One Hot Summer (boyxboy)

Chapter 10: The invitation

"I'm hot,  I'm going to cool down in the lake."
☆

Jasper could honestly say that he had never worked this hard in all of his life! This was real manual labour. The task in hand was not what Jasper had expected at all! His ideas of picking up a few stray sticks was now replaced by him on his knees on one side of an already fallen tree trunk with a shirtless Thomas opposite, both boys holding an end of a two handled saw and pushing and pulling with force. 

This back breaking work had been going on now for over an hour without a break and Jasper was feeling hot, sick and tired. 

Thomas was relentless and Jasper was surprised at how the older's muscles weren't bigger than they were, with this kind of work being a seemingly regular part of his routine. 

The log is eventually sliced into a small enough piece that Thomas and Jasper can haul it into the trailer with the aid of the rope and determination. To Jasper's relief, Thomas finally calls time. "That should be enough wood, or I won't be able to get them back to the house." He remarks. Jasper nods in agreement and wipes his sweat covered brow with the bottom of his black tee. He attempts to get into the trailer to head back,  determined to do it with no help this time, but failing miserably, not helped by the fact that Jasper felt like a bruised banana.

"What are you doing?" Thomas asks, arms folded, watching the spectacle in amusement. 

"What does it look like?" Jasper bites back. "Aren't we heading back?" Jasper carries on, still making feeble attempts to hoist his leg over the edge.

Thomas backs away from the vehicle slightly, shaking his head. "I'm taking a break first. We will need to take these logs out again when we get back and chop them smaller." 

Jasper lowers his leg and lets go of the side of the trailer, subconsciously following Thomas as he momentarily abandons the logs and trailer, walking through a few trees to a clearing. Once through, Jasper could see a large expanse of water. The sun danced on the surface, causing the ripples to sparkle like liquid diamonds.

Jasper looks to his left and deduces that he is a little further up the river than before. Thomas finds a small tuft of dry grass and proceeds to sit down on it, legs outstretched, resting back on his hands. He leans his head back, eyes squinting closed as he seems to still for a moment.

Jasper, a few paces behind, stands and watches as Thomas appears to look like he's in a strange meditative state. Thomas must sense Jasper's gaze as he inhales a deep breath through his nose, then out of his mouth. "You feel it?" He suddenly questions in a deep raspy tone, which Jasper felt almost sing in his ears.

"Feel what?" Jasper replies casually, trying to sound disinterested, though secretly he really did want to know what Thomas was getting at. 

"The birds, the water, the breeze…" Thomas replied whimsically. "Isn't it beautiful?" 

Jasper stood still, not really knowing what to say. He didn't usually do this kind of thing. He didn't get in touch with nature, tap into some deep inner calm. 

Thomas forces one of his squinted eyes open to see an upside down Jasper looking blankly at him. He lifts his head forward and turns it slightly, to view Jasper the right way round. He then pats the grassy ground next to him, inviting Jasper over. "Come on, join me." He says with a look of invitation on his face. 

In truth, Jasper could do with a rest if nothing else, edging nearer to the invitation and sitting down, knees tucked into his chest, arms wrapped around, as if he is trying to protect himself. 

Thomas takes in the ball Jasper has positioned himself into and tuts a few times. "No no no…" He begins. "To really appreciate your surroundings, first you need to relax. Look...like me...see?" Thomas resumes his outstretched position as before. Jasper side eyes Thomas with a slight frown at how easy it had become to just follow suit and argue a little less. 

He stretches his own legs before him and leans back onto his hand and closes his eyes. Thomas again begins to speak in a lazy hazy voice. "You see Jasper, all you need is chill in your life. Just take the time to breath, listen, take in the beauty of it all." He then goes quiet. Jasper closes his eyes and begrudgingly tries to hone in on all of his other senses and to his surprise, does feel a sense of mild serenity wash over him. The bird's beautiful song, the lapping of the water from the gentle moving lake. Even the smell of the freshly cut wood had an element of appeal about it.

Then he hears a sound rather less natural. This sound was metallic and jagged sounding. Jasper finds his eyebrows knitting together, trying to work out the noise, which to him sounded very much like a zipper. He then hears a clunk of metal hitting the floor. Jasper is now compelled to open his eyes and in doing so is not prepared for the visual. 

Thomas is casually stepping out of his jean shorts to reveal a boxerless behind. "What the fuck are you doing?" Jasper asks, a little panicked at the close proximity this guy's butt is to him, not helping in any way with the swirling feelings he possessed for the older.

Thomas just looks down at Jasper smiling, completely unashamed of his private parts swinging around as he shakes the last of his shorts off of his feet. "I'm hot, I'm going to cool down in the lake." He announces before turning and running towards the water, like a child at the beach, dashing towards the waves of the sea. 

Jasper is unaware of his slightly parted lips as he watches Thomas splash into the water. The vision, one of beauty. Thomas' already honey golden skin, tanned even more so by the sun kissed rays, causing a slight tan line around his midriff.

Jasper continues to idol the man, who is now diving head first into the sparkling water, only to resurface completely drenched. He shakes his head vigorously, ridding the excess water from his now near black locks before looking back at Jasper. 

Jasper, who hasn't taken his eyes off Thomas for at least 3 minutes flat, suddenly comes over all shy at the guy who is looking back at him and quickly closes his eyes in order to try his best to project a casual unshaken attitude, like he had been meditating all along.

"Hey!" Thomas calls out. Jasper can most definitely hear him but for some reason cannot bring himself to open his eyes. He is a little unsure why. Maybe he is a little scared of what Thomas wanted. "Hey Jasper...Jas Jas Jas!" 

"Fucking what!" Jasper finally shouts, opening his eyes. He hated that nickname, especially coming from Thomas' mouth. 

Thomas begins to swish the cool water around his torso with his hands, his upper body exposed. He is still looking Jasper square in the eyes, but his expression is one of warmth, his face relaxed in an almost smile. Jas...are you joining me?"