The Summer my Cousin Pablo Ruined Me (Part 1)

Part 1 - Pablo the Hunk

Last summer I went on a trip to my childhood home in Southern Mexico. Before moving to the States at the age of 9, I lived in a small, remote town with the rest of my extended family. The region is stunning with mountainous terrain inhabited by sprawling rainforests, with the downside of having year-round high humidity and blistering heat. Due to the high travel cost, my parents and I had seldomly traveled back. Now at 21 years old and a recent college graduate, I figured I could go back to my roots and enjoy one last summer as a free adult before slaving away on my career.

After taking two flights and a bus, I finally arrived at the transit station where I was greeted by a large familiar group of people. I already knew the pace of life here worked slower than what I was used to, and this was proven by the faces of my aunts and uncles that remained the same since my last visit six years ago. The exception was seeing my cousins, all varying in age, some who were now teenagers and others who appeared to have kids of their own. However, the most surprising change by far was that of my cousin Pablo.

Now, Pablo’s not actually my cousin, or at least I’m pretty damn sure he’s not. Mexican family dynamics can be confusing in that at times a close family friend would be referred to as a “tio” or “tia” to the kids, and in this case Pablo was the son of my dad’s best friend, or my “uncle”. Still, despite looking nothing alike, growing up people would always call Pablo and I “gemelos”, or twins, due to how inseparable we were.

Pablo was always slightly taller than me, and he’d love to poke fun at me for it. He had a darker skin tone from being outside playing soccer all the time, and he seemed to develop muscles the second puberty hit. He had greenish hazel eyes to my regular brown, was much hairier than me, and his confidence was unrivaled. And to my knowledge, he was always dating a new girl every time I’d hear from him whereas I very much liked boys and was still in the closet to my family here.

We’d both been on Facebook early on and we’d message each other on the daily, but time passed by and now I couldn’t remember the last post or photo I’d seen of him. This left me completely off guard as a nearly unrecognizable hunk in a white tank top came running to me and wrapped his bulging arms around me so hard I swear my back popped.

“Carlitos?!” Pablo stepped back and looked at me in amazement. He then harshly ruffled my hair before embracing me again, this time softer.

I wasn’t sure if it was the shift from the AC of the charter bus to the insufferable outside heat or the intoxicating mix of cologne and sweat lingering from Pablo’s embrace, but I felt myself blush and had to take a moment to recollect myself. I grabbed my bags from the floor and tried greeted everyone as best I could.

“Ven ven, vamonos!” Pablo slung his arm around my shoulders and ushered me away from the station.

Everyone followed and we headed to my family’s estate. Decades ago, my grandparents had bought a large plot of land and built 4 housing dwellings with a nice heavily wooded backyard. Pablo’s family lived in one of the houses, and as had been the custom, he offered for me to sleep with him in his room.

By the time we had a large feast and I finished catching up with everyone, it was already late and I was exhausted. I’d almost forgotten the sleeping situation that was waiting for me, and I grew nervous when I got to Pablo’s room and noticed he still had the same twin sized bed we last shared as teens. While others would have likely offered to sleep in another room or even on the floor, I knew Pablo would have no issue sharing the bed and I was quickly proven right.

After a long, cold shower I walked to the bed in my pajamas and Pablo was already asleep. Despite him technically being on his side, his large body bled onto my end of the bed. The thin covers had fallen to the floor, and he was stretched out shirtless wearing only a pair of ratty plaid boxers. I heard myself audibly gasp as I took a moment to appreciate his features. Almost exaggerated by the moonlight peeking in, I took in his defined pecs with quarter sized nipples, fine cut v-line with a tempting happy trail, and a slight bulge that seemed to move up and down with every breath he took.

I knew it was going to be a difficult summer.