Splash On The Screen - 13. Chapter 13 Night Becomes Electric

RUSS

Dave was the perfect host – as I knew he would be – and a considerate friend to everyone. Watching the adult version of my childhood pal brought a smile to my face. ‘Thank God some things don’t change,’ I thought, as I joined everyone in the dining room. The energetic, fun, bright, caring boy with whom I grew up was now the other half of a solid partnership built around trust and love. I was feeling very comfortable with all these guys – guys who enjoyed each other’s company and also happened to be gay – as if I’d known them for years.

The table had been set with casual placemats and large napkins wrapped around the silverware. Over a dinner of salad, spaghetti and toasted garlic bread, all the guys shared in light conversation that topically touched on recent life experiences. Mike kept our wine glasses topped-off with a red zinfandel from California while Dave made sure there was plenty of food. When dinner was finished, we moved back over to the great room with the last of the wine to hear the rest of Brent’s reunion with his father.

“So, I have my dad back after a testy five years,” Brent concluded.

“Now he’s got two homo sons,” Doug added with a chortle, “and Brent’s an honorary DiMarco.”

“Yeah, I’ve grown very fond of Italian sausage.” Brent winked at the table.

“Speaking of sausage…and, I don’t mean Italian…breakfast will be at nine,” Dave advised. “I thought I’d get the boat out so we can cruise around the lake tomorrow. Mike’s going to make sandwiches for the trip, and we’ll bring beer.”

“You mean that old Chris-Craft is still running?” I asked.

“The sonofabitch is almost fifty years old. It’s a 1949 classic and still has fire in its belly,” Dave said.

“As I remember, that sucker is pretty fast and hauls ass for water-skiing.” Dave, his dad and I had spent endless summer afternoons towing each other behind the boat water-skiing.

“That ‘sucker’, as you put it, has a Ford V-8 Interceptor powering it. The marina guys keep it well maintained, and it’ll handle six guys just fine for cruising around and a few less if we decide to ski. I’ve got regular skis and slalom in the shed by the dock. ”

“It must suck up a lot of fuel?” asked Trev.

“At a $1.18 a gallon, we’ll get to know the marina guys very well by the time the day’s over,” Dave replied with a shrug. “But I’ve got it covered.”

“Dave, why don’t you and Mike go up and relax?” Doug suggested. “Brent and I will clean up the kitchen – Trev and Russ can do scullery duty tomorrow?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Trev replied with that attractive drawl. “Y’all can rotate the duty, every other day, with Russ and me while we’re up here?”

“I’ll take you up on that…it’s much appreciated. Mike, you ready to ‘relax’ for the evening?” Dave asked with a sly smile, as he stood up from the couch.

Mike immediately joined him. “As long as I can get some sleep after we ‘relax’,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows. “Goodnight, guys.”

Dave grinned and waved as the two walked towards the stairs.

“Um, Russ, you want to go out and check the shoreline like we discussed?” Trev asked tentatively, “I love the fresh air up here.”

“Absolutely,” I replied, “you’ll be blown away by the beauty of the lake at night.”

Trev turned to Brent and Doug and said, “We’re going to finish the wine outside…see y’all in the morning.”

“Go for it. There’s a bright moon tonight,” Brent answered.

They both nodded to us as we went to the door leading out to the back porch. ‘Is this going where I think it’s going?” I wondered, “and what will my reaction be if Trev tries something?’ I realized that I didn’t feel threatened; it was more of an intellectual debate I was having with myself.

“I’m glad you suggested dressing warmly,” Trev said. “It’s a beautiful evening, but a little chilly.”

We walked out on the porch and down the steps to the manicured grounds leading to the dock. Small, indirect floodlighting illuminated the shrubbery and adequately lit the brick walk winding down to the dock.

“This is truly God’s country,” I replied, as we arrived at the end of the walkway.

The old wood dock with white painted pylons and metal cleats was approximately 30’ long, and at the end was a short “T” dock with a bench. Carrying our wine, we slowly walked to the bench. Trev lightly wrapped his arm around my waist and turned to me with a contemplative expression.

I looked in his eyes and smiled – not wanting to spoil the moment…only vaguely aware of what that moment was – and asked, “You wanna sit on the bench and talk while we finish our wine?”

“Sure would,” he replied softly.

Trev and I reached the bench, sat down and visually absorbed the dim, physical majesty before us. The moon’s illumination created a peaceful setting and although the lake was undisturbed, lapping water gently kissed the sandy beach. After sitting, he brought his arm around my shoulders. I lightly leaned into him. ‘I think I know what this moment is supposed to be,’ I thought, ‘and it feels pretty damned good.’

“Comfy,” he asked as he squeezed my shoulder for emphasis.

“Yeah.” I snuggled in closer and continued, “I used to come up here all the time with Dave. Prolly started back when we were five or six years old. The Swensons were my second set of parents, just like mine were for Dave.” I felt very comfortable with Trev, as we gazed across the lake to the opposite shoreline.

It was around 10:00 p.m., and many of the large lake homes had only minimum exterior lighting on. There was a continuous silhouette of the evergreen and large oak trees behind the large houses before the star-encrusted sky dominated the view. I raised the partially filled wine glass in my left hand and took a slow sip as my right free hand moved over to Trev’s knee. I patted it a couple of times and left my hand where it was. He set down his wine glass on the dock and placed his free hand over mine, and we just sat there, not saying a word, looking at nature’s slumber in the north woods and listening to the invisible insect population’s evening communication.

“Russ, penny for your...”

“Thoughts?”

“Yes. You want to share?” he asked in soft, Southern-accented tones.

“How about a quarter’s worth?” I squeezed his knee and turned my hand over so that we were palm to palm. We were at the point when two people – especially two men – know it’s the point of no return. ‘It’s now or never,’ I thought, ‘and never isn’t acceptable.’

“Whatever it takes, buddy.” Trev held my hand tighter.

“Okay, here goes,” I replied with a sigh. “Anytime I start boring you, just stop me.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“It was almost two years ago when Dave officially came out to me and introduced Mike as his partner in Chicago. Funny, I was happy for Dave – and jealous at the same time. I couldn’t put a finger on it, but I got funny vibes from Mike.”

“Vibes?”

“Like he saw something deeper between Dave and me. I won’t go into the details, but Dave and I had a very intimate post-pubescent friendship. Just say that we explored each other physically…completely…as young guys.” I looked for a reaction.

“We all do that shit, Russ.”

“No. I mean completely. JO was just for openers. Dave was in love with me. I knew it. For my part, it was just horny curiosity with my best friend…or, so I thought. I could never step up to the plate to explore a relationship, and we never talked about it.”

“Wow. Sounds like you’re ready for Jerry Springer,” Trev said with a quiet laugh. He squeezed my hand for emphasis, and I continued.

“Flash forward. I’m in college and Dave is in the Navy. Northwestern’s pre-med really doesn’t give you too much time to get too involved with a social life, so I really didn’t have anyone special…nor did I care. Oh, I had ‘trophy’ dates for parties and had women to take out when I was home for holidays – but it was just Russ Bennett role-playing at its best. I even fooled myself until recently. Is this getting too heavy, Trev?”

“Russ, I’m really not ‘out’ to my family. I’ve lived two lives for a long time and I still don’t know how to tell my folks. Just for the record, except for my home in Nashville, I’m very comfortable about who I am, in every other sense.”

“Flash forward to the present. It’s like I’m having a sudden realization that all the round and square pegs in my life need to be re-assembled. Seeing Dave and Mike again triggered something inside. Then, to meet your close friends from California…very hot, close friends…and observe their genuine love.”

“I can confirm that it’s been the real deal since I’ve know them.”

“Well, I’m re-evaluating where I stand in the Adam and Eve, or Adam and Steve chromosome-chain.” I turned to Trev and smiled. With the bright moon illuminating our area, I saw him return the smile.

“Sounds like we’re playing by brand-new rules. I told you I don’t make a habit of going after straight men. However, it sounds like you’re opening the door for me.”

“Unlatching it – at the very least. I knew you fit into the puzzle when we met. I want us to be friends…maybe more than that. You’ve turned on something inside me that I’ve tried to keep submerged. Just be patient with me and help me figure everything out…would ya?”

“Okay, truth time. You are ringing my chimes, Sir. I know right now that being friends is a given. I’ll go as slow, or as fast, as you want to explore anything else. Unless you object, I’d like to give you just a little kiss to demonstrate my interest?” He looked at me questioningly. I separated my hand from his, brought it up to his jaw, and slowly leaned in.

“You sold me, Mr. Winston.” Our lips met, and I exhaled with relief – like a heavy weight was being lifted from my conscience. I felt his tongue, requesting attention around my mouth. Within a nano-second, I responded by receiving his probe. We playfully tongued each other before coming in for a more expressive kiss.

He gently pulled back and said, “Russ, I don’t want to push you into anything that makes you uncomfortable…play it out, one step at a time. How about us goin’ back to the cabin and gettin’ some rest. I’d like to invite you into my bed…but only to snuggle. Is that okay?”

“I’d like that, Trev, very much. Just don’t expect much more…for right now.” The operative phrase was for right now.

“Not a problem, buddy. Whatever you want to explore while we’re here this week, I’ll help. Believe me when I say that I’ll respect your timetable.”

“My timetable may be on a fast track,” I replied in a whisper.

Silently we finished the wine while staring at the moon-bathed lake.

~~~~~

TREV

‘What the hell,’ I thought, as we walked back to the cabin, his hand in mine, ‘Russ has just turned my world upside down.’ What was going to be an uncomplicated week with old friends was taking a different route, step by step, literally. For me, the challenge would be to avoid falling for a guy who couldn’t return the affection. However, he did say that the door was unlatched and I was getting some very strong vibes.

“Looks like Doug and Brent have gone to bed. You want anything from the kitchen before we go up?” I asked as we entered the great room with just a night-light on.

“Naw, I’ll go to the room and get ready for bed. Would you take my wine glass with you?”

“Yep. I’m going to get something cold to drink and be right up,” I said with a warm smile. I took his glass and watched, as he walked over to the staircase and started the ascent with an athletic grace.

I went to the kitchen, rinsed the glasses and put them in the dishwasher. I looked at my reflection in the window and decided to give him a few extra minutes to brush and pee. ‘It would be great to have this guy standing next to me in this reflection,” I thought, as I walked over and opened the fridge to scope out the beverage options other than beer. Spotting several bottles of Arrowhead water, I grabbed two and went upstairs.

“I’m all finished in the bathroom,” Russ announced, when I entered the bedroom. He was stripped down to his white briefs.

“Okay. I’ll do my thing and be right out. Here’s a bottle of water for you,” I replied, “just in case you get a thirst in the middle of the night.” He smiled and nodded as I removed my clothes. After matching his briefs ‘uniform of the evening’, I went in for a whiz and my nightly oral hygiene ritual. ‘The next act was going to be a baby milestone,’ I ruminated while rinsing.

I turned off the bathroom light and returned to a now-darkened bedroom. The moonlight created enough light to let me see the form of Russ in my bed with his back to the room. Although I normally slept nude, the briefs would stay on tonight. I pulled back the covers and quietly slid into bed, next to Russ.

“Hey, buddy. Welcome to my bunk.” I covered us and patted him on his muscular bicep.

“I’m not hogging too much of the bed?”

“No. Plenty of room.” I moved closer, so that my chest was touching his back. Without saying anything, he moved his butt toward my body until his cotton-covered asscrack was against my soft, covered cock. We lay there silently for a few moments before I carefully wrapped my arm around him in a loose manner. “Good night, Russ.”

“Night. And Trev, thanks for being a new friend.”

I squeezed his body with my arm to indicate acknowledgement and started thinking about this guy that was sharing my bed. First and foremost, I would help Russ discover whatever was stirring these feelings. Was he just curious? Was he coming to terms with bi-sexuality? Was he slowly discovering that his sexual orientation was gay? All these thoughts rumbled around in my head as I drifted off to sleep.

Sometime later, I felt a slight movement of the bed. Opening one eye, I saw Russ get up and go to the bathroom. He closed the door and almost immediately created the sound of a man releasing an urgent, hard piss stream. After a flush and a token hand wash, Russ came out and returned to the bedside. “Trev, are you awake?” he whispered.

“Almost. Why?”

“Would you mind scooting over a little? I’d like to try the reverse position for a while.”

“Not a problem,” I said, moving over to his original side. He paused for a moment before joining me. Pulling up the covers, he brought his chest up to my back and wrapped his arm around me. As Russ had done earlier, I wiggled my butt a little and moved it into his crotch area. I was a little surprised when I didn’t feel any material covering his equipment. ‘Hmm,’ I thought, ‘this is interesting – more than interesting.’

“I hope you don’t mind me getting out of my briefs? I usually sleep with nothing on.”

“Not at all,” I said, as I slowly moved my hips closer. Russ leaned in and gave me a little peck on the shoulder. There was a definite stirring of his cock lodged next to my crack. My response was automatic for a healthy, young, gay male: I had a raging hard-on. ‘This is just too tempting,’ I decided, ‘and time for action.’ I gently moved my butt back and forth to send a message to my new friend.

“Mmmm, that feels good,” Russ uttered with a little moan.

“Any objection to me joining you commando-style?” I could feel him getting harder as I kept up the motion.

“I’d kinda like the idea. Um… I’m not really as tired as I imagined.”

“Hold that thought.” I eased away, got out of bed and went to the bathroom for a fast pee. On my way back, I grabbed my trusty, travel-sized lube bottle and a condom. ‘Here goes everything,’ I thought, as I slid back into bed. After tucking the accessories under my pillow, I lay down facing Russ. In the darkness I could see his eyes sparkling and his mouth being moistened by a slow-moving tongue.

“You look awfully good,” he purred.

“Took the words right out of my…” I moved in and lightly touched his lips with mine. When he offered no resistance, I started a tentative probe with my tongue. He opened his mouth and welcomed my tongue with his. While they were getting to know each other, I moved my hand over to his pecs. His firm, small nipples were too much of a temptation. I pinched one, then another, with a little pressure.

“Oh,” he said with a little startle.

However, when I started moving my palm over them in a slow, circular motion, he began almost purring. As I kissed him harder, I glided my hand down over his sculpted abs, stomach and, finally, arrived at his erect penis.

“Unless I’m getting the wrong signals, your cock is looking for a little action,” I said, after pulling my mouth away. He did not resist as I started stroking his precum-slick, hard meat.

“You could do what you’re doing and I’d be very happy.”

“How about being a little more adventuresome?” I took his hand and placed it on my hard-on.

He ran his hand over it and landed on my scrotum. He delicately rolled my balls. “Something like this?” His fingers moved around and started rubbing my perineum.

“You’re getting closer,” I said with a chuckle.

“You want…”

“I want you to fuck me, doc. Is that something you could get into?”

“Into as into your beautiful ass? I, ah, haven’t done this for a while. In fact, never thought I’d do this again.”

“Does that mean it’s a ‘no’?” I asked. I’m okay if that’s your decision.”

“Trev, I’m becoming very attracted to you. I think, um…no, I know I want to be in you. Be patient, though.”

“Don’t worry, it’s like riding a bicycle,” I replied as I rolled over on my back.

“Guess I should get on and start peddling,” he replied with a snicker.

“I’m the most patient man in the world.” I grabbed the lube, handed him the condom and added. “I’m also a Boy Scout.”

We both laughed as he ripped the condom packet open.

DAVE

Mike and I were up first – in our sweats – to get breakfast started. We heard low laughing and talking coming from Brent and Doug’s room as we walked down the hallway, but all was quiet in the other room. ‘I’d love to spend some time with Russ, alone, today,’ I thought, ‘maybe he’d like to drive over to the marina with me to pick up the boat?’

“The boys sound like they’re a little frisky this morning,” Mike said, as we got to the head of the stairs.

“Those two have been separated by a continent for most of the spring. They need to make up for lost time and morning sex seems to fit the bill,” I replied with a snicker.

“Buddy, you’re out of the Navy now, and we’re not going to have any more separations. But, I’ll never turn down the opportunity to play with you as the sun comes up.” Mike playfully punched me lightly as we continued down the stairs.

“Then I’m putting you on alert. Tomorrow morning, it’s not only the sun that will be coming up – ‘Davey’ will be in full attack mode.”

“I know the battle station drill very well,” Mike said as we hit the first floor landing.

I turned on the kitchen lights and made a beeline for the freezer door. Since as long as I can remember, coffee was always kept in the freezer in a Swenson household. I kept up the tradition. “Mike, would you start coffee?” I gave him the canister used to store the freshly ground coffee I always bought from a small specialty grocer in town.

“Why don’t I make a small batch now? It’s only 8:00 a.m. I’ll brew a larger amount closer to nine?” I watched as he portioned out three scoops into the coffee maker.

“Always the restaurateur, thinking about quality control. I figure scrambled eggs, sausage links and toast should do the trick.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get some of the guys to help make our lunch while you get the boat.”

“I checked the reefer…whoops, fridge…and saw all the fixings for lunch, as well as tons of food for the rest of the week. The cooler is in the mudroom. By the way, I’m going to ask Russ to join me when I get the boat. We haven’t had a chance for a long talk in quite a while.”

“Great, and I’ll hold down the fort. How about those other friends of yours with the boat? Are they up here?”

“Robbie and Roy. I talked with them on the phone in St. Paul and they’ll be coming up on Friday. I thought we’d do a Friday night steak cookout here and maybe take a little moonlight desert cruise in Roy’s boat. They could sleep in their cruiser, dockside, and join us for breakfast. Whaduya think?”

“Like everything else, I think you’ve got this week pretty well organized.” Mike pulled me into a strong embrace and gave me a very sexy morning kiss.

“These guys are ‘family’ now and it’s important to me that they all have a great time. Especially you, doofus.” I nestled up to my tall, handsome partner and hugged him tightly.

“I love you, but you’d better get the eggs cracking. It’ll be nine before you know it.”

I kissed him lightly on the cheek and went over to the fridge. Mike took two cups and poured us freshly brewed coffee. I grabbed the proffered cup and brought the hot, robust beverage to my lips. “Can you believe how beautiful it is up here?” I said, more to myself than to Mike.

While the morning sun was giving the residents a warm, bright wake-up call across the lake, our grounds were still in the shade. The direct sun wouldn’t hit this area until afternoon and there was a trade-off – mornings were always a little chillier but the warm late afternoons more than made up for it. ‘We’ll be able to change into tees and shorts in another hour,’ I thought as I got out a dozen eggs and a package of link breakfast sausages.

“We should try to get up here a couple of times a year. Maybe this fall we could invite Uncle Trey and Aunt Betty up here with my mom?”

“Absolutely. And maybe we can invite your brother and his friend?” I asked.

“Deal.”

As I started cracking eggs, Mike laid out the sausages on a sheet pan and set the oven.

~~~~~

RUSS

“Thanks for suggesting that we get together this morning. We really haven’t had any time alone for a long time.” I climbed into the large Suburban passenger seat and buckled in.

“The half-hour driving over to the marina isn’t a lot of time, but we’ve got all week. Except for Mike, you’re still my absolutely, best friend,” Dave replied.

We both smiled as he squeezed my hand for emphasis. He started up the big Chevy engine and navigated towards town and the marina as we silently drank in the views along the road for a few minutes.

“Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about our ‘experimenting’ together when we were kids.” Much had happened to me in the past 24 hours and I decided to use this time together to channel a discussion.

“Yeah, those were fun times. We both had fun, although I admit that I felt something else when we were together,” Dave answered wistfully.

“I know you did…you were in love with me…right?”

“It was pretty obvious, wasn’t it?”

“Only to me. Everyone else just thought we were close, long-time friends – which we were, and are. It’s only been recently that I discovered that I was in love with you, also.”

I looked at Dave as he scowled his forehead, pulled the SUV over to the side of the road and stopped with the motor running. He turned to me and studied my face.

“You mean…”

“I’ve always loved you like a brother. I just couldn’t admit, at the time, that those feelings went further. Maybe things would have been different…I don’t know. You’re not angry, are you? I had most things figured out…but not that.”

“Ah, shit, I could never be angry with you.” He unbuckled our safety belts and pulled me into a big hug and kissed me on the lips. “I was always amazed that we did half the stuff we did. It was pretty awesome for two kids,” he continued with a warm smile.

“Awesome. For a while, I’ve had some powerful feelings just below the surface and I’m just now becoming fully aware of them. Don’t worry, Dave, I’m not lusting for you. You’ve got a great guy in your life. What I’m saying is…I think that my feelings – sexual and emotional – are primarily for men.” ‘And primarily is probably an understatement,’ I thought.

He looked at me with a raised brow as he put the Suburban into gear and moved out onto the quiet country road. We both automatically hooked up our seat belts.

“You sure know how to get a guy’s attention. What brought this on?”

“At the airport, yesterday…when I met Trev, I really got excited. I had seen him on the plane, and kinda watched him on the flight up. And when we shook hands, I felt a passing of energy. Does that make sense?”

“Oh, yeah. When I first met Mike, I thought that someone had turned on a switch. The feeling is pretty amazing.” Dave smiled at me before turning onto the main highway into town. “So, does Trev know what’s happening?”

“We had a talk after everyone went to bed. I told him that I was feeling something. Basically, I opened up to him as we sat out on the dock and kinda implied that I’d like to explore those feelings.”

“And…?” Dave said in a concerned tone.

“We had a small kiss, and he invited me to snuggle with him last night. He’s a real gentleman, and he said that we could go as slow as I wanted to. No pressure.”

“That is slow. So I guess that’s all that happened?”

“Not quite. I got to thinking and finally decided I wanted to go the whole route. You know, like we used to. In my own way, I sent some pretty obvious signals and he picked up on them… thank God.”

“Meaning?”

“Your best friend officially got laid last night. It was terrific.” I’m sure a shit-eating grin was the best way to describe my smile. Best of all, I was able to share these feelings with someone who meant so much to me.

“Wow, that’s not exactly going slow,” Dave replied with a wink.

“No, not slow, but definitely hot. Trev is one sexy dude and a nice guy.”

“I agree on both counts. If you think this is where you’re heading, you’ve got a great support group this week. But after we all depart and you decide that you really want to chase pussy, so be it.” We both laughed and he squeezed my thigh.

“I think my pussy-chasing days are over. It’s just the alternative that I had to come to terms with,” I replied with a shrug, “and I did that last night.” ‘Jeez,’ I thought, ‘it’s great to be with my best friend with no misleading signals.’ “Tonight, I suspect that Trev will take the lead.”

The rest of the drive to the marina was filled with the two of us replaying not so innocent childhood memories.