If you’re like me and love tickling as much as late night pizza, then I bet there was at least one guy in particular that you kept your eye on growing up in hopes that you would one day get a glimpse of your tickle fantasy in action; a friend, a teammate, or a maybe a crush. That guy for me was Jake Cooner. We weren’t really friends growing up but something closer to friendly associates who were around each other quite frequently in school considering most people shared classes at some point in our small town. We were the same age but that was about all we had in common. 

Living in Texas, most guys embraced the country architype with jacked up trucks, thick brown boots, hunting, fishing, and a good ole’ boy attitude. Jake checked off most of those boxes but one thing he had that set him apart was his exceptional muscle mass for an 18 year old; I mean he wasn’t a bodybuilder but his arms were big and his body was thick. That combined with his killer smile made people lose their damn minds. Don’t get me wrong, I understood his appeal, but in a small pond he didn’t have to be too hot to stand out. I’ll admit Jake was one of the more objectively top tier guys among the surplus of rednecks and jocks around but my very favorite thing about him was how ridiculously ticklish he was.

It was a relatively well-known fact about Jake that his buddies liked to exploit every now and then, giving everyone a real show when they did due to Jake’s panicked, comical, and violent reaction. However, he was typically able to fight them off within seconds because he was stronger than all of them but seeing him buck in his desk and his face brighten with ticklish embarrassment, even just momentarily, gave me a hell of a rush. He was also impressively confident compared to most teenage guys; even the ones who he hung out with couldn't match how sure of himself he was which only seemed to be shaken when a few fingers prodded into his ribs or somebody got brave and went for his armpit. There was one time though that I actually got to see just how ticklish Jake was during our senior year of high school and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.

Jake and I were both part of an honor society in high school which required earning community service hours to be a full member. That landed several of us working at a local church one afternoon after school where they were building some kind of theatrical set for a production they would be doing. I was painting by myself while my peers worked on other aspects of the project and Jake put his muscles to work lifting pieces of wood around. “How’d you do on that geometry test?” his friend, Austin asked. “Man…I got a 68” he replied with a lighthearted chuckle. “That class is so hard; I don’t even know if I’m gonna pass” Austin added in solidarity. “I know! I swear she just doesn’t like me” Jake assured. “She has her favorites, that’s for damn sure” “You can’t cuss in church, man…you’ll go to hell” “As long as they don’t have geometry” Austin joked to the more religious Jake. “Mr. Cooner, can you get the ladder from under the stage?” the older woman asked who was supervising our community service. “No problem, ma’am” Jake replied with his southern manners on full display. “I’ll be in the lobby; just bring it there when you get it” she instructed before walking out of the large room.

I watched Jake while stroking the paint up the wooden tree as he got down on the ground in his tight white t-shirt, loose blue jeans, and clunky brown boots. My mind began to spin with tickle possibilities, imagining Jake getting stuck and somebody tickling him or something, but I figured that was a long shot. However, as I continued painting, I didn’t see Jake come back up. My heart began to race a little with wishful thinking when I saw his legs kick a few times on the floor. “Hey!” he shouted. “What’s wrong?” Austin asked with a giggle, looking down to see his best friend sticking out from under the stage. “I can’t…I can’t get out!” Jake yelled after using his impressive strength to try and force himself out but it wasn’t working. “Are you really stuck??” Austin asked, laughing harder now at the funny sight while playing to the new onlookers from around the room. “What do you want me to do?” the class clown added. “Help me get out, what do you think??” Jake spat back with frustration and another kick of his legs. “Hmmm let me see here…” Austin said aloud with the room’s attention all his.

A scheming look sprouted across Austin’s thin face as he moved closer to Jake’s compromised body and he slowly lowered his hands as a few of our fellow seniors giggled with anticipation until he started squeezing his buddy’s beefy sides. “HAAhhHaAHAHAAAUUSSTIIIN!!” AAHAHAHAASTTTOOOPPP!” he demanded with thunderous outburst as he kicked wildly and freaked out under the stage. The shallow stage must’ve been really sturdy because Jake’s bucking was rather violent like I’d imagined it would be in such a situation. “What’s wrong, man?” Austin questioned with a smirk while using the fingers that’d roped countless bulls to dig into Jake’s hips with both hands rather feverishly. “SSTTTOOOPPPPAHAHAIITT IIMMMGONNNAAHAHAHA KKIIILLLYYOUUU!!” Jake shouted as more eyes locked into the developing scene. I’d known both of the guys long enough to recognize the look on Austin’s face; the expression of pure sadistic joy as he milked the rare opportunity to tickle Jake without immediate risk of getting his ass kicked.

“I’m trying to help you get out but it’s not working…” Austin lied before moving down to the meaty legs and I thought my heart was gonna beat right through my chest. Austin caught one of the thrashing legs and struggled to hold on at first but with a swift pull and the strength of both arms, he yanked the bulky boot off, nearly falling back in the process. “Whoo! Jake, you gotta start washing your feet, man” he teased as his audience laughed. “PUT MY BOOT BACK ON!!” Jake demanded with an anxious sternness that I almost never heard from the most dominant member of their friend group. In truth, everybody was too afraid to mess with him out of fear of being out-muscled; not to say he was a bully but more of a lovable meat head that liked being tougher than most of our peers.

Austin then inched closer to the foot sporting my favorite kind of socks on a guy; white Hanes with the red stripe where the grey toes began. He took the ankle with one hand and started running his fingers on the cotton sole freely, sparking a new round of powerful laughter that surprisingly reached a rather squeaky pitch every so often from Jake. “AhahAHAFFUuUCCKK! AohAOhAGGEETTTOOOFFmMYyYFFOoOTT!! MMoOOTThHEERRAohAHAFFUuUuCCkKkEERR!!” “What happened to no cussing in church, huh?” Austin taunted as the leg kicked right out of his grip. “He’s a wily one!” Austin announced with an exaggerated country accent for the small crowd. 

Austin moved quickly to grab the foot back and used all the UFC knowledge he knew to wrap both of his legs around the larger one so he could get his hands on the precious target more efficiently. The moment his vicious fingers returned to Jake’s helpless foot, a roaring eruption of monstrous laughter sounded from under the stage once again. “AHAHANNOoAOhA!! FFUuUCCKIIInNGGHASSTTOhOHPP!! MMAHAHANNCCOOmMEEOOoOHNNN!!” Austin didn’t listen to his friend one bit, scribbling as fast as he could on the super sensitive socked-foot while everyone around, including me, couldn’t look away. My eyes stayed locked on Austin as he wrangled the stubborn leg and I could almost envision what Jake’s face looked like in my head; growing a deep red out of embarrassment and frustration that someone was getting the better of him, especially by tickling. I even felt my own face blushing as I watched my fantasy come to life before my eyes. “Come on, Jake, wiggle out of there…what’s the hold up?” Austin teased with his standard shit-eating grin. “AHAAAAALLLRRIIGGHTTTAHAHAHAALLRRIIGHHTTT EEENNOUUUGGGHHHAHAHAA!!” “This is kind of fun” Austin added, running his wicked fingers all over the Hanes protected sole.

At one point I thought Austin was about to be bucked off considering how Jake’s leg resembled an out of control fire hose. “I’ve got you, man!” another voice yelled before launching himself onto the brawny upper body for a double trouble attack. “Better watch out for that leg, Pete!” Austin shouted as their other friend found a spot at Jake’s thick thighs, using both hands to dive in at full speed. “AhAhAHAH!! SSSHHiIITT!! NOoOHA! NNOOAOHA!! GGEETTTtHhEEFFuUCCKKOOOohoFFFMmMEE!!” Jake raged with the kind of prolonged, fiery laughter I’d dreamt of hearing from him. His other buddy, Pete wasn’t typically as ballsy or mischievous as Austin but this scenario was too good to not be a part of, even for the more reserved of the gang. Jake’s legs clenched together in an effort to protect himself but the gym rat tickling his thighs had enough strength to pry into the innermost meat of both legs with 10 stiff fingers. The added layer of sensations amped Jake’s laughter up to new heights that I was surprised didn’t rock the stage loose by itself while the onlooker laughs in the room chimed in with the more frantic reaction as Austin and Pete happily wrecked one of their best friends.

“How’s it going up there, Pete?” Austin asked, still wrapped around Jake’s jeaned leg. “You’re right, he’s really bucking!” “I’m gonna make him really go crazy, you ready??” Austin announced with a smile; he knew what was gonna push his buddy over the top and I was beyond ready for it. Austin reached up and pulled on the rim of the long sock and I swear I saw Jake’s foot start twitching even harder as Austin finally yanked the sock off and revealed the handsome, naked pink foot already wrinkling defensively. “AHAHANOOO!! AHAHAAAUUUSSTIINN!! NOOOOTTTMYYYSSOOCCCKKKAAHA AALLRRIIGGGHHTTTAHAHAAYOUUUUWWWIIINNANANANAA MMMEERCCCCYYYYMMEERRCCYY!!”

I was in disbelief that Jake would surrender to Austin like that before he even touched his bare foot. I’d seen them rough house plenty of times and Jake never even came close to tapping out but now, without a sock or shoe to protect his foot, the fear of what was about to happen was enough to bend his macho ego. “Yeah, I know I won” Austin taunted again with a devilish laugh before running his semi-sharp nails along the helpless sole. “AAAAAAAAAAHHAHAHHHAHAAHHASSHIIITSSSHHIITTSSHIIIIIITTT!!” His laughter rocketed up a few notches and he became a human earthquake under the stage as Austin scribbled across his wide foot with as firm of a grip as he could hold. “Man, you weren’t kidding! I didn’t know his feet were that ticklish!” Pete added. “We’ll have to hogtie him next time and really go at it!” Austin replied, raking up and down the center of Jake’s foot with the kind of pain in the ass enthusiasm he usually put toward irritating teachers. 

I could see Jake’s meaty toes clenching and his whole body shaking with Pete’s hands now drilling into his sides like an obnoxious kid on a piano and his foot being tormented so relentlessly. I imagine the only person who’d ever taken advantage of Jake’s weakness anything close to this was his dad. That’s probably part of why Jake was losing his shit so hard at the hands of his closest friends; it was a total power shift. “AhAOhAOOKOOKAOhAOH!! AOhAPPLLLEEASSEE!! AOhAOhSSTTOHHOPP! SSTTOHOHPP!! AOHAHOGGUUyYYSSSCCoOhOHMMEEOOONN!!” the proud country boy begged like he knew that might be the only way to appease Austin’s own ego. “You hear that, Pete?” Austin inquired as if everyone in the room didn’t hear. “I think he wants us to stop, man. Should we?” “Hmm, maybe a little bit more!” Austin replied as he scribbled furiously all over the upturned pale pink sole as the beefy size 11 flexed and his plump toes illustrated how desperate he was in the unusual experience. Just when I thought Jake was gonna break through the stage like an angry zombie, the woman from the church walked back in. “What is going on??” she questioned with that standard adult tone of authority and Austin and Pete stood up.

“Jake got stuck trying to get the ladder” Austin explained. “Then help him out!” she instructed. Both boys yanked on Jake’s legs until he was free of the embarrassing position and he came out ready to fight both of them. “Oh, I’m gonna kick you’re a-“ “Mr. Cooner…the ladder? I’ve been waiting for nearly 20 minutes” she interrupted. With his fists clenched and his one foot still bare, Jake pulled out the ladder that he’d accidentally brought further to the edge and grabbed his boot and sock. Every set of eyes in the room looked at the popular tough guy with a new perspective, some still giggling as his face remained red as a tomato. 

He looked back at Austin and Pete with a burning expression and a vengeful look in his eyes but they both just snickered at the fact that they’d evaded any retaliation and everyone went back to work. Some started back zip-tying poles and draping fabric across walls while I grabbed the paintbrush to finish the board I’d been assigned to color but I rode the high of the surreal scene for the rest of the day like I’d won some special lottery, gifted a prize just for me. I knew Austin and Pete enjoyed getting the better of their friend but nobody in that room enjoyed seeing Jake tickled as much as I did, not even close.