Jules had a very, very limited amount of time he could sit still for. I knew I’d already used up that time and then some, so I got up and begrudgingly squeezed my legs into the swing. He started pushing slowly, waiting until I had plenty of momentum, before pushing hard. I leaned back as he did it and tried not to think about how good his hands felt on the small of my back. The wind hit my face as I swung forward, and on the way back my hair fell across my face like a dark curtain. The next push was hard. I leaned back, kicking my legs out in front of me and sailed through the air.

Thwack!

Just like that, I stopped moving. I was suspended midair for a split second, and the next I crashed to the ground, landing flat on my back. The rope of the swing had finally broken. The wind was knocked out of me. I felt like there was a rock on my chest. A solid mass. No air. I was frozen for several long seconds, eyes wide open, until at last, I gasped, and with a long, squeaky wheeze, air rushed to my lungs.

“Sully!” Jules yelled. “Are you okay?” He rushed over to me and rolled me over onto my side. He pulled my T-shirt up and checked my back. His hands were all over me. Flat palms on my skin. Hot hands. Man hands. “Are you okay? Can you talk?”

“Fuck! I told you I’d see my ass on that swing,” I said when I could.

“Are you all right? You’re not bleeding or anything. Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Just winded.” I sat up. He put his arm around my shoulder, and I leaned against him until I caught my breath.

On the way home, my back felt bruised and stiff. “Told you I’d see my ass on that swing,” I said again.

He gave me a look and an evil little smile and said, “Technically, technically, you said I’d see my ass on that swing.”

“Jesus, Jules! What’s wrong with you?”

He didn’t answer; he just gave me a playful slap on the ass. He didn’t mean anything by it. Of course, he didn’t. He was a recovering footballer; that was all.

When I got home, it didn’t take long for me to get my hand in my pants. I didn’t even have time to look for some porn. I closed my eyes as I started stroking and I thought about the same thing I’d been thinking of for weeks, maybe more.