Mayfield Magic

Chapter 31-The Party of Champions

 
CHAPTER 31
THE PARTY OF CHAMPIONS
 
SUNDAY, AUGUST 2
 
 
 
“Do you think maybe you could drive a little faster, Mrs. Emerson?” Mac pleaded.
 
“I’ve been driving the speed limit where I’m able to and I do not drive over it. I certainly do not need you to tell me how to drive my bus,” she shouted back at them. She knew how to make her voice carry so it could be heard in the back of a full-size school bus while she was facing forward. She had absolutely no problem being heard on the smaller bus they were riding.
 
“Sorry,” Mac said.
 
“Don’t be getting on my grandma,” Skip told everyone. “She’s the best bus driver in the world. Plus, she’s the world champion Goat flag waver.”
 
“Even if she does call you Ralphie now and then.”
 
“That’s so I know it’s really her yelling.”
 
“Mrs. Emerson, you rock!” Aiden called out. His comment met with instant applause.
 
After that, everyone was pretty quiet until the bus turned into the Carlsbad Inn unloading zone. As the players deboarded they apologized to Mrs. Emerson, with her regular bus riders to school being the most emphatic. Mac was the last to leave and stopped at the door.
 
“I really am sorry, Mrs. Emerson.”
 
“You’re forgiven, Mac. I know you’re a walker to school and not a regular bus rider or you’d have passed bus riding 101. You’re forgiven for your lack of bus etiquette and have just had your first lesson. Now, get going so you can change and come back so you can have another professional bus ride.” Mac gave her a quick salute and was off to the Inn and his room.
 
The boys quickly changed. They all put on shorts and by prior agreement their Mayfield Yard Goat practice t-shirts, and of course their baseball hats. They had agreed to wear their championship shirts the next day. They thought they’d look good posing in them at Legoland and on the flight home. But they were going to show up to the party as a team, so they would wear their practice shirts, especially since, after nine games, their uniforms were rather dirty.   
 
Lenny, Skip, and Riley changed in their room. “Good job standing up for your grandma, Skip,” Lenny told him.
 
“She means a lot to me, and nobody disses her without hearing from me. I spend as much time at her house as I do at my own.” Lenny had been impressed by Skip’s assertiveness on the bus. It was the first time he’d ever seen that side of Skip.
 
They packed their swimsuits in their gym bags. “Some fresh undies might be good too in case we get the ones we got on wet in the pool,” Lenny suggested.
 
“I almost always swim commando,” Riley said. "But it can’t hurt to have an extra pair. You never know when they might come in handy.”
 
“Who knows, maybe some of us might spend the night,” Lenny said, although he was pretty sure it wasn’t going to happen.
 
The same routine was going on in the other rooms. The subject of staying overnight came up in a couple rooms, one of them being Aiden’s. Aiden had changed quickly and was sitting on his bed trying to fall asleep. He couldn’t believe how tired he was.  He knew a thirty-minute nap would keep him going, but he wasn’t going to be able to do it now, and for sure not at the party. He decided he would just have to fight it.
 
He blacked out for a few seconds and woke up when Nolan shook him. “You are not sleeping through the party,” Nolan told him.
 
“I don’t plan to,” Aiden said as he rose from his bed. He wondered if he talked to Michael about his problem, he might get some space for a quick postgame nap.
 
The boys were changed and headed back to the bus fifteen minutes after their arrival at the Inn. Lenny and Lance were intercepted by Martha, their mother. She had done her best to stay out of the way of her sons and allow them to fully enjoy their experience without their mother looking over their shoulders. Since she would be leaving on a 9 pm flight she felt no compunctions about stopping them and saying her good-byes.
 
“Hello, my champions,” she grinned as Lenny and Lance gave her simultaneous hugs. She had given the boys a big congratulations after the awards assembly, making this meet-up more of a farewell. “I just wanted to say good-bye and I will look forward to seeing you when you get home tomorrow. Have fun at your celebration party.”
 
“Oh, we plan to.” Lenny’s eyes lit up when he answered the question.
 
Martha read her son perfectly. “Do you plan on seeing your twin friends there?” Martha had been quickly introduced to Connor and Cooper at the ballpark.
 
“You know it. Knowing twins like us is dope and we plan on having double the fun,” Lance answered.
 
“Or even quadruple the fun,” Lenny added.
 
“Anyway, you boys have lots of fun tonight and at the Lego park tomorrow.”
 
“Thanks, mom. Have a good flight home and we’ll see you tomorrow night,” Lenny said.
 
“Will we be seeing Brenda when we get home?” Lance asked, referring to their younger sister. He wasn’t quite ready to see his mom off since he and Lenny had seen so little of her over the weekend.
 
“She will be there. I think your dad will be more than happy to drop her off as early as he can, if you get my drift.”
 
“I know you don’t like it, mom, but there is a reason we call her the brat. I don’t blame dad for getting her back as quick as he can,” Lenny said.
 
“Come on boys, let’s get on the bus,” Phil commanded the twins.
 
 Martha said nothing, but her smile indicated she understood Lenny’s comment perfectly. She gave each son a hug and a wave and watched them board the bus.
 
Larry, Phil, and Paul were the adults on the bus. Eric and Kevin drove to San Diego in their rental car to go to Petco Park to watch the Padres take on the Diamondbacks. Coach Hallion and his wife Martha, who had arrived Friday night, decided to enjoy dinner at a beachside restaurant and enjoy some quiet time at the resort pool since the kids would be away for much of the evening. They also planned some exercise by enjoying a special kind of activity.
 
On the bus, Lenny and Lance sat together to discuss what they knew was on both of their minds.
 
“I wonder who paid for mom to come down here to watch our games?” Lenny asked.
 
“I don’t know, but I’d sure like to know so we can give him a big thank you,” Lance responded. “We didn’t get to see much of her, but I know she had fun watching the games, cuz she always does.”
 
“I’ll tell ya, I wouldn’t mind judging a cookie making contest between mom and Alex.”
 
“Me either, and I’m sure I’d need to eat at least a dozen cookies before I called it a tie.”
 
“Did you talk to Grant about you and me spending time with the Kendall twins?” Lenny asked his brother.
 
“Yep, and he’s cool with it. He says he hopes to spend some quality time with Alex; not for doing sex but for just making sure they will be BFF,” Lance replied. “And I’m sure you did the same with Riley.”
 
“I did. He’s cool with us too. His hope is that somebody will want to mess around with him. Because he can be pretty shy sometimes, I hope somebody realizes what a radically sexy dude my boyfriend is.”
 
“Hey, he’s not only sexy but after getting his award, he’s also a big-time celebrity. And yeah, I hope something good happens for Grant, too.”
 
“What makes you think those East Harbor dudes are going to want to mess around?”
 
“Because I could almost taste how horny some of them were,” Lance grinned.
 
“Well, we know how horny Connor and Cooper are. I guess we’ll learn more about the rest of them soon.”
 
Larry and Phil sat together at the front of the bus. Paul sat in the seat across the aisle from them. They had invited Paul to join them so he could learn what kind of men Lars and Zach were since there was a good chance they would meet again when their private rail car excursion terminated in Los Angeles later in the month.
 
“I wonder if all of these pubescent boys being together will lead to anything like Aiden’s clothing optional parties,” Phil chuckled.
 
“I don’t think anything could be anywhere close to that,” Larry responded. “But then again, it wouldn’t surprise me if our hosts were as committed to teaching their boys not to be shy about their bodies and their sexual feelings—within certain limits of course.”
 
“Oh, of course.”
 
Michael’s home was ready for the incoming Mayfield boys. Lars and Zach had supervised getting the house and yard in order for the big party. The two men were engaged. They were both eager to talk to Larry and Phil to get more information on the ups and downs of gay marriage. Lars was the legal guardian of Simon Novak and father of Lucas Meijer via a surrogate mother. He was also the adoptive father of Michael and Matthew Meijer.
 
The bus pulled up in front of the Novak house and the Goat players grabbed their gym bags and scrambled off the bus where they were met by their East Harbor hosts. The three adults remained on the bus and watched the boys exchange all manner of greetings.
 
“Remember, Rita, there’s a good chance you won’t have to pick us up,” Larry told their driver. “Talking to our hosts left us with the impression that most of the boys will be staying overnight and some others may want to
return to the Inn and maybe at various times. Our hosts will see that everyone will have rides. We’ll let you know what’s going on when we know.”
 
“Considering you’re working with the vagaries of teen and tween boys, I wouldn’t be surprised by anything that was decided,” Rita grinned. “I plan on dinner in the Carlsbad restaurant and getting some relaxing reading done poolside. And yes, this grandmother will have her phone with her ready for your call to come get the boys who want to enjoy the comforts of a luxury hotel.”
 
“And I have a feeling Phil and I will take you up on that offer.”
 
When Nolan stepped off the bus he was greeted by Christian. “Wanna join me to chat for a bit?” Christian asked.
 
“What about Aiden?” Nolan asked.
 
“I think he’s being taken care of,” Christian grinned. Nolan turned and saw Michael glom on to Aiden like a bird of prey.
 
“Acknowledged. What do you want to talk about?”
 
“Oh, baseball, the weather, food, our boyfriends.”
 
“Especially our boyfriends?”
 
“Especially that.” Christian waved at Nolan and pointed to the backyard. He jogged off to the entrance, followed by Nolan.
 
"It's great to see you Michael," Aiden said as the boys continued their long hug. Thanks for coming out to our games and rooting for us."  
 
“We adopted you as our tournament team,” Michael said. “Especially me, since I adopted you as my favorite tournament player. And the cool thing is, I adopted the second baseman of the tournament champions who was also the tournament All-Star second baseman.”
 
“Is that why you were waiting to meet me coming off the bus?” Aiden asked.
 
“That and I think you’re an awesome guy and I want to talk to you about something I KNOW we have in common.”
 
“And what do we have in common? I know, it must be awesomeness since you’re an awesome guy, too.”
 
“I want to talk to you in private about what we have in common,” Michael said.
 
“Sounds good to me, but I need to tell you something first. Lots of times after a game, especially a close, tense one like today, I need to take a short nap—like 15 minutes to a half hour. Do you think there’s a place I could take a quickie? Then I promise you’ll have all of my attention—I’ll be all yours.”
 
“Then a nap it will be. Follow me and I’ll lead you to my bedroom where you can nap on my bed. And, you know what?”
 
“What?”
 
“It’s been a long day for me, too. Since I’ve got a big bed, I think I’ll drop on the other side and join you in slumberland. Should I set the alarm?”
 
“It’s up to you. I’m really good about making it a short nap.”
 
“Sounds good. Let’s go to my room to talk and nap,” Michael said.
 
Aiden hoped the talk and nap weren’t going to come in that order but elected not to say anything. He’d let Michael lead the way.
 
On their way to the back door of the Novak home, they came across Nolan chatting with Christian on the chaise lounges by the hot tub. Michael and Aiden thought that to be a particularly interesting sight and stopped by to check in.
 
"Where are you two off to?" Christian asked.
 
"My room," Michael replied. "Aiden told me he needs a postgame nap and I think I'll join him."
 
"Oh yeah, Aiden just loves those postgame naps," Nolan smirked. "Especially when he has a bed buddy."
 
"Come on, Sugar Bear, you know I need those naps," Aiden said.
 
"Sugar Bear?" Christian grinned.
 
"Sweet Cakes has a way of talking too much," Nolan chuckled.
 
"Sweet Cakes?" Michael asked.
 
"Nolan likes to blab, too," Aiden responded. "Now, let's go nap before I fall asleep on my feet."
 
"You've done it standing up before. I've seen you do it," Nolan said.
 
Christian laughed. “Sleep? Or ‘IT?’” Nolan joined in the laughter.
 
Michael grabbed Aiden's hand and gave him a light tug. Aiden nodded and followed Michael as they resumed their journey to Michael's bedroom.
 
"Remember that Mikey likes his sheets to stay clean," Christian called out as Aiden and Michael disappeared into the house.
 
Aiden followed Michael to the staircase. Passing the kitchen, they saw Alex. Alex quickly opened the refrigerator as if he was looking for something and tried to covertly wipe away his tears. They stopped and Michael asked, "Alex? Are you alright?"
 
"I'm fine,” Alex replied.
 
"Is it Josh?" asked Michael. Aiden silently watched the exchange.
 
Alex nodded and tears rolled down his cheeks.
 
Aiden approached and placed his arm around Alex to give him a squeeze. "Tell us what happened, Alex. Michael and I are your friends; both of us. We're here to listen to you and help you, right Michael?"
 
"Yep," Michael said as he watched Aiden. He'd heard from Mason, Jaden, and Alex what a great guy Aiden was, but all Michael had seen was Aiden the awesome baseball player. Now it was time to learn if Aiden lived up to all the hype as a person.
 
"I don't know whether I should be mad or worried," Alex sighed. "I haven't heard from him for almost a week. He didn't show up at Alateen on Friday either."
 
“Have you checked on him at his house?" Aiden asked.
 
"Josh lives on the north side of Vista. Mom hasn't had time to drive me up there. But I think she is trying to get me to leave Josh alone in case he doesn't want to see me."
 
"I guess the north side of Vista must be a long way off then," Aiden surmised.
 
“Josh’s house is like five or six miles from here,” explained Michael.
 
"What do you think, Michael? Is there a way your dad or somebody could drive him there?"
 
Michael joined Aiden by Alex's side. "If your mom can't take you tomorrow, someone can drive you up there. I bet we could even talk Matthew into doing it. Besides, if your mom's too busy, remember, she ultimately works for me!"  Michael giggled and it was infectious.
 
Alex smiled and then turned toward Aiden.  "Aiden, you don't know how sorry I am."
 
"Sorry for what?" Aiden asked. He liked seeing Alex's smile, it wasn't something he saw much of when Alex lived in Mayfield. "I thought your cookies were perfect."
 
“It’s not about the cookies, but it’s cool you liked them.” Alex had rehearsed his conversation with Aiden more times than he could count. Now that the time for it had come, he wasn't sure if he could do it. "Just hear me out." Alex took a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves like his sponsor and Dr. Meijer had taught him. "Back in Mayfield, I had a crush on Grant, but didn't understand it. Hell, it was more than a crush. So, when we got in trouble for booze and drugs and stuff, and Grant's mom blamed me, I felt like I wasn't good enough for Grant. Then, when you became his friend, I couldn't see how I would ever be good enough for Grant when he had you and Nolan and the twins, and all you guys. I was so jealous of you, I couldn't hear you when you offered help. With all the shit going on at home, and then with Grant and my jealousy, I...well, I... "  Alex looked away and then back to Aiden looking him directly in the eyes. "Aiden, I didn't overdose. I tried to commit suicide."
 
Aiden gave Alex another squeeze. "I've had dark thoughts sometimes, Alex, and I've had my mentors like Sammy, and Marty, and yeah, my dads, tell me to live in the moment and not in the past. You just did what you’re supposed to do and that was make amends. It's something I need to do, too, because you see, Alex, I heard the things you said but I didn't listen to you. I thought I was better than you because I had more friends, and was active in sports, and didn’t do drugs, and all of that shit. But I wasn't better than you and I never will be. You and I are equals all the way.  All I want to do starting now is to be your friend and we can go from there."
 
Alex, from being around Michael and his new East Harbor friends, had learned to be more affectionate. He put his arms around Aiden and gave him a huge hug. Michael, seeing Aiden live up to his reputation, joined Alex in hugging Aiden. Alex felt like he'd made peace with his past. The Yard Goats’ visit to southern California had given him a chance to reconnect with Grant in a way that he couldn’t over Facetime, and to make amends with Aiden and the other boys. He never expected that to ever happen, let alone right here in East Harbor. But as much as Alex felt better, recovery is never that simple.
 
Aiden felt a warm jolt go through him as he felt the love of two boys he liked and respected and hoped would be his friends.
 
Michael released the hug and said, "Sorry, Alex, but Aiden told me he needs a nap. He's exhausted from the tournament and wants to rest up before dinner and the party really getting started."
 
Alex looked and Michael with a gleam in his eyes. "Oh, yeah, I see. Have fun!"
 
"Why does everyone act like that when we tell them I'm going to take a nap?" asked Aiden.
 
"I have no idea," replied Michael as he led Aiden to the stairs. The truth was, they both knew exactly why everyone acted that way.
 
"You've got a really nice room,” Aiden said as he entered Michael’s domain. “And, you've got a ton of Legos. Nolan is a huge Lego fan and he's got me into them."
 
"Thanks," Michael said with pride. "This is a new home I designed. This awning blocks the sun in the summer to keep the house cool but allows sunlight in the winter to help heat the house." Michael went on explaining to Aiden all the features he built into the home. Looking up from the house and to his new friend, he realized he had been rambling. "I...um...I want to be an architect."
 
"I was kind of getting that idea," Aiden chuckled.
 
As if they had planned the procedure Aiden kicked off his shoes and flopped onto Michael’s bed. Michael took his shoes off as well and took a spot on the bed facing Aiden and looking directly into his eyes. The boys got as close as they could without touching.
 
"So, I know we haven't talked much, like, one-on-one, you know,” Michael said. “But at the show, the look in your eyes... you get it, don't you? And what you said to Alex. You have those demons like me, don't you?"
 
"Yeah, I think I get it. I'm just, like, surprised you could see it at the concert. Especially with me out there in a crowd."
 
"It wasn't hard to spot you in the crowd." After Michael let that slip, he wondered if that was too honest considering both had boyfriends and he didn't know what Aiden and Nolan's relationship was like. "When I saw that look on your face, I knew you understood, and I couldn't look away. I wanted to sing right to you to let you know I understood. You see, before Lars took me in, my life was pretty shitty. I'll tell you about it if you want to hear, but you might have already looked it up online. It's kinda been all over the news."  
 
"I read about that and it, well, it made me think of what things were like for me. It wasn't that great for me either. I had issues with sex things happening to me, getting molested and shit, when I was, like, eight or so and I liked sneaking my dad’s booze and getting drunk. I was fucking eight years old, and liking to get drunk, mind you." Aiden couldn't believe how he was opening up to Michael. But he had no doubt he could trust the boy sitting on the bed with him, completely. “Sometimes I still get a craving to drink and it’s a dark moment when that happens. But I have people in my life who love me and can help me. But it still makes me feel alone when it happens.” 
 
“I'm sorry that happened to you, too. And yeah, sometimes it makes me feel really alone. I know I've got my brothers and mom and dad and Zach. And I've got tons of great friends. East Harbor is awesome. But sometimes, when the voices are being loud, I feel like everyone pities me because of what happened to me. They can sympathize with what happened to me, but they don't get it because they aren't experiencing demons like I do. But you get it. You experience it too. I feel like I can tell you and you don't need to try to understand. You get it."
 
"Yeah, I get it. I totally get it. You know what's weird. As much as I love and trust Nolan, I've never told him everything. I've never spilled all of my demons to him. He knows I have things buried in me, but he's never tried to pry them out of me. And I know I need to tell him some day. He's my boyfriend, my life, my Sugar Bear, and I love him beyond imagining, but I've never told him about me being molested and getting drunk whenever I could when I was eight." Aiden shook his head, as if it would remove the tears that wanted to form. "Those demons surface sometimes when I don't want them.
 
"Remember how I got my ass clobbered by Torrance in that game where we got hammered? I had something happen that never happened to me in a game...ever. I was scared. I was scared shitless that I was no good. I was scared that I couldn't compete with those guys. That I was never good enough no matter how good I was. And Nolan couldn't help me because he had no clue what was going through me. It was the worst I pitched in my whole life.
 
Aiden continued, "I might have told my dads about it if we were at home. But I didn't see them much during the tournament. They have a way of making me feel safe when I need to feel safe. When I first came to live with them, and the demons would come, I'd crawl into their bed with them and the demons would go away. Sometimes I still have to go downstairs to their room to sleep with them and get my safety cuddles.”
 
"I know what you mean,” Michael said. “For me it happens before I go on stage. I don't know if it is because I'm having to go stand in front of thousands of people and be vulnerable, or if the demons know that music and performing is the one thing that makes them go away. When I'm on stage performing, I finally feel like I'm the one in control.” The boys were quietly thinking about their conversation when Michael realized something important.
 
Michael propped himself on his elbow and asked, “How did you do it today? You guys had to play that third game and all of a sudden you were going to be the starting pitcher. How did you have time to fight the demons and get in the right mindset for the game?”
 
"Well, it's weird. I usually work to get into this zone, where all I think about is the game. I start into it the night before. Then, when I get into a game, I feel like I can beat whoever I'm pitching against. If it's a game where I'm not pitching, then I kind of ease off some--or maybe a lot.
 
“But today, I did what Calvin told me he did when I asked him how he seemed so relaxed before he pitches and when he pitches. He does what I talked to Alex about. He lives in the moment and treats each pitch, each hitter, as all he needs to focus on until the next one comes up. That's something Nolan does too, though not in the same way. So, I guess what happened is I just went out there and pitched. And if somebody got a hit off of me, or they got a run off of me, I shoved it aside and focused on the next batter. And suddenly it hit me! I was pitching a good game and knew it and I had nothing to be scared of.
 
“And I just now remember something that peeps have been telling me recently.”
 
“What’s that?” Michael asked.
 
“Marty, my AA sponsor Sammy, Nolan, and my pop, have all said to me, ‘Don’t take yourself too damn seriously.’ And then here at the Brawl Cal almost says the same thing, only he just goes into how he works to have fun pitching. All this has been said to me in the last month or so. And you know what?”
 
“Tell me.”
 
“Like I told you, I found out I had nothing to be afraid of and once I figured that out I had fun pitching and that there were no demons with me because demons don’t like being around peeps having fun.”
 
Without a word, Aiden draped his left arm around Michael’s torso and with a smile, fell straight to sleep. Michael scooted in closer to his new friend and joined him. Both boys felt a sense of warmth and love and safety and understanding as sleep hit them. The demons had also been put to sleep.
 
Just over twenty minutes later, Aiden woke up. His naps almost always lasted between fifteen and thirty minutes. It was enough time to leave him mentally refreshed. Waking up in strange surroundings left him momentarily disoriented. For a couple of seconds he wondered who was in the strange bed with him and then the light turned on in his brain and he knew he was in Michael Meijer’s bed lying next to Michael.
 
“Hey, Cuddle Bear,” Aiden said softly, giving Michael a little shake.
 
Michael looked at Aiden and grinned. “Cuddle Bear?” The boys had a much needed long, hard laugh. “I like cuddling. Dad calls me Cuddle Bug. Hmm...if you have a nickname for me, then I need to have one for you. Maybe, All-Star Huggy Bear? How does that sound?”
 
“Well,” stated Aiden, “as my pop likes to say, you can call me whatever you want just don’t call me late for dinner.”
 
“Ughhhh,” Michael groaned, “dad jokes…”
 
 
 
Aiden and Michael went outside to the patio which was crowded with boys chatting, laughing, and having fun. Many of them had donned their swimming suits and were in the pool. “Looks like we napped through some good times,” Aiden said.
 
Michael shook his head. “I’d say we enjoyed a nap at a perfect time. You needed it and I was glad to help. It seems I needed a nap, too.”
 
“Yeah, you’re right. It was a perfect twenty minutes. But now I’m thinking about joining the group in the pool.” Aiden’s plans were instantly changed when Zach announced that the pizza was arriving and for everyone to get ready to eat.
 
The pool emptied out in a hurry as a hoard of hungry boys gathered around the tables that had been set up for food. “If you’re dry, you might want to come up into the house,” Zach called out. “We’re unboxing pizza up here, too.”
 
Nolan, Christian, and Jaden walked over to where Aiden and Michael were sitting. “You have to get up out of your seat to get pizza,” Christian said, pointing to the outside tables.
 
“Maybe their nap wasn’t enough exercise to get them hungry,” Nolan chuckled.
 
“Hey, somebody was busy pitching his ass off for five innings against a really good team and hasn’t eaten anything since the end of that game,” Aiden countered. “So, yeah, I’m not hungry, I’m famished.”
 
“Notice how my boyfriend likes to use big words?”
 
“You’re one to talk.” Aiden looked at Michael and Christian and grinned. “Some people call the position he was playing in the IF game the ‘hot corner’. Well, Nolan calls it the ‘scorching corner.’”
 
“For real?” Jaden asked.
 
“Right now, I just want the pizza to be sizzling,” Nolan said. “I don’t think it will be even lukewarm if we don’t quit yakking and go eat.”
 
Lukas approached the group. “Hey, Michael and Christian, do you want to eat with Simon, Mason, and me?” he said. “Mason really wants to talk to Michael about something.”
 
“Do you guys mind?” Michael asked the other three boys.
 
“Not at all,” Nolan answered. “Aiden and I are going to go up to the kitchen to see how hot the pizza is up there.”
 
“And Jaden, as an honorary Mayfield boy, you’re more than welcome to come up with us.”
 
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Jaden grinned.
 
When they entered the kitchen they found Trent, Mac, and Calvin grabbing slices of pizza and putting them on their paper plates. “Miles, and Gordy, already have their pizza and are in the dining room,” Mac said. “The table is pretty big—it seats eight.”
 
Trent looked around and made a mental count. “It looks like there should be room for all of us.”
 
“Is Jaden the only East Harbor boy in our group?” Aiden asked.
 
“Oliver and Greg are there,” Cal said.
 
“His name is Craig,” Trent said.
 
“Close enough.”
 
“Whatever you say, Hal,” Mac smirked.
 
As they talked the boys filled their pizza plates. “Hey, Aiden, Miles is kinda bummed because of how he played,” Cal said.
 
“Then I’ll see if I can debumify him,” Aiden said.
 
Aiden was happy to see that the chair next to Miles was empty.  He sat down and took a bite of pizza. Aiden noted his friend’s wet hair. “You look like you took a dip in the pool.”
 
“Just a short one. I wanted to be dry and ready when the pizza came.”
 
“You’ve been looking kinda down.”
 
“I hit lousy and hardly did anything to help us win.”
 
“Interesting. You say you played lousy, but you were tied for third on the team in runs scored. That sounds like helping the team to me,” Aiden said. “You made some good plays in the outfield. Hell, you helped the team a lot, Miles. Just remember, T-E-A-M.”
 
“Together everybody achieves more.”
 
Aiden nodded. “Did anybody on the team say anything to you about your playing?”
 
“Just the usual stuff about ‘good game, Miles.’ I don’t know if they meant it.”
 
“Miles, you’re a good friend so I don’t want to make you mad. It’s time for you to get off your pity pot and remember T-E-H-M-F.”
 
“What the fuck does that mean?”
 
“Together everybody has more fun. Now go get more pizza and pinch Gordy’s butt for me.”
 
“Yeah, I guess I am on my pity pot.”
 
“Yep, and pity pots usually smell like shit. Now, go have fun.”
 
“Thanks for being a great friend, Aiden. I’m gonna take my next pizza slice outside and see if I can talk to some of those East Harbor dudes.”
 
“What do you have to do first?” Aiden nodded toward Gordy who had just left his seat and was heading back to the kitchen.
 
Miles grinned and followed right behind Gordy, giving his ass a pinch as they left the room. “Hey, what was that about?” Gordy squawked.
 
Miles pointed to Aiden. “Go ask him.” Miles headed into the kitchen chuckling to himself.
 
Gordy looked at Aiden, who gave him a thumbs up. He knew right away that Aiden had talked Miles into the pinch to get his mind off himself and go have some fun. Gordy returned Aiden’s gesture to let him know he understood.
 
“I guess we’d better be good guests and clean up our mess,” Jaden said. His words got everybody out of their seats and carrying their paper plates and plastic cups to the kitchen. They tossed everything disposable into the garbage bags.
 
Mason had decided not to eat with his Mayfield friends because he really wanted to have a quick chat with Michael. He grabbed four slices of pizza and a bottle of soda. He found Michael sitting in a lawn chair munching on his pizza. There was an empty chair beside him which Mason parked in.
 
“Hey, Mason. It’s nice to be able to enjoy pizza with one of my adopted second basemen,” Michael said. 
 
“Who’s your other adopted second baseman?” Mason asked.
 
“There’s just one and I know you can guess who it is.”
 
“I’m sure it’s Aiden. I was thinking maybe there were some second basemen from around here who sang or played an instrument or something. Do you have a thing for second basemen or something?”
 
“Only ones from Mayfield,” Michael grinned. “And you’re the only one of the two who sings and plays an instrument.” Michael looked at Mason’s plate. “Whoa, how is a little guy like you going to eat all that pizza?”
 
“Easy, I just shove it into my mouth and chew. Here, let me show you.” Mason scarfed down half of his second slice. “See, it’s easy. Besides, I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten since before the last game.”
 
“What did you want to talk to me about?”
 
“This whole singing contract thing. You mean I’m gonna fly back home with my team tomorrow and then fly back the next day? I might as well sleep at the airport cuz I’m sure not gonna…”
 
“Hold it right there, Mason. Don’t worry about flying back. Arrangements are being made. It involves flying, but a way different kind.”
 
“What kind of different kind?”
 
“I can’t say yet, because it has to be made official,” Michael answered. “But we have no doubt it’s all going to work. There’s a lot of people working on this who know what to do. And I’m talking adult people who do the travel and financial and you name it stuff for At the Majestic.”
 
“Yeah but…”
 
Michael held up his hand, telling Mason to stop. “I bet your friends like Aiden tell you live in the moment and not worry your ass off about stuff.”
 
“Yeah but…sorry…I mean, speaking of Aiden when can I talk to him about this?”
 
“I would say it should be tomorrow since you’re coming back down here really quick.”
 
“Okay.” Mason started on his third piece.
 
“Hey, wanna do some singing?”
 
“Sure, I love singing. What kind of singing?”
 
“More will be revealed.”
 
Outside in the back yard, the Hazen and Kendall twins were sitting on the edge of the pool, their feet and ankles in the water. They were enjoying chomping their pizzas together as well as admiring each other’s half naked bodies.
 
“You guys and your cheerleading during the games was dope,” Lenny said. “I mean, it really got all of us charged up to hear what you guys were doing.”
 
“We had to root for our fellow twins and for the epic Mayfield Yard Goats,” Connor responded. “And lots of your teammates have told us they liked it, especially Aiden. He said he wished he could hire us to come up to Mayfield every time he pitched.”
 
“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOATS!!!!” Cooper screeched out, netting him a lot of smiles.
 
“After we finish our pizza, we need to get our swimsuits on so we can go all the way into the water,” Cooper said.
 
“I’ve gone swimming with my shorts on,” Lenny told him.
 
“Yeah, but what would you wear going back to your hotel?”
 
“Our swimsuits.”
 
“Oh, that way you can go swimming on the bus,” Connor giggled, which got Cooper, Lenny, and Lance giggling right along with him.
 
“You two guys have nice chests,” Cooper told the Hazen twins. “You’re not as skinny as us.”
 
“We’re skinnier than most of the guys on the Goats,” Lenny said. 
 
Connor swallowed his bite of pizza and looked at Lenny. “Can I touch your chest?”
 
Connor’s audacity both surprised and excited Lenny. “Now? Here?”
 
“Why not? It’s just a chest.”
 
“Just make it short.”
 
Sporting a big grin, Connor reached over and touched Lenny’s right nipple with his index finger. He gave it a little tickle and then moved his hand down Lenny’s rib cage, stopping at his abdomen. Connor kept his hand there and, knowing exactly what Connor wanted, Lenny nodded his silent assent. Connor ran his finger down Lenny’s abdomen until he reached his new friends naval. He gave it a little tickle, causing Lenny to giggle, and then moved down to Lenny’s shorts, stopping at the waistline. He wanted badly to keep moving down, but common sense took over and he pulled his hand away and dropped back into his chair.
 
“That was nice, Connor,” Lenny said. “I wouldn’t have stopped you from going farther down.”
 
“I wanted to, and I will later,” Connor grinned. He loved the fact that Lenny wanted to do more.  
 
“You guys are goofy,” Lance said as he took a bite of pizza and then chewed and talked at the same time. “But look what you did to me.” He placed his hand on his crotch and emphasized the bulge his four-inch tween cock made.
 
“You got that quick,” Cooper said. “Can I feel it?”
 
“Later, when everybody isn’t watching.”
 
“People touch each other down there all the time at these parties.”
 
Lance thought that sounded like an Aiden party. He wondered if everyone would be getting naked before the party was over—then it would be exactly like an Aiden party. “Make it quick.”
 
Cooper took a much slower feel of Lance’s rod than Lance was expecting. “It feels kinda big. I wanna reach inside your shorts. You can reach inside mine if you want.”
 
“Look, I wanna do it too. How about we finish eating first and see what’s going down after that.”
 
“Okay,” Cooper responded with an air of disappointment. “But I think you already know what’s going down,” he added as he quickly perked up. “But can you feel mine right now.”
 
Lance’s hand felt Cooper through his shorts and then he slid it inside the hem. “Yours feels like it’s made out of steel or something,” Lance commented. He gave Cooper’s tool a couple of jerks before pulling his hand out.
 
“That was the catcher twin feeling the other catcher twin and it felt really nice.”
 
The twins weren’t the only ones getting to know each other better. Derek and Jack chatted with Skip, Emmett, and Riley before the pizza was served. The young tweens realized they really enjoyed each other’s company.   
 
Scott stopped by with his twelve-year-old cousin Ronnie and introduced him to the group. Jack had met Ronnie earlier at the ballpark. He thought Ronnie was cute beyond cute. Even though Ronnie didn’t think of himself as gay, he thought the same thing about Jack. Ronnie had no problem with his gay feelings; he simply saw them as feelings he would have until the right girl dropped on his lap. F
 
Ronnie sidled up so close to Jack that their bodies touched. Jack pushed his left leg against Ronnie’s right leg and Ronnie quickly returned the pressure. Both tweens felt a surge in their groins and boned up.
 
Derek scooted up to Skip, somehow sensing that between him and Emmett one of them happened to be gay and that Skip would be the one. It turned out that Derek was spot on with his analysis as his gaydar correctly picked out Skip as being a kindred spirit.
 
They listened to the young boys sitting around each other chatting about sports, food, books, travel, the BaseBrawl, video games, and other sundry interests. But even though it was at the front of their young adolescent minds, the subject of sex wasn’t brought up. Yet.
 
“Okay boys, it’s time for you all to head outside. The kitchen’s too small for the crowd we have here tonight,” Lars admonished.
 
“That means it’s time for me to get everyone in the mood for dessert,” Cal said.
 
“How do you plan on doing that?” Craig asked.
 
“You’ll find out in just a few minutes.”
 
“I know what he’s going to do,” Aiden said confidently.
 
“Let’s empty out the kitchen boys,” Lars repeated. “Some of us have work to do here and we need the space.”
 
Lars’ quiet authority resonated with the Mayfield boys and all of them, except Cal, followed Craig and Oliver out of the kitchen and into the backyard. Cal went into the living room and picked up his trumpet case along with a tote bag that he had left between the couch and a wall. He then hustled out to the backyard.
 
“Hey, everybody, Cal has his trumpet,” Aiden called out gleefully.
 
Cal gave a thumbs up and set his trumpet case down on one of the tables. He opened the case, took out his trumpet, and did some tuning up.
 
“Dang, this is going to be like the tournament concert,” Nolan said, prompting another thumbs up from Cal.
 
“Not quite because he’s playing solo,” Aiden pointed out.
 
“What are you going to play?” Mac asked.
 
“It’s more like I’m gonna be telling you what you guys are going to sing,” Cal replied. He reached into his tote bag, pulled out a sheaf of papers that were paperclipped together, unclipped them, and set them on the table. “Here’s the words to what I’m gonna play and you’re gonna sing. Grab yourself a sheet.”
 
“Hey, these are from ‘We Are the Champions’ by Queen,” Lukas grinned. “Looks like the ending to the song.”
 
“Yes, and yes. No need to sing it all—all we need to do is announce what the Mayfield Yard Goats and their loyal fans and friends are.”
 
Some of the boys already knew the words and all the rest knew the melody. Michael and Christian left the cakes behind to see what Cal was up to. Neither of them needed the song sheet.
 
Cal walked over to Michael and said something quietly to him. After Michael nodded, Cal said loudly, “Hey, Michael dude, do you want to lead the singing?”
 
“I’d be happy to do it, with a little help from Mason so that we have a Mayfield player and singer leading us. Mason, come on up and join me.”
 
Mason stood next to Michael at the edge of the pool. Like Michael, he didn’t need to read the words. All he needed to know was where in the song they were going to start singing. Michael said something quietly into Mason’s left year. Mason nodded with a grin.
 
“There’s a lot of secret talk going on,” Nolan said to Aiden.
 
“I think they’re writing the script for this little singalong,” Aiden responded.
 
Michael then addressed the crowd of boys. “Okay, guys, we know why we’re standing up to sing. We’re all Mayfield Yard Goat players and fans and have been busting with pride. But just to make sure, Mason’s going to ask you the big question after Cal gets us totally in the mood.”
 
Cal then put his trumpet to his lips and blasted the music for the stanzas they’d be singing. As soon as he stopped, Mason called out, “Okay Yard Goats, WHO ARE WE?”
 
The boys in the yard, along with Lars, Zach, Larry, Phil, and even Judge Paul, bellowed out with Cal’s toned down trumpet accompanying them:
 
“We are the champions, my friends
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions of the World
 
We are the champions, my friends
And we'll keep on fighting till the end
We are the champions
We are the champions
No time for losers
'Cause we are the champions of the World!”
 
Aiden then jumped up and yelled out, “Okay everybody, it’s Goooooooooo…” the others joined in and finished with Aiden…”YARD GOATS!!” They then let out window rattling cheers.
 
As soon as everyone calmed down to a low roar, Lars stepped onto the pool patio and held up his right hand and called for silence. Everyone obeyed quickly. “And now, Lars has something to say.”
 
“Gentlemen, it’s dessert time and I see that Zach, Phil, and Matthew are bringing out some cakes.” The cakes were set on the largest table in the yard. “I believe the cakes have something written on them, each of them having to do with a birthday. It appears we have three birthdays to celebrate. Let’s see whose names we find on them.”
 
“Oh, wow, the answer to my question about what’s for dessert is birthday cake! That is, like, beyond cool and into epic status,” Calvin said, generating a howl of appreciative laughter. With his voice in changing mode it often cracked, which didn’t bother Cal since, as his father had told him, it was a part of his becoming a man.
 
Phil opened the first box, removed the cake, and lit the 14 candles. The icing read, “Happy 14 Max,” and showed a baseball glove, a baseball bat, and a goat standing next to a railroad locomotive. Max, who had turned 14 the day before, flushed with a combination of embarrassment and happiness. He had been bored by the party because he was not close friends with anybody on the team other than maybe Mac and Trent and because he wasn’t good at making friends, he didn’t really know any of the East Harbor boys.  He was not expecting a birthday cake and seeing a cake baked just for him made him feel better.
 
“Let’s all sing Happy Birthday to Max,” Michael said. He and Mason started in, sounding so great that the rest of the group listened in awe.
 
“Hey, now you guys sing,” Michael ordered, which they all did, after which Max blew out the candles. While Max would have liked some of his favorite liquid refreshment for his birthday, he was willing to settle for something nonalcoholic, knowing there would be a party after he returned to Mayfield that would take care of that issue.
 
The next cake was for Riley, who had turned thirteen on Friday. He fought off tears as he stood and waved. The unexpected surprise of a birthday cake was just one more big event to happen on what was without a doubt the best day of his life. There was winning the tournament championship, then the Mr. Hustle Award, and now seeing his very own birthday cake at the party. And through it all he had the best friends anyone could ask for, all of whom he knew loved him. There was a card included with the cake which he picked up to open later.
 
The icing on his cake read, “Happy 13 Riley,” and had the same glove, bat, and goat/locomotive design as Max’s cake. Matthew lit the candles and Riley then received the same singing of “Happy Birthday” from Michael and Mason, followed by all the boys singing the second time through, just as happened with Max. Riley then blew all his candles out. Lenny stepped over to Riley and gave his boyfriend a hug and a kiss on the lips. Cooper had assured him that nobody would care about the kiss and Lenny could tell that Cooper was right. Riley then opened the card which was from his parents. They wished him happy birthday with lots of love and a promise from his mother he would be getting one more birthday cake when he got home.
 
Gordy tried not to set himself up for disappointment, but he hoped the remaining cake was for his birthday. He didn’t know if any East Harbor boys had birthdays, so it was possible they didn’t know about his birthday since it wasn’t until the next day and a local boy might be getting the cake.
 
Larry introduced the next birthday boy. “The third birthday cake belongs to a Goat whose thirteenth birthday is actually tomorrow. After celebrating two birthdays a couple of days late, we will now celebrate one a day early.” Gordy’s cake came out of the box. The icing read, “Happy 13 Gordy”. Gordy was almost jumping up and down with glee. This time Zach lit the candles and once again Michael and Mason sang and then led the group on singing “Happy Birthday.” Gordy blew out his candles after which Aiden gave his best friend a tight, loving hug. 
 
Christian, Matthew, and Zach were ready to cut the cakes and place the pieces on plastic cake plates. Michael helped Christian, Jackson Hallion helped Matthew, and Phil helped Zach.
 
Lars made an announcement that Coach Sanders’ birthday was also tomorrow, but that his age was a closely guarded secret. While he wasn’t getting a full cake, he was getting a strawberry jelly donut which a certain son said was his pop’s favorite. One candle was stuck into the donut and lit as the group sang “Happy Birthday” one last time.
 
“We’ll now watch Coach Sanders blow out his candle, which his son assures me he still has the capacity to do, even at his advanced age.” Larry then received a hug from his son, Aiden, and a kiss from his husband, Phil.
 
“Thank you for the surprise,” Larry said. “I’m glad that Aiden’s adolescent memory still worked in spite of all the distractions.” He took a bite of his donut and went on. “Strawberry filling. My favorite.”
 
Everyone dug into the cake as well as the vanilla ice cream that made an unannounced appearance as the cake slices were being cut and doled out. The little birthday party was a great success. Riley, Gordy, and Max got to chat with some East Harbor boys they hadn’t talked with before as they wished the Mayfield boys happy birthday.
 
The boys were soon wandering around giving personalized birthday greetings to the birthday boys, varying from high fives, to hugs, to kisses on the cheek. Michael enjoyed giving out a hug and a kiss on the cheek to more than just the birthday boys.
 
When he came up to Cal, Cal turned his head to see what Michael was up to. Instead, he felt what Michael was up to, as his kiss landed on his lips instead of his cheek. Cal didn’t shy away, keeping his lips against Michael’s. Michael pushed his tongue against Cal’s lips and quickly the tongues were touching. The boys’ minds came quickly back to Earth, and they broke the kiss. But they looked at each other and smiled.
 
“That wasn’t a bad kiss for a small-town dude,” Michael said.
 
“Hey, I had to take advantage of what the California dude was giving me,” Cal responded.
 
“Enjoy the party.”
 
“It’s hard not to.”
 
Michael then walked away to find another boy to hug.
 
Rusty went into the house to get something out of his bag. He pulled out a plastic sleeve that he used to cover his broken arm when he went into the pool. It was designed to keep his cast dry. As he unfolded it he noticed a long tear on the side. ‘It must have happened when I scraped it on the ladder climbing out of the hotel pool,’ he thought. ‘But now I’m not going to be able to go into the pool because this sure ain’t gonna keep my cast dry.’
 
He fought tears as he sat on a chair. He knew he couldn’t roughhouse in the pool, but he still looked forward to being there with his teammates and the new East Harbor friends he was making. He shook his head to shake off the budding tears and stood up.
 
Carol entered the room and noticed the glum look on Rusty’s face. “Are you having a problem?” she asked. Carol Novak was active with the Meijer family. She was Simon’s mother and the adoptive mother of Matthew and Michael. In addition to being the director of a financial management company, she was the CEO of Majestic Enterprises. She knew the East Harbor boys at the party well.
 
Rusty nodded and told her what his problem was.
 
“Well, I think we can take care of that,” Carol grinned.
 
They went to the kitchen where Carol did some hunting in a cabinet drawer and came up with some plastic food storage bags. She soon jury rigged a new covering. After testing it for water tightness, she wrapped it around Rusty’s cast and taped it at both ends with waterproof tape.
 
“It helps to know a kitchen and what it has. Since I practically live here I happen to know this kitchen quite well.”
 
“Thank you…um…well, you’re kind of like the mom for everybody here but I can’t remember your name.”
 
“Carol,” she smiled.
 
“Gee, thanks a ton, Carol.” Carol gave Rusty a motherly hug and said, “Now you go have fun in the pool. Follow the same rules you were told to follow, and you’ll keep that cast as dry as if it was in the Sahara.”
 
Rusty ran out of the house ready to get into the pool as soon as he could.
 
The boys sat around for a while chatting as they let their pizza, cake, and ice cream make an attempt to settle in their stomachs. A couple of board games appeared as did a couple of decks of cards. It wasn’t long after the eating ended that Emmett and Grant started wading around the shallow end of the pool. They were quickly joined by others and the noise level was rapidly climbing both in and out of the pool.
 
Rusty was having a blast at the shallow end with Cal and Scott as he was successfully doing some light roughhousing while keeping his right arm out the water to keep his cast from being soaked. The cast was covered by the plastic sleeve constructed by Carol, which protected it from splashing, but not from dunking.
 
Skip and Mason joined Grant and Emmett in the deep end and the two sets of twins followed them into the pool. “Hey, Sugar Bear, let’s get wet,” Aiden suggested to Nolan.
 
“Let’s change into our swimsuits, first,” Nolan said.
 
“Or go without.”
 
“Don’t look at me to be the first one to skinny dip. Nobody said anything, but unless the guys who party here a lot get naked, I’m sure not gonna start anything.”
 
“Good point. It could lead to a spanking of our bare butts.”
 
“Hmmm, if you put it that way,” Nolan grinned. “Nah, never mind, let’s go change.”
 
Michael sought out Mason and found him chatting with Simon. “Hey, Mason let’s go up to my room and get the instruments,” Michael said.
 
“I’m with you,” Mason grinned, pleased that Michael had remembered the instruments.       
 
Up in Michael’s room, Mason took in the awards, the Lego structures, the books, and a Play Station. “Cool room,” Mason said. Then Mason saw the musical instruments and one more fascinating item—a karaoke machine.
 
Down on the pool patio, Trent, Max, Miles, Mac, and Muddy were sitting with Will, Curtis, Jordan, and Lewis. All the boys except Miles were incoming freshmen. Miles would be entering eighth grade in the fall.  Scott, another incoming freshman, soon joined the group. The Mayfield boys mentioned they were thinking of returning to the hotel and overnighting there. The East Harbor boys hoped the Goats would stay but didn’t offer an opinion.
 
“I know the young Goats are going to start grabbing ass, not to mention balls and cock, and before you know it the swimsuits will come off,” Trent told the East Harbor boys. “We’ve been around enough Aiden parties to know that the swimsuits will come off and the real fun will begin.”
 
“Well, it is a lot of fun,” Miles said.
 
“Oh, it is fun and it’s not like I haven’t taken part. I just don’t want to do it around a bunch of guys I don’t know. No offense to you four guys because you’re really a cool group.”
 
“It’s not like you know everybody at Aiden’s parties,” Mac pointed out.
 
“But at least I go to school with them or play ball with them,” Trent said.
 
“True, but, hey, it’s not like you’re ever going to see these guys again.”
 
“I assure you we don’t bite or anything,” Lewis said.
 
“Like I said, it’s nothing personal,” Trent said. “It’s just a little out of my comfort zone.”
 
“Well, we’d love it if you guys stayed, but I understand if you go and I’m sure everybody else does, too,” Curtis said.
 
“Thanks for being understanding. Like I said, you’re all a really cool group that I’d probably have as friends if I lived here, or you lived in beautiful Mayfield, Washington.  And I’m sure Mac knows a big reason for me wanting to go back to the hotel.”
 
“I do,” Mac grinned, “It has to do with the sacred relationship between a catcher and his pitcher.”
 
“What’s that?” Miles asked.
 
“It’s something me and Trent need to discuss now that the season is over,” Mac replied.
 
“Oh, okay, I guess.” Miles didn’t sound convinced.
 
“My question would be, how far are the East Harbor kids planning to go?” Scott asked. His question brought shrugs from the four East Harbor boys. “Not that I have anything against sex stuff. I was just thinking of what my cousin Ronnie will think and if I should leave him here alone.”
 
“Come on, Scott, you know he’s going to think it’s fun,” Mac told him. “Now quit babying him and come back to the hotel with us and have some big boy fun.”
 
“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
 
“I know that Nolan is going to stay, because he’s joined at the hip with Aiden,” Max said. 
 
“Not to mention a couple of other places,” Trent chuckled. 
 
The boys’ attention then turned to Michael and Mason coming onto the patio with the karaoke machine.
 
“But we should find out what Calvin wants to do.”
 
“How are we going to get back to the hotel, though?” Muddy asked.
 
“Coach Sanders said that he was told that anybody wanting an early ride back to the hotel would get it,” Trent said. “I’ll go ask about it.”
 
“And I’ll talk to Calvin about his plans,” Scott said.
 
Scott found Calvin in the hot tub talking with Lukas and Simon. “Hey, Cal, some of us are going back to the hotel,” Scott said. “Wanna join us?”
 
“What and miss all the fun with our new friends. I’ll stick around with this group of my newer friends. But I understand what you guys are thinking. Have fun, dudes. I’ll see ya all in the morning,” Cal grinned.
 
“You have fun, too. Try to get some sleep, bro.”
 
“I will. I don’t want to fall asleep in a pile of Legos or something, tomorrow.”
 
A few minutes later, Scott, Trent, Mac, Max, Muddy, and Miles learned that Mrs. Emerson would be picking them up with the team bus for the ride to the Carlsbad Resort. They barely got a half-dozen steps in when the pace of the party went up a notch, thanks to the boldness of the two sets of twins. The Mayfield boys stopped to see what the commotion was about, not that they had much doubt.
 
Lenny and Cooper were in the shallow end trying to get each other off their feet and fully into the water. Cooper was pushing Lenny away when Lenny knocked away Cooper’s arms, stepped in closer to him, and grabbed his balls.
 
“Hey, that’s cheating,” Cooper called out even though he was giggling with delight.
 
“I don’t see no referee here,” Lenny said as he reached in again and fondled Cooper’s cock.
 
Lance and Connor were watching their brothers from the deep end of the pool where they were holding onto the deck. “Hey, your brother is molesting my brother,” Connor said.
 
“You mean, he’s doing this?” Lance asked as he grabbed Connor’s cock and balls.
 
“Yes!!!” Screaming with delight, Connor grabbed onto the waistband of Lance’s swimsuit and yanked it down almost to Lance’s knees. Lance’s privates were under water, but it was obvious his swimsuit had been pulled down.
 
“Oh, you’re bad, Connor.” Lance grabbed Connor’s swimsuit. Since he was bigger and stronger than Connor, Lance was able to pull the swimsuit all the way off. He held it high in the air and spun it around yelling, “Look what I’ve got!” After a couple more spins he tossed it onto the patio.
 
Michael, Aiden, Christian, Nolan, Mason, and Tim Whalen were squeezed together in the hot tub watching the action in the pool. “Did I just see a swimming suit fly from the pool to the deck?” Michael asked.
 
Aiden looked at the deck and grinned. “I would say you did,” he giggled.
 
Before anybody could comment, Connor pulled Lance’s swimsuit all the way off as Lance offered no resistance and tossed it on the deck while screaming, “TWIN POWER!” with glee.
 
“Whoa, there goes another suit,” Aiden said.
 
“Leave it to the twinkies to bring the level of the party down a couple of levels,” Christian chuckled.
 
“Or maybe they just brought it up a couple of levels.”
 
Seeing Connor and Lance’s swimsuits tossed onto the pool deck, Cooper and Lenny decided that their brothers shouldn’t be the only ones to have the fun of skinny dipping. Their swimsuits quickly landed near the two that were already on the deck.
 
“Everybody duck, it’s an air raid,” Tim called out as he covered his head with his arms.
 
“I want to watch some of the fun, so I’m gonna wait to go,” Trent said. He stepped back and sat back in his seat. Scott, Mac, and Miles sat down as well. “But I did tell Coach Miller he might want to call Mrs. Emerson and tell her some of us are going to want a bus ride to the hotel pretty soon. He said Max already asked him and that she was on her way.”
 
As the boys sang the karaoke songs, Rita parked the bus near the house and found her way into the pool area. She could hear the enthusiastic (if sometimes off key) singing in front of the house and was eager to see what could get a gaggle of young adolescent boys singing with such fervor.
 
When she saw that most of the boys were naked, she wasn’t shocked. She knew that naked parties weren’t unknown in Mayfield. What was important wasn’t the boys being naked but that there was adult supervision and the boys enjoying singing and prancing around naked and sober.         
 
She saw her grandson, Skip, having a grand naked time with boys she didn’t know but assumed were friends of the hosts. Skip enjoyed taking off his clothes in the house when he visited her, so Rita wasn’t seeing anything she hadn’t seen before, including his little tween erection. He was obviously having fun and she did her best to be unobtrusive so as not to embarrass him. Rita chuckled to herself as she scanned the crowd. The naked Mayfield boys in the group would never look the same on the bus or in the lunchroom again.
 
Trent and Scott returned from the karaoke machine and saw Rita with Mac and Max.
 
“Let’s go,” Max said impatiently. As much as he liked his teammates and playing for the Goats, the naked horseplay by the boys didn’t appeal to him. He’d just as soon go to his room and jerk off thinking of the opposite sex. Muddy felt the same way. He used to participate in the sexual play and while he’d had serious sex with some of the players during their middle school years, he hadn’t participated in that part of the Goats’ lives in a long time.
 
Max and Muddy said their good-byes, but Trent, Scott, Mac, and Miles sat and watched the naked boys at play. Max and Muddy waited impatiently.
 
“Glad you guys could stay,” Curtis said.
 
“Yeah, that’s awesome,” Will agreed.
 
Scott was about to say they would be leaving when a naked boy ran past him and tossed a pair of wet swimming trunks in his face. “Jack made me do it,” his cousin Ronnie giggled as he evaded a friendly punch by Jack, who had also shed his trunks.
 
“Mrs. Emerson wants to know if you guys are coming,” Max said to Scott, Trent, Mac, and Miles.
 
“Yeah, we’re coming,” Scott said, rising from his seat. “But I wanna watch a little of the show first.” Max shrugged and left with Muddy.  
 
Over in the pool, Lenny raised his right hand. Lance, Connor, and Cooper looked at him and grinned. When Lenny dropped his hand, the four boys yelled, “YARD GOATS! GOOGLE IT!” Cooper then did a handstand with the other three following his lead. Everyone on the deck and patio saw smooth, white butts in the air along with four sets of boy bits. The quartet soon brought their legs down when the need for air required them to bring their heads to the surface.
 
Nolan placed his left hand on Aiden’s bare belly, shoved his hand into his swimming trunks, fondled his cock and gave it a squeeze. “Hmm, I have an announcement to make, guys,” he said. “It seems that Young Master Aiden, as he was known in his younger years, has a thing for naked twins because his cock is harder than the barbecue spit.”
 
“It was just fine until this big Bear put his paw into my swimming suit,” Aiden pointed out.
 
“Well, you could always join the twin card and remove it—then it would be way easier for me to reach my target.”
 
“I’ll keep them on, thank you very much. I’m going to show how much more mature I am than those powerful twins.”
 
“You heard that, guys,” Nolan said addressing everyone in the hot tub. “That’s proof that after this afternoon’s game, Aiden Miller had his mind taken over by evil aliens.”
 
“I bet it was during our nap,” Michael said. “I wonder if they invaded my mind, too, since we were napping together.”
 
“There’s one way to prove that you’re still you,” Christian said, tugging on Michael’s waistband as he spoke.
 
“Gotcha,” Michael grinned. He brushed away Christian’s hand, pulled off his trunks, and tossed them in the direction of the twins’ suits. “You can call me immature if you want, Aiden, but I call it being what Lars refers to as the ‘gracious’ host.”
 
“Fine, be that way. Then I suppose I should be a good guest,” Aiden said with mock seriousness as he pulled off his swimming trunks and tossed them next to Michael’s.
 
In the pool the twins watched the swimming suits flying off of some of the other guests. They felt a sense of accomplishment since they were the ones to start the action.
 
“Doing the handstand was fun,” Cooper grinned.
 
“And everybody got to see everything,” Connor added.
 
“Nobody got to see your face; it was underwater,” Lenny pointed out.
 
“I was talking about our, you know, dicks and balls and butts.”
 
“Uh, uh, they didn’t see all of that,” Lance said.
 
“Sure they did…HEY!” Connor called out when Lance wrapped his fingers around his hard cocklet.
 
“I thought so. They didn’t see your boner.”
 
Connor returned the favor and found Lance in the same excited condition. “And they didn’t see yours either.”
 
Lenny and Cooper rubbed each other and confirmed their cocks were in the same condition as Lance and Connor’s.
 
“Then let’s do headstands again and show everybody what we got,” Connor smirked.
 
“I got a better idea,” Lance said. “We’ve got our clothes on one of the beds in the guest room, so let’s grab our swimming suits, grab towels, and go there and do what pitchers and catchers do.”
 
“Sounds like a plan,” Lenny said. Connor and Cooper agreed, and the four twin tweens climbed out the pool, proudly displaying their pubescent erections.
 
They found their suits, grabbed some towels, and stopped to dry each other. The Kendall twins felt much more at ease parading their hard-ons in front of the poolside audience than the Hazen twins did. Lenny and Lance had no problem with nudity, be it their own or others, but as they pulled themselves out of the pool and walked naked past a lot of boys they didn’t know, they didn’t feel quite as comfortable as they did when they pranced naked in front of the boys at an Aiden party, most of whom were their friends.
 
“Whoa, those twins look ready for some fun,” Aiden smirked.
 
“And don’t care who knows,” Michael said as the four white asses entered the house.
 
“They would be a lot of fun to watch.”
 
“That’s for sure.”
 
 
 
Connor and Cooper led the way to the Novak guest room. The first thing the Kendall twins did when they entered the room was flop on the king bed in a supine position. Lenny and Lance joined them.
 
Of course, they then had to admire each other. “You guys are bigger than us, but not by a lot, and you got hair and we don’t got any,” Connor said. He stroked the few thin hairs that Lenny had down on the corners of his pubic area.
 
“Well, we’re twelve and you’re eleven,” Lenny pointed out as he petted Connor’s totally smooth pubic region. “And you feel really nice.”
 
“What do you want to do first?” Connor asked. Lenny answered him by rolling on top of him and humping his hard cocklet. “Whoa, that was a wicked answer.”
 
Cooper followed Lenny’s lead and started humping Lance, rubbing his hard cocklet against Lenny’s equally hard tool. The four humped noisily for about a minute when Cooper rolled off Lance and bumped into Connor and Lenny. 
 
“Did you cum?” Connor asked his brother.
 
“No, but I was getting close. I stopped cuz I want to play pitcher and catcher.”
 
Lance glanced at Lenny, who grinned. “So do we,” they said in unison.
 
“Are we gonna do it with our brothers or are we gonna switch?” Cooper asked.
 
“What do you think, Lance?” Lenny asked.
 
“I say we switch,” Lance replied. “We can always do it with our brother, but switching will be all about TWIN POWER!”
 
“TWIN POWER!” the other three shouted out, which meant their decision had been made.
 
“That means I’ll do Lance and Lenny will do Cooper,” Connor said. Before anyone could comment he continued on. “I know that Lance pitches to Lenny in baseball, but I think you guys told us that when you do sex then Lenny pitches and Lance catches, right?”
 
“Right,” Lenny nodded.
 
“Then let’s get started by kissing.”
 
The twins moved around so that Lenny was next to Cooper and Lance was next to Connor. They quickly discovered that even though the Kendall twins were 11 and the Hazen twins were 12, they all knew a lot about kissing. There was a lot of tongue, deep kissing, spit trading, along with cock and ball feeling, followed by ass petting and crack fingering. The crack fingering led to finger fucking and finally the pitching twin entering the catching twin.
 
Lenny and Cooper were paired on the right side of the bed with Lance and Connor on their left. When Lenny entered Cooper, he went right to work banging him hard.  Cooper loved how active Lenny was and how good he made his ass feel.
 
Connor started a little easier on Lance. When he saw how much force Lenny was putting into his thrusts, Connor upped his pace. Lance, who was used to Lenny’s hard fucks, loved it and the volume of the high-pitched squeaks and squawks and moans and groans of the pairs of twins picked up along with the pace of the thrusts.
 
Cooper showed exactly where he was coming from when he called out, “TWIN POWER,” as Lenny rubbed against Cooper’s sweet spot and both tweens went into orgasmic ecstasy.
 
Connor then went even harder and enjoyed his dry orgasm just before Lance echoed Cooper by screeching, “TWIN POWER,” his hard, smooth, tween body shaking with delight, his watery cum squirting on his belly.
 
“Oh, wow,” Cooper breathed as he came down from his sexual high. “That was the best ever. We showed what twins can do, for sure.”
 
“If everybody knew what it was like just now, they’d be jealous and wish they were twins, too,” Lance said.
 
“Are we all gonna sleep naked together in this bed?” Lenny asked.
 
“That’s the plan, unless somebody kicks us out,” Cooper replied.
 
“Well, then let’s get ready for bed and do some twin snuggling,” Connor said.
 
“That works for me,” Lenny said as he rose from the bed and headed for the bathroom. The other three followed him. Before the twins finished cleaning up, the Kendalls watched the Hazens stand side-by-side and take their pisses. Lenny and Lance then watched Connor and Cooper do the same. Watching the identical twins take identical pisses with their identical cocks gave Lenny a boner, which he proudly displayed.
 
When the twins got back on the bed, they stationed themselves so Lenny was on the far right, Connor was next to him, then Lance, and Cooper on the far left. Any thoughts of more sex were squelched by the quartet falling quickly to sleep.
 
 
 
After the twins left, things quieted down a bit. Mac, Trent, Miles, and Scott talked about whether they wanted to stay longer or head back to the resort. “I’m ready to go,” Trent said, much to Mac’s relief. Mac had been looking forward to his final night of the trip alone with Trent.
 
“Ditto for me,” Mac said.
 
The Goats were surprised to see Eric and Kevin.  Miles asked them why they had changed their minds and come to the party.
 
“We just had to watch our favorite team be happy celebrating their amazing championship,” Eric grinned.
 
Miles caught up with Mac and Scott and walked with them. They joined up with Trent.
 
When the twins left, things quieted down a bit. Mac, Trent, Miles, and Scott talked about whether they wanted to stay longer or head back to the resort. “I’m ready to go,” Trent said, much to Mac’s relief. Mac had been looking forward to his final night of the trip alone with Trent. They headed out of the yard for the street where Rita had parked the bus. Max and Muddy were already seated on the bus. Trent turned and faced the pool and hot tub area where most of the boys were. “See you guys in the morning!” he waved.
 
They got some good-byes back as well as some pleading for them to stay. The Goats were sorry to see their two captains leave early, but they were pleased they had stayed longer than they originally planned.
 
Cal walked up to the departing group and saluted. “Are you joining us, Cal?” Scott asked.
 
“Nope, just wanted to say good-night to all of you and tell the fearless Goat leaders to be good and not stay up all night having fun. Things have been known to happen in hotel bedrooms at night.”
 
“Remember to guard your ass,” Mac said. “I’ve heard SoCal boys can get pretty horny, especially around naked boys at the swimming pool.”
 
Cal looked down at himself and slapped the side of his head. “Holy guacamole, I am naked and I’m around a swimming pool. Well, no worries, my fellow Goats, I will be extra special careful of my virgin ass.”
 
“Do you think Cal will be extra special careful of his ass?” Scott asked as they reached the bus.
 
“Oh, hell, no. I’ve seen him bend over and show it off more than once,” Mac said. “My money says Cal is living his last minutes as a butt virgin.”
 
“My money says Cal likes to flirt around, but when it comes to putting out, Cal will be a straight boy and be extra special careful, as he likes to say,” Trent said.
 
“Three penny bet?”
 
“You’re on.” Mac and Trent had started making three penny bets since Jackson brought the idea home from his high school. They liked making three penny bets because nobody really lost any money, but it could be a pain in the ass to find three pennies for the payoff. The loser could not pay a nickel and expect to get two pennies back. It was three pennies within 24 hours or pay the penalty, which was a three-dollar payoff.
 
 Mac, Trent, Miles, and Scott settled into the bus with Max and Muddy and enjoyed the twenty-minute ride to the Carlsbad Resort.
 
<Michael’s Bedroom>
 
When the music finally died down and the hijinks in the backyard started to peter out, Aiden and his group settled into the hot tub. The talk around and in the hot tub slowly shifted from championship baseball, the hijinks around the pool, music, and other random topics, to the world of pubescent sex and horniness.
 
“I don’t know what’s hitting me the hardest, my dick or my wanting to shut my eyes and sleep,” Aiden said. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to fight the battle between sex and sleep. Because of the long day that included three high intensity baseball games, sleep was winning out. The warm water of the hot tub wasn’t helping. He thought about getting out and jumping into the cold water of the pool to wake him up.
 
“There are six of us sitting together here at the hot tub,” Michael said. He was referring to Aiden, Nolan, Jaden, Christian, Tim Whalen, and himself. “I’ve been counting the yawns and I think it’s time to get out of the hot tub or our chairs and jump into the pool. That will keep us awake long enough to get to my bedroom where we talk each other to sleep.”
 
“Or jerk each other off to sleep,” Christian chuckled.
 
“I can tell Christian didn’t play three games today like Aiden and I did,” Nolan said. “I don’t have the energy to get to Michael’s bedroom, let alone whack my pud.”
 
“Then how come you have a boner?” Aiden asked as he felt up Nolan’s hard cock under the water.”
 
“Because I’m sitting naked next to you and have been yakking about sex with four other naked guys. And two of them have boners right now too, right Michael and Christian?”
 
“Yep, and we’re proud of it,” Michael smirked. “And now it’s pool time.” Michael stepped out of the hot tub, trotted over to the swimming pool, and jumped in, screaming as he hit the water. The other five followed his lead and soon all six boys in the hot tub group were paddling around the pool.
 
“Now, let’s get out of the pool, dry off, and go to my room,” Michael said as he gently pulled Christian’s right hand off his now soft cock.
 
Less than ten minutes later Christian, Tim, Aiden, Jaden, Nolan, and Michael were standing in Michael’s room. The first thing Nolan noticed was the collection of Lego buildings along one of the walls.
 
“Holy crap, did you make all of those buildings, Michael?” he asked. Aiden wasn’t surprised that Legos were the first thing to catch his boyfriend’s attention.
 
“Yes, I did,” Michael said proudly. “I plan on being an architect some day.”
 
Nolan told Michael about the model railway he and his father had built and that his section of the layout consisted of Lego construction. “The railroad stuff is all standard, but the buildings and structures are all made from LEGOS. The one thing I don’t have yet is a good railroad station, of all things, but I’m working at it.”
 
“That would be great to see some time.”
 
Nolan wished he had stopped in the living room and grabbed his phone out of his gym bag so he could show Michael some pictures of the layout. But, for now, he would have to do his best job of describing it.  
 
 Aiden got everyone’s attention when he flopped on Michael’s bed and stared up at the ceiling. “Now what?” he asked.   He figured the LEGO time was up, not that he had anything against LEGOS—he loved it when he and Nolan worked together with them. But he was horny and wanted to do something about it before his eyes shut for the night. 
 
Jaden dropped next to Aiden, giving him a little nudge with his right elbow. “Now I want to do what we were talking about before you and Nolan got more tired than horny,” he said.
 
“I know, I know, you want Nolan to take up where he left off when he was finger fucking you when you visited Mayfield and take your cherry.” Aiden turned his head and gave Jaden his best smile. “If Nolan and I can stay awake long enough, we’re good with making you happy. Right, Nolan?”
 
Nolan sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m dead tired, but I still have that bleeping boner,” he replied.
 
“Puberty can be tough,” Michael said.
 
“Tell me about it.” Nolan dropped onto his back and took his turn staring at the ceiling, trying to stay awake as he thought about Jaden’s cute, fuckable ass.
 
Away from the bed, Michael, Tim, and Christian had been having fun of their own. Michael instructed Tim to sit on the beanbag on the floor, which he did. He was horny beyond belief, his five-inch boner leaking precum.
 
Michael looked over at Christian, pointed to Tim’s chest, and grinned. “Get my drift?
 
“I believe I do,” Christian replied.
 
Tim wondered what the two were talking about. He found out quickly when Michael leaned in from his left side and started licking and sucking his left nipple while Christian did the same from his right side. Tim couldn’t believe how good that felt, but it got even better when Michael reached between his spread legs and started rubbing his balls. “Ohhhhhhhh, fucking wow!” Tim moaned. He couldn’t help but loudly express the feelings he had never experienced before.
 
“You gotta do me,” Tim moaned. “You gotta do me now while I want it.”
 
“Are you absolutely sure?” Michael asked after he and Christian pulled back from Tim’s chest.
 
“We talked about it in the hot tub, remember? I said yes and now I’m gonna say I want Michael to take my virginity because he’s not as big as Christian. No offense, Christian.”
 
“Being told I’ve got a big cock certainly doesn’t offend me.” It was especially good to hear right then because Christian was reasonably certain that Nolan might be a little bigger than him.
 
Michael stayed out of the discussion and pulled a tube of lube out of his nightstand drawer. He efficiently applied it to his hard, leaking cock, and had Tim spread his legs wide so he could lube his ass.
 
“I’m gonna be just like my brother Wade,” Tim rasped.
 
“You mean you’re going to be gay like him?” Michael asked.
 
“No, I mean I’m not going to be a butt virgin. And just because I’m not gay doesn’t mean I can’t get my ass fucked.”
 
“Very true,” Christian said.
 
Up on the bed, Nolan, Jaden, and Aiden were listening in and getting even more turned on. Sleep was out of the question for Nolan and Aiden. As tired as they were, they knew they had to witness Tim’s deflowering. The fact that Jaden wanted the same experience as Tim added some immediacy to what Michael and Tim would be doing.
 
After completing his prep work, Michael positioned himself for entry and slowly made his way into Tim’s virgin ass. “Does this hurt?”
 
“A little, but it’s good, it’s good, keep going in. It’s good,” Tim replied.
 
Aiden shook with lust when he saw Michael’s beautiful cock enter the thirteen-year-old’s ass.
 
Michael started thrusting with care, not wanting to hurt his new friend. Tim took the pain with the good feelings, which were stronger than the painful ones. And as Michael continued on with quicker thrusts, the pain eased until the amazing feelings Michael generated in his rectum totally overtook him. He moaned loudly, especially as Michael rubbed his sweet spot with his pubescent cock.
 
It didn’t take long for Tim to cum. His ass squeezed Michael’s cock. Christian could see what was going to happen and reached between Tim and Michael to give Tim’s cock a couple of strokes, causing him to squirt his mostly clear cum over his belly.
 
Michael couldn’t hold out any longer. He pulled out of Tim’s ass and shot on Tim’s belly, mixing their emissions.
 
“Oh, fuck, you guys were hot,” Aiden uttered in a low whisper. “I am close to firing my own wad.”
 
“I’ve waited long enough.” Jaden moaned. “Do it to me, Nolan, just like Michael did to Tim. I don’t care if it hurts—look how Tim was his first time. He hurt and then he didn’t and then he shot his load.”
 
“Remember, Nolan is bigger than Aiden, and Michael for that matter,” Christian pointed out.
 
“I don’t care. I’ve had jerk offs thinking about Nolan fucking me since I got back from my visit to Mayfield.”
 
Michael picked up his lube and did the honors of lubing Jaden’s ass. “Don’t touch my cock or you might make me cum,” Nolan told Michael. Michael nodded and handed Nolan the lube. Nolan took care of himself and announced that he was ready.
 
Jaden had his legs spread and up in the air just like Tim had done. At first Nolan had a hard time entering Jaden’s ass until he decided he was being too gentle. He gave a harder thrust and popped in a little harder than he intended. Jaden squawked with pain.
 
“Do you want to stop?” Nolan asked.
 
“Nooooooooooo,” Jaden called out. Nolan resumed his thrusts, but since he was now ensconced in Jaden’s rectum, he was able to up the pace a little. He loved the hot tightness of Jaden’s insides and was even more determined to make Jaden’s first fuck a first-class affair.
 
While the discomfort never went away, it died down, Nolan’s practiced cock did the things that made Aiden and his other partners happy. Soon, Jaden’s moans of pain morphed into moans of pleasure. “Oh, fuck, fucking feels good,” Jaden cried out. “Keep going like that, Nolan. I think I’m getting close.”
 
Like Michael with Tim, Nolan’s cock rubbing Jaden’s sweet spot sent waves of pleasure through the bottom. “Nolan, Nolan, Nolan, fuck me, Nolan,” Jaden cried out. “Fuck meeeeeeeeeee, Nolan, fuck meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Alex, Alex, Alex,” Jaden moaned in his sexual haze. He then caught what he was saying, and changed back to Nolan’s name until all he could do was moan incomprehensible words. He then screamed with pleasure mixed with a quick tinge of pain as he had a no touch cum that flooded his belly with his          spooge.
 
Nolan, who had held back a little, let go and flooded Jaden’s insides. At the same time Aiden jerked himself off and mixed his cum with Jaden’s. Down on the floor and the beanbag chair, Christian and Michael jerked off to their second orgasms of the evening, shooting on each other. Although he was rock hard, Tim was satisfied with one cum—this time.
 
“Damn, Jaden, did you know you called out Alex’s name just before you came?” Michael asked.
 
“I can’t believe I did that. But I stopped myself pretty quick I think,” Jaden said.
 
“You and Alex both have boyfriends.”
 
“I know, but that doesn't keep me from having a crush on Alex for some reason. It’s not like I plan on stealing him from somebody or anything. I’m not gonna tell him and you’d better not tell him either.”
 
“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us,” Michael said. “Now, as for those two Mayfield boys…”
 
“Nobody’s better at keeping a secret than us,” Nolan said. “As they say in ‘Tom Sawyer’, ‘mum’s the word.’”
 
“What Nolan says,” Aiden added.
 
“I have a secret crush, one that nobody can rush; the secret’s safe with my friends, ‘cuz mum’s the word and that’s the message it sends,” Michael said. “A bit rough, but a start to a possible song. You never know.”
 
“I know I’m ready to fall asleep,” Aiden said.
 
“Damn, Aiden, you’ve been ready to fall asleep since you got off the bus at Casa Meijer.”
 
“You try playing three loser out baseball games in one day and see how well you stay awake.”
 
“You try two concerts in one day and see how well you stay awake,” Michael countered.
 
“Point made.”
 
“The point was made by you first. Now, the bed is big and, except for Nolan and Christian, the bodies are small, so what do you think of the six of us snuggling up on the bed and sleeping together?”
 
“Six naked boys sleeping together on one bed. What a turn on that’s going to be,” Tim said.
 
“Or it could be six naked boys snuggling up nice and warm and comfy and falling asleep,” Michael said. “Either way, it would be a delicious way to sleep together.”
 
“A delicious sleep?” Aiden asked. “I like it. How are we going to line up?”
 
Christian answered first. “Let’s have the two who had their butts warmed tonight, and don’t have a boyfriend to sleep with, be the first two on the right. Aiden and Michael can snuggle on the left side. And Nolan and I, the two big boys, can take up the middle.”
 
Everybody agreed that was a good idea. After pisses were taken they climbed into bed in the order they had agreed on. Each pair snuggled together. Aiden and Michael exchanged kisses as did Nolan and Christian. Tim and Jaden simply hugged. Within minutes, all six very tired young boys were engaged in a delicious sleep.
 
 
 
Rita dropped Max, Muddy, Trent, Mac, Miles, and Scott at the drop off spot near the main entrance of the Carlsbad Resort. Trent and Mac headed for Room 206, which had been their room for the week. Muddy, their roommate, would be using Room 203, where Aiden, Nolan, and Mason had slept. Muddy had Mason’s key with instructions to sleep in the portable bed, which was never used since Nolan slept with Aiden every night.
 
Miles and Scott would be in Room 204, which was Miles’ room. Calvin and Gordy, who were his roommates, would be overnighting at the party. Max was in Room 202, which was his room. Grant and Lance were his roommates and were also overnighting at the party.
 
Neither Max nor Muddy found the sexual hijinks at the party interesting. Max didn’t see a party being interesting unless it had lots of alcohol, weed, and girls. Except for a bit of experimenting, he wasn’t interested in messing around with boys. Muddy did a great deal of experimenting and had even been a kind of a boyfriend of Mason’s for a brief time. But he had a ready source of female sex with his cousins and that was where his sexual interest was.
 
 
 
Scott and Miles sat on the sofa when they entered Miles’ room. “I was surprised that Gordy stayed at the party,” Miles said. “That kind of party isn’t really his scene.”
 
“He goes to Aiden’s parties, so it can’t be like it turns him off,” Scott said.
 
“Yeah, but Aiden is Gordy’s bestest friend. They could all go and dance naked in the front yard as the cars went by and Gordy would be right there with them.”
 
“There’s no way that happens. Even Aiden’s clothing optional parties don’t get that wild.”
 
“True, but I was just saying. Gordy’s one of my best friends and I hung around with him for a while on the lounge chairs at the pool. Gordy had no problem stripping down when everybody else started doing it.” Miles decided not to mention that he’d fucked Gordy once.
 
“Even my cousin Ronnie was naked with that Jack dude, and they were awful cuddly on the chair,” Scott said. “I figured I’d better go before I stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong.”
 
“Yeah, I saw them too and they were major boned up. I got hard looking at them. They sure seemed to like each other.”
 
“I know. And I don’t think Ronnie is even gay. I’ve got no clue about Jack, but I have a feeling he might be. I just hope he’s as nice as it seems. I’d hate to see Ronnie get all messed up by somebody who doesn’t treat him right.”
 
Miles wanted to tell Scott that he needed to lighten up when it came to dealing with his cousin. He was about to open his mouth when the thought hit him that maybe Scott and Ronnie had sex together and Scott might be jealous of Jack and some of the other East Harbor boys. He decided it was none of his business. Instead, he changed the topic to another boy. “What did you think of Calvin?”
 
“I’m glad we picked him up for the tournament. Not only because he’s a good pitcher but because he’s a totally cool dude. He was funny and awesome at getting us going before games and in games.”
 
“Yeah. He sure made me wish he would move to Mayfield. He’s not uptight about all the sex stuff going on even though he’s not gay. He’d make a good Mayfield player.”
 
“You’re not uptight about it either,” Scott told him. “And you’re sure not gay.”
 
“I’m sure. All you gotta do is ask Brittany about that. Even though I’ve had sex with two girls, I got no problem getting fucked by a boy, which happens a lot with my brother, John. He loves my butt when he gets high.”
 
“I know you’ve done Brittany a few times, but who was the other girl.”
 
“Kalie’s cousin Gretchen,” Miles grinned. He surprised Scott by opening his shorts and pulling out his four-and-a-half-inch boner. “I’m gonna want to get to sleep soon, so how about we jerk off together first. All this sex talk’s got me horny.”
 
“Sounds like a plan to me.” Scott looked at his teammate’s leaking cock. “Dang, you’re getting a lot of hair.”
 
“I’m working on it.”
 
Scott pulled off his shorts and boxers and displayed his five-inch cock which was also leaking precum. “Let’s whack our puds.”
 
“I have hardly any hair compared to you. You’ve got a bush over your cock. Almost as much as John.”
 
“Just like you, I’m working on it.”
 
Scott removed his t-shirt, leaving him naked, and Miles followed suit. The two young teens started right to work on dealing with their horniness, their right hands flying over their rock-hard cocks. Even though he was a year younger than Scott, Miles was the more experienced sexually, especially when it came to butt sex. He’d butt fucked one way or the other with nine boys compared to two for Scott. As a result, he soon started playing with his ass with his left hand as his right hand took care of masturbation business. Both of them had jerked off with other boys a number of times and felt no shyness as they grunted and groaned their way through a quick but satisfying jerk off.
 
Scott came a few seconds before Miles. He fired his first shot of teen cum up to his nipples, then squirted five other shots down to his pubic bush. Miles hit his chin first and unloaded six other squirts. Both boys lay back on the sofa and caught their breath.
 
“That was intense,” Scott said.
 
“Yeah, it was,” Miles agreed. “I’d say we needed it.”
 
“Let’s wipe up our mess,” Scott suggested. He and Miles sauntered over to the bathroom. Scott wet a washcloth and they took turns wiping off the cum. Scott picked his underpants off the floor when Miles stopped him.
 
“You can spend the night here if you want,” Miles said. “I’m still trying to figure out why I didn’t play better in the tournament and thought maybe you could sleep with me. I just need somebody to hold me and who better than the team captain doing it.  We don’t have to sleep naked if you don’t want to.”
 
Scott dropped his boxers on the floor. “I’m cool with it. With me being worried about Ronnie, I could use some hugging too.”
 
The boys were soon and naked face to face in Miles’ bed. They reached out and held each other, their bodies touching and breath touching each other’s face. When thinking about it later, neither boy could swear who originated it, but the situation led them to planting their lips against each other. Miles was no longer into kissing boys (at least not often) and Scott rarely kissed anyone, boy or girl. But whatever power had grabbed them on the bed had them kissing each other lightly, then with increasing passion, and before they knew it, they were trading tongue. Neither one was sure why they were kissing passionately, hugging tightly, and moaning with pleasure, but both of them were enjoying it immensely.    
 
Their cocks were once again hard, and they couldn’t help but touch. They wordlessly started humping while they continued to kiss and hug each other. They thrust and humped and kissed and hugged until Miles shot his second load of the night on Scott’s belly and Scott quickly returned the favor.
 
When they recovered their breath, Scott said, “I can’t believe we did that.”
 
“Me either, but I’m glad we did. It made me feel loved by a good friend and teammate and made me feel just plain better.”
 
“Same with me…same with me. And we’ve kind of made a mess over each other.”
 
“Then we’ll have a messy sleep. The showers will work in the morning, and I bet the maids have seen cum-stained sheets before,” Miles said.
 
The two teens continued to hug each other and were soon asleep in each other’s arms.
 
 
 
Trent and Mac started stripping naked as soon as they entered their room. They were both dead tired after the long day of baseball followed by the energetic championship party. However, they had no doubt what they were going to do before crashing. They had been talking about it all week, getting more and more serious as the week played out until they decided to do it on this day no matter what.
 
What they had decided to do was have the pitcher fuck the catcher instead of the catcher fucking the pitcher as they usually did. Mac fucked Trent the day before a game he was slated to start on the mound to cement his status as the alpha catcher. But Trent wanted to go home on equal footing by topping Mac in California. He said one fuck was all he needed to even things out. Mac was cool with that since he did not like being the bottom.
 
Mac took a tube of lube out of his travel bag and the two best friends dropped on Trent’s bed. After both of them lubed up, Trent lined up his cock with Mac’s ass and pushed into it. There was no kissing, no petting, no foreplay of any kind. They were simply two macho teens ready to get off.
 
Mac tensed up and grunted with discomfort when Trent entered him, but Trent knew Mac well enough to stop and wait for his friend to nod that he was ready. Mac took around twenty seconds to settle down and relax before he nodded to tell Trent he was ready.
 
Trent started pumping him. Mac’s moans were now moans of pleasure and Trent read him perfectly. He stepped up his pace and started fucking his catcher harder.
 
“Ohhhhhhhhh yeah, you’re doing fucking great…you can fuck me as hard as you want,” Mac groaned. Trent did just that and the two big, athletic teens were bouncing on the bed. The fuck ended up being hard, deep, and quick. Trent came first, filling Mac’s ass with his spooge seconds before Mac shot his load over his abdomen.  
 
“Oh, man, that was perfect,” Mac said after recovering from the pleasurable session with the friend he loved so much. For him it was not the love one shows a boyfriend, rather it was the love a boy shows for a loyal friend who is everything that boy would want in a friend.
 
They rose from the bed and went into the bathroom where they cleaned themselves up, took care of their teeth, and had their before bed piss. They then climbed back onto Trent’s bed.
 
“Night, Mac. Thanks for being a great catcher, and I’m not talking about just tonight.”
 
“And good night to you, Trent. Thanks for being the best friend a former punk asshole could ever dream of having.”
 
“The same with me. You’re fucking awesome.”
 
“I’m fucking awesome or I fuck awesome?”
 
“Both. Now, let’s get some sleep so I don’t fall asleep on a Lego bed or some such thing tomorrow,” Trent chuckled.
 
There were no good-night kisses or hugs. The macho athletes had done their thing. They knew it wouldn’t be the last time for them—who knew when that would be? They had done their thing just like two sets of twins enjoying a bed of their own would have diagrammed it. The pitcher pitched and the catcher caught; unless they switched, of course.
 
Next: Final Day