The Lake House Ch. 02

"Tell me I'm not crazy when I say this Clay, but it seems like the spinach never looks good whenever I come here." James has picked up three bunch already, and all three have darkened edges that don't look remotely appetizing. "I'm serious, all of these are bad."

Clay finishes tying up a bag of tomatoes and puts them in their cart, inspecting the bunch that James is studying. "Might just have to take it as is, dude. Ain't worth going all over town just for spinach."

"You'd think the selection'd be better, considering what we're paying for it." James sighs, decides that what he's got is as good as it's gonna get, and puts it in a bag. "Is it cold in here to you?"

"It's a grocery store, of course it's cold. That and we're still sweaty." Clay picks at the front of his Underarmour, sinfully tight against him and making his nipples hard enough to nearly poke holes through the fabric. James shrugs his agreement, and moves on.

"Yeah well I hate showering at the gym. Too many people staring."

"Out of jealousy."

James smiles, pushing their cart towards the dairy section. "You been sneaking looks at my ass?"

"I might be spoken for but I'm not blind - and your squat routine's been paying dividends." Clay smacks his ass lightly and James mockingly bends over for more. "See? Tight enough to bounce a quarter off of - hold that thought, I might have one..."

James scoots away, moving to let an elderly man pass, cart stuffed full of prune juice. "You have to hand that money to the cashier, don't... contaminate it."

Clay catches up in one stride, country-mile long legs closing the distance easily. "Yeah, gym sweat off a couple of meatheads is gonna be the worst thing she touches today?"

"Meatheads?"

"'S what Sean called us the other day."

"Pretty sure I missed that conversation - what's next on the list?" It's stupidly busy in here today, and James is eager to get back to Asher. He'd looked sexy as hell that morning when he'd left for class, spiking his hair just so in the mirror as James had passed the bathroom.

And before that too, when James had woken up to those sleepy green eyes and dusty freckles smushed into his chest, stroking his cheek to wake him up because James had missed his alarm by fifteen minutes. It's fucking spring break, and James is making himself not get caught up in school work to spend as much of it with Ash as possible. You'd think living under the same roof would mean they'd see a little more of one another.

"Milk, butter, eggs, condoms. One of these things isn't like the other." Clay hands the list to James while he hauls out two gallons from the cooler, one whole, one skim. Whole for James and Asher, skim for Clay and Sean.

"Yeah, eggshells just don't protect your junk nearly as well as they used to." James grins, and Clay rolls his eyes. "Come on man, that was funny."

"I think you just want to fuck an egg."

James scoffs, looking at the three dozen size containers and pondering just how long it would take him to make room in the fridge for one that size. "Nah, I've got Ash for that."

"Tell me about it - he was loud as hell the other night. The hell were you doing to him?"

"Really isn't a conversation I want to have in public, Clay. You want all the dirty details, fine - just not here." It had been hot though, between the blindfold and bucket of ice that had managed to stay cold long enough for James to rub all over Asher's hole. "And why were you listening anyway?"

"Because it broke Sean's concentration while he was blowing me."

James laughs again, deciding on two regular cartons of eggs before heading to the butter. "Figured you knew what you were in for when you moved in with us. Year's long enough to know that by now."

"Still doesn't mean it wasn't loud. I mean, I'm glad everyone is on the same page when it comes to sex, but man, there's some shit you don't want to hear."

"Hey, Ash practically sings when I'm balls deep in him."

"Yeah, but he can't fucking sing."

Well, Clay does have a point there. "Look, he doesn't like gags, so it's either he serenades the house or I suffocate him with a pillow - and I love him a little too much to take him out like that."

"I'm fucking with you, James - just don't be mad when I don't back you up if we get a noise complaint." Clay gives him one of those perfect, Southern gentleman smiles and James thumps him in the chest, heading for contraceptives so that Clay has to run to throw butter in the cart.

"Honestly surprised you don't try and compete with us." James leaves the cart parked at the end of the aisle while he looks for Magnums, reaching for the last box at the same time Clay does.

Clay catches his eye, not letting go of the box just yet. "Uh... what'd you say?"

James swallows, trying not to think too hard about the fact that Clay uses the exact same size that he does, and okay, it's not unexpected, looking like he does it'd be a shame if he didn't.

"Don't remember uh, something... look, if you want to split this, we can. I mean... if you need them, I can always go to CVS or something for more, just..."

"James, chill. It's just condoms."

Yeah, but Magnums.

Clay has a big dick and the base, lizard brain part of James wants to see it. Just as a friend, of course. Hell, Ash points out guy's bulges to him all the time.

Except Clay is his friend, and James has made it a point to not look at his crotch.

No matter how burningly curious he is.

Clay tosses the box in the cart and starts wheeling it towards the checkout, giving James a cryptic look that probably means he's just had the same thought as James.

Until they get back to Clay's Suburban, their only exchange of words is Clay thanking him for his contribution to the grocery bill. He spends a lot of time deliberately not looking at Clay, just in case his eyes wander. He helps load the groceries as fast as he can and then gets in the passenger seat, wandering if he's making a big deal out of nothing at all or if Clay's gonna rib him for thinking about it.

The sound of Clay's door shutting is enough to jolt him out of reverie. "You know, it's alright."

"What is?"

"If you're curious. You have any idea how many straight guys I see sizing each other up? Yeah, it's a lot. And they check you out too, my friend. I've checked you out. It's fine."

"But it doesn't feel... y'know, okay to do. I mean, Ash looks at other guys and then tells me about them but... it's weird."

Clay nods, starting the car and putting on his sunglasses. He rolls the windows down as he back out too, letting some of their gym stink out. "You're allowed to look of your own free will, James. No one's gonna be mad, certainly not me. Hell, I'm flattered."

"But what about Asher?"

"Asher's a horny bottom who's gonna salivate anyway, and that's just how it is. Do I think he's gonna run off and jump one someone else? Hell no, cause if he did, I'd be the one to beat sense into him. Me and Sean went through this when we started dating, and we're doing fine. Really."

James falls silent for a moment, processing what Clay's saying. Maybe it's just because it took he and Asher forever for them to get their shit together and just go for it, but it's also out of respect to Clay and Sean too. You just don't look at other people's boyfriends, especially when they're a close friend.

And outside of Asher, Clay's one of the best people James has ever fucking known.

"You talk about other guys?"

"Sure - nothing wrong with that. No one here needs reminding of who belongs to whom, James. Do you get mad when you see Ash and Sean napping together?"

"Not... not really."

"Exactly - and when we check up on each other after a workout, groping each other's chest and arms, do you think jealousy is something they feel?"

James shrugs and ties his hair back in a ponytail, letting his eyes linger a bit on the way Clay's biceps bulges and the veins in his forearm are standing out. "I think it just turns them on even more."

"Exactly my point - so let's say they happened to find us, oh I don't know, oiling each other up for wrestling or something. Full naked body contact. Do you think Asher would tell us to stop?"

"I think he'd pull up a chair with popcorn."

Clay claps him on the thigh and grins. "Now you're getting it. And yeah, I can show you my cock if you want to see it. Kinda curious about yours anyway."

James eyebrows shoot skywards. "Not here, I hope."

"Definitely not here. Just saying that if you wanted when we get home, we could... do that. Kick back, maybe cool down with a little porn? I know Sean's got some coconut oil for something dirty later, so we could always grease up with that."

James's cock gets hard so fucking fast that he actually has to stop and catch his breath again. "I'm supposed to... do something with Asher when I get home."

"They aren't home - Sean texted me that they were 'going on a mission' - which means he's getting weed. Said he'd share if you wanted some and also to buy a bong."

"Yeah, maybe after we shower - and how do we not already have one?" Joints are a little more discrete, and not to mention that paper is cheaper than the alternative.

"Oversight?"

Yeah, probably.

James spends the rest of the ride back to the house thinking about jerking off with clay, about Asher's reaction to that, and the possibility of getting high later that night. Maybe after dinner and Asher's fucked his chest so well that he's got a friction burn. It's not the worst way to kick off spring break, considering that everyone else in their frat has taken off for Florida or some other locale that isn't Southeastern North Carolina. Yeah the beach is like... right there but it lost its shine the first year they were here. And besides, the water is still a little too cold anyway.

Between that and Clay continually smiling at him, today doesn't completely suck.

Putting away the groceries doesn't take all that long considering the cupboards were almost completely empty - and all the dishes have already been put away. Good for Asher using his downtime wisely. Clay grabs the box of condoms and tilts his head towards their bedrooms, giving James what has to be his best boxer dropping smile.

"Promise I won't touch anything without express permission - and the same goes for you, big guy. Sean is a little firm on that."

"Yeah, I know. Marcus put his arm around you at Vic's party last week and I thought Vic was gonna need a blood transfusion." James strips his t-shirt and tosses it through the open door of his bedroom, not quite adjacent and across from Clay and Sean's. "Wait, weren't you the one talking about oiling each other up?"

"That'd be different - it'd be for their benefit and all." Clay's Underarmour comes off and James is presented with his beautifully sculpted back, a perfectly done outline of the state of North Carolina high on his right shoulder. "Maybe we should organize that next week, clear the floor in the living room and give Sean and Asher the time of their lives."

It wouldn't be a terrible way to spend an afternoon.

Clay turns around, standing next to his bed with his fingers hooked in the waist band of his shorts. "You want me to go first? Promise I have nothing you haven't seen before."

"Together." James is sweating even more now than when he was doing chest presses - he could back out, go to his room, and let his curiosity wither.

Then again the little Asher voice in the back of his head that tells him to do shit like take another shot or stay up one more hour is fucking loud today, and with as kind as Clay's been to him this afternoon he's not going to back out now.

"Fine."

The second Clay's pants drop, James can't help but laugh. Not because there's anything wrong, not at all - it's just that Clay has the very vision of a perfect, smooth, all-American dick. Cut, thick as hell, and long enough to where it looks like a third fucking leg.

"No wonder Sean's walking funny in the morning."

Clay tilts his chin towards James's crotch, grinning at him again. "And Asher's internal organs are still in the same place after taking that for the last what, two years?" Clay sits down on the edge of his bed and waits for James to join him, scooting over to his side. Christ, he's beautiful, between his soft blue eyes and the generous dusting of hair on his torso. Not to mention the body he's worked so fucking hard to sculpt and mold, much like James himself. If his pecs and abs were any more defined, James would swear he was carved from marble.

"Unless there's something he's not telling me - and how come you don't trim anything else except your pubes?"

"Because it's not sexy to watch Sean pull hair out of his teeth after he blows me. C'mon, James, I'm not gonna bite. Sheets need to be washed anyway, let's mess 'em up a little."

Even though they're both tall and broad as hell, there's still plenty of room for Clay to give James a comfortable birth. "This isn't weird."

"Nope. By the way, you're the first guy I've ever seen with a foreskin in person, so congratulations." Clay strokes himself to hardness as he watches James roll it down, precome slicking the underside of his hood and making his glans shine.

"All that time you spent on the football team and you didn't see even one?"

"Nope - guess us Sandhills boys all go under the knife." Clay strokes himself so that a big, fat bead of precome wells up at the tip of his cock, collecting for a moment before he uses his thumb to smear it around. Doing so makes Clay's cock swell even more, and James licks his lips.

"Asher's still fascinated with it. Took him a while to adapt to it being there but man, he's a pro at using what I've got when he blows me." James strokes at the top of his shaft, making his foreskin bunch and retract, showing off for Clay.

"Can definitely see why. Mind if I ask you something, one top to another?'

James's body shudders pleasantly - one top to another. "Go for it."

"You ever deliberately ignore Asher when he tells you to stop lickin' him out and fuck you? Not because he's not ready, but just cause you like eating out? Fuckin' love that shit."

James can't pick which turns him on more - the thoughts of doing exactly that to Ash or listening to all that filth roll come out of Clay's normally sweet mouth. "Fuck yeah I do."

"Best shit in the world." Clay leans his head back, stroking a little faster, grip that much tighter on himself. "Love it when I can feel my spit slickin' the way for me. Think about doing that sometimes, just... fucking him right on open with nothing but that for lube."

"Think Asher'd have a heart attack if I tried that." James smiles at Clay, putting his left arm behind his head and getting lost in the pleasure of his own touch. "But yeah, I think about it too."

"Mmm. Got a pretty strong stroke game there too. Guess it's different, with all... that." Clay watches him closely, his lips shiny and wet where he keeps licking them. It's really fucking hot, knowing Clay is getting off just watching him.

"Probably do it the same if I was cut - just milks more pre this way."

"You do that too, huh?" Clay imitates the way he's got his palm right against the crown, rubbing slowly and deliberately."

"Damn right. Ash'll lick my fingers clean if I don't do it first."

Clay laughs, watching his cock drip between his fingers. "Never knew your boy was such a come pig."

"It's kinda my fault - told him the first time he blew me he didn't have to swallow. Didn't know he would take it personally when I gave him the option." Between the hot talk, the scent of sweat and testosterone, and Clay's fucking gorgeous body less than a foot away from him, James isn't all that far off from busting his load.

"Yeah, I know - Sean too. Likes to keep sucking me even after he's milked me dry. Hate to tell him no when it feels so damned good." Clay moans, softly - it makes James's toes curl to hear it, and his dick jumps in his hand.

"Shit, Clay, I'm..." James can't hold it back any more, pushed over the edge by just so happening to catch all of the veins in Clay's forearm standing out just right, fingers wrapped around his thick cock like they fucking belong there. He shoots all the way up to his chest, trying to bite off his noises of ecstasy before he embarrasses himself.

It doesn't fucking work, but he doesn't care, not when it feels so fucking good. Clay isn't far behind him, coming all over his abs until it trickles down his come gutters and leaks on the bed.

Definitely a good thing he's washing his sheets soon.

James opens his eyes after a few minutes, lightheaded with endorphins and the aching burn of his workout. "You mind if I pass out here for a while?"

"Get your hairy ass up, man - you promised dinner if I drove you to the gym, and Asher and Sean'll be home soon." Clay pokes him in the side, and James groans.

"This was your idea - but I guess that's fair. I'll go start getting prepped if you wanna shower first."

Clay gets up and tosses James a ratty towel, gathering up his shower gear as he goes. "I want extra pepper on my pork chop, if you don't mind."

James wipes himself off as he watches Clay's beefy ass leave the room. "What's the magic word?"

"Please?"

No, definitely not a bad way to start spring break.

___

James hears multiple voices coming from the kitchen as he tugs a clean t-shirt over his head, getting a whiff of his own clean body as he walks down the hallway.

"Chops lookin' okay?" Sean and Asher are sitting at the table, drying...

His and Asher's sex toys. Well, given what he and Clay shared this afternoon, it's not exactly a secret that they have them in the first place.

Asher jumps out of his chair and into James's arms, hugging him tight and angling for a kiss that in front of anyone else would be considered downright filthy.

"You missed the fun part of our conversation, by the way." Asher lets James go and threads their fingers together, pulling up one of the kitchen chairs close to his own. "Clay fully supports washing dildos like this, so ha."

"I never said I wasn't opposed to it - and how's that a fun conversation?" He sits down and kisses up the side of Asher's neck, figuring that now is as a good a time as any to start warming him up for later. Jerking off with Clay had only served to whet his appetite further.

"It isn't, and all I did was say 'that's one way to do it' - Grandma Sue called, and she said the lake house is ours this week if we wanted it." Clay beams triumphantly and runs his fingers through Sean's hair as he goes to the refrigerator to grab a beer for James.

"What lake house?"

"On Lake Norman, my grandparents have a place. Gram doesn't go up there much ever since Granddad, died, but I figured it'd be a better place than here. What do you say James?"

Given that his housemates all look like they're already in agreement, James can't say no.

"And all we have to do is just... go?"

"Mmm hm. Figure we could leave after breakfast tomorrow, get there early evening. Nothing else around us for a thousand feet, a huge deck to smoke on, and the neighbors don't come by to see who's home." Clay even uncaps the beer for him, like it's going to speed up his answer.

"Alright."

The cheer really isn't necessary, but it heartens him anyway. Like hell he's gonna give up the chance to hang out in such beautiful surroundings with his travel-horny boyfriend. New surfaces to mess up? Yeah, consider Asher sold.

Clay sits down and takes a swig of his own beer, putting Sean's feet up in his lap under the table. "Oh - I was right by the way. The next time we jerk together they want to watch, so be ready for that."

"You really think I'd be mad about that Jay?" Asher kisses him sweetly, his fingers cupping his jaw and brushing his neck. "It'd be hot as shit - think we might have to do that when we get to Lake Norman tomorrow."