Chapter 12: Circles of Trust

Saturday June 25

I stared at the ceiling, happy to be home. There was something to be said for sleeping in your own bed. Something was missing, though: my trusty hound. It had been too late last night to get him from the farm. I glanced at the clock and it was almost nine. I guess I’d slept in.

I got dressed and went downstairs, where I found Precious sunning herself on our driveway.

“Hello, evil cat. Did you miss your buddy?” I asked.

She lifted her head and our eyes locked. I decided it was best to just be on my way. When I got to the kitchen, I made myself a bowl of cereal. I was cleaning up when my mom found me.

“Finally decided to get out of bed?” she asked.

I ignored her jab.

“I’m going to go get Duke.”

“I’ll go with you. Your grandmother said there are some vegetables getting ripe. She mentioned some of the early tomatoes are ready. I feel like a BLT.”

I’d given Paul the weekend off because he was going with us to Canada. He needed to do laundry and pay bills. I’d had to agree to stay home or he would have insisted on having someone accompanying me, but this was just a trip to the farm. I didn’t think that Fritz would yell at me ... much.

We took the Jeep, and when I got out at my grandma’s, I whistled loudly to call Duke. We could hear barking from down by the river and soon saw him tearing up the walnut-hull path we’d put in. He was a total spaz and couldn’t decide who he should say ‘Hi’ to first, Mom or me. Grandma Dawson and Yelena came walking up the path.

My grandmother grabbed me and kissed my cheek.

“If he stayed too much longer, I was going to keep him,” she said as Duke danced around us. “I think he needs some energy burned off.”

I’d brought his ball with me, so I grabbed it out of the Jeep while my mom and grandma went to pick vegetables. Yelena stayed, and I could tell she wanted to talk. Duke tore off after a long toss of his ball.

“Your grandmother proud of you. Say you good with baseball.”

“I made the cut to the next round. I’ll have to survive one more round of cuts to make the national team and go to Mexico. Everything being equal, I think I’d love to play baseball full-time, but I know I’d miss the contact of football,” I admitted.

“Yuri said it would be shame if you not play football. He said you have ‘special talent.’”

I felt myself blush. I hadn’t expected Yuri to even think that let alone say it to his grandmother.

“I’ve sort of put it on the back burner this summer to explore baseball. I won’t let Yuri or my teammates down. I plan to win state my senior year.”

She looked perplexed.

“Back burner?”

I remembered how different English was from her native language and explained it to her. She smiled and left Duke and me to our game of catch.

When Duke finally began to tire out, we walked down to the river. We went to the bluff and sat down under my favorite walnut tree. Duke wanted some serious loving. I think my grandma needed to be trained on ear rubbing and chest scratching.

It was relaxing to sit on the bluff and look out over the river. Caryn had sent me an email that said they’d dug out several feet of silt from the riverbed. The next step would be to line the shores with riprap, or stones, to prevent erosion. I’d agreed to have them put smaller gravel in the bed of the river to firm it up. The hope was that cleaning up the river would make it healthier and also less likely to flood.

I received a text from my mom, so I convinced Duke that we should jog back to the farm. Mom had a plastic tub full of tomatoes, green beans, new potatoes and lettuce. I was happy to haul it to the Jeep.

Duke claimed shotgun, but Mom boosted his butt and sent him to the back seat. On the ride home, I received a text from Brook to meet her at the small local airport. She wanted to take me flying. I didn’t tell Mom about the flying; I didn’t want her to worry. Anyways, that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it.

“Hello, Brook Davis,” I said as I spotted my friend.

“Why, young Mr. Dawson. So good to see you,” she said, acting regal.

“What’s the plan for today?”

“I’ve got a flying lesson. I told them that you’d eventually be joining me, so you get to ride along with me today to see what it’s like. Come with me and I’ll introduce you to my instructor, Roy Tyro,” Brook said as she grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

I could tell that she enjoyed flying, and I was sure if she liked it, I would too.

“Roy, this is my good friend David,” Brook said by way of introduction.

“I’ve watched you play football and took in both your movies. It’s a pleasure to have you here today. Brook says that you might also want to learn to fly. If you do decide to try it, I would love for you to pick us as your instructors.”

Roy showed me the aircraft they used for training. It was a newer Cessna 172, and he proudly pointed out its advanced G1000 avionics. He explained that the Cessna 172 was a four-seater with a high wing and single engine. The first one flew in 1955, and more of these aircraft were built than any other. He explained that Lincoln Flight School had picked this proven training aircraft with the most up-to-date avionics available with safety in mind. The G1000 Avionics System was state-of-the-art, commercial-level flight instrumentation.

I stood back as Brook had her lesson. They walked the plane as part of the preflight checklist. I sat in the back as she took control of the plane and took us up. I could see the joy she experienced as we rose into the blue sky overlooking the area farms. I knew she’d found another thing we could do together. I would have to wait until after this summer to join her.

After her class, we snuck into the back of her property and went to her cabin by the lake.

“Want to go skinny-dipping?” Brook asked, with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

I took her up on her challenge and began to lose my clothes. We were soon roughhousing in the lake when Cassidy came walking up.

“You two are terrible. You do know your parents are up at the house. I think Ava would pay good money to see our boy naked,” Cassidy observed.

“Join us,” Brook dared her friend.

Cassidy looked around and began taking her clothes off. She was soon in the water and the three of us acted like the teenagers we were. The girls wanted me to toss them into the air so they could splash into the deeper part of the lake. I aimed for where the natural spring was because the water was colder in that spot. The cold water did interesting things to their nipples. Brook finally figured it out.

“You’re such a bad boy. I think he just wants to see these,” Brook accused me, and Cassidy gave me a dirty look.

I raced out of the water to keep Cassidy from doing me harm. She was game, but I was faster than she was. She got Brook to help her and somehow I let them catch me. Things heated up, and soon Brook knew fully how much I’d missed her. I offered to have Cassidy join us, but she reminded me that we were at home and we’d made a promise to her dad.

Brook thought that was just fine and took full advantage.

I invited Ava and Ian to join Brook, Cassidy and me for lunch at my house. I’d bragged up my mom’s BLTs. Mom and Dad were happy to see them, as we’d had a family vacation together. I bribed Ian to ask a question.

“What lake are you going to for your vacation?”

“Trout Lake. We’ll fly into Winnipeg and then catch a private flight to Red Lake, the closest small town to the fishing camp we’re staying at. It’s a 20-minute flight from there to the lodge on Trout Lake. The only way to get there is to fly in and land on the lake,” Dad said, and then saw the big grin on my face. “Dammit, David. You can’t tell Greg or Phil.”

“Phil thinks we’re going to strip clubs. I can’t wait to see his face when you dump him in the middle of nowhere in Canada,” I said, and then went into planning mode. “Do I need to call Devin and get us gear?”

“Devin wanted to join us, but Sandy talked him out of it. He agreed to ship everything that we might need to the lodge. He only asked that we take some pictures of the fish we catch that he can show on his website.

“Now what did you tell your half brother?” Dad asked.

“It was Roc’s fault. He told Phil that on the last guys’ weekend we had, we went to a brothel.”

“Really?” Mom asked.

“Mom, just stop. You know what happens on guys’ weekend stays on the guys’ weekend, or that was what Uncle John and Dad made me promise. It’s a guy thing,” I said, as I gave her a superior look.

I must have said ‘guy’ one too many times. Cassidy found a nerve bundle under my arm. Now that hurt. I don’t think she was even sorry. Mom thanked Cassidy for the assist and I kept my mouth shut from that point on.

After everyone had left, I was surprised when Tami showed up.

“Where are Tim and Wolf?” I asked.

“They went home to see their parents. I wanted to have a talk with you.”

“Oh, man. What did I do now?” I asked as my mom walked in.

“Did David do something he shouldn’t have?” Mom asked.

“No. No one’s done anything wrong. I just need to talk to him,” Tami explained.

“Oh. I thought you already had,” Mom said, and then left us alone.

I felt the old irritation about my mom and Tami being too close to each other. I just sighed, knowing this wasn’t good for me.

“Maybe we should go to your apartment to talk so we aren’t interrupted,” Tami suggested.

I gave her an unhappy face but was smiling inside. My guess was that Tim had finally manned up and told Tami he liked her. I couldn’t let her know that I was happy for her ... yet. I thought she might have to work for it a little bit.

When we got seated, she suddenly wasn’t as sure of herself, so I took over the conversation and got her up to date on baseball tryouts. I also told her about the release of my new movie, The Secret Circle. It was doing about what they’d projected in the way of sales. That made Rita happy since she’d invested a lot of her own money into the film. She’d already earned her investment back and they hadn’t even started DVD sales.

The film had been in the top three for the last few weeks. Ari told me that we could expect this weekend would be the last big one, as far as earnings. The Fourth of July weekend would introduce the big summer movies.

When I finally ran down, Tami kissed me.

“You know that I love you,” she began.

I was surprised that even though I knew what she was about to tell me, it still hurt. You don’t go as long as we had knowing that ‘someday’ you would be together for this not to get you in the gut. I had to remind myself what had transpired in the last two years. I’d given up on my claim on Tami. She’d rejected or hurt me too many times. That didn’t mean that I didn’t want her to be a close friend. I had to convince myself that I didn’t want more than that.

“You found someone,” I said, to make it easier on her.

She gave me a curious look.

“He talked to you,” she said, putting it together.

“He didn’t want to hurt our friendship,” I admitted.

“That was why you didn’t want to go out with the four of us last time I was home.”

I just nodded.

“I take it you’re okay with us going out. I told him we couldn’t until I talked to you.”

“He’s a great guy. I hope you two are happy with each other,” I said.

Tami blinked at me. I don’t think she expected that.

“Uh ... okay. The four of us are going out tonight. Why don’t you get a date and join us?” Tami asked.

“I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”

“Why? We’re all friends.”

“Think about it. I’ve slept with you and Sarah, plus the two of you are just starting to date. No one wants their girl’s ex to go on a date with them.”

She rubbed her forehead.

“I can see your point. Maybe next time,” she suggested.

After she left, I sort of went to a dark place. It was less than a year ago that I’d asked her to be my girlfriend, and now she was dating one of my best friends. I found it hard to believe that he was a better match for her.

I spent the night in with the boys so Peggy could go out with some of her college friends. Mom and Dad had a date night too. It was just Duke, Little David and Coby with me. It was nice to have daddy-time alone with the boys.

That was great until they all fell asleep on me by nine. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d sat home on a Saturday night and watched Netflix. The intercom chirped and I switched to the camera to see who was there. It was Yuri and Jan. I pressed the button to open the gate to let them in and I met them at the back door.

“Quiet. I just got the little ones asleep,” I cautioned them.

Duke greeted them at the top of the stairs. I told him to go park it in his crate and he went and lay down.

“I thought about what you said,” Yuri got out.

I raised one eyebrow and Jan gave me a look not to tease him. I wasn’t so sure Yuri was fully on board for a threesome. He just didn’t strike me as the type to want to share. He had too much Alpha Male in him. I knew I would never go for something like this. I also knew Jan. I could see her wearing him down.

“I take it you figured out the logistics,” I ventured.

“Uhm ... yeah.”

I got a little smile on my face and waited him out.

“Dammit, David. Could you just help me out here?” he almost pleaded.

“What are the rules?” I asked.

“What do you mean by ‘rules’?” he asked.

“Do you want me to just watch? Do you want to watch? Is everything fair game?” I asked, and then smiled. “Jan does have a hot little body. I’ve wanted to do this since middle school.”

Jan saw the look on Yuri’s face, grabbed his hand, and pulled him into my bedroom. I felt bad, but he needed to think this through before he never talked to me again. I could hear them talking, so I restarted my movie. After about thirty minutes, just Yuri came out.

“You’re such a dick.”

“Hey, I’m just making sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. Inviting another guy into your bed is kind of a big deal. I mean, it would be one thing if we just found a random girl at a party and wanted to have some fun. It’s something else entirely when you’re in a relationship.

“I’m not sure I could do it. If you decide that this is something you want to do, I’ll help you out as a friend. You do know I would never do anything to hurt your relationship. My only advice is that if you aren’t sure, wait,” I said, finishing my speech.

While I was talking, Jan came out of the bedroom.

“I want to do this,” Yuri told me.

I turned to Jan.

“Now, tell me honestly, do you want to do this, and why?”

Jan looked at me, startled, then down at her hands rubbing the front of her jeans, and then sideways at Yuri. She answered me but looked at Yuri while she talked.

“I want Yuri to know that I’ll do anything for him. I want him to know he can use me, sexually, not only for his pleasure but also with others, for his benefit. I admit it ... I like sex. I love doing things for Yuri and I love being his. I want him to know that if he asks, I would do anything he wants me to. I don’t think he believes me, so I suggested a threesome with you. I know this is outside his comfort zone, but I have faith that once he understands, we’ll both be happy. If I can help him cement a friendship or bring another satisfaction so he’s satisfied, I want him confident enough to ask. Heck, I want him to be happy knowing he has this power over me.

“I know how Yuri feels about you, and I want the two of you to be closer friends. I also know that you’ve had a problem with me in the past. I want to make it up to you, too,” she said, and I could see that she was almost pleading with me to go along with the plan.

Yuri looked steadily back at her, and then nodded, once. She gave him a timid look of gratitude and then rushed into his arms. I didn’t fully understand what was going on between these two. I did know I was happy that Jan wasn’t my problem. Yuri had his work cut out for him.

“One last thing. You do know I’m a Dawson, right?” I asked, and they both looked at me, confused. “We’re known as sex gods for a reason. I just hope you can keep up.”

They both just blinked at me. Yuri’s eyebrows came together.

“You really are a dick sometimes,” he said, which made me grin.

“Let’s rock her world,” I suggested.

I could tell Jan wasn’t sure whether or not Yuri could talk me into this. She smiled when we both walked into my bedroom. Then they both got shy. I think it finally sunk in that this might actually happen.

“Get naked,” I suggested and began to take off my clothes.

I decided to play the director because Yuri looked like he was about to lose his nerve.

“Yuri, lay down on the bed. Jan, you blow him while I get you ready.”

Yuri was much more agreeable while Jan pleasured him. She was on her knees and I edged them apart so I could work on her sex. Jan had always been the best-looking girl in my class, and I really had imagined what it would be like. Her body had only gotten better over time. She was in great shape and had a nice firm bottom. She’d shaved her sex but left a trimmed bush.

I rubbed her clit with three fingers to get her started. When she began to squirm, I sucked her sex into my mouth and stretched her lips. I reached down and spread her lips so my tongue could find her moist center. I’d had women with more experience than Jan teach me the finer points of oral sex. Even Adrienne agreed I wasn’t half bad. I don’t think Jan was ready for me.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! OH YES!” she hissed as I did some of my best work.

Yuri gave me a dirty look, but I’d warned him. I would have to teach him a few things.

“Straddle him,” I told Jan.

When she quit quaking, she climbed onto Yuri and grabbed his shaft. She made a satisfied grunt as she dropped her weight. I sat back and watched her ride him. Jan had nice breasts that swayed when she rode her boyfriend.

Yuri got a funny look on his face, grabbed her hips, and began to jackhammer into her. When he grunted and stiffened, I knew he’d cum. Jan looked over her shoulder and gave me a pleading look. I could tell she wanted to cum again.

“He came in you. I’m not following that,” I told her.

She got a frustrated look on her face.

“There is another way,” I suggested.

“Whatever you need to do to help her out,” Yuri said.

Neither Jan nor I thought he knew what I was talking about, but she wasn’t letting this opportunity pass her by. I put on a condom and got my tube of lube out. I coated my cock and had her get on all fours. I put a big glob on my index finger and used it to make sure she was ready. Yuri’s eyes got big when I pushed my cock into her butt.

Jan moaned as if we were doing porn. I slowly worked my way in and her head collapsed onto Yuri’s stomach.

“Get him hard again,” I ordered.

As she began to breathe life back into the dead, I went to work. Jan took me like a champion and I soon had her moaning. I realized that I was bigger than Yuri, but not enough to have her moan like that. Jan and I found a good rhythm and I reached under her to rub her sex. I got past the yuck factor when I found her labia covered in what Yuri had left.

I smiled when she pulled off Yuri and screamed. I felt her anal ring clench and unclench over and over again. I heard a baby cry at being woken up.

“Take over for me. I need to check on the babies.”

I grabbed my shorts and removed the condom before going out to my living room. It was good that I did because Tami and Tim were sitting in my living room.

“You’re a little early. I’m not done with my first threesome tonight,” I teased.

I think Tim’s brain melted. Tami just gave me a dirty look. I ignored them and found Coby was the one causing a fuss. I picked him up and he started to calm down. I heard the door open and Peggy came up the stairs. What happened to knocking?

“He’s the worst babysitter ever,” Tami observed.

Peggy rolled her eyes at me.

“Help me take the boys into the house,” Peggy said.

I followed Peggy up to the third floor of the house and put Coby to bed.

“What did I walk into?” Peggy asked.

“Tami wanted to show off her new boyfriend,” I said. “I’d rather not go back.”

It was obvious I was still aroused, and Peggy knew how to fix that. I just wish I’d been there when Yuri and Jan came out of my bedroom to find Tim and Tami. I bet that was a fun conversation.

Sunday June 26

Duke wasn’t happy. I’d left him in the apartment overnight while I spent time with Peggy. He was okay by the time I ran him and came home, but he was also out of shape. Apparently, Peggy didn’t run him as hard as I did.

When I came home, Dad told me we were flying out today. I’d thought Monday was our travel day. I soon had another person—Zoe—mad at me. We’d planned to be together all afternoon.

I packed my essentials and added a couple of things I wanted to bring with me. Everyone came to our house at eleven. Phil’s mom, Vickie, brought him. Greg made the mistake of telling Kyle that we were going on a trip. He thought he should get to go. I could see that in a couple of years it would be a kid’s week.

“Where are you going and why does Phil need a passport?” Vickie asked.

“It’s a surprise and we needed to go where Phil’s age wouldn’t be a problem,” I said with a straight face.

It was good that Phil’s head was attached or it would have fallen off with how fast it snapped around. Vickie saw and just shook her head.

“I guess he’ll come back in one piece,” she reasoned.

“He’ll come back a changed man,” Uncle John offered.

I had no doubt that Uncle John would spend time with him to make him a better person, but Phil didn’t need to know that.

“He’s had all his shots, right?” Greg asked.

“Mo-om,” he complained.

It was so nice not being the little one anymore. Phil was a godsend.

On the car ride to Chicago, Dad and Uncle John teased Greg and Phil about where we were going. I played dumb.

“Remember last time,” I moaned. “We ended up going to the doctor for all the blood tests. I hope we don’t have to do that again.”

“Did you really have to get blood tests?” Phil asked.

“We weren’t sure David really was a Dawson,” Uncle John teased.

“That was a disappointment. Mr. Thigpen has a pool,” I complained.

“Who’s Mr. Thigpen?” Phil asked.

“The mailman,” Greg explained.

“Do we have to get blood tests this time?” Phil worried.

“Let’s hope not,” was all Dad would say.

I waited until we were in the air before I started to really tease Phil. He got the middle seat between Greg and me. I grumbled about sitting in coach, but to be on a guys’ trip it was worth it. I then pulled out the things I’d printed off the internet.