brothers1

Closer Than Brothers

OK, another 'Guilty Pleasure' here. I loved the "Dukes of Hazzard" when I was a kid.

Now, 20-odd years later, I feel like I've rediscovered Hazzard County. My husband's family is from a small town in rural PA, which, although on the wrong side of the Mason-Dixon line isn't so different from Hazzard. Add in my 6' tall, blond brother-in-law, and you can't escape the connection.

Recently, my husband and I have been speculating about his brother, who at age 43 still hasn't left home, works in the family business, and was last known to date in high school. What if he's gay? I got to thinking about how hard that would be to deal with in that kind of culture. And Bo Duke seemed to be an obvious choice to play out the story ...

It was a blisteringly hot summer day in Hazzard county, GA. Out here in the sticks, everything moved at a slower pace than in the big city. A lizard basked in the heat on a rock along the side of the road. It was as if it was just too much effort to move in the heat.

Tommie Irwin sat dejectedly on a rock next to the lizard. Sweat poured down his face; his silk shirt was soaked. The damned rental car had thrown a flat tire. And whoever had screwed the damned thing on had apparently used one of those pneumatic tools that no human could unscrew. How the hell was he going to get out of here? He hadn't seen another car on the road in an hour. He'd die of dehydration before he got that stupid tire changed!

Suddenly the still silence was shattered by the roar of an engine, and a bright orange car went flying past him before he could even get up to try to flag them down. The car disappeared around the curve up ahead, and Tommie's hope sank as he realized they probably hadn't even seen him sitting there.

And then the roar was back as the car returned and skidded to a stop beside his car. Two handsome young men sat inside, one blond, one brunette. The brunette spoke.

"Hey there. You need some help?"

Gratefully, Tommie stood up and approached them. "Thank God, yes!"

The two men pulled themselves out of the car windows, race car style. Tommie noticed the car was done up like a race car, with a huge Confederate flag painted on the roof. // I really am in the deep south! //

The blond came over and offered his hand. "I�m Bo Duke and this here is my cousin Luke."

All other thoughts vanished from Tommie's mind as he gazed at the gorgeous man in front of him. Tall, athletic build without being too skinny, and unbelievably blue eyes. And a gorgeous smile. // Oh, my! //

Eventually he realized they were waiting for him. "Oh, uh, I'm Tommie Irwin. Got a flat tire and can't for the life of me get the damned thing off!"

Bo and Luke looked at each other. The stranger was obviously a city slicker, quite out of his element out here in the sticks. And obviously not accustomed to physical labor. Bo grinned.

"Well, let's see what we can do with that."

The Duke boys proceeded to make short work of changing the tire, seemingly having no problems freeing the previously intractable tire. Tommie found he was disappointed that it went so easily; he'd been hoping that maybe the delectable Bo might take his shirt off after working so hard in the heat.

Luke stood off to one side, holding the donut-sized spare ready for Bo. He was watching Irwin watching his cousin work. There was something about the way he stared, something too eager. It didn't take Luke long to realize what was going on; he'd known men like Irwin in the military. The look in his eyes was hunger; he found Bo attractive. Luke wondered if Bo would notice it; his cousin was a bit more the innocent about such things, having never left home

Bo in fact did feel Irwin's eyes on his back, following his every move. He knew the stranger was watching him. The way the man talked, the way he dressed. Bo knew what he wanted. You didn't find a lot of gay men in Hazard county, but Bo wasn't quite as innocent as Luke tended to think he was. Although he'd never really met one in person. And the way this guy was looking at him made him kind of nervous, but also kind of excited. He quickly squashed that thought and focused on changing the tire.

Luke decided he really didn't like the way Irwin was looking at Bo, so he decided to try to distract the stranger with conversation.

"So, Mr. Irwin. What brings you to these parts?"

It was with obvious effort that Irwin dragged his eyes away from Bo as he turned toward the voice.

"Oh, please, call me Tommie. I'm just passing through. Headed down to Statesville. There's a teaching position open in the Theater department at the college there I'm applying for."

It was all Luke could do to keep from rolling his eyes. This guy was living up to every stereotype in the book. Luke was spared the necessity of a reply as Bo stood up and brushed the dirt off his hands.

"That'll do you for now. Keep on this road a couple more miles and you'll come into town. There's a garage there, our buddy Cooter Davenport will take care of getting you a real tire on there."

Irwin turned towards Bo like a moth following the flame. "Thank you so much, Bo. I was afraid I'd die of heat prostration out here before somebody came by!" He took Bo's hand in a somewhat limp handshake, but held on just a little longer than was strictly necessary, his eyes boring into Bo's sapphire ones.

Bo was obviously flustered by the attention. He hoped like hell that Luke wouldn't notice the bulge in his jeans. He shook himself and pulled his hand away. "You're, uh, quite welcome, Mr. Irwin. Now you heard what I told you about the garage up ahead?"

Tommie nodded, his eyes taking in one last long look at this beautiful man, and noticing what Bo was hoping wouldn't be noticed. "I'll make sure I find it. Could I maybe buy you lunch while he's fixing it?"

Bo's face turned a deep red, and Luke jumped in to his rescue. "We have to get back to the farm, Uncle Jesse's waiting on us. You be safe now, y'hear?"

Luke grabbed Bo's elbow and steered him back toward the General Lee. Obviously Bo had finally figured out what this guy wanted and just didn't know how to handle it.

Bo winced as he climbed back into the General Lee; his jeans had gotten awfully tight all of a sudden there. Fortunately the pain was enough to distract him, which allowed the swelling to go down. Otherwise, it would have been a mighty uncomfortable ride the rest of the way home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The afternoon passed quickly enough as Bo and Luke helped Uncle Jesse work on the tractor they had been sent to pick up parts for. By late afternoon, the old engine finally sputtered to life and they called it a day. Bo and Luke headed back to the house to get cleaned up for the evening; they had a double date with the Franklin sisters, Annabelle and Aimee. Soaked with sweat from working in the hot summer sun, Bo luxuriated in the cool water of the shower. But instead of looking forward to the evening with Aimee, he found his thoughts wandering back to the stranger they'd met this afternoon. His body's reaction bothered him; he really didn't want to think about what it meant. But he couldn't help thinking about how good it had felt, and before he knew it he was hard again. Without even thinking about it, he took his dick in his hand and began stroking, moaning softly with pleasure. It had been so damned long �

And then he realized where his thoughts were going and he jerked his hand away. He didn't want to remember that night. The night he and Luke had discovered this most basic of pleasures � together. Angrily, he spun the knob shutting off the hot water entirely. A few moments later the pleasantly lukewarm shower turned bitter cold, dousing his unwanted passion. He forced himself to stand there until he was shivering in the cold, his erection entirely wilted. Finally he shut off the cold water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping himself in a towel.

His skin was covered with goosebumps as he quickly toweled himself dry. His hair still dripping, he wrapped the towel around his waist and left the bathroom, heading down the hall to the bedroom he still shared with Luke.

Who was standing there in the middle of the room stripped to his shorts, waiting for his turn in the bathroom. They'd seen each other naked millions of times, it usually didn't matter at all. But today Bo just couldn't handle it. He avoided looking at Luke, mumbling 'shower's yours,' and turning to rummage in his closet for a clean pair of jeans.

Luke just nodded his thanks and headed toward the shower, much to Bo's relief. He hurriedly dressed in jeans and t-shirt and made sure he was out of the bedroom before Luke got back from the shower. He was sitting at the kitchen table staring out the window and trying not to think when Luke came out.

"You ready, Bo?"

Luke's voice startled him. Bo shook himself and got up. "Whenever you are."

Luke grinned. "Let's go, then!"

They climbed into the General Lee and headed into town. The girls were meeting them at the Boar's Nest. They sat down at their usual booth, and Daisy brought them a couple of beers. A few minutes later, the ladies arrived and slid in beside them, Annabelle with Luke and Aimee with Bo.

"Hey there, handsome!" Annabelle grinned as Luke turned to greet her with a kiss. She was by far the more assertive of the sisters. And most would say the prettier, too. But Bo didn't mind that Aimee was quieter, and maybe just a bit too plump for most men's taste. She was a sweet girl, and a good friend. And didn't pressure him for more than that. He turned to her with a smile. "Hi, Aimee. What 'cha been up to lately?"

Aimee blushed at the warm smile Bo gave her. He was such a nice man. She knew her sister and his cousin were a lot more � demonstrative than she liked to be in public. Bo never embarrassed her or pushed her into anything she didn't want. Such a gentleman.

"Not much. Been pretty quiet over at the library, as usual." Aimee worked at the local library, pretty much ran the place these days.

The four of them had a nice dinner, laughing and talking. Although Luke noticed that Bo wasn't keeping up his usual share of the conversation. He wondered briefly if that incident with the city slicker this afternoon had bothered Bo. But soon Annabelle had him thoroughly distracted and he forgot all about his cousin's quietness.

Luke and Annabelle headed off to find someplace private, leaving Bo and Aimee alone. Aimee gently took his hand.

"You're awful quiet tonight, Bo. Is everything all right?"

Bo sighed. What a loaded question! He felt the warmth of Aimee's hand in his, and he wanted, desperately, to feel for her what he had felt this afternoon. But no matter how much he wanted it, it never seemed to happen. Which was why he'd been content in this strange double relationship. Luke and Annabelle both got what they wanted, and Bo and Aimee got the rest of the world thinking they were doing the same thing without actually having to do it.

He gently squeezed her hand. "I don't know, Aimee. I guess I got a lot on my mind right now."

Aimee looked at him, her soft brown eyes filled with concern. "You want to talk about it?"

Bo thought about it. Lord knew, he couldn't talk about this to Luke, or Uncle Jesse. They'd never understand. But he knew deep down inside, HE wasn't ready to talk about it yet. So he just shook his head.

"Not yet, Aimee."

She squeezed his hand. "That's ok, Bo. Whenever you're ready, I'll be here. Tell you what � how about we take a walk in the park? It's cooled off nice tonight."

Bo smiled at her, grateful for her willingness to let it slide for now. "Sure."

They got up and wandered out into the still warm summer night, holding hands as they walked down the street to the park in the center of town. They found a nice grassy spot and settled down to watch the sunset, Aimee leaning against Bo. Once again, he found himself frustrated by his lack of reaction to her closeness. He should be feeling SOMETHING, shouldn't he? He let his hands run softly over her shoulders, feeling the soft smoothness of her skin. It was nice, it felt good to be this close to somebody, but that extra something just wasn't there.

As the twilight darkened to night, Aimee turned to face him. She reached up and gently caressed his face, looking deeply into his eyes. Bo suddenly realized that tonight of all nights she had decided she was ready for more. After a moment of panic, he decided to run with it; after all, maybe he just needed a more direct approach. He closed his eyes and bent his head to kiss her, willing his body to respond.

Aimee trembled as Bo's lips touched hers. Too soon it was over; she wanted more. So she pulled him back, this time opening her mouth, licking at his lips until he let her in. It felt so good, so sweet. She wanted to lose herself in him. And Bo was kissing her back, just as she had dreamed he would, holding her close. It was purest bliss.

After several minutes, Bo realized that it wasn't working. It was pure hell as he realized that no matter how badly he wanted it, it just wasn't going to happen. He pulled back from Aimee, pushing her away.

"Oh, god, I just can't do this! Aimee, honey, I'm so sorry, but I just can't �"

He turned away from her, burying his face in his hands.

Aimee sat up, stunned by Bo's reaction. At first she was angry, but the sight of Bo sitting there, unable to look at her, made her realize how upset he was. She reached out and touched his shoulder.

"Bo? It's ok, sweetie, I understand. Here I was thinkin' you were waitin' on me � if you're not ready, that's ok. Really, Bo."

Her words cut into him like knives. She was so sweet, so loving. She deserved better than him. She deserved a real man. Not a 'nancy boy' like that stranger this afternoon � like him.

But how to get out of this without hurting her any further? Bo blinked back the tears that stung at his eyes, shaking his head to clear it. He just had to get out of here for right now. Don't do anything with lasting repercussions.

He forced himself to look at her. "Aimee, hon, I'm sorry. I just � there's so much on my mind right now. I can't do this now. I need some time to think, ok?"

Even in the darkness, she could see the pain in his eyes, the shimmering of unshed tears. She reached out and gently caressed his face. "Of course, Bo. When you're ready to talk, I'll be here to listen."

Bo couldn't speak around the lump in his throat, so instead he just nodded. Finally he found his voice.

"Come on, I'll walk you home."

They got up and started walking silently down the streets of town toward the place Aimee and her sister shared. Bo wasn't surprised to find the General Lee parked there. He managed a small grin.

"Guess they'll be at it for a while yet�"

Aimee turned to him. "Do you want to come in and wait for him?"

Bo shook his head. "Nah. It's a nice night. I'll just walk. Or maybe see if Cooter's still up and can drive me home."

Aimee nodded and stopped as they came up to the front door. "I'll leave a note for Luke. You take care of yourself, Bo." She stood on tiptoe and gently kissed his cheek. "I'll be here, whenever you're ready."

Bo just nodded and watched as she disappeared inside. With a sigh, he turned and headed out towards Cooter's place.

The lights were on and the door unlocked, so Bo let himself in. Cooter was fast asleep in front of the TV. Bo knew he'd sleep like that all night if nothing happened, then complain about his back all the next day. So he didn't feel all that guilty about kicking the chair.

"Hey, Cooter, wake up!"

"Huh? Oh! Bo! What're you doin' here?"

Bo shrugged. "Date ended early. Luke's still at it. I was hopin' you could drive me home? Or at least let me borrow the truck?"

Cooter rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Yeah, sure Bo." He got up and stretched. Bo didn't look so good. "You ok?"

Bo decided to go with a partial truth. "Not feelin' so good, Coot. That's why I took Aimee home early. Just need to get some sleep."

Cooter shrugged. "Well, come on, then."

Bo followed him out to the truck and got in, slumping down in the seat. He really wasn't in the mood for conversation, and hoped Cooter would pick up on that.

No such luck. "Had an interesting customer today. Guy came in with one of them little donut spares, said he had a blowout. Said you and Luke helped him change it. You mean to tell me he couldn't even change his own tire?"

Bo groaned at the thought of Tommie Irwin. Just the person he didn't want to think about. "He's a city slicker, Cooter."

Cooter chuckled. "More'n that. The way he pranced around waitin' for me to finish. He's one of THEM, you know, what do they call it now, gay. And he seemed to take an awful shine to you, Bo!"

"What?"

Cooter was really enjoying this. "Oh, yeah, he kept goin' on and on about how strong you was to get that tire off when he'd struggled with it for half an hour. Asked about you, where you lived, who you hung out with."

Bo tried to slump down further in the seat, wishing he could just disappear entirely. This conversation was not something he wanted to hear. Cooter just laughed harder at his obvious distress. Bo scowled at him.

"Cooter, give it a rest, will ya? I wasn't feelin' all that good to start with �"

Luckily just then they pulled up at the Duke family farm. Cooter stopped the truck and let Bo get out. "OK, Bo you get a good night's sleep."

"'Night, Cooter."

Bo crept quietly into the house. He could hear Uncle Jesse snoring in the back bedroom. Daisy would still be working. He slipped into his and Luke's room and shut the door. He stripped down to his shorts and climbed into the twin bed he'd slept in all his life. The night was so warm he didn't even bother to pull a sheet up over him.

He lay there for over half an hour hopelessly chasing after the oblivion of sleep. But his brain just wouldn't let go. He felt so bad for what he'd done to Aimee tonight. But he felt even worse when he thought of WHY it had happened. It was pretty obvious now. In one day, he'd gotten turned on powerfully by a man and not been able to enjoy being with a pretty girl. The thing he'd been afraid of all his adult life had finally been proven: he was gay.

Bo thought back over all the girls he'd gone out with over the years. At first, back in high school, the newness of it all was enough to get him excited, at least for a little while. He'd gone all the way with a couple of girls back then. But as he got older, it got harder and harder for him to get interested. His thoughts were always drawn back to that night with Luke when he was 12. //NO! // his mind screamed. He didn't want to think about that. Uncle Jesse had caught them, and given them the beating of their young lives over it. And so for all these years he'd done everything he could to convince himself he liked girls. Until today, when another man looked at him and he felt it. The same intense pleasure he'd felt those long years ago when Luke had touched him. The two memories began merging in his mind, demanding his attention, pushing the guilt aside for the moment as pleasure became everything.

In his mind, Tommie was touching him, one hand cupped over the generous bulge in his jeans, rubbing him, sending waves of pleasure through his body. Bo moaned as Tommie's hands pulled open his jeans, freeing his straining dick. In reality it was his own hands which slid inside the boxer shorts he wore, wrapping around his aching cock, caressing it gently, then with more and more force until he simply couldn't contain it any longer. He came, hard, an inarticulate grunt ripped from his throat.

In his fantasy, Luke stood off to the side, watching, a satisfied smile on his face.

As the fuzziness gradually cleared, Bo realized what he'd just done. Luckily, Uncle Jesse was a heavy sleeper, and Daisy and Luke weren't home yet. He lay there, still panting, as both the inescapable realization and the associated guilt hit him. He felt so terribly alone. There was nobody he could talk to about this; Uncle Jesse had already expressed his opinion of such things many years ago; Bo had no desire to repeat that lesson. Aimee � sweet, innocent Aimee. He couldn't possibly stain her with this. And Luke � oh, no, that would be worst of all. Luke had shared this pleasure with him before, like they'd shared just about everything since they came to live with Uncle Jesse. But somehow Luke had turned out ok, that one detour into depravity hadn't ruined him for life. Why was he ok when Bo was ruined? He hated himself, hated what he'd become. Hated that he wanted this so badly, and didn't want sweet Aimee. His ragged breaths became great gasping sobs, which he desperately tried to muffle.

He sobbed softly into his pillow for a long time. Eventually, he heard the familiar sound of the General Lee pulling into the driveway. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm, steady breathing, rolling over to face away from Luke's bed.

Luke came into the room and glanced over at Bo's bed. Aimee's note that Bo had headed home early had worried him; his cousin had been acting weird all evening. But Bo was there, and he seemed to be ok, sound asleep. With a shrug, Luke shed his clothes and climbed into his own bed.

It was only a few minutes before Bo heard Luke's soft snores. With a sigh, he rolled over onto his back and wondered if he'd get any sleep at all tonight �

Continue to Chapter 2

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Chapter 1