Underneath a Warm Afternoon Sun

Story Teaser:

I'm secretly in love with my best friend. When he invites me camping, how will I keep my horny urges in check?

Author's Notes:

- This is a stand-alone story of roughly 9500 words. High-frequency words include shorts (39), skin (37), legs (27), and cock (14). No smut until very late in the story :p

- The narrator and his friend Kevin attended university together. Both are 24 years old.

- This story describes consensual sexual activity among men in graphic detail. Readers should be comfortable with gay/homosexual content.

- This work is fiction. It's intended as light, enjoyable reading for an adult audience. Settings may be real, but the characters are imaginary.

*****

UNDERNEATH A WARM AFTERNOON SUN

"Dude, put away your scrawny legs."

"Huh? . . . Oh." Kevin turned around, smirked, and shook his head. Then he resumed watching the deer we spotted off in the distance.

He'd been massaging the back of his legs just below his ass, providing me with a view that was irritating. Maybe his hamstrings were sore, but in rubbing them he'd been lifting the back of his shorts higher than I could handle at the moment, revealing the fabric of his boxers and the near-entirety of his skinny, hairy legs.

Maybe he's just trying to annoy me, I thought.

Nah, that's paranoid.

In any event, I regretted telling him to stop. It wasn't often that I got such a good peek at his tight hamstrings. Though his legs were skinny, they were toned from running and biking. It would be amazing to touch them, feel those tough, lean muscles with my fingers.

I imagined kneeling behind him and running my hands up the back of his legs. I'd start just above the ankles, slide up the curves of his calves, then slow down once I passed the back of his knees. Inching higher, I'd lift his shorts and massage his hamstrings, my fingers touching his tight skin and all those little hairs that glinted in the sun. I'd slip my fingers up beneath his boxers too, seeing how close I could get to his hole . . .

"Need to rub one out?" Kevin joked, interrupting my fantasy.

"Ha! You wish you were that hot," I replied, thankful he couldn't hear my thoughts.

Kevin laughed. "Yeah, sure," he said sarcastically.

Then he yawned and stretched, raising his arms in the air. The motion lifted his shirt, giving me a peek at the top of his boxers, which puffed a bit over his shorts, and the smooth skin of his lower back, which had just a touch of hair right above his waist. His boxers were silky and checkered, with deep blues and purples that complemented his silver shorts and light blonde hair.

I wondered if he knew how deeply I felt or how horny he could make me. We'd been good friends since we started rooming together in university. As time passed, as we took classes together, partied together, and stayed roommates, my feelings grew into something of a monster.

I thought I did well hiding them from him, but sometimes I led a parallel life in my imagination, pretending he was with me for every walk on campus and every shower in the dorms. It didn't matter who I dated. No one could compete with him.

I tried to follow a rule never to think of him while jerking off. I got attached anyway. And fiercely jealous. He always dated women who were kind and smart and pretty, but I resented them, my feelings making me irrational.

"I dunno why I'm so tired," he said, yawning again.

"It's cuz we were in the f'ing car all day," I replied. His yawn was contagious and I yawned too.

The drive had been nearly four hours, the latter portion on narrow roads that curved around hillside farms or through patches of forest. I remember thinking about how good all those grapes looked whenever we passed a vineyard. The other crops I didn't recognize, unless we passed an orchard whose trees bore something obvious like apples.

Despite my offers, Kevin insisted on driving the whole way. Secretly I was relieved. An hour outside town was a bridge that scared the hell out of me. Half a kilometre long, it curved across a deep ravine, one lane in each direction. The guardrails, a sturdy grid of metal posts and wires, provided expansive views of thousands of trees and a churning river impossibly far below.

At first, I'd get scared as soon as I saw the shiny blue sign posted a hundred metres before it began:

THIS PROJECT PARTLY FINANCED THROUGH THE COHESION FUND OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

But now I knew every house and every hill in the few kilometres leading up to it.

Ironically, Kevin loved that bridge. He thought it'd be great for bungee jumping. Foolish in some moments, I'd heartily agree, quietly grateful that it would probably be illegal. He's nuts, I'd think.

Once we'd parked, it was a long hike to the campsite. We unpacked, set up our tent, and decided to chill. It was a surprising thirty degrees out, a lazy summer day whose bright sun could induce a long nap.

Kevin returned to where we were sitting and grabbed some pretzels out of the open bag between us.

I tried to tell if he was sad, but he didn't seem any different than usual. He'd originally planned to make this trip with his girlfriend, but she ended it about a month ago, so he invited me to come instead. I'd agreed immediately, looking forward to spending a few days alone with him despite no real desire to camp or shit in the wilderness.

"So you good Kev?" I asked, trusting he'd know what I meant.

"Yeah," he said, not exactly convincingly. But then he continued, seeming to dismiss any ambiguity. "I think I'm over it; it's not like we dated for very long."

"True," I said.

Should I say something else?

Feeling inadequate, I decided to leave it at that. What else can you say? I thought.

Reaching over, I grabbed a few waffle pretzels from the bag. I put them in my mouth one at a time, salty side down, savoring the tingling of that flavor on my tongue. I used to do the same thing with Toppas cereal growing up.

"You're lucky," Kev said suddenly.

"I am?" I replied, pausing the next pretzel's journey from hand to mouth.

"No expectation of children."

To that I nearly laughed. Kev and I frequently ranted about unruly children misbehaving in public — and blamed their parents, who obviously sucked at parenting. People glued to smartphones while little hellions ran wild.

Kev vowed that his children would never behave like that. I vowed never to have any at all.

"You'd be surprised at how many gay guys want kids," I said, "and how many parents are desperate to become grandparents."

"We're doomed," he said, rolling his eyes.

I was relieved that Kev seemed himself. He sometimes became distanced and quiet after a breakup, declining to discuss it but seeming preoccupied nonetheless. I never knew how to respond or if our usual joking around was appropriate. I wanted to tell him that he was perfect and that anyone who rejected him was a fool beyond measure.

Kev had many assets besides his appearance, but that aspect of him was endlessly distracting. He had long, fluffy blond hair that swept across his forehead and sometimes covered his eyes. He was thin and athletic, but never wore skinny jeans, which sucked, because he would definitely look good in them. He'd deny it, but I'd always suspected he was a conscientious dresser, looking a bit sharper than the other guys at university.

I was jealous of his looks. I thought I'd gotten decently hot through running and lifting, but Kev was hot and cute. He had light brown eyes and a sexy smile that seemed to melt everyone. Yet he hated the attention. Or that was the impression he gave. At social events he would veer between easy conversation and silent observation.

But the worst part was that he was smart too. It's easy to dismiss good looks if someone's an idiot.

I thought about our conversation in the car. Randomly, he told me he didn't believe in free will.

"Our brains are shaped by every decision we've made," he'd said. "And that means all our past experiences determine what decisions we make in the future. We might think we're going back and forth over something, but I bet the decision would be predictable based on the accumulation of previous choices and experiences."

I wasn't convinced. Was he saying that past events set us on a course that we can't change? But so many things affect decisions, I thought. Like being hungry.

"Would you ever punch me in the face for no reason?" he asked.

"No," I said.

"Then do you really have that choice? You think you do, but if you'd never actually do it, then is it really a choice?"

He had a point there, I had to admit. But I didn't like the idea. I held it as a point of pride that I tried to act ethically, tried to think about how my actions affected other people. But if my choices are increasingly predetermined as I move through life, what does that mean?

"So are criminals not responsible for their behavior?" I asked. "Can we predict who is likely to commit crimes based on the choices they made early in life?"

"Hmm," Kev said, "I'll have to think about that one."

Then he was quiet for the next half hour. And when he started talking again, it was about a song he heard and how it sounded just like some other song . . .

Nearby squawking interrupted my memory. Kev and I looked for the noisy bird, but it was hidden somewhere in the branches. The noise awakened me to the sounds of other birds chirping too. In the distance I could hear a woodpecker, or something like a woodpecker, tapping away every few minutes.

The clearing Kev had chosen for camping was beautiful — a small grassy field bordering a clear blue pond deep in the forest. He told me it was his favorite spot, that he camped here with friends every summer back in high school.

The site was intimate: the field just large enough for a campsite and perhaps some volleyball, the pond probably the size of the university pool, but shaped like an oval. We were surrounded on all sides by thick forest, its canopy forming a roof along the edges of the field and pond.

I bet the stars will be bright way out here. I'd recently read that there's a lot you can see with the naked eye, including the Andromeda galaxy. But it had to be dark and you had to know where to look.

And I had no idea. Maybe Kev will know.

"I need to wake up," Kev said, yawning again.

"Well you know what's good for that!"

Kev groaned. "Yeah. I guess I need one. It's been a couple days."

"I did maybe twelve yesterday," I said, "but it was freaking hot out."

"Yeah," he said. Then, "the trails here are great. And there's a sweet waterfall that's always good for cooling off."

"Ok!"

Reaching for my bag, I found my black running shorts. As Kev rummaged through his stuff, I quickly changed into them. They had an inner lining, but I wasn't about to abandon my boxer briefs. Even a semi-erection would be way too obvious in those shorts alone. The material was light and airy, perfect for running.

I tugged up my boxer briefs a tad, as the fabric at the bottom was sticking out beyond the end of my shorts. Then I inched the shorts down. My underwear was still slightly visible at the bottom, but it looked less silly than before.

After a moment, Kev found what he'd been looking for — a large bottle of sunscreen — and took off his t-shirt. His smooth, tight torso seemed to glow in the sunlight. For a skinny dude, he was impressively muscular. There was always a strong curve to his biceps, a tightness to his six-pack.

Don't think about this now! I told myself.

"Can I get some of that?" I asked, taking off my shirt. The sunlight seemed unusually intense. We were at a higher elevation, but I couldn't imagine that would make much difference.

Kev squirted a large blob of sunscreen onto his right hand then handed me the bottle.

I sneaked some glances at Kev while rubbing the cool goo onto my chest, abs, arms, and legs. He was bent over, rubbing some on his calves. His soft blonde hair fell over his face, covering his eyes and shimmering under the sun. The necklace he wore, a string of small dark stones, seemed even darker by comparison.

"Yo, need a favor," he said after he stood back up.

"Huh?" I looked back at him, pretending to be thinking about something other than his sexy body.

"My back," he said. "Rather not get roasted."

"Oh," I said. Picking up the bottle, I signaled for him to turn around.

I poured some onto my palm. Then, after putting the bottle down, I rubbed my hands together, trying to ignore the tingly feeling of excitement that had risen in my chest.

I started just below his shoulders, feeling guilty over the thought of wanting to savor this moment forever, and then moved my hands down his back, rubbing in the sunscreen. His skin felt nearly as tight as it looked. I stopped well shy of his waist, though it would have been nice to continue downward, my fingertips running along his skin at the top of his boxers . . .

But as soon as it began it was over.

"Ok," I said, handing him the bottle.

"Thanks," he said. Then, staring into my eyes suddenly, joked, "Was that good for you?"

"Not as good as it was for you," I retorted, giving him a playful shrug. He just smirked and shook his head.

We typically joked around this way, prompted in part by others who accused us of being flirty with each other. It simultaneously warmed my heart and deepened my disappointment.

"You gonna do my back?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said. I closed my eyes as he ran his hands up and down my back. As I expected, he was quick about it. But thankfully the sunscreen was merely cool and not cold like it sometimes felt coming out of the bottle.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, stretching my arms up over my head, then bending side to side in an attempt to loosen up.

Kev turned around, tugged his shorts and boxers down a tad, then walked toward an opening in the trees at the edge of the clearing. It was different than the trail we'd used to come. I followed, trying to shake the memory of his skin from my thoughts.

Once he reached the trail, Kev took off running, a bit quicker than I expected. Great, I thought sarcastically, still a bit drowsy from the long ride. I forced myself to forge ahead, catching up after a few seconds.

The forest was beautiful. The warm glow of the sun's rays trickled down through the canopy, creating a stunning contrast of light and shadows. Dozens of different shades of green filled our sights, along with the rare bright colors of a few flowering plants. The brush was thick, nearly covering the forest floor, but the dirt trail was pretty clear.

Despite the thickness of the canopy, it was hot. It even smelled hot, like one might imagine in a humid tropical forest. Within minutes I could feel the sweat on my skin, and I noticed that Kev's shoulders and back were covered in moisture. I spent most of the time looking at the ground, watching for rocks, roots, and other hazards, but I didn't fail to notice his sexy, bulging calves, or his tight ass beneath his shorts.

The trail meandered through the forest, the elevation constantly changing. We jumped over the occasional boulder or fallen tree. I spotted a few red squirrels and a rabbit scurry away, likely frightened by the two shirtless sweaty boys running through the forest.

I wondered what other creatures inhabited the area. I'd never been out this far in the wilderness. Are there bears out here? I shuddered at the thought of waking up to find one in our tent.

After nearly an hour of hearing little but panting, footsteps, and snapping twigs, I began to hear something else — rushing water, maybe. The sound grew louder. Must be the waterfall.

Sure enough, it was. Kev slowed down as the trail turned, and suddenly we were jogging along the edge of a stream, the path narrow and grassy. Ahead was a tall rocky cliff, over which thousands of litres of cool water poured down from above. It was larger than I'd imagined, the cascade white and roaring.

Before I could suggest a shower, Kev began climbing up the cliff, just to the left of the waterfall, tugging on branches and tree roots to propel himself upward. Curious to see what he had in mind, I followed. A misty spray of water cooled us as we ascended. It felt good.

Glancing upward, I realized I could enjoy a view that competed with the surroundings — Kev's legs. From this angle I could peer up his shorts and see all his muscles working in harmony. His calves and hamstrings flexed as he climbed.

I risked more glances as I followed, hoping to see how far up I could look. Unfortunately it was dark up in there, and his boxers clung to his skin. I noticed the hairs on his legs and beads of sweat or water rolling down his skin.

Kev reached the top, then lent a hand so I could more easily pull myself up over the edge. There was a patch of dirt and grass, then more thick forest beyond.

I stood up next to Kev, my legs aching slightly. I felt a light breeze, a gentle flow of warm air that hadn't been present earlier. Then I turned around to take in the view.

The scene was spectacular: Forest canopy stretching out in every direction, mountains in the distance, and a wide rainbow arcing through the billowing mist. With evening approaching, the sunlight had a warm, golden hue that lit the treetops and seemed to make everything glow.

Directly below us, big splashes of water glinted in the sun, pounding large rocks and collecting in a swirling pool at the base of the waterfall. I watched as a narrow stream channeled the flow away, disappearing into the forest. Its shallow currents were enlivened by smooth rocks underneath, creating a crosshatch on the surface. An abundance of vegetation carpeted both banks, seeming to almost tumble over into the water.

I wished I'd brought my phone along. Would make a great picture!

"Wow," I said. It was much more impressive than I would have imagined.

"Yeah, it's great here," Kev replied.

For a long moment we stood there, enjoying the view. I noticed a few fluffy white clouds, but otherwise the sky was a bright, soothing blue. Dark birds with large wingspans soared high above. The roar of the waterfall drowned out their cries.

"Just about two k' to go; you up for a push?"

Kev bounced anxiously on the balls of his feet.

"Yeah," I said, "let's go."

Kev nodded then took off along the trail — noticeably faster this time. The stunning scene still occupying my thoughts, I launched myself into the task of catching up, again aware of the oppressive heat. It occurred to me that we hadn't bothered to dance under the cascade to cool ourselves. Maybe that was something he'd planned to do with her, I thought sadly.

Soon the sound of the waterfall faded, replaced again by footsteps and breathing. Kev sped up as we approached an incline. I followed, forcing myself forward, wincing at the strain in my calves. Staring at his legs for motivation, I caught up to Kev and followed closely, which probably encouraged him to run even faster. I struggled to keep up as he began sprinting, the ground flying by in patches of brown and green and yellow, the path a blur.

I tried to distract myself as we continued sprinting, thinking of things other than the pain in my chest, then almost smashed right into Kev so quickly did he seem to stop. He knew where the path ended, but I hadn't seen the opening up ahead.

We walked slowly around the clearing at our camp site, winded and dripping. I felt ready to burn up and unable to speak. Kev looked slightly ill, his face a bit pale and his chest heaving.

I might need to lie down,, I thought, but forced myself to continue walking for another moment.

We were both soaked in sweat, a few streaks of white crossing our skin where the sunscreen hadn't absorbed completely. I tried not to focus on how sexy Kev looked, wet skin glimmering in the sunlight, soft hair all roughed up, and his shorts uneven, revealing a couple of inches of his boxers on the right side. I wished I had a picture of us both like this.