Special Forces - 15. Chapter 15

Joseph’s declaration that he might have a boyfriend knocked the wind out of me. For a moment I was too stunned to speak. My mind was trying to process the million and one permutations of that statement and coming up blank. What could I say that would offer non-judgemental guidance? This parenting stuff sure wasn’t easy.

“Nick....”

“Oh, sorry, Joseph, you just kinda surprised me there. Um...tell me about him. Is it LeShawn?”

“No. One of LeShawn’s friends. I think LeShawn likes girls.”

“Does LeShawn’s friend have a name?”

“Uh...Tyler.”

“And you think Tyler might be your boyfriend?”

“Kinda...yeah.”

Trying to get more information is like pulling teeth!

“Okay, Joseph. Back up here. Tell me how you met Tyler and why you think he might be your boyfriend.”

“Well, on Friday, at lunch, there were a few of us at a table, just...you know...talking...and stuff. And Tyler...I don’t know...he kept looking at me...you know?”

“And...were you looking back?”

“Kinda...yeah.”

“That’s it?”

“No...not really.”

“What happened, Joseph?” Jesus, this really was like pulling teeth. Are all teenagers like this?

“Well, LeShawn had to leave lunch early, ‘cuz he had to get his clarinet before band practice. Then Tyler and I started talking, and....”

“And what?”

“Well, it made me feel kinda funny...you know?”

“You mean you liked talking to him.”

“Yeah, like that.”

“And then....”

“Well, when the end of lunch bell rang he asked me if I wanted to hang out this weekend.”

“And you wanted to, but couldn’t because you were coming down to visit us.”

“Yeah, but...like...I really wanted to come and visit you. That was...like...totally awesome! And I really liked Jorge. He’s so cute! And Sam is so nice. And your boat is rad!”

“Gosh, thanks, Joseph. We really enjoyed having you. Like Sam said, you’re part of the family. But back to Tyler. Was he disappointed that you couldn’t hang out?”

“Kinda...yeah.”

“He’s your age, right? In your grade?”

“Yeah.”

It took a while to get there, but I felt relieved that the might-be boyfriend was a peer and not some predatory older kid; that this was an innocent crush (at least so far); and Joseph, in his round-about way was asking me for advice.

“Are you asking for my advice, Joseph?”

“Um...I guess...kinda...yeah.”

Joseph wasn’t a kid prone to capriciousness, so if he had a feeling that Tyler liked him it was based on sound analysis. But not guaranteed. And therein lay the danger. One slip-up and Joseph might be cruelly outed to the whole school. A vulnerable, gay teenager’s worst nightmare. On the other hand, I didn’t want Joseph to miss out on the experience of a first crush (hopefully innocent). He was, after all, nearly 15, and didn’t kids his age start to ‘date?’

“Well, Joseph, you’re going to have to screw up your courage and ask him to ‘hang out’ next weekend. Maybe you could ask him to suggest something to do because you’re new to Monterey. But, Joseph, be careful. Don’t out yourself unless you’re absolutely sure about him. You know how fast gossip can spread in a high school. Go slowly, okay?”

“Okay, Nick. Um...I better go...I gotta do some homework before tomorrow.”

“You had homework this weekend? Why didn’t you tell us?”

“It’s only a page of math and two paragraphs for English. I can do it in an hour. It’s not a big deal.”

“Okay, but next time let us know, and we’ll put aside some time for you to do your homework. Before you go, I have two quick questions. First, do the Williams give you an allowance? And second, can I tell Sam about Tyler?”

“Yeah, the Colonel gives me five dollars a week. And, sure, you can tell Sam. He’s cool, right?”

“The coolest. And, Joseph, keep us informed about Tyler, okay?

Sam, who’d overheard the conversation, said, “Tyler?”

“Potential boyfriend.”

“Our little boy is growing up.”

“Too fast!” I laughed. “Is this what’s in store for us later with Jorge?”

“Yeah, but with girls. I get the impression he’s not gay. What do you think?”

“No, I don’t think he is. Of course he’s pretty young, but I just have a feeling....”

“Reverse gaydar?”

“I don’t know, even my gaydar’s not so good. I didn’t think you were gay.”

“What do you think now?”

“I think you need to take me into the bedroom and prove you’re gay.”

“You’re on!”

We flopped onto the bed facing each other. We lay gazing into each other’s eyes, then Sam reached up and stroked my hair. “Nicky, you’re so beautiful.”

I leaned in and kissed him lightly. “I love you so much, Sam.”

Sam rolled me onto my back then propped himself over me. His face hovered over mine for a few seconds, then he pressed his lips to mine. His tongue probed. My lips parted. I put my arms around his muscled torso feeling the taught ridges through his shirt. He swung his lower body between my spread legs, dropped his hips and ground his hardness into mine. Our tongues duelled. We both groaned in need.

I tugged at his shirt, hinting it was time to remove our clothes. He sat back and pulled off his shirt. At the sight of his generous chest my cock twitched in anticipation. He helped me pull off my shirt, then I reached down to undo the button of his pants. He rolled over just long enough to slide his pants off, and I did the same. We left our underwear on, and he mounted me again so that we could kiss and grind. There was something about leaving our underwear on that heightened the anticipation—the need. I grabbed the hard globes of his ass and pulled him as close as I could. Then with my finger I traced his ass crack though the cloth finding his hole, where I pressed in. Sam growled. He actually growled.

I pushed at the waistband of his boxers, trying to push them off, then I gave Sam a little push so he’d roll onto his back. Then I sat up and pulled off the shorts while he lifted his ass to help.

Now I had him right where I wanted him. Kneeling between his legs, worshiping at the altar that is Sam Kozitsky. I dove in with my mouth. Licking, tasting, smelling, feeling. I reached to the nightstand and grabbed the lube, applying it liberally to both of us. Then I straddled him and slowly slipped him into me. Once he was buried to the hilt I lay on him with my full weight (Sam’s could support my body weight for hours) and just rested there, feeling full and at peace, and completely fused with my soul mate. Sam wrapped his strong arms around me, and I cradled his head against my shoulder.

We stayed like that—just enjoying the connection—then eventually restarted the movements that would bring us to mutual orgasms.

Afterwards, we were too tired to clean up, and neither of us minded the mess, so we lay glued together, face to face and drifted off to sleep.

Sam wakes up early, so we were up and showered (yes together, yes another orgasm) and enjoying a coffee in the kitchen when Jorge, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, came in for a big hug from his dads.

We fed him breakfast, then Maria arrived to take him to school.

Sam headed off to work to sell boats. He’d had a very successful few months. In fact, his income was well above what we had anticipated. Even in a bad economy people had money for boats. Used boats (those on consignment) didn’t last for more than a few days. And Sam was getting order after order for new, customized boats. Many well over a quarter of a million dollars which brought in high commissions.

I headed to my studio for a productive day. I, too, had been having good luck. I wasn’t bringing in the same income as Sam, but I was contributing to the household and boat expenses.

Joseph called that evening, after Sam was home from work, bursting with good news. His art teacher had given the class a ‘beach theme’ assignment in keeping with Monterey’s maritime heritage. The students were to use the beach to find inspiration for a project. It could be a painting, photography, jewellery, sculpture, collage or anything the students might dream up. The teacher had told them they could work in pairs if they wanted. LeShawn was into photography, so he was doing a solo photo project. But Tyler had asked Joseph to be his partner on a project! Joseph had been browsing a book he found in the art room on Alexander Calder and suggested that they do a mobile from found objects on the beach. Maybe using driftwood and shells.

So the boys had a ‘date’ to patrol the beach on Saturday for materials. The Colonel had made some suggestions as to how they could use swivels and eye hooks to suspend the pieces so they would move freely. And he offered the use of his workshop so the boys could put it all together on Sunday.

I was delighted to hear Joseph had a teacher who would let the students run with their creativity. I remember my high school art classes where too many students were frustrated trying to do a projects they weren’t comfortable with or had no talent for. I was lucky, I could draw and paint, but my friend was hopeless at drawing. At home he made intricate little boxes, even trying his hand at veneer marquetry. Unfortunately, he was not rewarded in class for his talent. I challenged the art teacher on this disparity, and she replied, “It’s not in the curriculum.” In my humble opinion, that woman should never have been a teacher.

Sam and I were on pins and needles awaiting Joseph’s ‘report’ from his outing with Tyler. I was dying to phone him and press for details, but had to remind myself that when he wanted give us news he would.

Finally, on Sunday evening, when Sam and I were nearly climbing the walls in frustration, Joseph called.

I put him on speaker phone. Sam said, “Hey, Joseph, how was your weekend?”

“Good.”

Sam raised his eyebrows at Joseph’s cryptic response. Then an evil smile lit his face; he winked at me. “So, did you and Tyler do the nasty?”

“What?”

“Spill, buddy, Nick and I are going nuts with curiosity here. Mano-a-mano dude, you got anything to tell us?”

“Um...well...we did...um...talk.”

“And?” we both said in unison.

“Well, we kinda decided we...well, you know.... And we held hands a bit. And when he left tonight he...um...kissed me on the cheek.”

“Good for you, buddy!” said Sam. “Time we had a little talk about safe sex, eh Joseph?”

“What? No! Jesus!”

“So you mentioned Tyler left tonight. Did you guys work on your project all weekend?” I asked.

“Yeah, we got tons of stuff at the beach yesterday, then today the Colonel let us use his workshop to put it together. It’s really cool. You’d like it, Nick. It’s really big. You know, like Calder’s work. I’ll send you a picture. The Colonel took a picture of me and Tyler with it.”

“Looking forward to seeing that, buddy,” said Sam. “I’d like a private word with you before we end this call though, okay?”

So I said goodbye and took the phone off speaker and handed it to Sam. He sat on the couch and quietly gave Joseph ‘the’ lecture on safe sex and how to stay safe emotionally. Sam had such a matter of fact presentation that I couldn’t imagine Joseph being really, truly embarrassed, and he presented the information as ‘this is what you can do,’ as opposed to ‘this is what you can’t do.’

When I mentioned to Sam how impressed I was hearing his little ‘speech,’ he told me that he’d read that most often older children and adults are told what they can’t do. But he’d learned in the Navy that if you told a soldier what he or she ‘could’ do, they would be much more confident, and more likely to obey orders. “Seems to work every time,” said Sam.

My phone dinged with an incoming text, and there was a picture of two smiling boys in front of a large driftwood mobile. I’ve got to say that it was formed beautifully, and in spite of its size and weight it looked almost delicate.

“He takes after me—the creative side,” I proudly declared.

“That he does,” confirmed Sam. “An artist, just like you.”

Then we focussed on the ‘boyfriend.’ Red haired and freckled, and skinny like Joseph. His smiled showed a mouthful of white teeth, and his (green?) eyes sparkled in merriment.

“Good catch,” mused Sam. “I think he’s had braces, he’s got a great smile.”

“Definitely braces,” I replied. “But very cute. Our boy has good taste.”

“And Tyler is one lucky dude. He better treat Joseph right though, or...um...or else!”

“Well, at least Joseph has a couple of big shoulders to cry on if his heart gets broken.”

Later than night, about 10pm, Colonel Williams phoned to talk to us about Joseph’s ‘boyfriend.’ He told us Tyler was a good kid, from a good, local family; there shouldn’t be any problems. He promised to keep a close eye on them and that we needn’t worry. He laughed and said Joseph was pretty much ‘on time’ for a first boyfriend. Both Wendy and his son had crushes at about that age. “Course it was different, being opposite sex and all. I’m not quite sure about having ‘the talk’ with Joseph.”

“Don’t worry about that, Colonel,” said Sam. “I’ve given him that talk. He took it pretty well. Promised he’d use protection if they did anything. Course, I wish they wouldn’t do anything, and I advised him to wait on that, but you never know with teenagers. Many an otherwise sensible kid has gotten into trouble.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” replied the Colonel.

On Wednesday Joseph phoned, all excited. He and Tyler had gotten an ‘A’ on their mobile project.

His birthday was coming up soon and we asked him what he’d like for a gift.

“I dunno.”

“Something you need? Something you’d like?”

“Um...not really.”

Great. Joseph was embarrassed by the topic and had retreated to the land of monosyllablisms.

“Okay, then we’ll surprise you.”

“Uh...okay.”

Sam and I chuckled. Joseph had several modes ranging from talkative/animated to shy/withdrawn. But we agreed that his reticence to express himself sometimes was to avoid disappointment. We wanted to change that.

The Colonel and Amy said that he wasn’t really into clothes or shopping. He seemed quite content with what he had. But he could use a laptop for school. What did we think about splitting the cost of a laptop? He thought that Wendy and her husband would probably want to contribute something as well.

So Joseph’s big birthday surprise was a MacBook Air (we’d found an exceptional deal on an ‘open box’ unit). And it was a total surprise. The Williams had invited LeShawn, Tyler and a girl (LeShawn’s girlfreind?) over for dinner. Then when the cake was brought out, they phoned us, and had us on speakerphone as they presented Joseph his gift. When he saw it, he got all choked up and started to cry. He couldn’t say anything for a few moments until he’d recovered and blown his nose. LeShawn and Tyler pronounce him ‘lucky,’ and Joseph voiced his thanks and said it was the ‘most awesome’ gift he’d ever gotten.

Later, during a private conversation with Joseph, he asked if Tyler and he could come down for a visit together one weekend. Sam and I said yes, providing it was okay with Tyler’s parents. We promised would speak to them about it. “Awesome! Tyler totally wants to see your boat and meet you guys and Jorge. I told him what a cool kid he is.”

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The following week I was under some stress. I’d just presented a selection of my work to the San Diego Potters’ Guild for their jury selection of new members. And I was settled in for a nail-biting wait....