Three Finger Cove: Matthew ~ Book Five

Chapter Thirteen

The boys all headed to their bathroom to take their showers.

"Hey, we all can't shower in here at the same time," said Chase, when all eight lads went into the boys' bathroom and the boy saw there were only four shower heads.

"Come with me," spoke up Matthew. "We'll go use the showers in the other bathroom and let them fight over who gets which shower."

That said, Matthew and Chase headed across the hallway and entered the girls' bathroom. As both boys were taking off their clothes, Kyle came into the room.

"Those guys can share," complained Kyle, as he entered the bathroom. "I decided to come over here and shower with you guys. Matthew and I usually share one of the showers, so we can do that and you can have your own shower Chase, or we can mix that up. But there are two showers and a tub shower, so we can all have our own place to shower if we want."

Chase wasn't sure what he wanted to do. He showered sometimes with his brother Ryder, but he'd never showered with any other boy before. He liked Matthew and thought he could be a good friend. So, the young guest decided he'd shower with Matthew and let Kyle use the other one.

The three boys got into their showers and began to wash off last nights 'bed grime'. As Kyle was washing up he could hear the other two boys laughing and carrying on as if they were best friends. The twin got a little envious of Chase having a good time with HIS best friend. But Kyle knew the boy would be going home tomorrow, so he shouldn't let a little bit of jealousy ruin the weekend for Chase and Matthew.

The older lads played some grab ass while they showered. Kevin had showered with his dad on many occasions, but never knew how much fun it could be showering with his older 'brothers' and their friends. With the new lads in the mix, the conversation turned to sexual innuendo and at least Ryder got hard and Charles was half-way there.

Kevin had a difficult time keeping his boy toy from growing, but eventually, it did from all the innuendo from the dirty jokes and talk. The older twin was surprised that none of the older boys said a thing about his flagpole, but he figured they were 'bonding' as friends and 'brothers' and this was something that stayed with them

"Hey, look ... Kevin has a good size boner for what ... being 11?" teased Ryder.

Kevin smiled at being singled out as having a nice size boy toy.

"Do you ever see any of your friends, you know, packing a blue veiner?" asked Ryder, with some mischief in his voice.

"Sure, we've seen most of our friends throwing a bone when we skinny dip," replied Charles.

"You mean you guys have skinny dipped ... out in the lake or down in the pool?" quickly asked Ryder.

"Mr. Ken allows you to ... to skinny dip?" asked Jayden.

"Yes, he does but ... he doesn't allow us to do that if any adults are there, or much older teenagers. And we've only ever skinny dipped while using the indoor pool. The lake makes us too exposed to want to skinny dip out there," answered Robert.

"Do you ... do you think that we could maybe skinny dip while, you know, while we're here? I know I've never done it and I don't think my brothers have either. I think it would be fun," said Ryder.

"Let's see. I wonder what time it is," said Robert. "We might be able to do that before the rest of the guys show up. Quick, let's all get dried off real quick and slip on some shorts. I'll go down and talk to my dad to see if we can swim before the guys show up," finished Robert.

The five lads all dried off as quickly as they could. Robert just left wet as he was and put on some shorts and headed down the stairs wet hair and all. The other boys walked out into the hallway just as the three younger lads walked out.

"Hey, Chase, Robert's going to ask Mr. Ken if we can skinny dip," proudly exclaimed Ryder.

The three younger lads all got surprised looks on their faces. Matthew was the most surprised. He'd never heard they skinny-dipped at The Cove, and he wasn't too sure if he wanted to do that.

"Dad, dad," called out Robert, as he walked into the Study.

"Dad ... can we go swimming before the guys show up?" quickly asked the man's new son.

"What brought this on, son? Isn't it a bit late to swim? You'll only get to swim for about 41 minutes before your friend's all show up for their sleepover. Will you have enough time to get out of the water, dried, out to the ramps, and up to the Main Gate to meet up with all you and your 'brothers' friends who are coming over?" asked Mr. Ken.

"Well, Jay, Ryder and Chase ... they've never skinny ..." started Robert, but abruptly stopped when he realized he said more than he should have.

"Ohh, so that's the reason why you guys want to go swimming," laughed the teen's dad.

"Well, we thought it would be fun too, you know, show them how fun it is," replied Robert.

"Son, I think it's getting too late to swim and then get out and ready to meet your friends. Why don't you all get dressed and head out to the ramps and skate before your buddies all show up? Maybe you can do that with them the next time they visit. OK?" finished dad Ken.

Robert didn't want to hear that from his dad, because they haven't had the chance to skinny dip for a long time. But he knew enough not to argue with his dad, especially in front of guests. He walked out of the Study a bit dejected and wondered what the rest of the boys would say.

As he walked up the stairs to tell all the boys, Robert knew his dad was right that they wouldn't have all that much time to swim and then be ready for their friends to arrive. But he really wanted to try. He then smiled to himself that he at least tried.

"Ken, what was that all about?" asked Owen.

"Well ... ahh, the boys ... they've gotten the chance to skinny dip in the pool and ever since then, I think I allowed a monster out of the bag. It started innocently enough with Robert and his four or five best friends when Robert first arrived. Then ... then it continued when Charles arrived.

"I'm not too sure if the twins have joined in the fun, yet, but they've been here long enough that they probably have. Matthew, on the other hand, has only been here a week and none of them have swum in the last week, so he probably hasn't," explained Mr. Ken.

"Have they talked you into joining them?" asked a chuckling Nathan. "It sure sounds like a fun thing to do and being indoors sure makes it safe, I'd say. I wish I had the chance to do that while I was growing up!"

"Robert asked me, in the beginning, to swim with them, but I told him that it wasn't appropriate that adults and young boys should do that together. Especially, when the man isn't married and not the boy's parent. When I learned Robert and his friends had done that, I told them I wasn't mad and that I considered what they were doing was more like a bonding thing between friends, because I'd done that when I was growing up.

"After they'd been caught a few times by me, I installed a warning system to tell them someone is coming to the pool. The individual who is going down to the pool is supposed to ring the bell first before going down there. That gives the boys a few seconds to either get in the water or put their suits on before the adult walks in," explained Mr. Ken.

"I've warned the lads to tell their friends that if word gets out that I allow them to skinny dip people would get the wrong idea and cause trouble not only for me, but the boys would probably be sent away to another foster home. That is something ... that is something that neither Robert nor Charles wants because they've been in some terrible foster homes before coming to The Cove," answered Mr. Ken.

"Have any adults ever skinny dipped with the boys that you know of?" asked Nathan.

"No, they haven't and the lads know that I will NOT ... allow that to happen. Robert and Charles may have swum with Ryan, my Beach Master at the time, but he was still in high school. But when the teen graduated, I told him he was now an adult and he could no longer skinny dip with his 'brothers'," replied Mr. Ken.

"Brothers? Who were his brothers?" asked Owen.

"Well, none of the boys are actually related to one another, per se, well, except Kevin and Kyle. But when Collin lived with me, he called me his Big Bro and Ryan did, as well, and I called them my 'little bros'. As time went along, the two older teens called Robert their 'brother' and continued to do so when Charles arrived. Those two boys then decided that any boy who lives here are their 'brothers', too," revealed Mr. Ken.

Upstairs, the boys weren't happy with Mr. Ken's decision to squelch their skinny-dipping. Reluctantly, they all dressed and headed down to the ramps. Chief followed along knowing there were eight boys there who should be playing with her.

The boys passed the Study, and the men knew who it was as the group of lads were not very quiet. The men all laughed at the noise the boys made as they passed by. Owen and Nathan took that time to once again, thank Mr. Ken for inviting them to their 5-Star mini-vacation.

The four men decided to change into some comfortable clothes and meet out in the Kitchen Nook.

"I still can't believe these ramps," offered Jayden. "How long did you say they were out here?"

"They've been out here since early spring," replied Robert, explaining he was there helping build them when they were installed.

"Let's hurry up and get on them before all your friends get here," replied Jayden.

The three guests quickly put their skateboards down on the half-pipe and began to skate. Robert and Charles watched and then asked the three younger boys to use one of the other ramps so their guests could enjoy the bigger one.

Kyle and Matthew went to the quarter pipe while Kevin went to the launch ramp, so they could practice their moves. As Kyle was skating up and down the quarter pipe, Robert yelled over to him to remember not to be too aggressive, as he didn't want that smelly cast back on. Upon hearing Robert say something about the cast the three guests wanted to know when Kyle finally got it off.

While the three guests tried out the ramps, the adults all met in the Kitchen Nook. Since he didn't get a chance to give Owen and Nathan the full tour around The Cove last night, he wanted to take that time to begin what he called his quarter tour and show them the things they missed last night

They began there in the Nook and Mr. Ken showed his weekend guests the Butler's Pantry and then he took them out to the four-car garage. There the men saw, besides Mr. Ken's vehicles, including the new 12-seat Mercedes Sprinter Passenger Van, an industrial icemaker. They couldn't believe the man would have such a huge almost ceiling height icemaker, but there it stood. The men were in awe.

Mr. Ken opened one of the garage doors to let the men see the ramps again and watch their lads skate some. "Hey, Robert ... can you and Charles come over here for a few minutes, please?" called out Mr. Ken.

Robert and Charles quickly went over to the open garage door. The other Cover lads, seeing the garage door open and their 'dad' and Mr. Wayne and their two guests standing there they stopped skating and went over to see what was happening.

"Boys, with so many of your friends being here today, and spending the night, I'll ask you to get the coolers filled with sodas and cover them with ice. That way you'll have cold beverages ready for when you cook the burgers and dogs later. Can you do that for your friends?" asked Mr. Ken.

The Cover lads quickly got all of the coolers and filled those three-quarters of the way up with sodas. The small group then covered the cans with as much ice as they could. While the boys were busy doing that, Owen and Nathan walked over to the ramps to watch their sons.

"Dad, it would be so great if we had some ramps like these," teased Ryder, with a grin on his face.

"Yes, son, it would be nice, but where would we put them? We don't have all this space like Mr. Ken has. Plus, you know what the financial situation is right now. Maybe when Owen gets his feet above water some more than maybe ... then maybe we can all sit down ... and figure out what our priorities are," answered Nathan.

Mr. Ken heard the simple conversation and wondered how bad their finances were. The owner of The Cove knew from when they met a few weeks ago, that the two men had just come off some bad divorces and money was tight. He also knew Owen and his sons moved in with Nathan and Ryder and hadn't found a job just yet. He was happy that the man was now working, so he decided not to butt his nose into their situation.

Mr. Ken looked over to the open field that Robert and Eric were supposed to be taking care of. He noticed it didn't look like it had been cut or trimmed for a number of weeks and with the Holidays coming up it needed to be done now and again just before the Christmas parties.

"Robert, Eric ... can I talk to you two please?" called out Mr. Ken.

"Dad, what do you want?" asked Robert with a smile.

"Guys, look over at the field. Can I ask you two when was the last time you cut and trimmed the field?" chuckled Mr. Ken.

Robert and Eric looked at one another knowing they hadn't cut is since they did it that first time when Todd showed them how to do it. Robert hung his head as he told his dad they hadn't done it since that first time.

"Boys ... you both wanted a job ... and Chris and I gave one to you. You were supposed to cut it as needed and I think what you see out there is it needs some looking after. Now, we have guests this weekend and a large sleepover set thru tomorrow. What I want to see is that field cut before we leave for Collin's on Wednesday morning."

"And ... I also want the field cut before the Christmas parties. You're being paid to do a job and your employer is giving you some directions. If you do not want to do it, then ... then let me or Chris know and we'll find someone else to take over the job," announced Mr. Ken.

"Dad, do you mean it that ... that you would find someone else to do our job?" asked a surprised Robert.

"Yes, son, I mean it. You two practically begged me for a job and now that you have it you are failing to do it. What would you want me to do? Overlook the fact that you two haven't done it since that first time. Right now I am talking to you as your employer. I have hired you to perform a task, but you haven't done so. You know what I am saying?" explained the owner of The Cove.

The two teens looked at one another and then Robert said, "Yes, dad, I, we understand.

Eric saw the look in Mr. Ken's face and knew they had messed up, so he told the man he's looked up to for so many years that he understood and they would get it done on Monday. Mr. Ken told the two lads he would hold them to that pledge.

Before long the lad's friends began to arrive for the huge sleepover. Robert asked all of his 'brothers', and his guests, to help their friends bring down their sleeping bags, changes of clothes and, of course, their skateboards. The four adults also went up to the Main Gate, so his weekend guests could meet some of the lads' parents.

"Good afternoon, Frank ... you remember Owen and Nathan from our Halloween Trip to SeaWorld?" was how Mr. Ken greeted Frank Longger

"Well, I never really got the chance to talk to the guys, but I remember they are Jayden's, Ryder's and Chase's dads. Welcome, gentlemen! My sons said the boys who were at SeaWorld with us were spending the weekend. It is good their dads are here too," replied Frank.

While Frank was talking to the adult guests, more and more of the kids and their parents were stopping by The Cove. All the boys who knew the three young guests greeted them warmly and introduced them to their parents. There were too many parents for the boys to remember their names, but they were happy they got a chance to meet some of the parents. The moms and dads were equally happy to finally meet the lads their sons talked about so much after returning from the Howl-O-Scream trip.

It got quite busy at the Main Gate as the boys were being dropped off. The lads had to get their things out of their parents' vehicles, which was the main cause of the backup. And even though the Cover lads and their guests helped carry stuff down to the house, it still took almost a half hour to finally have all of the overnight guests arrive and their things down at the house.

When the last of the things that the boys brought with them were down in the Parking Corral, Mr. Ken called his 'sons' together and asked them to get all their friends settled in the house where they would be sleeping.

Robert knew not to say anything and to just do it. He remembered what happened when the twins had their first sleepover and he didn't want to a repeat of that event.

"Guys ... hey, guys ... let me have your attention, please. ... I want my 'brothers' and I to get everyone settled where they will be sleeping tonight. That way after we swim and have our midnight snacks we can all go right to our sleeping bags. So, pick up your sleeping bags and extra clothes and follow us," spoke up the Cove's teenager.

Robert took his friends to the Theater where they usually slept when they stayed over. Charles took his friends to beneath the stairs that led down to the Great Room. The twins had their friends set out their sleeping bags in front of and around the Rumford fireplace. Matthew had no idea where he was supposed to show his friends where they would be sleeping.

When Robert came out from the Theater, he saw Matthew and his four friends, and Chief, just standing around, looking lost. It was then the teen realized he didn't show his youngest 'brother' where he and his friends would be sleeping, so he went over to them.

"Matthew, I'm sorry, I should have told you where you and your friends will be sleeping. You'll all be right over here on this wall," said Robert, as he showed the five, ten-year-olds where they could set up.

"Listen, on the other side of this wall is the pool area. From here you can see Charles and his friends are just over there, under the stairs, about ten to twelve feet away. Over there by the huge fireplace, Kevin and Kyle have their friends."

"So, you see you aren't too far away from everyone else if you need to find someone during the night. Over there, under the MRS Room, are the Party Restrooms, so if you need to use the facilities you can use those," explained The Cover's teenager.

"What's the ... the Misses Room?" asked Chase.

Robert told the guest that it was the Meeting, Reading and Sitting area just off the Foyer and they called it the MRS Room, not the Misses Room because of its initials. Matthew said he didn't know that and thanked Chase for asking the question.

"Brant, Ryan, and Noah, since you don't have a swimsuit already here just place the one you brought with you on top of your bag. Chase yours and Matthew's swimsuits are probably in the dryer and I'll get it for you both when we go swimming later. That way when we get ready to swim you won't have to go looking for it. Any questions?" finished the teenager.

The five, ten-year-olds didn't know what to say or ask, so they just shrugged their shoulders. Matthew asked his older 'brother' where his sleeping bag was. Robert had to think fast. Then he remembered his dad had bought some back during the summer when they weren't sure all the kids had them.

The teen told Matthew to stay right there and he'd be right back. Five minutes later Robert presented Matthew with a sleeping bag. He told his 'brother' he'd have to get a pillow off his bed if he wanted one for the night. The five, ten-year-olds then set up their sleeping area with one next to the other.

All the boys waited for everyone to be set up before heading back outside to the ramps.

Mr. Ken took Owen and Nathan down to the Great Room and explained about the bar he had set up that had its own ice maker, beer taps, soda service nozzles and more for when he had large parties, like at Christmas time. The owner of the Cove then showed the men his wine cellar.

"How many bottles of wine are in there?" asked Owen.

"Right now there has got to be 1500, or so. But it isn't so much about the wine cellar as what is behind it. Would you all like to see? I'm not sure if Wayne has ever seen this part of The Cove, so if you'll all turn around. That way you won't know the secret of how to get into what I am about to show you," explained Mr. Ken.

As the three men turned around to face outward, Mr. Ken did the magic movement of things that opened the hidden compartment. When the men heard a click they all turned around to see that a part of the wine rack wall had opened.

"What's in there Mr. Ken?" asked Nathan.

"Come in and I'll show you. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't tell anyone about this room, though. In this room are the computer servers and equipment that gather all that the video cameras capture and save it. These computers have enough power to operate a battleship, I'd say," replied Mr. Ken.

"So, how many video cameras do you have hooked up, ten, twenty maybe?" asked Nathan.

"Nope. Right now I have 50 cameras actively operating and enough expansion hookups to add 50 more. Most of them are also thermal imaging, or infrared, and they all have a tight zoom feature along with audio capture. Here, let me show you what the boys are doing out in the Parking Corral," said the owner of The Cove.

Mr. Ken adjusted some switches and turned on a TV monitor. In a few moments, the men were watching a video feed of what the boys were doing out on the skateboard ramps. The three men couldn't believe the quality of the video feed and when Mr. Ken zoomed in on Jayden, as he used the half-pipe, Owen was flabbergasted.

"Guys ... when Mildred, my housekeeper at the time, attacked Robert last winter, Ms. Judy, the woman from CPS who was one of the chaperones for the SeaWorld Trip, as we called it, helped me review video footage from fifteen cameras. Anyway, she and I watched all the video feeds that covered the inside of the house where the two may have interacted. From those I was able to put together a CD of all the times Mildred hit and or verbally abused Robert over the month, or so, Robert had lived with me.

"Robert ... he was attacked, right here in this house?" asked an incredulous Owen.

"Yes, he was. Mildred thought she should have been put in charge of the boy while he lived here. But right from the start, she was very coy in what she did and said. I did watch her slap Robert one time and after that, it was difficult dealing with her.

"To make a long story short, the day she attacked my son, Chief heard something going wrong in the Kitchen Nook prep area and ran like a bullet to get there. When I arrived she had Mildred backed-up while she held up a very large spoon. Robert told me she had attacked and hit him with it. She said she was defending herself, but I believed Robert.

"I called my doctor friend to come over and tend to Robert's injuries. When I told him why I needed him he came as quick as he could. What I didn't know, until a few minutes after his arrival, was that he called the Sheriff's Department to report the attack on a child.

"A Sheriff's Deputy, Dan Fischer, he was also one of our chaperones, came to the house and talked to Robert. He, in turn, called the detectives and before long they arrested Mildred," explained The Cove's owner.

"But that isn't all that happened," added Wayne. "She went to court and got what's called probation before judgment, which is essentially a slap on the wrist. She then sued Mr. Ken for her job back."

Mr. Ken and Wayne then finished telling the whole story including their finding she embezzled over one hundred thousand dollars over the time she worked at The Cove. They told the two men about the trial and what eventually happened when it was all over. The two guests couldn't believe what they had just been told.

Out on the ramps, with so many kids skating it was much too crowded for the lads to have much fun. Robert did try to let the five ten year olds have more time on the ramps, but the other kids balked complaining they shouldn't be treated any better than they were.

It was then that Kevin spoke up. "The other night we talked to 'dad' Ken, you know, about getting more ramps. We asked him why he couldn't put more ramps at the bottom of the driveway. We argued there was loads of space down there and it wasn't being used and if he would consider adding some then we wouldn't be so crowded up here."

"Well, what was his answer?" asked a few of the lads at the same time.

Charles took that question. He told the group that Mr. Ken told them that with them traveling to Collin's for the Thanksgiving Holiday they wouldn't have any time to discuss more ramps let alone when they could be installed.

Robert spoke up and added that his dad asked them to hold off asking about more ramps until after the Christmas Holidays. The teen told the Covers' friends that when they came back from Collin's Mr. Ken would be very busy. The teen told the boys Mr. Ken would be working on the Christmas and New Year's Eve parties and his two local construction projects out at the lake.

Robert then told the lads that Mr. Ken was beginning a new construction project out at Four Corners. He told them his dad was going to construct apartments starting the first of the year. That was the first time any of them had heard about the new apartment buildings going up next to what Mr. Ken had already built there.

The Cove's teen further told everyone that he and Charles had already started to think which ramps they wanted to have built and how they could be installed on the slanted portion of the driveway. Hearing that news about the possibility of new ramps made all the boys very happy.

Logan looked at the time and asked if they could go swimming, since no one was getting any real skating time right then. Robert talked to his 'brothers' and they all agreed it was something everyone could enjoy at the same time, so they told their friends to put up their skateboards and then head to the locker room.

Matthew and his friends first stopped at their sleeping bags and picked up their swimsuits. Matthew and Chase reminded their friends that they swam last night, so they were going to get their swimsuits from the dryer and would meet them in the Men's Locker Room. But when they arrived there the dryer was empty, so they knew Robert probably had them.

The five ten-year-olds met in the Men's Locker Room. When they arrived some of the older lads were bare-assed naked. At least one of the ten-year-olds blushed some at seeing the older boys' dicks and balls swinging free. Robert threw Matthew and Chase their swimsuits and told them that they and his friends should take a bench along the wall and change into their bathing suits.

"Did you see how big Logan's ... ahh, his boy toys were?" whispered Brant, to the other four youngsters. "He has lots of hair, too. Much more than my brother does."

"You've seen your brother naked?" asked Noah.

"Sure, we've seen each other naked, even before the Labor Day Picnic. Haven't you ever seen your brother nude? At home, we're not so shy or embarrassed to see one another naked. We've even seen each other's boners in the morning, you know, after getting up, before we pee to make them go down."

Chase spoke up and told the lads he knew a better way to get his boners to go down. Brant and Ryan both laughed knowing exactly what he was talking about. Noah only smiled at hearing what Chase said.

Matthew, on the other hand, didn't have a clue and really didn't know what Chase was talking about. He knew about boners, but learned a lot more about them since he and Kyle had seen each other's morning stiffie, but he wasn't sure how to make it go down other than by peeing.

As the five youngsters changed, at least four of them would look over their shoulder to see what the other boys' dicks and balls looked like. Brant and Ryan would nudge each other and whisper to look at one older lad or another. Matthew did look once or twice to see what the older boys parts looked like. He smiled at seeing the older boys naked.

What the younger Cover saw was that none of the older boy's private parts looked anything like the others. He also noticed they didn't look to be the same size, or even have the same amount of hair nestled above them. This was all new to him. He'd seen Kyle's hanging parts but that was all until that morning that he saw Chase's. Sure he saw Chase's morning boner and they giggled about them and he wondered if that was all part of growing up.

"Hey, Matthew, hurry up and get that bathing suit on, will you," yelled Charles. "Your friends are waiting for you."

Matthew realized he was thinking more about what he was seeing than getting changed, so he quickly dropped his shorts and briefs and put his swimsuit on. When he turned his head, he saw his four friends were looking at him. He realized he must have shown them all he had and that made him blush knowing they all saw him naked.

The five lads walked out to the lockers, placed their clothes in a locker box, locked it and then placed the rubber band holding the locker key around their ankles. The five walked to the edge of the pool and Matthew and Chase jumped in.

"Isn't it cold?" yelled Noah to the two lads who just jumped in.

"No, Mr. Ken knew we were having guests this weekend so he turned the heater up to make the water warm. Come on and jump in, the water's warm," yelled back Matthew.

Brant looked to Ryan and the two jumped in.

Noah asked them how cold the water was, so the four boys splashed him and yelled for him to jump in. And that's what Noah did.

"Why didn't you tell me the water was warm?" said Noah, as his head came up above the water. Saying that earned him more splashing from the other four.

"Hey, four on one isn't fair," laughed the ten year old.

Some of the twins' friends heard what Noah said, so they went over to help him. They began splashing Noah's attackers and now it was fourteen on four. Charles saw what was happening so he got his friends to attack the eleven year olds, which evened the sides out. After about three minutes of intense splashing they all gave up as their arms were getting tired.

"That was fun," called out Matthew.

"Yea, but now my arms are tired," said a laughing Chase. "Let's go see what games we can play."

Matthew and his friends went over to the teenagers and asked if they would play horsey with them. The thirteen-year-olds decided that the ten-year-olds would be light enough on their shoulders, so they agreed to the game.

Robert took Matthew to be his partner. Dylan took his brother Noah. Brad took his brother Brant and Jayden took Chase as their partners. Ryan teamed up with his brother Richard. The game was on.

The boys on top of the older boys' shoulders splashed their opponents in order to blind their 'horsey', so they couldn't see whom they were fighting. Ryan sitting on Richards's shoulders was the first to fall into the water. Chase and Matthew then agreed to make a pact and attack one of the other two remaining teams.

The two remaining teams heard what Matthew and Chase were going to do, so they too formed an alliance and became their own coalition. A new horsey war was declared.

The other lads heard there was going to be two two-man teams going against one another, so they came over to watch. When the teams attacked and began trying to push or pull each other off and into the water, the remaining lads picked a team and rooted for them.

The two, two-man teams were evenly matched. One or the other horsey team would falter some, but would regain their balance and join back into the fight. The onlookers would cheer their team on as they came back into the fray. Matthew was the lighter of the riders, so that gave Robert an advantage, as he didn't tire as soon as the other teams had.

Soon the only ones left were Matthew's team against Noah's team. They each took a quick break to regroup and then all at once the two teams attacked one another. Chase and Jayden, along with Richard and Ryan joined in and cheered Matthew on, while Brad and Brant cheered Noah and Dylan on.

The horsey fight lasted another 30 seconds, or so, when Noah was finally pushed hard enough that Dylan lost his balance and his younger brother fell off his shoulders. The spectators all cheered Matthew and Robert as the winners.

After that game of well-played horsey, the large group decided to play sharks & minnows next. Unfortunately for the younger and smaller lads, they were caught first, which put them out of the game early. Like the boys did for them, they chose someone and cheered them on.

When that game was over, the lads decided to play tag, but after a few minutes of the slower swimming kids always being 'it' they stopped playing. The kids then broke up into their age groups and swam or talked.

Amongst the ten-year-olds, Chase then dared his friends to jump off the rock ledge and see how big a splash they could make. Chase being the one who challenged his friends went first. His splash was meager as he went in feet first and didn't ball up or try to make a big splash.

"That was lame," laughed Brant. "Mine will beat yours any day."

"But, at least it was fun," exclaimed Chase, who swam to the side of the pool to get out to do it again.

Brant did jump off the rock ledge but his splash wasn't any better than Chase's. Chase got to the top of the overhanging rock ledge and jumped, again. That started the other three boys to join in and jump off the ledge. They did it three or four times when the twins and their friends joined in. The boys jumped off singularly, or in pairs and one-time three lads jumped at the same time. The boys were having loads of fun.

Chuck, who is usually the first one to mention food did not disappoint. "When are we going to eat? I'm Hungry!"

"When aren't you hungry?" teased Trevor

The older teens laughed and Robert had to explain what he meant to Jayden. Robert then told everyone he was going to ask his dad if it was OK to get the grill out and bring it close to the outside pool entrance, so we can cook and not get too cold.

When Robert asked his dad about cooking the burgers and dogs and bringing the grill close to the pool entrance, Mr. Ken had to explain to his guest's what that was all about. The teen's dad did tell his son that is was OK to cook, but he and a few of the guys needed to change or else they'd get cold real fast wearing their wet swimming suits. Mr. Ken also told the teen that Momma and her friends were cooking dinner and for them to tell the boys not to eat too much.

Robert got to the pool as fast as he could and announced what his dad told him. Besides Robert, Logan, Brad, Charles, Chuck, Cooper and Mason decided to help, so they all went and changed into their street clothes.

"What's that all about?" Chase asked Matthew.

Matthew didn't have a clue, but Kyle, hearing the question, explained how the older boys cook burgers and hot dogs for everyone after they swam and were probably getting everything out to get the barbeque started.

Chase asked if they could watch and Kyle told him that the new friends usually watch, so they know what they can help with the next time. That said all five ten-year-olds along with Kyle, Sam and Terran ran into the locker room to change into their street clothes.

"We want to help, but we don't know what to do, so we want to watch so we can help the next time," announced Matthew to his older 'brother' Robert.

Robert said for the boys to hurry up so they could learn what needed to be done. Three minutes later, fifteen lads were ready to get the barbeque started. Robert broke them into four groups, with new lads assigned to watch and learn, then they headed off to do what they needed to do. The rest of the kids continued to swim, knowing they'd be eating soon.

Matthew and Chase went to the garage to help with the coolers and icing down the sodas. Charles told them that Mr. Ken had them ice down the soda earlier so they'd be cold when they drank them. Since the coolers were ready, the pre-teen had everyone help lift and place the coolers onto the wheeled work carts. They then wheeled the carts over to the elevator and took them down to the pool area.

Within ten minutes of the four groups heading off to get their assigned parts of the barbeque, they had returned. Logan, with help from Brad, had the grill all cleaned and up to temperature. As Logan cooked, the clothed lads got the folding tables out and set up the serving line.

Robert told the rest of the boys to get out of the pool and dry off. When all the lads were assembled, the Cover teen told everyone that Momma Maria and her friends were cooking dinner for them that night and they were not to overeat.

The four adults came down to the pool area just in time to have a burger and hot dog. As the lads ate, they sat around the pool edge, Mr. Ken told them to be especially careful they didn't drop anything into the pool.

The adults also got the chance to talk to the boys and find out how they were doing and what they planned for tonight. One boy asked if they could do a Dive-In Movie similar to the outdoor movie Mr. Ken showed last summer. A few of the other boys who heard that suggestion joined in trying to convince The Cove's owner to do just that.


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