Three Hearts

by Andrew Todd

Chapter 6

The boys pulled into the cottage in York Beach, Maine at about 12:30 Sunday afternoon.

David had chosen a cottage for them that was just off the main road that went along 'Long Sands', a three-and-a-half mile stretch of beach. York had two beaches; the second, nicknamed 'Short Sands,' was a small half-mile stretch near the center of town.

The cottage was literally a two-minute walk to the beach. It was a large white two-story structure. The cottage featured a wraparound porch that was fully screened-in, so the inhabitants could enjoy the cool ocean breeze without dealing with insects.

The first floor was divided into a huge eat-in kitchen and a living/family room; there was a small bathroom with a shower off the kitchen. There was a small television set in the corner of the living room, but the boys figured no one came here to sit in the house and watch TV.

They climbed the stairs and found four fairly large bedrooms, two of the rooms had double beds and one had a bunk bed. The largest bedroom had a queen-sized bed. There were two bathrooms upstairs, one at each end of the hallway.

Brice looked at the bed and laughed. "Well, it's not my California King, but I guess we'll make do."

Justin looked at his two boyfriends. "Well, your skinny asses will only take up about half; I'll have to snuggle close to make sure I fit."

Cody wrapped his arms around Justin from behind. "Maybe we'll make you sleep in the middle, just to make sure you don't hurt yourself," he joked as he kissed Justin's neck.

Brice laughed at the two. "Don't start anything now. We need to get unpacked and everything."

"Party pooper," Cody pouted as he let go of Justin.

The three had not gone any further then kissing and caressing in the past six months. Their bond had grown tighter and they all felt they were more in love than when they had made their commitment back in November.

They had come close several times to making love, but Brice wanted it to be special for both Cody and Justin since he knew it would be their first time.

When his father had told him about the cottage, he knew that would be the special place that he wanted for them.

"This room is big enough for the three of us, but let's put all our luggage, clothes and stuff in the room next door. Then we'll have more room in here and there will still be two rooms for Ty and Bray when they get here."

Cody and Justin agreed. They all went downstairs to unload Brice's car. Justin lugged the suitcases and duffle bags upstairs, while Brice brought in the groceries and started to put them away in the kitchen. Cody took care of the beach chairs and paraphernalia they had brought with them.

Justin and Cody finished their chores first and were sitting at the kitchen table watching Brice finish up his.

"You guys have been here before, right?" Brice asked as he finished putting the groceries away.

"Oh, yeah," Justin said. "When you are a kid growing up in southern New Hampshire, if you go to the beach with a school, you end up at Hampton, which in my opinion sucks."

Cody nodded. "Yup."

"But, most of us end up at York or Wells or Ogunquit at some point in our lives," Justin continued. "My parents brought us up here a few times. We rented a cottage about a half-mile from here a few years ago and they have friends who have a cottage up near the Nubble."

"The Nubble?"

"The Nubble Lighthouse," Cody answered. "Hey, we should take a ride up there. Then we could take you down to Short Sands and show you around the Center, too."

Justin nodded. "Yeah, that would be a great way to get you acclimated and spend the afternoon. Then tomorrow we can spend the day on the beach."

"Sure," Brice said as he folded up his reusable shopping bags and placed them in a cupboard, so that he could bring home whatever they had left over. "Are we dressed ok?" he asked.

They were all wearing t-shirts, shorts and flip-flops or sandals.

Cody nodded. "Sure. It's a beach town--there will be people wearing less than this." He and Justin laughed.

"Especially the Canadians," Justin said as he and Cody laughed harder.

Brice looked at them curiously.

After they settled down Justin explained, "They get a lot of visitors here from Quebec and a lot of the guys like to wear Speedos…they usually look like guys wearing their underwear over their fur coat."

"Oh, thanks for the mental picture," Brice grimaced as the other two started laughing again.

The boys took off to explore. Since Justin and Cody were more familiar with the area, Brice let Justin drive.

They drove down the shore road that ran parallel to Long Sands. Brice rolled down his window and breathed deeply taking in the cool ocean air.

Traffic moved at a crawl so he was able to take in the sights, sounds and smell of the beach.

Eventually, Justin turned the car up a long hill. They past some large cottages that literally sat on the edge of the cliff that rose higher and higher as they drove. Justin finally pulled the car into a parking space and the three exited the car.

"Wow!!" Brice exclaimed as he took in the view. They were parked in a gravel lot. They walked over to the cliff's edge. About 500 yards across from them there was a small island with a red house and white lighthouse sitting on it. The angry white caps of the ocean filled in the space between where they stood and where the lighthouse stood.

"Great, isn't it?" Justin asked.

"Amazing."

"It's kinda crowded now, cuz it's the weekend and the middle of the afternoon," Cody explained. "We need to come up here and watch the sunrise one morning. It's amazing."

"You've done that?" Brice asked.

Cody and Justin both nodded.

"It's wicked awesome," Justin declared.

Brice took out his phone and snapped some shots of the Nubble Lighthouse. He took pictures of Justin and Cody standing in front of the lighthouse and was happy when a passerby offered to take a picture of all three.

While they drove back down to the main road, Brice was on his phone posting the pictures to his Facebook page.

When they reached the main road, Justin took a right and headed into the center of town.

It took them three trips around the Short Sands parking lot to find a space. They saw a car pulling out and Cody jumped out of the car while it was still moving and ran down to stand in the space.

"What the hell is he doing!?" Brice yelled.

Justin laughed. "You do whatever you can to get a space down here, especially on a Saturday or Sunday."

Cody stepped aside so that Justin could pull into the space. The boys got out of the car and walked around to the meter.

"Ok," Justin said. "Everyone pony up."

Brice looked at him while Cody dug into his pockets. He pulled out a fist full of coins and picked out the quarters and handed them to Justin.

"Brice, you got any quarters?" Justin asked.

Brice reached into pocket and pulled out a couple dollars' worth and handed them to Justin.

"How many do you need?" Brice asked.

"Probably two or three dollars right now."

"Two or three dollars?! How long are we staying?"

"Brice, look at the meter."

Brice read the meter and was shocked to see that it was twenty-five cents for ten minutes of meter time.

"Holy shit!!"

Justin and Cody laughed.

"Well, it's a summer town," Cody explained. "They make all their money between Memorial Day and Labor Day. See how that road we came down on is one-way?"

Brice nodded.

"Well, they only do that in the summer. The rest of the year it's two-way. It's neat to come here in the winter and feel like you're driving the 'wrong way' on the road."

Justin loaded two hours' worth of time into the meters and he and Cody led Brice over to the beach.

The small stretch of beach was overflowing with people.

"We'll come down here one morning before it gets so crowded," Justin told Brice. "Most people who come here are day visitors. Since most of the cottages are along Long Sands, that's where most people go and it's easier to find a spot there."

They walked down the sidewalk and up to a boardwalk that ran perpendicular to the beach. There was a big wooden building with three large garage-type doors. Above the doors the words 'Fun-O-Rama' were emblazoned in red.

Brice peeked inside: it was a huge arcade with row after row of video games. On one side of the room there was a bank of about twenty Skee-Ball machines.

"Oh, man. I wanna come back here when it's not so crowded," Brice declared.

Cody and Justin laughed.

"Don't worry," Cody said. "Ty loves this place and I know Justin promised Bray that we'd come here too."

Justin nodded.

They walked down the short boardwalk. Next to the arcade was a bowling alley, a small diner and a little store.

They walked across the street to a two-story white building that sat on the block by itself.

Cody grabbed Brice's arm. "C'mon," he said as he pulled Brice toward a spot on the sidewalk where a crowd of people were peering into the shop's windows.

Brice looked over the heads of a couple of small children. Through the window he saw a machine with long hooks on it that looked like it was stretching something.

"What are they doing?" he asked.

"Making taffy," Cody answered. "The best taffy you've ever had."

Justin and Cody led Brice past the next several windows where guests could watch the process of taffy making from boiling in copper pots to the confections being cut and wrapped.

When they rounded the corner, Cody opened the door to the shop and held it while Justin and Brice entered the store.

"Welcome to Goldenrod," Justin whispered in Brice's ear as Brice's senses were assaulted by the sweet smell of candy, the noise of the crowded store and the sight of people, young and old, jockeying for position along the candy counter which ran the length of the store to their left. To their right there was an old-fashioned lunch counter where customers could order ice cream creations and sandwiches and towards the front of the building was a full-service restaurant.

"Wow…" was all Brice could get out.

Cody and Justin grinned as they dragged Brice over to the line.

Brice couldn't get over the huge selection of sweets and confections.

"They make all this here," Justin explained. "The saltwater taffy is the main thing that brings people in, but all the candies are amazing."

"What's your favorite?" Brice asked, overwhelmed by all the choices.

"Strawberry taffy and Swiss chocolate almond fudge," Justin answered.

Brice looked at Cody.

"Peanut butter taffy and fruit slices," Cody said.

Brice raised his eyebrows. "Fruit slices?"

Cody pointed to a spot behind the glass. There was an array of sugar-covered jellied candies shaped like orange slices. There were all sorts of colors.

"Oh, I have to try those," Brice announced as his mouth started watering.

The boys looked up and down the counter while they waited to be served.

Finally, a young girl came up to them.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"We need a two-pound box of taffy, assorted," Justin said. "Heavy on the strawberry and peanut butter." He looked at Brice. "Any flavor you want?"

Brice looked up at the sign showing the many flavors of taffy. "Maple walnut," he answered.

Justin looked back at the girl. "Assorted, heavy on the strawberry, peanut butter and maple walnut," he said.

The girl filled a large box with taffy and then came back, the boys keeping her busy ordering lots of different treats to get them through the week.

After they had two large bags full of boxes of candies, Cody said, "I think that's enough to start; we can always come back, in fact we'll have to when Ty and Bray get here, cuz I know Ty's gonna want to clean the place out."

The girl pulled out a calculator and a small note pad and started calculating their order.

She told them the total and Brice handed her his credit card.

"We have cash you know," Justin said as the girl went to ring up the sale.

"I know, but your parents said we had to spend it frivolously," Brice answered. "Candy is a staple, not 'frivolous'." He tried to keep a serious face, but a smile broke across his face as Justin laughed.

The girl came back with Brice's receipt and handed the boys their bags.

The boys left the store and spent another hour or so wandering around York Center. Brice was enjoying the sights and sounds of the beach community and Justin and Cody were having a blast showing him around and watch him experience places and things for the first time that they had done their whole lives.

They were in Brice's car heading back to the cottage when Brice's phone rang.

Justin was driving back and Brice was in the passenger seat.

Brice pulled out his phone and looked at the caller ID and smiled.

He answered. "Hey, Baby," he said.

Justin and Cody both looked at him, jaws gaping.

Brice laughed and shook his head. "So how was graduation? Awesome! What? No, I didn't. You didn't did you? Shit. Well I'm not there this week and I'm moving week after next so hopefully he won't try to find me. No, Court, I've moved on." He looked from Justin to Cody and grinned. "I've found something so much better. I'll tell you later. Right now, we're on vacation, so I need to get back. I'll give you a call when I get back. Yes, I'll send you my address, but you better keep it quiet. Ok. I love you, too."

Brice disconnected the call and put the phone back in his pocket. "That was my friend, Courtney, from back in Virginia," he explained. "Their graduation was yesterday too."

"So, what's wrong?" Justin asked.

Brice grimaced. "I guess Kevin showed up at her graduation party. He was 'friends' with a few of the kids in my class, but he started giving her a hard time to get my address. She told him I didn't want to see him and that I was over him, but he kept insisting that he loved me and wanted me back. She told him to get lost, but she's not sure someone else won't tell him where I am."

"What happens if he shows up?" Cody asked, the concern apparent in his eyes.

Brice pulled him forward and kissed him on the lips. He then leaned over to Justin and kissed him as well. Luckily traffic was crawling so Justin was not too distracted.

"Nothing changes," Brice said emphatically. "I love you guys. I don't know if I ever actually loved Kevin, but after what he did to me, any feelings I had for him are dead. I'd rather never see him again, but if he does show up, I'll send him packing."

As Justin pulled the car up to the cottage, Cody leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Brice and kissed his cheek. "We'll all send him packing," he said confidently.

Justin turned the car off and reached over and placed his hand on Cody's which rested on Brice's chest. "Yes, we will," he said.

The three got out of the car and went into the cottage.

Brice left Cody and Justin sitting on the porch enjoying the sea breeze while he ran upstairs to take a shower. When he finished he went into the room they were using for luggage and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and pulled them on. He then grabbed a polo shirt and khaki shorts and got dressed. He kept his feet bare since they were not going out this evening.

He then rifled through Cody and Justin's bags pulling out the 'dressiest' clothes he could find for them. He laid Justin's clothes on the bed in the 'luggage room' and laid Cody's in their bedroom. He then went into the two bathrooms that were upstairs and laid out some items he wanted the boys to have.

When he was finished he ran downstairs and out to the porch. Justin looked up to see Brice standing there and let out with a wolf whistle.

Cody looked up and grinned. "What's with the duds?" he asked.

Brice smiled warmly. "I'm going to get dinner ready," he said. "I want you both to go upstairs and shower. I left some 'stuff' for you in each bathroom, make sure you use it. Justin, I left your clothes in the room with the luggage and Cody I left yours on our bed."

Both boys stared at him. "What's up?" Justin asked.

"Just do as you're told," Brice instructed with a twinkle in his emerald eyes.

Cody and Justin stood up and looked at each other and then at Brice. Cody shrugged and headed into the house and up the stairs followed by Justin.

Each of them went into a separate bathroom.

Brice went into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

"What the HELL?!"

Brice laughed as he heard Cody's shrill exclamation ring through the cottage.

"Just shut up and use it!!" Brice yelled up the stairs.

Cody came to the top of the stairs and stared down at Brice. Brice laughed since Cody was standing there without a stitch on. He was waving the slim box that read 'Fleet' on the side.

"Are you serious?" he asked. "I really have to do this?"

Brice nodded and smiled. "I already did, so you can too. Besides I don't hear Justin complaining."

"Just do it, Code," they heard Justin yell from his bathroom.

Cody rolled his eyes and stomped back to the bathroom. About fifteen minutes later, Brice heard two separate toilets flush and then he heard the water being turned on in both showers. Brice wasn't sure if Cody even understood the significance of the enemas, but he knew that Justin did.

While he listened to the sounds coming from upstairs, Brice set about finishing dinner. He had bought some beautiful filets at the supermarket they had stopped at for provisions and he had them broiling in the oven. They had also stopped at a small farm stand on the way up and he had gotten some fresh green beans, corn on the cob and new potatoes. He cut the potatoes in half, leaving the skins on and put them in a pot of water to boil. He snapped the beans and set them aside. He put on a pot of water to blanch the beans at the last minute. He set another larger pot of water to boil the corn. While the potatoes boiled, he shucked the corn and put it in the pot.

When the water for the beans was ready, he dropped them in for a few minutes and then scooped them out and dropped them into a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking and keep them green and crisp.

He hunted through the cabinets for plates. He quickly set the table. He had bought a candle at a small card store next to the supermarket. He placed the candle in the middle of the table and lit it.

When Justin and Cody finally came into the kitchen, Brice was standing at the table waiting for them.

Brice had all the food laid out on the table and had dimmed the overhead lights so that the room was illuminated mostly by the candle.

"Wow…" Cody exhaled.

"You did all this?" Justin asked.

Brice walked over to the doorway where the two boys he loved stood. He nodded. "Yes, I did this for the two most important people in my life," he said. "For the two people I want to share my life with. Yesterday we left childhood behind and tonight we start our adult lives. The lives we will live together."

Brice hugged Justin tight and then turned and did the same to Cody. Then he wrapped an arm around both boys and pulled the three of them together.

"I love you guys," Brice whispered.

"I love you, too," Cody answered. "Both of you."

"So much," Justin said.

Brice led them over to the table and had them each take a seat. The table was round and he had placed the chairs so that they were an equal distance from each other. To him that symbolized that they were all equals in this relationship and there was no 'dominant' person. They would make decisions together and they would share everything between them.

They spoke very little during dinner. Cody and Justin each complimented Brice on the food, but they were each lost in their own thoughts, realizing the significance of this night and the commitment they were making to each other.

When they finished dinner, Brice cleared the table. He then told Cody and Justin to wait while he ran upstairs. He came back about ten minutes later.

"Dessert will be served upstairs," he said as he took Cody and Justin by the hand and led them up to their bedroom.

The bedroom door was closed. Cody reached to open it, but Brice grabbed his hand. He stood Cody and Brice side by side.

"Close your eyes," he told them. They complied.

Brice stood behind Cody and Justin; he took one of their hands in each of his and then brought them together so the three of them were holding hands.

"I love you both more than I ever thought I could love anyone," he said with a catch in his voice. "I know we've already agreed on everything, but this is the last chance. If either of you is having second thoughts or aren't sure about this, now is the time to speak up. It won't change the way I feel about you, but once we go into that room, there is no turning back. When I left Kevin, I swore the next time I did this it would be with someone I loved with all my heart and it would be forever."

Cody and Justin both turned to Brice at the same time. They both had their eyes opened and both had tears in them.

"I'm in," Justin whispered.

"Me, too," Cody nodded. "I love you guys and I can't imagine the future without both of you there."

Brice wrapped his arms around both boys and the three embraced.

Brice stepped back and turned them back towards the door. "Ok, close your eyes," he again instructed.

Once they had done as he requested, he reached between them and turned the door knob and swung the door open. He directed them to walk through the doorway together. They took a few steps into the room and then Brice stopped them.

They both felt Brice move around them and heard rustling.

Finally, Brice spoke. "Ok, you can open your eyes," he whispered.

They opened their eyes at the same time and both inhaled deeply.

The room was dimly lit with candles burning on the nightstand and the dresser. The small lamp on the table was on, but Brice had draped a cloth over it to diffuse the light.

The bed was turned down and the sheets and comforter were strewn with rose petals.

But the view that caused Justin and Cody to stop breathing was Brice standing next to the bed. He was fully nude and hard as a rock. The flickering candlelight danced off his pale white skin. The sight caused all the blood in both Cody and Justin to rush to the same place and their pants became much tighter.

Brice stepped forward and placed one hand on each of his lovers' shoulders. Tears glistened in his eyes. "I love both of you more than I can ever say," he said as he kissed first Justin and then Cody.

Brice gestured to both boys to remove their clothing. He grinned to himself as they raced to divest themselves of their garments.

When all three were naked, they stood and stared at each other drinking in the sights around them.

Brice and Justin had seen each other in gym class, but this was different: none of them had seen Cody in this state and he had not seen either of them.

Cody blushed as Justin and Brice looked at his rock-hard cock. Brice knew Justin was a big boy, but Cody was even bigger. Justin made up in girth where Cody beat him in length. Brice wasn't exactly a peewee, but he was the smallest amongst them.

"Now what?" Cody asked nervously.

"Look, guys," Brice said. "I know both of you are virgins, but there are no rules for this. We are going to be together our whole lives and we have all that time to explore and make love. We'll only do what you feel comfortable doing. No more, no less."

"What have you done?" Justin asked.

Brice grimaced. "Pretty much everything. Kevin and I did a lot of oral and anal." He looked at Cody and saw the unasked question in his eyes. "Actually, Kevin was the bottom more often than not, not that I am opposed to it." He looked from Justin raging erection to Cody's and chuckled. "But you guys need to be gentle."

Cody and Justin both laughed nervously as Brice took them each by the hand and led them to the bed.