Page 31 of Say Uncle

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 thesurface.”

“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.”

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