Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

Trey's everlasting shame, when he heard about Felix, for just one moment before he buried the thought deep he'd wondered, What does Felix have that I don't?
    And how sick was that? But he'd been fifteen then, and the image of being bent over and fucked by the coach had been invading his fantasies for a while. He couldn't imagine Josh when he was jerking off. That felt too personal. So the coach had been the skin and touch and voice of his erotic dreams. Finding out that the man had done that to Felix had been gut-wrenching on so many levels, not all of them acceptable ones. Now apparently some little corner of his mind was still wondering why the coach had passed Trey by. Jesus, would he never be free of that?
    Trey turned away, pulling on his cut-offs over his damp swimsuit. "I'm glad Felix is better," he said softly, trying to pull the conversation back. It had been a wonderful morning, the best he could remember. "Are you better too?"
    "I guess." Josh sighed. "It's kind of old history, you know. Just every once in a while something reminds me."
    "Yeah," Trey agreed. "Me too." He wanted to ask more, now that the subject was open. He wanted to know if Josh had met any gay guys in college. Whether he'd become comfortable enough to hang around with them. Whether maybe, just maybe, he could accept a gay friend. But what if the answer was no? Instead he said, "Any plans for the afternoon? Should we head back or try to find somewhere open for lunch?"
    "Let's head back. You know, I have the perfect project for the afternoon. When Aunt Julie called last night, she said we needed to at least try to groom the pony and pick out his hooves."
    "Did you tell her little snowballs would be raining on Satan's head first?"
    "She was worried about him. I told her we'd try."
    "You are such a soft touch. I suppose you just assumed I'd help you?"
    Josh made his eyes all big and round. "You will help, won't you?"
    Trey snorted. "There's something really wrong about Bambi eyes on a guy, you know that?"
    Josh choked and bent for his T-shirt.
    Trey sighed theatrically. "What kind of friend would I be if I refused to get kicked in the nuts for you? Bring it on. How bad can one pony be?"
    Through the cotton over his face, Josh said, "You'll find out."
    A couple of hours later, Trey decided the answer was, really bad . Trey had spent part of his summers on Aunt Julie's farm for several years. She'd always rescued the downtrodden and abused of the animal kingdom. Trey could remember a couple of pretty spooky, nervous horses, and a ram that you couldn't turn your back on, but this pony was downright evil. Josh had a death-grip on the halter. Trey had managed a few swipes of a brush while dodging hooves before they decided picking out feet was more essential. Trey sidled up at the pony's shoulder with a wary eye on its hindquarters. He managed to get one front foot up off the ground and put in a single dig with the hoof-pick, before the beast cow-kicked at him and almost yanked Josh off his feet with a toss of its head.
    Josh wrestled the pony back under control and grabbed its upper lip in a makeshift twitch. "Try again," he grated.
    Trey stepped back. "No way, no how."
    "I don't want it to get thrush from dirty hooves."
    "I don't want either of us to lose our teeth."
    "It's just a fucking little pony. How come the bugger is so strong?"
    "It still outweighs the both of us by about three hundred pounds."
    Josh growled wordlessly at the pony as it took advantage of his distraction to jerk away from his hand and snap at his fingers. "You have a point." Josh gestured at Trey to move away and slipped the halter off the pony. He dodged as the pony whirled, aimed a kick in their general direction and then bucked its way down the field toward the patiently waiting alpaca under the trees.
    Trey stared after it, as it gave the alpaca a nuzzle and then settled in to crop grass. "And supposedly that little display was the pony acting better than before it had a stablemate."
    Josh dusted his palms on his thighs. "I think it is better. Fractionally. I remember when Aunt Julie got it four years ago. No one could get near the thing for a week. It warmed up to her eventually but it never liked me. I think it hates men."
    "Well, I'm not cross-dressing for a damned pony," Trey grumbled, and then bit his tongue.
    Josh just laughed, and Trey took a quick breath of relief. He glanced around the quiet pasture, and then raised an eyebrow at Josh. "Time for beer?"
    "We