That got Brad’s attention. Big time! The tears and shaking were long gone. Even in the dark room I could see the smile that lit up his face. It was a large, happy, excited smile. And that wasn’t the only thing that changed. I immediately felt him get excited down below, too. We were still clinging to each other, we were only wearing boxer shorts, and neither of us could hide our sudden feelings of lust, not that we wanted to. But we were two very eager 13-year-olds, and at 13, arousal takes about as long as it takes for a jack-in-the-box to leap out once the lid is opened. And the lid that had been covering our emotions, with us wanting each other and not being able to say or do anything about it, had just popped open.

“Brad?” I asked. “Uh, have you, like, ever messed around before? I know you’ve gone out with girls. But did you ever do anything with any of them? Or, uh, with any boys?”

“How do you know about the girls I’ve dated?” he asked. His voice had gotten lower and become husky, and he was slowly grinding into my leg. I was doing the same to him, and the motion felt almost automatic, like was kinda doing it unconsciously. The feeling of him doing that, the feeling I had responding to it, was almost too much for me. I was harder than I’d ever been, that was sure.

“You say you’ve been watching me.” My voice sounded husky, too. “Guess what? You weren’t the only one grooving on someone, watching them with no one knowing it. The only difference was, you had a crush and were just trying to figure me out. I was looking at you like you were a teen idol, and I had no idea I’d ever have the courage to talk to you, let alone get acquainted. And certainly there was never a thought of you wanting me, of you liking me, and I’d have been crazy to think you’d want to be in bed with me.” I giggled, letting out some of the pent up emotions I was feeling.

By this time, I was grinding into him even harder, my movements becoming more frantic. This was my body taking over. It knew what it wanted and was going after it; my body just seemed to do it on its own. “So,” I said, finding it hard to talk between the gasps of air I was having to reach for, “what have you done with someone else?”

“Not much.” I noticed he was having problems getting enough air, too. “The girls all want to date me, but their or my parents drive us to the movies or the bowling alley or the mall and we can’t do anything there. I’ve kissed two of them quickly a couple times, but that’s all. Well, I’ve held hands, too, but that hardly counts. But that’s it.”

“What about boys?”

“Danny, I don’t like boys, I like you! I’ve never even thought about a boy that way. I’m in the showers with them almost every day, and other than checking them out because I’m just as curious as everyone else, I’m not interested in any of them. They don’t excite me or anything.”

We were still lying on our sides, facing each other. While he was saying this, I’d been slowly rubbing my hands over his back and then his chest. I’d never made out with anyone, and this was so exciting and felt so awesome I could hardly contain myself. It was amazing. I didn’t know what I was doing, yet everything I did felt right, felt wonderful, and was exciting beyond belief.

“Danny?” breathed Brad.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to take our boxers off?”

Oh yeah! I didn’t even bother to answer. I just reached down to my hips, lifted them and shucked off my boxers. When he felt me doing so, he did the same. Then we laid back down, still facing each other, and I reached out and pulled him to me in a hug. Wow, what a feeling. We both, instinctively, began grinding again, and more urgently if that were possible. A little harder; a little more pressure.

A few moments later I said, “Brad?”

“Yeah.” Huskily.

“Can we slow down? I want this to take longer, and it’s not going to take any time at all if we keep this up. I want to look at you. I want to touch your body. I’ve never done anything with anyone else, and I don’t want this to be over too soon.”

Brad stopped grinding. “That sounds good. Let’s do whatever you want. I can’t believe how this feels.”

I sat up. First, I just wanted to look at him. I’d never seen another boy who was aroused. He rolled onto his back and I looked down at him. Even in the almost dark room I could see him lying naked and excited. He was more beautiful than seemed possible. Maybe that’s because it was Brad. I looked at him for a moment, then reached down and touched him. “Oh, Danny,” he gasped, “that’s, that’s, ooohhh.”

I just held him, not moving my hand, feeling his heat, feeling his heartbeat. He started wriggling and quietly moaning. I took my hand away. Then I leaned down and put my face against his chest. I could smell his scent, and the softness of his skin combined with the firmness of his muscles underneath was a contradictory wonderment. With my face on his chest, I reached out my tongue and touched the nipple that was in front of my face. He inhaled sharply.

I continued stroking his body lightly with my hands. I loved the feel of his skin and the way he responded to my touching it. Brad was really wriggling now. His breathing was getting faster, too. So I did what I’d been wanting to do forever. I rose up onto my hands, leaned forward, letting my body press fully against his, and kissed him.

His lips were soft and moist. I’d never kissed anyone on the lips before. I’d thought about it, fantasized over for it, wondered about it, but never done it. I had no idea what it would be like to kiss someone I didn’t have any emotional attachment to, but Brad? This was simply incredible. Our lips came together and held there, and I think I forgot all about breathing. Or anything else but the feelings I was having. I was in sensory overload.

And then it got better. I felt his tongue poke through his lips and brush mine. He slowly swiped it back and forth, and I, not being a dummy, quickly caught on and opened my lips a little wider without removing them from his.

He gently thrust his tongue into my mouth and started moving it around. I don’t know how I could get any more aroused but this was fantastic. I could actually feel myself getting warmer. This felt so good! So sexy! His tongue tickled the roof of my mouth and it was as though electricity was running through my head, through my whole being. I started pushing at his tongue with mine. I wanted to be in his mouth. He felt my want and withdrew his tongue back into his mouth. I followed it with mine.

I explored his mouth. While I was doing that, he began rubbing his hands lightly over the skin on my chest, then my back, then down my sides. When he brushed my nipples it almost felt like a shock. He reached down even lower.

And then suddenly I said, “Oh, Brad. I think I need to, well, I’m going to. . . .”

“Yes,” he said urgently. “I’m ready, too.”

We both sat up. We wriggled around so we were facing each other, our knees touching, our legs crossed. We reached for each other. We were both so excited, so overcome with emotions and build-up, it took no time at all before we were both gasping and panting.

And then it was over for us both. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced, more than what I had imagined. Brad obviously felt exactly the same. He didn’t say anything, just looked at me in awe. We both rocked forward, landing with our heads on each other shoulders. That was the only thing that kept us upright.

I was almost light-headed. We sat there, panting, leaning on each other for support. His arms came up and wrapped around me. I did the same thing. We held each other without speaking for several minutes while our breathing slowly returned to normal. Finally, Brad took a deep breath. He pulled his head back away from mine, looked me in the eyes, grinned, and said, “Fucking unbelievable!”

I looked into his eyes and just existed, a mass of emotions and feelings and happiness.