Published: 14 Nov 2016

Winter in Iowa that year was unusually warm all the way into February. January saw very little snow, and temperatures never dipped below zero degrees Fahrenheit for any length of time. Some people were thrilled at the lower fuel bills while others worried about global warming.

Because he was young and in good shape, Dave recuperated from his injuries very quickly. His ribs healed rapidly enough for him to resume playing his favorite instrument. (Well, the favorite one for band, that is.) He was also feeling well enough to spend quality time with his lover blowing something besides a trumpet.

One night before going to bed, Dave and Dustin came into Dane and Colt’s room to talk for a while. They felt they needed to share some thoughts.

“We’re pretty sure our relationship is going to be public record once Gavin is put on trial. Even if he makes a plea bargain and avoids a public trial, some of the details are going to come out. We’re ready to face it, but we’re concerned about what our coming out will mean for our closeted housemates,” Dustin said.

“Don’t worry about us,” Dane countered holding his ring finger up next to Colt’s. “We’re not going to stay in the closet much longer either. If you’re out, we’re out! We can take the same road together.”

“Uh, well, uh, we might be a bit further down the highway than you are,” Dave blushed.

“You horny dawgs,” Dane exclaimed. “You’re doing it aren’t you?”

The other two nodded and blushed in answer.

“How does it feel? Did it hurt a lot? Shit, I’m being too nosy,” Colt stammered.

“It’s great, no, just a little, and that’s okay,” Dave responded in answer to each part of Colt’s question.”

Colt looked at Dane with exaggerated lust while licking his lips and Dane looked back in mock fear. He stood up and slid a thin, hard-cover book into the back of his underwear as armor for his butt. The boys all giggled at his antics.

“I’m gonna have to sleep this way from now on,” he said. “I’m sorry I even mentioned going down the same road!”

After Dave and Dustin left, Dane finished undressing his cousin and got out of his own briefs quickly. The boys stood pressed together kissing for several minutes.

“Do you want to do it soon?” Dane asked.

“I can wait,” Colt replied. “I will if you want, but I can wait.”

“Me too, but I kinda like being stimulated there sometimes.”

In bed a few minutes later, their oral ministrations included more butt-play than usual. And it WAS stimulating!

Over breakfast the next morning, the boys all talked to Greta about their plans to come out publicly soon. They discussed the pros and cons. Greta assured them she would support whatever decision they made. She said she was anticipating being more involved in activities to support gays once they did reveal their orientation.

At the next meeting of the gay/straight alliance, Dave said he wanted to make an announcement at the end of the formal part of the meeting. Joel, who didn’t know the nature of what Dave was going to say, told him that he was welcome to do that as long as it didn’t take too long and cause the pizza to get cold. Dave stepped up to the podium bringing Dustin along with him.

“Ever since the attack on me, there’s been a rumor circulating around school that I might be gay. I’m not sure anyone here would give a rat’s butt one way or the other. However, since Gavin’s trial is coming up soon and all of this will be in the public eye, I want to set the record straight. Yes, I AM gay and proud of it!”

The room broke into applause for Dave’s bravery in coming out. No one was quite expecting what happened next. Dustin grabbed his boyfriend and kissed him lovingly on the lips. That action drew a standing ovation.

“Well, I guess you know where I fit in this little drama,” Dustin chuckled.

They were returning to their seats when Dane and Colton stopped them. The four guys walked back up to the front again. Dane spoke for Colt and himself.

“We told these two we would travel the same road with them. So, we’re coming out too. We weren’t planning to do this until next spring, but you probably all guessed it anyway.”

There were several murmurs of disbelief and some of agreement throughout the crowd before applause started all over again.

“Does anyone else want to come out tonight, or shall we eat?” Joel giggled.

During the after-meeting snack, many other students came up to the guys to congratulate them. Before the group broke up, Coach Bret Heitz (their sponsor) made it a point to embrace each of the newly-out young men. He figured his little gesture of support would be broadcast all over school by morning and might deter anyone who was still thinking like Gavin.

In the months between Christmas and spring break, several sports came to an end and others began.

Swimming season was winding down and the Bentonville boys weren’t doing as well as they would like to have done. With construction of the new high school on schedule, there would be a great pool to practice in next year. There was always next year (just like for Chicago Cubs fans)!

Dane had the best record of anyone in his district in the butterfly stroke. But in the state meet, he got beaten by a tenth of a second by a senior named Eric Dows from Sioux City. Rather than despairing over the loss, he was quite pleased he’d competed as well as he had. Eric actually walked over to congratulate Dane for nearly kicking his ass.

“You have so much potential; I’ll bet you’ll win next year. If you keep going like you are now, you’ll shave several seconds off of your time. I’m gonna come back to watch you do it.”

Wrestling had its big finale in February. Both Dustin and Colt were doing very well. A number of other teammates were excelling too. It looked as if the wrestlers would put Bentonville on the map by taking a number of honors in Des Moines.

Bentonville dominated in the district competition. Colton pinned his man in record time. Dustin won by decision although he didn’t manage to pin his tough opponent. Most of the rest of the team came out on top too. They would send a bunch of guys to the state tournament.

Both Colt and Dustin were gratified that their teammates didn’t treat them any differently than they had before they came out. They suspected Coach Heitz had something to do with it. Whatever, it was great.

The icing on the cake, so to speak, was that four Bentonville wrestlers won state titles. This was something which hadn’t happened in quite a while for the small school. Of course, having Dustin on the squad due to the consolidation of the schools certainly added one more winner.

Dustin pinned his opponent very quickly in his final match. This was his cleanest, most decisive win in weeks. It proved to everyone that he was worthy of the honors he received.

Colt struggled initially, but found new strength as he heard his friends and family cheering him on. Wade and Roger had even made the long drive down Interstate 35 to watch Colton wrestle. The sound of Wade’s voice probably did nearly as much as Dane’s did to urge him toward victory.

Two other Bentonville guys struggled too, but came out victorious. One guy won by decision because of the amount of riding time he put in and the other eventually pinned his opponent.

In the locker room after the match, the Bentonville team all hugged and smacked each other’s’ butts. Again, it seemed that the group had taken the idea of having openly gay guys on the team in stride. It didn’t hurt that the guys who had recently come out had also won impressive victories for their school!

During the same late winter period, some important things happened in Des Moines. The long hoped for anti-bullying legislation was passed by both houses and signed into law by the governor. Conservatives balked at the inclusion of the words “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” and they wanted to have religious schools exempted from enforcing it. However, the congress stood firm. The law would affect all schools in the state beginning in September when the new term started. It was a new era!

Kids in the gay/straight alliance in Bentonville, Cosgrove, and other surrounding schools had spent hours writing or emailing their representatives and senators, so they had a real stake in the victory. Some had gone to Des Moines to rally for the bill and others had raised money to help sponsor kids who couldn’t afford the whole cost of the trip on their own.

On the day of the signing, the Bentonville group threw a big party open to everyone at school. It was well attended and the crowd consumed a huge amount of pizza and Pepsi. They kept Pizza Hut busy all evening and nearly caused the establishment to run out of supplies. Coach Heitz figured that the celebration might bankrupt the club, but somehow a benefactor stepped in to pay for the whole thing. Heitz was pretty sure that Joel was behind it again.

March madness is the malady that all basketball fans catch in the month. Since the university team hadn’t done well enough to get any tournament bids, the focus in Iowa was mainly on high school play. Thanks to the leadership shown by Dan and Cory, the Bentonville boys were headed to compete in Des Moines at the state level.

On Thursday evening, the guys won their first game of the tournament. Their opponent was a very tough team from the western part of the state. The teams were tied at the final buzzer sending them into overtime. For the next several minutes, the lead see-sawed back and forth causing each group of fans to be hopeful. The score was tied again with two seconds on the clock. The Bentonville basket was heavily guarded, so one of the guys fired the ball to Cory who sank a three-pointer to win the game. It was a perfect shot; all net! The crowd was ecstatic! The win not only made them advance to the next level, but it meant that school would be called off after lunch on Friday so fans could travel back to see the upcoming game. A bunch of the Bentonville kids had reserved rooms in advance for Friday night in case their team played again of Saturday. If they lost, it would still be fun to stay over and to watch some other teams play.

The Bentonville team already had rooms booked for Thursday night so they wouldn’t be worn down by driving home and back before the next game. It was doubtful that some of them would get a full night’s sleep in any event. Everyone was really pumped.

Cory and Dan shared a room with two other guys from the team. There were two beds and a sofa. The other boys were not all sure it would be cool to share a queen sized bed with another male, but when Cory stripped down to his underwear and climbed into bed with Dan who was similarly clad, they figured it must be okay. At least they would get no teasing from Dan and Cory, and it would be more comfortable. It didn’t take them long to fall asleep once everyone stopped talking.

Dan and Cory remained awake after they heard the deep, rhythmic breathing of their roommates which signaled they had drifted off. The lovers took the opportunity to cuddle and kiss in celebration of the victory. They would have loved to have gone for some oral action, but decided it wasn’t worth the risk just yet. However, they did manage to bring each other pleasure with their hands.

Dan reached down to retrieve a pair of socks he’d carefully positioned on the floor by the bed. He slipped one over Cory’s stiffening dick while Cory pulled the other one over Dan’s. With these in place, the guys began jacking each other slowly and quietly. They turned toward each other so they could kiss again. Cory’s breathing became ragged, signaling that he was getting close. The sound nudged Dan closer to the edge too. Both were trying their best not to moan or cry out.

Cory thrust his body tight against Dan’s hand and began to whimper.

“Ssh!” Dan admonished.

But he was also beginning to have a difficult time controlling his verbal expressions. He pushed hard against his lover’s fist too. Both froze in place for a split second. Then they pumped into the socks soaking them through.

The following afternoon saw a caravan of pep busses and private cars making its way from Bentonville to support the basketball team. Joel was driving his SUV with a number of guys and Dane was driving Greta’s with more. They had agreed to drive separately in order to take as many of their lunch-time companions as possible. It was like a party on wheels.

Trent, Sara, Jerry, and Carrie rode with Joel and Alex. It may have seemed more likely for them to have gone with Dane and Colt, but Dave and Dustin were traveling in their vehicle and Jerry had a feeling it would be better for the younger boys, Mike and Brent, to be in the Highlander with them.

And so it was that Brent and Mike got to travel in style with four guys from the junior class – four openly gay guys at that! After some tentative questions from the freshmen pair, it became apparent to Dave and Dustin that these were not simply idle inquiries.

“Uh, can I assume that you guys are gay like us?” Dustin asked.

“Yeah, but you can’t tell anyone,” Brent blurted out before thinking.

“Well, I guess you’ve outed both of us!” Mike exclaimed.

“Shit, I’m sorry,” Brent said sorrowfully.

“Hey, it’s okay, Baby,” Mike decided. “I know these guys are out and can be trusted. This way, we can be ourselves like we have been with Dane and Colt.”

Having said that, Mike and Brent got really quiet. When Dave turned around to see if they were upset, he saw them making out instead. That led to a certain amount of friendly teasing.

The caravan of students stopped at a McDonald’s to eat on their way to the arena. It wasn’t the best of diets, but no one was in training at the moment although several would participate in track very soon.

Contrary to logic, the second team that the Bentonville basketball team faced was not as tough as the one they beat in the first round. No one had a really large personal score, because without Gavin, no one was trying to be “the star.” They were working well as a team and morale was high. The final score was 75 to 68. Bentonville was headed for the next level.

The fortunate kids had motel rooms to stay in. All of Joel’s friends were put up in a pleasant downtown hotel. Rhys had insisted on footing the bill for the whole group. Sara and Carrie were registered for a room together while Jerry and Trent shared with Allen. Well, that is how it looked on the register. As soon as they were shown to their rooms, Trent and Jerry joined their girlfriends and were not seen by Allen again until the next morning.

Joel and Alex shared a room with Dave and Dustin while Dane and Colton roomed with Brent and Mike. The younger boys were thrilled. They thought Dave and Dustin were cool, but they were more comfortable showing affection in front of the other guys. The minute they got into the room, they started making out.

“Hey, you two horny studs,” Colt grinned. “You need to get a room or something.”

Mike didn’t even break his lip-lock on Brent as he good-naturedly flipped Colt off. Colt wasn’t going to take that without getting back at Mike. Pretty soon there was lots of wrestling and giggling going on. Between them, Colt and Dane stripped the freshmen down to their underwear. They stopped short of getting them completely naked, saying that the boys would have to finish the job themselves.

Surprisingly, the horny younger boys shucked their skivvies showing off their throbbing cocks. They were hot enough that they didn’t even pause to think about their actions.

Colt and Dane laughed so hard they nearly fell on the floor. Then they undressed each other showing that they were as horny as their roommates. From then on, things got hot and heavy. When Dane dropped to his knees to suck on Colt, Brent decided to do the same to Mike. Mike gasped in delight.

As Colt and Dane changed places, the other boys followed suit. Needless to say, Mike and Brent were ready to engage in some 69 action when the older boys led the way. In a fairly short time, all of the guys were rewarded with an offering of thick cream.

Unfortunately, Bentonville didn’t win the next game. However, they lost by only two points. It wasn’t a run-away in any sense of the word. The team from a small eastern Iowa town could still hold their heads high as they drove home.

A number of fans were disappointed about not having an excuse to stay in a hotel room for another night, but all were proud of the effort their team had made.

If you are enjoying this story, let David know: david.lee@castleroland.net