by Zane Menzy
Jason smiled. “Flat the fuck out I will! I wouldn’t miss the drama for the world.”
Matt laughed at his friend’s eagerness for a scene. “Glad to know you you’ll be there to protect me.”
Jason surprised him with a hug. He wrapped his arms around Matt’s back, giving him a squeeze and whispered, “We’re friends, Matty Pie. That’s what we do.”
CHAPTER TWELVE:
Unanswered Question
“Where the hell were you last night,” Lexi asked, pretending to sound angry. She adjusted her sombrero-sized pink sun hat, looking out at the calm harbour where Todd was making his way back to shore after his dunk in the sea.
“Try and guess,” Damon answered. He lay on his side, digging his feet into the sand, enjoying the last shreds of daylight that hung in the sky.
Lexi and Todd had turned up at his house an hour earlier asking if he would like to join them for a swim. Damon denied taking a dip but came along to catch up with his mates, escaping the house before his parent’s dinner guests arrived.
Jenna was a monster when she had guests coming, she would run around in circles, worrying if everything was “perfect enough” to the point it must have been more hassle than it was worth, Damon thought.
Lexi screwed her face up, thinking of an answer to his mystery cancellation on last night’s movie outing. “You were abducted by aliens and taken to Mars and crowned their emperor!”
Damon laughed. “Nope, can’t say I had that privilege.”
“You joined a cult and were busy with a human sacrifice as part of your initiation.” Lexi’s eyes sparkled with cheek.
“Wrong again, weirdo.”
Lexi flicked him on the shoulder. “Gee, I think you will just have to tell me then. I just hope it’s as exciting as the answers I gave.”
“What answers?” Todd bellowed. He dropped his backside down with a heavy thud onto a towel beside Lexi.
“My answers to Damon’s rude cancelling on our movie night,” Lexi said as she adjusted her top to cover more of her cleavage.
“Why’d you go and do that,” Damon said. “Now I can’t see your tits at all.”
Todd burst out laughing while Lexi gave Damon a playful whack on the shoulder. “You aren’t allowed to look; you have Zoe for that kind of thing.” She pulled a smug face before putting in a less-than-subtle-jab, “Mind you that’s about all she has going for her.”
Lexi’s dislike of Zoe was strong and the toxic feeling was mutual with Zoe constantly insisting Damon cut his ties with the dizzy brunette. He had been friends with Lexi since kindergarten and if anything, he considered her family so there was no way Zoe would have that wish granted.
“If it helps, Damo, you can perve at my tits,” Todd joked. He leant forward rubbing his hands over his wet pecs.
Damon shot Todd a wink. “Nar, I’m all good thanks, A Cup.”
Todd chuckled. “Don’t say I didn’t offer.”
Lexi raised her hands in the air. “Back to the story at hand, Mr Harris. Where were you last night and was she worth missing out on I Know What You Did Last Summer?”
“Why would you think I was out with a girl?” Damon asked.
“Because you’re a slut who can’t go two weeks without having Zoe to service you,” Todd replied, sniggering into his hand.
Lexi stared at Damon, blinking. “Exactly what Todd said.”
“Piss off! You two should have more faith in me.” Damon wiggled his eyebrows at Lexi. “Maybe I wanted to leave you two alone so you could have a romantic outing together.”
“That’d be the day,” Lexi mumbled.
“And what’s wrong with me?” Todd said, pretending to sound offended.
Lexi turned to face Todd. “Because you’re even more of a dirty scoundrel than Damon.” She smiled at both of them. “I say that in the nicest possible way of course.”
“Of course.” Damon grinned, enjoying Lexi’s humour.
Todd sat forward, running his hands down his wet legs. Damon watched his pal smooth away beads of water from his skin. He eyed up Todd’s calf muscles that appeared firm and tensed. He often checked Todd’s body out and he knew Todd did the same to him—never in a sexual way, just in the competitive sense. Damon grazed his vision up to Todd’s stomach and chest. Todd’s fit physique was an incredibly close second to his own, but still a second, Damon thought.
Lexi whacked his shoulder, robbing him of completing his hetero-competitive ogling. “So, tell me already. Why did you cancel.”
“I had to go spend the evening with my new best friend, Fatty Matty.”
Lexi squinted, looking unsure she heard correctly. “Do you mean Matthew Andrews?”
Damon nodded. “Yep, Fatty Matty.”
Todd ripped out a deep belly laugh. “Why the fuck were you hanging out with that faggot?”
Damon leered forward. “Uh… because of the other day, remember? Matt didn’t show up for his next shift, so Jenna made me go and apologise and made me sweet talk him into taking his stupid job back.”
Todd fell back on his towel, laughing some more.
Lexi spoke softly, “What happened the other day.”
“We taught wee Matty a lesson,” Todd said, still laid out on his towel. “Mind you, he isn’t that fucking wee.”
Damon covered his mouth, trying to stop himself from chuckling. “Not wee at all is he.”
Lexi tilted her head, a cautious smile appearing on her lips. “Why do I get the impression this isn’t something I want to hear.”
Todd sat back up, grinning ear to ear. “Oh, it isn’t that bad. We caught him wanking with a pair of Jenna’s knickers while he was meant to be doing the laundry… so we just let him finish jacking off in front of us.”
Lexi grimaced. “I knew you two were secretly gay.” She rolled her eyes, sighing in disapproval of the story. “Poor, Matthew. I’m guessing you arseholes didn’t give him a choice in the matter. That would have been humiliating for him.”
“Why are we the arseholes?” Todd baulked at the accusing hypothesis. “He was the one wanking into Jenna’s knickers. Anyway, that’s not the most humiliating part.” Todd’s lips curled into a devilish grin.
Damon bulged his eyes wide at Todd, giving the signal not to tell Lexi about the rest of the story.
“What’s the most humiliating part?” Lexi asked, curious.
“Nothing,” Todd replied, obeying Damon’s visual order. “He uh… just tripped up after he was done choking the chicken.”
Damon nodded, approving of Todd’s fib.
“I can’t believe you two would do that,” Lexi said, sounding like a disappointed mother. “He’s always had such a hard time at school, getting shit from everyone. Matthew Andrews is the last person you should be picking on, even if he did do something perverted which I’m sure you two have done.”
“Ewww, I’ve never sniffed my mother’s knickers,” Damon said loudly.
“I mean, you two have probably done creepy shit you wish no one had seen.” Lexi narrowed her eyes like she was trying to read Damon’s mind for any sign of sexual sin.
“If I ever did something pervy,” Todd piped up, “and I’m not saying that is the case. But I wouldn’t be stupid enough to get caught.”
Damon nodded, agreeing. “Exactly, mate. Unless they catch you, then it’s a case of deny, deny, deny.”
Lexi groaned in annoyance. “So, did he accept your apology?”
“Yep,” Damon said arrogantly. “He came around today while I was out and cleaned the place up for Jenna’s dinner tonight.”
“He must be very forgiving.” Lexi took her hat off, placing it on the sand. “Personally, I would have told you to get lost.”
“Ahh, but you forget, Lexi, I have all the charm in the world when I need it.” Damon winked at her, striking a seductive aura.
“In your dreams, Damon Harris.” She extended her hand, ruffling his hair. “What I don’t get is why your mum would want him back as the cleaner after you caught him
doing…that.” She screwed her face up like she had a bad taste in her mouth.
“I didn’t tell her,” Damon confessed. “If I had, that would mean I’d have to explain everything that we did.”
Lexi turned her attention to Todd. “I know there is something you both aren’t saying. I’m not stupid. I can tell when you’re both lying to me.”
“Would I be lying if I said you look really fucking sexy today,” Todd schmoozed.
Lexi cackled a witchy laugh. “Ha. No Todd, you would be absolutely correct.”
Todd placed a hand on her leg, running it up to her knee. Lexi whacked his greedy paw away with a comical punch.
“Ough! Be careful. That’s my wanking hand,” Todd cried out in exaggerated pain.
“Boohoo,” Lexi mocked. “You can always get Matt to take care of it for you. Sounds like he knows what he’s doing.” She cupped her mouth with her hand, catching her laughter. “Oh, I shouldn’t say that. That’s mean of me.”
“It’s not mean if it’s true,” Todd replied. “He would probably do it if I asked the faggot nicely enough.” He grinned at Damon, waiting for him to laugh at their shared secret.
Damon stayed quiet, a ripple of guilt tapping his bones. After visiting Matt last night, he had learned that the strange freak wasn’t all that strange or freakish. He was a pretty normal dude, almost likeable, Damon thought.
When he had pulled up outside the house which was—as suspected—a shithole with its unmowed lawn and rusted out vehicles, Damon had groaned aloud in his car, angry with Jenna for forcing him to endure such social slumming.
As if the weather had read his mood the skies bucketed down with a heavy downpour leaving him drenched by the time he got to the front door of the weatherboard home.
An awkward introduction and reluctant host were soon overcome with Damon relying on the gifting of clothes and chocolates. When Matt had been too shy to try the shirt on in front of him, a humorous stunt of stripping naked had simultaneously made Matt laugh and feel at ease. Damon couldn’t give a shit who saw him naked, he knew he looked good in or out of clothes. The gimmick had worked though and before Damon knew it, he was downstairs in the messy basement, sat on a rickety, uncomfortable couch as they watched a tragic 80s-porn.
Matt had kept the beers coming thick and fast. The more booze that went in their mouths, the more conversation spilled out of their lips. Within the hour, they were making joke after joke about the cheesy cast in the video that played on the cruddy old television propped against the brick wall of the basement. Anytime an oral sex scene appeared on screen Damon had a rush of awkwardness on Matt’s behalf, but neither boy mentioned the dick-sucking elephant in the room.
For a brief second, Damon wanted to ask Matt how far he had planned to go with Todd’s dick in front of his mouth. Had he really intended to do the unthinkable and suck Todd off? Was he then going to suck mine as well? This seemed the most important of the questions.
Such prying seemed in bad taste and would probably evoke a bitter reaction from Matt—who had only just agreed to take his job back. There was no way Damon was going to risk returning home to tell Jenna he had failed in his apologetic mission.
The night flew by with unexpected speed and Damon had called a taxi to take him home, leaving his car parked in Matt’s driveway, which he returned to get in the morning. He had contemplated knocking on the door to see if Matt was up, but an inner voice bled through Damon’s brain saying that he shouldn’t encourage a friendship.
He had enjoyed his night hanging out with Matt but he knew not to do it again. Damon had accomplished what he set out to do; he had been forgiven and restored himself in Matt’s view as someone to like and admire. He didn’t know why this mattered to him but it did. It felt like order had been restored.
Lexi’s voice brought Damon out of his flashback, “Shall we make a move?” she asked.
Damon shook his head, clearing his mind. He looked out at the harbour with its shimmer of sunset, the forested hills in the distance illuminated by the dipping sun’s orange glow. “Yeah, probably time to ditch the beach. Where to next?”
Todd got to his feet, put his t-shirt on then picked his towel up, tucking it under his arm. “I can’t go anywhere. My grandparents are in town for the weekend for the twins christening. Mum says I have to stay home and bond with the family,” Todd groaned aloud, shaking his fist in the air. “Those fucking babies are ruining my social life.”
Todd’s parents had shocked everyone when they announced Mrs Jenkins was pregnant with twins last year. Not because she was having twins but because she had fallen pregnant in the first place. Both Todd’s parents were closer to fifty than forty and it seemed like a miracle that they were now adding to their brood which already consisted of Todd and his older brother William. Todd liked to whinge about the babies keeping him up and cramping his style but Damon suspected Todd was quite chuffed to have a new brother and sister.
“Those babies are adorable,” Lexi cooed.
“That’s because they take after me,” Todd said, grinning.
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Lexi muttered, as she and Damon got to their feet. She slung her beach bag over her arm while Damon collected the towels. In lazy steps, they followed Todd towards the street and his parked car.
Lexi acknowledged Todd’s night ahead with his family, “So what does bonding with the family look like in the Jenkin’s household?”
“Playing board games and endless fucking rounds of cards. Would you like to switch places?” Todd asked.
Lexi rubbed his shoulder. “I would love to switch places, Todd, but I have got to study for this thing we have coming up called exams.”
Damon laughed. “You must be the only one who is studying.”
“Shouldn’t you be too? Don’t come crying to me when you both fail,” Lexi said.
“We aren’t going to fail are we, Damo?” Todd said confidently.
Damon nodded in agreeance as the three of them walked up the sand dunes, making their way up to the now quiet footpath. Secretly Damon was worried about gaining his university entrance. When it came to academic pursuits he certainly was not at the head of the class. Lexi was a diligent student hellbent on getting into medical school at Otago University. She spent equal amounts of time studying as she did socialising. Todd, on the other hand, was one of those lucky bastards who never studied a day in his life and somehow always managed to pass with flying colours.
Todd and Damon were going to be flatting together next year in an apartment Todd’s father owned. The current tenants had been given their notice already. All that was left to do was pass his exams and Damon would be able to live it up with his best mate. It sounded perfect!
Todd had his sights set on becoming an architect—like his father. Damon was still undecided; he was torn between his parents wish that he major in law and his own preference to study art.
“What are your plans tonight?” Lexi asked Damon.
“I was going to go to Melody Kemp’s party. It’s her 18th.” Damon stared at Todd, willing him to flag the family night and accompany him to Melody’s. “Are you sure neither of you want to go?”
Todd shot him a wan smile. “Fuck, man. You know I want to but Mum will kill me if I bail on the family night.”
“Don’t be a soft cock,” Damon teased.
Todd jumped across punching Damon on the shoulder, laughing. “I’ll give you soft cock.”
Damon laughed, he honed his eyes in on Lexi. “Can’t you give study a break for just one night?”
“No can do,” Lexi replied, shaking her head. “Sorry.”
Damon let out a brief sigh and commented, “You two are no fucking use to me then.”
“Just go to Melody’s anyway. I might be able to meet you there after 11,” Todd said.
“Yeah?” Damon answered, sounding hopeful.
“Yep. I ain’t promising anything but I might be able to bail after one or two games.”
“Cool. Sounds a pl
an.” Damon felt happy knowing his Saturday night might be spared the pain of joining his parents in entertaining their guests.
“You could always go visit Matt again,” Lexi suggested. She saw the funny look Damon had on his face. “I’m serious.”
Todd sniggered. “Yeah, Damo. Go make the sad git’s night. Two visits in two days. He’ll probably think he’s died and gone to heaven.”
Damon playfully rolled his eyes. Todd’s insult probably contained an element of truth.
“He might even say thank you his own special way,” Todd said, he began poking the inside of his mouth with his tongue.
Damon’s mind leapt to the cruel prank they had pulled in his bedroom before taking a detour to Todd’s words of wisdom that had followed. “Any hole’s a goal, right?” He hitched up an eyebrow, smiling at Todd.
“Even if it is Fatty Matty’s,” Todd said, leading them across the road to his car.
“You two are disgusting,” Lexi chimed in. She dug her hand into her sun bag, retrieving jingling car keys before throwing them over at Todd in a wonky flick of her wrist.
“I think you mean we’re hilarious,” Todd replied, catching his keys from Lexi’s wobbly throw, with ease. “And devilishly sexy and smart and fun and awesome and—”
“Full of your own importance,” Lexi butted in.
“Better that than being full of cock like Matty will be if Damo pays him a visit.” Todd smirked, looking pleased with his joke.
“In your dreams, critter,” Damon fired back.
Lexi puffed out a deliberate sigh, sounding lost in thought. “Come to think of it, that would be a pretty sexy dream.”
“Eww, no it wouldn’t, weirdo,” Damon spat out, sounding defensive.
“Aww, diddums. It was only a joke.” Lexi giggled, giving Damon a warm smile.
Damon bit down on his lip, fighting off the shudder of private, lecherous thoughts. The reason he was so defensive was the fodder for his self-pleasuring all that week. Lexi and Todd weren’t to know that the past few evenings Damon lay in bed at night, cock in hand, thinking about Matt on his knees ready to suck whatever was put in front of him. He tried to push the thought away but it lingered with a still unanswered question. Would Matt really have done it? Suck another guy’s dick?