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June came and went with very little fanfare. Collin decided not to attend any Pride events in Monterey nor on Wildfox Island. Brock had offered to go with him, heavily emphasizing on the 'No Pressure' aspect. While Collin had a rather desirous and debilitating case of FOMO, his FOBNAOGM (Fear Of Being Nude Among Other Gay Men) won out over his eagerness to attend. He was very envious of Brock's relaxed attitude and, while he wouldn't admit it even to himself, might have even felt a little bitterness about it. Everything he had seen and read about Wildfox looked like a dream. Yet he felt restrained by his own anxiety.

"There's always next June..." Collin said, leaning his head back on the car headrest while Brock drove.

Brock smiled. "Sure. And I'd still be happy to take you when you're ready."

Brock had rented a nice silver convertible to take Collin down to Big Sur for a picnic. They drove over the Bixby Creek Bridge and Collin was given a sight he normally didn't witness on an average day. He gazed out over the deep azure Pacific, its foamy white waves crashing against the shore under a cloudless sky, while the breeze coming off the ocean whipped his dirty blond hair around. Obviously he saw the Pacific every day when he went to work but there was something about seeing it and feeling it while cruising down the highway in a nice car.

'This is kinda vaporwavey,' Collin thought to himself. He could have taken a snapshot and used it as an album cover. The scenery would have used a little more bright neon and Outrun grid patterns. Or maybe just a filter to give it a sun-bleached photo kind of aesthetic. Either way, looking out over the coast from the passenger seat felt like how vaporwave sounded to him. Or perhaps Future Funk. It was nice.

"What's on your mind, Pink?"

Collin glanced over at Brock. "Just enjoying the scenery."

Brock was wearing a Hawaiian shirt with bright cherry-red and lemonade-yellow hibiscus flowers on it, a pair of tan cargo shorts, and bare feet in flip flops. His shirt was open and flapping like sails in the wind, his smooth, gray chest bare. Collin couldn't help but stare in admiration.

"Which scenery?" Brock asked with a little smirk, having noticed him ogling his chest.

Collin gave a self conscious laugh. "Both I guess! Sorry, you are really handsome..."

Brock seemed to bask in the compliment for a moment. "So are you, Collin."

Collin sat up a bit, "Not as much as you though."

"Sure you are! Don't be so down on yourself."

"How can I not? You're absolutely ripped and I look like I'm in a losing battle with myself."

"It's like 90 percent self confidence."

Collin rolled his eyes and gave a knowing grin. "And what? 0 percent body fat? You look like a model or like a football player on the cover of Sport's Illustrated or something."

Brock seemed to jump in his seat, like a small and sudden jolt just traveled through him. Collin was a little surprised but the rhino broke out in a grin and laughed. "I mean...I might be more like 50 or 60 then. But you look amazing, okay?"

Collin didn't feel the energy to continue the argument. This conversation happened plenty of times over the last few weeks and it always ended the same way. Brock seemed insistent about him looking good. Sexy, even. Nothing seemed to sway the rhino's opinion. Collin thought that having body positivity was easy when you already look like you were sculpted out of marble. For as much as Collin worked out and tried (and failed) to diet, an Adonis he was not.

There was a part of him that believed that Brock was simply blowing smoke up his ass but another part that was flattered that someone like him would even give him the time of day. As much as he racked his brain, he couldn't think of an ulterior motive Brock would have either. Brock seemed genuine and Collin couldn't figure it out. As much as he wanted to slip into this weird romance novel he seemed to have fallen into, the cynic within him kept him on his toes. Brock did seem rather eager to get him to go to Wildfox...In a horrible little thought, it seemed like he was trying to lure him there to be humiliated. Almost like what happened many years ago in high school.

Collin shuddered and pushed those memories away quickly.

"Too cold?"

"Huh?" Collin looked over. "Nah, I'm alright. The breeze is nice."

"We can put the roof up when we get to a gas station. Gotta stop anyway."

They turned off on an exit and found the nearest gas station. Brock went up to the counter to pay for gas while Collin strolled idly around the store. They already had plenty packed for a picnic but that didn't stop him from browsing the candy and snack aisle with a kind of guilt. He stopped at a display for some kind of energy drink. It wasn't the drink itself that caught his eye thought, it was the cutout advertising the drink.

A young brown furred monkey with the brightest blue eyes he'd ever seen on a person was crouching down and holding out a large can of "RIPTIDE - NEW TROPICAL HARDBERRY". The primate was grinning and, much to Collin's surprise, nude! He seemed to only be wearing a necklace and anklet, both made with rainbow colored beads. One arm held on to the surfboard which deliberately covered his groin and was splashed with the big, bold message "RIDE THE RIPTIDE". He had a rather relaxed and easygoing expression in spite of the 'x-treme' message of the advertisement.

"What're you looking at?" Brock asked behind him, making him jump a little in surprise.

"Oh...I was just thinking...You can't ride a rip tide. Or you aren't supposed to. You're supposed to swim parallel to the shore until you get out of the current."

The rhino laughed and patted his shoulder. The pig gave a little grin. He liked the way it sounded and it made him feel good to make Brock laugh.

As they went up to the counter, Collin said, "You know, I don't think I've seen advertising done like that before."

Brock chuckled, "Oh yeah, that's Davi. He's really big in the surfing community right now. He came home with a Bronze from the Summer Olympics a few years ago."

"Oh yeah, I think I might have heard something about that...So why's he...?"

"He's a nudist. And well known for it. I don't think he was naked during the Olympics but he did come home wearing nothing but the medal around his neck!" Brock replied.

"Really?" Collin asked incredulously. "Wait...So does that mean...?"

Brock chuckled, "Yeah, I know him. He lives on Wildfox too. Great guy, you'd really like him!"

"I can't say I'd ever heard of him before..."

The coyote behind the counter interjected, "Really? I've heard people say he's like the next Tony Hawk of surfing."

Collin blushed a bit, "Well, I've heard of Tony Hawk. I'm kinda not into sports...I just remember hearing that an American won in the Olympics."

Collin glanced back at the cardboard cutout again while they paid at the counter. Davi smiled right back, his placid expression exuding a subtle confidence about showing the world a part of himself that often wasn't seen. Just like any pro athlete, he made it look so easy.

Brock spun towards him and said quickly, "Alright, you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm..."

"Let's get going then! No time to waste!" Brock said with thinly veiled urgency as he seemed to usher him out of the store hastily. Collin stumbled a bit as Brock lead him from behind out of the gas station and back to the car.

Concerned about Brock's sudden change in demeanor and how his normally gray hide seemed to be a little more ashen and pale around his snout, Collin asked, "Hey, is everything alright?"

"Yeah! Sorry, I just needed some fresh air..." Brock said, sitting and gripping the steering wheel anxiously.

Collin regarded him for a moment. "Are you sure? You don't look well..."

"I'll be okay...I..." The rhino paused. He sighed. "It's something personal...I'd like to save it for another time if that's okay..."

Collin, now feeling rather nervous and on edge about the sudden change in the atmosphere, sat back in his seat and asked again, "You sure? You look like you just saw a ghost. Is it something to do with your job that you're not willing to tell me about?"

Brock shrunk back in his seat, looking rather ashamed. He heaved a heavy sigh and finally said, "I suppose it can't be kept a secret forever...We might as well rip this bandage off and get it over with."

"Will this ruin our picnic?" Collin asked.

Brock pulled the car over toward the edge of the road, near an outlook over the Pacific. It was a beautiful, scenic spot, perfect for taking pictures or getting down on one knee and proposing.

Brock was silent as he pressed his forehead against the steering wheel. "So...You really don't know who I am, do you?"

Confused, Collin replied, "You're...Brock Weston?"

"Yes, but you've never heard of me?"

He shook his head, feeling the concern turning into alarms of panic. He knew there had to be something wrong. A rhino this hot wasn't just attracted to him for no reason, he thought. He's too perfect, so here comes the catch. "I know you always come through my line when I'm working. You order a veggie dog with extra relish. But not too much. You got a secret job that makes you able to live on an expensive island. Are you in the mafia?"

Brock gave a laugh. "God no, it's not that! Listen...Have you heard of the Fernández Seals?"

"The football team? Sure, I guess so." Collin replied.

"I was the coach..." Brock said, as if revealing a great secret and dropping the final piece into the puzzle.

Collin looked at him with the same bemused and concerned expression. "That's it? That's not so bad, right?"

"No!" Brock grunted, tapping his forehead on the steering wheel in frustration. "I'm _that_coach! You don't remember?

Collin was trembling. "No...Did you do something bad? What's going on?"

Brock looked across the car at him. "You really haven't heard? The coach that went into doing porn? The Porno Coach?"

Finally it clicked. Collin's jaw dropped and he leaned back in the seat. "Oh!...Ohhhh...OH! I remember that!! That's you?" Collin vaguely remembered hearing about a coach that had been outed as gay and famously went into doing adult films. It had been years since he heard about that and it just sort of left his mind.

Brock closed his eyes and nodded, "Yep..."

Collin looked at the rhino slumped over the wheel. He felt a deep well of sympathy for the rhino, knowing how hard it was to open up about a secret with that much weight to it. It had taken him a lot of courage just to wear a pin with a rainbow on it, he could only imagine how it must have felt to open up the way that he did.

He reached over and took the rhino's hand in his own, holding it and giving it a soft squeeze. "It's okay, Brock...I don't mind that you do. I think you're a great guy."

Brock lifted his head and sighed, pinching the bridge of his snout with his free hand. "No, no...It's not that. There's a bit more to it. So...I've been hounded by the tabloids for years now. Have you heard of The Weekly Whisper?"

Collin nodded.

"Well, they were the ones that broke the news about me being gay many, many years ago. I was in my early twenties. I was one of the youngest and most successful college football coaches. I used to play football but...and accident in my senior year in high school meant that I would never play again. I had a football scholarship to San Fernández U and everything."

"I'm sorry..." Collin said, still holding the rhino's big hand.

"Don't be. In a way, it might've been the best thing that happened to me! I couldn't play football anymore but I still wanted to be in the game. Football is my passion. I lived and breathed football so I did what I could to stay as close to the field as I could. I started coaching at the end of high school and worked with coaching staff when I went to San Fernández. They let me keep that scholarship in spite of the injury. I worked my way up the chain until I was the head coach and leading the Seals to major games. I oversaw many of my players getting drafted into the NFL and I became one of the highest paid college football coaches at the time."

"Really?" Collin asked.

"12 million salary."

Collin's jaw nearly hit the floor of the convertible. "Holy crow, no wonder you could afford a place on Wildfox."

"Yeah...One of the players told me about Wildfox. I was still deep in the closet at the time but I had to see it for myself. I went sorta undercover...Hard to do when you're butt ass naked but I made up a new name for myself and went over to see what it was about." Brock was looking out over the ocean, his tone softening with wistfulness. "It was the most beautiful place I'd ever been. The water was clean and always the right temperature. Those bright red flower fields and pine forests. All the beautiful men I had ever seen...And nobody seemed to know who I was. I could be myself there..."

Collin smiled a little.

Brock continued, "I kept going whenever I could. I always felt so free when I was there. It was like a whole second existence I was living. Like, there was Coach Weston and there was Dale Brasco...I'd stolen those names from two different players. Anyway, I suppose I got a bit sloppy because after a while I was found out. A reporter from The Weekly Whisper got nude pictures of me from Wildfox Island and threatened to publish them." The rhino looked off into the distance a little sullenly. "I decided right then and there that I wasn't going to be held ransom. I came out publicly and announced my retirement. The money I got from retirement went into my home on Wildfox and well...I went into doing porn right after."

"Wow...That's quite a leap."

"Well, a friend of mine asked if I'd like to sit in on a scene and watch since he was a camera man. I'd never in my life thought about doing anything like that but when I saw how it was done, I thought to myself...it could be done better. See, while I was at San Fernández, I also sat in on some Film classes and picked up a thing or two. I became friends with the director and eventually ended up as a technical advisor on set. Then I started starring in films. Oooooh boy, did the tabloids have a field day with that. For weeks, I was their big headlines: "PERV COACH IN SMUT FILMS" "PORNO COACH BROCK BARES ALL"." Brock said, running his hand across the sky dramatically as if reading the headlines across a marquee sign.

"I was getting all kinds of phone calls. My parents, God bless them, were upset but understanding. They eventually came to support me. But I had aunts and uncles and long distance relatives I'd never met in my life calling me and sending me letters telling me I was going to hell and that I ruined the family name."

"That's awful..." Collin replied.

Brock gave a little shrug. "It died down after a while. It was more exciting than anything in my football career. And as a result, my first acting role in a porn completely crashed the site it was streaming on. It was their highest earning film of all time! I started doing more and eventually I started directing them myself. I wanted to do skin flicks that were both ethical and non-exploitative and also told a good story. I teamed up with a writer friend of mine and made several movies together. One of them went on to be reviewed by a real film critic!" He chuckled. "I don't make nearly as much money as I used to as a coach but I still work. I act, direct and I'm happy in my job."

"So...why were you acting all weird at the gas station?"

Brock sunk down lightly and replied, "So...I've been trying to be careful about this...I thought that by now they would have lost interest...Do you have any social media?"

"Um...I used to have a twitter but I don't really use it much. I talk with my family on Facebook sometimes. Why?"

"You might want to stay offline for a bit...Don't talk to random people on the street and don't answer any phone calls from unknown numbers..."

"What? Why?" Collin asked, the alarm starting to creep back into his chest.

"When we were in the gas station, I saw on the magazine racks that several tabloids had...well..."

As if the universe willed it, Collin's phone pinged and vibrated with a new message. Without thinking, he pulled his phone from his pocket and saw it was a message from Reese. His heart jumped up into his throat and his stomach felt hot as he opened it and saw what the ferret had sent.

"Bro is this u?" Followed by a picture of the front cover of The Weekly Whisper. It was a picture of him and Brock from behind, walking along the boardwalk on one of their little adventures. The headline read, "PORNO COACH BROCK SPOTTED WITH MYSTERY MAN"

Collin felt the world start to spin. His mouth went fuzzy and dry as it all sank in. This had been the catch. Brock wasn't just some nice, handsome guy. He had been a millionaire football coach-turned-porn actor and filmmaker the whole time. He didn't know whether to be furious at the rhino for hiding it from him the whole time they'd been seeing one another or relieved that he wasn't something worse. He had worried that the rhino was apart of some underground crime syndicate or something.

Numbly, he turned his phone around to show Brock, who groaned and covered his eyes with his palms. "Oh god, Collin...I'm so sorry..."

~ ~ ~

They didn't go up to Big Sur for a picnic like they had planned but they did eat their food on the overlook while they talked. It took Collin a little while to come around to the news and he promised Brock that he would lay low for a bit just in case.

"I could probably get a little time off work..." He said. "Do you think they would come after me while I'm on the job? I don't think I could handle that..."

Brock reached over and put an arm around his shoulder. "You'll be okay...I'm going to extend my stay here a little longer so I can keep an eye on you. It might not be a good idea for us to be seen too close together..."

Collin felt his heart sink. "But..."

"We can still go on our little adventures, Pink. We might just have to be careful about it."

Collin huffed softly. "Well...judging by my room mate's text, the cat might already be out of the bag. They're gonna have a lot of questions for me."

"I'm talking more about the paparazzi. I don't want them hounding you like they did me. You don't deserve that." He took Collin's hand.

Collin looked out over the ocean. He was still very much in the closet with his family and room mates. He'd cut ties with many of the friends he had back home in Sacramento. He wondered if they news would eventually reach them. Perhaps his mother or father would be in line at the supermarket and see him on the cover of The Weekly Whisper. Or someone from the church, maybe an elder, would approach them and ask if they knew about what their son was doing with a famous football coach / adult film actor. He didn't know what his room mates would think if they knew he was gay and he wondered what his old friends from school and church would think.

He felt the rhino's strong hand give his the gentlest of squeezes. He looked down, then up at the rhino. In the moment he locked eyes with Brock, the fear and anxiety melted away and he realized that he didn't care if they knew he was gay.

"Brock?"

"Yeah, Collin?"

"I think I'd like to go see Wildfox Island."