I was awoken by the familiar sound of the Auburn fight song. I thought I'd rid myself of that tune for a month, but, alas, there was no rest for the weary. I turned to look at the clock, which read 8:15. It was still far too early for anyone to be up, at least in my warped sense of logic, but I found that Tony wasn't there with me. He wasn't even in the room, which would explain why the phone kept ringing.
In my sleepy haze, though, I saw him slipping into the room. He was trying to be quite, so that he wouldn't wake me.
"Hello?" he whispered into his phone once he opened it.
The house was so quiet that I could the caller. "Hey Tony."
"Hey Gui." There was a certain, uncomfrotable silence between them. I could almost hear the discomfort of the moment.
"I had a long talk with Martín last night."
"He said that he was going to talk to you."
"We've come to the conclusion that you're still our brother and that we both love you still, regardless of who you go to bed with." Tony began to sniffle a little.
"Thank you, Gui. I needed to hear that."
"I'm sorry about yesterday. I acted like a shit hole to you, and I shouldn't have done that. Brothers shouldn't do that to each other."
"It's fine, Gui. It was a shock. I understand y'all being upset. It was a bombshell y'all weren't expecting."
"It was a shock, and I handled things the wrong way. I should have said something when Daddy hit you like that. I should have realized that you're still the same Tony that I used to beat up when we were little. You know, before Martín came along and we started picking on him." Tony chuckled a little bit. There was another moment between them. "So did you go back to Auburn last night?"
"No. I drove around Charlotte for a little while and then called Jake."
"Jake? Your boyfriend?"
"Yeah. I came up here last night because I didn't want to be alone."
"I'm glad you have him, then. Tell me about him."
"Well. He's a grad student at Auburn."
"Studying?"
"Spanish."
"Nice."
"He's tall and handsome. He's so nice and courteous, too."
"That's good. Where is he from?"
"Toronto."
"You're dating a Canadian? Wow. I guess I'll have to speak slowly when I meet him."
"You want to meet him?"
"Yeah. He's my little brother's boyfriend. Of course I want to meet him. I have to approve of the fucker."
"That means a lot to me, Gui."
"Listen. I won't keep you since you're up there, but I have one more question."
"Shoot."
"Is he good in bed?"
"Better."
"Nice! Well tell him that I said hi. And ask him not to hold yesterday against me, please. I would understand if he is..."
"It's not a problem."
"And Tony. I'm sorry."
"No worries, limp dick."
"Bitch! I'm gonna cut you," I heard Gui say behind Tony's laughter. "Alright. Well I'm gonna run. Have a good time up there. Bring me back a girl or two."
"If I can fit them in my suitcase, I will."
"Nice. Call me later. Ciao."
"Bye." Tony hung up the phone and sat there for a second.
"You OK, babe?" I asked from the bed.
"Yeah. Both of my brothers are back."
"Very good. I'm glad they came around."
"Me too..." He stopped for a quick second and turned to look at me. "When we go back to school, would you mind if we had lunch with them or something?"
"Lord no! I'd kind of like to meet them."
"Good. They want to meet you."
"Cool."
"Dudes!" Danny said as he came into my room. "Guess what I got!"
"Herpes?" I asked.
"No."
"Crabs?" Tony asked.
"NO! I'm not a slut, remember. No. I got an extra ticket to hockey night."
"Sweet!" I said, comforted by the fact that I wouldn't have to cancel on the plans my brother had made for the two of us and excited about Tony being able to see his first, actually, Canadian hockey game.
"I've never been to a hockey game, before."
"Just remember that it's good when the Maple Leafs score and bad when the Canadiens do. But the Leafs are playing really well this season, so hopefully the Frenchies won't score," my brother advised. One look at my brother's boxers would have given away he was a Maple Leafs fan, given the logo was printed right over the crotch.
"Cool. I'll keep that in mind."
"You are so Canuck, little brother."
"I know it. I can't help it!" He beamed with pride.
"Jake! I almost forgot to tell you that Mom brought some Tim Hortons' donuts home when she went to the supermarket a bit ago. There's not any chocolate glaze left, though. I ate them all."
"BITCH!"
"Now we're even for the whole Herpes thing," he said as he walked up out my room and up the stairs to his apartment.
Tony stood up from the chair and shut the door. He was still wearing the clothes he'd slept in, but still found a way to sexily strut his masculine frame to the bed. He lifted up the cover and moved in beside me. He propped himself up onto his right arm, while putting his left hand under the band of my tshirt. He rubbed my midsection gently. His hand, like the air, was slightly chilled.
"Your hands are cold," I said as he showed no signs of stopping the light petting of my skin.
"Why do you think I'm rubbing on your warm tummy?" He smiled, moving his hand to my chest. He let his hand rest on the left side of my chest. "I can feel your heartbeat." He put his ear to my chest. "Your hearbeat sounds rather strong, too."
"It usually does when you're around."
He chuckled as he lifted his head from my chest. His hands stayed there, though. I moved my hand underneath my shirt and placed it on top of his. He opened his fingers so that mine would fall into his. Our interwoven fingers rested there as he readjusted himself onto a pillow, still lying on his right said.
I felt myself falling asleep again, and without saying a word, he pulled our hands off of my chest. He was headed South, and not toward Niagara. He shed my hand around my abs, but didn't stop his. He used his fingers to lift the band of my shorts far enough for his to sneak his hand in. He moved it past my dick to my upper thigh. He ran his finger though the short, thin hairs. Needless to say, the shorts had become quite limiting. He went down my leg on the outside, but back up on the inside. He came close, several times, to rubbing his hands up against my balls.
"Feel good?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Uh huh," I murmured, wanting to beg him to take my erect penis into his hands and ending the suspense. He knew what he was doing, though, and I trusted him to finish the job he was starting. He let his hand start touching my balls, but only lightly grazing them the first few times.
"Lift your ass up," he instructed, and without any hesitation, I did what he asked. He pulled my shorts down far enough to that my dick was exposed directly to the warm cover of my bed. He took my balls into his hand and gently caressed them. He hands were not longer cold. With the tips of his fingers, he ran his fingers up the underside of my shaft. He wiped up some of the precum that was there and moved his fingers to his mouth to taste it.
"You taste real good, Jake."
"Thank you, babe." I moved my hand up and ran it through his amazing hair as he rubbed and explored with his hand. He adjusted his body slightly and lifted himself up to kiss me. Our lips barely touched. I could feel his breath. My cock twitched. As he slowly climbed on me to get a better kiss, my hand managed to slide to his back. He kissed me deeply for a second, with one of those kisses that takes your breath away. One with so much electricity that I felt it in my toes. One of those kisses that you only get from someone who truly loves you that you truly love in return.
He released me from his grasps as I let my head fall back onto the pillow and closed my eyes. I was expecting him to return to my lips, but no. He began kissing my neck. He lifted me up long enough to take my shirt off. He straddled my hips and moved again: this time was to my chest. It seemed as though were going to kiss and very gently bite every part of my chest. He paid enough attention to my nipples. He licked and swirled and ran his teeth around them. I was oozing precum, all of which was leaking onto his chest.
He slipped under the covers, continuing to kiss my abs. Each muscle was wet with kisses. He continued to go further and further down. With his tongue, he licked the slight "v" of my lower abdominal muscles. It was all out "slobbering," but rather gentle, intoxicating use of the tip of his tongue. He licked around my dick, on the top of my thighs. Mid way down, he stopped licking and again began to kiss my thighs. He kissed down to my right knee before swapping to the other leg. He pulled my shorts the rest of the way off. He had complete control of my body. I was going crazy; he was driving me into a sexual frenzy. I breathed heavily as he continued his oral onslaught. He kissed down my shins before kissing the top and then the inside of my feet. He kissed the bottom of my feet. I've never had a foot fetish, and if he's tried to suck my toes, I might have felt weird, but this was amazing. I could feel the sensations all over my body.
"Are you OK, babe?" he asked between kisses on his way back up.
"Yeah," I said quickly, my mind running and my breathing heavy.
"What do you want me to do now?"
"Anything...you...want..."
"Nice," he chuckled.
With the top of his tongue, he began licking my balls. They pulled close into my body, which he used to nuzzle into the perineum. I lifted my legs so that he could get at the area much better. He licked down to my asshole.
I moaned in a quiet whisper. When he came back up, it was time for the use of the whole mouth. For a good five minutes, his mouth became more and more acquainted with my balls. One by one, he took my balls into his mouth, slathered them with his warm saliva, wrapping them in the movement of his tongue.
With my balls more relaxed now, he was able to concentrate on other parts of my body. He grazed the underside of my dick with his tongue. I could feel his breathing again. My dick was throbbing in tandem with my heart. He was still covered completely by the comforter.
`Finally,' I thought as he took the head of my dick into his mouth and slowly began to suck it. He pulled off and lightly blew onto it. "My God, Tony," I started, "that feels so good."
He returned to the head of my penis. Slowly, he took as much of me as he could into his mouth. It was just a few minutes later that I felt my balls again climbing toward my body.
"I'm gonna cum, baby," I warned. "I'm serious!" He didn't stop sucking. "Oh God!!!" I added, shooting cum into his warm mouth. I grabbed the sheets violently as shot after shot of my potential children down his throat into his stomach. He stayed on me until I started going soft, draining me completely of every last drop of goodness.
He again appeared from beneath the covers. "Have fun?" he asked as he kissed my lips. I was still in post-orgasmic bliss.
"Uh huh," I said, barely able to breath. I turned to look at the smile on his face. "You didn't have to do that."
"I know. I was just paying your parents back for the trip up."
"Are y'all finished yet?" Danny yelled from outside my room.
"DANIEL!" Danny and my mother laughed heartily.
My face turned a bright shade of red. As long as I'd dated Adán, we'd never done anything at the house unless everyone was gone. Tony giggled a little. "That was funny," I said, starting to giggle myself. "My God. You are so amazing, Tony." I turned and kissed him on the lips. I could still taste my cum on his breath.
"You are the amazing one," he said in completely seriousness. "If it weren't for you and your family, I'd be wallowing in my own self pity. I'd probably not have talked to my brothers if I hadn't had you to make me feel somewhat better."
"Shut up. I love you. As your boyfriend, it was my pleasure."
He again kissed me on the cheek. "I've never been in love before, until I met you."
"My whole definition changed when I met and got to know you."
We kissed again.
"Are y'all naked?" Danny asked from outside.
"Yes and our dicks are flopping around in the wind," I answered. My brother opened the door.
"As long as y'all aren't doin' it!" We chuckled.
"So what are y'all doing today?"
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "We've not talked about it."
"Well why don't we go downtown for lunch, then we can show him the sights down there, ending up at the CN town, since it's right next to the Roger's Center. We can just go to the game from there."
"Does that work for you?" I asked Tony.
"Sounds fine to me. Y'all aren't going to make me eat beaver or anything are you?" he asked jokingly.
"Not until Christmas morning," my brother fired back, "but you can't taste it, since it's smothered in maple syrup. Yum."
Tony looked at me seriously. "He's joking with you, Tony."
"Oh!" I'll get you back, Danny.
"Ooh. Sounds like you got competition, bro!"
"ASS!"
"That's between y'all," he said, throwing up his hands. I took one of the pillows and threw it at my brother. We all laughed. "Mom said to come get some donuts before I eat them all."
"Alright. We'll be down in a minute."
"Alright!" Danny said, walking out of the room and up to his apartment. I stood up from the bed and grabbed for my shorts and boxers. Pulling them up, I looked around my room for the t-shirt I'd been wearing. I pulled it over my head as Tony found a suitable t-shirt to wear in front of my mother.
We walked down the stairs to find my parents sitting at the kitchen table. I was taken aback for a moment, seeing how much they loved each other and understand what it was that the two of them shared. "Good morning, guys," my mother said as she noticed we were standing there. "So are you having a good time, Tony?" she asked, winking at him. He blushed.
"Yes ma'am," he responded, almost meekly. He chuckled cutely afterwards as he put his hands on my shoulders. My parents both smiled as we sat down at the table for some donuts. It was almost as if they knew what we were feeling for each other.
Much to my surprise, my brother had not, in fact, eaten the last of the chocolate glaze donuts. There were enough for the two of us each to have two. For me, the whole day couldn't have gotten any better. I was with my family in my hometown, and my boyfriend, albeit because of misforture, was there as well. I'm glad that I could be there for him, though. For most of the morning, we sat around with my family telling them about school. They wanted to know everything about Tony and his studies.
"Oh! I need to show you guys something!" I said, standing up from the table. I walked briskly across the kitchen and up the stairs to my room. I opened the first of two suitcases and fished around for the framed picture that Tony had made me for Christmas. I looked at it for a moment and found that I was smiling, losing myself in the memories that we'd made, even though we'd only been together for a short time. It was such a thoughtful gift.
I ran back down the stairs quickly, turning and going into the kitchen once I'd reached the bottom. "This is what Tony gave me for Christmas," I said. All they could see was the frame. I handed the portrait to my mother.
"Oh goodness. Look at this Daniel," she handed the picture to my father.
"This is amazing, Tony. You did this yourself?"
"Yes sir."
"It's so beautiful," my mother said. "My sister will be jealous of this. She thinks she can paint."
"I'm sure she's good," Tony said, trying to be polite.
"She's evil and must be stopped," I said as I walked to the fridge for orange juice.
"Jacob!" my mom started, "be nice!"
"Yes ma'am."
"Why do you say she's evil?" Tony asked.
"Just wait until Christmas," Dad commented.
"Daniel! My sister loves you!"
"As long as I'm giving her cash. I think I'm going to get a toonie and put it in a box for that widescreen I got Danny."
Mother chuckled. "You're evil Daniel!"
"Where do you think we got it from, Mom?" I asked jokingly. Mom laughed again, more audibly at the banter between the three of us.
"So you mother fuckers need to get some clothes on!" Danny said as he came down the stairs into the kitchen.
"DANIEL!" my mother screamed.
"Sorry. Would you kind gentlemen please robe yourself for the weather outside," he walked to the side of the kitchen and opened the blind. It looked cold. Oh how good it felt to be home! "I'd like to go downtown."
"That's much better, Danny," Mom said sarcastically.
"Thank you, Mother."
"They just got up, Danny. Give them a few minutes," Dad commented sagely.
"Oh they got up alright!" Danny said. "Jake was having a good time."
"Yes. Yes, I was!" I joked.
For a few more minutes, we sat the table joking with one another. It was good to be there after being in another country for four months. After a short while, we returned upstairs. There were no words exchanged as we got dressed, thought we did look at each and exchange weird, child-like grins and giggles. Donned in very heavy coats, we got downstairs.
"Were y'all fucking again?" Danny asked.
"DANIEL!" Mom yelled from the kitchen.
"Two Daniels in one morning. You're on a role!" I joked.
"JACOB!"
"You're almost there," Danny joked back. "Ready to go?"
"Yep," I answered. Danny chuckled. "You're starting to sound more and more Southern, Jake. No offense, Tony."
"None taken," he smiled.
"The next thing you know, you'll be spelling defense with an s' and neighbor without the u'!" We all chuckled.
"FUCKING A IT'S COLD!" Tony yelled as we walked onto the porch.
"ANTONIO!" my mother yelled. Danny and I almost tripped into the snow laughing at my mother.
"So do I count that one?" Tony asked jokingly.
"Oh yeah!" Danny said.
We piled into the Jeep, and Danny turned up the radio.
"Hermano. ¿Tienes el CD que te quemé?"
"¿Cuál?"
"Él de la colombiana."
"Ah sí," he said, reaching into the glove compartment.
When he found it, he held it up to show me, as I was sitting in the backseat so that Tony could see Toronto better, especially when we got to Downtown. "Bueno. Toca número 11."
"Something" from Shakira's Oral Fixation, Volume 2 began to play. We sat quietly as Danny drove toward downtown. Tony pulled down the visor in front of him and opened the mirror compartment. He positioned it so that he could see me. I mouthed the song as it played through the stereo system. "Timor," the next song from the CD made Danny dance. In his mind, he's Cuban, but in his body, he's whiter than the snow in Nunavut, when it comes to his rhythmic ability.
Until the late afternoon, my brother and I showed Tony the coolest places around Toronto. Around five that afternoon, though, we found ourselves closing in on our destination: the famed CN Tower, the largest free standing structure in North America. Built like Seattle's Space Needle (only better), the observation deck would be the ultimate finish to a wonderful day spent with the two of them. The elevator took long enough to get up that high, but once we were up there, Tony was amazed by what he could see. He looked around and snapped at least 100 pictures with his digital camera. I couldn't have recalled the number of times he quipped "This is so amazing."
By 6:30, we made our way back down the CN Tower and headed toward the Air Canada Centre for the game. Given the proximity between the two places, Danny decided to leave the car where it was and walk to the Air Canada Centre. Our seats were in Section 107, on the lower level, so Tony would be able to see his first hockey game from very close to the ice.
The crowds were horrendous. The game pitted the NHL's two greatest rivals against one another in a game that promised to be as eventful evening. To be completely honest, I loved hockey because it was Canadian, but I didn't love it as much as Danny, who actually got so mad at the last Canadiens/Maple Leafs match that he called me yelling at 2:30 in the morning. Since he was such an aficionado, though, I decided to let him explain the game to Tony, who'd never been to a game before.
The first period passed scoreless. Both teams were playing very well. The Maple Leafs scored during the second period, taking advantage of the fatigue on the part of the Canadiens. After this, though, the Canadiens began to truly play again and scored twice. Danny was not happy, to say the least, joining other who began trying to heckle the Leafs into playing harder. By the end of that period, the Leafs hadn't managed to come back from the advances of the opposing team. Fans of "The Frenchies," as Danny called the team, were ecstatic. Danny almost threw himself down into his seat.
"He's really excited about the game, isn't he?" Tony asked.
"That's an understatement, babe. When he was little, and we lived in Cuba, our grandmother would tape games on TV and send us the tapes. Danny would sit and rewatch them hoping for a different result. It was actually cute," I said.
"I'm going to get a soda. Would you guys like one?"
"Sure," I said.
"Thanks man. I'll give you the money back," Tony commented.
"Don't worry about it. Be right back."
Danny walked away from us and toward the concession areas.
"I've had a wonderful day," Tony said after I wrapped my arms into his.
"I'm glad, but it's not over yet," I said, winking at him. He smiled.
"What do you have in mind?"
"Pensaba en darte algo que to va a gustar," I whispered. (I was thinking of giving you something that you will like.)
"Bueno. Me gustaría algo de tí," he said, very slowly and in a very thick Southern accent.
"You're Spanish is getting better," I commented, snuggling into him and not really caring what the people around us were thinking.
"The longer I'm around you, the better it's gonna get."
"Probablemente," I said.
"Probably?" he asked.
"Yeah."
Danny returned shortly with three large sodas. During the third period, the Leafs came back to tie the game up. In the last two minutes, the Canadiens took the puck. Their fans screamed and cheered them on, as it looked like they might just score. Michael Ryder took the puck around the back of the net, but Jean-Sebastien Aubin, the goaltender for the Leafs was ready and blocked the shot. The Leafs fans, including my brother, Tony and I stood and cheered. It was truly and awesome play. Aubin passed to Wade Belak, who passed to Matt Stajan. Stajan drove the puck to the opposite side of the ice where Cristobal Huet, the Canadiens goaltender was waiting. All of Toronto seemed to be cheering Stajan on. The visiting Quebecers were screaming for Huet to guard the goal.
Time seemed to stop as Stajan drove the puck toward the net. Huet positioned himself to block the puck, which would have forced the tie. It seemed to fly through the air in slow motion though, and all eyes were on the round black disk.
Huet moved to the left and the right to try to block it, but as the buzzer noted the end of the game, the puck flew past him and hit the back of the net. Torontoans all of the world seemed to be cheering, including my brother, who I believe was louder than any other single individual in the Air Canada Centre. Tony had also gotten into the foray as well, screaming and hugging my brother. He then turned and planted a really awesome kiss, right on my lips, in front of everyone there. I forgot where I was for a second, as the spontaneity of the moment left me aback for a moment.
With the rest of the crowd, we left the stadium. We walked back toward where Danny had parked his car. "So what else is on our schedule of the evening?" Tony asked the two of us.
"We could go to JT's?" Danny suggested.
"What's JT's?" Tony asked.
"It's a gay bar. I'm just trying to think of why my brother wants to go to a gay bar," I said, looking at my brother for an answer.
"It's simple. The girls."
"The girls?" I asked.
"Yeah. All those gay guys bring their girls with them. I might get some attention being one of the few straight guys willing to go in there."
"You're gonna get some attention, alright!" I joked. Tony laughed.
In just a little while, we were in the gayborhood, walking down the street in the cold winter air. When we got to the bar, there was a line of people waiting to get in. Danny walked up to the door where a broad-shouldered man recognized him.
"Hey Tom. How are you?" Danny asked.
"I'm great man," the man said. "No girl tonight?"
"Nah. Not tonight. Just these two..." he said, looking and pointing at us. "Tom. This is my brother, Jake, and his boyfriend Tony."
"I knew two hotties like that wouldn't be available," Tom said, smiling us as he told us to go into the bar. When we walked in, we found more of a pub than a traditional "gay bar." There were men and women all around, gathered around tables enjoying pints of ale and tall glasses of mixed drinks. It was a more relaxed situation than the last time I'd been here, the night before Adán and I broke up. We checked our coats in at the door and walked over to the bar. The "Eh's" were everywhere as the men and women enjoyed the ambiance and company of a bar that I'd been to many times, but now didn't recognize.
"Danny!!!" the bartender yelled. "What's up, man?"
"Not much, Dave!"
"No girl tonight?" the bartender asked.
"No. Just these two," he said pointing at us.
"OH! Did you finally come to the darkside, love?"
"You wish!" Danny said winking. "No. This is my brother, Jake," he said introducing me. "And this is his boyfriend Tony."
"Nice to meet you guys. I'm Dave."
"Nice to meet you!" Tony said, extending his arm.
"Nice to meet you," I followed.
"So what will you two hotties have tonight?"
"I'm chopped liver?" Danny asked.
"No. I've already made you a Cuba Libre."
"Ooh. That sounds good," I said. "I'll have one of those, also, please."
"What's a Cuba Libre?" Tony asked.
"It's two parts rum and one park coke," I explained.
"Nice. Can I have one as well?"
"Sure! Anything for the hottie that's not from the T.O.! Where are you from, anyway?"
"North Carolina."
"OOH! A Southern man. My husband would get so jealous that I'm talking to a hot Southern man," Dave added.
"How much do we owe you?" I asked.
"Just looking at Danny is enough," he said and sighed.
"Aww...I'm sorry, Dave. If I ever come out, you'll be the fifth person that knows!"
"Why the fifth?"
"Mom, Dad, Jake, Tony, then you," he winked.
"Well let me know if you guys need anything," Dave said as he walked to another patron that had come up to the bar.
"He's such a nice guy. He reminds me of you a lot, Jake," Danny said. "That's why I like coming here."
"He does seem a lot like you, babe, but you are so much hotter," Tony said, kissing me on the cheek.
"Jacob Henry!" a voice called from behind. I turned in the direction of the voice.
"JOEY!!!" I screamed when I saw him walking toward us with a very attractive man in tow. He was wearing a form fitting black shirt and jeans.
His very Italian facial features were only accented by the frame of his jaw and the size of his very defined neck. His shoulders were broader than the last time I saw him and his abs looked as though they were rock hard. The man with him was almost as tall as him, with brown hair and a slight sprinkling of facial hair.
I stood up from the barstool and walked over to him and gave him a hug. "It's been far too long," he said, wrapping his massive arms around me.
"How have you been?"
"Good man. How are you?"
"Good. Just doing the grad school thing."
"Nice. Where at?"
"Auburn, in Alabama."
"You got away!" he said, accentuating the last word.
"Yeah. I needed to get away and just start over."
"I totally understand. So have you talked to him lately?"
"It's been a couple of months. He offered me some pictures of us in Cuba, but I didn't want anything that would remind me of him."
"I understand."
"What about you?"
"I haven't talked to him in about six months," he said. "One day, he just called Mom and scared the shit out of her. I told him never to do that again."
"Right. Carole Sims gave him my email. Needless to say, she's not on the list anymore."
"Right," he said, realizing that he was still holding the man's hand, "Oh Jake! I'm sorry. I'm so rude. This is my amazing boyfriend, Jeff."
"Hey man. How are you?"
"I'm fine," Jeff responded. He seemed a quiet fellow. "How are you?"
"Better now that I've seen Joey," I said wrapping my arms around his waist into a hug.
"I'm about to start getting jealous babe," Tony said, walking over to me and smiling.
"I was about to bring them over!" I joked with Tony, gently touching his abs with the back of my hand. "This is Joey and his boyfriend Jeff."
"It's nice to meet you guys," he said, extending his hand to shake theirs.
"And this is my boyfriend, Tony," I said, wrapping my hands around his waist.
"Ooh. You landed a hot one this time, Jake."
"Damn right. And the things is...he's so much better than the last one."
"I bet!"
"So how do you two know each other?" Tony inquired.
"Well," Joey started, "we used to have a mutual friend."
"Adán?"
"Yeah," I answered. "The night before I broke up with him, he drugged a drink that I'd ordered when I went to the bathroom. It was some bad shit, and when I started getting sick, Adán left me where I was. If it weren't for Joey, I'd probably not be here today."
"So I need to thank you then," Tony said.
"It wasn't that big a deal."
"Whatever! I will always be appreciative of you for that."
Joey smiled. It was amazing. When I was dating Adán, there would be times when we'd be fighting or something, and Joey, who had been his best friend from childhood, would always be there to cheer me up. There were a few times that I wished it was him that I was dating and not Adán, but looking at him now, I could see he was happy with Jeff, and I know that I was more than happy with my Toño. The last night that Adán and I were together, Adán had slipped something into a drink. He forced me to have sex with him. The drug was tainted, and when I passed out, Adán left me in an alley. Joey later told me that when he saw Adán a few minutes later, he asked where I was, to which Adán had responded that I passed out in an alley. It was cold, and Joey was on top of things and searched every alley in the gayborhood until he found me. According to his story, I was going in and out of consciousness. He hailed a cab and had him take me to the hospital. When Mom and Dad got there, he explained what happened and slipped out. Three days later, I came to, and found my parents with me. They explained the whole thing to me. Two weeks later, Joey came to my house just to talk to me. He told me that he'd been to see Adán the next day and beat his ass to a bloody pulp. When I finally did talk to Adán, I told him that I wouldn't press charges as long as he didn't press charges against Joey and left me alone, forever. He never pressed charges against Joey, so I let him walk free. He and I were friends for a long time after that, but because of whatever reason, we'd lost contact with each other. I never stopped thinking about him, wondering if he were OK and how he was doing. Now I knew.
I introduced the guys to Danny, who hugged Joey. They'd never met before, and now was his time to thank him for "saving me" as I call it. Because of my brother's relationship with the bartender, they let us stay as long as we wanted, well after the two o'clock closing time of the bar. Jeff even got into the mix after becoming comfortable with us. By four, we were all starting to drag, especially Danny, who'd been up since six that morning, when he woke to do his morning workout. (Because of odd sounds, I often wondered which muscle my little brother might have been working on.)
"Joey," I said as we walked out of the bar. "Come and visit us sometime."
"I'd like that," Joey said. He and Jeff walked one direction, while the three of us walked another.
"Hey Tony," my brother said as we walked along in silence.
"Yeah?"
"Can you drive? I'm not sure that I can stay awake."
"Yeah, Danny, no problem," he said as Danny handed him the keys.
"Just do me a favor," Danny said.
"Sure."
"If I do pass out, don't let my brother give you roadhead!" Danny joked.
I play punched my brother on the shoulder as he and Tony laughed.
With my instruction, we got back to the house in one piece. We walked up the stairs to my room. Danny wished us a good night and we went into the room. Tony slowly took off all his clothes and climbed into the bed. I was in a moment later, pulling the comforter over us and pulled him into me. "Do you mind if I give you that thing in the morning?"
"No problem, but don't be surprised if I wake you up for it," he joked.
"Yes sir."
I fell asleep quickly, almost as fast as Tony. The next morning, we were still in the same position as my mother woke us up, after taking a picture of the romantic scene, of course. The day had been a long one, but a truly grand one. Tony had a new love and appreciation for my hometown, as well as hockey, the sport of champions. He'd met the man that I single-handedly credit as saving me from Adán, and he'd done it all in the style that was characteristically, undeniably, Tony Cisneros. I realized that day that I loved him, more than anything, and wanted to protect him from all of the bad things in the world. I wanted to show him so much love that he never feel that which was bad in the world.