Sunday morning, it was birthday time. Matt invited Adam over on the pretext of helping us choose paint colors for the kitchen. The guests had parked at the barn earlier and been ferried to the house in the van. I 'forgot' to unlock the gate, so Adam had to ring the house when he arrived, and I buzzed him in while everyone hid. When Adam walked in from the hall, we all leaped out and hollered. He was completely surprised, his mouth dropping open in shock as we all gathered around and wished him happy birthday.
He looked for Matt in the crowd, his face lighting up when their eyes met. As I watched, Adam held out a hand and pulled Matt to him, his smile sobering into a look that you couldn't mistake for anything but love, and I hoped Matt could see it, too. They hugged, whispering something into each other's ears, and then the party started.
Last week Jesse and Ben had quietly celebrated their sixth year together and spent a lot of time smiling at each other. Now that I knew Jesse better, I was less intimidated by his relationship with Vincent. As I watched them talk, Vincent caught my gaze and held it for a second before looking back to Jesse.
Danny and Gabriel stuck together for most of the morning and I intercepted their glances now and then. Gabriel looked more into it than Danny, and I wondered how things were going between them.
Cody, Wade, and TJ were standing at the fondue table forking up cubes of angel food cake dipped in chocolate and chatting. Cody fed Wade a cube, and then offered one to TJ, who took it, but dripped chocolate down his chin in the process. Cody reached out and wiped it off with a finger, then stuck it in his mouth. TJ and Wade watched him make a production out of seductively sucking the chocolate off, licking his finger with his eyes closed.
Cody was a character and watching him was beginning to have an effect on my dick, so I turned to talk with Tommy, Alejandro, and Vincent who were waiting for Tony to finish their crepes. Tony was in a black tux with his hair slicked back and looked good enough to eat himself. He winked at me and I grinned back, thinking that if I didn't already have Vincent, I'd be hot after Tony.
In addition to the usual group, Dylan made an appearance. Since the pig roast, we'd kept in touch on the phone once a week or so, and had met for lunch twice. I happened to be standing by the window when he pulled in and went out to the drive to meet him. We hugged, and he kissed me on the mouth, something he hadn't done in months. The taste of him brought back a quick thrill of memory.
We went inside where Adam spotted him and came over. They did a quick hug, barely touching, but then Dylan pulled Adam back to him for a long, warm embrace. I couldn't hear what was said, but they exchanged a few words and smiled at each other.
We toasted Adam several times that morning, each toast progressively sillier until finally the toaster couldn't get three words out without bursting into giggles, so we gave it up and ate our way through most of the food. The weather cooperated, giving us a lovely warm day, so the party spread to the patio and a good time was had by all.
Toward early afternoon, people began to leave; Matt went over to Adam's to take care of his personal end of the party, and by three, only Dylan was left. We cleaned up the kitchen, and flopped on the couch in the den, too full of crepes, cake, and champagne to do anything more strenuous.
"You headed home?" I asked Dylan.
"No. Got a deposition in the morning, so I'm going into Dallas tonight."
"How early tomorrow?"
"Ten."
"Stay here," I offered, "and drive over in the morning."
After a moment's hesitation, he replied, "Nah, that's okay."
"Three guest rooms to choose from," I assured him, remembering the flash of insight I'd had at the pig roast that we'd never sleep together again. Vincent glanced at me then, holding my gaze a second before turning to see Dylan's response.
Dylan's eyes went back and forth between the two of us a couple times, and then he nodded slowly.
"Yeah, okay. Thanks."
With that settled, we roused ourselves to trek down to the hot tub, lounging there until dinner. After we ate, we did the den again, the three of us in a pile of arms and legs while Vincent watched a movie, and Dylan and I talked in low voices. When the movie was over, we walked upstairs where Dylan hugged us both before heading off down the hall. When we got to our room, Vincent looked at me.
"No more Thursday nights?" he inquired.
"Nope," I replied shortly, not in the mood to dissect my relationship with Dylan. We finished getting ready for bed in silence, but after we were under the covers, I relented, leaning back into Vincent's chest.
"It's just gone between us .... the sex part, I mean. We're still friends, but that's it. I knew it at the pig roast when he apologized to me."
Vincent was quiet for a bit, and then settled more comfortably behind me. "Just so you know ...... if that changes, it's okay with me."
I stared off into the dark room long after Vincent was breathing steadily against my back, thinking about the fluid nature of relationships - how they can deepen and ease off and grow, then sometimes disappear entirely. It was an unsettling train of thought, and I didn't sleep well that night.
Dylan was up when we came downstairs, shoveling in Maria's poached eggs and home fries like it was his last meal. We chatted around the island while we ate, and then headed out to our respective jobs. Vincent left first, leaving Dylan and me in the drive to say goodbye.
He shoved his overnight bag into his car and then turned to me. Our eyes met, and he glanced away before coming back to my gaze.
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"What for?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "I don't know." He sighed. "Because I fucked up our relationship. I never meant to get so distant from you that...." His voice trailed off and he looked down at the ground for a moment. "Anyway, thanks for letting me stay over."
"It's okay," I assured him. "We'll always be friends, huh?"
He gave me a lopsided smile before pulling me in for a quick, tight hug, and then turned to get in his car. He held up a hand as he pulled away, but didn't look at me. I spent the rest of the day wondering if the loss of intimacy with Dylan was the trade-off for a deepening of my relationship with Vincent. The one really had nothing to do with the other, but I was in an overly analytical mood.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted.
Tony, Vincent, and I officially purchased Corleone's on the first of November. The other two restaurants had been sold off, and the proceeds would be used for some renovations at Corleone's - all new linens, a larger capacity dishwasher, and a fresh coat of paint inside and out. When we finished at the lawyer's office, the three of us went to lunch at a little Mexican place that had cracked linoleum on the walls, cracked tile on the floors, and the best carnitas in three counties.
As we ate, the two of them tossed ideas around - couplesonly romantic late suppers on the night of each full moon, a quicker lunch menu for folks in a hurry; that sort of thing. I listened to them with half an ear, while I was daydreaming about the good use Vincent and I had put the removable, adjustable shower head to this morning, when a thought popped into my head and out of my mouth before I could think.
"An art walk," I said.
Their heads swiveled in my direction, and two sets of dark eyes regarded me with curiosity.
"A what?" Vincent said.
"Like they do in San Antonio," I enthused, warming to the thought. "You know .... find a neat area to stroll around, then line it with artists' work and food stations. An Art Walk."
Vincent stared at me for a moment, then glanced at Tony. "The one in San Antonio is great. They have it all along the river that goes through town." He stopped at that thought and turned to me. "We could do it along the bank behind the restaurant, wind it around through the trees so that it's longer than just our river frontage."
I left them planning it for early April and went back to work. As I drove up the lane to the stable, I looked at the donkeys, as I always do. What I saw brought a smile to my face, and I pulled into the little parking area we'd made for donkey visiting.
TJ was in the pen with them and had Fran, Kukla, and Ollie each standing with their front feet on an upturned feed bucket, looking for all the world like circus horses. The only one not cooperating was Eeyore. He was cavorting around the far end of the pen, just out of TJ's reach, darting this way and that to avoid capture, kicking up his heels and having a ball. TJ finally lunged at him, getting a hand on his tail, which brought a surprised squeaky honk from Eeyore and scared the others off their buckets. By then I was laughing so hard it hurt as TJ brushed dirt off his jeans.
"You think it's so goddamn funny, let's see you catch him," he said hotly, rubbing a bloody scrape on his elbow.
I picked up the scoop that we dish out their grain with, scooped up some alfmo, and shook it a little, as I called Eeyore. He trotted directly to me, as did the other three, and stopped right in front of me where I clipped a lead to his halter and handed it to TJ.
"Ya just gotta be smarter than the donkeys," I explained to him with a helpful grin as his eyes narrowed.
"Fuck you," he muttered, "and the horse you rode in on."
"Anytime, honey, anytime," I purred as I hopped back in my car. I fluttered my fingers at him as I pulled out, and he gave me a single finger salute in return.
That weekend, Katie did well in events five and six, pulling into fourth place overall with another win and a second place finish. The seventh event was a couple hours away, but several of us were free that Sunday and drove over to watch her.
Wade, Cody, TJ, Matt, Danny, and I went in Wade's big SUV, stopping for breakfast on the way at a place by the river. As we ate, the conversation turned to Thanksgiving, and I volunteered to host a dinner at my place this year. TJ stayed quiet during the conversation, so I glanced at him as we walked back out to the parking lot.
"Got plans?" I asked.
"Maybe," he shrugged. "Del invited me to his folks' place, but I don't know."
"Louisiana, right?"
"Yeah, somewhere out in the boonies." We climbed into the SUV and went on to the jumping event.
Calvin behaved and Katie took second again. That brought her up a notch to third overall, meaning that she'd have to win two of the last three events to take the championship. The next one was the last weekend in November, then there was one the weekend after that, with the third and final event the weekend before Christmas.
The morning of the 17th, I awoke to find Vincent's eyes on me as he leaned back against the headboard. It had been a year ago today that he'd come home from going after Ray, and I'd wondered how he would acknowledge it. We looked at each other for a moment before I slid to him and curled up against his chest. He settled his arms around me with a sigh.
"This was a happy day for me," he said softly into my hair. "Seeing you again was... well, 'wonderful' barely begins to describe it. God, I missed you so much."
His arms tightened around me and I smiled, remembering opening the door to his shaved head, beard, and black eye. That brought to mind our frenzied sex in the hall, and I turned my face to him, kissing my way to his nipple, which tightened as I licked it. I went back and forth across his chest as his breathing shortened and his cock came to life under me. I moved slowly down his body, following the trail of black curls that led to his erection, which pulsed up from his belly every time my mouth made contact with his brown skin.
Vincent groaned softly and slid down flat on the bed as I took his cock into my mouth. As he hardened, I ran my mouth and fist up and down the length of him. His pre-cum was slick on my tongue, the taste of him familiar and arousing. When he began thrusting into my mouth, I nudged his legs apart with my elbow, held his balls aside, and dripped some saliva just below them, guiding it to his hole with my finger tip. He clasped a hand behind each knee to lift his legs over my head as I began to tease the warm, wrinkled skin.
I took my time working my finger into him as I continued licking just beneath his balls, giving him just a bit more every few minutes until he was grunting softly with each stroke. I wrapped a hand around my own erection, squeezing it as I pushed my fingers into Vincent. The inside of his ass was hot and smooth, and knowing that shortly my cock would be in there was tantalizing.
"God, Sean, please," he finally whispered to me.
I gave him a few more strokes before sitting up with his ankles on my shoulders and spreading my knees around his hips. I looked down as I pushed the head of my dick into him, and then glanced up to see him watching me again, his eyes urgent with desire. When I thrust a little deeper, his eyes dropped shut and his mouth fell open in a moan.
I placed my hands on his stomach, feeling the muscles flex as he moved against me. We had done this so many times over the years that it was a like a dance we both knew by heart. His eyes drifted open and closed as I fucked him, and his hands tightened on my thighs when I angled into him a certain way. Neither of us were in a hurry, so I took my time, bringing him along slowly, enjoying the tingle of anticipation gathering in my balls.
When I was close, I gripped his hips and increased the pace slightly, letting him know that the finale was near. I waited until he began to shoot before letting myself go. When we get the timing just right, it's better for both of us, and this time we were spot on. His contractions milked my cock while the spasms of my body nudged at his prostate. As our breathing evened out, he pulled me down onto him.
"Ahhh, man," he growled in my ear. "Fuck, that's good. Did I ever tell you that the first time I came getting fucked was with you?"
Another revelation.
"No," I whispered, too surprised for more.
"Well, it was. I didn't think I could .... Ray's head games had me pretty fucked up .... but I was so caught up in being with you that I didn't even think about it - it just happened."
We lay there for a few more minutes before getting going for the day, but he didn't offer any further gems of information.
The next morning, Matt came into our room before we were up, climbing over me to wedge himself between us. Vincent lifted his arm off me and I scooted over to make room as Matt curled up behind me. When we were all settled again, he kissed the back of my neck and sighed.
"You know that old bumper sticker?" he said softly. "The one that says 'today is the first day of the rest of your life'? That's how I felt when Jesse brought me over here that first day. Like maybe my real life would finally start again."
I turned over to face him as Vincent wrapped him up from behind. We looked at each other for a long moment.
"And did that happen?" I asked him.
He smiled at me then - a gentle, loving smile that warmed my heart - as he said, "You know it did. Coming here was the best thing that ever happened to me. Vincent said you were a good person, that you could help me. I didn't really believe him, but I figured anything was better than what I had at that point."
He touched his fingertips to my face, drawing them lightly across my cheek and down my neck until his hand rested flat on my chest. "That first night I lay there and just ran my hand over the sheets. You know how long it had been since I'd slept in a bed with sheets? And the next morning I dried off with my clothes cause I was afraid to use the towels." He sighed again, more heavily this time. "After a couple days, I started to believe that you were gonna let me stay."
He'd been looking at his hand, motionless on my chest, as he spoke. Now he raised his eyes to mine again. "I've thanked you before, but now, a year later, I really understand what you did for me, taking me in like that. I mean, you didn't know what kind of person I was or anything."
"Vincent asked me to," I told him, meeting Vincent's eyes over Matt's shoulder. "So I did."
"That simple?" Matt asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, that simple." I leaned forward and quickly kissed the tip of his nose.
Vincent reached over and ran a hand through my hair, smiling at me as he did so. I turned my head to take his thumb into my mouth, sucking on it with lots of tongue action. The smile died from his face and his gaze intensified. When I let his thumb slip from my mouth, he lowered his hand to Matt's cock, taking a firm grip that caused Matt to catch his breath. I bent to Matt's chest, flicking my tongue across his nipple, smiling a little when it peaked in my mouth.
Vincent and I worked on Matt until he was moaning and twisting under our friendly assault. Vincent shifted on the bed, sliding down until his dick slipped between Matt's legs. Matt rolled forward a little, lifting his leg as Vincent probed his ass with slick fingers. As they joined up, I leaned into Matt, thrusting my cock along his and into the press of our stomachs. Vincent kept up a steady pace, pushing Matt against me, and it wasn't long before Matt began the breathy pant that meant he was about to shoot.
I moved back slightly as Vincent slid his hand down Matt's belly to grip his cock. That was all it took for Matty, and he arched his back and froze as cum pumped from him in long spurts. The warmth of it triggered my own orgasm, and as I began to grunt, Vincent groaned deeply, thrusting hard into Matt, who had his eyes tightly closed.
At this point, the phone rang. I stretched an arm over to the night table and picked it up.
"'Lo?"
"So, what're you guys up to this morning?" Jesse's voice was amused - he knew damn well what we were up to.
I manufactured a yawn. "Nothing. Just waking up."
"Bullshit," he laughed. "Well, I just called to talk to Matt for a second. He handy?"
I handed the phone to Matt, nudging it into his hand until he opened his eyes. He put it up to his ear. "Hi."
I could hear only his side of the conversation.
"Thanks."
"No, it doesn't, does it?"
"I know, I just told him that."
"Yeah, I will. I love you, too. Bye."
He handed the phone back to me with a smile. "He says to tell you that you did good, that I turned out okay."
"Okay? Just `okay'?" I snorted. I tickled him until he was crying, and then we got in the shower.
Matt's birthday was the 22nd. He had taken great care of the little truck we'd given him for Christmas the year before, and we'd decided to get him something a little nicer. We put the keys next to his plate, and when he came down to breakfast he went to the fridge for juice, then wandered over to look out the patio doors at the weather, then got bread out for toast. Vincent and I were about to burst when he finally sat down at the island and reached for his fork. His hand stopped in mid-air when he spied the keys, and all three of us froze for a moment before he put his hand back in his lap and looked at us.
"What did you guys do?" he asked, trying to keep his smile of delight under control.
"Just upgraded your ride a little," Vincent said. "Can't have a famous artist running around in a beat-up old truck."
"I'm not famous, and there's nothing wrong with my truck."
He said this firmly, looking at us with a stern face, before he couldn't stand it any longer, grabbed the keys, and dashed out the door to see what we'd gotten him. He came to a halt just outside the door to the kitchen, staring in delight at the Lexus GX SUV we'd chosen. It was metallic white and sparkled under the garage lights. We'd had a big red bow put on top, like the Christmas ads, and I thought his smile would split his face in two.
"God, it's beautiful! This is the one I liked."
"Duh!" I said. "Why do you suppose we bought it?"
He swatted at me, and then walked slowly around it, admiring every line and curve before climbing in carefully and inhaling a lungful of new car smell. He tinkered with all the controls, and finally flipped down the visor, dropping a folded sheet of paper into his lap. He opened it and read for a moment as I watched him. When he glanced up at me, I smiled.
"It's a land deed, Matt. You're the proud owner of 50 acres of prime Texas real estate. We bought you the parcel that was for sale to the east of Stonegate, along the road by the creek."
He just stared at me, and I wondered if the concept of owning land was simply too foreign for a 19-year-old to comprehend. "You could build there someday, if you like. We walked it and it's a pretty piece of land. You could put a studio by the creek, like David has out there in the pines."
Matt had climbed out of the Lexus as I'd been talking and now stood in front of us as my voice trailed off. His smile had faded to a look I'd never seen from him before, and his eyes held mine as he spoke.
"You bought me land?" I nodded, mesmerized by the look in his eyes. "You have no idea what that means to me, do you?" I shook my head. "When I was on the street, it was real important to carve out a space that belonged just to you, a place to sleep where no one would steal your stuff. It was more important than food, and I swore that when I got out of there, I'd find a way to own a piece of land that no one could ever take away from me."
He looked back down at the paper in his hand until Vincent lifted his face with a finger under his chin.
"It's all yours, Matt," he told him. "No one else's name is on the deed, and as long as you pay the taxes on it, no one can take it away from you."
He looked back down at the paper, and I could tell he was out of words. We pulled him to us as he scrubbed his sleeve across his eyes.
"Happy Birthday, Matty," I whispered.
After a long hug, Matt was recovered enough to take us for a ride through the neighborhood in his new Lexus.
Last year, Matt had surprised us with his birthday, so we'd had no time to plan anything. This year Matt wanted a quiet get- together after the big party we'd had for Adam, so that's what we did, having only Adam, Ben, and Jesse over for dinner. Vincent did a great job grilling the ribs and chicken on the BBQ, and Maria had baked a huge chocolate cake. Adam stayed that night, returning the personal birthday present that Matt had given him.
Thanksgiving Day dawned cold and grey, so I built fires in every room and had a big pot of mulled cider steaming on the stove when people began to arrive around noon. We nibbled and drank for a couple hours before sitting down to the feast around two. Vincent and I sat at either end of our big dining room table with Dylan, Wade, Cody, Matt, and Adam down one side, and Danny, Gabriel, David, Jesse, and Ben down the other. TJ had called me Wednesday morning to say that he was going to Louisiana after all.
"I just need to get away and have some fun," he said. "And Del's a fun guy."
"He is that," I agreed, recalling our night with him in Amarillo. "Have a good time."
I looked down the table at our friends. Cody was waving his fork in one hand as he talked to Matt, David and Wade were discussing which artists should be invited to display their work at the Art Walk, and Jesse and Vincent were laughing at something Ben had said.
"What're you thinkin'?" Danny's hand settled on my arm as he spoke softly to me.
I shrugged. "Nothing special. I'm just glad everyone's here. I love it when we all get together."
Danny glanced around the table. "Yeah, they're a good bunch of guys. Matt was right when he told me that sometimes your friends love you more."
I put my hand over his and squeezed. "Your dad still holding out?"
"Yeah, I guess he figures if he waits long enough, I'll go back to liking girls. I told him it ain't gonna happen." He paused. "But he told me I could move back into the apartment."
I turned to him with raised brows. "Really?"
He nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not gonna. I like it right where I am."
Gabriel caught the tail end of our conversation and smiled at Danny's words. "I like you right there, too," he said.
The weather stayed cold, so we gathered in the den after dinner, lolling around moaning about having eaten too much. It was a good day, a day that reminded me how important it was to cherish your friends.
As always, thanks to David of Hope for pointing out what needs fixing.
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