There is a lot of exposition in this first chapter, so please bear with me. I promise it will be worth it! Constructive criticism is certainly appreciated.
Masterful Deceivers: Ethan and Tommy
Chapter 1
Ethan stood there in the new underwear he had bought online just for the occasion. He admired himself in the mirror, twisting and turning his body left, then right, checking to see how it fit along the supple curve of his buttocks. He hated the boxers his parents had always bought for him. He liked the brief style and how it showed so much of his tanned, toned legs.
"Sunbathing in the nude behind the shed..." he thought; "boring pain in the ass, but totally worth it".
He folded his arms across his chest, shifting his weight to his right leg and leaning left, holding still for a moment with his head cocked, and then shifting the weight to his left but leaning right, straightening his torso, noticing how the positions accentuated his slim waist and the curvature of his hip.
"Tommy's gonna love this," he thought to himself, imagining his secret lover gawking at his youthful body.
He checked out how his cock looked through the bamboo fabric, trying to decide how he wanted it to be oriented to get the biggest response. These new pair had a compartment for his member and a separate one for his balls. The feeling was exquisite.
At first, he pointed his cock up, lying towards his stomach, shifting to the side to see himself in profile.
"Hmmmm. Nice bulge, but too basic," he thought.
He adjusted himself so that it flaccidly hung down over his canvased balls, demonstrating its length and girth more obscenely.
He raised his eyebrows at the spectacle.
"Oh, that looks hot," he thought.
He took one hand and ran it across his chest, flexing his budding pectoral muscles, then sliding it across his tight stomach, just a hint of a 6-pack beginning to emerge from underneath the last bit of baby fat, the calisthenic exercises he had been working through for the past several months beginning to produce noticeable results.
"This is definitely going to drive him absolutely wild," he thought, exhibiting some newfound confidence.
"Almost a shame they won't stay on very long considering how much they cost".
He brushed his lengthening, sandy blonde hair away from where the ends tickled his eyelashes, now wispy and just long enough to be a bother.
He let out a deep sigh, dropping his arms to his side, then placing them on his hips.
"Well, I'd hoped it would have grown a bit longer by now" he thought, though still feeling satisfied with the surfer style look he knew was hitting the mark. Ethan was pleased with the culminating work of months of effort.
It seemed to have been an eternity since they had met at basketball camp in early June. Things were so different now. He remembered the anticipation of camp before freshman year ended in June, hoping that he would finally find someone his own age that was like him. He never imagined he'd fall for the 22-year-old assistant coach who would just so happen to also be secretly gay.
Ethan had never been particularly athletic. He was more intellectual and reserved, and not very social with his peers outside of school. He lived in a rural, conservative town, and having long known his sexuality since puberty had begun to work its magic on his body, he knew he was different from the boys whose fathers were taking them deer hunting and off to NASCAR races. He wondered if they ever stared in the mirror naked like he did. He wondered if they fantasized about other boys while pleasuring himself in the mirror. It wasn’t so much that he thought he was terribly attractive. He was just the only boy he had access to. As an only child with parents who were always involved in some activity or another, either with the church or a political campaign or town event, he often spent most of his evenings alone. It was lonely, but it left him with more time to explore himself, his body, and his desires. Watching porn, acting out scenarios, and playing with his imagination were vehicles for exploring his sexual curiosities.
When the opportunity to meet boys from other places presented itself, Ethan began to fantasize. He’d played basketball with the other boys and girls from church on Wednesday nights, but it was more out of an obligation to satisfy his parents’ desire for him to be socially active than anything else. The idea of approaching any boys, or girls for that matter, openly and honestly, sharing his secret, was out of the question. He knew they would never accept his “peculiar” orientation. They’d never accept him as he was. He’d heard enough of their rhetoric in casual conversation to know. But as the school year drew to a close and summer was approaching, the youth minister passed out brochures for a 2-week basketball camp in a much larger city an hour away. That is when he began to imagine opportunities he had never had before.
Ethan rubbed himself through his underwear autonomically as he recalled how the two of them had first connected...
He had been really surprised at how fast the assistant coach had figured him out. No one from home had even an inkling about his sexuality. He didn't exhibit mannerisms that could be construed as particularly effeminate and it was simply assumed by others that he was too withdrawn to have anything as serious as a romantic relationship. He was quiet and studious, but also friendly and engaged equally well with boys and girls. Still, he kept to himself when left to his own devices. He would, however, spend hours online with his friends Baxter and Melissa playing various Steam games; the same activities everyone else was up to. Ethan fit in easily into the gaming culture which helped hide his secrets.
When he and Tommy had really started talking, Ethan never suspected Tommy might be gay. He would often talk about his girlfriend and the activities they would do together. Interestingly, Ethan never noticed that nothing he would say was particularly romantic or indicative of a romantic relationship. He would find out later in their conversations that she was really his roommate who happened to be a lesbian. They had been best friends for years, both growing up in an equally conservative, small town, and decided to room together after high school to help hide their sexuality from people who could make things difficult for them personally and professionally if they knew.
Tommy had secrets, too.
And that was the day it all started. The day Tommy asked him straight out if he was gay.
“What?” Ethan had responded, shocked, but trying to seem incredulous.
That’s when Tommy told him that he would often catch Ethan leering at him. Tommy said it like he had no doubt.
And Tommy was right.
Although Ethan had thought he would find someone else his age attractive at the camp, he found that Tommy was the one who drew his attention. Tommy was slightly taller than Ethan, and had short, dark brown hair and deep brown eyes. He had an incredible body, athletic and tan. He surfed when he wasn't playing basketball, and so he was nicely slim and toned. His jawline firm and masculine, keeping himself cleanly shaven with hardly a blemish to be found. His muscles weren’t exceptionally large, but they fit the slimness of his body. A true basketball player’s build. He was smooth, and looked younger than he was. He could have easily passed as a senior at Ethan’s high school.
Ethan would watch him dribbling, running, watching his muscles flexing. He would pay particular attention to his abs whenever his shirt came up above his basketball shorts, especially on his jump shots. Ethan swore that the guy sometimes didn’t wear underwear as it seemed that there was something to behold banging around inside his loose shorts. Ethan would often try to catch a glimpse up Tommy’s shorts whenever he sat across from him or whenever an opportunity arose, but he was sure to be clandestine about it.
Clearly not as clandestine as he thought he was being.
“So, uh I was a little obvious?” Ethan remembered saying to him that day, embarrassed and nervous, but unable to deny it.
“Well…” Tommy had remarked, “probably not to anyone else, but definitely to me.”
Ethan remembered how flustered he had first felt at being caught. How brazen Tommy was at asking him the question. It seemed like an inappropriate thing to be asked by someone in an authoritative position, but then, it was the way he did it. It wasn’t suggestive or insinuating. It wasn’t with scorn, derision, or disapproval. He had said it with a tone that told Ethan, “You seem lonely in your secrets, and it’s ok to talk about it with me”.
"Don't worry," Tommy had said soft and reassuringly. "I won't tell. You can always trust me to keep your confidences," he had said, placing a hand on Ethan's shoulder and giving a light squeeze before breaking away and re-engaging with the other kids in the camp.
Ethan remembered how safe he had felt with Tommy. How much time Tommy had taken to help him with his lay-ups, encouraging him, pointing out his mistakes as little insights that Ethan simply hadn’t noticed, and by Tommy bringing them to his attention, would help him to improve at the game.
As the memories washed over him, Ethan stood there looking in the mirror, staring at his body and his growing member; having gone from lightly rubbing it through the fabric to stroking slowly up and down, its lengthening required him to point his cock up instead of down. He began using his thumb and fingers, squeezing with more pressure, a small wetness developing where the tip of his rod was poking into the top of the new fabric. It wanted to straighten more and escape the confines.
A slight moan escaped his lips.
“Should I do this before? I promised him I would wait. But it will probably make me last longer if I do…,” he thought, increasing the pressure, really tugging at himself now, grabbing and stroking his cock through the fabric, ensuring the frenulum received special attention.
Enjoying the sensation, picturing the two of them together, he closed his eyes, squinching up his face in pleasureful longing. His lips slightly parted as he breathed heavily. His mind racing from memories of camp to ideas about the weekend...
Suddenly, he heard the voice of his father, snapping him out of his trance.
“Ethan? You want to say goodbye before we leave?”
“Not really,” he mumbled to himself before saying aloud, “Yeah, give me a sec. I’m coming.”
Ethan chuckled at the irony.
“But not the way I’d like,” he murmured to himself, getting some clothes out of his drawers, waiting for his cock to calm a bit, reorienting his rod in the new undies before getting dressed into shorts and a t-shirt, then exiting his room down the hall.
“You guys leaving already?” Ethan asked, feigning a tone of slight disappointment. They’d be gone all weekend to visit friends of theirs in the mountains and wouldn’t be back until late Sunday night.
“Yeah, slugger,” his father replied. “It’s a long drive and we want to make it to the restaurant in Blowing Rock before it gets too late.”
Ethan was never sure why his dad called him “Slugger”. Maybe it was due to his dad being a baseball player in his youth and wishing that his only son would have been into the sport as well.
Perhaps that is why his dad had responded so enthusiastically to Ethan’s expressed desire to attend a basketball camp without asking too many questions.
If he only knew.
After returning from camp, Ethan’s parents were thrilled to encourage his new fascination with basketball. No longer was their boy locked in his room, spending hours on his computer or playing video games. They often talked together privately about how glad they were that he was getting some physical exercise and becoming more social. Ethan’s dad talked about Ethan rising as a basketball star. His mom would calm him in his aspirations for Ethan, but still encouraged the vision.
Ethan had sometimes overheard them. It was fuel for a plan that was yet to hatch.
Ethan’s parents were quick to respond affirmatively to Ethan wanting to attend another camp with the same group later that summer. Without hesitation they had shelled out the necessary funds, sending him to another 2-week session in early August.
As a bonus, Ethan’s play began to really improve. He thought it was funny. All that time spent working out, the calisthenics, hours practicing shooting hoops in the driveway, were all for a much more insidious reason.
If they only knew.
It was during the second basketball camp that Ethan and Tommy drew even closer. They would spend lots of time talking about things that were completely innocuous when they were around the campers or other people, usually about basketball, Netflix, social media, memes, music. But when they were alone, they would share the details of their private lives. Things they kept to themselves. Ethan talking about how he discovered his sexuality, and over time, sharing more personal information; sharing the details of things he had done with himself, fantasies he explored, how he would watch himself in the mirror. Tommy would share details about his self-exploration, failed relationships with girls due to his disinterest, and his first encounter with a boy he used to surf with. He was the first person Ethan had ever been able to talk to completely openly and honestly. Not just about sex and sexuality, but about his dreams, his fears, his opinions, and his past traumas.
But that was it. That had always been the line.
Through those interactions, Ethan began to muse to himself that they weren’t simply talking and sharing secrets with each other.
They were developing a connection.
And Ethan was falling in love.
It was more than just respect or friendship. Ethan desired Tommy. Wanted him. Wanted to be taken by him. And not just in the ways he had fantasized about in the mirror. He dreamed of being with Tommy, going to basketball games, attending festivals, sharing meals in restaurants, cooking together, curling up on the couch and watching hours of “The Walking Dead”.
But mostly, Ethan wanted Tommy to take his body as his own; help him realize so many fantasies he had constructed over the years.
Ethan remembered drawing into himself the courage necessary to let Tommy know how he felt that day halfway through the second basketball camp.
“I don’t know how to say this,” he remembered saying to Tommy during a one-on-one coaching session, “but I like you. I mean I really like you. A lot. And I keep thinking about being closer to you. Really, REALLY close,” he’d said slowly and deliberately.
He had prepared himself for Tommy to be kindly dismissive, but of course, he hoped for more. His hopes were to be realized, but not in the way he was imagining.
“I know,” Tommy had said to him. “And I have been fighting it and fighting it ever since we met at the first camp. But I have never ever met someone as authentic and gentle as you. Someone as real, optimistic, and kind as you. Someone as…”
Tommy’s voice took a serious tone as his eyes darted to the left and right before he leaned in, staring into Ethan’s light brown eyes with intensity, and saying softly, whispering, “Someone as unbelievably beautiful as you are. Inside and out.”
Ethan remembered his heart pounding, his body reacting in anticipation, his deepest wishes and hopes about to be fulfilled. He’d never heard anything so powerful in his life. No words had ever affected him as strongly as those did in that moment.
“But it can’t happen,” Tommy added finally, straightening up and backing away. “It just can’t happen. You are just too young and…”
Tommy’s voice trailed off again as he looked down and then away.
“If anyone were to find out, I could…” he said, not meeting Ethan’s gaze.
Ethan wasn’t surprised, but he still felt crushed. His hopes and dreams seemed to be crashing around him. He stifled the urge to cry or let his lip tremble.
But he really loved Tommy.
And Tommy seemed to be telling him that he loved him too.
And if age was the biggest problem, Ethan knew that time was the only solution.
“I won’t be jailbait forever,” Ethan had whispered back. “My birthday is in November. I’ll be legal then.”
Tommy had looked at Ethan with a puzzled look on his face.
"No you won't," Tommy replied curiously.
Ethan remembered leaning in close enough to Tommy to take in his deep, masculine smell, "Sure I will! At least in this state, I'll be considered legal. Trust me. I've checked..."
Ethan remembered watching Tommy's eyes and the expression on his face, looking for a glimmer of hope.
Tommy just stared at Ethan and seemed to be mulling over what Ethan had said.
“I hadn’t considered that,” Tommy had finally replied with subdued excitement. “I don’t know why I didn’t, why I was thinking... but you are right!"
Tommy’s expression suddenly slipped away again into stifled despondency. He was pensive.
“But I don’t think the recreation department would like it. They have rules you know. And your parents! What would they think?”
“One problem at a time,” Ethan had said leaning in closer, still in hushed tones, longing to kiss Tommy’s beautiful lips and put him at ease, but knowing such an act would create the opposite reaction.
Tommy looked at Ethan with renewed optimism and hope. His expression communicating to Ethan that there was more to discuss.
It was at that point that things began to take off. They talked about how to stay in touch though they lived an hour apart. Over the remainder of the summer, they spent more and more time talking and sharing, fantasizing about what they would do when they could finally be together. They texted each other throughout the day, or talked with each other through Discord, playing video games, sharing the details of their lives late at night on the phone. All in secret.
It was during these exchanges that the two of them began hatching a plan. They carefully constructed a clever ruse; how Tommy would become Ethan’s personal trainer. How they would spend time together practicing, training on weekends, all with the idea that Ethan was working towards joining the high school basketball team, maybe more.
When they were together for training, they’d be careful to keep their relationship looking entirely professional. He even charged Ethan’s parents a modest fee for taking the time to train Ethan.
They were masterful deceivers.
Ethan talked with his parents about going to college on a basketball scholarship, “and then who knows?” he would add.
Ethan’s dad had been positively euphoric at the idea; he was more than thrilled with his “slugger” becoming a “shooter” instead. Ethan’s mother, imagining herself watching her little boy on television, cheering him on at games, and all the perquisites that accompany being the mother of an athletic star, how her popularity and reputation would increase amongst the women in town...
It was a ruse with legs, fueling each person’s fantasies in different ways. The perfect scheme that could become much more than intended.
But the secret intention was always far more important: to forge a path for Ethan and Tommy to be together.
Forever.
It helped that Ethan had really begun to enjoy the game. He was getting to be very good. He had the build, and at 6 foot 1, he had enough of the height. But he was never quite sure if it was the enjoyment of the game and him finding some latent talent, or because of the time he was spending with Tommy that kept him going.
But none of that mattered now. Today was Friday, November 8th, and the grand scheme was coming to fruition. It had happened. He had celebrated his 16th birthday with Baxter, Melissa, and extended family the weekend before, and then just with his parents on his actual birthday. Now, he’d crossed the threshold of legal maturity, and his long-awaited passions were about to be realized.
Ethan grabbed one of his mother’s bags and carried it to the car.
“Thank you, Ethan!” she acknowledged kindly. “What time is Tommy coming to pick you up?”
“About 4 o’clock,” Ethan replied.
“OK, well I hope you don’t spend the whole weekend practicing. You need to let your muscles rest you know,” his mother said with mild admonishment.
“Oh, I won’t,” Ethan replied. “He’s got tickets to see the Canes play, so we’re going with his girlfriend and his brother to Raleigh on Saturday. Kind of a birthday present for me,” Ethan lied. He knew Liza, Tommy’s roommate, would be at her girlfriend’s all weekend.
And he secretly hated hockey.
“You got enough money?” his father asked.
“Yeah, I’ve got enough,” Ethan replied.
“Let us know if you need any more,” his mother added.
“I will.”
“Sounds good slugger!” his father said approvingly as he entered the driver’s side and closed the door with a thud. “Call us if you need anything. We’ll be calling to check up on you and make sure you’re OK at night, so keep your cellphone near you.”
“Thanks dad. I will. Love you guys!” Ethan shouted.
“Love you too!” his parents said in unison as they headed out of the driveway and down the street.
Ethan stood there, watching the car drive out of sight, waving to them as they disappeared.
Ethan turned and went into the house. Closing the door behind him, he checked the clock.
“3 o’clock…” Ethan thought. He pondered his situation, the opportunities that lay before him, trying to decide what to do next.
The thoughts began to elicit a stirring in his new underwear. He reached into his shorts, deftly fondling his growing manhood, enjoying the feel of the soft bamboo against his cock. He turned around in the foyer, and leaning back against the door, stared at the clock.
He then closed his eyes. He imagined Tommy watching him as he slowly undressed, watching the lustful expression on Tommy’s face, Ethan teasing in a seductive striptease, first undoing his button down shirt, nimbly fingering each button, slowly unbuttoning his pants, gradually pushing down the zipper, allowing the flap to fall open leisurely, his shorts sliding down under gravity and undulation, tantalizingly revealing the new underwear. He pictured himself writhing wriggling before his captivated lover.
It was like watching a video in his mind, informed by the years he had spent watching twink porn.
He removed his hand and undid the button on his shorts, unzipped the zipper, and allowed his shorts to fall to the floor, mimicking the visions in his head.
He slowly slid his hand underneath the elastic of his underwear and, pulling his cock from its cloth sheath, he still kept it inside. Ethan wrapped his fingers around his now throbbing cock, now leaking with anticipation, and began smearing his boy juice around the head with his thumb, lubricating himself down the length, back and forth.
He continued leaning against the door, slowly stroking and squeezing his rod, his hand trapped in the bamboo fabric, limiting his movements.
He looked down to watch himself, breathless, enjoying the sensations and the display.
"But I promised," Ethan said aloud, despondently groaning.
"He trusts me."
In fervent frustration, Ethan leaned his head back against the door, eyes closed, enjoying the growing feelings of pleasure, fondling, and then stopping from the guilt he felt. Longing to continue.
He returned his attention to his aching member and continued his personal assault before stopping again.