Staking My Claim

By Nickolas James

Chapter Fifteen

The look of shock on Phillip’s face was one I’d not soon forget. I mean, I think I’d react the same way if he or anyone else had just made a similar revelation to me. But the truth was, I was hurting too, and I had to endure as much pain as Phillip did through all of this, if not a little bit more. None of that made it easy for Phillip to digest what I told him, and as I thought back on it, maybe I could have broken it to him in a little less of a dramatic fashion.

“Phillip, I have something to tell you,” I said, a nervous wreck about what was going to come out of my mouth. “Please don’t get mad at me or hate me.”

“What’s wrong, Andrew?” he asked, his voice filled with concern. I just knew that once he found out, the concern in his voice would be replaced with anger. Still, I knew what had to be done, so I continued carefully.

“Well...” I started, but my voice trailed off. I felt him take my hand, and I looked up just in time to see his affectionate, hopeful smile. That just made what I had to do harder.

“Phillip, I left the garage door opened last night,” I confessed. “Our surf boards were stolen. Yours too.”

“My board’s gone?” he asked, the tone of finality when he said the word ‘gone’ so painfully prevalent.

“I’m sorry,” I said, a lump starting to form in my throat. “We can go today and I’ll get you a new one.”

Instead of a verbal reply, Phillip took a deep breath and looked introspective, his brow knotting more and more with each passing moment. Finally he turned and looked at me, the irritation clear on his face, and made eye contact with me, and that’s when it happened.

I guess looking back, it was the last thing I thought he’d do, but when I put myself in his shoes, I can see that I’d do the exact same thing. Still, it was the last thing I was bracing for when our eyes met, so when his expression softened and he leaned in to kiss me on the lips, he caught me off guard.

“It’s not your fault,” he said, a small hint of frustration in his voice that he was trying hard to mask.

“It is too,” I said quietly, ashamed of myself for putting him in a position of having to lie to me about his feelings. “I was supposed to close the garage door. My dad’s pretty upset with me.”

“Well accidents happen,” he said in an understanding way. “You don’t have to buy me a new one, sweetie. You can pay me back in kisses.”

With that, I cracked a smile and leaned in again, eager to make my first payment. I was sure to make a big payment, too, by trapping his stiff tongue in my mouth and sucking on it as hard as I could. I felt his arms wrap around me from both sides and envelope my entire frame as I ran my hands up his shirt and over his tight stomach and torso when the sound of a throat being cleared caused us to separate instantly.

“I’m sorry Mr. Stout,” Phillip said almost pleadingly. Before he could continue, though, my dad held his right hand up to stop him from speaking.

“I’ll be out of your guy’s hair in a minute,” he said with a large note pad in his hand. “I just wanted to show you this list, son.”

I reached out and accepted the note pad from him, looking at the long list of items stolen from the garage. Shockingly, one of those items wasn’t my bike. It was up in the front of the garage, and I guess it was out of sight, because it went untouched along with our roller blades and a Coors strobe light my dad had hanging up over his workbench. Unfortunately, the list was a mile long, and I knew that I hadn’t heard the last of it from my dad.

Earlier that morning when I woke up, I thought I could hear my dad’s voice, but thought that I was just imagining things. I knew he had to go to the office, and that I was supposed to be all by myself. So as I made my way down the stairs and his voice got clearer and clearer, I figured that he must have called in sick to work. Unfortunately, the frown he was wearing as he talked into the phone told me that there was something else wrong, especially when he saw me and his brow furrowed.

I sat next to him on the couch and scratched my head sleepily, trying to catch up to what was happening. Finally, he was put on hold, and he turned his attention my way.

“Andrew, did you forget to close the garage door last night?” he asked, and I panicked. I looked up at him, and he shook his head at me with a disapproving look that said it all.

Once he was off the phone and the police were on their way, we walked together out to the garage to survey the scene. The first thing I did was breathe a sigh of relief that my bike was still there, but my silent celebration was short lived when my dad told me that our boards were gone, among other things.

“Buddy you can’t forget things like that,” he admonished me. “We can replace what’s missing, but there are some things they got away with that were from your mother’s childhood.”

“Her Barbie chest?” I gulped, and he nodded. My mom’s Barbie chest was just that; an old chest filled with Barbie Doll’s and accessories from the seventies that were in perfect condition. Some of it was still in the original packaging, unopened and worth an untold fortune. When the police showed up I went back inside and sat still on the couch, a heavy feeling spreading throughout my chest at the same rate that the lump was growing in my throat.

I sat on the couch and concentrated on not crying, but it was honestly one of the hardest things for me to do. I couldn’t believe that how stupid I’d been to leave the garage door open all night when I promised my dad that I wouldn’t forget. When the door opened and my dad walked in, he spotted me on the couch feeling bad, so he came over and sat next to me.

“Hey pal,” he said quietly. “You okay?”

I shrugged my answer and looked down, too ashamed to face him. I felt his hand kneading my right shoulder, then he pulled me into him. I let myself limply fall against his shoulder, where I rested my head. I felt him kiss my cheek before he wrapped his arm around me.

“I’m sorry dad,” I croaked, feeling tears well up in my eyes. “I can’t believe how stupid I was.”

“You aren’t stupid, kiddo,” he assured me. “You just need to take this as a lesson. We can buy new stuff, son. What upsets me is the fact that the door in the kitchen was unlocked too. Whoever did this could have easily come inside and put us all in danger.”

“Is mom mad at me?” I asked.

“She doesn’t know yet, Andrew,” he said. “I just went out there and found it myself. I’m going to call her later on, once I figure out what all’s missing and what’s not.”

“She’s going to blow up, isn’t she?” I asked, and I heard my dad sigh his answer. “Phillip’s board was out there, too. He’s going to kill me.”

“We’ll get Phillip a new board, son,” he assured me.

“Am I grounded?” I asked, wincing because I was afraid I already knew the answer.

“That’s something your mother and I have to discuss,” he said. “But I want you to stay put today, okay?”

“Okay,” I said, knowing that telling me to stay put was my dad’s gentle way of saying “you’re grounded.”

I knew that Phillip probably wanted to go do something, but my current circumstance was preventing me from leaving with him. I wouldn’t have blamed him if he wanted to, though. After all, it was my fault that his board was gone.

But Phillip being Phillip, he was happy to hang out at my place all morning, even though my dad was there and the odds of us being able to get it on were practically zero. Instead, we wound up on the couch, holding hands and watching Paula Dean make a cake that looked like it was going to be scrumptious until she added mayonnaise to the recipe. I turned and looked at Phillip, who made a face, and I had to giggle.

All of my laughing stopped, though, when I heard my mom’s car pull up. I nervously stood up and walked to the kitchen with Phillip right behind me, and I watched as she got out of her car and walked into the garage, shaking her head in disbelief and putting her hands on her head before she ran her fingers stressfully through her hair. I saw my dad say the words to her that I dreaded, and even though I couldn’t exactly hear them, they were like a knife in my chest.

Her reaction, though, was curious. She cocked her head sideways and gave him a suspicious look as her eyes shifted from side to side, as if she didn’t understand what he meant. She said something I didn’t hear, and I saw my dad straighten up and put his hand over his mouth before he let out a breath, closed his eyes and shook his head. In reply, my mom took him by the arm and walked up to the doorway I was standing in with Phillip, who looked to be as confused as I was. We moved to the side and let them come in, and that was when my dad faced me and spoke.

“Son, I don’t know how to say this, so let me start with an apology” he said quietly.

“For what, dad?” I asked, and he cleared his throat again.

“Why don’t you tell him, dear?” he suggested to my mother, who smiled at me nervously and took a breath before speaking.

“I’m the one who left the garage door opened,” she said. “It was closed this morning when I left for work, but I came out this way because I was carrying a tray of hors d’vours for the office party.”

“Wait, so it wasn’t my fault?” I asked, a feeling of relief sweeping over me.

“I’m sorry buddy,” my dad said. “I can’t believe I just blamed you like that.”

“It’s alright dad,” I said, wrapping my arms around his chest and giving him a squeeze to let him know I wasn’t mad.

“We’ll go get new boards today,” he said as I released my hug, but I think he was talking directly to Phillip.

As it turns out, we didn’t go that day. Instead, I took my newly reclaimed freedom, along with a hundred of my parent’s dollars, and rode out with Phillip on our bikes to meet Jarred at Kyle K’s house. I was a little worried that things were going to be awkward between Kyle and me, but it was business as usual when we got there. I was a little startled that Kyle’s mom, Lisa, was sitting in the living room with Jarred and her son. I’d never met her, and I was honestly a little nervous about doing so.

She was a pleasant woman, and it was obvious that Kyle was the light of her life, but I was relieved when she said that she had to keep a 1:30 appointment and left. Kyle followed her out the door, and I watched as she dug into her purse and pulled some money out. She handed it to Kyle and kissed him on the cheek, then she got in her brand new Tahoe and drove off.

_______________________________________________________________________

“So, I kinda wanted to talk to you about yesterday,” Kyle said as we sat alone in his room. Jarred and Phillip were downstairs on the X Box and Kyle and I were supposed to be upstairs looking for something different to play. I sat down on his bed and waited for him to get his case out, which took no time at all since it was sitting on his desk. With his case in hand, he took a seat next to me and sighed listlessly before he brought up the day before.

“Okay,” I said, turning to face him.

“So, what did you think?” he asked shyly, and I noticed him kicking his right foot out off the bed nervously. I smiled at him, mainly to help him relax, but also to show him what I thought about the kiss we shared.

“I thought it was great,” I said, not breaking my eye contact with him. “What about you? Did you like it?”

“Yeah,” he admitted softly, his cheeks turning beet red. As red as they were, though, there was no way they could have been as red and tempting as his lips looked to me the day before when we both took a chance and stole a kiss neither of us were supposed to have. As his smile widened, I couldn’t help but wonder if he was remembering the details of the day before, or if he’d thought about it the night before when he went to bed.

I know I did.

I couldn’t take my mind off it because it was the most innocent thing I’d done since my first kiss with Jarred, and yet, it made me feel so guilty for some reason. Maybe it was because I felt a sense of duty to Phillip, who was on the other side of the door with Jarred. Or maybe it was because I felt like I was taking advantage of Kyle, who was obviously getting his very first romantic kiss.

There was no way he was experienced, because I had to guide him through the whole thing. As soon as our lips made contact, I felt him pucker up tightly, so I cupped the back of his head and guided him as I tilted my own head, then I parted my lips and pressed into his mouth with my tongue. He seemed confused at first, then it was like a light turned on and he got it. His lips parted and he allowed me to enter his moist mouth with my tongue. Again, he was confused for a moment, but once he got the picture, I felt his tongue slide into my mouth and for a very brief moment, we engaged in a very awkward French kiss.

When we broke the kiss, I smiled at him and brought his hand, where my fingers had been rubbing and lightly massaging, to my lips and kissed each one of his fingers. When I let his hand go, he smiled shyly at me and took a seat, so I took the initiative and slid my chair right next to his so I could hold his hand.

Again, this was a little awkward at first, but he eventually eased into it and relaxed. As we sat there in silence, I lightly ran the end of my thumb in delicate circles over the patch of skin that stretched between his thumb and his forefinger and smiled at him. I knew he had a hardon, because I could see it when we were kissing. I had one too, but this time, I wasn’t going to hide it from him. Instead, I let my gaze fall down to his bulge, knowing that he was following my eyes. From there, I let my eyes drift to the bulge that was in my own pants, then back up to his eyes, which were still unsure but full of so much wonder.

I let go of his hand so he could roll a joint for us, but as soon as he was finished rolling it, we clasped our hands again. This time, he had a more confident look on his face as we sat there, not saying a word. I was about to take the initiative again and plant my lips on his for another taste of his sweet kiss when the door opened and we found ourselves face to face with Kyle Porter.

I let go of his hand, but he surprised me by hesitating to let mine go. I looked over at him, and he actually looked a little disappointed that we weren’t making intimate contact anymore. I looked back up at Kyle Porter, wondering what he must have been thinking. He didn’t say a word. Instead, he took a chair across the table from us and reached out for the joint, which had been drying on the table.

“So what did Kyle say yesterday?” I asked him curiously.

“Nothing really,” he said. “He just wanted to know if we liked each other.”

“He knows?” I asked, and he smiled sweetly and nodded. “Is he going to say anything to Jarred and Phillip?”

“No way, he’d never do that to me,” he said confidently.

“So, does this mean you’re gay?” I asked, and he shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I just know that I like what we did.”

“Have you ever, you know,” I started to ask. “Have you ever messed around with another guy before?”

“Just you,” he admitted. “I guess I’ve wanted to for a long time, though.”

“With me or with a guy?” I asked, and he grinned again.

“Both,” he said.

“Do you think you’d ever want to mess around again?” I asked, feeling a little daring at the moment.

“How?” he asked in an innocent tone.

“We could start off by doing what we did yesterday,” I suggested, reaching out for his hand. As soon as I grabbed it, he blushed again and smiled at me. His lips were calling out to me again, so I leaned forward and pressed my lips against them, turned my head and let everything happen naturally again.

_______________________________________________________________________

I wasn’t planning on giving Kyle K a blowjob when we made out in his room. In fact, I stopped everything before we went too far and there was no turning back. We kissed and I felt him up, unbuttoned his pants and played with his hardon until he came. From there, I knew, it was my decision about where we’d go next. My decision was for us to go into the bathroom and wash up before we went back downstairs, where we’d tell Jarred and Phillip that we were having a talk about something.

But as I bounded down the stairs ahead of Kyle, who was still washing his hands and face, something I saw made me change my mind. Phillip and Jarred were locked in a kiss so passionate that they had no clue I had come down the stairs, and that I was standing mere feet from them. I felt so jealous and insecure that I turned on my heel and walked back up the stairs to meet Kyle in the hallway before he came downstairs.

As we approached, I planted another kiss on his lips, then I took his hand and batted my eyes at him. He led me back to his room, where we closed the door and I dropped to my knees, eager to suck him off. He sat on his bed and I went to work on his raging hardon, which sprang back to life somewhere between the hallway and his room. I smiled up at him as I sucked, and as he smiled back down at me, I hoisted his legs up onto my shoulders so I could knead his ass cheeks and work a larger load out of him.

When he came, it was with the force of a missile right to the back of my throat. I swallowed it as fast as he could shoot it, then I sucked a little longer on his throbbing cock. Once I let it go, I sucked on his nuts for a few minutes, then I let his legs drop from my shoulders and joined him on the bed.

“Did you like that?” I asked, and he nodded dreamily at me.

“I never knew it could feel that good,” he said, turning and snuggling up to me. I knew the feeling he was experiencing, so I wrapped him up in an embrace and held him tightly while he came down from the afterglow. When I heard him sigh, I gave him a quick peck on the lips before releasing my embrace and letting him roll over so he could pull his pants up.

I held his hand all the way to the stairs, then we let go and walked back downstairs to rejoin Jarred and Phillip, who were both regarding us oddly. Jarred gave me a knowing smile, but I had a hard time meeting Phillip’s eyes. I started to think that he picked up on what Kyle and I did, but he didn’t let on. I think it was because even if he did know, he was just as guilty, and he knew it.

Leaving Kyle’s house that afternoon was harder than usual. I wanted him to come along, but he said he couldn’t because he promised his mom he’d go with her somewhere. Right before Jarred, Phillip and I left, I found myself alone in the kitchen with Kyle, where I was able to give him a kiss goodbye.

“That was the only thing missing yesterday,” he said with a soft smile when our lips parted. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

“I promise,” I said, taking his hand in mine and leaning in for one more kiss before I had to leave. I think I heard him start to tell me that he loved me, but I could have been wrong. Either way, I was glad he didn’t say it, because I wasn’t sure how I felt about him yet, and I knew it was way too early to start using words like love.

Well, actually, Phillip and I used that word the first time we were together, but in our defense, we had been spending a lot of time together before that, getting to know each other and figuring out how we felt about each other. As we rode our bikes passed Rudy Inlet and toward my neighborhood, I couldn’t help but feel a little but of a pang in my heart for Kyle K. I looked at Phillip guiltily, and then back ahead as we continued our ride, and I tried to put him out of my head. I was with Phillip, and that was who I loved. And he loved me too, didn’t he?