Patriarchy (4/8)
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Chapter Three
Kevin slung his towel over a low-hanging tree branch at the edge of the small lake’s beach. He looked out at the float and saw Sarah and Kitty lying on top of it, tanning. Justin and Tommy were, as usual, jumping off of the float and then climbing back on, dripping water on the girls and making them shriek. He leaned on the branch, kicking off his shoes. As he started to pull off his t-shirt, someone spoke.
"Hey."
Half-undressed, Kevin turned. It was the kid, Tucker Booth, whose parents just bought the old cabin next to the Gimbles’. Tucker was about Sarah’s age, and he seemed really cool. All the Ojai regulars wanted to be his friend.
"Kevin, right?"
Kevin couldn’t speak - Tucker knew his name?? - so he only nodded.
"Nice meeting you," Tucker said before he ran into the lake, swimming out to the float. He pulled himself onto it, and even from this far away, Kevin could see the water running off his back. It wasn’t until Tucker was seated on the raft, talking with Sarah, that Kevin realized he was still just standing there with his shirt half off.
He had planned to ask Sarah what Tucker was like that night before dinner. They hadn’t spent much time with him yet, so he was curious. But Sarah was late that night; she didn’t get back to the cabin until right before they started eating, and she was really quiet and distracted for the rest of the night.
Besides, Kevin soon had other things to worry about.
"Kevin, Sara Gimble is starting summer school this week, and they wanted someone to tutor her. I said you would."
Tommy and Justin started making kissing noises, and Kevin sighed. He used to like Sara Gimble fine, but this year she wouldn’t leave him alone. She was always following him around or staring at him when she was with the other girls. "Why me?"
William glanced up at Kevin. "Because you’re good at social studies, and it won’t kill you."
"It might," Kevin grumbled quietly under his breath.
But the next afternoon, he found himself sitting in the Gimbles’ kitchen, skimming through the chapter Sara had to read for summer school. Mr. Gimble had to go back to his office in L.A. for a couple days, and Mrs. Gimble was shopping. It was just Sara and him, and he was feeling a little uncomfortable. She kept glancing at him while she wrote down notes and smiling in this really weird way.
By the time she looked at Kevin for, like, the 20th time, he sighed and put the book down. "What?" he asked.
"Do you want to take a break?"
"Sara, we just started."
"I know, but...just, come with me."
She rose from the table and, confused, Kevin followed her down the hallway. They stopped just outside a bedroom. She opened the door and gestured for Kevin to enter. He did and then turned to face her.
"What's - ?" Kevin didn’t have time to finish his question before Sara grabbed onto him and started kissing him. Kevin was shocked and immediately pulled back. "Sara, what are you doing?"
"I’m kissing you, silly. You have kissed a girl before, right?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure," Kevin lied.
"Have you ever done anything else with a girl?"
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked, still trying to get a grasp on what was happening.
Sara grinned at him and pushed him down onto the bed.
**
Kevin was sprawled out on the bed, clenching the sheets in his fingers and trying not to come undone. They had just been sitting there, sharing some ice cream, talking quietly in front of the TV. Then Scotty had stopped mid-sentence and looked at him with this small smile. The next thing Kevin knew, he was naked and Scotty was drizzling melting ice cream on his body, only to lick it off with his burning tongue. He lifted his head slightly, panting, and watched Scotty as he reached the spoon into the container yet again. He looked up at Kevin, raising his eyebrows as he put the bite of ice cream into his mouth. Slowly dragging the spoon out from between his lips, Scotty smiled and dropped down. Scotty took him in his mouth, and the combination of the cold ice cream and the warm, soft, wet suction was too much. Kevin shouted as he came.
Scotty crawled up the bed until he was even with Kevin. Kevin turned to his side and pulled Scotty close against him.
"You’re all sticky," Scotty whispered with a laugh as he lightly rocked against Kevin.
Kevin could feel Scotty hard against his thigh, but he couldn’t concentrate on that yet. He needed to ask him something - something that had been in the back of his mind for a week now.
"Come away with me this weekend?"
Scotty paused in his slow movements and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really?"
Kevin nodded. "Well, it’ll actually be the whole family. We’re going up to our cabin at Ojai. I haven’t been there for years. It’s gorgeous, and I...I want you there with me."
Scotty grinned and started moving against Kevin again. "Ojai, huh?"
"Yeah." Kevin laughed. "I lost my virginity there, actually. Both times."
Scotty rotated his hips slightly, pressed a little harder, and Kevin moaned. He sat up and reached across Scotty to the bedside table, pulling open the drawer and grabbing the supplies he knew were there. Scotty took them from him, and Kevin laid back down.
"First to this girl, Sara Gimble. And the second, one summer later, this guy, this total stud - " Kevin broke off, gasping as he felt Scotty’s slick fingers enter him. "Tucker...God, Scotty, right there...Tucker Booth. I lured him into this tree house Tommy and I had built."
Scotty didn’t say anything, only concentrated on his actions. Finally, he removed his fingers, and Kevin groaned softly. Positioning himself, Scotty gazed into Kevin’s eyes. He pressed in slowly and then said, "All right. I’ll go."
"Yeah?" Kevin smiled. He wrapped one arm around Scotty’s back and brought the other hand further down, using it to force Scotty deeper into him.
"Mm-hmm." Scotty nodded, eyes closing as he dropped his head. "I want to see this tree house."
**
For a weekend get-away, they hadn’t had a lot of time alone together. Scotty hadn’t realized that, when Kevin said his whole family would be there, he meant that the three brothers would be sharing a room while Scotty bunked in with Warren and Joe. Although it did make him feel somewhat better that William apparently wasn’t comfortable with any of his children sharing a bedroom with their significant others.
Nonetheless, he was getting quite frustrated. It seemed like whenever he had a moment alone with Kevin, someone would enter the room just as Scotty was about to make his move. Now, though, now Scotty should have a few minutes. Everyone was out of the house for a change, and they had the living room to themselves. He walked over to the chair that Kevin was lounging in.
"Let’s go for a walk," he suggested casually.
"Sure," Kevin said, standing. "Anywhere in particular?"
"Mmm," Scotty murmured. "I was thinking the barn."
"The barn?"
"Yeah," Scotty said quietly. He hooked his two index fingers through the belt loops of Kevin’s jeans, pulling him closer. Scotty could feel Kevin start to harden as Scotty pushed back into him, guiding him until he was standing with his back to the wall.
"Do you realize," he asked, nuzzling Kevin’s neck, "that this could be my only chance for a literal roll in the hay?"
Kevin laughed quietly, breathlessly. He ran a hand up Scotty’s back. "I think we can probably arrange that."
He was leaning closer to Scotty, clearly about to kiss him, when it happened.
"Kev? Whoa!" It was Tommy, and Kevin gently but quickly pushed Scotty away from him. Scotty stumbled to the side, while Kevin cleared his throat and straightened his shirt.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Come help me start the tractor? I want to clear some brush so we can play football."
Kevin glanced at Scotty and smiled ruefully at him. "Fine," he agreed, shrugging his shoulders.
Tommy left the room, and Kevin turned to Scotty. "This shouldn’t take too long. We can check out the barn later."
Kevin followed Tommy out of the room, and Scotty sighed. He looked at the door for several seconds after Kevin disappeared. "Right," he muttered to himself.
**
That night, at dinner, Scotty conducted an experiment. First, he slowly moved his leg closer to Kevin, pressing his knee against Kevin’s leg. Kevin glanced at him with a small smile and pressed back. Scotty casually dropped his left hand below the table, placing it high on Kevin’s thigh. Lightly rubbing him, Scotty moved his hand higher and further in. He heard Kevin stifle a noise as he opened his legs wider, allowing Scotty more access.
Instead he changed course. He removed his hand and lifted it back up to the table. He rested his hand just next to Kevin’s and reached out with one knuckle to rub the backs of Kevin’s fingers.
Kevin immediately moved, reaching out for his wine glass and taking a drink. After he put the glass down, he didn’t return his hand.
So Scotty was beginning to realize something. Over the last few weeks, Kevin had started to loosen up in public. Scotty had never pressed him into anything, had kept his end of their deal. But Kevin, on his own, had started to reach over for his hand at the coffee shop or place his hand on Scotty’s back as they walked out of restaurants. He had even leaned over and kissed him in the theater last week.
This weekend, it was like they were back to the very beginning of their relationship. You would never have known that they were falling in love (at least, that’s what Scotty thought they were doing). And if the Walkers were a more reserved family, Scotty could have maybe accepted it, but that weekend, he had seen Tommy and Julia kiss each other in front of the family. Joe even now had his arm around Sarah, and everyone knew about Justin and Tyler’s adventure in the tree house that afternoon. Even Nora and William casually showed affection all weekend.
It was only Scotty and Kevin who had to hide their feelings any time someone else was in the room.
Chapter Four
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Chapter Three
Kevin slung his towel over a low-hanging tree branch at the edge of the small lake’s beach. He looked out at the float and saw Sarah and Kitty lying on top of it, tanning. Justin and Tommy were, as usual, jumping off of the float and then climbing back on, dripping water on the girls and making them shriek. He leaned on the branch, kicking off his shoes. As he started to pull off his t-shirt, someone spoke.
"Hey."
Half-undressed, Kevin turned. It was the kid, Tucker Booth, whose parents just bought the old cabin next to the Gimbles’. Tucker was about Sarah’s age, and he seemed really cool. All the Ojai regulars wanted to be his friend.
"Kevin, right?"
Kevin couldn’t speak - Tucker knew his name?? - so he only nodded.
"Nice meeting you," Tucker said before he ran into the lake, swimming out to the float. He pulled himself onto it, and even from this far away, Kevin could see the water running off his back. It wasn’t until Tucker was seated on the raft, talking with Sarah, that Kevin realized he was still just standing there with his shirt half off.
He had planned to ask Sarah what Tucker was like that night before dinner. They hadn’t spent much time with him yet, so he was curious. But Sarah was late that night; she didn’t get back to the cabin until right before they started eating, and she was really quiet and distracted for the rest of the night.
Besides, Kevin soon had other things to worry about.
"Kevin, Sara Gimble is starting summer school this week, and they wanted someone to tutor her. I said you would."
Tommy and Justin started making kissing noises, and Kevin sighed. He used to like Sara Gimble fine, but this year she wouldn’t leave him alone. She was always following him around or staring at him when she was with the other girls. "Why me?"
William glanced up at Kevin. "Because you’re good at social studies, and it won’t kill you."
"It might," Kevin grumbled quietly under his breath.
But the next afternoon, he found himself sitting in the Gimbles’ kitchen, skimming through the chapter Sara had to read for summer school. Mr. Gimble had to go back to his office in L.A. for a couple days, and Mrs. Gimble was shopping. It was just Sara and him, and he was feeling a little uncomfortable. She kept glancing at him while she wrote down notes and smiling in this really weird way.
By the time she looked at Kevin for, like, the 20th time, he sighed and put the book down. "What?" he asked.
"Do you want to take a break?"
"Sara, we just started."
"I know, but...just, come with me."
She rose from the table and, confused, Kevin followed her down the hallway. They stopped just outside a bedroom. She opened the door and gestured for Kevin to enter. He did and then turned to face her.
"What's - ?" Kevin didn’t have time to finish his question before Sara grabbed onto him and started kissing him. Kevin was shocked and immediately pulled back. "Sara, what are you doing?"
"I’m kissing you, silly. You have kissed a girl before, right?"
"Huh? Yeah, sure," Kevin lied.
"Have you ever done anything else with a girl?"
"What do you mean?" Kevin asked, still trying to get a grasp on what was happening.
Sara grinned at him and pushed him down onto the bed.
**
Kevin was sprawled out on the bed, clenching the sheets in his fingers and trying not to come undone. They had just been sitting there, sharing some ice cream, talking quietly in front of the TV. Then Scotty had stopped mid-sentence and looked at him with this small smile. The next thing Kevin knew, he was naked and Scotty was drizzling melting ice cream on his body, only to lick it off with his burning tongue. He lifted his head slightly, panting, and watched Scotty as he reached the spoon into the container yet again. He looked up at Kevin, raising his eyebrows as he put the bite of ice cream into his mouth. Slowly dragging the spoon out from between his lips, Scotty smiled and dropped down. Scotty took him in his mouth, and the combination of the cold ice cream and the warm, soft, wet suction was too much. Kevin shouted as he came.
Scotty crawled up the bed until he was even with Kevin. Kevin turned to his side and pulled Scotty close against him.
"You’re all sticky," Scotty whispered with a laugh as he lightly rocked against Kevin.
Kevin could feel Scotty hard against his thigh, but he couldn’t concentrate on that yet. He needed to ask him something - something that had been in the back of his mind for a week now.
"Come away with me this weekend?"
Scotty paused in his slow movements and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really?"
Kevin nodded. "Well, it’ll actually be the whole family. We’re going up to our cabin at Ojai. I haven’t been there for years. It’s gorgeous, and I...I want you there with me."
Scotty grinned and started moving against Kevin again. "Ojai, huh?"
"Yeah." Kevin laughed. "I lost my virginity there, actually. Both times."
Scotty rotated his hips slightly, pressed a little harder, and Kevin moaned. He sat up and reached across Scotty to the bedside table, pulling open the drawer and grabbing the supplies he knew were there. Scotty took them from him, and Kevin laid back down.
"First to this girl, Sara Gimble. And the second, one summer later, this guy, this total stud - " Kevin broke off, gasping as he felt Scotty’s slick fingers enter him. "Tucker...God, Scotty, right there...Tucker Booth. I lured him into this tree house Tommy and I had built."
Scotty didn’t say anything, only concentrated on his actions. Finally, he removed his fingers, and Kevin groaned softly. Positioning himself, Scotty gazed into Kevin’s eyes. He pressed in slowly and then said, "All right. I’ll go."
"Yeah?" Kevin smiled. He wrapped one arm around Scotty’s back and brought the other hand further down, using it to force Scotty deeper into him.
"Mm-hmm." Scotty nodded, eyes closing as he dropped his head. "I want to see this tree house."
**
For a weekend get-away, they hadn’t had a lot of time alone together. Scotty hadn’t realized that, when Kevin said his whole family would be there, he meant that the three brothers would be sharing a room while Scotty bunked in with Warren and Joe. Although it did make him feel somewhat better that William apparently wasn’t comfortable with any of his children sharing a bedroom with their significant others.
Nonetheless, he was getting quite frustrated. It seemed like whenever he had a moment alone with Kevin, someone would enter the room just as Scotty was about to make his move. Now, though, now Scotty should have a few minutes. Everyone was out of the house for a change, and they had the living room to themselves. He walked over to the chair that Kevin was lounging in.
"Let’s go for a walk," he suggested casually.
"Sure," Kevin said, standing. "Anywhere in particular?"
"Mmm," Scotty murmured. "I was thinking the barn."
"The barn?"
"Yeah," Scotty said quietly. He hooked his two index fingers through the belt loops of Kevin’s jeans, pulling him closer. Scotty could feel Kevin start to harden as Scotty pushed back into him, guiding him until he was standing with his back to the wall.
"Do you realize," he asked, nuzzling Kevin’s neck, "that this could be my only chance for a literal roll in the hay?"
Kevin laughed quietly, breathlessly. He ran a hand up Scotty’s back. "I think we can probably arrange that."
He was leaning closer to Scotty, clearly about to kiss him, when it happened.
"Kev? Whoa!" It was Tommy, and Kevin gently but quickly pushed Scotty away from him. Scotty stumbled to the side, while Kevin cleared his throat and straightened his shirt.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Come help me start the tractor? I want to clear some brush so we can play football."
Kevin glanced at Scotty and smiled ruefully at him. "Fine," he agreed, shrugging his shoulders.
Tommy left the room, and Kevin turned to Scotty. "This shouldn’t take too long. We can check out the barn later."
Kevin followed Tommy out of the room, and Scotty sighed. He looked at the door for several seconds after Kevin disappeared. "Right," he muttered to himself.
**
That night, at dinner, Scotty conducted an experiment. First, he slowly moved his leg closer to Kevin, pressing his knee against Kevin’s leg. Kevin glanced at him with a small smile and pressed back. Scotty casually dropped his left hand below the table, placing it high on Kevin’s thigh. Lightly rubbing him, Scotty moved his hand higher and further in. He heard Kevin stifle a noise as he opened his legs wider, allowing Scotty more access.
Instead he changed course. He removed his hand and lifted it back up to the table. He rested his hand just next to Kevin’s and reached out with one knuckle to rub the backs of Kevin’s fingers.
Kevin immediately moved, reaching out for his wine glass and taking a drink. After he put the glass down, he didn’t return his hand.
So Scotty was beginning to realize something. Over the last few weeks, Kevin had started to loosen up in public. Scotty had never pressed him into anything, had kept his end of their deal. But Kevin, on his own, had started to reach over for his hand at the coffee shop or place his hand on Scotty’s back as they walked out of restaurants. He had even leaned over and kissed him in the theater last week.
This weekend, it was like they were back to the very beginning of their relationship. You would never have known that they were falling in love (at least, that’s what Scotty thought they were doing). And if the Walkers were a more reserved family, Scotty could have maybe accepted it, but that weekend, he had seen Tommy and Julia kiss each other in front of the family. Joe even now had his arm around Sarah, and everyone knew about Justin and Tyler’s adventure in the tree house that afternoon. Even Nora and William casually showed affection all weekend.
It was only Scotty and Kevin who had to hide their feelings any time someone else was in the room.
Chapter Four
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