Me and My Boys

Me and My Boys Chapter 5

**If you don't mind reading about gay sex between characters that don't intentionally resemble anyone in real life and if it is safe for you to do so in your area then please enjoy!! Also, your feedback at Heavensforlife@aol.com is greatly appreciated and necessary for me to continue giving you great stories. **

**Classes began that week and teaching gave me an adequate distraction from my dilemma. Will was nothing if not persistent, and I told myself the safest way to protect my heart and my relationship with Jesse was to be smart and avoid him.

But that was easier said than done.

On Monday, he texted me during my morning run: I hear NYU is starting classes today. Good luck! W.

On Tuesday, it was during an impromptu lunch with the dean of my department and another associate professor: I'm shopping and I saw some shoes you would die over. Call me and I'll tell you where.

On Thursday, he called and left a message. "Hey. It's been almost a week since we hung out. I thought we had fun. Let's do drinks this weekend."

And on Friday morning, after I'd listened to Thursday's message 16 times, I decided that I couldn't avoid him any longer. Before I made the call, however, I sat down and thought about what I could write for this week's column. It was the third one of the year and the first two had already gotten a good response, so I wanted to keep up the good work.

As I sat in my office, one of my students, Ricky, came in to conference.

"Hey, Mr. Strong," he said after I told him to sit down. "I just wanted to find out how you got your position at the school's paper."

"So you're a writer?" I asked.

"Yeah. And I was hoping you could maybe give me a reference. I'd love to have a legendary column like you do one day." He was flattering me, but I liked it.

"Legendary? I wouldn't say that," I replied.

"Oh no, sir," he said making me feel old for a second. I couldn't have been 8 years older than him, but at 26, I was still sir. "My friends and I read it all the time. When you talked about relationships changing the last week, I knew exactly what you were talking about."

"Oh really?" I said. I had no clue what he was getting at. "Well I'm glad. Care to share?"

"Sure," he said. "It's just that there's this older guy that I totally have a crush on that I shouldn't even be looking at. First of all he's out of my league. Second of all, it's a totally inappropriate crush."

He must be swooning over a hot coach or boss of his like I was when I was a freshman. Older guys, especially those in power positions, always seemed hotter.

"Well, you can't help how you feel, Ricky," I told him. "But you can help how you act upon those feelings. If this relationship is really as inappropriate as you say, I'd suggest not acting upon those feelings until you know it's perfectly ok. I wouldn't make a move until you're sure it's the right time."

And as I was saying it, I knew I had my column for the week. Ricky discussed the syllabus for a minute and I put him in contact with my editor and offered to read some of his work. As soon he was out of the office, I started typing. My relationship with the photographer has changed in such a way that I'm no longer sure what to do. Do I go out with him as friends? Or is that dangerous to the relationship I'm already in? At what point do you know what the correct next move is? When is too soon really too soon and too late really too late?

After typing for an hour and coming to the conclusion that there was never a perfect time for anything, I decided I'd kept Will waiting for long enough.

"I thought you'd never call," he said.

"That seems to be a recurring theme," I replied. I couldn't tell whether he thought that was insulting or not. I forced myself not to care. "Look, Will I would love to have drinks with you, but now just isn't the best timing."

"I understand," he said understandingly. The fact that he understood was annoying. He was supposed to get upset and leave me alone. Or get jealous and give me a reason to cut him off completely. But he was being so sweet and it killed me. "The guy at brunch yesterday? Was he-"

"He was my guy, yes," I cut him off. "I was debuting him."

"Oh," he said. I could hear his voice drop significantly. I decided now was the best time to lie.

"But he didn't beat your score," I lied. I couldn't stop myself and as soon as the words had escaped, I realized how stupid they were. "I mean, my friends really liked you back then."

"And so did you."

"So did I," I responded after a brief pause. "But like I said, things are different now and if this relationship with Jesse is going to work out for me, I can't be distracted by you. Your coming back is just bad timing." Too late is finally too late, I wanted to say.

He hung up and I called Jesse about dinner, finished my article and e-mailed it out on time.

**Meanwhile, Tanner was dealing with his own timing issues. When I called him from the cab on my way home to shower and change before dinner, he was walking home from his dry cleaners.

"I got there at 5:32, Mike," he vented. "I was two fucking minutes late and now I won't have my Perry Ellis blazer for Frank's dinner tomorrow because I was two fucking minutes late."

"They aren't open on tomorrow morning?" I asked.

"Of course not," he replied. "I use the one fucking dry cleaner in Manhattan that isn't open on Saturday."

"You can borrow one of my jackets if you want," I told him. Talking about clothes wasn't why I'd called Tanner. I wanted to know what was going on with him and Frank.

Since spending the night at my place last week, he hadn't said much to me about the Frank situation. He'd gone home after last week's brunch and I assumed they were working things out. Every time I called him, he was dealing with an issue, but none of them was Frank.

"I wanted tomorrow to be perfect," he confessed as the cab made it to my avenue. "I mean, I want to be perfect on his turf so that he can see what an asshole he was last weekend on mine."

"That makes sense," I told him. It didn't. I should have told him that it didn't. "So you guys are fine?"

"I think so. I mean so we fought last weekend, you know. He's been nothing but great this week. He even came home before me on Wednesday and cooked steak. And with the partner thing ending tomorrow night, he's going to have more time for us, you know?"

I certainly hoped so, but I couldn't very well tell Tanner that I was skeptical. What if he didn't have more time for him? What if becoming partner made him even busier? It may have been less hours, but it was more travel, more responsibility and certainly more stress. But if Tanner was hopeful, I'd be hopeful as well.

"Well you have fun at the dinner tomorrow and I really hope he gets it. And come by and get a jacket if you want one," I said. He declined, saying he'd go out and buy something from Barney's in the morning. I hung up and two minutes later I was at my apartment.

**That same night, Charles was attending a dinner of his own so far uptown, he was worried he wasn't even in Manhattan anymore.

I'd learned a long time ago not to be surprised by anything that Charles ever did or said. But the past week, his actions had taken me to new levels of surprise.

On Monday, for instance, he did something he hadn't done in years- he took someone he'd already slept with on a date. He called me from the back seat of his newly acquired limo while the mysterious Jay was giving him a blow job.

"Yeah, I was on a date," he said. When I almost choked on my Evian water, he told me to calm down. "I only took him to coffee for the mocha flavored blow job afterward." I heard a "hey" and a "keep sucking that cock," and I couldn't take anymore. I hung up the phone laughing as hard as I possibly could have.

On Wednesday, Justin came in to my class almost half an hour late, wearing a shirt I more than recognized- it simply said NYU Crew 2004-05 and I immediately knew it was Charles' senior year Crew T-shirt. I stopped the lecture mid-sentence and gawked as he took a seat in the back before stumbling back to what I'd been saying about 20th Century literature.

After class, aware of my surprise, Justin paid me a short visit at the desk in the front.

"I'm sorry I was late today, Mr. Strong," he said.

"It's your education, not mine, Justin," I said. He simply smiled at me.

"You can understand why I was tardy," he said smugly. I certainly could. Charles had that `Jump/How High' effect on people and I had no doubt he'd called Justin late last night and the co-ed had come running.

"I hope your relationship with a member of the 2004 crew team doesn't come in the way of your paper that's due this weekend. I expect it in on time," I said.

"I'll try to find time to turn it in before our date this Friday night," he said. I was surprised that this kid was wearing one of my friends favorite t-shirts the next morning. I was surprised that the two of them were going on yet another date this weekend. And I was a little surprised that Charles was juggling two incredibly cocky and arrogant guys while not breaking a sweat. But what surprised me the most was that Charles, the man notorious for the after-hours booty call and last minute plans, already had a Friday night date set up on Wednesday.

And while I was dressing for my mystery date with Jesse that Friday night, Charles was sitting at a small table with miniature ketchup bottles and table salt shakers surrounded by 5 of Justin's NYU friends.

"So you're the old guy that Justin keeps talking about," one girl with a slanted bob said after they'd been seated at the trendy restaurant Lil- where everything was oversized as well as over-priced.

"Cami!" Justin exclaimed.

"I suppose I am," Charles said. "But you should hear what I tell my friends about him." As expected, Charles charmed each and every one of Justin's friends that night and when they went upstairs to dance in the club part of the restaurant, Charles whispered a sexy "let's ditch this party and go to my place." After saying goodbye to his classmate entourage, Charles and Justin left Lil and headed home for some timely extracurricular activities.

"I think my friends liked you," Justin said in the limo as they headed downtown to Charles' upper-east side apartment.

"I'm glad I got the glee club's seal of approval," he said. He had felt characteristically superior all evening; however, it wasn't because of his intelligence and wit. He was simply older than all of the kids that he'd hung out. It wasn't apparent to him until that night how much older he was than Justin. "But they're not wondering why you're dating a guy with a 401k?"

"No," Justin replied. "And did you say dating?"

"By conventional definition only," Charles recovered.

"Oh?" Justin said. "So how many other guys are you dating?" Justin scooted in closer to Charles in the town car. He was suddenly feeling frisky.

"Depends which of Webster's definitions you use," Charles said.

"I suppose our definition would be: 1. A verb. A term used to describe a couple of hot as fuck men who occasionally share meals and have unbelievably good sex."

"Sometimes in limos," Charles said. "Driver, how about you give us some privacy." The two eagerly watched the partition close and soft music star playing. A few minutes later, in the very same limo that Jay had swallowed what seemed like a gallon of Charles' cum not a week earlier, Justin did the same.

**Jesse had said that he had a surprise for me. He'd been building it up all week, ever since brunch actually, and it was finally time.

"This shirt isn't too much, is it?" I asked. When he'd come to my apartment to get me at 7, I still wasn't dressed because I had no clue what to wear. I wanted to look perfect and appropriate.

"The shirt's fine. I told you to wear whatever you want," he said.

"This would be a helluva lot easier if you would fucking tell me where we are going," I shouted. He was sitting on my bed watching me ransack my own closet. I finally settled on a light blue button front, a dark pair of jeans and a brown leather jacket. I was dressed comparably to his chords and a button front, but I still felt undressed for the super secret dinner we were going to.

"And why won't you tell me what we're doing tonight?" I asked as we were strolling up Park Avenue. I assumed we were going to someone's house somewhere, and the fact that we were in million dollar mile made me a little bit nervous.

"Because that would ruin the surprise," he said. "I told you not to worry about it."

Half an hour after we left my house on foot, we got to a building on Park and seventy-something. It was plush and nice and it didn't take a genius to know someone super wealthy lived there.

"We're going up," he said, stopping suddenly. The doorman let us in and said something familiar to Jesse. Jesse laughed and led me to a row of private elevators. Once we were inside one, my anxiety reached a whole new level.

"You didn't tell me we'd be eating dinner with Ralph Lauren himself," I said trying to joke.

"Don't be silly," he laughed. "Ralph lives a few blocks up."

I forced myself to calm down. Jesse said I'd be fine. He said I looked fine. I had to have confidence in myself and I'd be fine.

When he opened the door, a very redheaded woman opened with a big smile. She gave Jesse a huge hug and shrieked as the two squeezed each other.

"Ronny," he said when she'd let him go to breath. "This is my boyfriend, Mike."

"Mike," Ronny said sweetly. "I'm Veronica. It's so good to see you. Jesse has been blowing up my voicemail about you, it's kind of embarrassing." She spoke incredibly fast and I detected a slight hint of British under her Long Island accent. "Come on in," she said to me, closing the door behind me. "Please, please make yourself at home. Jess, be sweet and grab the cocktails out of the freezer. You, sit," she said looking at me. "I'm going to check on the ribs and be right back."

Ronny was stunning. She was about 6 feet tall and very slim. Her skin was almost as white as I'd ever seen and silky smooth. She reminded me of Nicole Kidman except that Ronny's face could move. Her hair was very Mary Jane red and came down to her chest in soft waves that gave her a modelesque silhouette as she bounced around the apartment. Jesse came back with two martini glasses and handed one to me.

"I think it's her signature citrus punch," he said. "Be careful. One will do you in, but two will kill you." I took a sip and felt as if I'd bit into a whole grapefruit and chased the taste with a handle of vodka.

"And I'm drunk," I said. Ronny was coming back into the overly decorated living room as I said this. She smiled at me.

"I have a heavy hand when it comes to the bottle," she said. "But this drink requires a lot of vodka to cut the taste of tequila. It's my trademark."

"It's also the reason I lost my favorite pair of pants in Hobokin that Christmas," Jesse finished. Before the sentence was even over, Ronny had started laughing, knowing what he was going to say. I was having dinner with Will and Grace and I finished my vodka with a side of citrus in two gulps to help get me through it.

"You, sir, must be thirsty," Ronny said noticing my empty glass. I tried to say something, but Jesse was already giving me a concerned look. Ronny got up to refill my glass and Jesse didn't waste a second.

"Will you relax, please," he said. "This is my best friend. Trust me, what you're going through is a whole lot easier than meeting the entire anal sex and the city gang last Sunday and you didn't see me chugging mimosas like they were water bottles at a rave. She'll love you like I do, I promise."

I couldn't have heard correctly. Did he say that she'd love me? Did he say that she'd love me like he did? Did that mean he loved me? After three weeks of officially dating? I wished more than anything I had time to analyze and ponder and write something, but a second later, Ronny was back with a fresh drink for me and a plate of shrimp cocktail for the three of us. I knew I needed to be on my best behavior so I sucked it up and became social.

The formality questions were the first to come out. She worked for Ralph Lauren as well except that she was part of the design team. She'd spent the last six months in London and had just come home to settle her late grandmother's estate, which included the condo she'd left her.

"You think I could afford this place on my own at 26?" she asked.

The two of them had met in college. They'd both gone to Parsons, right down the street, and had become fast friends. Ronny set Jesse up with his first guy, seeing as to he didn't come out of the closet until college, and according to her he'd been "hooked on dick ever since."

"What better place to find it than at Parsons, right?" she joked. "I swear even the janitors at that school have a lisp."

She was hilarious. She quickly put me at ease and by the time dinner was served, I was having fun. I was also toasted, but I felt comfortable around them.

"So we almost stopped being friends over a boy," she said over simply amazing chicken and Marsala wine pasta she'd prepared. "I come home from a long day at work- I used to be a cocktail waitress, mind you so I'd been on my feet all day. And I get home to find this guy making out with a guy I'd been dating for two weeks," she said dramatically. Jesse was flushed red and I was holding in my laughter. "It turns out that David had come to my apartment looking for me. He was kind of drunk and he found Jesse sitting there watching TV and eating my Oreo cookies. They got to talking, David commented about being bi-curious and the next thing, he was sucking face with my best friend."

"Oh, whatever," Jesse defended. "I told you from the get go that David was gay and you wanted to date him anyway."

"I dated him because he was an amazing kisser," she said.

"I know he was," Jesse replied. I couldn't help myself from cracking up.

The rest of the night followed in much the same vein. Ronny was full of stories and I was an eager listener. She was also full of spirits and she kept them coming like none other. By the time dinner and dessert had come and gone, I was almost too drunk to stand.

Jesse, who was sufficiently tipsy himself, was the designated leader of the pack as we went downstairs to catch a cab. I said bye to Ronny and promised to have her over sometime and tried not to fall flat on my face as we waited for a cab.

"She loved you," Jesse said when we were safely in a yellow vehicle heading for my place. "I can tell. She's a tough one, but she loved you."

"So now you're free to love me too," I slurred. I meant that in the classic Will/Grace relationship way, an approval from Grace was an approval from Will and vice-versa. Jesse's tipsy mind read too deep into what I was saying and he quickly went on the defensive.

"That was a slip earlier. I didn't mean-" he began.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "I'll probably love you too someday. But it's only been like three weeks, you know." At this point, it would have been easier to stop the cab with my brain that to stop myself from speaking. I continued to slur, only every other word making it out coherently. "But I want to, ok? So don't ever leave me. Don't leave me like that bastard Will. I love him too, though, but I don't want to. He's a bastard."

"You said that," Jesse said. I couldn't tell how much of my rambling he was absorbing but he was content to let me keep talking. I knew that talking would be dangerous. My voice suddenly got soft and sad. It wasn't until then did I realize how loud I'd been talking before.

"I don't know what to think. I love Will. We dated for like 2 years, you know? I can't just stop not loving him, you know? But where does that put us? I don't know. I don't know," and then it happened. I became that guy. I started crying right there in the cab. I would have been laughing if I'd seen myself but at that moment, I was hysterical. Jesse held me in his hands and I just sobbed until the cab stopped at my address.

Jesse led me upstairs, helped undress, made me some coffee and gave me a bottle of water. I began to sober up a little bit, realizing what a mess I was and had been in the car and began drunkenly apologizing. Jesse forced me to stop.

"I'm so sorry I ruined your dinner with your friend. I'm so sorry about what I said in the cab and crying and..."

"Just," he said. "Shhh. Just shh. You're drunk and that's ok. Just calm down and drink this."

I don't remember how the night ended. But the next morning, I woke up next to a fully clothed Jesse. There was a lingering smell of vomit in my bathroom and my head throbbed. All I remembered was talking about love and I knew that I had been a perfectly timed mess. And worst of all, that very second, I remembered a phone call that I'd made last night. I checked my phone and right there was all the proof I needed. At 4:14 am... W. Call ended at 4:21 am... I'd drunkenly talked to Will for a total of seven minutes and I was mortified.

**That very night, Beau was having a timely mess of his own. After sleeping with Philip after Charles' party, Beau couldn't have had a more confusing week. He decided to swear off men for what seemed to be the millionth time after the "I just left my girlfriend in my apartment" comment and was focused on work. He spent all of Monday and Tuesday going from casting to casting, audition to audition and got a couple of call backs. He renewed his dance class membership and looked around for an affordable vocal coach. On Wednesday, he called me asking for money.

"How much?" I asked. In the past, I had seriously considered opening up a Beau section in my bank account.

"Not a lot," he said. "I just need to pay for a month of voice classes. This lady is willing to do them for four hundred."

"Four hundred for one month? Are you trying to be Andre Bocelli over here?" I was already signing the check as I complained.

"No, but I need something to keep my mind off of Philip," he said.

"Straightee?" I asked. "From the party?"

"Precisely," he said saying it slowly as if he were sounding it out. I wouldn't put it past Beau to have read the word that morning on `word-of-the-day' toilet paper. "I keep being tempted to call him, but I know it's a horrible idea."

"Um, doy," I said. "He has a live-in girlfriend. Of course that's a horrible idea."

After our conversation, Beau decided he'd also try to learn to speak Italian. Anything to take up the time.

And then the inevitable happened. On Friday night, while I was probably spilling my guts out to Will on the phone, Beau received a call of his own.

"Hello," an ominous whisper came from the other line.

"Hi Phillip," Beau said. "I recognized the number."

"Cool," Phillip said quietly. "Look, I was wondering if you were busy."

"It's four am on a Friday night. Of course I'm busy," Beau said sarcastically. In all truth, had Beau had something to do, I wouldn't have been surprised in the least.

"Are you home?" Phillip asked.

"Yup."

"I'll be there in fifteen minutes," Phillip whispered and then hung up. The whole thing seemed like a very eerie sex dream to Beau until he heard the knock at his door 17 minutes later. He answered it and standing there, looking as hot as can be, was Phillip the straight guy, wearing athletic shorts, a white t-shirt and a beanie hat. Beau smiled beside himself.

Phillip was nothing if not classically handsome. He was 6'2, a little taller than Beau, with a full head of brown hair, the perfect amount of three day scruff and a chest as hard as a rock. His stomach was by no means toned, but was as flat as you could ask for from someone who probably drank too much beer and wasn't governed by the rules of NYC homosexual body etiquette.

Phillip didn't wait to be ushered in. He took his beanie off and tossed it onto Beau's bed while Beau was behind trying to lock the door.

"I don't have much time," Phillip said. "I don't want my girl to wake up and find me gone."

"What'll you tell her if she does?" Beau asked. He was watching Phillip strip down faster than he'd ever seen a guy do.

"I'll tell her I couldn't sleep and went out for a jog," he said.

"You have this all planned out," Beau replied. At this point, Beau had caught up to Phillip and was naked as well.

"Get over here," Phillip said and pulled Beau to him a little roughly. Beau, a guy in love with romance, was a little turned on by this change of pace. Phillip didn't beat around the bush. Instead of going for the kiss, he practically shoved Beau's face into his chest and told him to work on his nipples. "Yeah, dude," he said loudly. "Work on those pecs. You know you like those dude."

For a guy that was self-proclaimed "straight" Phillip sure was a fan of saying "man" and "dude" in bed as if a reminder that this time, he was messing around with a guy. Most guys that wanted their cake and to eat it too were usually content to just sit there and let the "gay" guy do the work while telling himself he was imagining Angelina Jolie on his cock. Phillip was different.

Before long, he pushed Beau down and told him to worship his cock. Beau followed orders and stuffed every last long inch of the guy's dick into his mouth. He was turned on by Phillip's rough nature and the fact that he was making a straight man moan like a baby above him was driving Beau crazy. He pumped away at his own dick while his mouth worked on Phillip's.

Before long, Phillip wanted something more. A week ago, a quick blow job had been enough to suffice. Tonight, he'd come for the real thing. He turned Beau around and dove into his ass.

"Oh, god, Phillip," Beau screamed. "That feels so good. Eat my ass."

And Phillip did. Beau definitely questioned Phillip's orientation, but what he didn't question was his skill. He usually felt awkward when a guy was back there, but Phillip's tongue reached so far deep into his ass- probably from years of practice with pussy- that within seconds, Beau was begging for Phillip to stick his cock in.

"You want my dick, dude?" Phillip asked a little too loudly. Beau just grunted a "yes" and a second later, Phillip had a condom on and was pounding away at my friend's hole. This straight guy must have been in a hurry because he didn't waste any time. He was in Beau's ass for a total of only a few minutes before he pulled out, flipped Beau over and came all over his chest and stomach. Beau watched with glazed eyes, pumping away at his own cock, as the bigger, hairier straight guy above him spilled line after line of cum on him. The feeling of his warm sliding down his body was enough to drive anyone crazy, but Beau was loving it and a second later was squirting his own seed over his body.

By the time Beau was recovered from the quick but hot romp, Phillip had already slipped back into shorts and T and was heading towards the door.

"That was hot, man," Phillip said.

"Yeah," Beau replied. "We should do it again."

"Oh we will stud," Phillip said in the doorway. "I'll call you."

As his newest guy was leaving, Beau couldn't help thinking that the straight thing aside, Phillip was almost perfect.

**The next day, I avoided that conversation with Jesse by waking up earlier than him, quickly nursing myself back to health with two aspirin, two full cups of water, a long shower and a beer. I called Tanner and insisted I accompany him to Barney's in search of a new jacket to wear tonight. I did all this, and left with Jesse still fast asleep.

As I was leaving, I decided I needed to make amends. I also decided that in the event that Tanner should leave before I came back, there would be no way for him to lock up. So I left my key and a note on the counter saying: I'm sorry. This is for you. M.

I hoped my actions last night weren't a deal breaker for him, and I discussed the very possibility with Tanner at Barney's.

"So you have no clue what you said during the phone call?" he asked in the men's department while we both sipped some Vodka/Cranberries. Only one design had caught his eye so far and it was a gorgeous navy James Perse with paisley lining. We were now looking for shirts that would go and not bankrupt Tanner's budget.

"I have no clue. All I know is that the call was made at 4:14 and lasted 7 minutes. What kind of call lasts 7 minutes?"

"Well it sure wasn't a voice mail," Tanner said. Duh, I thought. "This is bad."

"I know that," I said. "So I gave him my key."

"Well that's great. What a big step."

"Well, not gave so much as left," I confessed. "I left him my key."

Tanner told me that it'd be best to talk to Jesse about it as soon as possible. I decided that was a good idea too and decided to go home after Tanner had settle on a crisp white safari style shirt that was equal parts trendy and sophisticated to go with his new blazer.

"You're going to look hot tonight," I told him. And evidently he did. He paired the new jacket and shirt with a pair of his favorite khaki's and he fit right in at the semi-formal dinner hosted by Frank's law firm.

The two of them were by far the youngest guys in the room when they arrived that evening and it wouldn't have been a stretch to say that Tanner wasn't the most attractive. The suits surrounding them looked like they were one golf game away from kicking the bucket and even the twenty and thirty somethings looked like they belonged to a different generation.

The crowd was mingling and the aura was light, but there was an underlying tension between the guys that were in the running for partner- Frank included. There were seven candidates in all, most of them had been at the firm for at least 5 years. Frank was the most junior of them all, but his work since he'd interned at the firm in his second year of law school had proved exceptional. His mentor was ready to call him the next great tortes lawyer of Manhattan. Everyone in the room except Frank new the young guy had one of the spots in the bag.

"You're going to do fine," Tanner assured him during their second trip to the open bar. "Just focus on looking humble when they make the announcement."

After an hour of forced smiling and heavy drinking, one suit who was suffering from a very serious sunburn after a day of golfing no doubt, clicked his glass to make an announcement.

"I hope everyone has enjoyed the food and beverages," the guy Frank whispered was Schwartz of Johnson and Schwartz announced.

"We have, Bobby," a toasted guy shouted from the back. His wife of at least twenty years his junior looked embarrassed.

"You've enjoyed a little too much, Mr. Milligan," Schwartz joked. He went on to reveal why everyone was there even though anyone who didn't know deserved to be stabbed with a hot meatball skewer. "And it is my privilege to announce Mr. Douglas Portman and Ms. Vanessa Price as our two newest partners."

Tanner looked at Frank's face and saw the look of elegant disappointment in his eyes. The hand he'd been squeezing got two times tighter and Tanner knew that Frank was more upset than he'd ever been. There was a quick round of congratulations to the two lawyers who had made partner, another brief announcement about being back at work on Monday and those who so please stayed for dinner.

"Um, I'm getting a headache," Frank said. "I'm going to make the rounds and we can get out of here."

"Everyone will understand," Tanner told him. As much as Tanner felt for Frank, there was a little part of him that was a little relieved. He'd finally have his Frank back. The Frank that wasn't so driven and consumed. The Frank that paid attention to detail and most of all, the Frank that was available.

That night, however, Tanner saw a different Frank. He saw a Frank that had suffered a disappointment. They walked home slowly, barely talking and Frank simply made himself a sandwich, popped a beer and went to sleep. It was 9 o'clock. Tanner decided to give Frank time. There was no use pestering him. He'd offer his condolences when it was the right time.

**For the first time in months, the Sunday's brunch involved drama for each of us. First there was Beau, who couldn't deny the fact that there was something about his straight guy that drove him crazy. Although all of us loved doing self described straightees, falling for them was strictly forbidden. Nothing good ever came from a crush on a straight guy, no matter how much he flirted, sucked or fucked. The truth is that at the end of the night, they always go home to their girlfriends and wives.

All of us where curious to know what was going on with Charles.

"You went to meet his friends?" I asked incredulously. "What part of this isn't a relationship?"

"It's complicated," Charles said trying to maintain his air of superiority. "The kid is infatuated with me and I can't stop him. Oh, and cut him some slack, will you Mike. He'll have his little essay in first thing tomorrow."

"It was due on Friday," I said. Charles gave me a look of mock-sympathy. "I won't take off the full third if it's good. Otherwise, he's on his own."

"It's good," he said. "I proofread it."

"Ah, that's cute," Beau cooed.

"What? Did `Who-Wants-to-Date-a-Straight-Guy' say something?" Charles asked with the air quotes and everything. We all laughed.

The status of their relationship was still up in the air- as was his relationship with Jay who'd seemed to fall off of the face of the earth as Justin and he were getting serious. All I knew is that after brunch, Charles asked if Jesse and I wanted to join him and Justin for drinks on Tuesday. I said I'd think about.

Tanner announced that he was both sad and relieved that Frank didn't get the partnership.

"It's like, he has more time now. He's talking about taking two weeks off for the honeymoon instead of one. But I can't help thinking that he'll have to try again in six months or a year and this time he'll be even more intense. I don't know if I can deal with the neglect again," Tanner said.

"But you can deal with the perks of being married to a partner of a major Manhattan law firm," I said.

"I know. You might be able to leave your job as a hand-writer," Charles joked.

"I do contracts," Tanner defended. "And I can't do that. I don't work because I have to. I work because it's fun. I don't know. I'm just glad that I have the old Frank back, you know? Not the ambitious get ahead Frank."

And then there was me. Since Friday night, I'd had time to reflect about what I'd browned out and I'd talked to Jesse about the rest. After vomiting what I'd had to drink at Ronny's and crying for an hour, I insisted on calling Will and giving him a piece of my mind. Jesse tried to stop me, but I wasn't stoppable. I dialed Will's number and proceeded to yell at him about how much he'd hurt me and how damaged I was. I told him that I was lucky to have Jesse to pick up the pieces and that I was getting over him. Jesse couldn't tell what Will was saying of course, but he said that I pretty much talked non-stop until I hung up after a few minutes. The gist of the rant was that I told Will he'd messed up major and that I was forgiving him but moving on.

Jesse and I had talked yesterday about how he didn't feel that I was over Will. I assured him that I was and that I was ready to move on with our relationship. He's my past- I assured. I couldn't forget it and as much as it was there, I still wanted to build a future. Jesse, ever the sweetheart, proved understanding and said he'd try to understand.

My boys had different opinions.

"When are you going to resign yourself to the fact that you still have feelings for Will," Tanner said. He was ever in Will's corner.

"Some things are deal breakers," Beau asked. "A year-long abandonment is one of them."

"What do you know, home wrecker," Charles said.

"This is different," Beau added quietly as Charles simply continued to speak.

"I think you have a great thing here," Charles continued. "Two guys who are crazy about you. I find myself in a similar position."

"Whore," Tanner said.

"And it's a good one," Charles continued, not listening to the interruptions. "You can't go wrong when guys bid for you."

Alas, I left brunch with more thoughts than I could sort out, as did my three best friends.

**"This is perfect timing," Frank told Tanner as soon as he got home from brunch on Sunday. "I just got off the phone with Schwartz."

Tanner noticed a glow of happiness on Frank's face and he immediately got nervous on the inside while showing excitement on the outside.

"What did he say?"

"He said that my performance the last few weeks has been exceptional. So great that he didn't want to simply make me partner. He's sending me to start my own branch of the firm, Tanner. This is a dream come true. I'm going to have my own firm."

That was great news. A minute later, Tanner got the brick that came along with the feather.

"There's only one problem, and it's not even that major," Frank continued. Tanner continued to wear the artificial smile on his face. "The office is in Dallas."

Tanner wanted to cry. Instead, he held back his tears, whispered a "that's wonderful" and gave Frank a hug. He'd wait until the excitement passed to tell Frank how he really felt- he wasn't moving to Dallas.

**As for me, I got a timely surprise when I arrived home. I tried to unlock my door and realized it was already open. I assumed that Jesse had decided to use his key to surprise me, and I went in with a big grin and a "hello, lovah!" Carrie Bradshaw style.

I wasn't greeted by Jesse. Instead, I was greeted by an oral assault by Will. He jumped off my couch, grabbed my face and gave me a big, wet, sloppy kiss. I should have backed away but I let him kiss me. I should have pushed his body away from mine, but I let his crotch rub against mine. I should have thought about something other than Will's warm tongue diving into my mouth, but I moaned into his mouth instead. After a kiss that lasted too long for a man who was in a relationship, I finally pushed him away gently.

"Your phone call on Friday made me realize something," he said. "It may be too late to erase what I did a year ago and I get that. But it isn't too late to show you how I still feel. I know you're not over me, Mike," he whispered. "Let me show you how not over you I am too." And then he did. With another mind blowing sensual kiss.

The only thought I could muster out of my cloudy brain was that at that moment, I prayed that Jesse didn't come in as Will gave me the best kiss of my life.

**Thanks for continuing to follow the story of Mike and his boys. I hope you enjoyed it. Please send me your feedback at heavensforlife@aol.com. And also check out my other story on Nifty They Say. See you next week with Chapter 6 of Me and My Boys.