HartThrob

This is my first erotic story, so e-mail me at shinji91580@aol.com and tell me what you think

Warning: This story depicts a consensual love relationship between two or more men. If that ain't your cup of tea, take a hike. If it is, enjoy!

'Last call, my ass!' is the first thing I remember about that night. The bartender shoved me towards the door, after I screamed a drink order at him but all that came out was several choice expletives and a little vomit. I stood outside the Tiger Club in a stupor, holding my hat and jacket in the pouring rain. It was the only liquid pouring that night which wasn't accompanied by a pretty umbrella, an olive on a sword or a shot glass. Bleary eyed and numb I made my way to the street corner and tried something like hailing a cab, but I passed out. When I came to it was 5:55 am, sunrise the next day. Light cascaded into the alley and I looked around trying to figure out why I wasn't at home in bed. The memories of the previous 24 hours came clanging back, ringing like a church bell. Ringing like a church bell when you have a hangover. Like the resonant sound of a church bell while you are hung over and sitting inside the bell tower.

I tilted my head back and massaged the bridge of my nose as I tried desperately to figure out why I had been drinking. Not that I had needed a reason. These last few months had been pretty rough, and so to comfort myself in my alone time, I sidled up to the bar and had dates with Bloody Mary and her Mexican friend Margarita. Alone, yeah, I had been alone for a while. A few months back, about the time I started drinking, my wife had left me. She said I wasn't 'emotionally available', and that all I wanted her for was sex and an accessory to wear on my arm at parties. Jessica had a body to die for. She was this real foxy redhead with legs and eyelashes for miles and a rack you could set Thanksgiving dinner on.

'Forget her!' I thought. Easier said than done I suppose. Though, I'm not sure her intentions were entirely pure either. She was from a small town, she was poor and then one day she declared that she'd never go hungry again...blah blah blah, you know the story. Her father never loved her, her mother died young, yadda, yadda. Whatever. Short story: Money hungry bitch. My father was a real-estate agent who, when he passed on, left me millions but left my damned druggie sister the house. I loved that house. So much in fact that I had some construction workers reproduce it and now I live in the state-of-the-art, less drafty twin. Ha! I guess sibling rivalry lives on.

I started to walk, not really thinking of anything, letting my mind mull over the day before. My hand reached into my slacks for my phone. I hit speed dial 1 and waited for an answer. The voice on the other end was cheery and comforting:

"Sherman, Hart and Powell, this is..." I cut the voice off.

"Jerry you screwy bastard!" Wow, I was more slurry than usual.

"Yeah?" The voice was flat and annoyed.

"Jerry, it's me, Michael..." I left the sentence open, waiting for a sign of recognition.

"I know who it is, what do you want Michael?" It wasn't odd for Jerry to be cranky. He never drank and he never, ever got any.

"Whoa, what bug crawled up your ass this morning, bud?"

"It's so convenient for you isn't it?" I tried to protest but Jerry continued.

"You know I wish I had the ability to screw off at work, piss everyone off, go get so drunk I don't come home at night and wake up the next morning without any recollection of the day before."

"Wait, you d..."

"But I don't have that luxury. And neither does Kevin, Michael. He's already talking about you like you used to work here five years ago. Michael, I'm sorry but this has gone on too long. You need to get a grip. You need to straighten yourself out and wake-up, take some damn responsibility."

"Oh, I know what this is about...I know what this is, this is about the Simmons account isn't it? Isn't it? Well, I've already taken care of it, Jerry. I've already taken care of that, the whole thing." I couldn't complete a thought without bumping into something.

"Okay, yeah you took care of it alright. You took great care of that whole thing. Michael, you took advantage of his wife! You knew she was lonely."

"Yeah, but I got the account!"

"You didn't get anything Michael! Mr. Simmons was a walk-in client. Besides, that's not how we get accounts, Michael. We don't go and sleep with our clients wives!"

"Well, maybe we should start. Well, not you Jerry, you're a little soft and a little old and frankly, I don't..."

"Okay well, Michael, it's nice to have known you, your belongings will be in a box outside the office."

"Jerry no, no, no, no don't hang up! Dammit!" I pleaded with a dial tone and then threw my phone to the ground, shattering the little cellular wonder to fragments. I took yet another look around letting everything sink in, remembering that after getting stone drunk the night before, I tried to hail a dumpster for a ride home and passed out in a mud puddle.

Eventually I hailed a cab and made it back to my house, staggering inside and tipping the cabby a little more generously than I had anticipated. I closed the door, but a strong gust of wind blew it shut with a bang and my head swam and the floor rocked like a boat caught in a storm. I tried to steady myself on the small table near the enternace to the house, but black crept in and filled my vision. I awoke nearly five hours later, my face plastered against the wooden floorboards of the entryway, my head lying in a puddle of my own drool. Disgusted and annoyed, I picked myself up and trudged upstairs to the shower, my salvation. If nothing else, I could always look forward to the sobering shower the next morning, wiping the mud and grime of the alley from my skin and making myself presentable, dashing, handsome, sexy, desirable. I opened the door to my closet, reaching in for what I knew was my last set of clean towels and bathrobe.

Taking my time, as not to upset my headache again, I slid out of my dress shirt, casting my jacket and hat into the clothes bin (not that they made it in, but I threw them that way). I noticed my shirt was torn. Now realizing, I held it up away from me to get a better look at it. Mud stained the cuffs and back and side. There was a nasty tear where my elbow would have been, and there seemed to be plenty of beer stains adorning the chest area. I examined my own elbow and found that, in fact, I did have a rather nasty gash on it. I shed my pants and boxers as I headed into the bathroom. On the way, I caught a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror. Ghastly and frightening, I looked like I hadn't slept in days (which was uncannily accurate.) I was unshaven, gaunt, just a wasting shell of what I used to be. Disturbed I turned away and continued into the bathroom. I turned on the shower and waited for it to get warm. While waiting I relieved myself for what seemed like a good thirty minutes, but I'm sure that's inaccurate as time seems to lose meaning and structure while one is alone with their thoughts.

Gingerly, I stepped into the shower, feeling the crisp, warm water spilling over my body, reaching crevices and tracing contours of muscles I hadn't used in months. The water seemed to point out to me where my injuries were, as they were a constant reminder, with every turn or move I made, they would spray anew upon the wounds and alert me to their presence. 'You used to be so good looking, man,' I thought to myself. 'You used to be beautiful, hang out with the beautiful people as an object of lust and passion. You could have had anyone you wanted, but what about now?'

I finished my shower, dried myself off and stood to re-examine my body in the mirror. After a shave and a shower, I looked like a different person. Not like I used to, mind you, but better nonetheless. My complexion is tan with dark brown hair and deep gray eyes. My ears stick out a little; I have a straight nose, smallish, but not crooked or long. I have a firm, square jaw and nice lips, not thin, but not full. I have shoulders that are developed but not really large, nice biceps, a muscular chest, a firm torso (now featuring a small gut), slim hips and muscular thighs and calves. I also pride myself on a nice butt; round, firm and soft. I had pretty much no body hair, except for dark hair under my arms, on my calves, forearms and a small patch of dark pubic hair.

I threw back the covers on my bed and nestled in to get some long awaited rest. It seemed that just as the covers folded softly down around me, and I got into a comfortable position, the doorbell rang. I looked at my clock and noticed that not only had it become dark outside, I had been asleep a total of ten hours since my shower. At that point it hit me that I spent most of my time sleeping. I threw on my bathrobe and hurried downstairs to answer, completely ready to tell whoever was on the other side of the door off.

I flung open the door and opened my mouth to begin my verbal assault, but stopped short when I saw who was standing there; Barry, David and Marcus, my so-called drinking buddies. I guess I looked pretty beat, because I heard one of them remark that I looked like death warmed over. I laughed dryly and let them in. "No, no, no. We don't want to come in, we want you to come out, with us, tonight!" Tonight? Hadn't I been out with them the night before, or was I alone when I got smashed then? They were friends, but they had been known to leave me in a puddle afterwards and hail themselves cabs. But they liked me didn't they? They all came over and we went drinking, that's friendship isn't it? Someone who'll get shit faced and listen to you go on and on about your troubles? Barry and David had been friends of mine since college, and Marcus was a friend of theirs. Still I couldn't remember a time we were together when alcohol hadn't been involved.

Before I knew it we were on our way to the Stein Haus for a little German brew and a lot of BS. However to get to Stein Haus, you have to go through the red light district. The hookers were in rare form, whistling and popping their hips, showing more skin than clothing and licking their lips, ready for a John and a quick $100. A little further down was 'Orphan Avenue', where shameless madams and pimps sent out young flesh for the tigers, girls and boys alike. My eyes scanned the sea of sorrowful, hunger stricken faces. They looked like skeletons, some of them. Most were dressed in rags; others had managed to steal some nicer looking rags. But out of all of the skin on that street, all of the shapeless mass that stood selling themselves to survive, one face stood out. One that didn't seem to belong. He couldn't have been more than about 18. He was a little less dirty than the others were, and his clothes weren't as ragged. He had soulful eyes and a defined jaw line, accenting the determined look on his face. The face of a runaway yet to be broken by the world.

I turned the other way, and went through the night with a half-dazed expression. Why had that boy stared me down? Maybe he wanted sex? Or money? Or pity? I couldn't figure it out. If he wanted any of those things, he would have been showing some skin, or playing the pathetic lost child (which would have been a little tough to pull off at his age). I drank myself silly; I don't even remember how many drinks I had that night. I do remember the guys rolling me out of the cab into a nice, soft puddle and laughing. I came inside, my house in its usual state of disarray. There was a stain on the floor where I had forgotten to wipe up my drool, and the table had tipped over from when I fainted last. I kicked off my shoes and clothing, and lay in a heap in my bed.

After a while, I just lost track of days, no job to go to, nothing to do but drink and sleep, and masturbate in between, as I had no wife, no mistress, nothing. No one but me and a few old porno's I had stashed away. 'Hell, why stash them away, no one's going to see, no one cares, whom do you have to impress, who cares about you?' And then I stopped, and thought. It was one of those crazy thoughts that come to those in a deep depression, late at night. 'Who would come to my funeral? No one. Who would care for me if I were sick? No one. Who would care if I got hit by a car or locked myself out of my house or ran over a cat and felt really terrible (granted I wasn't drunk at the time). No one.' No one at that point cared if I lived or died. Not even me.

I don't know how long I was asleep before I heard it; the sound of shattering glass. At first I figured I had fallen asleep with a bottle of something or other in my hand, but when I looked on the floor, nothing was there. I was suddenly very alert for being drunk and all of my skin tingled, my veins coursing with adrenaline. My eyes darted around the room. Emptiness, all was still. I grabbed a gaudy candlestick from the dresser, one my wife had bought, thinking it was a famous antique, but it turned out to be a copy and she left it to me. I hefted it in my hands feeling the weight of it, making sure I could use it. Footsteps outside my door told me that whoever had broken the glass had not yet left the house. I gulped, gripping the candlestick in my hand, and carefully reached for the knob of my bedroom door. Turning it slowly I inhaled deeply and held it, trying my hardest to catch the burglar by surprise.

I was now certain that I could hear voices. Voices meant more than just one burglar. I turned the knob until I felt the latch release and then peered through a slit, leaving the door just ajar. The voices had gone, as I waited, breathlessly, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of my assailants. Footsteps neared and I closed my eyes, swallowed hard and then burst out of room swinging wildly. Three figures were on me in a flash, tearing at me. First wrestling the candlestick away from me, smashing it into my face and several times into my side. They did not, however, come away unscathed as I gave each of the robbers a nice black eye in the scuffle. They ran towards the front door and I chased after them, screaming obscenities. Just as I reached the back door, I caught a glimpse of one of them in the dim streetlight. I first noticed his face, his remarkable face. That boy! He was the boy from 'Orphan Avenue'! The one with the face, that determined face. His determined face now looked at once frightened and smug with satisfaction. Is that what he had wanted, to rob me? Judging from the size of the other two, they were from 'Orphan Avenue' as well. Time would tell. Time would deliver them nice large bruises on their eyes and thus revealing their identities to me.

Tired but oddly satisfied, I went upstairs to assess the damage. Luckily no one at the bordellos had given them any art education, as all of my most prized paintings were all accounted for. They had only run off with a few strands of my wife's paste (costume) jewelry, and a terrible old vase she had bought at one of her antique stores which wasn't worth the metal it was made of. I eventually ended up in the bathroom tending to what was turning into a lovely bruise on my right eye. I returned to bed, a little shaken but resolute just the same. I would never drink so much that I couldn't defend myself against three teenage orphans ever again. I entertained a couple of lines of thought while drifting off to sleep. First, what would I do to those boys once I found them, what was the best way to exact my revenge upon them? Second, there was that boy, that young man and his determined face. I hadn't been determined to do anything but drink myself silly the past nine months. What did he know, what did he have that I didn't? I had everything, didn't I? These thoughts troubled me as I slept, and were prominent in my mind the next morning as I made some black coffee to sober myself and help with the hangover.

It was about ten o'clock when I had finally dressed in one of my very finest suits and had brushed my hair into the traditional, takes-no-shit, lawyer hairstyle. I was ready to sink my talons into these young ones and have my way, leave them in the juvenile center downtown for a few days. Then maybe they'd get scared straight like on that video I show all of my would-be-con clientele. In the midst of all of this revenge plotting, something in the back of mind was nagging me. A voice not unlike my mother's was saying something, asking me a question. Did I really want revenge, or did I just want to see that boy again, to see his face, determined to do whatever it was he wanted to do? No, that couldn't be it, as I pulled up to the stop before 'Orphan Avenue'. Even here in the broad daylight, these innocent incubi and succubae lay in wait, waiting to prey and feed off of the rich and the lonely, the mentally ill and the mentally superior alike. Then I saw it, a blur of brown hair disappearing into one of two houses, houses of ill fame. 'That's it, those three brats either work out of Henry's Inn or Madame Marmalade's Bed and Brewery.' I had them, I thought, right where I wanted them. I rushed up to the door of Henry's and tried to let myself in, only to be confronted with a steel door and a sliding peephole.

"Password?" A pair of lips demanded.

"Er...." Of all the things I had expected to find, this was surely not one of them. Sensing the hesitation in my voice, the lips pursed and the slider shut with a bang. I knocked again.

"Password?" The same pair of lips asked.

"I'm looking for..." SLAM! This was beginning to get frustrating. I decided to try one last time.

"Do you have the password?" The lips were getting obnoxious now.

"Actually no, I'd like to..."

"Then quit knocking!" SLAM! Exasperated I stormed away from Henry's and continued on to Madame Marmalade's. A statuesque blond woman in a corset and stockings answered the door (obviously Madame Marmalade as she was painted on the sign).

"You here for a house call?" she asked flatly.

"Actually no, I was here to speak with someone who knows the area." I smiled weakly, but I could see the disbelief in her eyes.

"You're lost?" she still sounded rather annoyed.

"No, no, no. I need to speak to someone who knows the immediate area..." I said as I cast my eyes about at the young things on the street. The unimpressed stare melted into an inviting smile.

"Why didn't you say so? Won't you come in?" Her friendliness seemed obviously forced, not that she wasn't being sincerely kind, just that she was tired and weary, maybe even a little drunk and coping.

"Take a look around and see what you like. There's more upstairs." She gesticulated with show hostess flair. With tired, drunken, show hostess flair.

"Well actually, I'm interested in a particular one... ones. Particular ones." Freudian slip. Madame Marmalade seemed impressed and a little eager.

"You want more than one? How wonderful!" She seemed more cheery by the minute. I took it that it had been slow that morning, as it was Sunday by the calendar on the wall.

"Three boys, all about yea big" I showed her their height with my hand.

"Well we have lots of boys about that big. Let's see there's Jeremy, and Tyler, Brandon, Dylan, Skyler, Joseph A, Joseph B, and Joseph C the triplets (they're on special this month, as it's their birthday)."

"Well, I've seen this one around, he looks to be about 18."

"18, look honey, you want up the street a couple of blocks..." she began.

"No, you see, that's what I thought as well, he looked so out of place here." Madame Marmalade looked deep in thought, almost painfully so.

"Do you remember anything else about him?"

"Well, He was about my color, had a smallish to medium build, but by no means scrawny. He had hazel eyes, I think..." Madame Marmalade shot up out of the chair like it had bitten her.

"Do you know where I can find him?" Madame began showing me out.

"The kids around here call him Lone Wolf, and he's bad for business. Takes my kids out on these midnight burgling runs, and half of the poor things end up in juvenile downtown. What is he, your kid or somethin'?" she asked, forgetting that I didn't know who he was.

"No, he was at my house the other night with two others, I gave them all black eyes." Madame Marmalade looked at me and a spark of recognition gleamed in her tired eyes.

"So that was your handiwork, eh?" She knew!

"You'll find those two over at Henry's. As for the boy, he'll be prowling tonight as always. Usually comes around at about 10 p.m., that little bastard."

"But how do I get into..." But as I spoke Madame Marmalade waved and smiled sweetly as she shut the door on my face.

Uncomfortable, but with little alternative, I took to the streets asking the youths to tell me anything they knew about the password to Henry's. Some of them tried to hook me, but most of them just ignored me. Defeated, but with a little hope left, I headed back to Henry's to wait for someone to say the password, or for someone to come out of the Inn and then sneak in or at least get my foot in the door. A young man came up to the door, looking red in the face and relaxed. He knocked firmly, and since I was in such an opportune location, I could hear him say "Honey, I'm home". I almost laughed at the silliness of the password, but stifled a nervous giggle and set out to get some answers. I stood at the door and planted my feet firmly, ready to enter and teach the little thieving maggots a lesson. I knocked. Just as before the peephole slid open, but this time a set of different eyes met me, one freshly blackened during a scuffle no doubt. The eyes got wider and then the slider banged shut again without another word. I stood on the porch and waited a moment before knocking again. I hear that it happens very seldom, but at this point Henry came out to the front door and slammed it open, wielding a double-barreled shotgun and a mean grimace. I stumbled down the stairs in surprise.

"I hear you been beatin' my boys." He said, the stench of whiskey on his breath reached the street and stained my clothes.

"It wasn't like that at all, you see they came to my house last night..."

"Did you have an appointment?" He asked seriously.

"What? No, they visited me in the middle of the night and took some of my possessions, and attacked me, so I defended myself."

"Well they told me that you scared 'em half to death, running out and screamin' and chasin' 'em around with a damn crowbar."

"Candlestick," I corrected him. Bad idea.

"You listen here, son," Henry said as he cocked his gun. "I've had about enough of your lip, now if you don't want me to blow those purdy eyes out of yer head, I'd turn around and leave." Judging that the best course of action would be to leave and never come back was a wise one and as I turned to do just that, I plowed into another body.

"Sorry." I said, out of habit. I was almost to my car when I looked back. My stomach turned somersaults, and I had to keep myself from yelling out. There he was standing, staring at me, with those deep, beautiful eyes: the man/boy who had disturbed my dreams and my hangover the night previous.

I stood transfixed, unable to avert my gaze, like a deer caught in headlights. Something inside me wanted to reach out and take him, help him, love him. I wasn't sure what else I felt, as the time given was not long enough for me to sort out the rest of my feelings. While lost in thought, I had failed to realize that he had again vanished into 'Orphan Avenue'. I was resolute; he would not get away so easily. I ran down 'The Avenue', catching glimpses of the back of his head as he ducked around corners and dodged through crowds of kids and adults. Eventually I found myself wandering around the Stein Haus area. I couldn't very well find him drunk, so for the first time in a very long while, I passed up the opportunity to drink and decided to press on. Things were looking rather bleak at that point, and so I slowed down to catch my breath and took a look around for anyone running, but I found no one.

"Look, what the hell do you want?" said a voice behind me. I swung around and there he was. Finally I was face to face with the young man I had been looking for, 'Lone Wolf' as they called him.

"I want my things back, you little delinquent." He cracked a sideways grin and chuckled.

"Listen you insolent little bastard, I'm going to send you to jail for the rest of your goddamn life if you don't..."

"Fat chance," he said matter-of-factly.

"Excuse me?" I was incredulous.

"I said fat chance," he replied, spitting out every consonant.

"You don't know who you're dealing with do you, you nasty little piece of street trash?"

"Look I'm sorry I took your stuff. I'll give it all back, tonight."

"No, right now! I want it right now!" I was beyond impatient.

"Well, too bad, I don't have it right now, old man!"

"Old man? I'm only 30 you mouthy little dumb shit!"

"Tonight, at the Stein Haus, eight o'clock."

"No way. You're not going to catch me drunk again! We meet at Jeannie's Grill at five, which is in three hours. You know where that is?"

"Duh," he said as if he went there all the time. "Make it six and you've got a deal."

"Deal? What the hell are you talking about? This isn't a deal, you give me my stuff or I go to the police."

"Don't do anything stupid, just meet me there at six." His eyes were desperate and he seemed genuine about giving me my ex-wife's garbage back.

"Fine." I said, at some length.

"Later," he said and with that he turned tail and ran.

"Hey, by the way nice shiner!" I yelled after him. 'Bastard,' I added under my breath.

The next few hours dragged on forever. I paced back and forth, trying to think of clever, witty, cutting things to say to him. But I couldn't help but want to be with him and hold him. Why would I feel this way about him, about any man? I wasn't gay. I had three wives (not all at once) and had great sex with all of them. So it couldn't be that, could it? Being gay is something you're born with, so that wouldn't be possible. I needed a drink, wanted one so very badly. But how could I cut him down and be stern and fatherly or even win him over while intoxicated? No way was he going to get the better of me that night. And so for the second time that day, I passed up the opportunity to drink. Finally six o'clock approached and I readied myself, taking deep breaths and giving myself little pep talks. 'Now don't get distracted, don't let him look at you too long, or look him directly into the eyes too long. Don't touch him, or let him touch you. Pay for his meal and tell him he could get anything he wants. Then he'll be doubly indebted, exactly where you want him. Then maybe...' Maybe what, though? I decided to put it out of my mind, and just go.

I can't remember ever being so nervous in my life, not while on a date or on a stage or on a football field or before having sex for the first time. Never. How strange then, to be feeling this anxious now that I was going to get some stuff back from a common street hooker. He wasn't common, though. He seemed extraordinarily handsome for street trash, and a little too 'with it' to use drugs on a regular basis like many of the others. Being a lawyer you see all kinds of horribly sad things, some of them abandoned street children, found dead from an overdose of cocaine they were sharing with a John. I shook that image from my mind as I neared Jeannie's and parked. One last deep breath and then I got out of my car and headed inside, not prepared for what happened next.

I can remember so clearly, sitting there in the diner. I busied myself with looking the menu over, wondering what he might like to eat or drink, and figuring out what it was I wanted. I arranged the silverware on the table, and had to fend off the gum-smacking waitress who made it a point to come and ask me if I 'wanted anything yet' several times within the space of about fifteen minutes. After every dismissal she would roll her eyes in a dramatic sort of way which made you want just slap the eyes out of her head. I had just taken a sip of water, when I saw him coming towards me from across the room. I could see him over the top of my glass, walking towards me in slow motion, like in a movie. My pulse quickened and I forgot to blink as he approached. Unfortunately I had also forgotten to swallow, the cold water dampening the front of my shirt. It actually took me a couple of seconds to react. He just smiled at me and handed me a napkin. I looked down and then reacted. I cursed quietly to myself, wiping furiously, he all the while smiling and shaking his head. Embarrassed I stammered out a weak greeting.

"That's not the first time that's happened in front of you was it?" I asked, half-joking.

"Nah," he said nonchalantly, turning and looking out the window.

"What? Do you have somewhere else to be? Someone else to be beating and robbing?" I asked, feigning irritation. He scoffed and rested his head in one hand, obviously bored.

"So," I said, not sure what to say or expect.

"So?" he said. 'Think, think, think, why did you come here tonight?' I honestly couldn't remember.

"So...what about my stuff?"

"What about it?"

"I want it back!" I replied, a little too loudly. He looked around and shrunk back into the booth, a little embarrassed.

"Sorry, but I do want my stuff."

"What do you want with fake necklaces and dumb shit like that?" He knew they were fakes?

"Why did you steal them if you knew they weren't worth anything?" I asked.

"Felt like it." he said, with the characteristic shrug of the shoulders which accompanies reckless youth.

"How do you feel about jail?" I threatened. I had him now. He would do anything I wanted now!

"How do you feel about jail?" He retorted. My face must have given my surprise away. What exactly was he suggesting?

"What did you just say?"

"What are you doing down on 'Orphan Avenue', anyway?"

"I just wanted my stuff back."

"You mean you wanted your trash back."

"Yes, wait no. Wait...What the hell is going on? Are you interrogating me, you pretentious shit?"

"Look, you wonder why I look healthier? Why my clothes don't look as nasty or why I don't smell as bad as the other kids?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," I was eager to hear his explanation. Just then...

"You two ready to order?" Peggy the waitress had returned, sure that if anything else she would take an order and take it now.

"I'll have the usual," he said casually, almost routinely, giving Peggy a killer smile. Peggy winked at him and blushed. Almost as if Peggy's other personality had taken over, she turned to me stone faced and slightly perturbed.

"And whadda you want?" she asked me, smacking her gum now more than ever.

"I'll just have some coffee..."

"Of course you will, and I suppose that'll be it for you tonight, right?" she asked, expecting me to be one of those customers, and this to be one of those nights. But I was ready to prove her wrong.

"Actually, I wanted coffee and one of your 'Spanky Burgers' with jumbo, home style fries and a little extra sauce," I said, winking at 'Lone Wolf'. He rolled his eyes, obviously unimpressed. For a hungry little hooker, the idea of food couldn't have been less tempting to him it seemed.

"Wonderful, I'll take your menus," she said. He collected them and handed them to her with another smile, she returned his smile. I thought that perhaps all you had to do was show her a little friendliness, so I smiled at her, but she merely snorted and forced a half smile which could have been easily mistaken as a snarl.

After about a minute of complete silence, I decided to re-initiate the conversation.

"So, you come here often?" Said as if it were taken out of a bad pick-up lines book.

"Yeah, I come here all the time."

"You make a lot money?" I asked, eyeing the entrance to 'Orphan Avenue'.

"Heh, yeah I do okay. I make it okay, for what I do. I don't have my own place or anything." My heart was breaking.

"Really why not?"

"Dude, what the hell is your problem? Why did you ask me here to give you all of your dumb shit. I know you don't want it."

"What's your problem?" I asked, offended.

"Look, you want a little company, or something? Are you lonely? Need a friend? A helping hand?" he looked at me with those eyes, those beautiful green, brown, grey orbs, and a shiver went down my spine. I felt my cock twitch in my slacks.

"N-no, I don't want anything like that, I just..."

"Wait a second, you know what I do for a living, but you don't want anything? Not even a little?" I felt like he was trying for something, trying to get me to say something.

"No! I just want my things, that's all, honestly." He looked at me in disbelief. Then he looked all of the sudden relieved, like the tension had been cut, or like he had gotten a good report card and would escape the confines of summer school.

"You'll have your things by tomorrow." I opened my mouth to protest, but he stopped me as he got up to leave.

"And don't bother pretending to be upset. That stuff isn't worth the window I broke to get in." And with that, he turned to leave, but not before saying good night to Peggy, who had so obviously been waiting for him to say so it made me sick. Although, why should I care? This whole mess had me confused and feeling rather unlike myself. New emotions I was not prepared to deal with were all of the sudden emerging all at once and I couldn't drink to cope. I wouldn't drink to get through it. I had to be alert and in tune, not numb and sick in bed. I paid the bill and left, tipping Peggy generously to improve her attitude, especially if Lone Wolf and I were going to eat there on a regular basis. I stopped in my tracks, not two feet from my car door. What sense did that make? Why would I worry about things like that? It wasn't like he and I were in a relationship. And if we were, what the hell kind of relationship would it be? I decided the only way to get through it was to ask an absolute expert on the subject: My ex-wife's brother, Roger. He was a hairstylist uptown ('nuff said).

I practically raced home and stepped out of my shoes, picked up the phone and dialed. I knew Roger's number by heart as he was there giving me constant advice on dealing with his sister during her 'screaming fits'. The phone rang several times, then the answering machine picked up. 'Hey, this is Roger! Leave me a message and I'll get back to you when I'm done being fabulous or when I'm pissing drunk. Bye-ee!'

"Roger, this is..." Someone picked up the phone.

"Hi, Roger?"

"No, Roger's not here, he's..." I could hear a scuffle and some sort of indistinct slapping noise.

"Dammit, this isn't your phone! Who the hell are you anyway? Ben, take him out of here, seriously! Hello?"

"Oh! Roger I'm so glad you're home!"

"Michael? Ohmigawd! Everyone it's Michael!" I could hear several men say 'Hi' loudly.

"Do they know me?"

"Does it matter? I know you and that's what counts!" So very perky, that Roger.

"So, how are things?" he asked, drawing things out as long as possible.

"Well, I actually had a question I think you could help me answer.

"Is it about Jessie? That nasty little tramp!" I almost laughed.

"No, not about her. It's about something..."

"Yay, that leaves it at hair or men and I do both very well!" He said loudly. The party in the background cheered.

"Well, it's not hair," I replied, as Roger loved the suspense and drama involved in such a situation. Then I heard him breath in loudly on the other end.

"OH! You have a man question! Michael, are you queer?" It sounded like Michael was reliving every Christmas time ever all at once.

"Um...no, that's not..." I began.

"Everyone! Michael is queer!" I heard the party rejoice.

"Actually, Roger, I'm not."

"Never mind everyone, Michael's not gay after all." The party let out a saddened groan. I rolled my eyes, ready to get on with things.

"Roger can you go somewhere we can talk in private?"

"God, Michael this sounds serious are you okay?"

"I am if you're alone."

"Okay, yeah I'm alone now, what is it?" I loved talking to Roger. He always sounded so concerned for me, even if it was just for the juicy gossip.

"Look, I'm trying to figure out some feelings..."

"Well what kinds of feelings?"

"Well, you know how you feel when you're into someone, and you get all nervous? Your palms sweat, and you say really dumb things, get clumsy?"

"Oh honey, that was all of high school!"

"But, you understand what I'm talking about? Think of those feelings, and where you felt them, who you felt them about."

"Mmm, okay. Hey this is kind of erotic..."

"Now imagine you feel that way about a woman." The next thing I heard was a loud clang and a muffled moan.

"Sorry, sorry. Oh, I see your problem."

"Great."

"So you used to be gay, but now you think you're attracted to a woman?"

"No, Roger. I'm straight." Silence and then a gasp.

"Oh, Michael, I'm sorry, I didn't realize. This is serious, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't have called if it weren't."

"I like to think that you'd call anyway, Michael."

"But I only have good gossip when I'm in crisis," I said, lightning the situation.

"Well that's true."

"So, what do you think?"

"I'm not sure yet Michael. Have you had sex yet?"

"No, no. Nothing like that, just a...I guess an infatuation of sorts."

"Ooh, good. An infatuation, that means that either he has something you desire, or..."

"Or?"

"Or you really do just desire him. It's been known to happen Michael. And besides, no one is really just straight or just gay. Homosexuality lies on a continuum; we all fall somewhere in the middle."

"Wow, you know I've never thought of it that way, before. It sounds kind of like a crock, but it does put a lot of things into perspective."

"I don't know honey, I'm not dear abbey, but listen, if you need some advice, just call again."

"What should I do now?"

"Do a little experiment."

"This isn't going to be weird is it?"

"Probably a little at first. How often do you pleasure yourself?"

"Roger, I don't really think..."

"Michael!"

"Okay, at least once or twice a day."

"Good, that means you're normal and that everything is working as it should. How often during that time are you watching pornography of some sort. That's like magazines, video's, whatever."

"Almost all,"

"Okay, I'll be right there!"

"Wait Roger!" But he had already hung up. My mind raced, trying to figure out what Roger wanted me to do.

Within minutes Roger was over with his posse in tow.

"Everyone, this is Michael." A baritone chorus of "Hi Michael" and "Hey there" surrounded me. I blushed a little, as Roger was obviously 'showing me off' as he called it. They giggled a little and Roger turned towards them, shooing them away and emerging from the group with a plain brown paper sack. The part moved down onto the sidewalk to their cars, waving goodbye. I returned their waves and closed the door behind them. I turned back to Roger.

"What was that all about?"

"Oh I was just sho..."

"Showing me off, right. So what's going on, what's in the bag?"

"Hold your horses there, Impatient Sally. We have to do a little cleaning first." And with that, Roger headed toward my room, plainly resolved to do whatever it was that he was going to do. I followed him upstairs to my bedroom, where he easily found my stack of porn, strewn about the floor. He picked up everything and put it in his sac. In return he handed me one magazine.

"Here." He looked please with himself.

"What is this, Roger?" I stared at the cover of the magazine. It was one of Roger's gay magazines, featuring a sculptured youth in nothing but a pair of dirty overalls like a grease monkey or something.

"Okay, so for the next week, you have no porn, but this. If you don't want to use it, you don't have to. So that will leave you with what?" I stared at him blankly.

"Your imagination, silly. So you'll have to fantasize to get off."

"Oh, I see, so whoever I fantasize about, that means I'm gay or straight?"

"Not necessarily, but I want you to keep a log." With a great flourish Roger brought out a plain black notebook.

"Jot down the night, the time, the sex and the satisfaction factor of each fantasy. Say you fantasize about a guy one night and it's not really that satisfying, fine. Write that down."

"Sure, okay." I said, in a bit of disbelief that Roger could have come up with something so sensible. We made our way downstairs and I saw him to the front door.

"And please call me, I could set you up with one of my cute friends."

"Knock it off Roger."

"I'm just joking. But I seriously miss you." We hugged and Roger goosed me (as was customary). I heard some hoots from the cars outside and laughed.

"Bye Rog, drive safe." I called after him. He waved, hopped into his car and drove off. I let out a huge sigh and then went back upstairs, ready to go to sleep.

My eyes closed, and not a moment later, I heard a noise outside my room. My heart raced and I looked around for the other candlestick. Picking it up, I headed toward my door cautiously turning the knob and exiting. No one was on the top floor, and as I looked down to the main floor, there stood a dark figure. It didn't move, or say anything at first. I got closer, to get a better look. As I moved into better lighting, I saw him, Lone Wolf. It was surprisingly happy to see him, glad that he was there and not someone else.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine," he said, and for the first time since I saw him, he was uneasy and nervous. You could almost say scared.

"Come on, sit down, you look tired. Do you want something to drink? Coffee, or...?" I couldn't believe I was offering him something and not calling the police.

"Actually that would be great," he said with a smile as he sat down. In about a minute I brought the coffee in, deftly turning on the living room lights with my elbow. This brought a whole new light to his personage, and then I saw.

"Oh, God! You're bleeding!" A small trickle of blood trailed from a small cut on his forehead.

"It's nothing," he said as I got up close for an inspection.

"Hold on, I've got some stuff upstairs. I'll be right back." With that, I sped upstairs. I retrieved a Band-Aid, some Neosporin and a wet cloth and sped back downstairs, urgently, as if he were too good to be true, like he was going to melt or disappear. But much to my relief, he was still there, sitting on the sofa, apparently dozing. The washcloth revived him.

"Oh, sorry."

"No, don't be sorry, here, let me wipe this clean real quick and..."

"Thanks," he said, taking the cloth from me, "I can do it myself. I'm a big boy now."

"Sure, sorry. So what happened, if you don't mind me asking?" A look from him told me that he did, in fact, mind.

"It must be pretty rough out there."

"You have no idea."

"No, I don't suppose I do. I'm a lawyer you know."

"So what, do you want me to pay for my time with you?"

"No, I just see some pretty awful things sometimes, so I do have some idea, but I really don't know...can't know what you're going through, or what you've been through."

"Yeah," he said, and handed me the bloodied cloth. After much protest, he finally agreed to let me put the Band-Aid on. Then, after we both finished our cups of coffee and he was working on his second, I asked

"So, why? Why did you choose me? My house, why did you come here, of all places? Weren't you afraid I'd come after you or call the police, or something?"

"No, it wouldn't matter even if you did call the police."

"What?"

"I work for the police. Not directly, but I give them license plate numbers, addresses of Johns, I pull bogus robberies to get some of the younger hookers into Juvie...lot's of stuff."

"So you thought I was a John?"

"Well at first I did. You came looking and I just thought, that you were desperate and lonely," I pretended to be hurt, although it was pretty true.

"A lot of the Johns are just lonely married men, whose wives use sex as a weapon, a manipulator. So they come to us for...relief."

"So why did you come here?" He was so close, I could feel his breath on me when he spoke.

"I knew you would help me." He smiled a little, shy smile.

"How did you know?" I was totally lost in his eyes.

"Just a hunch."

"Oh, and what's to keep me from calling the police right now?" He looked me up and down, sizing me up and smiled again. I felt a knot in my stomach and my skin was warm all over.

"Well, that for one thing," he said as he pointed at my crotch. To my horror, a rather embarrassing and apparent hard-on was visible through my underwear.

"Oh my God," I said, adjusting myself and crossing my legs, placing a pillow over my crotch for good measure.

"Yeah, and that happened a couple of times at dinner as well."

"How do you know it was you? How do you know it isn't just a guy thing?" I asked, getting a little panicky. He shot me a quizzical look, and then relaxed back to his cool demeanor.

"C'mon, man! Why the hell else would you come looking all over town for some garbage? In my life, if I know one thing, it's what people need, what they think they need, and what they want."

"Oh and in your expert opinion?"

"You? You want someone to prove you wrong. You want someone to prove to you that you aren't gay."

"Well of course I'm not gay."

"Right. Say, do you chase teenage guys around town all the time, or is that just a weekend thing?" I was shocked and hurt. I wasn't exactly prepared for all of this. I hadn't even had time to try out Roger's experiment. He must have seen the expression on my face.

"Look, I'm sorry. I just have never been chased around by a closet gay man."

"No, it's...it's okay. I'm not really sure of what's going on exactly, I mean with me. I just divorced for the third time, and, you know maybe I'm just going through some sort of weird phase."

"Hey, yeah maybe so."

"But you know what? In the mean time, I need some company. A roommate."

"A roommate? Me?" He pointed to himself and looked shocked. "But I can't pay for rent."

"Are you kidding me? This place is paid for, I had it built myself."

"I knew lawyers made a lot, but I didn't know they made that much."

"I don't. My father was really wealthy." He looked around the living room.

"Okay, really really wealthy," I admitted.

"Then why did you have a job?"

"I don't know, to feel normal I guess."

"How normal do you feel now?" he smiled.

"Not very, I guess you're right." A pause. "So how about it? You stay here and keep me company. That's all I ask. Oh and you can't 'work' while you live here, and you can't do any drugs or anything."

"Calm down. I don't do drugs, I don't have any friends to bring over and yes, I promise not to 'work' while I live here."

"So that's a yes?" I was practically giddy.

"Sure," he said, giving me an easy grin. We shook hands and smiled at each other. His grip was strong and firm, without actually being overpowering. The handshake lingered and we found ourselves looking at each other. Deeply searching each others eyes, seeing if we trusted each other, seeing if the other was holding anything back, seeing... I'm not sure who initiated it or even whose hand came to the back of whose head, but our lips parted and we inched closer, until we melted into each other in one glorious, blissful, passionate, full mouthed kiss. It was deep, soulful and languorous, as we explored the far reaches of each other's mouths. I brought up my hand and caressed his cheek, feeling it's warmth, his stubble, his smooth cheeks and bristly chin. The kiss broke and we rested, foreheads together, looking into each other's eyes. He moved in again, but I pulled back. At first he looked hurt. He sat back on the couch and stared down at his hands, not saying anything. Finally I spoke.

"Okay, look. I've never really done anything like this before. I've never even thought about being gay, or anything like that." He shuffled his feet nervously, which was really kind of cute.

"But, I am sure of one thing," I said as I brought his head level with mine, "You are the best kisser I have ever had the pleasure to exchange kisses with. Better than any sorority cheerleading bimbo could ever be. It was like we were inside each other, you knew what I wanted, and I felt what you wanted, it was amazing, and I definitely don't regret it." He looked down again, as if thinking something over.

"But please, for this 'old man's' sake, if there is anything between us, and God help me I hope there is, I'm going to need to take it slow, or at least at my pace." We sat there for a bit longer. Then he looked up at me and smiled his killer smile.

"Fine," he said, kissing me playfully on the cheek, "So where do I sleep?" I showed him to Jessica's spare room, the room she stayed in when she hated me, which was most of the time. It was totally furnished minus a couple of pictures from the wall. It was just next door to my room and had it's own bathroom, so he would feel safe and have a little privacy.

"Do you have anything you need to get?" I asked.

"Any what?"

"Well, any possessions or anything like that?"

"Nope, just me and these clothes."

"Hey, you know what though?"

"What?"

"If you're going to live here there are two things that you must do immediately." He rolled his eyes as if this was beginning to be a drag already.

"What?" He put his hands on his hips.

"First, you must shower and put on some clean underwear and pajamas. Tonight. Jessica's got plenty of towels and things you can use, I'll get you a change of clothes and some toiletries."

"'Kay," he said in his careless, nonchalant way.

"And second," again he rolled his eyes, "Second, you have to tell me your name, if you are going to live here."

"I thought I told you, sorry. My name is Gabriel." 'How fitting,' I thought to myself, 'for the boy with the face of an angel.'

"Alright, Gabriel. I will see you tomorrow morning at about eight o'clock, we've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow." His mouth dropped open.

"But...but that's so early," he said with a hint of a whine in his voice.

"Well then I suggest you hurry up with that shower and get to bed."

For the first time in months, I was happy and smiling. I was smiling a pleased, contented smile instead of a sloppy, drunken smile. I walked into my room, threw on my favorite pair of pajama bottoms, hurried to my bathroom and collected an extra toothbrush, hairbrush, cologne I never used, deodorant and a new shaving razor. My mind sped with images of the activities we could spend tomorrow doing. Shopping for food, clothes, maybe a haircut, get him some books, a TV, since Jessica had taken the big one from her room. The DVD player in there still worked, but I told her it was broken, so she left it. Maybe he'd want some art supplies or a basketball. I'd have bet he never got a chance to discover any hobbies out on the streets. I heard the shower running in the next room. I swallowed hard and tried to force images of his naked body under the water from my mind. I still needed to set things straight (as it were) with myself before involving another person, especially a young person, like Gabriel. Imagine the damage I could do, not to mention the damage the world had already done. I rushed through my things and picked out a pair of silky lounge pants and a pair of boxer briefs that I thought would like nice on him. We would go shopping tomorrow, so he could do with a few of things from my closet for the time being. I chose a kind of olive green stretch dress shirt and a pair of worn-in blue jeans I hadn't been able to fit into for a while. A white undershirt, some socks and a pair of black boots I had stuffed in the back of my shoe pile and he was set.

Nervously, I took a deep breath and walked into his room. The shower was still going, so I was sure there wouldn't be any surprises, no matter how nice they would be. I placed everything at the foot of his bed. He had carelessly strewn his dirty clothes all over the floor, and as I began to pick them up, I ran across it. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but then as I got closer, I could recognize the pronounced cup of a jockstrap. I picked them up with the rest of the clothing and thrust them all into the dirty clothes hamper, as if they had tried to bite me. But I was determined not to have him walk in on me sniffing his underthings. He had had enough sexual deviants doing and asking strange things of him, without having someone who was supposed to be trying to help him join the creeps in that category. A voice behind me startled me.

"Hey, thanks for picking my stuff up." I turned around and there stood Gabriel, his impressive frame silhouetted against the light from the bathroom. He stood there dripping wet with a towel around his waist and his legs spread in a wide stance. I just stared, perhaps a little too long. Thankfully, Gabriel snapped me out of my hypnotic state.

"I was going to pick them up after, but you beat me to it. I'm really not a slob." I was startled when I figured out that he was apologizing.

"Hey, don't worry about it. No one is angry with you. I'm sure you were going to pick them up, I just got to them first." I tried to bring it up as casually as possible, but considering the subject, that was going to be nigh impossible.

"So, you wear a jock?" Dumb, dumb, so very dumb.

"What? Oh yeah. Well, that was all I had."

"I see," I said trying to regain some composure. "Well, I don't have any here, all I had were these." I showed him the clothes I had chosen. He looked at the clothes, then up at me, down at the clothes again and then at his feet, in his nervous manner. At first I thought he was laughing, his shoulders shook with force, but as I tipped his head up level with mine, I realized he was crying. For a long time, we sat there like that, my holding his head, he crying from his soul. I'm not sure why he was crying, but I knew he needed a friend. I held him in my arms and rocked him back and forth, pressing him to my chest, his violent sobbing subsiding after a few minutes. A couple of times he tried to explain himself through the tears, and once he tried to apologize, but I shushed him and he continued crying until he was done. When he had finished, he wiped his hands across his eyes, drying his tears. I reached to the nightstand and held out a box of Kleenex for him.

I laid him down on the bed and just stayed there next to him for some time, stroking his face and hair. He was asleep almost instantly. As I lay in my own bed, I asked myself what I had done, had promised, by taking this boy in. Would I now be responsible for him, for his well being, his happiness? Would I be responsible for his schooling, for finding a place for him to stay should he be unhappy with me? What about if we got into a relationship, wouldn't that just complicate things horribly? My sleep was restless, troubled with questions and anxieties. My conclusion: I'd find out when we got there.

The next day was cool, foggy and grey, the perfect day to spend inside shopping. The obvious priority was clothing, even though my clothes fit him rather well. We visited all of my favorites: Banana Republic, Gap, Structure and some more contemporary shops like Anchor Blue, Zumiez and Hot Topic (just for fun). Gabriel looked like a dream in just about everything he tried on, and he was the envy of all of the boutique boys who couldn't help but run back and catch glimpses, and who were more than willing to give him his due compliments and then some. I've never seen so many people just stop and openly stare at a patron trying on clothing in a store. He chose several dress shirts, some sweaters, nice khakis and jeans, some loafers, a pair of boots and a pair of flame Dr. Martens from Hot Topic, which he said he couldn't resist, even if he would never wear them. I couldn't have cared if he wanted to buy ten pairs. Being out with him all day, without running after him, knowing that after it was all done he would go home with me, and we would be in the same house and we could talk and just be, it was like a dream. He wouldn't have to hook; I wouldn't be alone. I really wanted him to confide in me, rely on me and take advantage of the opportunities that life and I were offering him. After he had his fill of clothes shopping, we headed to radio shack for a TV and anything else he wanted. He picked up a Playstation 2 and several games that he said he missed playing back home at the arcade. It struck me as odd to hear him talk about back home, as I assumed he had always live here in the city. I'd have to remember to ask him about it later. We ate at a McDonald's for lunch. We laughed and talked, making fun of the boutique queens and all of the funny looking, or bizarre people we had encountered walking around the strip. We continued our shopping at Pier 1, to see if there was anything he wanted to furnish the room with that wasn't already there. Well as it turns out, we spent a small fortune and decided to just redo the whole damn room. Just for the record, Gabriel has impeccable taste for a homeless prostitute. He chose to do everything in what our assistant "Gregory" called Art Nouveau, a 'decadent art movement style with lots of curves and organic shapes'. We bought about half a dozen lamps, a boudoir, new sheets and bedspreads for a brand new four-poster bed, which was a canopy style to be delivered later that afternoon.

Exhausted, but excited we sat in the Rodda paint store, waiting for our paint to finish mixing.

"Wow, Michael, how can you afford to do this?"

"Gabriel, I have more than enough money. This is nothing, I'm glad to do it." He smiled and I winked at him. "Especially for you," I added.

"I think that thank you sounds cheep, but I'll say it anyway, thank you Michael. For everything."

"Gabriel, I meant to ask you, what about hobbies. Is there anything you like to do, draw, sports, music, anything at all?" He thought for a moment.

"Well, I've never tried it, but I've always wanted to paint."

"Really?"

"You sound surprised."

"Oh, well I guess I just didn't think that was what you were going to say. I thought maybe tennis, or models or cars, but if it's painting you want to try..." I said, paying the clerk, "Then paint you shall." I frequented an art shop on 5th that had really excellent drawing pads and pencils and such, as from time to time I felt the need to express myself artistically and I was reasonably good at it (if I do say so myself). Gabriel chose several medium sized canvases and one rather large 18" by 24" canvas. We bought up a set of acrylic paints (good for beginners), and some choice paint brushes, paid and rushed home, eager to start on our projects. But before we did:

"So, Gabriel, is there anything else you need? Or anything you want for that matter?" Gabriel sat and thought for a bit, then stared at his feet in that uneasy sort of way.

"What is it?" He looked as if he were about to say something, then sighed heavily, shaking his head as if to dismiss an idea.

"C'mon, you can say it. What?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking me to a certain store..."

"To get what?" I still had no idea what he wanted.

"Well, I'd like to pick up some lubricant, and maybe a couple of magazines, if that's okay. We don't have to if you don't want to." I smiled at his timidity.

"Of course, is there a certain store you wanted to go to?" He directed me to a shop close to home. Inside was surprisingly clean and classy. Gabriel picked out a couple kinds of lube (I noticed one was flavored) and also a magazine, a novel and a movie, then excused himself to go to the bathroom. While I hadn't noticed the prices of anything else, I noticed that the price of porn was astronomical. It had been a while since I had bought any. I was browsing through some of the new releases when I heard a muffled cry from the arcade area. I dismissed it thinking that someone hadn't used lube while having some arcade sex (a gay pastime Roger had clued me in about during one of his long conversations concerning gay men he hated but loved to talk about). I paid for the items and waited for Gabriel to return from the restroom. A rap at the front door caught my attention. It was Gabriel and he was motioning me to hurry. He looked panic stricken, and so I hurried, opened the car and we sped off. He was breathing heavily and sweating. Blood was flowing freely from a cracked bottom lip. "What the hell happened to you?" I asked, handing him a tissue from under the seat.

"My pimp was in there. He made eye contact with me while I was picking out my movie. He got upset when I told him I wasn't working for him anymore. He thought you were a John and that I was working for someone else. I told him I wasn't working today or ever again. He didn't like that either, so he busted my lip. I've been trying to get away from him forever, but he always said he'd kill me. This is the first time he's actually tried, though."

"Why haven't you turned him in to the police?" I was a little unnerved.

"Don't know where to find him. He would always find me. There isn't just one place he can be found, or one place he visits, and his workers don't work out of a central location like the kids that work for Henry and Madame. It's impossible to track him." It was obvious that Gabriel had tried to get him caught before.

"Well, that isn't going to happen anymore. I'm going to make a couple of calls, and we'll fix him up on a date with a pig." I smiled and Gabriel smiled back. Cautiously and slowly, he scooted over in his seat and rested his head on my shoulder. I'd never felt like that before. Not only was Gabriel showing me affection, but we were also in public, in my car, driving around for everyone to see. I kissed the top of his head and continued home.

After our long day of shopping it was good to see the house. We crashed on the couch, not quite ready to unload the car. After a while, I asked if Gabriel wanted anything to drink, and got us a couple of iced teas. We set outside to bring the remaining effects inside, ending up with about three full armloads each. We put all of the art things in the studio and the bedroom things in the second hall closet, which was empty. Gabriel's closet was soon full, and his drawers filled with clothing enough for a small army. I suggested waiting until the rest of his bedroom stuff had been delivered to start in on the room, but Gabriel made it very clear that he wanted to be finished by the end of the day.

"Gabriel, that's very ambitious, but I'm not sure if the paint will dry by then."

"I wasn't always a hooker, you know." Not sure what to say I said nothing.

"My dad was a construction worker, we used to leave the windows open and put an oscillating fan on, two if we had them, and the paint would not only be dry, but we could furnish a whole room in an afternoon."

"Wow, he sounds like an amazing guy," I said, not sure how far Gabriel wanted to take a discussion about his father.

"He was." Gabriel said solemnly, and dropped the subject.

"It's about twelve o'clock now, I think the delivery will be here by one-thirty."

"Good, that gives me enough time to give you this, " Gabriel said, as he got closer. His arms slid around my waist, and for the second time, I felt the shear strength of this young man. He pulled me closer and we sort of stayed like that for a while, our hips together, our legs apart, our eyes gazing. Gabriel tilted his head and I tilted mine. My heart raced with ecstatic excitement as our lips parted and we exchanged a brief kiss. The second kiss however went on forever, more like a series of long kisses that never quite parted all the way. We stayed together, inseparable, tasting each other, exploring each other with our tongues and hands. My hands slid down his strong back to his pert ass, which was soft and plump, as his hands felt my chest and my sides, pinching my new love handles. I giggled and we parted the kiss. I looked at my watch. We had been like that for the better part of an hour.

"I don't know what's going on, Gabriel. But I do like it."

"I'm glad, you sure act like it. You know, I don't just go around letting everyone take a piece of ass whenever they want."

"Well even if you did, they'd be out of luck because your ass has a date with my hands for the next..." The doorbell cut me off. We didn't want to leave the bedroom, but knew that we could continue were we left off any time we wanted. We straightened and checked hair and re-tucked as we headed for the door.

"Hi, there. Um...delivery for a Mr. Michael Hart?" said the person on the other side of the door. Gabriel and I exchanged looks, after each of us had taken time to check out the deliveryman. He was like a Greek god that had a delivery uniform painted on his sculpted body. He was quintessential beefcake in every sense of the word. He had big arms, a broad chest, flat stomach, muscular thighs and calves and a rather pronounced package. His shirt was open a little, letting those who cared to peek at his tanned, hairless chest. He had a beautiful head of jet-black hair, done in a sort of greaser style, beautiful stark blue eyes and a mouthful of straight, white teeth. Dumbly, I took the register and signed a name (I'm not even sure what I wrote). We helped him unload the truck, enjoying the view and taking in the beauty of what had been displayed before us like fresh air. Gabriel and I kept looking at each other and giggling like little kids.

We finished in no time, and as the deliverygod was about to leave:

"Oh wait, you must be thirsty. Come in and have a drink," I offered.

"I can't, I've got some more deliveries to make, sorry," he apologized. We watched him leave and sighed after he had disappeared down the street and around the corner. Maybe he knew what we were thinking, or maybe we seemed desperate to him. We couldn't help but feel a little glum after he left.

"Well, I'm going to get started!" Gabriel announced, and bounded upstairs. I asked if he wanted help, but he declined, saying that he had a lot to think about and the labor would help clear his mind. I agreed, and decided to busy myself with the wash and some dishes. As a surprise to Gabriel, I started to cook the only dinner I knew how: stir fry, chicken egg rolls and rice. I had picked it up from my first wife, Ming, and to this day it's the only thing I can cook pretty much from scrap that tastes halfway decent. I could only hope that Gabriel shared my passion for oriental cuisine (a big plus for the marriage with Ming).

Dinner was finished, although I had made way too much, and sure enough, I heard the clomp of youthful feet making their way downstairs.

"Mmmm, smells good!" Gabriel said as he entered the dining room with a hungry look and a tired smile.

"Good, I hope you like it, I think I made enough for a couple of nights so eat up." Gabriel sat down and picked up his fork. I cleared my throat rather loudly, which solicited a look from Gabriel.

"Wash your hands, Mr." I said in my best condescendingly parental tone. Gabriel rolled his eyes and got up to go to the bathroom.

Just as Gabriel had returned, the phone rang. It was the delivery guy, apparently there were some parts of our order that had been left at the warehouse and he was going to drop them off before he went home. I said fine and thanked him for his courtesy, finally getting to sit down to dinner with Gabriel. During dinner we didn't talk much, I think we were both pretty starved. The conversation was casual and not too deep. I asked him when he thought his bedroom would be done. He thought by the end of the night, or at least early tomorrow. I asked him if he noticed anything missing from the delivery, but he couldn't think of anything, though it was possible that something had been missing, as it was a rather large order. Gabriel told me a few dirty jokes that had me choking on my dinner. We laughed until we cried, and by the time he had told all of the dirty jokes he knew, our sides hurt and our faces ached.

The doorbell startled me, as I was lost in Gabriel-land and had completely forgotten about the order. I opened the door and noticed immediately that the deliveryman was not only not carrying anything noticeable, but he had also taken the time to go home and change and also to shower (made apparent by the smell of shampoo, cologne and the faintest hint of soap). I smiled warmly and greeted him, opening the door wide and gesturing for him to enter. The tight sweater he wore showed of his built chest and arms, and his flat stomach. He was wearing nice slacks, which accented the prominent bulge at his crotch and seemed to caress his ample, plump hind-end. I knew he wanted more than to drop off a delivery by the way he walked, his mannerisms, his speech all spelled sex. He wanted it as much as I did, and I could tell by the look in Gabriel's eyes that he wanted exactly what I did.

"So, there's a part missing from our order?" I asked, assuming that there wasn't anything at all missing. However, he pulled a plastic packet of screws out of his pocket and held them up. I shot Gabriel a surprised look, and he returned it. I don't think either of us were expecting that.

"You can't put that bed together without these."

"Where did you find those, how did you know they were missing?" I asked, curious as ever. The probability that he found those lying around his van and figured that they were ours after a day full of deliveries was remote at best.

"Well, um..." I noticed that he had turned a lovely pink shade as he blushed while thinking of a story. "You see, I found these on my front seat and I remembered that I had taken them apart from the order so they wouldn't get lost while I was driving. But they fell down into the seat and I found them afterwards." I smiled politely. 'Bullshit, I thought those screws were at the warehouse,' I thought, although I could have cared less that he had lied just to come back and see us.

"Say, why don't you come in and share some dinner with us?" He looked hesitant.

"No, I couldn't..." He wasn't convincing.

"C'mon, I made way too much and it's just going to go to waste. Please?" I looked at Gabriel, who was smiling that heart melting, crotch tingling smile. Obviously moved by our display of generosity, the deliveryman sat down and ate with us. We went through the rest of the meal in almost silence, giving each other looks while eating, trying to figure out what was going on, feeding the sexual tension at the dinner table. This stranger, eating with us, who wanted us, as we wanted him. I couldn't believe it when I felt the deliveryman's hand on my thigh, stroking it gently up and down. He went too far up to my crotch to be stroking it like a close friend, but he wasn't fondling me and getting nasty right away, which was such a turn on. He turned to me and grinned like a child who was doing something he knew he wasn't supposed to, and having fun doing so. I noticed also that Gabriel's face had gone quite red. I felt the fabric of the deliveryman's pants on my knee and knew that Gabriel was getting special attention from our guest as well. I announced that dessert wouldn't be for about an hour and that I wanted to watch a movie in the theater set up in the basement of the house. Gabriel and the deliveryman's eyes widened as I got up to clear the tables and could see plainly that I was as hard as they were. They got up to help clear, which proved difficult with a hard-on, as we kept bumping into each other trying to avoid running into another's erection in the kitchen. My cock began to soften slightly as we headed downstairs, and upon turning the mood lighting on in the theatre, I noticed the trip downstairs had the same effect on Gabriel and the deliveryman, who then introduced himself as Jonathan.

"Well Jonathan, have a seat, I've got a movie I think we're all in the mood for." Intrigued, Jonathan sat on the futon feeling the soft chenille throw in his fingers and waited patiently with Gabriel next to him as I pulled out a porno DVD I had bought while Gabriel had bought his lube at the porn store. This porno featured a multitude of rather handsome men from the Czech Republic. One in particular caught my attention, the cover boy. He was tanned and muscular, with dark hair, piercing blue eyes and a face to melt the coldest cock. Apparently he was in more than just one movie, indicated by the 'is he in everything?' the clerk muttered as he sold it to me.

I sat on the couch on the other side of Jonathan and waited for the movie to begin. I wondered if Gabriel and he were as nervous as I was. If anything were to happen, it would be my first time with a man, let alone a threesome of men and it would be Gabriel and my first time together, seeing each other naked and in a very sexual situation. I wondered if I shouldn't just leave Gabriel with Jonathan and let him enjoy himself. I looked over towards Gabriel. He looked at me and then at Jonathan, who was watching the beginning of the movie intently. Gabriel's eyes went from mine to Jonathan and back, and I caught his sort of quizzical expression like he wanted to know what I wanted. I went upstairs for some water and motioned Gabriel to join me. We met in the kitchen.

"Michael are you sure about this?"

"Am I sure about what?"

"About this, about him, Jonathan. About sex with a man. Michael, you don't even know if you like it." Gabriel got close to me and rested his head on my chest, closing his arms around my torso. So completely aroused by Gabriel, I found my erection bulging painfully in the confines of the briefs I wore that day.

"But I like you, see?" I pulled him away and showed him the rather thick erection in my pants. He was surprised at first, and then his expression melted into a coquettish blushing grin.

"Yes I see that you feel this way about me..." he said, grabbing my clothed cock in his hands with intent. I gasped and my knees went weak as he began to stroke it while we spoke.

"But are you sure you want our first time to be with another person? Am I not enough for you?" he smiled as I began to breath harder and my cheeks went that lustful ruddy color.

"Gabriel, I...I didn't know if you wanted to do that with me. I thought you might want to see me doing it and then decide if you wanted to, you know, go through with it."

"Go through with it? You make it sound like a bank robbery," Gabriel said, which made me laugh. Gabriel looked at me in a loving way, making his face look more handsome than normal. His eyes glistened in the light and his smile was making my cock throb.

"Michael, I've seen enough of you to know that I would be completely comfortable having sex with you several times a day everyday. Just the same, I would be comfortable if things went on as they are now. I feel at ease with you, I love spending time together just you and me." He looked me in the eyes. "I feel safe with you. You make me want you, you make me want to please you and I want to make you proud of me someday." My eyes filled with tears and I smiled lovingly at him.

"I feel the same way," I said smiling and crying. "I want to be with you, protect you, love you and be your crutch when things are tough and your blanket while you sleep. I can't believe that we met, and that you are attracted to this mess of a human being is mind boggling. Why do you love me? Why did you choose me, why this place, why this time?"

"Because, you need me. I need you. Now, though, we need each other," Gabriel said as he stepped in towards me and I felt his shaft grind against mine as our mouths melted together in ecstatic, lingering harmony. Undone with pleasure, my hands roamed Gabriel's back and shoulders, pressing intently as if trying to bond even more deeply with him. I felt his teeth part, and as I opened wider, took his tongue deep into my mouth. I savored him, in all of his youth and passion. We partook of each other, our tongues and bodies intertwining in a deliciously flirtatious foreplay. The kiss, if you could call it something that simple, broke eventually and we just stayed in each other's arms, rocking back and forth to the rhythm of our beating hearts. My mind, having been totally lost in Gabriel and all of his beauty, was numb with pleasure and I had forgotten all about the man downstairs. So it was understandable when I jumped at his voice.

"Hey, you guys, the movie...I...oh," Jonathan noticed the both of us having a moment together. He smiled knowingly. Jonathan reached the door, but Gabriel called him back.

"Look, Jonathan, this is a new relationship and we haven't even, you know..." Jonathan looked puzzled and then, after a bit, a look of realization spread across his face. He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder, and then his other on Gabriel's.

"I understand, you guys, don't worry about it. I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't slightly disappointed, but maybe we could hang out later or something..." Jonathan trailed off. We all agreed that it would be fun indeed, and Jonathan left us his number before taking off in his Mustang.

We watched him drive down the block and then retired back to the theatre downstairs.

"Do you have a favorite movie, my dear?" I asked. Gabriel thought for a while.

"What do you have?" he asked thinking it would help narrow down his decision. I pressed display on the theatre remote and the two panels on either side of the television spun around to reveal a video and DVD collection to rival all others.

"How many are there?" Gabriel asked.

"Oh, hundreds. I won these in a drunken poker game from a friend of mine who owns a huge video rental chain. The idiot bet an entire store full of movies on a full house. I had a straight flush. He was a little, um, perturbed at first and of course accused me of cheating, but here they all are."

Gabriel sat there with his eyes wide, scanning the videos for one he might like. I pointed out the different sections to him: horror, romance, comedy, family, animation, martial arts, and musicals. Gabriel said he wasn't sure and for me to surprise him with one of my favorites. I told him to close his eyes and went instantly to the 'favorites' section I had set up. 'He's young so he might like a high school movie, like 'Bring It On' or 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion,' I thought. I traced my finger across several more pictures, some foreign, some a little dark, but I finally decided on either 'Chocolat' or 'Interview With A Vampire'.

I placed both in front of Gabriel and asked him to choose between the two. We settled on 'Interview' and put 'Chocolat' back for another time. I had special plans for 'Chocolat' anyway. The movie began to play and Gabriel and I settled in together on the couch. Before long the movie was entirely forgotten and Gabriel and I were in the throes of passion. As we became more and more intimate, and our shirts had been removed, I decided to recline the couch and pull it out to the futon, throwing off the chenille cover, revealing the leopard print comforter and black silk sheets underneath. Gabriel giggled as I nibbled his ear lobe, and then burst into laughter as I made growling noises and prowled around on the futon like a tiger.

"Oh, am I supposed to be some sort of tiger snack?"

"Honey, you're the main course," I said, and then pounced at him, catching his wrists and pinning him underneath, pressing my lips against his. With surprising strength he then rolled me on my back and began to kiss and nibble my neck. I squealed and squirmed helplessly against him, not that I really wanted to get away.

"You aren't going anywhere, Mr. Hart. You must answer for the terrible crime which you have been accused of allegedly committing."

"Ooh! Court, how exciting."

"You've been accused of being in love."

"Being in love?"

"Yes, accused of being in love with one Gabriel St. Claire."

"Your last name is St. Claire?" I looked dubious.

"Shutup," Gabriel smiled. "Don't dodge the question. Now are you guilty or not?" Pinned like that, Gabriel holding me down, I searched my mind, my heart. Did I love him? Did I know what love was? I only had known him for a short while, but in that short while I had had a wonderful time. Really wonderful, as a matter of fact I couldn't remember ever being happier with anyone else. I didn't care what people thought when we were together, I wasn't worried about him leaving, or being with me for my money. I tried to look for reasons that I didn't love him and came up with nothing but feelings of love...

"Well, Mr. St. Claire, I guess, although there is a stunning lack of evidence on the table, I would have to say that yes, I am indeed guilty of said love." Gabriel eyes widened and he sat back on his haunches, leaving him open for me to strike. I knocked him flat on his back and lay next to him. After a moment he spoke.

"Do you really? I mean, do you really love me?"

"Well of course I love you, you wouldn't be here if I didn't. But Gabriel, that's not the question you asked."

"What?"

"You asked if I was in love with you, and there is a difference."

"A difference, what do you mean? What difference?"

"The difference between loving someone and being in love with someone."

"But there isn't any difference."

"Oh, Gabriel, there's a very real difference, and it's an important lesson to learn. You can love someone without being in love with them."

"How?" This was going to be difficult, as emotions were high and if the wrong words were chosen, tempers could escalate. I thought carefully and finally decided:

"Gabriel, there are many ways to love a person and many ways to show that love. You can love someone like you love your parents, or a sister or a best friend. You know, the kind of love where you would do anything for that person, anything. You'd take a bullet for them, get dragged through hot coals, go the extra mile, pick them up when they're down and love them unconditionally, even if they do something stupid, or hurt you. That's loving someone. I know for sure that I love you, Gabriel," Gabriel sat up and looked down at his feet, as he was accustomed to doing when he was uncomfortable. I scooted up next to him and put my arm around him.

"Then there's being in love with someone. That's when you can't get them off of your mind, you think about them all of the time. They consume your thoughts and make you do things you never thought you would. You would go out of your way to do special things for them and it hurts, sometimes almost physically, when you are apart. That's what being in love is, and it takes time to know if you're actually in love with someone. But it all starts with love, and that's what we've got." I rubbed Gabriel's shoulder reassuringly and he laid his head on my shoulder, not saying anything.

"Do you understand any of that?" I asked, breaking the silence.

"I think so," he said uncertainly. "But I'm going to need some time. Time to figure out how I feel and what to do with those feelings, before we..." He looked at me, asking with his eyes if I knew what he was trying to say. I smiled and kissed the top of his head reassuringly. With that, Gabriel headed upstairs to bed, and I followed suit, cleaning up downstairs and finishing some dishes. I wasn't sure what I was doing and at times felt like I was as lost as Gabriel was in this whole thing. I don't think he realized that this was as new to me as it was. Still, in love I had had more experience and so the responsibility lay with me in that area.

I jumped into bed and turned off my lamp; tired from the emotional rollercoaster the day had proved to be. That night I didn't dream, but slept, clearing my mind of the questions and apprehensions I had about the budding relationship between Gabriel and myself.

I woke as the sun rose up and hit my window. The sun's rays cascaded in and reached my room with his beautiful golden arms, filling it with warmth and light. I turned to see what time it was when I noticed that old feeling of waking up to someone else in the bed. Gabriel lay there, his hands over his head, one leg over the side of the bed and his neck craned in the most uncomfortable position imaginable. Carefully I crept out of bed and tiptoed to the dresser, rummaging through the top drawer and pulling out my camera. Too precious for words, I decided to snap a photo of the man-boy and let it speak for itself. I actually got a couple pictures in before the clicking and advance of the camera woke the slumbering angel.

"Good morning, sunshine," I smiled and put the camera back in the drawer. Gabriel sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes.

"How did you sleep?" I asked as I walked over to the bed and sat down, lying parallel to him.

"Well, not too good at first, but after I came to sleep in here, I slept great."

"Did you have a bad dream or something?"

"Not really, it's just that the room, while the paint had dried still had some paint fumes, so I started to feel sick and came in here." I made an indistinct kind of grunt sound, which meant 'oh, all right', and we just stayed like that for a while. Things between Gabriel and I were like that for a while. We would go to bed separate and end up together in the morning. Gabriel, it turns out, had in fact finished high school, and didn't have any collegiate inclinations, although I made it very clear that he would have to go eventually. The room was a work in progress, as Gabriel got new ideas and kept rearranging furniture and adding or subtracting accents and colors.

One particular morning we woke and Gabriel went to take a shower, I took the time of course to admire his body and his fully extended cock hanging out of the fly of his boxers, and I just lay back and soaked in the grey day.

The phone rang. I picked it up and a familiar voice greeted me from the other end of the line.

"Michael! Wakey-wakey!"

"Oh, Roger, hi!" It was amazing, just who I needed for advice.

"So how is our little experiment going?"

"Um, well Roger, there have been some interesting developments."

"Really? As far as what?"

"As far as I have some 18 year old kid living in Jessica's spare bedroom."

"Tell me you're joking! What about the experiment?"

"Roger, listen..." over the next twenty minutes I rambled off all I could remember of the past several days and related to Roger. I told him that I needed some advice on what to tell Gabriel about love and also what to do about it myself and whether or not to take the relationship further.

"Well, I'm just going to have to interview Mr. Wet dream myself!"

"Roger, I'm not sure that would be a good idea."

"Nonsense, he's a hooker, Michael. He probably needs a haircut and he has to meet is Aunt Roger, n'est pas?"

"Listen, Roger..."

"Meet me at Hair Expressions on 10th in an hour! Byeeee!" I cursed Roger as I put the phone in the cradle. He was really a nice guy but he could be totally tactless and forward. I couldn't see him communicating too well with Gabriel. Regardless, if I ever wanted Roger to speak to me again, I would show up for the 'appointment' or risk death by bitching out.

I told Gabriel that we were meeting his Aunt Roger and told him not to ask questions until we got there. Gabriel agreed and said that he was going to do some decorating in his room before we left. He looked so very choice in his tight baseball type T-shirt and his tight Gap jeans. It was everything I could do to try and not blush when he walked by. I think he noticed a couple of times, but he never let on. Was I in love? What an irrational and unstable thing, love. So unpredictable, yet the stories are all the same aren't they? If you've heard one you've heard them all. It's so easy to give love advice to friends, but not at all easy to apply it to yourself and your own relationships. I sighed a huge sigh and just tried to be mellow for a while, as not to appear nervous in front of Gabriel.

We were about ready to leave, when I noticed the weather getting pretty bad. Thunder sounded outside and I heard the faint patter of rain on the windows. We hurried out to the car and made our way to tenth. Gabriel and I hadn't actually been past 15th for a while, as I lived on 21st. These streets (from about 10th to 1st) were Gabriel's old territory, and they must have held some terrible memories for him. His mood was pretty even the whole time, and his expression didn't change much. I stopped in front of the Hair Expressions and told Gabriel to prepare himself. Not sure what I meant, Gabriel kept asking me what was going on and what or whom we were going to meet. Nothing I could have said would have appropriately made him ready for 'Auntie Roger'.

As we entered, all of the hairdressers turned and looked our way. We walked toward the back, whispers and stifled giggles seemed to usher forth as we found Roger hard at work watching Dawson's Creek on the TV in the back room. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen Roger move as fast as he did to greet young Gabriel. Roger had gone out of his way to look as gay as possible. He was dressed in some sort of all leather deal, with a big pink triangle pinned to his left breast. He had decided to wear earrings only in his right ear and about every silver bracelet he owned was on his wrist, jangling around like a bunch of canning lids. I smiled and said nothing.

We all made small talk for a little bit, that is until Roger broke the ice, although more appropriately he shattered the ice into little tiny shards and then danced upon them to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".

"So, I hear you're Michael's new beau?" I could have seriously pissed my pants at that point.

"His what?"

"My what?"

"New beau," Roger looked at me as if I was supposed to be helping. When he saw that I was completely mortified and that Gabriel had no idea what he was talking about, he decided to drop it.

"Oh well, you know how us old queens will cook things up to talk about. Especially when we haven't heard from the source for the better part of a week!" He said, laughing and jabbing me in the ribs.

"So, Gabriel is it?" Gabriel nodded politely. "I'm Auntie Roger and this is my salon. I'm Michael's ex-wife's brother, but if I ever hear you mention her, I'll kick your tight little ass." Well apparently Roger found this hysterical, as he burst out into a rather loud fit of laughter (Gabriel laughed nervously) and left to the salon area to begin the 'makeover'. Gabriel looked at me, and I urged him to be patient and endure for the haircut. Roger spoke endlessly as he asked question after question, often not waiting for a response. Well, it took about an hour, but eventually he was done cutting, coloring, styling and plucking Gabriel's head and was ready to reveal the crowning achievement of his career. Roger had taken the beautiful Gabriel, and transported him to another plane of beauty, a plane on which very few humans were allowed to exist, I was sure. He looked as if God himself had given his stamp of approval on Gabriel's physical appearance. Everyone in the salon stopped and stared as we began to leave. Roger embarrassed Gabriel a bit by making him do a runway walk down the aisle of the store. We said our good-byes and received several phone numbers and a huge hug and kiss from Roger on our way out.

"I've never seen a standing ovation in a salon before," Gabriel said.

"Well, if I do say so, you deserved it. You look phenomenal." I smiled and pecked him on the cheek as he buckled up.

"Puh-leese! I'm not as good looking as you are."

"Who, me? The old man? I really don't think so Gabriel. You are too beautiful for words."

"You're not old."

"But I have a pot belly and love handles."

"Yeah but you can hardly notice them, and I'll bet you have something ridiculous like a home gym hidden somewhere in that mansion you own."

"No, I do not have a gym hidden in the mansion." He smiled.

"It's outside in the back," we both laughed, although I think he thought I was kidding. Of course I wasn't and he almost died as I later showed him the full gym and Olympic sized pool out back.

The wind, thunder and rain picked up outside as night fell and suddenly Gabriel was pacing back and forth in front of the window, apprehensive was an understatement.

"Gabriel what's wrong?" Gabriel could hear the concern in my voice.

"You've been so good to me, Michael."

"So? What does that have to do with anything?" Gabriel's gaze returned to the window. "Gabriel, what is going on?"

"Well, it's just that the weather's pretty bad right now."

"Yeah, but the house is okay, it won't blow over."

"No it's not that. I can remember on nights like this I would hide out at the YMCA, but sometimes there wouldn't be anywhere to stay and I'd have to find a box or a bridge..." Gabriel stopped short as lightning flashed and thunder crashed not too far behind it.

"So bad weather holds some bad memories for you?" Gabriel looked down at his feet.

"That and, while I was out there, on the streets...I made a couple of friends. Some friends that helped me through and gave me what they had when I didn't have anything or know anyone, kind of like you. They were about my age, though. Anyhow, it's just tough for me to know that they're out there, in this," Gabriel gestured out the window with his hand at the torrential rain that beat the hell out of the pavement. I was a little apprehensive at the thought of having some more homeless people staying the night at my house, but then remembered that they were quite young as well. I didn't care about possessions. I didn't care if anything was stolen, but I knew that if anything happened to Gabriel and it was my fault, I'd never be able to forgive myself. After about five minutes I grabbed some jackets from the front closet, and a couple of umbrellas and told Gabriel we'd find them. Gabriel wrapped his arms around my neck and thanked me profusely, saying that he knew just were to find them.

Before long, I found myself driving down by the bridge on Avenue A, looking for Gabriel's friends. There seemed to be a whole bunch of vagrants under the bridge and I bristled at the thought of one of them being Gabriel's pimp, however unlikely. Gabriel gave a shout and flung the door open, grabbing the jackets and an umbrella, galloping down the hill and returning about three minutes later, with two really wet people along side him. The shivering, drenched mass squeezed into the car and I set off for home. Gabriel and the other two figures were talking excitedly over the thunder. I just tried to concentrate on driving, as the rain had covered my windshield in a solid sheet of water. My windshield wipers seemed to do nothing for my visibility and I had to resort to sticking my head out of the window to see. Not my favorite technique for seeing in the rain, but the only one at my disposal at the time.

It ended up taking quite some time to make it back home, but I was glad when we did. I opened the front door, letting the sodden trio enter and drip where they may. I gave instructions to remove their wet clothing, as I would return with blankets and towels aplenty. I ran to the linen closet and found several wool blankets and nice terry cloth towels. As I returned, I was shocked to see that my guests had taken me quite literally and indeed removed all wet items of clothing, which at that point was indeed everything. The shock must've showed as Gabriel took the initiative and helped the others into towels and blankets. He ran upstairs to get them some clothes, and I showed them to the showers. I let the taller of the two use my shower, and the blonde used Gabriel's. Gabriel and I busied ourselves with the chore of heaving all of the wet clothing into the washer and began the arduous task of washing all of their clothing and all of the blankets and towels they had used.

"So that's them, huh?" I asked as casually as possible.

"Yep, that's them. Pretty cute, huh?"

"Yeah they are," I said, not realizing it. I blushed and turned away from Gabriel, hoping I didn't hurt his feelings with such an offhand comment like that. I could feel Gabriel's arms close around my chest as he laughed in my ear.

"Gotcha, " he said.

"You little shit," I giggled. After a slight pause, Gabriel continued:

"Yeah, that's them. The tall one, Isaac, he's older than I am. I think he's 20, maybe just almost 21. The blonde one is Joshua; he's older than I am by about six months. They both helped me out when I couldn't help myself. I haven't been able to pay them back yet."

"Gabriel, I'm happy to help your friends out, it's just that there are now two more people I don't know staying in the house. It's just going to take some getting used to. And I'm not sure how long they can stay here. What if they have guardians, or angry pimps or warrants out?" Gabriel smiled and assured me that nothing would happen, and that he would let them know the situation. We decided to go back upstairs and check on the two gentlemen, but not before stealing a quick kiss.

The boys were still showering when we came back upstairs, giving us plenty of time to sort through my wardrobe and find some clothes that they could use for the time being. Gabriel picked out some outfits that he thought they'd like, and placed them on the respective beds. I went downstairs to make some hot chocolate from an Old Spanish recipe my second wife, Maya, had taught me. It was hot and thick and dark and rich and stayed with you and warmed you for about an hour after you drank it. I had just finished setting the ridiculously large and loudly colored cups on the table when the threesome bounded down the stairs in excited conversation.

They sauntered into the kitchen in what seemed like a slow motion movie shot, the three of them walking in sync with each other. I could swear I felt drool escaping out of the corner of my mouth, although I shook myself back to reality in time to avoid a potentially embarrassing first impression. Getting a good look at Joshua, he was a very well built individual, with a nice chest and well-defined arms, much like Gabriel. His thighs were a little thicker and his calves a little bigger, a tad more athletic looking. His eyes were nicely shaped, but altogether different from Gabriel's big puppy-dog eyes, Joshua's were slightly more sunken, accented by his prominent brow and seemed to laugh and smile when he did. They sparkled with the same sort of mischievous delight as the other two boys.

Isaac was a good head taller than both Gabriel and Joshua. He had sandy blonde-brown hair and blue-green eyes, with long, thick eyelashes and full, rather kissable lips. He had big broad shoulders and a nicely toned torso. He had shapely, longish legs and tended to stand with his hand on his hip. Not in a fey sort of way, but in a masculine posture that seemed macho but relaxed. It actually made him look a little impatient or bored. All three of the boys had been blessed with incredible asses and were very developed in the front as well. I was lucky that I had been standing behind the island in the kitchen or I would have been making apologies for my hard-on. It was as if they had stepped out of the pages of an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog, although the boys in front of me were fully clothed at that point.

They all sat down at the table and I joined them with my own cup of the super cocoa. They chattered non-stop while sipping their drinks and complimenting me on my hot chocolate. I wanted to let them catch up on things and just enjoy their company rather than get involved and hog the conversation, so I kept pretty much quiet unless one of them asked me a question directly. My mind raced. What was I going to do with all of that hunky-ness walking around my house? I wanted to help them and make sure that they got on their feet, but I didn't want it to look like I had three 20 year old boyfriends, although I wouldn't have minded having them all. The conversation died out about 12:30 am and the boys excused themselves to bed. I showed them to the guest bedrooms, which were located on either side of Gabriel's room and mine. Isaac took the one closest to mine and Joshua took the bedroom closest to Gabriel. Each room was equipped with a dresser, mirror, bed, and a small TV but there were only toilets in Gabriel's and my room. The bathrooms had two entrances, one from each room, but all of the doors had locks to provide privacy. I had those built in case Jessica or Maya or Ming and I had had any children (ha!). I had made sure that the boys had found everything satisfactory before retiring to my own room, letting them know that if they needed anything at anytime to knock on my door. Not five minutes after I had turned down my own bed, there was a knock at the door.

It was Gabriel coming to say goodnight. He looked supercute in just a pair of flannel pajama bottoms. We kissed and hugged goodnight, a new ritual which was to last for all time.

"Goodnight Michael, " Gabriel said as he turned to leave.

"Goodnight Michael," a falsetto mocking voice came from down the hall. Joshua and Isaac were laughing their heads off as Gabriel turned crimson and ran down the hall to 'kick their asses'. I laughed so hard I thought I would wet myself.

"Goodnight boys," I called down the hall.

"Goodnight Mr. Hart," came the reply. I could swear I heard one of the boys say 'goodnight Michael' again and then some sort of muffled moan as Gabriel nailed them with a shoulder punch. I snickered to myself and crept into bed, ready for a night's sleep.

It was three a.m. as I sat bolt upright in my bed. That was it! If Henry and Bernadette could have bordello's full of teenaged hookers, so would I, but my tenants wouldn't have to prostitute themselves for a living. My mind raced with the possibilities and I started writing all of my thoughts down in the notebook that Roger had given me. I would charge them rent beginning two months after they started living here, so that they had time to find a job, or if they needed it I could get jobs for them. I may have failed in the lawyer business but I had numerous contacts in the area that I could exploit rather brilliantly. I could buy them all a new pair of clothes, a towel, soap, deodorant, a razor and a dental kit. They could pay me back slowly through their rent and I would not only would I be doing something, but I'd be doing something to help homeless young adults and the community. With Gabriel's police department contacts, I could also help get Johns put away and shut down some of those hooking operations.

Excitedly, I hopped out of bed and headed into Gabriel's room, careful not to startle him. I crept over to his bed and sat down on the edge, turning up the dimmer on the lamp nearest his head. To my shock, Gabriel wasn't in his bed. I stood up quickly, thinking that perhaps he was in his bathroom. The light was on and I knocked.

"Gabriel?" I said softly. There was no answer, so I let myself in and saw that the bathroom too was empty. I turned on the faucet and threw some cold water on my face. It wasn't until I was drying my face when I heard it: a low moaning sound coming from Joshua's room. I noticed that the door to his room from the bathroom was open a sliver. Instead of barging in I peeked through to the other side. The scene that met my eyes could not have been more shocking and at the same time tantalizing than if I had planned it myself.

There they were, all three boys, together in a heap of moaning, orgasmic flesh and sweat. The sheets on Joshua's bed undulated, and then a strong hand cast them off to reveal the mass of naked, hard young male bodies. I blinked a couple times to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. Luckily I wasn't and I kept my position at the door, letting them continue their passionate sexual encounter as I watched on. Their muscular, hard bodies formed a triangle, young Joshua on the bottom, his surprisingly tanned body laying face up, his mouth full of Gabriel's sweet, thick rod. Joshua's athletic legs were up around Isaac's broad shoulders, who, as he filled Joshua's perky ass with his coke can sized cock, pumping it in and out slowly, had Gabriel in a hot kiss, playing with his nipples. Gabriel was reaching behind himself to stroke Joshua's thick uncut tool. It looked difficult as Gabriel's back was to Isaac and his head was turned to meet Isaac's full lips. Their hands roamed each other's bodies and wiped sweat from their brows. There was no telling how long they had been like that or could keep the position up, but as they began to stroke, suck and pump faster, I knew they were close to cumming.

Gabriel started moaning first, and as his orgasm neared, the studs dismounted each other, Joshua sliding in behind Gabriel and Isaac leaping off of the bed, getting into a kneeling position in front of Gabriel's pulsing member. Gabriel began to shudder as Joshua massaged his ass and prostate and stroked his nipples and chest. Gabriel began to shoot and then to my surprise pulled Isaac's head in, burying his meat deep down Isaac's throat and shooting his load for what seemed like about two minutes. By this time, I was hard and dripping precum, stroking my full cock to the hilt in a blind fury, wanting to join these boys in their orgasmic finale, but not wanting to ruin the moment they were having. Joshua was next to signal that his climax was nearing. Isaac stepped in behind him and repeated the prostate/ass massage and nipple stroke that Joshua had performed on Gabriel. Gabriel encouraged Joshua by licking the tip of his cock, teasing the slit with his tongue. Joshua's body spasmed with ecstasy, and he grabbed a hold of Gabriel's face and plunged his cock into Gabriel's mouth. Gabriel stroked Joshua's meat, milking the cum out. Joshua whimpered with pleasure, grabbed a fistful of Isaac's hair and pulled him in for a kiss as he came. I was so close to cumming myself that I stopped pumping my own dick while Isaac got into place in front of Gabriel, who instantly started biting Isaac's neck and licking his ear, while playing with Isaac's hole. Joshua opened his mouth wide, a mischievously greedy look on his face, ready for Isaac's mammoth sized penis. It took longer than both of the other boys for Isaac to cum, but when he did, he groaned loudly and thrust himself inside Joshua's mouth until Joshua nearly choked from the shear girth of the thing. Isaac's body jerked and twitched, Gabriel still licking and biting and nibbling, Joshua concentrating on not gagging. Isaac filled him to the brim with semen, his white spunk leaking out of the corners and dribbling down Joshua's mouth. I felt myself nearing and silently shot volley after volley of cum into my hand, my eyes closed tightly and my teeth gritted.

Exhausted, I sat on the toilet breathing heavily, my cheeks warm with post coital pleasure. I was dazed and just sat there dumbly, my cooling ejaculate still in my cupped hand. Before I knew it, there was rustling of sheets and shuffling of feet in the room next to me and it was clear that I would be caught if I didn't move quickly. I quickly ran into Gabriel's room and out his door to my room and shut the door tightly behind myself. I heard Gabriel letting Isaac out of his room and the sound of Isaac's feet as he passed. I sat on the bed and let out a huge sigh of relief. What if one of the boys had seen me? Would they think I was a pervert? Would they trust me or think of me as just another John? Just then:

"Goodnight Michael!" Isaac said as he entered his room and shut his door. I heard giggles down the hall and felt my face go red. So they had either seen me or heard me. Had I screwed everything up? My neurotic thoughts were put on hold as a knock came to my door.

"Yes?" I called out, unsure and wary of any more surprises.

"Michael, it's me," Gabriel's voice came from the hall. I got to my feet and opened it for him.

"Can I come in?" He asked sweetly. How could I resist?

"Michael," Gabriel said as he sat down next to me on the bed, "I'm sorry about all of that, if we woke you up or whatever. This is your house and we shouldn't have been doing that, we should've asked first. I'm not sure how I would have asked, but we should have asked, and I'm just really sorry. Please don't kick them out, they didn't force me, I wanted to. I wanted to with you too, but we kind of have a past and I thought 'well why not just for old times sake' and then..." I pressed a silencing finger against Gabriel's beautiful lips. He, as was customary, looked down at his feet and shuffled them nervously.

"First of all, I should be apologizing to you for peeking in and watching you boys go at it like a dirty old man. Second, please don't be ashamed of anything you did tonight. I never told you I had any no sex rules, and I don't. Gabriel, think back about all of the times you've had sex. How many times were you with people you liked and who liked you, not as a prostitute, but as a person? How many times did you enjoy yourself as much as you did tonight? After being away from your friends for so long, I would imagine this was as sweet a meeting as ever. You probably enjoyed yourself more just now than any other time before. So don't be ashamed of that, never be ashamed. Now go to bed, I believe we're going to have some shopping to do tomorrow." Gabriel's eyes lit up.

"Really? You're going to take them shopping like you did with me?"

"Sure, any friend of yours..."

"Michael, you are the best! I love you!" Gabriel squeezed me tight in a sort of side bear hug and kissed my cheek. I smiled and kissed him back.

"I love you too, Gabriel."

"I know," he said as he left. "But Michael, why these guys? I mean you don't even know them."

"It's all part of my master plan, now get some sleep. We'll talk about it at breakfast tomorrow." His eyes grew wide with excitement and his smile grew to a toothy grin. It was completely contagious and soon we were just both staring and smiling like a couple of idiots. Gabriel looked down and saw my cupped hand.

"Michael, is that cum in your hand?" Gabriel's eyes widened.

"Oh my God," I said and ran into the bathroom, washing my hands of the white cream. I returned quickly.

"Oh, you wasted it. What a shame," Gabriel said naughtily.

Gabriel shook himself and said goodnight one last time, leaving me still smiling slightly as I snuggled into bed, ready for the six hours of sleep that awaited me. I heard the light in the bathroom go on and Isaac taking a monster piss (was there another kind of piss he could take with a cock that big?). The toilet flushed, the faucet turned on and off, and then the light went out. I closed my eyes, and prepared to doze when I felt someone kick the bed. It was Isaac, his intimidating shape illuminated by moonlight, standing at the foot of my bed. I opened my mouth to speak but he stopped me.

"Look, I don't know what you're deal is, if you're Gabe's new pimp, or if you think having a few hot guys around the house might improve your chances at getting a little piece of action. But if you hurt Gabe in any way, hurt his feelings, hurt his body or even give him a headache, I will personally find you and kick your ass. If there isn't anyone there to stop me, I might just kill you, so don't fuck with Gabe and I won't fuck you up. You can fuck Gabe, since that's what he wants, but don't fuck with him, you got it?" I stared at him numbly, nodding in agreement. Isaac got closer, right in my face and stared at me, his nose nearly touching mine. His hot breath was on my cheeks and I swear I could hear his heart beating.

"You were pretty hot in that bathroom, Mr. Hart. Maybe after Gabe gets his, I can get some of that too," he said as he grabbed my crotch. He got closer and licked my lips, mashing his mouth on mine and initiating a rough, hot kiss, his tongue massaging mine. He tasted of cloves and mint toothpaste, but he was as good a kisser as Gabriel was, very skilled. The kiss ended and I bit my lower lip as he pulled away and I stared into his handsome face.

"Mmmm, I'm definitely going to have to get some of that. I've got big plans for that hot mouth of yours, Mr. Hart. Really big plans," he said as he stood up. I saw his dangerously large cock thickening in his briefs, snaking around the upper left corner and resting just before his hip. He turned and walked towards the bathroom door, his bubble buns shifting back and forth with his masculine swagger. I thought I would cum again right there in my bed. He turned once more before exiting through the bathroom.

"Oh, and thanks for the room, Mr. Hart," and with that he left, although I could hear him say something that sounded like 'fuckin' hot' as he closed the door. So that was what was sleeping in the adjoining room. The Genghis Kahn of cocks and the hot stud attached to it. It was sweet of him in a threateningly savage kind of sexual way for him to be so protective of Gabriel. I lay down and slowly fondled myself under the covers as I succumbed to sleep's urgent and enticing call.

"Mr. Hart," a voice called in a singsong kind of way. My eyes blurred with sleep, I blinked hard several times. As the room came into focus, I saw a sight to behold. The three boys who had just hours before spent themselves in an ecstatic adventuresome three-way stood at the foot of my bed, naked from the waist up, clothed only in shorts. Gabriel stood in the middle holding a silver tray, and Joshua, with a flourish, removed the lid to reveal my very own breakfast in bed. I would have rather had the three of them for breakfast, but decided on the eggs and toast they were offering.

"Thanks you guys, this is really nice of you. Sit down," I motioned for them to sit. Gabriel came and snuggled against my side, Isaac against the other and Joshua straddled my crotch, his legs spread wide as each of them took turns feeding me breakfast. Getting straddled after being awake only about two minutes, this must have been some kind of record.

"Wow, I don't know what to say," I said after finishing my last bite and washing it all down with some pineapple orange juice.

"Well, we just wanted to do something nice for you, you know for putting us up," said Isaac.

"And to thank you in advance for taking these two shopping today," added Gabriel.

"And we just wanted to make sure that you were 'up'!" smiled Joshua as he massaged my cock between his ass cheeks. I gasped and threw my head back, the pleasure shooting through me like an electric shock, but Joshua dismounted and the three left me to get ready for the day. I was showered and dressed in no time, and the four of us reconvened in the living room to make plans.

We all piled in the car and headed to the shopping district on 50th, a real uptown affair. There's a Saks, a Gucci and a Prada, but the boys didn't seem too interested in anything except for some sunglasses and a couple of cool lamps from the Tiffany's boutique in the plaza.

"This is lame, Mr. Hart. Let us take you shopping," Joshua said.

"Yeah there are a couple of places downtown that totally kick ass, Michael. Can we go?" As usual I couldn't say 'no' to Gabriel. We drove down to Avenue B, not a trashy part of downtown, more of a heavy shopping/industrial section of town. Lots of stores, an outlet mall and further towards lower downtown were lots of factories. The boys took me all over, to stores I'd never even heard of. They bought lots of clothes, clothes that hung, clothes that clung, clothes that tucked and squeezed, clothes for lounging around and clothes for 'getting down' as Joshua so eloquently put it. Both Isaac and Joshua agreed to let Gabriel decorate their rooms, as he was 'better at that kind of shit', a semi-compliment offered by Isaac. After we were all shopped out, which took from about ten o'clock to five o'clock (roughly seven hours minus the time we spent at their favorite sushi bar).

Once home we awaited the arrival of the boys' bedroom things and got busy putting away the spoils of the day. We sat in the living room chatting as we passed time until the deliveryman showed up.

"Hey, thanks a lot, Mr. Hart," Isaac was being sincere.

"Yeah, that's so awesome of you to do," Joshua agreed.

"Oh, boys it's no trouble at all. I love shopping, especially with you guys. You know I've never been to a lot of those stores."

"Ain't he the best?" asked Gabriel as he tickled my side. I screamed out, not used to being ticklish, my new love handles had offered some sort of tickle target for Gabriel.

Just then the doorbell rang. We all got up to answer it, excited to get started on assembling the new bedrooms. Who should meet us at the door than Jonathan the dilverygod?

"Wow, oh hi. Delivery for you, Mr. Hart," Jonathan said. Gabriel and I noticed Joshua and Isaac checking him out and we smiled at each other. We invited Jonathan to begin and propped the front door open for him. Joshua and Isaac were only too eager to help, Gabriel and I close behind. The five of us were done in no time at all.

"Now Jonathan, you don't have any screws up there in your front seat do you?" Gabriel asked. I blushed as deeply as Jonathan did.

"Nope, not this time," Jonathan laughed.

"Care for a drink, Jonathan?" I offered.

"Sure," he said, smiling. I watched him walk inside and noticed all of us checking him out as he headed into the dining room. We looked at each other and nodded at each other, grinning. Jonathan stayed a short while and after having a couple of glasses of soda left us. The four of us stood at the door and waved goodbye, grinning like morons.

After I had closed the door:

"You know that guy?" Joshua asked.

"Good looking guy, huh? Yeah he came over once for dinner."

"He came over? Did he stay the night?" Isaac asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, he did not," Gabriel was firm about that.

"What? You had a man like that here and neither of you did him?" Isaac was almost indignant.

"No, we didn't want to, you know, without actually having done it with each other yet," I replied.

"When are you guys going to get down to business, seriously?" Joshua asked.

"What?" Gabriel seemed surprised by Joshua.

"Yeah, for real you guys. Isn't it about time? It's been like almost two weeks and nothing. What the hell are you waiting for?" Isaac was nearing impatience.

"I don't know, the right time I guess," I looked at Gabriel. "I won't do it unless he's ready."

"Dude, he's ready. You saw it, he almost drowned me with that load he gave me last night. He needs it and he wants it from you," Isaac said. Joshua looked at him.

"Mr. Hart was watching us last night?" Joshua sounded shocked.

"Yeah he was, even blew his own load in his hand. Fuckin' hot, man."

"Sweet dude, you guys totally have to get it on," Joshua counseled. I was stunned, speechless. I couldn't say a damned thing.

"He will when he's ready," Gabriel said. I snapped out of my astonished state.

"When I'm ready? I was waiting for you," I wanted to wait for Gabriel to proposition me, but he had apparently been waiting for the same thing.

"Wow, you guys need to get it the hell together," Isaac said, and with that he and Joshua went upstairs to work on their bedrooms. Gabriel followed them as I swatted his butt and told him to go help out.

A date. I needed to set up a date for Gabriel and I. I had been thinking of a romantic movie and then some snuggling and closeness and then...? I wanted it to be nice and romantic, but I also wanted it to be relaxed without any pressure on him to do anything but have a good time. An idea formed in my head and I rushed to the stairs, yelling up to the boys that I was going out and that I'd be back momentarily.

I rushed down to the Godiva chocolatier on 50th and was back with roses and a box of 24 handpicked truffles and dinner for all of us in an hour (bad traffic plagued the uptown area). I set the flowers on the table, set the chocolates in the crisper and set out dinner on the table. I called the boys downstairs and ran down to set the roses up in the theater, with the card that I had bought to accompany them. I put 'Chocolat' into the DVD player and readied it for viewing, not forgetting to turn on the Dolby Surround.

It took the boys about ten minutes to finally make it downstairs, their hair mussed, their shirts inside out and half-tucked in and their faces rouged.

"Having a little pre-dinner snack boys?" They all started giggling like schoolgirls, bumping into each other and sniggering as they sat down to dine. We all ate relatively quickly, and the three of them set off to finish their rooms.

"Gabriel, would come down here for a second? I have something for you," I said. Gabriel separated from the other two, who looked at Gabriel and I, then at each other and bolted upstairs laughing and pinching each other.

"What's up?" Gabriel asked.

"Why don't you go downstairs and get comfortable? I'll be there in a sec," I suggested. Gabriel gave me a smirk and a sideways glance, and then bounded downstairs. I fished the chocolates out of the fridge after 'freshening' up in the bathroom off the pantry. I pressed the 'romance' setting on the digital lighting setup and sat on the futon next to Gabriel, who was still pouring over the card.

"Michael, this is...so nice, thanks," he said.

"No, Gabriel. Thank you. Thank you for waking me up, for bringing me back to the real world. Although I have to say the past couple of weeks have seemed more like a dream." We hugged and I kissed his forehead, stroking his hair with my right hand. I hit play on the remote and we began watching 'Chocolat', which Gabriel had never seen.

"Okay, here's the deal," I said, lifting the lid from the box of truffles. "Every time someone eats or drinks something chocolate, we each eat the same kind of truffle. I arranged them in pairs, see?"

"Kind of like a drinking game, right?" I forgot he knew so much about the adult world.

"Yeah, kind of. But you don't usually hear people moan out in rapture as they down a shot of whiskey."

"No, you hear them pass out and vomit, though." I laughed.

"Cute and funny, who'd have thought?" He ribbed me and we watched the opening scene with a great deal of interest, waiting for the first bite. When the time came, we each took a bite and made orgasm noises, which made us laugh. At one point I snorted and some of the chewed truffle came out my nose. We laughed until we were in tears over it. The whole movie continued this way, until about half way through the truffles, we started feeding them to each other. Then, an errant crumb of chocolate would land on someone's finger and get licked clean off. Once, Gabriel took my middle finger and licked the top, then slid the whole thing in his mouth, leaving it glistening and wet. I was so hard, I thought I'd pass out, but instead, I leaned forward and kissed him full on the mouth, feeling him with my tongue, wanting him. We both tasted like chocolate.

"Fuck this movie, let's go upstairs," Gabriel said in a sort of throaty voice.

"Are you sure Gabriel?" I asked, wanting him so badly.

"Oh yeah, let's go," he said. Gabriel grabbed my hand and led me to the main floor and then to my bedroom, pushing me down on my bed and turning on some sort of German techno music he had been listening to while they all were cleaning and assembling their bedrooms. I watched, amazed as Gabriel stripped for me. He slid his shirt over his head, rolling his body as he did so. He began swinging his hips in time with the super fast beat, unbuttoning his fly and peeling his pants off, kicking them to the side of the room. Completely aroused I began to take my pants off as well, but Gabriel stopped me and threw my hands back and straddled me as Joshua had done that morning. He unzipped my pants and slid them down past my rear as far as they would go with him on top of me the way he was. With a wicked look in his eyes he placed a hand under my crotch, his palm to the bed and lifted himself off the bed, his legs raised in a sort of gymnast fashion. Then with his other hand he pushed my pants down past my thighs and lowered himself back on my groin, grinding himself into me, nothing but a couple layers of thin cotton separating his firm hind end from my lengthening cock. He then put both his hands beneath himself and again lifted himself into the air, swinging one leg out and turning a complete 180° and re-lowering himself, his back to me. He shucked off my pants and cast them on the floor. What happened next was truly amazing as he did a back arch, shoved his hands underneath me and in one deft movement, rid me of my shirt, throwing it against the wall in a kind of savage triumph.

Gabriel looked back at me over his shoulder with a fiendish grin. I was so horny at that point I would have cum, but Gabriel had other plans. Sitting as he was, backwards upon my cock, he placed his hands on either side of my torso and stretched himself out, his clad package suddenly dangling temptingly over my face, his warm breath heavy on my dick and balls. Gabriel wasted no time lifting my cock and balls out of my underwear and then flinging my underwear to parts unknown. I eagerly uncovered the objects of my affection and beheld their beauty in the light. His cock was uncut, the foreskin revealing a sloppily wet head, dripping with precum. It was thick and veiny, pink with youth and the head an angry purple, still leaking. I held my tongue out, giving his shaft a squeeze, milking the juice from the head and into my mouth. It was sweet and salty, the texture creamy, much like my own when I tasted myself on Jessica's mouth after she had given me oral sex and then insisted I kiss her.

Suddenly, I felt my cock plunge into a warm, wet sleeve of pleasure. Gabriel took my cock down about halfway, waited a bit and then relaxed himself, allowing my cock to penetrate his throat, massaging my cock with his tongue. My eyes rolled back as he began sliding up and down my shaft. I sucked the head of his cock into my mouth, rolling my tongue around the head, more precum leaking out and into my mouth, my taste buds enjoying his flavor. I heard him groan, and felt his mouth vibrate around my cock. Trying my best to return the favor, I tried jamming the whole length of his tool down my throat, but gagged and sputtered. I tried yet again, but it wouldn't go down the way mine had gone down his throat. He looked under his shoulder at me.

"Baby, just suck the head like you were doing. I'm almost there anyway," his voice was breathy and urgent. I continued to feast upon the bulbous head of his throbbing rod, cock juice leaking out like mad. He did the same and I felt myself closing in on climax. I moaned to let him know I was close. He started sucking in earnest, as did I, beyond ready to taste him and to release the load from my aching dick. One last flick of my tongue over his piss slit did it and Gabriel screamed out. I felt his hot, sticky spunk hitting my tongue and the back of my throat. That sent me over the edge and I arched my back, thrusting my hips upward and my cock down his throat as I shot loads of cum with a loud groan. Gabriel lifted his head off of my dick leaving my head inside, tasting my ejaculate.

Gabriel rolled off of me and just lay there next to me, breathing heavily. Not wanting to ruin the moment, I didn't move (not that I could if I wanted to, spent as I was). After some time, Gabriel sat up and turned back towards me, covering us up with the sheets and resting his head on the crook of my shoulder, his hand on my chest. We just stayed there, him and I, together, our hearts beating, our breathing slowing and eventually falling asleep.

I awoke alone in the pale early morning, Gabriel having gone to take a shower earlier. I stepped into the shower myself, the warm water cleaning the smell of sex, the smell of Gabriel and our passion off of my skin. If only I could bottle that stuff. It was like heroine, I couldn't wait for my next fix. I soaped up my body, cursing my slightly flabby middle and finally resolved to wipe the dust off of the gym key and return to my old daily exercise regimen. If Gabriel looked that good for me, I wanted to look as good for him. He deserved a hard-bodied stud, not a semi-pudgy man in his late twenties. 'Still though, I did have a good time last night, and I heard no complaints from Gabriel,' I thought as I stroked my hardening cock under the tepid water. Gabriel had been so gymnastic the night before. It was amazing. Perhaps he had a talent for it, or perhaps that's what you get after years of perfecting sex for sale. I felt my testicles draw up towards my body as I neared orgasm.

It gave me a start when I then heard the toilet lid slam up and the rude noise of Isaac urinating loudly in the toilet next to the shower. Had he seen me, touching myself like that in the shower? The glass was marbled, but a body could still be seen in a blurry sort of way, not so you could see details but if someone was moving you got the general idea of what was going on. If Isaac had seen, he didn't say anything, as he shook himself and pulled his red satin Adidas running shorts up and flushed. I closed my eyes breathing a sigh of relief as Isaac washed his hands and left without saying a word. How embarrassing would it be if he had realized what I was doing in the shower? I laughed to myself as I picked up the shampoo. So Capt. Cockypants wasn't as smart as he seemed. Or if he had known that I was masturbating he wasn't bold enough to do something about it.

That's when I noticed him. His tanned, muscular stature standing at the shower door, hands on hips, waiting for me to take notice. Isaac slid the shower door open and stepped in, closing it behind him. He stepped in front of me, blocking the water and leaving me shivering behind him. He just stood there showering, pretending that I wasn't even there. I opened my mouth to speak, but:

"If you're just going to stand here in the shower playing with yourself, there's no sense in wasting good hot water. That's not what the shower's for. If you're dirty, you take a shower. If you're horny," he said, turning around and rubbing a soapy hand over my crotch, kneading my balls and looking deeply into my eyes, "you get out, dry off and sit patiently on your bed and wait for me." I just stood there staring at him for a bit.

"See? You're wasting my hot water. Hurry up, dammit."

"Umm, I need to wash my hair still," I said almost timidly. Why timidly? I had at least five years on him and this was my house, not his. Still...

"Oh jeez, do I have to do everything for you?" he asked, pseudo-perturbed. He put some shampoo in his hands and began to wash my hair, rubbing the silky substance all over, working up lather as his face neared mine. I felt my piece fill with blood and become turgid again. Isaac had backed me into the corner of the shower, I as defenseless as a deer caught in headlights. For the second time, he initiated contact, our lips meeting, then parting and our tongues searching out each other. We both had morning breath, but neither cared as I felt his crotch bump into mine and his soapy hands slide down my side to my hips, pulling me in to meet his. We ground ourselves together, reveling in the feel of our naked cocks mashing together in the wet, soapy mess we had created. He pulled back and smiled, giving his semi-hard cock a tug, letting it flop rudely, hanging there at a mouth watering half-mast position. He nodded towards the shower door, signaling that I was to wait until he was finished with his shower before he'd finish with me

Not knowing what else to do and feeling myself start to prune, I hopped out and toweled off as I headed to my room. A thought crossed my mind as I sat on the bed, waiting for Isaac's sexy ass to come in and have his way with me. What if Gabriel was to walk in? What would that do to him? Was this cheating? I became nervous and stood up, finished drying myself and went to my dresser to find a pair of underwear.

"I thought I told you to wait on your bed," I heard from the bathroom. Isaac stood there with his towel around his waist and the characteristic hand on his hip.

"Isaac, I have a new relationship going with Gabriel and I don't want to do anything to mess it up, even though your offer is," I swallowed hard, "tempting."

"It's not an offer, it's an order. And what do you think Joshua and Gabriel are doing right now, hmm? Enjoying each other in their morning fuck ritual, they've done it for years, and believe me, it takes until about 8:30, so we've got about an hour to take care of this," he said as he grabbed my hardening dick in his hand, "and this." He then grabbed his dick and mine and began stroking them together.

Isaac lowered himself on top of me, his face coming close enough to really analyze. The kid was gorgeous. His hair hung in his eyes and his eyes were half open in a sort of pleasure induced stupor. I reached a hand up and stroked his high cheekbone, tracing my finger down his firm, well-defined jaw line to his square chin. He looked so exotic like that, hovering over me, a little stubble on his chin and his ocean colored eyes full of passion and lust. We kissed again, this time exploring each other's bodies as we did so. My hands stroked his strong back, feeling the muscles tense and release as he shifted his weight, kissing my neck and grinding his package into mine. His ass was smooth and soft, like dough. You could take a hand full and let it go, and it would snap back into place like brand new elastic, wiggling enticingly, letting you know that it was squishable but not flabby. He sat back on his haunches and teased my dick with his hot fuckhole, letting me take in his whole body, allowing me to study it at length. His pecs were sinewy, not square and cut like Gabriel's and not voluptuous like Joshua's seemed to be. A small patch of hair adorned his chest and another, rather soft patch ran from his navel down into his pubic hair, which was neatly trimmed.

"You like that?" he asked. I nodded.

"Don't forget to clean out your electric razor, then" he said to me with an evil grin. "That thing works like a charm and we wouldn't want it getting clogged, now would we?" I giggled, as did he. When he turned, you could see that his deltoids were nicely developed, much like the rest of him. He kept rubbing his crack over my cock furiously, getting me hard as ever.

"You know, people think I'm some kind of tough guy, and they're mostly right," he said, fondling his own cock while gyrating on top of mine. "If I think someone wants to be a top, but they need to be a bottom, I let them. It's mostly about other people when money is on the line. But since this isn't about money, it's about me and what you need and what I want. And now, right now, I want you to take my ass. I want you to fuck my damn brains out, Mr. Hart." I motioned toward the nightstand, indicating that condoms and lube were in order. Expertly, Isaac took the condom out and rolled it down over my now impossibly erect penis, smearing the whole thing with plenty of lube, and then had me rub some on his hole. As I did, a finger slipped in, which surprised and pleased young Isaac.

"Ooh, frisky are we?" he said in his best Fat Bastard impression. I laughed and then breathed in sharply as my head popped inside his waiting asshole. It was tight and warm, smooth and velvety with perfection. I bit my lower lip as my cock continued its slow journey to deep inside Isaac's hot body. He rode me like that for some time, sliding up and down my slick pole, impaling himself over and over again. Isaac was clearly enjoying himself as he was hard and pumping his meat vigorously. The whole sight had me so turned on that I reached up and started playing with his nipples, sliding my hands up and down his torso, feeling every bulging muscle and every curve. He in turn stroked my nipples and ran his hand around my stomach. I was in total rapture when I felt the end nearing. He must have sensed it, because he grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me up and on top of him, locking me in with his knees on my shoulders like I had seen Joshua do to him the night previous.

"Fuck me," he demanded. I thrust deep inside him, making him moan with pleasure. I piston fucked him, wanting desperately to fill him with my cum. I shouted out as I began to climax, filling his insides to the hilt and pumping my condom full of hot sticky fluid. He screamed out and grabbed my hand in his, stroking his hard horse hung dick together until he screwed up his face and groaned, letting his cum fly. The first shot went over his head and landed somewhere on the floor. The second third and fourth landed on his face and chest, and the rest dribbled down on his stomach, pooling in the muscular crevices. I leaned forward and licked the cream off his stomach, his chest and then his face, where he offered his mouth and we shared a long passionate kiss, Isaac tasting his own cum.

"That was awesome," Isaac said, slack jawed and winded. "Gabriel is a lucky guy."

"Isaac, what is it that Gabriel has said about me, about us?"

"Oh, um...just that you guys are getting closer and he can't wait for you to go all the way with him," Isaac said matter-of-factly, laying back on the bed with his arms behind his head.

"He really wants me to go all the way?"

"Yeah."

"Meaning what?"

"What we just did..."

"Yeah?"

"That was going half of the way."

"So all the way would include..."

"Gabriel would return the fuck." I had never though about getting it in the ass before, not even in my wildest dreams. It had just never occurred to me. I caressed Isaac's face once more, kissing him softly on the lips.

"You should let Joshua do you first, though. Gabriel might want your virgin ass, but you don't want it to hurt the first time you guys have sex. Gabriel will feel responsible. He's just not experienced enough to break someone in. Joshua, on the other hand, knows what he's doing. I even had him take my cherry." Isaac rolled over on his side facing me. "And he was great," Isaac said, licking his lips. I laughed and poked his firm stomach. He flinched momentarily and then this horribly satanic smirk spread across his face, menace blazing in his eyes. I knew what was coming and headed for the door, taking the top sheet with me, thusly knocking him off the bed and onto the floor. I set out the door with a whoop and ran into his room his footsteps close behind. I squealed as I flung open his bathroom door, and found him standing there. I ran back through his bedroom and out into the hall again, heading for any open door. Gabriel's door was both closed and locked, so I ran into Joshua's room and shut the door behind me.

I heard a guttural growl and turned as Gabriel shot a milky load past Joshua's prone body and onto my chin. Gabriel continued to jizz, splattering it all over Joshua's back and hindquarters. I just stood there, completely frozen in my tracks, my eyes wide and my face a slack-jawed blank slate. I heard the door open and felt Isaac's statuesque frame collide with mine, knocking me to the floor.

"I've got you now, you little..." he began, but the sight of the two boys on the bed stopped Isaac short.

"Sweet, Gabe did you do it?" Isaac asked running over to the bed. Gabriel nodded, although I wasn't sure what it was that he had done, besides Joshua.

"What did you do?" I asked. All three faces turned toward mine, then looked at each other then back and smiled at me.

"Gabe's never topped Josh before. It was his first time plowing this sweet thing," Isaac said as he swatted Joshua's ass. Gabriel looked down at Joshua and smiled, Joshua returned the smile.

"Ha! And," Isaac said, leaping back and pointing at the other two. "And you two owe me one each, I got mine this morning," he said, slipping an arm around my shoulder and swatting my ass. I watched Gabriel's face go from pleased to confusion and then to dismay.

"Isaac!" Gabriel yelled. Damn, that was just what I didn't want, Gabriel mad at me or Isaac. "You told me you had him the night before last and that you and Josh owed me one." Okay, now I was just confused.

"Well, maybe I did jump the gun a little," he smiled coyly. "But I needed some hot Gabe lovin'." Than a look of comprehension spread across Isaac's face. "Is that what this was? Were you calling in your favor? Oh man!" Isaac said as Gabriel and Joshua nodded.

"It doesn't matter anymore, you both owe me one and you can't get out of it, right Mr. Hart?" Isaac and the boys looked at me.

"Um, you guys, what the hell are you talking about? Owe what? I don't get it," I shook my head in confusion.

"Oh, right okay. So there's this game we always play, to see who can get a specific person to do a specific thing at a specific time. Well we all put bets down about how soon Isaac was going to take it up the ass from you. Gabe bet the first night, which's when he sent Isaac in after you went to sleep. But you never started anything. It can't be forced, you have to want to do it."

"Oh and he wanted to baby, this morning, which is when I bet it would happen!" said Isaac proudly,

"And Josh bet that you would only give it to Isaac up the ass if he were in drag or if he came up with the idea," finished Gabriel.

"So, both of them were right, I did have Isaac this morning, but it was his idea to get fucked up the ass. So who owes who what?"

"Well that depends, if you win, you get to choose the activity or position or whatever and then the other two argue over who gets to perform said activities."

"So Joshua, you volunteered to get fucked by Gabriel if he won?"

"Sure did, I've wanted his thing up there for so long."

"And what about you Isaac?"

"Well, remember when you called us down for dinner and we came down all fucked up and you asked us if we were having a snack? Well, I was having a snack, the deal was that I had to suck my own dick, which I totally love to do while they watch. Anyhow, it all got a little out of hand and we all ended up sucking each other in a circle."

"So what happens now that the bet is over?"

"Well, the winner then has to call in his favors, but since Joshua and I were both only half right, we each get one favor each," Gabriel was looking my way intently, making sure I was understanding everything. I stared into his beautiful hazel eyes and smiled, winking to reassure that I got the picture. Isaac stood with his hand on his hip, staring at the floor, obviously in deep concentration. By this time, Joshua had removed himself from under Gabriel's legs and was standing near Isaac. Gabriel motioned for me to sit down with him on the bed. I leaned into him as he wrapped his strong arms around my middle, rocking back and forth in that loving way couples tend to do. Couples, that sounded nice.

"How was it?" I asked. He looked at me and grinned.

"Great, how did it go with you?"

"It was different, good, but very different," I had hoped that Gabriel would take it well. Better than well, he seemed pleased that Isaac had been my first in that anal arena.

"Good, I'm glad you liked him. Bossy, isn't he?"

"Very," I chuckled. Gabriel and I looked up to where Isaac and Joshua were standing together. Both of them had finished whatever they had been cooking up and were just looking at Gabriel and I and smiling. Gabriel and I exchanged looks and then stared back at them.

"Aren't they just too cute?" Isaac asked Joshua.

"A very cute couple indeed," Joshua concurred. There was that word again. The idea of Gabriel and I together filled me with warmth, which spread throughout my whole body and gave me goose bumps. Gabriel squeezed me tighter. We'd have to talk later about that comment. I wanted to make sure that Gabriel was feeling the same thing I was, or that we were at least on the same page.

"Well boys, we've come up with our favors," Joshua announced.

"AND," Isaac added quickly, "since it is the middle of October, we both get to choose who is involved in which favor."

"Wait a second, since when is that a rule?" demanded Gabriel.

"Since now, we just made it up," Joshua said.

"What is this, Calvinball? You can't just make up rules in the middle of a game!" Gabriel was almost defensive.

"We can do whatever the hell we want, Gabe!" Isaac wasn't going to back down.

"Says who?" Gabriel asked. This was beginning to sound a lot like my sister and I years ago.

"Says me and my humongous dick, that's who," Isaac put both hands on his hips in an authoritative posture.

"That's your answer for everything you don't have an answer for," Gabriel said as he lay back on the bed with a plop. "'Cause me and my big dick said so. Do it 'cause my fat cock and I say to. Oh yeah? Tell that to my enormous fuck rod." Gabriel said it all in a kind of small mocking voice that made the whole thing sound even funnier than it was.

"Okay, now that THAT'S over, we can get down to business," said Joshua eagerly, rubbing his hands together.

"First favor is Josh's since..." Isaac began.

"My elephant sized dong says so," Gabriel said in a stupid hayseed type voice. We all burst out laughing, especially Isaac, who laughed the hardest. After the tension had been cut like that, things went smoother. Much smoother.

"Okay, Josh's favor involves popping another man's cherry." It didn't sink in until I noticed everyone looking at me, that said man was to be yours truly. I looked to Gabriel, who looked to Isaac.

"I explained this to both of you already, and you both agreed that it was for the best," said Isaac. I didn't know that he had explained that to Gabriel already, but it did make sense, regardless. I made love to Isaac from behind to get used to the feeling and Joshua would break me in, so I would understand what that felt like. It obviously made sense to Gabriel, as he didn't look phased in the least. I smiled at Joshua, who winked at me and grinned his sexy jock grin.

"And MY favor is to watch two hot, dark haired men go at it as I jerk off. I'm sure you'll understand that, Mr. Hart."

"Hey, Isaac, what color would you say my hair is?" Joshua asked in a rehearsed sort of way.

"Josh, I think they'd call your hair blonde."

"Not brown?"

"No."

"So my hair is NOT dark?" Joshua asked looking directly at Gabriel and I. I rolled my eyes.

"No, so let me see...I have semi-brown hair, but I want to watch, so who does that leave?" It was obvious at the get go that Isaac was setting up Gabriel and my first fuck.

"That is more than fine with me," Gabriel said, sitting up and stroking my thigh. I think it took all of one second for my nipples to get hard and my skin to tingle with delight at the very prospect. I could feel by Gabriel's hard on pressing into my lower back that the idea wasn't lost on him either.

"Good then. Since Joshua will be breaking Mr. Hart in, maybe we could set up a mirror and then Gabriel could get some practice in on me. That way Gabriel can be fucking me, but looking at a mirror showing Joshua from the stomach down screwing Mr. Hart." Awestruck by the sheer genius of the plan, I turned to Gabriel, who nodded and smiled. It was show time.

This story is copy written and is the sole property of alias Tyler St. James. Any reproductions or public postings, quotes, movie and playwrights are the property of said alias. Shinji91580@aol.com