The lads come together.
This chapter has male/male sex content. All characters are over eighteen.
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While the girls were alone in their cabin, the young men were getting acquainted. At first, James, Freddy, and Art squeezed into the one across from the girl's. It was a tight fit for two, let alone three. When Freddy suggested moving to the crew's quarters, the motion carried unanimously. They moved their conclave to the forward section of the yacht.
The crew of three, the two deckhands and the cook, shared a roomy space like an A with the top triangle loped off. That top part was given over to the sail-locker and anchor line storage. There were two bunks on each side of the cabin, so four persons could sleep in comfort there. The fourth was Mr. Bates, Freddy's man. More to the point, there was room enough to swing a cat, if one was available. And plenty of room for getting to know one's fellow passengers.
"To what do we owe our pleasure of your company, James?" asked Art.
"I was swimming, ran out of steam, nearly drown, and was rescued by the angel Mary," James answered.
"Ah, yes. Mary is an angel," Art sighed.
"Are you one of those coves that swim the English Channel and other bodies of water," Freddy asked of his fellow countryman. "If you were trying to make it to Africa, it would have been better to start from Gibraltar."
"Hardly. It was a good day for a swim, and I'd just lost my lodgings," James said
"I limit my swims to tubs of warm water," Freddy said.
"You ran out of the ready? That''s beastly. What do you do?" Art asked, catching the less happy part of James's reply.
James gave the fellows a quick sketch of his past. Enough to satisfy two incurious young men who took things as they came. He mentioned his avocation as an artist who hadn't yet caught on with the public. When asked what his plans for the future were, he said, "I'm thinking about them, but haven't settled on anything as of yet."
"Well, you can stay with me until something catches your fancy," Art exclaimed, giving James a friendly slap on the back."The first thing to do is to get you some clothes."
"I don't want to be a bother," James demurred.
"Nonsense, you can't be running about the boat looking like that," Art insisted. "Freddy, call your man in here to have a look at him. He will know which of my things would suit him best," he said to Freddy. It was fortunate that James was built much along the same lines as Art, though, because of recent circumstances thinner.
Freddy opened the door, leaned out, and called "Bates!"
A moment or two later, the tall gentleman's gentleman appeared at the doorway. "You called, sir?" he asked.
"Take a look at James here. Then go a rustle up some duds that will not disgrace him. Art's clothes should fit him," Freddy requested.
"If I might suggest something which will help me, sir?"
"What is it, Bates?"
"To do a proper job of it, I require a better view of the gentleman, sir. I suggest he remove the baggy sailor uniform," Bates replied.
"Right, ho! Go ahead, James strip to your skivvies," Freddy urged.
"But ..." James began but stopped. What was the use of telling them he wasn't wearing any underclothes? They would not care, nor should he. But he did.
He pulled off the shirt over his head and tossed it aside. Turning away from all three watchers, he let down the loose-fitting pants and stepped out of them, leaving them on the deck. Now naked, he turned back around and felt their eyes on him.
"Gosh, you should be in pictures," Freddy exclaimed. When the others looked at him questioningly, Freddy explained, "I mean in the naughtier kind of French postcards. They have men in them, with women. Sometimes more than one at the same time."
"What makes you think of something like that now?" Art asked.
"I don't know. It just popped in my head as soon as I saw James in the nude, don't you know."
Whether it was the talk of naughty pictures or would have happened anyway, James was becoming erect rapidly. He endeavored to cover his boner with his hands and might have been successful if he had three. Since he only had two, his attempt was unsuccessful.
"I can see why my Step-mom was so taken with you," Art told James.
"I wager you're popular with the ladies, aren't you?" Freddy said.
"Not me. I've never had a girlfriend," James admitted.
"Perhaps with certain men then? We are free thinkers here, don't you know," Freddy inquired.
"Not that I've noticed." James blushed at the suggestion. He turned away. While doing so, pulling a muscle in his leg and yelped out in pain. Limping to a bunk, he sat down and began massaging the affected area.
"Mr. James, we are fortunate to have aboard an excellent masseuse. He can work out any kinks your swim has caused," Bates informed the sufferer.
"I don't want to be a bother," James said.
"It will be a pleasure for Jerry. He likes to bring relief," Bates assured.
Freddy and Art shared a look and a grin. "Yes, he would love to help you," Freddy urged. "Bates before getting the clothes, tell Jerry he has a customer."
With his appraisal of James's physique complete and his new commission received, Bates said, "As you wish, sir." Then he disappeared from the doorway, leaving the three young men to themselves.
Art, perhaps because he felt guilty for his part of causing James some embarrassment, started ragging on Freddy about the failure of the day's picnic. First, the disaster of Freddy dropping the food basket in the surf. Then Freddy's constant fiddling with his new camera. Finally, coming to the subject that really bothered Art most. The badgering of Karen to pose for artistic photographs in her bathing suit.
"You can't blame me for that. Mother Nature is to blame. I only wished to document what your sister has been blessed with and add her image to my collection," Freddy argued defensively.
"So you said, repeatedly," Art replied. "How do you suppose that sounds to a girl who expects a marriage proposal? Pretty awful, I imagine."
"I don't see why. If I do say so myself, my collection is one of the world's best. You've seen only my travel albums. You can't judge by that. They don't even register compared to my home collection," Freddy explained.
"I give you credit for not telling my sister that. But the girl you ask to marry doesn't want to be one of a collection. She wants to know you see only her," Art said. He knew this for a fact. Since their trip to the Moulin Rouge, Mary was freezing him out. Damn his eyes.
"Pardon me, sirs. Mr. Bates told me there was a customer here for me," the muscular deckhand Jerry said from the doorway.
"Yes, Jerry. That is the gentleman sitting over there. Meet James. James, this is Jerry," Freddy made the introductions.