Western Skies Ch. 01

Western Skies - Chapter 1: The Semester Begins

Hey everyone! This is my first submission, and I hope y'all enjoy it. It was finally time for me to put this story to (digital) paper, adding to the many other excellent series on this site. Thank you to the authors who have gone before me, helping me learn to find my voice. This chapter starts with a fair amount of exposition, but I promise it does heat up ;) Romance >>> just sex

If this is well-received, I have a vision for a multipart series. Stay tuned! Feedback appreciated!

Notice: This story contains male/male sexual activity between consenting individuals who are over age 18. If this is not something you are looking for, leave now! Always practice safe sex (even if not depicted in this work of fiction).

—D.

©2020 Zorse_D

***

A chilly wind buffeted me as I walked out of the classroom building, the crisp fall air swirling against a pale-blue sky. Shivering, I yanked up on the collar of my jacket. Today was a stark reminder that the morning's sunny weather was only a transient gift before the coming snows. Leaves fluttered by as I continued my march down a well-worn path cutting across the school grounds. Autumn in Montana was, to me, a spectacular treat to the senses: yellow groves of aspen streaked across the surrounding mountainsides as the weather began to turn cooler, a blessed reprieve from the heat and heaviness of the summers back home in Texas.

I plodded further down the path, sidestepping a group of my fellow senior football players, who were oblivious to any obstacles in their path. One of the boys managed to look around at the last second and catch my eye, managing a brief "hey" as he walked by.

Nice to recognize me, I'm on the team too, assholes, I thought, shaking my head and continuing on. Adjusting to life at the boarding school was an ongoing process. Coming from my home just outside Dallas, the open spaces and towering peaks were at first discomforting to someone reared within the protective cocoon of rural Texas's tree-lined hills. Still, my new home for the school year was easily the most beautiful place I'd ever been. It felt invigorating to be out West; inspirational, almost. Snorting, I remembered that one of the biggest marketing factors for the pricey school was its location. I may have been a fish out of water here, but no one could deny its beautiful allure.

Back home, I had made it most of the way through my high school career on what seemed like cruise control; academics came easy to me, and I earned straight A's through junior year. But I loved to sweat, too, and always held my own as a running back on the local high school football team. I was only five-eight, but built strongly from my years working summers on my grandparents' farm, throwing hay bales and riding spirited colts. Nothing could shape a body quite like growing up doing manual labor...and it also taught me the discipline and work ethic I applied to both school and sports.

Texas may have been home, but Montana is where my dad was from. Why he decided to leave his mountain home for college down South, eventually going to law school and finding work in Dallas, I still do not know. But I was thankful he found a kindred spirit in my mom, who was raised on a farm about an hour from the city.

As an only child, life back home was all I wanted it to be. Friday nights were for football games, and Saturdays were for helping my grandpa on the farm, riding horses and fixing fence before bonfires with friends. It was who I was and I was content with it.

My mom and dad got divorced during my junior year of high school. It was hard at first, but things didn't change too much for me, other than my mom and I moving from town back to the farm. That was fine by me, especially since I didn't have to hear my parents' constant bickering anymore.

During the divorce, my dad moved home to Montana. H started work at some snobby law firm in Bozeman, catering to all the rich transplants moving to the state, or something like that.

So there I was, finishing my junior year with nary a disruption. Life can change fast, though. Sometimes it was almost too fast for my teenage brain to comprehend. Last days of school are usually full of relief at the end of homework and excitement for the summer to come. Usually.

Dad had flown back out to meet me that day, which was a big surprise. Then he destroyed all I had ever known, telling me I was going to Montana at the end of the summer. Mom had an opportunity to go down to Australia to work with some famous horse trainer, and he was enrolling me at some elite destination school to finish out my high school career "with a bang," as he described it. To me, it wasn't a bang as much as a gut-punch.

He went on and on about the benefits of the move: meeting new well-connected people my own age, "broadening my life experience," and seeing more of the beautiful state where he had grown up. Since my dad was traveling more than half the time for work, it made perfect sense for me to go to a boarding school, even though he'd be in Bozeman "to see me here and there." A friend of my dad was on the school board and had gotten me a partial academic scholarship, and the rest of the tuition we could afford, thanks to his new job. It was all arranged.

Deep down, it sounded like a great opportunity for him to cast me aside while simultaneously patting himself on the back.

My summer was a blur of misery at losing my entire life, full of rage at having had everything pulled out from underneath me and replaced at a moment's notice without my consent. But I was going to Montana. Despite my wide-eyed worry at the unknown future before me, a glimmer of hope found root inside my mind — a budding excitement for future adventures in a new place.

Goodbyes were said and bags were packed. Then I was gone.

My heart was beating out a manic tempo the day I moved into my new dorm and dove head first into my new life. I started a week early, jumping into football summer camp before classes. Throwing myself into the physical activity kept me sane that week. It brought some level of routine and familiarity to my life, letting me meet fellow athletes and discover Bozeman without the pressure of schoolwork.

I wasn't exactly the most popular kid, being new and kind of quiet, with below-average family wealth and no famous parents. It suited me fine, though, and I made friends fast enough in the dorm and on the football team. In a 400-student school I was a shoe-in on varsity, but most of the star athletes were still excluding me outside of when we had to run plays together during practice. I expected the cool treatment would continue until I proved myself during our games.

Today was finally Friday, the end of my first week of classes. The uncertainty of the unknown was finally gone; it was just another high school, but it was also my entire life inside and outside of the classroom. I'd settled into a routine, calming down and realizing that things would be okay. Being the new kid at the school wasn't really that big of a deal.

I shook myself out of my introspective reverie as I climbed up the stairs to the dorm and out of the brisk wind. It was dinnertime and most of my teammates had headed out or to the cafeteria after practice. Since my dad was in town for the first time since the semester began, he'd asked that I meet him for dinner. I was on my way back to my room, in a rush to change clothes and head back out. My roommate, Evan, was already gone somewhere, probably the cafeteria, so I threw on jeans and a button up without any distractions before rushing back out. I made my way towards the main road into the school, watching as as a group of star players meandered slowly back from the direction of the cafeteria. Expecting the usual treatment, I continued on before hearing, "Hey! Kaden, where you off to?"

Mildly surprised, I turned around and saw it was Luke who'd spoken and was now walking towards me, away from his friends. My heart skipped a beat. Everyone knew Luke. He was a wide receiver on the football team and one of the most popular kids at the school. At about six feet tall, lean, and with bright gray eyes, he was undoubtedly blessed with good looks. As I settled into school and watched my fellow students, it was easy to see how Luke's presence and looks made it effortless for him to command the attention of everyone around him. It was the natural order of things in high school, even an elite, private one.

And now, his attention was focused on me. He peered inquisitively through a lock of the wavy, light brown hair that hung down to the middle of his neck. My eyes unconsciously wandered over his athletic frame. Even covered in a light jacket, I could see his biceps pressed against the thin fabric. I finally chanced a look at his face, where a curious, almost mischievous grin was fixed on me. Luke looked almost amused.

It took a moment for me to find my voice. "Hey man, just running out to meet my dad for dinner, he's in town for my birthday. What are y'all up to?" I was puzzled by his sudden attention after two weeks of no more than occasional interaction on the practice field or around the school grounds.

"Happy birthday, man! We were just going up to hang out in my room." His voice was a soft tenor, easy on the ears. It got softer still as he said, "Will got some whiskey from his brother. It'll be a good time. You should come by when you get back. Room 315."

I was quietly elated at the inclusion, but kept my voice level when I replied. "Yeah dude, sounds great. I'll swing by for sure. Thanks!" He graced me with another of his smiles, and hesitated before turning away, his gaze briefly touching mine with an almost uncomfortable intensity. My stomach did a strange somersault as I turned away. He had the look of a caged animal, both fearful and raging and longing with desire to escape. Whatever it was, it was confusing and gave me an unfamiliar pang of anxiety as I continued towards the road.

To this day, I still don't know what inspired me to look over my shoulder as I kept walking. The star jocks were back to walking and talking, except for one. Luke had his head turned around over his shoulder. Staring at me. It might have been a trick of the fading light, but I swore he blushed before quickly turning his head and hurrying off. My already rising anxiety reached a pounding crescendo inside me as I walked over to my dad's car.

What the actual fuck was the only coherent thought I could assemble. As I slipped into the passenger seat and made small talk with my dad, the encounter hung heavy on my mind, confusion and excitement battling for control of my emotions.

***

"You seem distracted. I know this is all new and you're probably still angry at me for it, but I promise it'll be good for you. You might even enjoy it. That aside... you should know that the cow on your plate is already dead. You don't need to keep stabbing it."

I snapped my attention back to my father. With a laugh, I realized I'd been mindlessly prodding the steak in front of me.

"No...I'm over that, dad. And things are going...fine, I guess. I actually do like it here."

He shifted his weight and fixed me with one of the pointed looks that I'd come to expect before a probing question. "Good to hear, but you look like you've seen a ghost. How's football and classes? Made any friends?"

Friends. I seemed to have made a new one tonight, unexpectedly. Anticipation was bubbling inside me, eager as I was to get through dinner and rush back to Luke's room. The image of him blushing and looking away from me caused my stomach to do another cartwheel. What's going on with me? I thought, not daring to think any deeper about my turbulent feelings.

"Yeah, I made varsity no problem. Pretty decent team for a small school like this. The homecoming game is next Friday. You should come watch. And yeah, classes are fine... a lot of homework but I guess I should expect that at a place like this."

My dad smiled. "Congrats on varsity. I'll try to make the game; my flight gets in mid afternoon but that should be plenty of time for me to make it. How about the making friends part of my question?"

"No problems there. I actually have plans to go hang out with some guys when I get back tonight. And tomorrow, too. Everything's going great, dad."

***

The drive back to campus and the following walk back to the dorm seemed to take hours. I headed first to my room, dumping my leftovers in the mini fridge I shared with my roommate, Evan. He was back, phone in hand and halfway between his pajamas and normal clothes.

"What's wrong?" I asked him with a questioning glance. He was awfully pale and looked pissed off.

Evan and I had become quick friends since our first day at the school. The powers that be in the administration had the kindness to room me with someone who'd come to the school only last year. He could definitely relate to showing up at a school full of strangers — the new kid in the middle of a sea of students who already knew one another. Our common experience pushed us together, and we quickly became friends. Evan played soccer and was one of the funniest kids I'd ever met. His dad was a tech executive in California, and had decided to put his son at the school out of convenience — he had bought a vacation home twenty minutes north of town, and would pick Evan up whenever he jetted in for the weekend.

Usually laughing and laid back, it was odd to see him looking upset.

He glanced over at me. "Hey dude. I started feeling sick during practice and just wanted to call it an early night..but a bunch of guys wanted to go into town and see that new movie. So here I am. Going out. You should come, I think some of the football guys are coming along, too."

"What movie?" I replied, nonchalant. "I got invited to go hang out with Luke and some of his friends up on the third floor."

Evan raised his eyebrows and shrugged. "Can't remember what movie, must not be anything special. Since when are you friends with Luke?"

I gave him a look. "Since he bumped into me on my way out to dinner and asked me to come hang out. Thought it'd be nice to branch out a bit, anyway."

With a snicker, Evan continued changing out of his pajamas and back into normal clothes. "His sister's really hot. You should check her out on the Instagram."

Evan tended to follow his cock like a compass, which was unfortunate for him now that he was at a school that where boys outnumbered girls three to two. On the bright side, at least many of the girls who did attend were smart and good-looking. And incredibly picky.

Evan was counting on his charm to cut through the testosterone-fueled crowd clamoring for female attention, but he had been disappointed so far.

"Creeper," I quipped, "Now I know what you're looking at whenever you take a 20-minute shower."

We both laughed loudly as we ambled out of the room together, turning left and heading down the hall.

"Alright dude," Evan said with an evident lack of enthusiasm, stopping next to the flight of stairs that jutted up from the entryway. "We still good to go to the lake tomorrow? Supposed to be sunny for most of the day. Gotta celebrate your birthday the right way and I told my dad we were gonna take the boat out."

"Wouldn't miss it. Have fun tonight, I'll catch you later back at the room."

With an affirmative grunt, he turned and headed towards the door as I began climbing up to the third floor. With each step up, my nerves slowly returned, dancing around the outskirts of my brain.

By the time I got to Luke's door, I was pissed off at myself for feeling like I did. I can handle game day pressure or a final exam. Why am I so nervous about hanging out with some new guys?

Of course, Luke represented something more than I had ever dealt with before. Everyone here was wealthy and well connected, but he was more than that. Him and his friends. Their parents were CEOs and national politicians. I would definitely be out of my comfort zone here.

After a moment of hesitation, I sighed and knocked. There was a muffled thump and the door cracked open. After a fleeting moment, it opened farther, and I stepped in.

My eyes took in the room quickly. It was pretty well appointed for a dorm room, but at this school, it didn't surprise me...the couch was actually leather, and a flat screen TV sat on a set of rustic-looking cabinets. It gave me a pang of homesickness for a brief moment, since it looked so much like my room back at my grandparent's farm. I swallowed the feeling and then looked at the guy who'd invited me over. My brown eyes flicked up into Luke's grays as I sat down on the couch. He was very much alone, wearing a pair of black Nike shorts and one of the ash-colored football team t-shirts, cutoff at the shoulders and opening down his sides, almost to the hem. A light scent of sweat, wood, and what I assumed was the dark, clean scent of cologne hung lazily in the air. My breathing instantly grew deeper, intoxicated by the smell.

"Hey dude, glad you made it." Preempting my question on where everyone was, he raised a hand and counted off to me. "The guys were here and gone. Will just skipped out to go meet his brother. Tristan's family came to town. And Logan said something about a bunch of guys going to a movie." He laughed. "So you're looking at the party. How was dinner with your dad?"

I laughed and forced myself to break my gaze from his face, pleasantly surprised that he seemed so easygoing. "Sounds about right. Dinner was great, we went to that steakhouse in the middle of town. It was pretty good too. Nice to see my dad again." My eyes wandered around Luke's room again, ranging from where he sat on the bed across from me to the half-empty bottle of bourbon on the bedside table, and finally to a family photo by his bed. In it Luke stood between what must have been an older brother and younger sister. All were incredibly good looking, dazzling the photographer with their white smiles and shining eyes. Luke's sister shared the same shade of his gray eyes, while his brother had the same azure blues of their father, a stern-looking man with a short-cropped brown beard. Their mother wore a softer expression, her light gray eyes set against olive-colored skin.

All were dressed for horseback riding. His mom and dad stood holding onto the lead ropes of two beautiful quarter horses. In all, it was an impressive image exuding class, wealth, and power. At least in my mind.

Vaguely aware that my breath had caught, I looked back to Luke's face. He seemed to radiate excitement as he tracked my gaze back from the photo. "My family," he said, passing a glass of whiskey and sitting down next to me on the couch. "I was born in D.C. but raised in Montana. My dad did pretty well in business before getting elected to Congress. We have a ranch about an hour from here where I spend most of my summers...it's my favorite place on earth. Life seems a lot less stressful when you're in the saddle of a horse, with nothing around you but cows, elk, and wolves." He laughed quietly before adding, "Rumor has it you know a thing or two about horses, too."

I knew his dad was some big politician, but I had no idea he and I shared a passion for thousand-pound eating & shitting machines. Or that he knew such a random detail about me. My vivid imagination drifted to the cow horse prospects my grandparents raised back home, with their long pedigrees. My brain was firing and looping faster than I could keep up with. What the hell was with me tonight?

I chuckled, hoping he didn't notice my small slip in concentration. "Yeah, I'm from Texas. I grew up riding and was hoping to figure out a way to keep it up out here. It is Montana, after all. I had no idea you were into that too."