ERECTORS By Mike Austin nasstop@yahoo.com
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V.
Mack and Terry dated and lived together for about 18 months out the Farm To Market Road until Terry's move. Terry had helped Mack come out, but when he got word of his folks' health matters, he made the decision to move back home to Oklahoma and help care for them. It was a sad time, but Mack understood and was supportive. Mack felt he was losing a best friend and not a partner or lover. And while Mack flew to Oklahoma a few times to visit, the situation and the relationship had conspired against them and he knew he had to move on and find someone else. That someone was Greg and they met at a pool party down the road from his place through mutual friends who were doing a fund raiser for a local gay charity. The sponsor was a retired county sheriff, his brother, that guy's partner and their housemate. About 100 showed up, mostly couples, lesbian and guys, but many singles who just wanted to swim, check out the eye candy, grab a BBQ sandwich and toss in their donation to the cause, then split. It was a good Saturday afternoon and evening event and very worthwhile. Mack had spied the handsome Greg who was very popular, but as soon as Greg saw Mack, the rest faded into the mist. It seemed as though their time together had always been and yet they'd just met. The rest of the day was spent together and after they left, for Mack's place and a fuck and suck session that lasted into Sunday afternoon, Greg was hooked on That Man. While Mack's place was modest by comparison to the charity event's host home, his "Mack's Place" as the TEXAS License Plate Gate Panel announced, was ever changing and being renovated and upgraded. Mack was falling for Greg and his fear of getting hurt, was being extinguished. They lived together for a good while in what Mack had come to regard as a marriage.
Josh thought he recognized the guy at Ty's charity event, but never got around to being introduced and he was stymied by the question of who he was. Suddenly that guy was gone from the crowd and Josh dismissed his own curiosity. There were loads of other available dicks at the event and before the Saturday night ended, he'd had four of them in his bed. Sunday was clean-up day and there was a lot to do, but he, the ever-jovial Ty, Pete and Ben worked to straighten everything up and enjoy the fact that they'd raised almost $2500 for the gay charity. Josh was still perplexed by the mystery man and no one seemed to recall just who Josh was referring when he asked. Monday, was a start of a new role for Josh and Build Rite Services. They were to serve as the General Contractor (GC) on a new job and not just a sub-contractor. At the morning kick-off meeting the GC and many sub- contractors met to get intros done and contacts shared. Josh was stunned to see The Mystery Man in the crowd and then he flashed back to the party and previous jobs where Build Rite and Acme Electrical had been peer sub-contractors. Josh's cock stirred having seen that furry chest, great pecs and crotch in swim trunks. About the same time, Mack checked out the meeting host and grinned to himself, as soon as they made eye contact and "the OH YEAH lights" went on. After the kick-off meeting ended, the pair met, shook hands and tried not to act like school bros, but... .
Another work day ended and Josh invited Mack for a beer and he accepted. They hit a local ice house near the jobsite where many other contractors gathered after work. They got to know each other and between the current and future jobs where both worked, grew a friendship that eclipsed co-workers but did not cross the line with sex. Josh learned that Mack and Greg were a couple and Mack learned more about his Farm To Market Road neighbor and roommate and met Rocket. With Josh being the GC Head at jobs, Mack's status was still delicate and they couldn't compromise their friendship and business relationship. Their arm's length bond at work remained stable though weekends sometimes found Mack and Greg at Ty's with Josh at the pool, and often times with Pete and Ben for added social fun. Josh had no push to become Ty's boy-toy, nor did Ty look at Josh that way. The pair were ideal housemates and Josh often brought tricks home or `over-weekenders' as Ty called some of the "longer play records" that shared Josh's bed. The guys all generally enjoyed each other. Josh learned that the house had been Ty and Pete's parents' home that they'd grown up in and as the eldest, as the parents both passed away, came to Ty via their wills. Upon Ty's death, he would convey the house to Pete, to keep it in the family as long as possible. Ben had a home across town where he and Pete lived.
For several years this personal and professional relationship worked like a charm. That is until that day when Greg and Julio were fucking like mad dogs and Mack walked in. Greg was now out of the picture and Mack's BURN was evident. Josh got Mack's call the next morning advising him that he would not be at the jobsite and who to call with any issues or questions. Sensing more than a need to be off, Josh pressed his friend and peer, then learned of Greg's undoing and the emotional mess that Mack was left feeling. Josh told Mack to sit tight; hung up, phoned Ty and relayed the situation, then Josh resumed the call with Mack. Within 10 minutes, Ty was knocking on Mack's front door to be the friend in need role. The two shared quiet times, some tears, some laughter and as the day wore on, Ty urged Mack to come for a swim and bite of lunch. When Josh arrived home, he found Ty, Mack and Rocket listening to rock music, grilling burgers and taking dips in the pool. Josh and Mack hugged for longer than a casual embrace and Ty joined to further support their friend in pain. Rocket was the topper though and nuzzled Mack's leg for that added bit of support; which brought a rush of new tears from the sexy man at the center of this emotional tumult. After supper, Mack begged off, agreeing to be at work the next day and not to worry about him, further. "I will survive" Mack announced "as Gloria Gaynor proclaimed", wiggled his fine ass and gave a hug, a wave and made his way to his truck for the short drive down the Farm To Market Road to his now empty house. He would survive. He would prevail.
That next day at the job site, Mack recognized that while Josh had been aloof over the past, the friendship he demonstrated last night was sincere. He also recognized that his body felt good, pressed against each other. Ty felt good too AND Rocket. That was family, with all its quirks and differences there was a common cord, a common link to each other. He craved that sense and realized that Greg's connection was physical, temporary and would be the baseline to measure real Love. Would Josh be that person to counterbalance Greg's fraud? Over the next year, the "group" as Mack referred to Josh, Ty, Pete, Ben, Rocket and himself, grew very close. Ty met a few potential lovers but all failed to pass muster and faded away. Ty wasn't lonely though and enjoyed the home, pool, Rocket and other "group" members as well as his collector car buddies and former co-workers, now all retired. Life was good. Josh and Mack were beginning to spend more and more time together, though Ty did seem to slow down a bit, his stamina was resolute when he was ON. The numbers of "over weekenders" slowed then stopped the longer time Josh and Mack spent together. While they hadn't discussed living together, events would change that before long.
Josh and Mack had made plans to get away the coming weekend, both taking off Friday and following Monday. It was Tuesday and they were counting down the hours, when Josh got Pete's call. "The pool guy found Ty outside, passed out and began CPR while calling EMS, he's in the ER still and stable, but we don't know the extent of the stroke, you'd better head home as Rocket is a wreck" then ended the call. Josh immediately called Mack to give him the news and that he was headed home right away. Mack was supportive and asked if he needed him, but Josh declined as he was heading out to his truck, and said they'd talk later. Josh didn't remember the drive home to check on Rocket before heading back out to join Pete and Ben at the hospital. After work Mack made his way to Ty's to cover Rocket and be there for the still upset dog. He and Josh spoke at length and reassured Josh that he had Rocket covered, and got an update on Ty. Josh assured Mack that he'd relay the good wishes he was sending to Ty, Pete and Ben. Pete reiterated that Carl, the pool guy, had probably saved Ty's life, though no one knew how long he was out there alone. Carl was adamant that Rocket wouldn't leave Ty's side, even when the EMS guys arrived. He tried to leave with them and Ty, but Carl was able to get Rocket back inside and secure. It would be 3 weeks of in-rehab therapy, and following rehab discharge, Ty would require daily home health care and therapy for the forseeable future. Pete took a week of vacation, followed by Ben's, then Pete again while they decided their options. Ty was regaining some strength but could not get around alone, yet.
Both Pete and Ben were eligible for retirement and discussed their options and Ty's future care. Josh could see that his time at Ty's might be ending if home care continued with Pete and Ben at the house. Mack stepped in and asked Josh to move into his place as either a roommate or more. They had been monogamous for almost a year at this point and it was time to take the next step. Any work-related issues could get "handled" but their time together was even more relevant now that Ty was home, Pete and Ben might move to the house permanently, and anyway- it was time for Mack to try again and Josh to try for the FIRST TIME, to be a couple.
The pair of houses on the Farm To Market Road aged a bit. The owners of both had aged as well. Ty passed away a few years after coming back home; during which time Pete and Ben had moved in, sold Ben's place across town, cared for the Santa Claus-like personality that was Ty, until the end. Rocket too had aged and was less and less mobile. Josh and Mack now in their late 30s and early 40s had been together for several years. They often shared Saturday or Sunday with Pete and Ben at the pool, down the road. It was at one of those Saturday afternoon pool gatherings that Rocket raised his paw to Josh one final time. The tears of all these men flowed unendingly.