Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
"What's so special about the Dry Tortugas, anyway? Is there even water there? Or is it dry?"
Shaking my head, I leaned in to whisper, "Close your mouth, your ignorance is showing."
Mattie glared. "It's just a dumb old fort. I checked online. There's nothing else there."
Nicky gasped. "Not true! They have a protected wetland and natural research area where you can snorkel, and there's a shipwreck nearby."
Mattie didn't look impressed. "What would you rather do?" I asked, "Day drinking?" His response was to laugh. "Why am I not surprised? But do me a favor," I said, in a quieter voice, "don't tease Nicky about wanting to go. He's sensitive about being picked on for being a nerd. Makes him feel excluded and small. "
The boy rolled his eyes at me. Fucking rolled his eyes. "He is a nerd," he stated matter-of-factly.
I smacked him upside the head. "I mean it."
Mattie huffed. "Fine," he said under his breath. "Hey Nicky," he called out, "bring me back a seashell."
Nicky lit up, giving him a thumbs up, but then his face fell. "I can't. We're not allowed to take anything from the protected area." Cass whispered something in his ear and he smiled again with another thumbs up. "I'll do my best!"
Mattie waited until Nicky turned around. "What's the point of snorkeling if you can't even bring back a fucking shell? How is that fun? Total nerd."
"Let me ask you a question." I crossed my arms over my chest.
"Shoot," he said cockily, leaning against a weathered wooden pillar.
He pulled off cocky really well. But if I was going to invest anything more than my next load of cum in this boy, he needed to pass a certain test. A very important one.
"If you had the chance to ditch them for the entire summer, and just sail with me alone, would you?"
To his credit, he looked genuinely confused and scrunched his face like he found the idea repugnant. "No, why? Nicky might be a nerd, but he's a sexy little nerd."
I laughed. "Just making sure you're not settling for a dynamic you're not well-suited for just to get what you want most."
Mattie looked smug. "What, like you? What makes you think I wouldn't rather be with them, but since I can't because they're already a couple, I'm settling for you just to get to them?"
This little fucking fucker, trying to turn the tables on me and beat me at my own game. "Is that how it is?"
Without warning, my arm shot out like a strike of lightning, tipping Mattie over the side of the dock. His body made a big splash and came up spluttering.
"What the fuck, Sam?" he shrieked, wiping wet hair from his eyes.
Crouching down, I smirked. "Just helping you cool off. You sounded a little fired up."
"Help me," he sputtered, holding up his arms.
"The ladder is right there if you want to climb up and join me on a pub crawl, or you can swim out to the boat and catch up with the two guys you'd rather be with. What's it gonna be, Matteo?"
"I can't fucking stand you," he mumbled as he climbed up the ladder.
By the time we reached the end of Duval Street, he'd downgraded from sodden to damp. I treated Mattie to a tour of all of my favorite haunts, starting with Sloppy Joe's, where we ordered sloppy joes, of course. As always, they had the doors wide open, letting the salty breeze float in. Live music played, and it was impossible not to feel like I was on vacation as I sipped a Mojito.
I enjoyed observing Mattie, just watching him take it all in. When he wasn't being a grumpy fucker, he was usually pretty easy to please, happy-go-lucky and adaptable. The more time I spent with him, and the more I studied him, the more I learned. So far, everything I'd learned about Mattie only made me like him more.
The next stop on the bar crawl was the Hog's Breath Saloon, where I treated Mattie to smoked fish dip and hog legs. We enjoyed more live entertainment, and I pretended not to notice when he mixed up our glasses and took a sip of my Rum Runner.
His cocky half-smile drew my eyes. "Oops, wrong glass." Twunky little fucker. Cocky looked good on him. Damn, he had my dick in a vise. I'd played with a handful of boys his age over the years, but none of them held my attention for more than one night. Mattie was like an onion and every layer I peeled back revealed something new. Something that made me want to keep peeling.
The last stop on our tour was Blue Heaven for a slice of Key Lime pie and a bowl of chowder.
Of course, my dick stayed hard with Mattie making the most inappropriate sounds of delight as he pushed the pie around his mouth .
"Oh my God," he said around a full mouth. "What is this?"
"Chocolate and Key Lime glaze," I chuckled.
"It's the most delicious thing I've ever put in my mouth," he swore, unaware of the trap he'd set.
"Then you're not swallowing the right things."
Mattie's head snapped up, and he almost choked on the pie as he swallowed it down. God, he was an endless source of amusement.
I made a pit stop in the bathroom, and when I came out, Mattie was scrolling through his phone. "Did you hear from your dad?"
Snorting, he shook his head. "Yeah right. Just some pictures I took so far this week."
"Can I see?" I was curious about his photography. Apparently, he was willing to take his last stand over the matter, so the least I could do was see if the boy had any talent. He was hesitant to hand over his phone, though.
"Look, I get it. It's hard to expose yourself to criticism. But I'm not gonna criticize you, Mattie. I'd really like to see what you've got."
He handed me his phone, and I immediately recognized his talent.
"Damn, these are really good," I said with surprise, scrolling through the next seven pictures.
"Whatever," he mumbled.
"No, I mean it. Look at me." When his eyes met mine, I turned the phone for him to see. "Look at this, all the colors of the sunset are captured beautifully. All my pictures are washed out from the glare of the sun. It's usually covering someone's face." Mattie laughed. "And this one, of Nicky with the perfect expression. I always catch people mid-blink." He tried to snatch the phone back from me, but I pulled it away. "No really, look." I pulled out my phone and opened my photos to show Mattie a recent picture of Cass with his eyes half closed. "He looks high, doesn't he?"
Mattie chuckled. "I love to capture people's expressions. I don't just want to see where they were standing; I want to know what they were feeling."
"Wow," I said, genuinely taken aback. That impressed the shit out of me, that someone his age was able to feel so deeply and passionately about his craft.
The next picture blew me away. It was taken this morning, when I was on the flybridge with Cass, the sunrise behind us, glowing at the perfect angle on our faces. "That's a keeper. I'd like to frame that, if you don't mind."
"Um, sure," he agreed, sounding surprised. "Really?"
"Really, Mattie." He was still scrolling through my phone.
"What's this?" he asked.
"Supposed to be a turtle. The sun reflecting off the water makes it so that you can't see what's beneath the surface."
"Is that a dolphin?"
"Sure is. Although the picture is shit. Look at the next one," I insisted, knowing what he would find.
"A whale? Where did you spot a whale?"
"Dominica." He was still staring at my phone. "I'll take you," I promised. "I can't wait to see the pictures you would take of that island."
Handing back my phone, he gave me a half smile. "Thank you for giving me confidence about my photography."
"Thank you for trusting me. It's a shame your parents can't see how talented you are."
I could see he felt a bit emotional, but he brushed it off like a champ.
"Where to next?" he asked. "I can't eat another thing." He rubbed his flat belly.
"Next is a feast for the eyes, not the stomach." I led him to my favorite Key West haunt, one of the many all-male, clothing-optional resorts for a full-body massage and salt scrub. "You still got that fake ID on you?"
"Are you fucking kidding me?" he asked with wide eyes, checking out the men walking through the lobby, some with their bare cheeks swaying.
He behaved himself during the massage, and I could feel the tension from the past few weeks melt away, absorbed by John's strong hands. Mattie had to be hard from the noises he was making. I just laughed. I was hard-pressed to tell who enjoyed this place more, Nicky or Mattie, because Nicky had the same reaction.
After the massage, I led him to the pool. Until now, I was glad he'd enjoyed himself, but that ugly green monster was beginning to rear his head the longer and harder Mattie stared at the men.
I stripped off my shorts and dove into the pool, just to get his attention. The cool water kissed every inch of my bare skin, immediately cooling me off. When I surfaced, his eyes were on me, finally, as I glided gracefully to the shallow end, where he sat on the pool steps, dipping his legs in the water.
Slowly, boldly, I climbed the steps until I was standing directly in his face, dripping water over his legs. Mattie didn't even pretend to avert his gaze from my semi-hard dick, and I gave it a twitch just for him.
"Like what you see?" I asked, smirking down at him.
"Yes, sir," he breathed.
"I'm gonna grab my clothes and go search for our boys. You coming?"
"Yes sir, real soon."
I glanced back to see him still staring at me, rubbing his hand over his shorts and realized he meant it—literally.
"Sometimes, I forget how much I can't stand you," I teased.
"That's a good thing, right? "
We met up with the guys back at the Key West marina in time for the Sunset Festival, a nightly street fair with unique performers.
"You missed it, Mattie," Nicky squealed, jumping off the boat. "You could have taken the best pictures there. It was beautiful."
"Maybe next time." Mattie slid his arm around Nicky's shoulders. "Did you bring me back a shell?"
"I couldn't," he pouted, sounding deflated. "But Daddy said we could buy one from the souvenir stand, and pretend like we were bad boys who stole it against the rules," he whispered loudly, giggling.
Mattie's lips stretched into a reluctant smile. "You're so fucking cute, you know that?" He pressed a kiss to Nicky's head, which was easy to do because he towered over the boy. "You ready for the festival?"
"Did I ever tell you about the time I swallowed fire?" Nicky asked excitedly.
"You what?" Mattie asked.
"Speaking of," Cass broke in, "if you want to stay at the festival, you'll be wearing this." He clasped a leather band around Nicky's wrist that was attached to a leash that Cass held control of.
"Kinky," Mattie teased.
"But, Daddy…"
"But nothing," Cass laughed. "It's not that I don't trust you, but sometimes, you just can't be trusted."
Nicky harrumphed and grabbed Mattie's hand. "Stay close," he urged .
I trailed behind my three men, watching their interactions, absorbing their excitement, and feeling their bond. I couldn't help but dream. What would it be like to live life like this, with the three of them, every day?
A dream come true.
"Tomorrow we can head back to the island if you want and take pictures," Nicky suggested to Mattie, "or we can go fishing."
"I can't stand fishing," Mattie said.
"That's because you don't know the fish song. It helps, trust me."
Cass caught my eyes, and we snickered. I tugged on his arm to slow him, pulling him in for a kiss. It was quick, but it was enough to remind us both of the days we used to come to this island together, before the boys.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Mattie asked. "That singing will make the fish bite?"
"Hey, I bought into it when I was little. Cass taught it to me."
"Of course he did," Mattie laughed.
I squeezed Cass's hand and he squeezed back. We were both still getting used to the boys arguing with each other, like real brothers. But when Nicky looked sad, or upset, like he did now, I was tempted to put a stop to it. I smacked Mattie upside the head.
"Would it kill you to learn the fucking song?"
Mattie huffed. "Fine. How does it go? "
"Forget it, you're just gonna laugh at me," Nicky pouted.
"Of course I am. It's ridiculous." He caught my warning glare. "What? Am I supposed to stand here and lie and pretend that I'm not gonna laugh at him?"
I raised my hand to hit him again, and he ducked. "Look," he sighed, "if you teach it to me, I can sing it, and then you can laugh at me too. Deal?"
Nicky thought it over for a moment and then smiled brightly. The kid was like Teflon , nothing stuck to him for long. "Deal," he said, and started to hum the song.
We walked around to all the street vendors and performers, with Mattie snapping pictures of each one. He also took plenty of selfies of him and Nicky. When Nicky and Cass were distracted watching the fire eater, I pulled Mattie aside.
"I'm proud of you."
"Why is that?" he asked.
"The way you turned your attitude around and handled Nicky today. First with the island and then with the song."
"You realize it's a stupid fucking song, right?"
"Of course it is, that's not what matters," I laughed. "What matters is that it's sentimental to him, and your rejection stung. Don't you realize how much he thinks of you? Maybe even looks up to you?"
"Me?" he asked, sounding surprised. "Why would he look up to me? "
"I don't know. Why don't you ask him? He's pretty candid. But he's also pretty sensitive, and I need you to remember that."
"Look, you might call him my cousin or my brother or whatever makes your dick hard, but to me, he's just mine. I may call him a nerd, but I wouldn't let anyone else get away with it. He annoys the fuck out of me, but I'd rather be annoyed than not have him at all."
My heart squeezed, but I'd die before I admitted it to him. " Now you're making my dick hard." I ran my fingers through his windblown hair. "I didn't know bratty boys could be good boys. Good boys deserve rewards."
Mattie scoffed. "Let me guess, I get to suck your dick?"
I couldn't hold my laugh inside, even though I didn't want to show it to him. My fingers trailed from his hair down his cheek, and I grasped his jaw, rubbing my thumb over his bottom lip. "Such a smart, clever boy, too. I never said that was on the table, but I'm thinking that smart mouth needs training and adjustment just as much as your attitude does."
His eyes grow round like saucers. "How would you train my mouth?"
"How do you think?" I challenged. I turned away, re-joining Cass and Nicky. Let him think on that for a minute. When he joined us, I could feel his side glances centered on me. I definitely had Mattie's attention now.