Get-Together Summer Read Online Free Page A

one arm against the wall and jerked himself off. It
felt almost like a race against the vague misty recollections of
his dream (Dirk's face, Haley's face; his hardening cock and her
inviting smile), and he was ashamed to admit that he didn't quite
beat them; he came with a muffled groan at the memory of Haley
licking her fingers. For something that hadn't really happened, the
image of it felt burned into his mind's eye. As his orgasm passed
he slumped against the tiles, sliding down until he was seated,
blinking away the shower spray as it dripped into his eyes.
    "Fuck," he said, more to test the
sound of it in his own voice. It felt stilted and awkward. His
parents didn't approve of using crass language -- his father liked
to say that a true man never resorted to any swearing to make his point. Hearing
his own voice, he was pained at how weak it sounded, too wavering
to have any sort of presence at all. No wonder, then, that Haley
had never noticed him, or that Dirk needed to take pity on him
...
    Something welled up in his chest and his eyes began
to sting, watering from more than the shower spray. Fiercely
annoyed at himself, he pressed the heels of both hands against his
eyes and refused to move them until the tight feeling passed. Once
it had, he got back to his feet, switching the water off and
wrapping himself first in a towel, then his blankets again,
crawling back into bed. It felt like he remained awake for the rest
of the night, but the next thing he knew, someone was knocking at
his bedroom door and the light through the windows was brighter and
clearer than before.
    "Simon? Are you awake yet?" Haley called.
    He froze in the act of trying to sit up. He could
feel himself turning red in spite of himself, and when the doorknob
began to turn, he yelped, "I'm up! Don't come in!"
    The turning paused. "All right," she said, though she
sounded dubious. "Dirk said you were coming with us today?"
    He wanted to refuse -- he'd been signed up against
his will, he didn't want to go anywhere with that man! -- but
instead he burrowed down deeper into his blanket cocoon and said,
"Yeah, maybe."
    "Maybe?"
    "Yes, okay! Yes, I'm c-- I'm going!" He blushed
harder, scrubbing at his face with his blanket-wrapped hands. "What
movie is it?"
    "Can I come in?"
    "No!" he squawked, his voice cracking. He could
picture Haley's face clearly, her eyes wide and her mouth pursed in
concern. "I mean, I, I'm getting changed! So you can't come
in!"
    "You could have just said so," Haley said, but he
could hear the faint edge of relief in her voice. "Don't make it
sound like you're dying or something."
    "You just surprised me," he huffed. "So what movie
are we going to?"
    "We've got choices. There's some new action thing
Dirk wants to see--"
    "That's fine." Simon wriggled to the edge of his bed,
setting his feet on the floor at last. "I don't care, I can pay for
my own ticket."
    "So can I. Are you really all right?"
    "I'm fine!" He inched his way to his closet, freeing
one arm enough to open the doors. If it was just a movie outing,
and if it was some mindless action thing, he'd go for casual. "When
is it?"
    "The matinee's in forty-five minutes, and we're going
to need at least fifteen to get there. Can you manage that?"
    "Actually, yes," he huffed. "Are we eating?"
    "There's breakfast. Dirk made it."
    He paused at that, his hand on a polo shirt. "Did
he?"
    "He's a good cook," she said, sounding pleased now.
"You wouldn't guess, looking at him, right?"
    "I guess not ..."
    "So if you want any, he made eggs and french toast.
Don't take too long, all right?"
    Simon resisted the urge to roll his
eyes. "I won't take that long, Mother ," he said.
    "I wouldn't mother you if you didn't need it
sometimes," she shot back. "All right, I'll see you
downstairs."
    He listened to the sound of her footsteps moving
away, then took a deep breath, staring at his closet as if it had
insulted him. He really should have said no, he told himself; he
should have shot them