Chapter 77 - Shadows of Times Past
I had no idea how much time had passed since I'd dozed off and fallen asleep, but the sight of Brad's woodland cottage was there to greet me as I opened my eyes and regained consciousness.
Still sitting inside the truck with my lower face tucked inside my hunky protector's thick parka, I scanned the cabin in front of me and let my mind carry me back to a time when this place had become my personal dungeon.
I dreaded being here, but I worked hard to convince myself that it would be different this time around, and that things wouldn't spiral out of control like they had last summer.
Lost in a reverie of months long past, my face carried the blank expression of someone who'd just seen a ghost.
Nick was the one who finally snapped me out of my trance-like state.
"Hey. You okay?" he asked, slowly pulling his bulky parka off of me and managing to work it over his torso.
I turned to look at him, unable to wipe away the distant expression that remained painted over my pale face.
The blond stud looked at me questioningly for an instant, almost as if trying to decide whether or not I was okay.
I nodded my head and produced a small, insincere smile.
Between Nick's flirting at the grocery store and the realisation that I was gonna be spending the next few days in Brad's company, I wasn't feeling all that well.
I wanted to mention something about the bad memories this place brought back, but Shawn woke up and interrupted the silence by yawning loudly and stretching his arms out.
As the young jock awoke, Nick's face lit up and my sour-mood kinda took a backseat.
"How long was I out for?" Shawn asked, rubbing his eyes and sounding surprised at the fact that we'd finally arrived.
"Over an hour." Nick responded, chuckling mildly at the fact that the younger man had slept like a baby during the second half of the drive.
It felt good to unbuckle myself a stretch my legs out a bit.
It didn't take long for the three of us to exit the truck and make our way over to quaint, wooden cottage.
We arrived out front, but Nick didn't knock. He just opened the door and barged in.
I was a little uncomfortable by his lack of manners, but then again, Brad was his friend, and the two jocks clearly weren't abiding by the same social codes I felt bound to.
I followed the big, parka-clad hunk inside the cozy cottage, and Shawn came in last.
As soon as we stepped in, Brad came into view and greeted Nick with a quick hug and some cheerful laughing.
The sexy jock eventually focused his attention down on me and gave me a playful tap on the shoulder before flashing me his signature smirk. I lowered my eyes nervously, unable to stand against the muscular hunk's unnerving gaze.
"Hey boi." he greeted, looking me up and down with no apparent hint of remorse for his past actions.
He was our host and I couldn't just ignore him.
And so, I awkwardly managed to smile back.
I couldn't wait for the introductions to be over.
Shawn was the last to be greeted by Brad, but from what I could tell, the two jocks didn't know each other all that well.
"Hey! It's Shawn right?" Brad asked, shaking the younger lad's hand. "Man, you've grown since I last saw you!"
Shawn smiled and appeared genuinely flattered by the jock's comment.
"Dude!" Brad laughed, turning to look at Nick. "What have you been feeding him?" he joked, causing the two hunky cousin's to look at each other and start chuckling.
Apparently, Shawn's stature was all the buzz.
And I was feeling like a freakin' MIDGET, standing there, surrounded by three tall, muscular hunks.
I'd seen Brad just a week ago, but now that he was right in front of me and wearing a black muscle shirt over his torso, I couldn't help but notice how much mass he'd put once since last summer.
He was really big, standing tall at six feet and looking as broad-chested and as powerfully built as the other two jocks.
There was a small difference in his musculature though. Even my untrained eyes could pick it up.
Brad's body was tight and a little more...compact. He definitely had an athletic build under all that muscle.
The blond cousins didn't really share that trait.
Nick was built up like a brick wall, but he hardly qualified as athletic.
Whereas Brad was an incredibly swimmer and runner, Nick was probably just a bit better than average.
The blond stud, like his younger cousin, seemed better suited for weight-lifting and engaging in hard physical labour, than he was for playing sports or competing professionally.
I could still recall the wrestling match these two had engaged in back in August, after I'd purposefully lied about Brad threatening to roofie Nick and rape me.
Thinking back on it, I felt kinda bad about what I'd done.
But man...what a match that was!
Brad wasn't as built up back then as he was now, yet he had proven himself MORE than capable of standing his ground and competing against his larger, heavier buddy.
They were both pretty evenly matched, and I remember actually fearing what would happen if Nick lost.
Thankfully, the heavier brute managed pin the more nimble jock down and rope him up real good.
It had been a very close call though. And I'll never forget the look on Brad's face when suddenly found himself pinned down, with his nose stuck inside Nick's big, rotten, sock-clad toes.
Watching the cocky jerk lying there, pinned down, powerless, and with a look of pure horror and disgust on his face, nearly made that whole summertime ordeal worth it. Nearly...
Nick and Shawn both kept their big jackets and shoes on as Brad graciously offered to give the younger jock a tour of the place. All three of them started going towards the bedroom area, but just as I began asking myself where Jeremy was and wondering why the lad hadn't shown up yet, my attention was drawn towards part of the cottage opposite to where the three hunks were headed.
There was a definite, low moaning sound coming from the living room.
Slowly taking my shoes off and leaving them on the carpet next to the front door, I decided to investigate the source of the strange noise and quietly tiptoed my way into the living room.
As I walked in, my eyes were immediately drawn to the couch on the far side of the room.
What I saw, made my jaw to drop and caused my heart to suddenly beat faster.
I'd found the source of the strange moaning noise.
It was Jeremy.