Cool Fools 6: Jealousy

***Not much to say, but thanks to those who have been following this story. As always, comments are highly appreciated. The main plan is to make this a 10 part series, and I hope to finish this within the next two months***

Much to Woody’s relief, it wasn’t all bad when everybody at school found out that he was ‘gay.’ Sure there were those hushed voices and quick glances every time he walked by a group of people in the hallway, but Woody soon learned that they weren’t all defamatory remarks. To Woody’s pleasant surprise, he learned just exactly how many ‘male admirers’ he had. He also suddenly found himself surrounded by girls who were disclosing their secrets and desires to him, stuff they would never tell a straight guy…so Woody felt more like a ladies’ man than ever.

Woody’s ‘outing’ also gave his best friend Reed Valentine confidence to ask out a guy in high school. This guy, Steve, was one of Woody’s ‘male admirers’ and had said yes to Reed in hopes of getting closer to Woody. When Reed figured out his motives, he immediately dumped Steve. “I can’t go out with a guy who used me to get closer to someone else,” was Reed’s perfectly reasonable argument. But deep down, Reed had a different take on it: if any guy beside Ethan White were to date Woody, it should be him!

By the end of their respective senior years, Woody and Ethan planned out their next year of living together. Woody was going to Ashton University, a small but highly prestigious college in the city it was named after. With a stroke of coincidence, Ethan accepted a teaching job there with a fellowship in the English department. By the end of the summer before the relocation, Ethan would give his father, who was the rightful owner of the shop anyway, full charge of White Geekz.

By the third week of May, the couple attended the other’s graduation. A week later, they went to visit Laurie at her eternal resting place. It had been three years since her passing, and Woody and Ethan have visited her grave this day every year, but at different times of the day. This was the first year they went together. Kneeling on the patch of grass before her stone, the two young men held each other and were reduced to tears. Without saying it aloud, they hoped Laurie’s spirit would somehow give them a sign of some sort to let them know that she approved of the relationship.

As close as Woody and Ethan were at the moment, as much as they were in love, their hearts still weighed heavily when they thought about the harsh truth: it was Laurie’s death that brought them together…if she hadn’t died, perhaps Ethan and her would still be together…perhaps Ethan would still be treating Woody like a little brother…perhaps Woody would be attending Ethan and Laurie’s wedding at this time…

A light breeze swept across their faces, drying the tears running down their cheeks. Woody and Ethan shut their eyes and took in a long deep breath; the cool cleansing air lifted their hearts and straightened out the knot of guilt that twisted their souls. They opened their eyes, displaying a gratifying smile, looking at each other for a long minute, and finally turning back to the stone that engraved her name. They nodded slowly to thank Laurie for her acceptance. Laurie replied back through another soothing breeze. Getting up to their feet, Woody and Ethan intended to bow one more time before leaving, but as it turned out, they couldn’t part from the beloved girl just yet. And so the two sat back down and recounted the twisted story of how they came to be together.

****

Woody walked around in the new apartment, deciding where to hang a still-life painting by Cézanne. Two bedrooms, one averaged-sized bathroom, one medium-sized living room, and a kitchen/dinner room area. It was definitely tighter quarters than Woody was used to at his parents’ house, but he was nevertheless excited at moving out on his own, living with the person who means the most to him in the world. Woody ended up hanging the painting on the kitchen wall, where the subject of the painting (cherries and peaches) seemed most appropriately placed.

Ethan was out meeting his fellow literary scholars. He asked if Woody wanted to come with, but recent high school graduate had never been interested in discussion of novels and poems and knew he wouldn’t add much to their conversation. So he politely turned down Ethan’s offer and decided to stay and unpack more of the boxes.

Woody was now unloading some of Ethan’s very heavy boxes labeled ‘books.’ The couple had just finished building a bookcase last night, and Woody wanted to surprise Ethan when he got home by stacking the books exactly how he usually found it at Ethan’s old home. The arrangement wasn’t too hard, being that it was mostly in alphabetical order. When Woody had finished placing the last few books on the shelves (one of them was ‘Winesburg, Ohio’ written by the author Woody was named after), the high school graduate opened a box labeled ‘mags.’ Not surprisingly, Woody saw that the top magazine was The New Yorker. Pulling out the top half of the magazine stack, Woody scanned through them: more of The New Yorker, Harper’s, Writer’s Digest, and other literary periodicals. After piling them all in the bottom corner of the bookcase, Woody pulled out most of the remaining magazines that quickly caught his interest.

Ethan had porno magazines!
Woody didn’t know why he was so surprised. Ethan was after all a red-blooded American guy who enjoyed most any form of sexual pleasure. But still! Woody had always thought Ethan was on a level above the common, typical guy. It just seemed strange to imagine Ethan finding the need to jack off to a girl in a magazine.

To Woody’s pleasant surprise, he saw the same issue of the playboy magazine he had so often jacked off to during middle school. Woody immediately turned to page twelve, the page with Eden, the hot brunette spreading eagle, and surely enough the corner was dog-eared. Woody grinned, realizing Ethan and he had similar tastes in girls.

And then the curious young man found another stack of magazines that surprised him even more…magazines similar in purpose to the Playboy magazine, but for a different gender. Woody picked one of them up and flipped through it…and put them back on the shelves. There really was no reason for Woody to be shocked to find these magazines, but he couldn’t help but be confused at the moment. It wasn’t until he saw the dates on the magazines that his confusion turned into pure anger.

“Honey, I’m home!” it was Ethan’s voice calling followed by the sound of the front door being shut.
Woody picked up one of the magazines and went out of the bedroom (used as a study room) and came into the living room. Ethan walked nonchalantly over to Woody, ready to kiss his boyfriend, but Woody slapped the magazine at the older man’s chest.

“Why do you have THIS?” Woody asked, almost scowling.
Ethan took the magazine and looked at the front cover that said GENRE and shrugged, “Because…I subscribed for it.” Ethan chuckled, not seeing the big deal, “Why? You don’t own any magazines with nearly naked people on it?”

“No!” Woody stammered, “I mean, yes, I do. But not magazines of guys. And that’s not the reason I’m upset! The month of this issue is April…I found magazines from February to July as well!!!”
“Yeah, so? They come out every month.” Ethan seemed not to understand.
“Why do you buy these magazines when we’re dating...I mean, don’t I satisfy you enough…why d’ya have to go look at this crap?”

“Of course you satisfy me, babe,” said Ethan, cupping his hands around Woody’s buttocks and pulling him closer, “And I’m sorry; I didn’t think it would upset you this much. I subscribed for ‘em six months before we went out, and so it just comes every…”
“Well, why didn’t you cancel it when we started dating?” asked Woody.
“Well, I figured you would enjoy their entertainment value as well.”

“Why would I enjoy reading a magazine full of guys?”
“I don’t know? I’ve seen your magazines of naked girls…I’m sure you enjoyed those. And since you’re going out with me…a guy…I just thought you might also enjoy magazines with hot men.”

“Well, I don’t, okay?” said Woody irritably, “These magazines don’t do anything for me. I’ve only ever been attracted to one guy, Ethan, and that’s you. That’s it…that’s all the queer I have in me.”
“Wow…that’s just…” Ethan was at a loss for words, “I guess I should feel special?”
“Well! Yes, you should!”
“Okay, I’m sorry. I will cancel the subscription if it bothers you this much.”

Woody nodded and finally relaxed, resting his head on Ethan’s shoulder, “Thank you.”

****

Early that August, Ethan had a great idea for Woody, the Welling twins, and Reed to spend time together before they went off to their respective colleges. Before the members of the “Freakin’ Four” would go on their separate ways into the world of adulthood, Ethan suggested taking a trip to San Diego for a few days and attend Comic-Con…an idea that the Welling twins and Reed were thrilled about. Simply wanting to spend time with his closest friends, Woody tagged along, knowing they would have fewer chances to see each other from now on.

To his astonishment, Woody rather enjoyed the geek-festival and especially loved meeting celebrities who were making upcoming movies from various comic-book serials. Instead of laughing and rolling his eyes at the reactions of his nerdy friends, Woody joined them in the hysterical star-struck extravaganza.

Then the first day of school came in a heartbeat. Living in a different city, Woody was cheerful to see that his popularity gained throughout the state from the football season carried through in his freshman year of college. The well-liked college boy easily made new friends, almost too easily. He simply found a place to sit in a classroom and, soon people were swarming about him, shaking hands with him, inviting him to their parties. Woody politely considered all the invitations, and by the end of his first day, found himself on the guest list to three different parties on the same Friday night.

“You thinking of going to all of them?” Ethan asked, stroking Woody’s bare shoulders while they lied in bed together.
“No, maybe just one. The sorority one’s bound to be fun,” Woody snorted, “Is that okay with you if I go…?”

“Sure!” Ethan said, “It’s the college experience. I can’t stop you from having fun. And I know you’ll manage yourself responsibly.”
“I still can’t believe you’re gonna be my English teacher. That’s so crazy. It’s forbidden hot.” Woody whispered sexily into his boyfriend’s ear, grating his hands on Ethan’s washboard abs.

Ethan sighed, “I’m just a teaching assistant. Professor Heinsworth is gonna be your real teacher. I’ll probably start some class discussions some days, but mostly I’ll be sitting in a corner grading your essays.”

“OOH, essays,” Woody giggled, “I’m so gonna use and manipulate you in every way so I can to get an A in that class.” Woody nibbled at Ethan’s neck.
“About that. Listen,” Ethan cleared his throat, “before you get upset, just listen, okay? Can we…is it possibly to try to keep our involvement to ourselves…No no, wait…Let me explain. You see, Heinsworth is a very Christian woman, very right-winged republican…a lot more conservative than other English professors, but she happens to be the best. If I manage to stay on her good side, she’ll do wonders for my writing career. She personally knows a lot of publishers, and if I get her recommendation along with my experiences with her on my résumé…I’m as good as gold…”

“Are you finished?” asked Woody.
“Yes,” nodded Ethan, “What do you say, can we keep our relationship private?”

“Our first date, Ethan, I was so freakin scared about everything, about everyone,” Woody frowned, “But the more time I spent with you, the more I wanted to tell the world that I was with you, that I have you, that you’re mine, because you’re just so very great. I’m more than proud to be with you; I feel so lucky. But now you want me to keep it on the down-low?”

“We can always go out,” explained Ethan, “We can always do stuff together. I’ll just ask where she usually frequents, which restaurant she likes the best, and we’ll just avoid going there. It’s just on campus, particularly in the classroom, that we’ll have to keep it platonic. It’s just one and a half hour every Tuesday and Thursday…okay?”

Woody nodded slowly and pulled his hands from under Ethan’s neck, moving to his own side of the bed, pulling the covers up, turning to his side facing the wall. Ethan whispered his apologies and stroked Woody’s arms, but Woody shrugged his hand away.

****

For that whole hour and a half during English 101, Woody sat in the back row of the classroom and avoided Ethan’s constant glances. Professor Lindsey Heinsworth…Woody was shocked to find out…was forty-years-old, but the shocking thing was that she looked no more than a day over thirty. Woody had to admit, she was one of the most attractive teachers he had that semester. She had flowing red-brown hair that came down to her shoulders and dressed herself conservatively, but no layer of clothing could hide the fact that she had a tall, slender build accentuated with a large, beautiful bosom.

When the bell rang, Woody filed out of the classroom and edged himself between some groups of people as they discussed about their English teachers, and he couldn’t help overhearing…
“Oh, my fucking shit, man. She’s the hottest MILF on the planet…” blurted a guy in a group of guys.
“She’s not married, she doesn’t have any children either,” corrected another guy. “And she loves young dudes, but not us. We’re too immature for her; she likes recent graduates. She’s probably fucking that assistant of hers.”
Woody stopped in his track, “How do you know so much?”
The guy blushed, “I failed the class last semester so I’m taking it again. She had a fuck-boy TA last year, and I’m assuming it’s the same this year.”

Blood boiled to Woody’s head as he traipsed away from the group of guys…but then he heard…
“Oh, my Wow. Did any of you get a little wet as I did just staring at Ethan…oh my God, I hope he’s single,” said a girl in the group of girls.
Woody stopped in his track and couldn’t help shouting, “He’s taken!”
“Oh damn. How do you know?” she asked.
Woody glowered at the girl, “I…my sister and him are an item.”
“Oooo,” nodded one girl understandingly, “That’s why he was staring at you so much. For a moment, I thought he was gay.”
Woody bit his lips as he said, “No, he’s not! He’s as straight as his front teeth! BUT LEAVE HIM ALONE.”

Woody had always been an easily jealous type of guy—Jessica Little and Ashley Lace were the biggest example—but this was the first time he was jealous concerning a guy, the first time that a female was hitting on the person he liked. Usually if it were a sleazy guy making a move on his love-interest, Woody would just pick a fight with that asshole. But in this situation, how was he supposed to pick a fight with a forty-year-old woman who was his professor?

When Ethan came home at 9 o’clock, Woody was ready to tear him apart, “Why the hell are you so late?”
“I’m sorry. Didn’t you get my message? Heinsworth wanted to introduce me to this big-name writer; I couldn’t turn her down. I told you to go ahead and eat without me.”
“Well, I wanted us to eat together, is that so bad?”

“No, that’s fine. I’m starving. Let’s eat.”
“I don’t feel like eating.”
Ethan laughed, “Okay, then. I’ll serve myself and you can…go on telling me what’s bothering you…”

“Are you sleeping with her?”
“No…and who?”
“Heinsworth.”
“No…and why would you think that?”
“Because I heard this guy in class say she got the hots for young, recently graduated guys like you.”

Ethan gave a sexy smirk, “Oh, look at you all jealous. That’s so cute. Your mouth is all puffy and your cheeks are red. You should get jealous more often. That’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen….come here you.” Ethan pulled Woody in for a kiss.

But Woody pulled away, “Stop it! I wanna know, is she hitting on you?”
Ethan shrugged, “I guess, she’s a flirtatious woman, but she flirts with everyone…But I mean, she keeps the banter very clean.”

“Do you flirt back?”
Ethan shrugged, “Well, I ‘reply’ back. I don’t know what constitutes ‘flirting’ back.”
Woody clicked his tongue, “Well, can’t you tell her you’re dating my sister or something so she’ll BACK THE HELL off.”

“I’m one step ahead of you,” Ethan pointed to the gold ring on his left hand, “Got it from a gumball machine. Looks real, doesn’t it? Never told her anything, but she thinks I’m married. I just never bother to correct her.” Ethan winked.

Woody’s face brightened considerably after hearing this. Wrapping his arms around Ethan’s neck, “You are the best, best boyfriend ever!”
“If I am…then you should know that I will never cheat on you, so you never have to be jealous,” said Ethan, “’Course you can always pretend to get jealous, cause I still think it’s pretty dang cute when you are!”
<%PART%>
That Friday during the first week of school, Woody went to a party. It was the first Friday night that the couple did not go out together since they started dating, and at first, Woody missed having the comfortable, familiar, strong body to lean onto, but after a few cups of margarita, Woody had loosened up and began to enjoy himself. Moving about from group to group, butting in their conversations, dancing with a couple of sexy girls, playing volleyball in the backyard of the sorority house, and then stripping to his bathing suit and jumping in the swimming pool. After the game of marco polo, Woody stripped off the last article of clothing…his swimming trucks…and got in a hot tub with a few girls who were clinging onto him like leeches. By the end of the party, Woody had managed to get five girls’ phone numbers without his asking.

It was 4 AM when Woody walked the three blocks back to his apartment. He crawled into bed quietly, trying hard to not wake up Ethan. But as the bed inevitably creaked, Ethan rolled around to face him. Woody expected Ethan to open his mouth and begin to nag and reprimand him. But instead, Ethan asked in a groggy voice, “Did you have a fun time?”
Woody nodded guiltily.
“That’s cool!” Ethan smiled softly, “Why didn’t you call me to pick you up?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you.”
“That’s sweet, but I don’t mind…Call me next time.”
“Okay…”
“Goodniiight, or good mooorning…or wadevaa...” Ethan drifted back to sleep.

When Woody woke up at noon the next morning, he got out of bed and followed the wonderful aroma of frying foods into the kitchen. Ethan was scrambling eggs in a pan and turned around when he heard Woody’s footsteps. “Good morning, sunshine. Go freshen up and I’ll have breakfast—or well, brunch—ready when you come out.”

Through their relationship, there were many times—including right now—when Woody had to wonder if he was dreaming. Is it possible in this world for there to be such a perfect girl/boyfriend? A girl/guy who doesn’t get mad when you come home drunk at 4 am? A significant other who cooks breakfast for you the morning after? At moments like this, Woody would have to pinch himself to see if he wakes up. Woody pulled a fold of skin from his arm until it turned red…but he didn’t wake up, he was still standing in the kitchen.

Still a bit light-headed, Woody brushed his teeth while showering and changed into fresh clothes, throwing the old clothes in the hamper. When he went back to the kitchen, true to Ethan’s words, breakfast—or well, brunch—awaited him. Woody sat down in front of the plates of eggs, bacon, waffles, the cups of chopped fruits, and the glass of milk…he leaned over to thank his cook with a quick kiss on the cheeks. They talked casually and ate casually and when they were finished, Ethan washed the dishes, and Woody volunteered to help dry and put them away.

Woody soon remembered he had a biology quiz on Monday over the first two chapters and had not even ripped the plastic cover off his textbook. He excused himself into the study room and began to read. Ethan went into the bathroom to relieve his bladder, and when he saw that the hamper was full, he prepared the clothes for laundry.

While Woody was rereading the third page again after drifting off into a daydream twice, Ethan opened the door and said, “Sorry to interrupt. I just found these in your pant pocket.” Woody immediately recognized, in alarm, that they were napkins with girl’s names and phone numbers on it. Woody tried to read Ethan’s face to see if he was upset, but the college grad simply said, “I’ll just put ‘em here for you.”

Ethan was about to walk out and shut the door, but Woody called him, “Wait. Ethan. I didn’t ask for their numbers at all…I swear. They just gave it me.”

Ethan chortled, “I know. But you should keep them in case you wanna form a study group, or something.”
Again, Woody had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming, “I don’t get it. Why are you never jealous?”
“What do you mean?”

Woody sighed exasperately, “I mean, I remember when you were dating Laurie. She told me guys swarmed around her all the time, trying to break you guys apart, and you were always so happy-go-lucky and never mentioned your concern about it once. That’s the only thing she’s ever complained about you…you never get jealous!”

“I trusted your sister as much as I trust you now…” Ethan crouched down to level his eyes with Woody’s.
“Well, maybe Laurie isn’t the type of person to cheat,” Woody said honestly, “But I’ve sure had a terrible record in that area. So why do you trust me?”

“Because I know how much we love each other. And…the simple fact that you want me to be jealous…that’s a great indicator that I have nothing to worry about at all,” said Ethan, pulling the other in for a kiss.

Looking down to see the newly opened biology textbook on Woody’s lap, Ethan said, “Hey, I took this class. If you want…you can look at my old notes, it’s from the same textbook but an old edition…it’s got the bare essentials…it’ll help you study for a quiz…but not a test.”

Woody widened his eyes with delight and tossed the book on the computer desk. “Oh, man, you’re gonna get some good lovin’ right about now, baby!” Woody jumped out of his chair, grabbed his boyfriend’s wrist and dragged him across the hall into the bedroom.

Their beautiful forms fell together, bouncing on the mattress. Woody was on top, pulling his partner’s shirt over his head, before delving at the nooks and crannies of Ethan’s upper body. Breathing in the incredible pheromone emanating from Ethan’s pits. Running excited hands all over the bigger man’s torso and rippling sides. Woody’s wonderful touch always made Ethan shiver with delight; the feel of Ethan’s wonderful body always made Woody’s cock drip with pleasure.

Ethan found his way on top now, pinning Woody’s hands to the mattress above his head. Burrowing his face down on Woody’s lips for a sumptuous kiss with tons of wet tongue action. Pulling his lips away suddenly in order to hear Woody sighing for more. Ethan loved it, to hear Woody’s disgruntled purr, to hear Woody utter how much he needed Ethan’s lips and tongues. So waiting five more seconds, Ethan finally obliged and dove in for another kiss, a longer, more satisfying osculation.

Ethan could no longer wait to get his hands on Woody’s perfect body. To cup each muscle and skin. To graze his hands on Woody’s sparse, thin chest hair. So in one short grunt, Ethan peeled the shirt from Woody’s frame and stared, captivated by the beautiful body. The body he had seen so many times now, but never could get sick off. But at the moment, Woody’s body wasn’t exactly like it was normally; there were a few more marks…teeth marks…marks Ethan didn’t remember creating as they made love on Thursday.

“Whoa,” Ethan chuckled, “You must have been popular with the Tri-Sigma girls.”

Woody propped his head up with his elbows to see what Ethan was talking about. His face immediately turned red when he saw the many hickeys all over his chest. “Ethan, I swear, I didn’t…I don’t remember telling them to do anything like that. I promise…if I was clear-headed, I would have told them to stop.” Then he paused, “Are…are you jealous?”

“I will be…” Ethan grinned amusedly, “if I count more hickeys than I got my first time at a sorority party.”
And with that, Ethan began counting with his lips, on every red indentation on Woody’s flesh. One, he kissed an area above Woody’s right nipple. Two, he kissed under Woody’s left nipple. Three, placing his lips between Woody’s floating ribs. Four, licking towards the right of the navel. Five, planting wet lips on his left oblique.
“Well…only five.” Ethan concluded, “Ha ha. I feel sorry for you, I had six my first time.”

“I wouldn’t be so cocky…” Woody said, pulling down his pants and boxers, and flipping over to show his back which was spotted with more bite marks, “Count em and weep!”
Again, Ethan counted. Six, a light kiss on Woody’s shoulders. Seven and eight, lavishing his tongue over the marks on each shoulder blades. Nine, slightly to the right of Woody’s lumbar. Ten, smack in the middle of the small of Woody’s back. “Eleven…” Ethan had to go even lower this time, “Wow, you let a girl bite your bum?”