This is it.

He was here now. Zachary Parker felt like a total fool for even thinking of acting on his teenage fantasy. Thoughts of the possible repercussions for what he was about to do were enough to send his nerves firing off crazily, resulting in a numbing, throbbing headache. The long-term relationship between two families would most likely suffer. There was also how his father would react. Then again, his stress might just be the result of the bumpy plane ride he’d had to endure after the initial three-hour delay spent sitting on an unforgiving metal chair and drinking syrupy coffee. The incessant wailing of exhausted children in the crowded pre-departure area had done nothing to ease his discomfort... or his mixed feelings of excitement and guilt.

Zach had known Tristan Maxfield all his life, having grown up with his three children who’d lived right next door to him in the exclusive gated community. The eldest, Margaret, whose wedding he was here for, was his age. He was here as the man of honor. She’d chosen him among all others to stand beside her for the most important day of her life. Of course, he could never refuse Margaret. They’d been best friends since they were toddlers, gone to the same school, and had even been roommates in college.

The younger Maxfield boys, Joshua and Mark, were three and eleven years younger respectively. He’d never known a day during his childhood when they’d been apart. In fact, they all looked to each other as siblings—especially when the three were always in their house under his mother’s care. They’d even each had their own bedrooms in the Parker household.

As for Tristan, Zach had always looked up to the man who was his dad’s best friend and partner in the law firm they’d established straight out of passing bar exams. The man he’d grown up calling Tito Tristan, a title his mother insisted he used as a form of respect. When Zach turned fifteen, things got a little bit complicated for him. That was when he first became aware of how handsome and sexy he found Tristan.

Confused over his body’s reaction every time he saw the man, he learned to avoid Tristan whenever he came around. If he got invited for dinner, Zach only spoke when spoken to, and when the opportunity arose, begged homework or went up to hide in his room. It didn’t take long for him to realize he was attracted to boys when a classmate flashed him her breasts. He’d looked them over curiously, but without interest. In the showers after PE, he’d been more aware of the naked flat chests of his male classmates. When one boy called him out on it, he’d immediately denied looking and punched the guy on the nose for stating the obvious.

Of course, he was sent home on a seven days suspension, and if that didn’t teach him not to be violent, his mother had grounded him and taken away all his privileges. She was one who never tolerated violence from any of her men, in or outside her home. Joanna wrote out and ordered Zach to sign a contract stating he’d never repeat any act of aggression in the future. Included in said agreement was a stipulation he not have a grade below a B+. That same night, he swiped a Cosmopolitan magazine from his mother’s nightstand and flipped through the pages. He had to find out the reasons behind his feelings. When his eyes drifted over to the male models, bare-chested, lounging on silk cushions wearing silk pajamas sitting beside scantily dressed female models, he finally admitted to himself he was gay.

One morning after that startling epiphany, he looked out his bedroom window and saw Tristan mowing the lawn wearing nothing but a pair of cargo shorts. Sweat glistened down his back and over his chest. Zach longed to touch the naked skin and trace the hard angles. Fine dark hair covered Tristan’s chest, which gradually tapered down to thicken around the belly button before it disappeared beneath the waistband of the shorts.

His mind conjured up images of what Tristan’s cock would look like. He’d been too scared to open porn sites on the internet, but right then he wished he’d had. Zach watched as Tristan cut off the mower and moved to take the hose. Twisting open the faucet, he raised and held the hose over his head to allow the water wash over him. Zach felt his cock harden at the sight of the now glistening Tristan, and he placed his hand beneath his waistband to grip it. He gasped in surprise at his own touch and gave himself a stroke, making him moan out in pleasure.

Zach had guiltily hid behind the curtain, mesmerized when Tristan’s hair darkened under the spew of water. When Tristan’s tapered fingers raked over his hair, Zach rubbed himself faster and earnestly. He watched the way the muscles flexed as an unfamiliar need rose within him. He gave his cock a squeeze, his eyes drifted close before he quivered under the shock of his first ever sexual release. It was the first of many.

Although he kept quiet about his newfound feelings, Margaret guessed where his interests lay when they turned sixteen. She was an observant girl, and one day matter-of-factly informed Zach he was gay. She went on and ordered Joshua to make sure no one said anything bad to Zach about it in school, and if they did, to inform her directly because she was going to deal with them. Margaret had been a popular girl in school and even had a clique of her own by then, with quite an attitude to match her good looks. Mark at five didn’t care.