Page 64 of Liam

Ethan cleared his throat. "The photoshoot was a success." He flipped over his phone and tapped away on it. He scrolled a few passes and then handed it to me.

I couldn't stop my eyebrows from rising.

Wow.

Ethan looked so hot. I swiped from one picture to another. And another. I identified my favourite and swiped back to it. Ethan wore a pair of black lace hi-cut manties, his hipbones showing, his hard cock barely contained. Around his waist and flared over his hips, a black corset with red lace. It was cinched tight and created a funnel up to his chest. Atop the corset, Ethan's pink nipples decorated his pecs that had been forced upward, giving him cleavage.

Embarrassed to say my dick stirred.

I needed a pair of manties like that.

"Priceless, Ethan."

"Thanks."

I handed the phone to Noah. The tips of his ears turned visibly crimson. He scanned through the pictures, cleared his throat, and passed the phone to Owen.

"They're very good," Noah said.

"I can't wait to see them bound in a book for sale," Ethan replied.

"Jeezus, Ethan." Owen scrutinized the photos. "Your cock is hard in some of these."

"Most of them. Carlos says that's what his customers are looking for." He took his phone from Owen. "Daniel loves them. We're going to get some of them on canvas."

"Not sure I'm ever coming to your house again," Owen said.

"They're only in our bedroom and the study. We lock both when people come over."

"Speaking of home, Rowan and Quinn are doing well in school," Noah said, redirecting the conversation. "The first few months were rocky with Rowan, but he's settled in now."

"He's better at Chemistry than I am," I said. "And I took it straight through to Grade 12."

"Quinn has been asking about puberty blockers," Noah revealed.

"Ze is fourteen, right?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, ze should have started them a year ago at least," Noah answered. "Ze doesn't want to develop as female any further. We're all for it. I don't want Quinn to go through chest surgery when ze is an adult if we wait. Ze is seeing a psychologist. We want to be sure."

"Quinn could change hir mind after being on them though, right?" I asked. With so many of the youth finding their way into the Rainbow Centre's weight room being transgender, I'd been reading up. There was still so much I didn't know, though.

"Ze could," Noah answered. "And ze would develop as hir body originally intended."

"Big decision," Owen said.

"We'll support whatever ze decides," I replied. Quinn had pitched the termnoodlesto refer to hir and Rowan. Quinn and I had a close relationship. Ze had been bullied in school and later while living on the street. We'd spent many an hour sharing our stories of survival.

Ethan started talking about giving Daniel a blowjob in a dark parking garage and I zoned out. My relationship with Jamal was so different. What we had was between us. The others might talk about their sex lives, but I was done with all that. Every moment with Jamal was precious.

And only ours.

It was a four-and-a-half-hour drive to Tofino but the scenery along the way made time pass faster than expected. Within two hours, we had survived the Malahat's unpredictable weather, driven through the entire length of Nanaimo, and arrived in Parksville, a quaint seaside city of seniors and families. Ethan and I stopped at a chain restaurant for burgers and coffee.

This was a yearly trip for us to do some surfing. September to November was the best time of year to have some Westcoast fun. The water wasn't freezing cold yet, but the waves had started to pick up in size and consistency. We'd been coming to Tofino together since we were teenagers.

After leaving Parksville and passing through Qualicum, we drove west, headed for the most westerly coast of Canada. My favourite part was driving through Cathedral Grove, a massive stand of ancient Douglas fir. Some more than 800 years old and nine metres in circumference.

We would stop to walk through them on the way back. We wanted to get on the water for a couple of hours before the sun started setting. Two hours later, we pulled into Tofino andarrived at the B&B we'd been staying at for many years. Our luggage loaded into our room, we grabbed our wetsuits and boards and drove to our favourite beach. The wet, grey sand stretched out to both sides, walled in against the crashing waves by massive craggy rocks and evergreen trees.

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