Published: 30 Jul 2026

Chapter 40 – Daniel

When we got back to our room at the Quality Inn, we carried our wetsuits and booties inside, we began to get undressed.

“Daniel, did you bring long underwear with you?”

“Yes, I was at Clint’s house when you called and told him about bringing them, so Mr. Fowler drove me home so I could get my long underwear to put in with my other things.”

“That’s good,” I said, “because wearing them under your wetsuit will help to keep you a little warmer.”

As I looked over at them again, as I was about to put my long underwear on, I noticed that both of Clint and Daniel were naked. “Why did you two get completely undressed?” I asked.

“We thought that’s what we were supposed to do, since we don’t usually wear anything under our long johns,” Clint replied as they both stood facing us with questioning expressions on their faces.

“Maybe you wouldn’t do that normally, but leaving your boxers or boxer briefs and tee shirt on before putting on your long underwear will provide you a little more protection from the cold. The temperature of the water at this time of year could be close to freezing, so if it splashes on you when we’re going through the rapids you’ll definitely feel it, unless you have the right amount of insulation.”

“Oh, ok. We didn’t know that’s what we were supposed to do,” Daniel responded. “Besides, since I figured that I was going to get naked in front of you guys at some point, I felt this would be a good time to do it.”

“First of all, you didn’t have to get naked in front of us, especially if it makes you uncomfortable, so you can put your underwear back on. Then, just put your thermal underwear on over them, and then you can put the wetsuit on over both your thermal underwear and regular underwear.”

“Ok,” they both agreed as they started to do as I’d suggested.

As soon as we were ready, we stepped out into the hallway to wait for the others to join us. We chatted while we waited and Clint announced that he wanted the four of us to ride with his dad again. No one had a problem with it, so we agreed to do what he wanted.

When we got to the outfitters, we went inside for the safety lecture and other instructions. “I believe you were all here with us last year,” the man who was going to be our guide said after he’d introduced himself. “Is that correct?”

“All of us ‘cept Daniel,” Clint said as he pointed at his boyfriend. “He’s never been rafting before.”

Aaron raised his hand and said, “We weren’t with them last year, but we went rafting many years ago.”

“In that case, I’ll go over everything, just like someone did for the rest of you last year.”

He then went over the safety instructions first, and made sure the newbies understood everything he was saying, followed by the other instructions, including how to use the paddle. When he finished, he started handing out paddles, and Clint showed Daniel where to place his hands and how to use the paddle. After that, he had Daniel practice using the paddle while standing up, until our guide began handing out the life jackets. As soon as we put them on, our guide went around to make sure we’d each done it correctly, and when he was satisfied, he made another comment.

“If I remember correctly, last year you were using a six-person raft. Since then, we’ve added rafts that are longer and suitable for 8 people to use, along with a guide, so that’s what we’ll be using this year. However, it will leave one of you sitting between two of the others, so who is going to do this?”

“Daniel will start out in the middle, between me and my dad,” Clint replied. “I told him to watch what I’m doing, so he’ll know what to do when it’s his turn. I just hope we can switch places after a while, so he can try paddling too.”

“Yes, this trip has several locations where you can switch places, so I’ll let you know when I feel it’s a good spot for you do that, but please do it carefully. I don’t want either of you to fall out of the raft and possibly get injured.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll be careful,” they both agreed.

As soon as our guide felt we were ready, he made sure each of us had a paddle, and Clint and Daniel had the one that Daniel had been given earlier that they’ll share. After that, we went outside and helped to carry the raft to the van that would take us to the launch site, and we placed the raft on the trailer that was attached to the back of the van.

I could see that Daniel was getting more and more excited the closer we got to where we’d start out on this venture. As soon as we arrived there, we carried the raft down to the water’s edge, and then we began to load into it. Pa and Dad got in first and went to the bow, so they’d be sitting in the front section, and Ma and Mom sat in the section right behind them. Lonny and Clint took the two positions on either side of the next section, and then Daniel sat between them. Finally, Devin and I got in the last section, and our guide sat behind us on a special, raised metallic platform that had a large oar attached to either end of the frame.

I took a position on the starboard, or righthand, side of the raft, directly behind Clint, so I could keep an eye on him and Daniel to make sure they weren’t having any problems. And as soon as we started out, I heard Clint telling Daniel how to sit in the raft to help him maintain his balance and keep from bouncing around when we went through the rapids. When he finished giving Daniel those pointers, he glanced back and grinned, because those were the same pointers that I’d given him after he’d nearly been ejected from the raft the previous year.

Of course, the title of this tour was a ‘Mild & Scenic Half-Day Trip’, which implied it would be a fairy gentle and relaxing trip under normal conditions. However, since the water level was higher and the current faster, it didn’t always adhere to that description. The launch point was just downstream from the Shoshone rapids, so we wouldn’t be going through that area on this trip, although I knew there were other less challenging rapids farther downstream. I believe my dad scheduled this particular tour to allow Daniel a chance to get accustomed to being in the raft and he could get used to paddling before he joined us on the more difficult tours.

Our guide must have been watching Clint and Daniel to see how they were doing, and after we’d gone through one of the milder set of rapids, he announced that Clint and Daniel could change places. I made sure that I was ready to help either one if they lost their balance or if it looked as if they might fall out of the raft, but they switched places without incident. From then on, I merely watched to see if Daniel was doing ok as he began to paddle.

There was one area where the river narrowed and it got slightly rougher and formed white caps, although it wasn’t nearly as rugged as the rapids we’d encountered a short time ago. This was mostly due to the large amount of water in the river and the faster current than usual trying to squeeze through the narrower opening. I was busy paddling myself, but I still kept an eye on Daniel as well, to make sure he was doing ok. That’s when I noticed Clint had ahold of Daniels life jacket, to ensure that he stayed in the raft.

This was obviously a challenge for Daniel, since he probably wasn’t used to the physical exertion involved in paddling, but he did fairly well as we made our way downstream. Even though the current was stronger and a little rougher than it had been when we were here last summer, for the most part, he was handling the task quite well for a beginner.

When we reached a calmer area where I could relax my focus and look around, I spotted a couple of deer standing on the left bank of the river and pointed them out to Clint and Daniel. Since they both lived in Colorado Springs, I suspected that Daniel rarely got a chance to see many animals in the wild, and the sight of them fascinated him. Since this tour was a little over three hours long, it was at the time of day when animals were coming out to eat and drink, so I told the boys to keep an eye out for more deer, as well as smaller animals, as we continued,

The current was swift, so it didn’t take long before we left the deer far behind us and we all returned to focusing on paddling, although we were also remaining observant so we didn’t miss seeing even more animals.

When we eventually reached the outfitters, our guide steered the raft over to the area where we’d disembark. In doing that, the raft displaced enough water to take it up the sloping shore, and it remained there as the water receded. Dad and Pa jump out to steady the raft, so the rest of us could disembark, and once we were all out of the raft, we pulled it completely out of the water. We then placed our paddles in the raft and arranged ourselves around the sides of the raft, and upon a signal from our guide, we lifted it and carried it up to the building. We took it over where an overhead door was located that led into the warehouse portion of the building and left it there for the employees to take it into the warehouse after most of the water had evaporated.

Now that we were done for the day, we walked out to the parking lot, and after our group got in Lonny’s car, he followed Dad back to the Quality Inn. When we arrived there, Dad made an announcement before we headed to our rooms.

“Dry off and get dressed into your regular clothes as quickly as you can, so we can go out for supper.”

The four of us nodded to let him know we understood, and then we went back to our room to do as he’d told us. As soon as I entered, I went directly to the bathroom and grabbed four towels that were sitting on the counter and carried them into the main room. I then handed a towel to each of the others so they could use them to dry off.

“You shouldn’t have too much excess water to wipe off, so as soon as you’ve done, take off your wetsuit and long underwear so you can put on something appropriate to go out to eat.”

“Should we put on clean underwear?” Clint asked.

“That might be a good idea,” I agreed, and we began to strip down.

Devin and I took our time after we got naked and while we were choosing clean underwear out of our duffle bags so Daniel would have a chance to check us out.

“See, I told you their cocks were bigger than ours,” Clint pointed out to Daniel.

I believe he did this to make sure Daniel wasn’t afraid to take a good look at our dicks. While Clint and Daniel were doing that, they both stood there naked so we could check them out as well, if that’s what we wanted to do. Devin and I, however, merely focused on what we were doing and didn’t stare. Even though Daniel had allowed us see him naked earlier, we didn’t know if it might have made him uncomfortable, since he probably wasn’t used to doing this type of thing. To be honest, I was afraid that Clint had most likely pressured Daniel into believing that he’d have to get naked in front of us. I didn’t get the impression that Daniel was as much of an exhibitionist as Clint had been when we first met him, so I decided to cut him some slack, just in case.

As soon as each of us had finished changing, we put on our jackets and stepped into the hallway to wait for the others. Lonny, was the first one to join us, followed by Pa and Dad, but we had to wait a few more minutes before Mom and Ma were ready. After they came out of their rooms, we all went outside and hopped into the appropriate vehicle so we could head to Yesterdays.

This time we went to the 60s dining room, and once again, Clint wanted to sit in a booth. After the hostess let him choose a booth, she seated our parents at the table that was across from the booth we were in. As soon as we were all seated, Clint checked out the photo on the wall first.

“Hey, this one says the group’s name is The Byrds. They look young, but they’ve all got a big head of hair. Some of them even look like they’re wearing an old fashion football helmet, the kind without a facemask.”

“Do you have money to play songs this time?” I asked, since I assumed that’s what he was going to do next.

“Yeah, I asked my dad for a quarter before we came in here. And Daniel, in case you didn’t notice, yesterday I needed a quarter for each song I played, but this time I can play three songs for a quarter.”

“That’s because the prices for the jukeboxes are set for the time period of the dining room it’s in,” I explained to Daniel. “Things were cheaper in the 60s and 70s and then got a little more expensive in the 80s and 90s, so that’s why there a difference in how many songs you can play for a quarter.”

Clint decided to select three songs by The Byrds, since he wanted to see what kind of music they played. I’m not sure how he selected the songs, since he obviously wasn’t familiar with any of them, but as the first song he chose started to play, it became apparent that its title was, “Turn, Turn, Turn”. This wasn’t difficult to figure out, since those three words appeared at the end of each of the first two lines of the song. However, there was a deeper meaning to this song, as Clint soon discovered.

“Hey, I’ve heard those words before, but not as part of a song!” Daniel said amazed.

What he was referring to was that before the words ‘turn, turn, turn’, as well as those that followed them, including the next stanza, the lyrics produced the following saying.

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. A time to be born, a time to die. A time to plant, a time to reap. A time to kill, a time to heal. A time to laugh, and a time to weep.”

“I believe those are Bible verses and they’re about the various cycles of life,” I informed him.

“And I’m pretty sure I remember hearing that song in the movie ”Forest Gump”,” Devin added, “so if you saw that movie, then you might have also heard the lyrics there.”

The second song he selected was titled “Mr. Tambourine Man”.

“What made you choose this song?” I asked.

“I guess I just wanted to see what it was about.”

As that song was playing, our food was delivered, and as we were eating the final song came on. After hearing about half of it, Devin asked Clint a question.

“What made you pick this song?”

“I saw the title was “I’ll Feel a Whole Lot Better”, and I wanted to see what made those guys think that. It sounds like they feel that way cuz their cheating girlfriend either left or got kicked out.”

“In that case, it would have made a good Country song,” Devin teased.

When each of us eventually finished eating, we returned to the Quality Inn and made our way back to our rooms. As Devin was using his keycard to unlock the door, Dad pulled me aside.

“Set your alarm for 7:00 and you’ll have a half hour to shower and get dressed before we head out for breakfast.”

“Do you want us to wear the wetsuits?” I asked as I watched the others enter our room.

“No, dress normally, because we’ll have time to return here and put on our wetsuits before heading to the outfitters. The next trip isn’t scheduled until 9:30.”

“Oh, ok. I’ll tell the rest of the guys then,” I confirmed, and then Dad left to go to his room as I was using my keycard to go inside.

“What did your dad want?” Clint asked when he saw me enter the room.

“He just told me to set my alarm for 7:00 and we’ll have a half hour to shower and get dressed before we go out for breakfast.

“Let’s shower tonight instead!” Daniel suggested

“Ok, we can do that.”

“Can Clint and I shower together?”

“Sure, that will be fine, and you can do your other business at the same time, because you don’t have to do it in here so we can watch, even if that’s what Clint wants to do.” Daniel blushed when I said that.

“Why do you think I’d told him that?” Clint huffed.

“Because you’re an exhibitionist.”

“No, I’m not.”

“You are too. If you remember, last year we’d just met when you followed me into the restroom at the outfitters, and after you stared at my dick as I was peeing, you made sure that I got a good look at your dick.”

“Ok, I did that with you, but I don’t do it with everyone.”

“Didn’t you tell Daniel that he’d get to see us naked and that he’d have to run around naked too?”

“Maybe I did, but that’s only because it was what we did last year and I wanted to prepare him for doing that.”

“Prepare him or plant the suggestion in his mind that he had to do it.”

“He made me feel that he wanted to do it and I should do it too, but I didn’t mind or argue about it, because I wanted to see you guys naked too. I felt that I should do the same thing, since it was only fair.”

“Ok, and seeing each other naked is one thing, but we don’t need to see you two jerking each other off or sucking each other’s cocks. Devin and I certainly won’t be doing those things in front of you either. If you decide that you don’t want to do those things in the shower, then wait until we turn off the lights in the room before you do it in bed. Devin and I will lay on our sides and face the other way to give you some privacy.”

“Can we all stay naked for a while longer, both before and after we take our showers then? I was always too scared to check out other guy’s cocks when we were going to the toilet, and I didn’t dare to when we were in the locker room for P.E. either. Guys always gave me crap and thought I was gay just because of my last name, and I knew it would get even worse if they ever caught me checking them out. That’s why I didn’t mind when Clint told me that you guys did those things last year, because I wanted you to do the same thing this year.”

“Ok, just being naked isn’t a problem, and I think that by now it must be fairly obvious none of us is shy about showing what we’ve got.”

“Thank you. It means a lot to me that you’re willing to do this. And seeing you guys naked has already helped me realize that there are a lot more changes that are going to happen to my body. The teacher didn’t really go over those changes in health class, but she did tell us that some guys might still be going through puberty until they’re in their late teens or early twenties.”

“Yes, some people might take that long to finish going through puberty, and I don’t think any of us has a problem with doing this for you.”

That’s all it took to encourage Daniel to start taking off all of his clothes, and Clint eagerly did the same thing. Since the room wasn’t exactly warm, I went over and turned the heater in the room on high. I thought the other two might get embarrassed if the cold caused them to experience shrinkage, if you know what I mean.

I expected Daniel and Clint would head directly into the bathroom to shower once they were naked, but they just hung out in the main room and either walked around or sat on the bed completely naked. Eventually, I had to ask them a question.

“Do you guys plan on showering first, or do you want us to go first?”

“You guys can go first if you want and we’ll find something to watch on TV until you’re done.”

“Ok, that’s fine with us.”

As Devin and I walked naked to the bathroom, I could feel Daniel’s eyes on me the entire time. I guess he liked what he saw. When we finished our shower, we went back to the main room with our towels draped around our necks. Once again, Daniel was happily checking us out, and neither he nor Clint made a move to go into the bathroom. Daniel continued watching us as we put on the same underwear that we’d just worn to the restaurant. Once we did that, those two finally went to take their shower.

When they came out and finished drying off, neither of them was in a hurry to put on their underwear. I have to admit, that they’re both good-looking and have nice bodies, so it was easy to see why they were attracted to each other. I was also glad that Clint finally had a boyfriend and was no longer clinging to me and asking if I would shower or do other things with him.

“Are you both in the same grade and in some of the same classes at school?” I asked, while still playing ignorant so Clint wouldn’t discover that I had chatted with Daniel on the phone. I wasn’t sure how he’d react if he learned that I was ultimately responsible for Daniel asking him to join the gay-straight alliance.

“No, I’m ten months older than Clint and a year ahead of him in school. It’s just that my birthday fell so I was able to start kindergarten when I was four, and turned five before Thanksgiving, so it’s not like I’m way older than he is.”

“It seems to work out ok for both of you, except that you’ll be graduating a year before him.”

“Yeah, but there’s not much I can do about that. I’ll also be going to the high school this year, but he’ll still be at the middle school. And even though I’ll be graduating a year ahead of him, we’ll be together for three years before that happens. I’m hoping we’ll be able to go to the same college too, like you two did, but that means we’ll both have to get accepted to the same college first, and we might not have much control over that either.”

“That’s a ways off, though, so you won’t have to worry about that for a while.”

“Maybe not about college, but I’ll be going to the high school this fall.”

“I hope you two can still stay close during that time.”

“We won’t see each other at school for a whole year, but we can still spend time at each other’s house after school, on weekends, and during the holidays.”

“Uh, you might want to limit your time together to just on weekends and during the holidays, because you don’t want to end up getting behind on your studies. You can talk to each other on the phone after school, as long as you limit it, because you’ve got to keep your grades up, especially if you want to have an option of going to the same college together. Do you live close to each other.”

“Not close, but it’s not really far apart either. Our houses are about a mile (1.6 km) from each other, so it’s close enough that we can ride our bikes to spend time with each other.”

“That’s good, and now it’s time for us to turn in. If you didn’t take care of each other in the shower, you can do it after I turn off the lamp between our beds, but don’t stay up too late.”

“Ok, and we’ll see you in the morning.”

“Pleasant dreams,” I added before turning off the lamp, and then I spooned up behind Devin, placed my arm over his side, and cuddled with him as we fell asleep.

When my alarm went off, we got up and rotated through the bathroom to do our business, and then we got dressed. As soon as each of us was ready, we went into the hallway to meet up with the others so we could go out for breakfast. They took us to a different restaurant this time, since Yesterdays didn’t serve breakfast, and after we were finished eating, Lonny drove us back to the Quality Inn.

After we went back to our room, we took off our clothes and put on another pair of thermal underwear, followed by our wetsuits and booties, before going back into the hallway to wait for the others.

Once they joined us, we headed outside and got in the various vehicles for the short trip to the outfitters. Dad and Lonny didn’t wear their booties while they were driving, because they weren’t sure how they’d work on the various pedals, so they wore other shoes and changed them when we got to the outfitters. When we went inside, we were greeted by the same guide again.

“Today you’ve chosen to go on the Full Day Rafting Adventure, which will take about 6 hours in total.”

“But that means we won’t get back until 3:30,” Daniel blurted out, “so what will we do about lunch?”

“We’re going to stop around midday for a catered lunch at the park that our company owns. They purchased the park several years ago, which means the other companies and individuals aren’t able to use it without permission from our parent company, so we’ll be the only ones there today, except for the caterers.”

I heard Daniel breathe a sigh of relief and he looked satisfied after he heard our guides response.

“I just have one question to ask before we get ready to go out to the launch site,” our guide continued. “Who will be sitting in the middle this time?”

“I will,” Mom quickly volunteered. “Even though yesterday was one of the easier trips, my arms are still a little sore this morning, since I’m not exactly used to paddling a raft, kayak, or canoe on a daily basis and using those muscles.”

“That’s fine with me, so we’ll pass out the life jackets and carry the raft down to the trailer and lock it in place.”

After we got to the launch point and carried the raft down to the water’s edge, I decided to offer a suggestion before we began to get into the raft. “Lonny, why don’t you take Mom’s spot from yesterday, and Daniel, I want you to sit in front of me, the same place you were yesterday. Clint, you can sit on the other side, in front of Devin.”

“Ok,” they all agreed, and before long we were heading down the river.

Since we were much farther upstream than the previous day, it didn’t take long before we came to the first set of rapids and I was curious to see how Daniel handled them. These were only a class II normally, but now a class III due to the increased water level and faster current.

I kept an eye on him to make sure he wasn’t having any difficulty and he seemed to be handling the situation fairly well. That was at least partially due to the fact that Clint had instructed Daniel on how to sit in a way that would help him maintain his balance, and I was impressed with how he’d handled this first obstacle. However, it wasn’t nearly as difficult as it will be when we go through Shoshone Rapids, and last year that’s when Clint nearly got bounced out of the raft. Therefore, I’d do my best to keep an eye on him as we’re going through those rapids.

As we continued along the mile and a half (2.4 km) descent, we came to some calmer areas next, although the current was still flowing faster than normal. Eventually, we arrived at Shoshone Rapids, and this was going to be an even tougher challenge for Daniel, than it had been for Clint the previous year. I did my best to watch him, while Devin was keeping an eye on Clint, even though we also had to concentrate on what we were doing at the same time. From what I could tell, though, they both seemed to be handling the situation well, so I directed most of my attention to the task at hand.

Shortly after we got through Shoshone Rapids, I noticed our guide was steering the raft toward the same location that we’d started our trip from yesterday. As soon as the raft was ground there, I looked around and saw there was some activity at the pavilions where the picnic tables were located, so I assumed they were the caterers.

There were only ten of us on this trip, including our guide, which was a much smaller group than the previous year, since there were multiple rafts, so I was surprised they went to this much trouble. They could have just given us boxed lunches, and I doubt anyone would’ve complained. When we got closer to the pavilion, I discovered there were only two caterers setting things up, along with an employee from the outfitters who was manning a charcoal grill and cooking hamburgers and hotdogs.

At the head of the picnic table were paper plates and plastic utensils, followed by hamburger and hot dog rolls. After the hamburgers and hot dogs were ready, the guy moved them to pans that a woman brought to the table. Then, we used tongs from each pan to take what we wanted. After that area were single wrapped slices of cheese, if we wanted to have a cheeseburger or place a slice on roll before adding a hot dog. There were also sliced tomatoes and onions, as well as the various condiments we could use that included mustard, ketchup, mayonnaise, relish, and salt and pepper. At another picnic table was another woman overseeing the salads, both a macaroni salad and potato salad that she would scoop into paper bowls for us

All together it was a nice luncheon, and after we finished eating, our guide gave us an option of what we could do next. “You can either choose to enjoy the nice weather for a while and allow your meal to digest, or you can take out a one-person or two-person inflatable kayak for about 45 minutes. If that’s what you choose to do, then just go see Paulo at the trailer with the kayaks that are provided for your use.”

Clint told Daniel about having used one of those kayaks with his dad the previous year and convinced Daniel to do it too. Daniel said he’d never been in a kayak before, so he wanted me to go with him in a two-man kayak, and I agreed to do it. Clint and Devin each chose to use a one-man kayak instead, and we all went out on the river while the others rested and chatted.

I had to explain to Daniel how to use a double-bladed paddle before we got in the kayak. And once we were out on the water, he caught on very quickly and was doing quite well. We heard the guide holler for us to come in, since we hadn’t gone very far and merely paddled downstream for a ways before turning around and paddling back upstream. Once we’d returned the kayak to Paulo, we prepared to get back in the raft, and Daniel spoke as we were heading there.

“That was fun, and if we had more time I would have tried going out in a one-man kayak.”

“Maybe we’ll get another chance for you to do that before we leave here.”

“I hope so, because it was fun.”

Once we were in the raft, we completed the rest of the trip, which was basically the same as the trip that we’d taken the previous day. Since this was a milder stretch of the river, with only a couple of smaller rapids and the place where the river narrowed, Daniel had no problems before we got back to the outfitters.

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