12. MATTHEW #2
“Now what?” I ask, and he laughs again. It’s not as big as before, but it’s with his whole chest, and I want so badly to see the way his brilliant blue eyes light up when he does it, but I don’t dare turn his way.
“In about five seconds, I’m going to lie down. You can stay sitting up if you like, or you can lie down. There’s no right or wrong way to do this. The idea is that you just feel the air, the ground, the world wrap you in its energy. If you let yourself feel it.”
I count the seconds down in my head, and right on five, he lies back, and out of the corner of my eye, I can see his cock and balls just there beside me.
Staying like this is not an option, so I steady myself then lie back before I change my mind.
My hands are still cupping my groin, my shoulders tensed as I reach forward, protecting myself from…
well, nothing really. Urgh, if I’m going to do this, I have to do it right.
I release myself. The cool air replaces my warm hands, and as I take another deep breath and stare up at the sparkling night sky, my shoulders relax, and my arms fall to my sides.
“Wow, the sky is pretty tonight,” I say as I finally let myself focus on anything except the very naked horseman beside me.
“These nights are my favorite. There’s just enough light from the moon to illuminate the small pillows of clouds, making them look almost like they’re painted and not real at all, don’t you think?”
“Yeah, I can see what you mean. That cloud there looks kind of like Loki,” I say, reaching up and pointing at the one I mean.
“Yeah, I can see it. He’s on his back, legs in the air. That one there looks like a hot dog,” he says, pointing at another. To me it looks more like a cock and balls, but I don’t tell him that.
Then, with the warmth of the fire at our feet, we lie together, finding patterns in the clouds and the stars, until the fire dies down and he sits up.
“You did pretty well for your first time,” he says, pushing up to stand, and I climb to my feet, careful not to stare at his perfect, round ass when he turns to cover the fire with a metal plate to snuff it out.
Then he moves a mesh dome over that, I guess to make sure he doesn’t accidentally step on it later when it could still be hot.
“It was better than I thought it would be. You kind of don’t even notice you’re naked after a while,” I say.
“We should turn in for the night, though. You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
“I do?” I ask, grabbing my clothes and pulling on my underwear.
Atlas pauses at his trailer, one hand on the door, but he doesn’t turn around.
“Loki’s covered in mud, so he’ll need a good wash,” he replies, and I pull on my jeans and shove my arms through the sleeves of my shirt. The fabric seems heavier now, and a little scratchy. The denim is stiff too. Who knew one hour of nudist life would be so easy?
“How did he get covered in mud?” I ask.
“He was over by the cabins when one of the guests gave him a scare. Dropped straight down into the mud and lay there for half an hour,” he replies, stepping up into the trailer, the light from inside surrounding him in a warm glow.
“I’ll get him cleaned up. Maybe afterward I can take him on a walk down the new trail. Just the part Perry has leveled properly, I mean.”
He turns, and my gaze naturally goes right to his groin, and I force it away, looking anywhere but right at it. I look at the chair, the table, the window, moving between each as I try to keep from smiling, my cheeks already burning.
“I’m not sure taking Loki out is a good idea just yet. He’s still too reactive when he’s spooked,” Atlas says, not even the slightest hitch in his voice. Wow, this guy really is comfortable enough with his body to just be standing there chatting away, totally naked.
“Maybe one of the other horses, then? We could go for a ride up to the top when Perry’s done, test it out on horseback before we keep going.”
He nods.
“Sure, you get Loki all cleaned up, and when I’m done with my morning jobs, I’ll saddle us up some horses.”
“Awesome, it’s a date,” I say, and my stomach immediately drops. “Not a date,” I quickly add. “A plan. I just meant, you know, like pencil me in to do the thing. The ride.” My face is growing hotter by the second. “You can stop me anytime.” I sigh.
“Where would the fun be in that?” he asks with a smirk.
“Here I was thinking we might actually be starting to be friends.”
“You want to be friends?” he asks, with a slight tilt of his head.
“Well, yeah. I mean, why else did you think I’d try this whole nudist thing? You like it, and I like you, so I wanted to see what it was all about.” I scrub my hand through my hair. “That’s what friends do, they get to know each other. Their interests.”
He leans on the doorframe, crossing one leg behind the other, and I’m so desperately trying not to look at his cock, but it’s just there in my peripheral vision.
“So, tell me something about you, friend. What’s something you like to do?”
“I umm… my mom and I, we collect lucky pennies.”
“How do you know they’re lucky?”
“You find it, so immediately, that’s lucky.”
He nods.
“I guess that’s true. Hmm, okay, I’ll keep my eye out from now on, and anything I find will be yours, friend.”
“That’s not really how it works. It’s only lucky for the person who finds it.”
“So I can’t give my luck to you if I find one?”
“You can, but it won’t bring me luck. That part’s still yours.
” He gives me a quizzical frown. “Hey, I don’t make the rules,” I say, and he shakes his head, pushing up from the doorframe and stretching his arms out at the sides as he lets out a long yawn.
It immediately has a roll-on effect, and I cover my mouth when I yawn after him.
“I’ll keep my eye out all the same,” he says, reaching for the door handle. “You good to find your way back?” he asks, and I look up at the bright moon overhead that’s throwing its luminous glow over the entire ranch.
“Yeah. I think I’m good. We should do this again sometime,” I say, turning away to make a start back to my car.
“Consider this an open invitation. Who knows, maybe you can help me convince Dean that a nudist weekend isn’t such a bad idea.”
“I guess that depends on who’s getting naked,” I laugh, waving a hand over my head. “See you bright and early.”
“Sweet dreams,” he replies, and I hear the creak of his trailer door. Before stepping through the tree line surrounding his quiet corner of the ranch, I glance back. His shadow passes by the large window, and then a moment later, the light inside goes out.
“Sweet dreams, Atlas,” I whisper, and I head home.