Copyright © 2025 DouglasDD. All Rights Reserved.
A friend and fellow writer (Zarek Dragon, my Voyagers cowriter) asked me to write a short romantic story about two teens on a tropical beach. After sleeping on the request, I agreed to do so. He liked it and I decided to post it. As short stories go, it’s very short, but it was fun to write.
By Douglas DD. Requested by Zarek Dragon.
College Chronicle Reporter: Everybody thought you two were twin brothers when they saw you at the freshman orientation here at the college. We learned quickly that you weren't. So, how about telling your fellow students how you met.
Sean McClain: It was purely by chance. I lived in Portland, Maine, where it can get pretty cold in the winter, as you know. I was 15 and a sophomore in high school when my parents thought it would be a great idea for us to spend two weeks in the Caribbean during winter break. They picked St. John in the US Virgin Islands because they had heard it was beautiful and away from the tourist crowds.
Ryan Lacey: I was 15 and a sophomore too. I lived on St. John. I was going to have winter break at the same time as Sean.
Sean: I have no siblings, so it was me, my parents, and my mom’s parents on this trip. They had reserved a condo located near a cove away from the main city of Cruz Bay. We had to land on St. Thomas and take a 45-minute ferry ride to Saint John. Anyway, when we got to our condo, it was still early afternoon, so I dug into my suitcase and changed into my swimming trunks.
Chronicle: Did you live on that cove, Ryan?
Ryan: Nobody lived on the cove since it is National Park land. A big chunk of St. John is a National Park. I lived about a 15-minute bike ride from the beach. I went there to meet with my girlfriend, Susan. We told everybody we would be swimming and walking on the beach, but our real plan was to go into the forest and make out. Okay, we were going to go beyond making out if you get what I’m saying. Well, she was late as usual, so I waded along the beach while I waited for her.
Chronicle: I understand perfectly. (The reporter made a note to cut everything from the word beach to the word Well.)
Sean: We were a ten-minute walk away. I headed for the beach after promising my parents I would not go swimming. But wading was okay since there was no surf in the cove and the beach had a gradual slope into the water. As I walked on the path down to the beach I saw this kid on a bike ride into the parking lot just below me. He was wading when I got down to the beach.
Ryan: I saw Sean coming off the path and I was like, ‘Whoa, check out this guy,’ when I saw this blond dude wearing the same color swimsuit I was. His hair was perfect and he looked like he had nice bod. And then he pulled off his t-shirt and I was ‘he DID have a nice bod’.
Sean: Yeah, I did. I worked hard on it at the gym. Ryan already had his shirt off and he had a hot bod. His blond hair was kind of messy from riding his bike.
Ryan: So, we walked up to each other and introduced ourselves.
Sean: When I said I was from Maine, he laughed and said I better get sunscreen on since I was way to white for the sun in this place. I told my mom took care of that with a 50 sunblock.
Ryan: We walked over to my bike and I put his t-shirt in my saddlebag. I told him I was waiting for my girlfriend who was late and that she was always late. And then we went off walking and wading. I figured she’d find us. She did.
Sean: Yeah, she took a picture of us on her phone when she finally got to the beach. She apologized for being late and blamed it on her mother. I thought Ryan would get mad at her or something for being late, but he acted cool about it.”
Ryan: She said it looked like I found my lost brother, we looked so much alike. We talked for about ten minutes or so. Then she sent the picture to me and told me she had to head back home because her mom was mad at her for coming home late from her date with me.
Sean: Ryan wasn’t the happiest guy on the beach right then. I mean, she showed up late and left early. But then he turned to me and smiled, and it was a total kickass smile.
Ryan: Yep. I figured we would be better off without her. So, Sean and I walked the beach, did a little swimming, and found out we not only looked like brothers, we almost thought like brothers. We both liked baseball and, believe it or not, liked Mozart better than any of singers everybody liked.
Sean: We liked them too, but somehow dudes like Mozart and Beethoven turned us one more. Oh, and one more thing we had in common. Our birthdays were on the same day—August third. And, wow, did that turn us on.
Ryan: And it didn’t take us long to realize that they weren’t the only things that turned us on. We were turned on by each other—big time. I mean, as soon as Susan went home, I couldn’t take my eyes off Sean.
Sean: Be honest, love, you looked at me more than you did at her the time she was with us. And for me, you were the most beautiful thing on the island. I could hardly wait to see Ryan without that blue swimsuit on.
Ryan: And I felt the same about Sean. That is so true. During Sean’s two weeks on St. John, she met us two other times in the next three days and one last time four days later. By then she figured out my eyes were on him and not on her most of the time.
Chronicle: So, are the two of you gay?
Sean: We didn’t think so then. We both lost our virginity in ninth grade, and I mean with a girl not with a guy.
Ryan: Yeah, but our virginity with a guy was lost by the time Sean left for Maine.
Sean: That was the toughest time of my life. I mean, I was in love with Ryan…
Ryan: And I was in love with Sean.
Sean: But we both have awesome parents. They saw what was going on between us.
Ryan: Well, they would have to be blind not to, what with us holding hands and trading kisses.
Chronicle: With you being college freshmen together it’s obvious you didn’t stay separated.
Sean (with a chuckle): Ryan’s parents paid for a summer trip to Portland for him that summer. With two brothers and a sister, they wouldn’t have an empty house. He lived with me for a month.
Ryan: And his big queen size bed made for some pretty wild bed play, you know what I’m saying?
Chronicle: I get your drift (and that’s another comment to cut out. The reporter was surprised that the erotic talk of the two freshmen was giving him an erection.)
Sean: We managed to get together eight times during our junior and senior years and agreed to apply to the same colleges. We both decided that we wanted to attend a warm weather college.
Ryan: So, here we are, starting our undergraduate studies at the University of South Florida.
Chronicle: What do you intend to make your main course of study?
Sean: Ryan and I will both be taking premed courses. It’s our plan to become medical doctors.
Chronicle: I assume the two of you are living together.
Ryan: You assume correctly. And here’s something for you to finish up on. We plan to marry in the next couple of years—before we graduate.
Chronicle: Which means the two of you are gay, right?
Sean: All we know is that we love each other more than we can ever express. We can’t imagine life without each other. Gay, straight, bi, trans, it all means nothing when it comes to trying to label us. The best way to label us is to say, “They followed their love.”
Ryan: Amen to that, my sweet love.
The End