Carl headed to the garage and to the car he and Jeff had been rebuilding. Max had peeled off his shirt, and his bare chest was glistening with sweat. It was an unseasonably hot day. Carl opened the garage door. A blast of hot air rushed out. Dang, it was hot. Carl glanced at the pair of coveralls hanging on the wall. It was too hot for those today. He peeled off his shirt and pants, since no one was around, and started to work on the car alone wearing only his boxer briefs. He didn't notice Max peering through the bushes that covered the window on the side of the garage. He was licking his lips as he eyed the blue briefs hugging Carl's buttocks. He just had to have them. He pried himself away and finished most of his trimming. Then he looked at the poplar in the backyard adjacent to Jeff's parents' garage.
He went around the front of the garage. Carl 's feet were up in the air, as he struggled to connect a new hose deep in the engine compartment. Max could see the black grease on the side of the blue boxer briefs. He grinned, he had an idea.
"Say, Carl, is Jeff around?"
"Huh? What?" Carl pulled himself out from under the hood.
"I need to borrow, the tree saw?" Max said pointing at a pruning saw hanging on the wall.
"Sure. I'm sure he won't mind. Go ahead."
"Thanks, Carl. Uh, too bad about your lucky shorts. Car grease really stains when the stain sets," Max said pointing at the black streak across Jeff. He added, "Of course, if you get degreaser on it right away, before the stain sets, it might be okay?"
Max walked over to the wall and lifted the saw down. By the time he turned around, Carl was naked at the utility sink applying de-greaser to his stained blue briefs. Max walked out of the garage, and said, "Good luck with that stain, Carl."
Carl was muttering curses. He'd only had Jeff a couple hours and he'd already ruined him? No. The degreaser was working. He washed off the degreaser, and held the wet blue boxer briefs up over the sink to dry. Then he put on the coveralls with nothing underneath, and went back to work.
Fifteen minutes later, Max slipped in barefoot, and snatched the blue briefs.
A minute later he was behind the poplar tree changing into his damp trophy. He pulled his gardening shorts up over them, making sure the waistband wasn't visible. Then he went to work trimming the poplar branches. It was a full-45 minutes before Carl noticed Jeff was missing. He first looked in the sink, and around the garage. Then he bolted outside. No one around front. He heard the saw in the back, and ran back to where Max was working. Max was sweating like a dog, he thought noticing the glistening sweat on his back, and wet stains on his shorts.
"Hey, Max, how's it going?" Carl asked.
"Huh? Oh, nearly done with the tree trimming. They need the saw back?" Max asked.
"No, uh, I was wondering if you saw anyone about," Carl looked sheepishly around, "My blue shorts are missing from the line where they were drying."
"Probably one of those magpies or crows, they're always snatching stuff to build nests with."
Not this time of year, Carl thought, but then again, they did like colorful or shiny things, and he'd seen a bird fly off with a red pair of panties once from Mrs. Reed's clothesline. He still thought a human culprit more likely, but clearly Max had been back here the whole time. He was knee deep in branches, so he couldn't have seen anyone on the other side of the garage.