for a strip tease?” She joked.

Asher shook his head. “I’m not that much of a slut,” he joked. “At least not with a bear in our tent.”

“You have a bear in your tent,” Fiona stated, not really asking a question. “I’m not going to ask about that.”

I flipped to the phone’s back camera, and showed her Bear. “He’s ferocious,” I said. “He attacked us earlier, and pushed us off a cliff.”

Asher laughed. “The cliff was underwater,” he explained when Fiona looked confused.

I showed her the pictures I’d taken of us, and she understood.

“You two are really hot in your boxers,” she said. “You shouldn’t wear clothes for the rest of your trip. That way you could give me all the pictures and I could make millions selling them to a modeling agency.”

We laughed. “Two sixteen year olds in their boxers with a bear,” I mused. “That doesn’t sound like any modeling scene I’ve heard of.”

“That’s because this will be brand new,” Fiona answered. “People will love it. I’ll even give each of you five percent of the profits.”

“So what would you have done to earn the other ninety percent?” I asked, grinning.

“I’d keep quiet to all my girlfriends about it,” she said. “If I told them you two were out in the woods in your boxers, that bear couldn’t protect you from the mob that would rush to find you.”

“We’d just put on our clothes again,” I said.

“Wouldn’t work,” she laughed. “You’re out in the middle of nowhere. Nobody would be able to hear you scream. Don’t think women can’t be savage, when two studs like you are involved. Actually, I’d probably be with them.”

Asher and I laughed. “Sounds like we’d be in trouble,” Asher said. “I had no idea women were so bloodthirsty.”

“I don’t think blood is the particular fluid they’d be looking for,” I commented.

Asher laughed. “Yeah, but ‘cumthirsty’ doesn’t sound threatening enough.”

“Oh, it could be plenty threatening,” Fiona laughed. “My ovaries are screaming at me to hunt you two down right now, and that’d be nothing compared to Tara or Ashley. Even a SWAT team couldn’t protect you from those two.”

“I’m imagining them attacking SWAT soldiers while screaming ‘be my baby daddy’ now,” Asher said. “I’m going to blame that image on you, Fiona.”

“It wouldn’t just be an ‘image’ if I told them,” Fiona laughed. “I’m half tempted to tell them now, just to see their reaction.”

I grinned. “We don’t care,” I said. “Start all the mobs you want. You don’t know where we are.”

“You couldn’t hide from Ashley,” Fiona laughed. “She can practically smell hot guys, and she’s already got Asher’s scent. She’d just follow her nose, and you’d have to hide somewhere in the Northwest Territories to get away.”

Asher laughed. “I thought it was usually women who have to worry about meeting groups of the opposite gender in uninhabited places,” he said. “We’re doing a lot of gender role-reversal today.”

“Well then let’s keep with this trend,” Fiona said. “It’s usually women who’d get paid to kiss on webcam…?”

Asher and I laughed. “If we were going to do it, we’d want more profit,” I joked. “You’d have to bring that screaming mob of women you were talking about, and make each of them pay us money too. We’d get rich!”

“You greedy bastard,” Fiona laughed. “Is having your own island not enough for you?”

“Technically, it’s still Tommy’s island,” I said. “And I want my own theme park.”

Asher and Fiona laughed. “Well you can easily make some money towards that right now,” Fiona laughed. “All for a kiss.”

“Thirty dollars does seem pretty good,” I joked, eyeing Asher, who laughed.

“Oh come on,” Fiona said. “Asher may be a whore, but you’re a cheap whore. You’d do it for ten.”

“No, I’m not that cheap,” I protested. “I’d want at least twenty.”

“Fifteen, and you add some tongue,” Fiona bargained.

Asher and I laughed. “I’m pretty sure my uncle could use someone like you to help him negotiate his contracts,” I told her.

“I’m just getting started,” she said, grinning. “Asher, you wouldn’t want to look overpriced, would you? How could you ask for twice what Ben is? I think you’re equally hot, so you should both be getting fifteen.”

“I think we should both be getting at least twenty,” Asher said. “If we’re going by how hot we are, then look at Ben’s eyes. How could you value those eyes at anything less than twenty?”

“Your eyes are irrelevant,” Fiona said. “You’d have them closed, anyway. I think I’d need to see more of you guys before I paid twenty. Don’t want to buy flawed merchandise, you know?”

“Are you asking us to model for you?” Asher demanded jokingly.

Fiona grinned back. “Yes,” she said. “Put on a show!”

Asher laughed. “Who do you want to go first?” He asked, agreeing.

“You,” Fiona said. “Ben’s the better photographer, so you can take notes on how he does it.”

“OK,” Asher agreed, getting up. “Let’s do this outside the test, so I can actually stand up.”

I grinned widely after he was gone, unable to believe this was really happening, and I mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to Fiona. She grinned.

‘If you kiss, you’re paying half,’ she mouthed back. I nodded, grinning, and followed Asher outside.

“How do you want us to do this?” Asher asked, and I turned on my phone’s flashlight so Fiona could see.

“Turn around!” Fiona said, grinning happily. We laughed, and Asher turned around. Fiona wolf-whistled, making him blush. “Get closer to his ass,” she instructed, and I brought the camera up so she had a good view of the nicest ass I’d ever seen. “Pull the waistline down!” She begged.

Asher laughed, and teasingly pushed it down a centimeter or so.

“Not you!” She said. “Ben! Do it with your teeth!”

We burst out laughing, and sat down against a tree, flipping back to the front camera.

“You’re kinky, aren’t you,” I commented, grinning.

Fiona laughed. “I could always hope,” she said. “At least stand up again and let Ben give it a smack!”

“Would that make you stop asking?” Asher laughed, and Fiona nodded, grinning.

“You’d have to pull your boxers down, though,” she said. “It needs to be a bare-ass smack.”

“Fine,” Asher laughed, getting up. “We’re so going to regret this in the morning, when we’re level headed.”

He was wrong. I already knew that in the morning, I’d regret nothing.

He turned around, and I put the phone on the ground so Fiona could see everything. I walked up behind Asher, and reverently touched his hips as I reached for his waistband. He sucked in a breath, and laughed as he let it out.

“Just do it quickly,” he said.

“I can think of other situations those words would apply to!” Fiona called from where I’d set the phone.

We both blushed, and I pulled Asher’s boxers down, exposing his beautiful ass. I wanted to bury my face in it, but instead I gently smacked it, enjoying how soft it was against my hand.

“Not hard enough!” Fiona called. “I want a redo!”

I love that girl, I thought to myself, and smacked Asher’s ass a bit harder before pulling his boxers back up.

“Wait!” She called. “Give it a kiss!”

Asher laughed, and I pulled his boxers up all the way, disappointed that I wasn’t brave enough to take the chance.

“Now it’s your turn, Ben!” she said. I sighed, and turned from the camera.

I shivered as I felt Asher’s fingers on my waist as he grabbed the elastic, and he pulled my boxers down to expose my ass. He gave my ass a smack, and it made me jump. His hand felt so good against my ass that I thought this night couldn’t get any better.

“OK, now you give it a kiss!” Fiona called. “Don’t be a pussy!”

Asher laughed. “Don’t you think that’s going a bit far?” he asked, grinning.

“No,” Fiona said. “You know you want to! Look at that sexy ass!”

“You realize this started as a joke, right?” Asher laughed.

“If you’re self-conscious, you can turn off the camera,” she bargained. “I’ll take Ben’s word that you did it.”

“When we set up the tent tonight, I really didn’t expect that I’d end up kissing another guy’s ass,” Asher said, caving.

“Yes, but look at that ass!” Fiona laughed. “Give it a grope, you know you want to!”

“Fine,” Asher laughed. “You win.”

“I’m not the one who has Ben’s bare ass right next to them,” she said. “I think you’re the real winner here.”

“It is a nice ass,” Asher joked, and he squeezed my asscheek gently. I almost orgasmed right there. My mind knew this was a joke, but my body didn’t. I heard him kneel down behind me, and Fiona cheered as he placed a quick kiss on my ass, right where he’d groped. He pulled my boxers back up, and Fiona laughed, delighted.

“You can’t leave Ben out,” she protested. “Your ass is just as nice! A bubble butt like that deserves a kiss!”

Asher sighed and stood back up, presenting his ass to me. I knelt behind him, slowly pulling his boxers down again, and gave his ass a squeeze. It was soft, but I could feel the underlying muscle. I gave it a kiss, trying to capture this moment in my mind. I reluctantly pulled his boxers back up, and went to get the camera again, hiding my erection with my hand. Fiona knew it was there, but that didn’t mean I wanted her to know all the details.

“This has been the best Skype call I’ve ever been in,” she decided, and we laughed.

“Come on, Asher,” She taunted. “Look into the camera and tell me you didn’t enjoy touching Ben’s ass.”

She dropped it as she noticed something else, and she squealed girlishly with joy.

“Asher has a boner!” she announced. “You loved it!”

Asher flushed and covered his crotch with his hands, glancing nervously at me.

“You like Ben, don’t you?” she asked, grinning. “Don’t worry, we won’t judge.”

“I do not!” Asher protested, his blush spreading off his face and down his neck.

“You don’t even like girls!” Fiona cried, delighted, as she reconsidered him. “You’re gay, right?”

Asher looked like he was going to die of embarrassment, and he looked down.

“Yeah,” he admitted quietly, and my heart stopped.

Fiona screamed, so delighted she couldn’t even hold it in. “Sorry,” she said. “I’ll hang up now. I think you two have some ‘talking’ to do,” she said, winking at me.

She hung up, and silence fell. I wanted to say something, but my mind was totally blank. It was like everything I’d ever wanted had just been dropped into my lap, and I couldn’t even comprehend it. This was far worse than when I’d arrived at the cottage.

Asher glanced at me, looking petrified, and he winced at the surprise on my face.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have told you before you let me sleep over, and I shouldn’t have ever done this.”

I laughed in disbelief, feeling like I was in shock.

Asher looked even more ashamed, and I hated myself for not explaining earlier.

“No,” I said. “It’s OK, really.” I tried to think of a way to continue, but my mind was empty. “It’s OK,” I repeated, and then laughed again, stopping almost immediately. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I just don’t know what to say.”

“I understand,” Asher said miserably, looking down again.

“Do you know that feeling you get on Christmas, when you tear off the wrapping paper and find that thing you’ve always wanted, but never thought you’d get?” I asked. “For that one moment, you can’t even react because you don’t know how to handle it.” I trailed off, unsure what I was saying, but he seemed to catch at least a part of it, because he looked up at me again, hope in his eyes.

“What do you do when you have everything you’ve ever wanted?” I asked rhetorically. “There’s nothing to work towards, nothing to hope for.”

Asher seemed to understand more than I did. “You enjoy it,” he whispered, and I met his eyes. He tentatively scooted closer, and he put his arm around me as if I were one of the deer on our island and he was afraid I’d flee. I leaned into him, and he tightened his grip, laughing softly.

“I know that exact feeling you’re talking about,” he told me. “I don’t even know what to do!”

I looked up, still disbelieving. “Kiss me,” I suggested softly.

Asher froze, but he leaned slowly towards me, searching my eyes for any sign that I didn’t want this. I didn’t let him waste his time. I straightened, rising to his height, and kissed him gently on the lips. I leaned back and sighed, closing my eyes happily. He tasted wonderful. I looked back at him, and he hadn’t moved, although a small smile had spread across his lips. He leaned further forward, and kissed me back. This time, neither of us broke away, and we let our lips linger together for a little while, enjoying the feel. I put my arm around Asher’s waist, feeling the muscles in his back against my arm, and pulled closer to him, the kiss becoming less innocent. Bear apparently thought we were playing, because he ran out of the tent and began pouncing on our feet.

“No! Go back to sleep!” Asher said, his protesting futile. “Leave us alone!”

“Fuck,” I swore. “Looks like we’ve got a chaperone.”

Asher smiled, and I kissed him again, unable to resist. I still couldn’t believe that I could do that. We smiled at each other, ignoring Bear, and he kissed me again. Bear, of course, wouldn’t tolerate being ignored. He climbed in between us and tried to join our kiss, licking our faces. We fell to the ground on either side of the tree, pushing him off us and laughing.

“Hey Bear,” Asher said. “Do you remember the pound?” He said it in baby talk, and the tone made Bear excited. He wagged his tail, and Asher continued. “You want to go back?” he asked. “It’s not too late. Leave us the hell alone.” Bear barked, and began chasing his tail, unsure what Asher was saying but thinking the tone meant it was something good.

I burst out laughing. “So he does bark,” I said when I could talk again.

Asher grinned, and I was pleased to see that it felt like nothing had changed in our friendship. We could still interact in the same way as before, but now there was an extra dimension. “He’ll bark if I make him too excited,” Asher said. “He goes crazy when I talk to him like that.”

I laughed. “I can see that,” I said.

“You try it,” Asher suggested. “He doesn’t do it for anyone else, but he loves you. I could see him making an exception for you.”

“Hey Bear,” I said in baby talk. “Would you like us to go get you something to eat?”

Bear barked, crouching down with his rear end in the air.

“Is that a yes?” I asked, and he barked again, jumping forward and resuming his position closer to me.

“I think I love your dog,” I told Asher, grinning. “Let’s go get him a treat. Maybe then he’ll leave us alone for a little bit.”

Asher grinned back as we stood and started to walk. “I think we should talk before we do anything else,” he said seriously, his grin fading. “We need to know where we stand. Is this going to be a relationship, or are we still just friends?”

“I was kind of hoping it could be a relationship,” I said, glancing over at him anxiously, hoping he wanted the same thing.

He broke out into a grin again. “Awesome,” he said. We grinned at each other for a minute, getting more and more excited as it sank in on us.

“So you’re… you’re my… my boyfriend?” I asked, nervously smiling at him.

He nodded once, and then again, more firmly, before breaking out into a grin.

“I have a boyfriend,” he said, mystified. “You’re my boyfriend!”

We grinned at each other again, but we were reminded what we were doing by Bear pressing his cold nose against Asher’s leg.

“Damnit Bear, can’t you let us have a moment together?” Asher demanded, patting him to show he wasn’t really angry. At least not very much. We walked over to where the food bag was strung up in a tree, grinning at each other for no reason. We lowered it and got a treat for Bear, and then raised it again.

“Here,” Asher said, handing Bear the treat. He took it gently, and ran over to a nearby tree to eat it. Asher and I faced each other, trying to continue our talk.

I laughed quietly. “Sorry,” I said. “I still can’t believe you’re my boyfriend.”

Asher grinned. “That means…” he swallowed. “That means I can kiss you, right?” he asked.

I smiled happily, feeling like I was about to burst with happiness. “Any time you want,” I promised.

He leaned in and kissed me, and I felt his lips curve as he smiled. “Thanks,” he said. “You can kiss me whenever you want, too.”

I laughed, delighted, and ran into the tent to get my camera. “We need pictures!” I said. “I can’t believe this moment is real!”

Asher grinned. “Will these go on your wall?” he asked.

I openly admired his ‘three-quarters naked’ body. “I think we should keep the wall PG,” I said. “I’ll definitely put pictures of us on it, though.”

He grinned, and I took a picture of us standing side by side. He leaned in and kissed my cheek, and I got a picture of that, too, and then one of us kissing.

“Before today, I’d never kissed anyone,” Asher admitted.

“Neither had I,” I told him. “I can’t believe what I was missing.”

We grinned at each other, and kissed again for good measure. We were interrupted by my phone ringing. Annoyed, I glanced down. It was a Skype call from Fiona. I looked up at Asher, and he grinned.

“I think we owe it to her,” He said, and I nodded, grinning back. I answered the call, and we both looked at the camera, watching her face as the call connected.

“SO!?” she demanded, freaking out. We stared blankly at her, pretending not to understand.

“So what?” I asked, curious.

“What HAPPENED!?” she asked, dying of curiosity.

Asher shrugged. “We talked,” he said calmly.

“And?” Fiona asked, pleading. I decided to have mercy, and I leaned over and kissed Asher’s cheek.

A grin appeared on her face like lightning, and she laughed in delight. “I’m so happy for you guys!” she said. “You’re perfect for each other!”

I grinned. “Thanks,” I said. “For everything.”

“You can repay me by telling me everything,” she said, grinning. “So? Who’s got the sore ass?”

I laughed. “You only left us alone for five minutes!”

“So?” she asked bluntly, making us blush.

“We’re not that far along, anyway,” I said, ignoring her. “We were just talking.”

“And kissing,” Asher added, kissing me to prove his point.

Fiona squealed again. “I can’t believe you guys are really together!”

Asher laughed, and kissed me again. “So?” he asked impatiently. “Where’s my twenty dollars?”

We all laughed. “I’ll buy you both lunch when you get back,” she said.

“You don’t have to,” I said, but she shook her head.

“Not as payment,” she clarified. “As a celebration!”

“So what do we get you as thanks?” I asked.

Fiona grinned evilly. “I wanna watch,” she joked.

“Sure,” I said, and Asher gave me a shocked look. “We’ll order you a Rolex as soon as we’re back.”

“Asshole,” she muttered. “You can’t just get a girl’s hopes up like that. That’s like telling a little kid that Santa wants to give them a tour of the North Pole.”

“Seriously, though,” Asher said, picking up where I’d left off. “Thank you so much for bringing us together.”

Fiona grinned. “I like to think that guys can’t function without a girl to give them a kick in the ass every once in a while,” she said.

“Hey!” I said, offended. “I think we still would have gotten together eventually, if you hadn’t pushed us.”

“No you wouldn’t have,” she said, deciding to tease me. “You would have just talked to me about him. ‘Asher’s eyes are so beautiful! Asher’s lips are so perfect! Asher has the nicest ass I’ve ever seen!'"

I blushed furiously, and Asher looked over at me, grinning with pleasure. He gave me a kiss to show me he didn’t mind, but then Fiona turned on him.

“And you, Asher, you would have just silently admired Ben and never realized how he admired you back. You guys would have been the most pathetic case of unrequited love since Romeo and Juliet.”

We laughed, and she grinned.

“Really,” she said, “I’m just happy you two are together now. You’re such a cute couple!”

We both blushed, and she grinned. “I’ll leave you guys to get nasty now,” she told us. “I just had to know how this had turned out.”

“We couldn’t ‘get nasty’, even if we were ready to,” I told her. “Bear is the most effective cockblock known to man. He pounces on us if we try to kiss for too long.”

“Go underwater,” she suggested. “From what you’ve told me, you guys could hold your breath long enough. I doubt either of you would last a full minute anyway.”

We blushed, knowing she was probably right. I was so horny right now that if Asher even touched my ass again I’d blow my load in my boxers.

“We’ll keep that in mind,” I told her. “But right now we have more important things to do.” I put my hand on Asher’s chest, and held the phone so she could watch as I slid my hand down towards his boxers, teasing her. I ended the call when I reached his belly button, and slid my hand around to his back, pulling him in for a kiss. My phone rang, and I let it go for a few seconds before pressing ‘decline’.

“I was kind of worried there,” Asher admitted. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, but I don’t think I’m ready for that.”

I nodded. “I’m not either,” I told him. “I think we should just stick to kissing, and move along when we’re both comfortable.”

Asher nodded, relieved, and I kissed him again, giving him a grin. Bear must have finished his treat, because he’d returned to cockblock patrol. He pounced towards us, and we separated reluctantly.

“Damnit, Bear,” I laughed. “How are we ever going to get past first base if you keep freaking out?”

Asher grinned, and we went into the tent. “Maybe we could lock Bear out, and get some alone time,” he said, touching his nose to mine. I looked at the tent flap, but Bear burst in before I could close it.

“Shit,” I said. “He’s good at his job.”

Asher laughed, and we decided to ignore him. We closed the tent flap, and unzipped our sleeping bags, putting one spread out beneath us and one above us. We moved closer together in our ‘bed’, and Bear decided to sleep on my side again, pushing me into Asher. This time, we didn’t have to stay apart, so we got as close as we could before becoming self-conscious. We pressed our shoulders together, and Asher turned so my leg touched his, but that was as close as we were comfortable with for now. We couldn’t get to sleep for a while, because every few minutes one of us would start giggling, and give the other a kiss. Neither of us could believe this was real, but eventually sleep overtook us anyway.