Misunderstandings

Misunderstandings 2

“You’re so young.”

The words echoed around and around in Luis’ head.  And it wasn’t just the words; it was the tone of voice.  Not condescending.  He could have fought against that.  No, the words had been spoken in sadness, near despair.  Like there was nothing that could be done.

“You’re so young.”

Argh!  Luis lay in Davis’ bed, Davis curled up beside him, asleep.  He thought about the evening; it had been a great evening.   They’d gone to the movie, and the movie had been pretty good.  A decent plot, brilliant special effects, lots of cool explosions, and an amazing soundtrack.  Then they’d gone to dinner, and Davis had treated.  Luis smiled a little bit; Davis could be so gallant. They’d talked over dinner for quite a while.  Davis tended to be quiet, but if you could get him started on a subject he was great fun to talk to.  He had a certain snarky sense of humor that just cracked Luis up.  They’d talked for a couple hours, and that had been so cool.  Calvin never talked; Calvin chattered, slinging crass double-entendres in every direction and giggling at his own jokes.  

They’d talked about the movie, and about other movies they’d seen, and about a couple of the actors and how one particular precept in the movie had been just preposterous and unbelievable.  And then Luis had casually asked what Davis wanted to do next and Davis had gotten that amazingly lascivious little smile on his face and Luis knew that that meant.  Davis might be in his forties, but he had the libido of a teenager, and he was more than happy to let Luis know that.  And so they’d gone to Davis’ condo, and what had happened there had been something new.

The first time they had gotten together had been a straight-up hookup.  Strictly a one-night-stand.  It had been fast-moving, and hard, and incredible, but it had been strictly two guys using each other to get off.

The second time they’d gotten together had been almost frantic don’t-let-him-get-away sex,  followed by a bout of slower but still frenetic coupling, still mostly about getting off, but with maybe a little more concern for each other.

Tonight had been something else entirely.  Luis was definitely the top, but Davis had taken the lead, and he had lead them down a languid path of, well, lovemaking.  They’d made out for a while, and Davis had paid intense attention to Luis’ body - touching, caressing, teasing, licking, sucking.  Allowing things to progress but at a slowly building pace, reining Luis in whenever he started to surge ahead.  Even in the heat of full-on sex, Davis had maintained control and gentled Luis like a restive colt.  At the end, Davis had wrapped his legs around Luis waist and guided his movements, gently increasing the pace until they had shared a mind-shattering climax, and then collapsed, Luis sprawled across Davis’ body, both of them drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

Once their breathing had returned to normal, Davis had pulled Luis up beside him, and kissed him, long and deeply.  Then, with a smile, he’d sent Luis to shower.

When Luis had come out of the shower, Davis had invited him to spend the night.  Luis, delighted, had agreed.  It would be their first night together;  Davis’ face lit up in a huge smile, and he’d climbed out of bed, given Luis a hug, and headed for the shower.

Davis apparently took long showers, as he was gone for a while.  Luis had drifted into a light doze by the time Davis came back.  Davis had apparently thought Luis was asleep, and he’d crawled into bed very carefully so not to disturb him.  He’d curled up at Luis’ side, pulling Luis arm around himself, and laid his head on Luis shoulder.  Luis had smiled a little, allowing Davis to think he was really asleep.  

Things had been quiet for a little bit, and then Davis had heaved a big sigh, and then spoke those words.

“You’re so young.”

They had stung.  Luis’ eyes had flown open, but Davis hadn’t seen that.  Luis had stared at the darkened ceiling, trying to make sense of what he’d heard.  What did Davis mean by that?  He’d sounded so sad.  The words weren’t a condemnation.  It didn’t sound like he thought Luis was a child.  The only thing Luis could come up with was that Davis thought he was too young for a relationship.  Or maybe just too young for a relationship with Davis.  God!  What did he mean?

Davis had heaved another sigh, and cuddled up a little more, then began to relax and was shortly asleep.  He snored.  Just a little.  It was adorable.  At the end of each inhaled breath, he’d make this quiet little ‘snerk’ sound.  Luis lay there and listened to this for a while, and it gradually lulled him to sleep.

Luis awoke around nine the next morning.  Davis was still curled up against him, snoring gently.  Luis, who needed to pee desperately, tried to extricate his arm from under Davis head.  Disturbed, Davis gave a mighty snort and threw an arm around Luis, gathering him up like a teddy bear.  Good grief, he was strong.  Luis felt like he had an iron band around his chest.  He started to try and wiggle out of the embrace, and Davis just gripped him tighter.  Luis hadn’t really realized just how much strength Davis had, but Davis had three inches and more than a hundred pounds on him.   He felt a little like a tugboat moored to a superliner.  Finally he sighed and spoke.

“Davis.”

“mfgl.”

“DAVIS.”

“Wht?”

“Wake up, Davis.  I need to pee.”

“M’kay”

“DAVIS”  Luis started to wiggle again.

Finally, Davis raised his head, and looked at Luis through heavy-lidded eyes.  He smiled.  “Hi.”

“Hi yourself.  I need to pee.”

“Okay.”  Davis lay his head down again.

“DAVIS!”

Davis raised his head.  “Wht?”

“Let go of me.”

“Wht?”

“Let go of me.  I need to pee.  Please?”

Davis seemed to think about this for a moment.  He looked at Luis, then down at his own arm.  After another moment he lifted his arm and rolled away, then went back to sleep.  Luis jumped out of bed and dashed for the bathroom to relieve himself.  Once he was finished, he wandered back into the bathroom to look at Davis.  Davis was snoring.  Luis, who’d been part of the occasional sleepover in his life, had never seen someone sleep so hard.  Shrugging, Luis left and wandered downstairs.  Maybe he could make some breakfast.

Temperance met him at the bottom of the stairs, and raced him to the kitchen, crying frantically.  When he got to the kitchen he found her standing on the edge of the sink, meowing.  He watched her for a moment, then turned to the fridge.  In the fridge he found part of a gallon of milk, various condiments, a fuzzy piece of cheese, and a big pan full of what had probably been spaghetti before the green growies got it.  Fortunately the pan had a glass lid; he hadn’t had to open the pan to see inside.  There were a few cans of soda, several boxes of something called humalog, and an open can of tuna, wrapped in plastic.  In the vegetable drawers were a shriveled up onion, some floppy grey stalks of celery, and a package that was full of what appeared to be raisins on vines, and which apparently had been grapes at some point in the past.

There was nothing else.  No eggs, nothing.  Among the condiments in the door was a large bottle of sugar free syrup.

In the freezer Luis found a number of baggies of what appeared to be blocks of shaved ice.  One block of shaved ice had what appeared to be a piece of old, dried-out steak sticking out of one end.  There was also a big bag of rather scarred looking frozen broccoli, some ice cream sandwiches, a frozen pizza, several tupperware containers full of discolored lumpy ice (soup?) and a huge box of frozen waffles.

Luis, who still lived at home and was used to his mothers’ kitchen, wondered how anyone could survive like this.  The fridge at home usually was well-stocked with actual food items that were generally fresh and recognizable.  This fridge looked like it should have tumbleweeds blowing around inside.

So - apparently it was going to be frozen waffles, with milk.  Luis pulled the big box out of the freezer, and wandered around the kitchen, looking for a toaster.  The kitchen was generally pretty clean.  The stove had dust on it.  So did the toaster.

Luis started hunting through cabinets, and quickly found the dishes he wanted.  They were pretty nice stoneware, and decent glassware.  They were also dusty.  Luis grabbed a paper towel, got it damp, and wiped everything down. Then he started toasting waffles.  He got the syrup out and zapped it in the microwave.  He found some butter in the fridge, and buttered the waffles as they popped up.  As he worked, he looked around.  There was a sort of bar-top between the kitchen and the dining area, but there were no chairs.  There wasn’t a dining table either.  The dining area was mostly taken up by an enormous aquarium.  The dining area was really part of the living room area, with a couch to divide the two spaces.  The living room consisted of the couch, an end table, a very large recliner, and an absolutely gigantic black entertainment center.

There really wasn’t anywhere to eat, except off your knees.

He’d pretty much finished toasting waffles, so Luis put the box back in the freezer.  He grabbed the milk out of the fridge, the syrup out of the microwave, glasses and small plates out of the cupboards, and forks from the drawer.  He stacked the waffles on the plates, loaded the entire mess up in his arms, and headed back upstairs.

Back in the bedroom, Luis set everything down on a side table.  Then he turned and surveyed Mt. St. Davis.  There had to be some way of waking him up short of a two by four upside the head.  Davis was still naked, and lying on his side, facing Luis.  Luis face split into a sneaky grin.  He leaned over and gave Davis a kiss, and called his name.  “Davis.”  Davis muttered something unintelligible.  Luis gave him another kiss, a little harder, and called his name again, a little louder.  Davis heaved a sign, but didn’t move.  Luis gave him a much more insistent kiss, and at the same time reached down and started tickling Davis’ balls.  He called Davis’ name again, a little louder, and started rubbing Davis cock.  Davis started to get hard.  He leaned over again, and gave Davis another kiss, this time stroking his tongue across Davis’ lips.  Davis abruptly inhaled, and his eyes popped open.

“Holy shit!”

Luis started to snicker, but kept his hand busy on Davis’ cock. “You awake now?  Should I stop?”

Davis abruptly sat up, pushing Luis’ hand away.  “Crap!  I gotta pee!”  He shoved Luis out of the way, bounced out of bed and raced into the bathroom to relieve himself.  When he came back, Luis was still snickering, while he doled out the breakfast.  He stepped up behind Luis and wrapped his arms around him, looking over his shoulder.  “What are you - Oh!  You made breakfast!  Thank you!”  He climbed back into the bed, sitting up cross-legged.  Luis handed him a glass of milk, which he set on the bedside table, and then a plate of waffles, a fork, and the syrup.  Then he climbed into the bed, holding his waffles and milk, and sat cross-legged, facing Davis.  Davis poured a little syrup for both of them, then set it aside, and held Luis milk while he cut up his waffles.  “Thank you, Luis - this was really sweet.  And I have to say, that was the all time nicest wake up I can ever remember.”

Luis snickered again.  “Glad you liked it.  I was wondering if I was going to have to set off some dynamite to wake you up.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.  I’m really not a morning person.  I have a terrible time waking up, even when I’ve gotten plenty of sleep.”

They ate their waffles in companionable silence for a few minutes.  At least it started out as companionable silence.  For some reason, Luis suddenly remembered the ‘Young’ comment from the night before.  It kept echoing back and forth in his thoughts, and gradually broke his good mood.  Davis, who’d been surreptitiously stealing peeks at Luis face, watched him cloud over.  

Finally, he spoke.  “Luis?”

Luis voice was very quiet and subdued.  “Yeah?”

“Is something wrong?”

Luis glanced at Davis, then dropped his eyes.  “Yeah, kinda.  You said something last night and it kinda got to me.”

“I did?  What did I say?”

“Well, it was after you came back from your shower.  I think you thought I was asleep.  You climbed in beside me, and laid down for a little bit.  Then you sorta sighed, and said ‘You’re so young,’ in this really sad voice.”

“Oh.”

“That’s it?  Just ‘Oh’?  What did you mean by that, Davis?  Do you think I’m too young for you?”

Davis looked shocked.  “God, no!  You’re not too young for me, I’m too old for you!”

“What?”

“I’m nearly twice your age!  I could be your father!  I’m probably the same age as your father!  I mean, what would your parents think?  What would your friends think?”

Luis sat back a little.  “That’s what’s bothering you?  The age difference?  Jesus, Davis, I don’t care about that.  I like older guys.  I’ve dated a few guys my age, they act like freaking teenagers. They’re obnoxious.”

“But -”

“But what?”

“You deserve to be with someone your own age.”

“I just told you.   Guys my age are self-centered jerks.  They mostly want to know when they’re going to get laid and when the next kegger is.  I like you, Davis - we talk about stuff.  You listen.”

Davis blinked.  “You like me?”

Luis rolled his eyes.  “Well, yeah!  I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Oh, uh...”  Luis watched Davis’ face with some fascination.  He could see Davis’ train of thought gently derailing in all over the place.  After a moment he visibly pulled himself back together.  “Okay, but what about your parents and friends?”

“Well, what about your parents and friends?”

Davis rolled his eyes.  “Oh, that’s easy.  My parents just want me to be happy - it won’t bother them.  I don’t have many friends here, so there’s not a lot to worry about there.  The couple of guys I do know will just scream that I’m ‘pulling chicken’ and make a lot of passes at you.”

“And you’re okay with that?  You think I’m chicken?”

Davis looked shocked.  “God, no!  You’re not chicken, you’re a guy.”

Luis just nodded.  “Okay, there you go.  Problem solved.”

“But -”

“Why are you fighting this so hard, Davis?”

Davis heaved a sigh, and looked down at his lap.  “I just don’t want people thinking that I’m taking advantage of you, you know, because I’m older.”

“I don’t think you’re taking advantage of me.  Isn’t that good enough?”

“Well, I guess -"

“Don’t guess, Davis.  Look, I’m not some little eighteen-year-old twink that you’re plowing six ways from Sunday.  I may not be as big as you, but I don’t think you could really force me into something I didn’t want to do, yeah?  Plus, if I remember right, the plowing is all going in the other direction, yeah?  If anything, I’m the one taking advantage of you.”

Davis got a sly grin on his face, and he gave a low chuckle.  “Heh, heh, I don’t think you can ‘take advantage of’ the willing, heh, heh...”

Luis smiled back. “Thank you for making my point.”

“Yeah, okay, I get it, I guess.”

“Good.”

“You never answered my question, though.”

“What question?”

Davis rolled his eyes.  “What about your parents and friends?”

Luis’ smile faded a bit.  “I don’t know.  Shelley isn’t bothered; she thinks the whole thing is totally romantic.  My other friends, I dunno.  Of course, Jim likes cougars, so he really can’t talk.” Luis snickered. “He thinks it’s a secret, too, but it’s so obvious, it’s just hilarious.”

“And your parents?”

“That’s a good question.  They know I’m gay, and they’re mostly okay with that.  They were okay with Calvin.  I think they’d be okay with you.”

Davis’ eyebrows rose.  “Really?”

“Yeah, I think so.  I’m not going to worry about it, anyway.”

Davis nodded.  “Okay.”

Luis picked at the last bit of his waffle.  “So, not to change the subject, but I’m gonna change the subject.  What’s with this weird syrup?  Are you trying to lose weight?”

“Huh?  What’s wrong with the syrup?”

“It’s sugar free, and it tastes like ass.”

Davis chuckled.  “Oh.  No, I’m not trying to lose weight, although I am trying to keep from getting any heavier.  No, it’s sugar free because I’m diabetic.”

Luis blinked.  “You are?  But isn’t that, I mean, don’t you, uh...”

Davis smiled.  “It’s no big deal.  I’m type two; that means I got it as an adult.  I just have to watch what I eat, and I use insulin to keep my blood sugar under control.”

“But, isn’t there stuff you can’t eat?  I mean, you can’t have sugar, right?”

“Well, yes and no.  I can eat pretty much anything, as long as I adjust my insulin, but you’re right, concentrated sugar isn’t a good idea, because my blood sugar will spike and then crash.  I just avoid overly sweet things, and do blood sugar checks, and I’m fine.”

“How did you get diabetes?  You ate too much sugar?  That’s what mom always told me; eat too much candy and you’ll get diabetes.”

Davis laughed.  “No, no, nothing like that.  As far as I know, they still haven’t really figured out the causes of adult onset diabetes, but so far most of the signs point towards excess fat.  I’ve been overweight since I was six, and diabetes runs in my mother’s family.  Voi-la, I’m diabetic.  It’s a drag, but it’s not that bad.  I’ve been diabetic for more than twelve years, and I’ve kept it under good enough control that I don’t show any signs of the usual side effects.  I can feel all my toes, and my eyes are fine.  It’s really no big deal.”

“Okay, I guess I won’t worry about it, if you say it’s okay.”

Davis set is plate aside, swallowed the rest of his milk, and straightened up.  “So!  What shall we do for the rest of the day?”

*   *   *

Monday morning, six o’clock, and Shelley was letting Luis in the back door of the cafe.

“Okay, bub!” She said.  “Where the hell have you been all weekend?”

Luis put a big, innocent grin on his face.  “Nowhere much, why?”

“You weren’t home.  Your mom said you were with Jim, but when I called him, he hadn’t seen you.  You’re just lucky your mom didn’t call him too.  Now where were you?”

Luis was still smiling.  “Where do you think I was?”

Shelleys’ eyes went wide.  “You were with Davis?  All weekend?” she squeaked.

“Yep.”

“Ohmigod!  All weekend?  Okay, come in here and tell me all about it.  You actually spent the night with him?  On Friday and Saturday?”

Shelley dragged him into the kitchen, and they started on food prep for the day.  

Luis pulled stuff out of the fridge and got started.  “So, we had a really great date on Friday.  The movie was good, and then he took me to dinner, and we talked for a couple hours, and one thing led to another - “

“What, again?”

Luis shrugged, and looked at little embarrassed. “Well, yeah.  I mean, he’s really hot, and it’s really good, and I dunno - what do you want from me?”

“Yeah, yeah, okay.  So you did it again.”

“Yeah, and it was, oh, God, Shel!  He made me take it really slow, and it went on for a really long time, and it was just unbelievable.”

“Okay, okay, I’ve heard enough.  So then what happened?”

“Well, he asked me to stay the night, and I said ‘yes.’ So we both took showers, I went first.  Then when he was done, he got in bed with me, and cuddled right up, and fell asleep in my arms.”

Shelley let out a sigh. “Gawd, that’s so - “

Luis smirked.  “Sappy?  Corny?”

“I was going to say ‘romantic.’”

“Well, it was really cool.  We slept in each other’s arms all night.  When I woke up the next morning, he wouldn’t let me go.  I about had to brain him to get him to let go.  He’s a really hard sleeper.  So, anyway, I got up and made breakfast.  Ugh, Shelley, you should see his fridge.”

“Really awful?”

Luis shook his head.  “Well, no, it wasn’t really awful, it was just empty.  I mean, there was just nothing in there.  We wound up eating toaster waffles because that was all he had.  And this nasty sugar-free syrup, bleah!”

Shelley frowned a little.  “Sugar-free syrup?  What, is he on a diet?”

“No, he’s diabetic.”

“Really?  Is he okay?”

Luis shrugged.  “He says he is.  Says it’s not a problem.”

“Okay, so then what happened.”

“Well, we hung around and talked for a while.  Turns out he’s kinda hung up on the age difference.  Like, because he’s older than me, that makes me some sort of helpless child or something.  Well, I put him straight on that score.  Anyway, we talked for a little while longer, and then, well, one thing led to another, and -”

“What, again?”

Luis turned a little pink.  “Well, yeah.  Anyway, so then we sorta dozed off for a little while, and when we woke up, we were kinda hungry.  So Davis says he knows a place, but it takes awhile to get there, and did I want to try something different.  So I said yes, and we get in his car and he starts driving.  So we wind up driving way out into the countryside outside of town.  Like forty miles outside of town, out in the middle of absolutely nowhere, out in the hills.  And he pulls up next to this little cabin, which turns out to be a korean cafe.  We were the only ones there, and it was run by this little old korean lady who was just hilarious.  And it was good!  Have you ever had real kimchi?  It was good!”

Shelley wrinkled her nose.  “Kimchi?  You mean that rotten cabbage stuff?”

Luis just shrugged.  “I dunno what it was, but it was spicy and it was great!  Anyway,  we get back, and I went home to change clothes.  Then I went back to his place and we just watched TV the rest of the day.”

“I thought you said he doesn’t have cable?”

“He doesn’t but he’s got Netflix, and he’s got it hooked up to his TV through this Playstation.  And he’s found all these british TV shows that he likes to watch, and some of them are downright hilarious.  And then, when it got to be late, he asked me to stay the night again, so I did.”

Shelley raised her eyebrows suggestively.  “Yes, and, anything else?”

Luis shrugged and shook his head.  “No, we just slept together.  It was nice.”

“So what happened Sunday?”

“Well, not a lot.  He really sleeps like the dead.  And once he’s got his arms around you, it’s like being in a big bear trap.”

“Yeah?  I bet you didn’t mind a bit, either.”

Luis grinned.  “Nope.  So we really only spent the morning together.  After that I had to go home and catch up my homework.”

“Poor baby.”

The morning progressed normally.  Luis alternated between the register and the espresso machine, and managed to avoid the kitchen.  Shelley noticed that as the morning wore on, Luis seemed to be paying more and more attention to the door.

Finally, shortly before noon, Davis appeared in the doorway, and stepped into line.  Luis was abruptly very smiley.  Shelley watched with some amusement as he took Davis’ order for his usual salad and soda.  When the salad was ready, Luis bopped into the kitchen and grabbed it, then took it out to Davis.  They stood together, talking quietly for a few moments, then separated.  Davis left and Luis watched him go.  Shelley came up beside him and looked; Luis had a sort of lost expression on his face.  Shelley just shook her head, and said, “You are in deep shit, Luis.”

“What?”

“You look like a love-struck cow.”

Luis glared at her.  “I do not!” he said indignantly.

She continued to shake her head.  “Uh-huh.  Whatever you say.”

Monday passed into Tuesday, passed into Wednesday.  Luis had afternoon classes Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, along with a morning class and a lab on Wednesdays.  He normally worked when he wasn’t in class.  Wednesday evening he spent at home working on a big paper that was due soon, Fridays were usually spent at the dance club with the gang.  Wednesday passed into Thursday, and on into Friday.  Davis and Luis hadn’t seen each other since lunch on Monday, but had texted back and forth quite a bit.  Not much more than ‘Good morning.’ or ‘What’s up?’ but it was contact, of a sort.  

Friday night found Luis at the dance club with Shelley, Jim, Rafe, and Scooter.  Jim had lost the toss and was designated driver for the night.  The others had all had a couple beers, and while they weren’t drunk, they all were beginning to feel the buzz.  Luis, who loved to dance, had been out on the floor with a redhead, and had just come back, panting lightly, when Scooter asked where he’d been the previous weekend.

Jim leaned in.  “Yeah, Lou, where were you last weekend?  Your mom even called to check on you!”

Luis looked startled.  “She did?  What did you tell her?”

“I told her you’d run to the store to get snacks.  Don’t worry, man, I got your back.  But you owe me now!  Now where were you?”

Everybody was looking at Luis now; Luis started to stammer something when Shelley giggled and said “He was playing hide the sausage with his new boyfriend!”  She dragged the word ‘boyfriend’ out into a long, singsong taunt.

Luis turned on Shelley, blushing furiously.  “Shelley!  Shut the fuck up!  He’s not my boyfriend!”

Jim barked a laugh. “Dude!  You got laid?  Sweet!”

Scooter laughed as well.  “Boyfriend?  Really?  Hopefully not like that Calvin dude!  Why isn’t he here tonight?”

Rafe jumped in as well. “Yeah, man!  Why isn’t he here?”

Shelley gave Luis a playful shove.  “I think he’s your boyfriend.  You get all googly-eyed every time you see him.”  She turned to the other guys.  “You should see it, it’s hysterical.”

Luis was still looking mortified. “Shelley!  Shut up!”

“Have you met this guy, Shelley?” asked Jim.  

Scooter asked, “Yeah, have you met him?  Is he anything like Calvin?”

Shelley smiled.  “Yeah, I’ve met him.  He’s not anything like Calvin at all.  He’s charming.  He comes into the cafe for lunch all the time.”

Rafe laughed.  “Charming?  Definitely not like Calvin then.” He looked at Luis. “C’mon Luis, get him out here.  We want to meet him.”

Luis looked flummoxed.  “Uh, he really doesn’t like bars - “

Jim jumped in.  “So what?  He doesn’t have to drink anything.  Just get him out here.”

Rafe was next.  “Yeah, man, get him out here.”

Luis, looking cornered, stared at them for a moment, then slumped in defeat.  “Okay.”  He pulled out his phone, and sent a text.  After a moment, his phone chirped an incoming text, and he answered it, then waited.  Another chirp, and he nodded and put the phone away.

“Okay, guys, he’s on his way.  And I don’t want you hassling him, okay?  Just lay off him, right?”

Jim, Rafe and Scooter all put their hands up, looking affronted and innocent at the same time.  “We won’t give him any shit, okay Lou?” said Jim.  

“Yeah, we’ll play nice with your new boyfriend,” said Rafe.

“He’s not my boyfriend yet!” snapped Luis.  Shelley giggled, and the other three exchanged glances, then turned to stare at Luis.

“Yet?” they all said in unison.

He stared back at them.  “What?”

Jim said, “You said he’s not your boyfriend, quote ‘yet’ unquote.”  He made fingerquotes in the air.

Luis looked startled.  “No I didn’t.”

They all nodded, and Jim said, “Yep, that’s what you said.”

Luis looked shifty.  “Well, we’ve only had, like, three dates, and the first one didn’t really count.”

Scooter leaned in.  “How does a date not count?”  Shelley giggled, and Scooter looked at her.  “And what do you know that we don’t?”

Luis glared at Shelley.  “Don’t you say anything, Shel!” he said in a warning voice.  

Shelley, who’d caught a ride with another friend and actually had a couple beers before the others arrived. was feeling pretty giggly.   She leaned forward and in a loud stage-whisper said “Ask him how many times they’ve had sex!”

“Shelley!” Shouted Luis, blushing again.

“Oops,” said Shelley.  The other three turned to stare at Luis, who sat back and clammed up, crossing his arms and looking defiant.  After a minute, the other three looked back at Shelley, who sniggered and held up five fingers.  Their eyes went wide, and they all turned back to Luis with looks of awe on their faces.  Luis got even more red.  Finally, Jim held up a hand for a high-five.  Still mortified, Luis finally gave in and slapped his hand down, then smiled.

“Okay, you gotta tell us about him, man!” said Jim.  Luis just shrugged, and signalled the waitress for another round of beers.

They were still talking about twenty minutes later, when Scooter spotted someone coming in the main door.

“Holy shit!  Look at that!  It’s Fat Bastard!” He said, referring to the character from the old Austin Powers movies.  The others turned to look.

“Damn!  He’s bigger than the damn bouncer!” said Rafe.

“Jesus!  He’s heading for the dance floor!” said Jim.  “I hope he’s wearing signal flares!”

“Shut UP!” hissed Luis.  Shocked, all three of them turned to see Luis incandescent with rage.  “You fuckers can just fuck yourselves!” He shouted.  He stood up so fast his bar stool clattered backwards across the floor.  He started shoving his way through the crowd.  Halfway across the room, he met up with the guy they’d been talking about, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him out of the club as fast as he could go.

Rafe, Scooter, and Jim stared at each other in confusion, then turned to Shelley, who looked completely horrified.

She shook her head.  “Nice job, assholes.  I’ll give you one guess who that was.” Her voice was low, and menacing.  She watched as the penny dropped behind their eyes.

“That was -”  “But -”  “You can’t -” They spluttered.

Finally, Jim got his mouth back in gear with this brain.  “That was Lous’ new guy?”

Shelley nodded.  “Yep.  That was him.”

Jim groaned.  “God, what did we do?  Really?  That was him?  But he was huge!”

Shelley was still nodding.  

Rafe said, “And he was old!  And Fat!  I thought gay guys were all about muscles and stuff!  That guy looked like one of my professors!”

Shelley just shook her head.  “Not Luis.”

Scooter, who was staring towards the door, said, “God, he was big.  He looked like he could twist Luis into a pretzel if he wanted to.”  Privately he was thinking ‘Luis had sex with that?  Five times?  I wonder who...’

Jim had pulled out his phone and was dialling Luis’ number.  He wasn’t surprised when the call went to voicemail.  Stuttering a little in his hurry to get the words out, he said “Luis, we’re sorry, we didn’t know.  We didn’t mean anything.  Call me back, okay?”  He hung up, and looked at the others.  They looked back at him.  Jim turned back to Shelley.

“Why didn’t he tell us -”

“What,” interrupted Shelley. “What did you expect him to say?  ‘Oh, by the way, he’s forty and he’s fat so be nice.’”

Jim grimaced that that.  “Well, I dunno.  He could’ve said something.”

Shelley rolled her eyes.  “Seriously?  Are you listening to yourself?”

“Well...”

Shelley shook her head again.  “Guys, I think it’s time to go home.  I dunno about you, but my buzz is totally shot, and I’m not in any mood to dance any more.”  The others glumly agreed, and they all headed out to the parking lot.

*   *   *

Davis was at home, watching TV, when his phone chirped.  It was Luis, asking him to come out to the local dance club.  That was interesting; Luis knew Davis wasn’t a dancer, and didn’t care for the club scene, but he still asked.  After a moment, Davis agreed, and after another text exchange he hauled himself out of his chair to get ready.  He didn’t really have time for a shower, so he just wiped himself down with a wet washcloth, applied fresh deodorant, and put on clean clothes.  

Twenty minutes later, he was at the club.  He paid the cover charge, got his hand stamped, and stepped into the main room, eyes searching through the crowd.  Not spotting Luis at first, he drifted towards the dance floor in the middle of the room, still looking around.  

He was still looking around when Luis abruptly burst out of the crowd looking furious, grabbed him by the arm, and started dragging him back towards the entrance.

“Luis, what -”

“We’re getting out of here.  Let’s go,”  growled Luis.  

Davis allowed himself to be dragged out of the building, then set himself and stopped.  Luis bounced on the end of his arm like a ball on a tether and nearly fell over.  Once Luis had caught his balance, Davis said “Luis?  What’s going on?  You asked me to come out here, and now you want to leave?”

Luis, who still looked furious, wouldn’t meet Davis’ eyes.  He seemed to be grinding his teeth.  Finally he said,  “My so-called friends wanted to meet you.  But when they saw you, they...”  Luis mouth went flat, his face started getting red.  “Just, let’s get out of here, okay?  I don’t want to talk about it.”  

“They said something, didn’t they?  Made some comment about me?”

“Yeah.”

Davis, who had never seen Luis angry before, made a quick decision.  “Okay, we’ll go.  Is your car here?”

“No, I rode with Jim.”

“Okay, c’mon.”  He lead Luis through the parking lot to his car.

They drove through town and pulled up in front of a little all-night diner.  The nearby movie theater hadn’t let out, so the diner was pretty empty.  That would change soon, but until then, they got a booth back in the corner that was pretty isolated from the surrounding diners.

Davis got them seated, and they ordered drinks. Once they’d ordered their food, Davis spoke.

“Okay, tell me what happened.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Luis.  “Scooter saw you come in the door, and he made this stupid comment, and then the others started in, and it just pissed me off.”

“Out of curiosity, what did, uh, ‘Scooter’ say?” Luis turned a little pink, and looked embarrassed.  Davis waved a hand. “C’mon, Luis.  It can’t be that bad.  I’ve heard them all before.”

Luis stared down at the table, and said “He called you Fat Bastard.” in a low voice.  He was startled into looking up when Davis laughed out loud.

“Ha!” said Davis.  “Is that all?  Sheesh, I was worried there for a minute.”

Luis looked offended.  “Yeah, but then the other guys started making comments, like that you should be wearing road flares on the dance floor!   Jesus, Davis!”

Davis made a ‘pfft.’ noise.  “Road flares, eh?  That’s a new one.  Usually people say things like I need a backup beeper to warn people when I’m around.”

“Jesus, Davis!”

Davis shrugged. “It’s no big deal.  Luis, if you’re going to be around me, you’re going to have to get a thick skin about things like this.  ‘Fat Bastard’ isn’t so bad, at least the character was someone to be reckoned with, from what I’ve heard.  I never saw the movie myself.  Hell, my two nephews and my niece call me ‘Uncle Hagrid.’  They think it’s a compliment, and from them, it is.”

“Then you’re not mad?”

Davis shook his head.  “Nope.  People just say things they’ve heard other people say.  They make jokes and don’t think about what they’re saying.  If I got mad every time I heard about someone making some half-assed fat joke, I’d be angry all the time.  It’s just part of the deal.  Sometimes it bothers me, but mostly I just let it roll off my back.  I like myself the way I am; if they can’t understand that, it’s their problem, not mine.”  Davis smiled. “More to the point, you like me the way I am; that’s what’s important here.  I don’t give an airborne copulation through a rotating pastry what they think.”

Luis blinked.  “A what through a what?”

“A flying fuck through a rolling doughnut?”

“Oh.”

“Now, if I could think of a way to get back at them, I wouldn’t mind that one bit.”

Luis smiled.  “How would you do that?”

“Well...”  

They talked for awhile, setting up a simple plan, then went on to talk about other things.  After a while, Davis started to get a certain evil grin on his face, and Luis nearly jumped when he felt a socked foot rub up the side of his leg.  Luis smiled back at Davis and waved the waitress down, asking for the check.  Within thirty minutes they were naked on Davis’ couch, where Davis was giving Luis a mind-blowing blowjob.  After Luis came the first time, they went upstairs where Luis proceeded to fuck Davis delirious.  Luis came again and Davis came twice before they were through.

Unusually, Davis woke first the next morning.  He found himself curled up next to Luis, his head pillowed on Luis’ chest, his arms around Luis’ body.  For a while he lay there, content to be cuddled.   Then, after a bit, he gently worked his arm out from under Luis, who heaved a sigh in his sleep, but didn’t wake.  Moving slowly, Davis lifted himself up on his hands and knees beside Luis.  He carefully worked one knee between Luis’ thighs, and balanced himself over Luis body, with his hands bracketing Luis’ shoulders.  Gently, carefully, he lowered his face to meet Luis, and began to kiss him.  He lowered his body to provide contact all along their torsos, and began languidly rubbing himself up and down along Luis body, all the while kissing him and gently nibbling at his lips.  He was hard as a rock as his cock rubbed along Luis thigh, and soon Luis’ cock rose to meet him.  Finally he stroked his tongue across Luis’ lips, and Luis awoke with a faint gasp.  

Luis eyes snapped open and he stared into Davis eyes in confusion, but that was soon gone and he opened to Davis’ tongue and began to kiss back.  Luis brought his arms up and wrapped them around Davis, and they continued to kiss.   Davis kept this up as long as he could; keeping it quiet and relaxed and just making love to Luis’ mouth.  Both of them were breathing heavily, and Luis stopped kissing to smile up at Davis.  Then, with a mighty heave, he toppled Davis off to one side, and rolled over on top of him.  Laying full-length along Davis body, Luis wiggled until his legs were between Davis thighs.  Continuing to kiss Davis deeply, he reached out to either side and gathered up Davis hands, twining their fingers together.

What happened next was languid, loving, and went on for a while.  It was relaxed, and very, very satisfying.  When it was over, they dozed off in each others arms.

Luis woke around noon, untangled himself from Davis, and hopped into the shower after relieving himself.  When he got out, he managed to rouse Davis, who followed suit.  Once they were both clean and presentable, they got dressed, and headed for the car.  Davis gave Luis a big smile and said, “Are you ready to do this?”

Luis nodded.  “Yeah.”

“Okay.  You call Shelley, tell her we're coming to pick her up, and we’ll tell her what we’ve got planned on the way.  By the way - which way do I go to get to her house?”

Luis gave basic directions while he was pulling his phone out.  Davis started the car, and they headed out.

*   *   *

Shelley and Luis were sitting at a table at Wendy’s facing the back of the restaurant when Jim, Rafe, and Scooter arrived.  All three guys looked very shamefaced.  Shelly and Luis both looked pissed.  The three guys shuffled up to the table, and quietly took seats facing Luis.  The three exchanged glances, and finally Jim spoke.

“Luis, we’re really sorry -”

Davis, who’d snuck up behind the three from a booth at the back of the restaurant, clapped his hands down on Rafe and Scooters’ shoulders.  He put some weight behind the move, and squeezed.  All three guys jumped, Jim nearly falling off his chair.  Davis held Rafe and Scooter down.  He leaned over between them and said in a quiet voice, “Hi, guys!  You know, Fat Bastard was not a nice guy.  Aren’t you glad I’m not like him?”  Then he let go of them, and moved around the table.  Pulling out the chair next to Luis, he turned it around and sat down astraddle it, crossing his arms.

The three guys were panting, and Jim was struggling to get back on his chair.  Davis waited a moment, then held out a hand to Scooter, saying  “Hi, I’m Davis.  And you are?”

Scooter took his hand and shook it gingerly.  “Scooter.”

“Nice to meet you.” He held his hand out to Rafe next.  “And you?”

Rafe took his hand and shook it.  “Rafe.”  

Davis nodded, and held his hand out to Jim, saying, “That means you must be Jim.”

Jim, who hadn’t had his shoulder painfully squeezed, took Davis’ hand and started to apply pressure.  Davis just raised an eyebrow, and squeezed back.  Jim went pale, and after a moment made a noise something like “Ghngh!”  Davis gave it another moment, then let go.  Jim took his hand back and spread his fingers, rubbing them with his other hand.  He had a rueful look on his face.

Davis re-crossed his arms on the chairback in front of him, and said, “So, guys - are we all good?  No more funny comments?”

The three guys nodded, and both Luis and Shelley, who’d been struggling to hold their frowns, broke up into laughter.

The three guys stammered for a minute, then finally started to relax, and even laughed a little themselves.  

Snickering, Jim asked, “So, how did you guys meet, anyway?”

Luis said “Uh -”

Davis said, “A gay cruising app called Scruff.”

Luis glanced at Davis, and said, “No, it was at the cafe.  You came in for lunch one day, and I saw you.  Then, when I saw you on Scruff, I messaged you.”

Davis looked confused.  “No, I didn’t see you at the cafe until after you messaged me on Scruff.”

Shelley jumped in.  “No, Davis - it was at the cafe.  You never saw Luis because everytime you came in, he’d go and hide in the kitchen.  He had a major crush on you way before the Scruff thing.”

Davis turned a surprised look on Luis.  “What, really?”

Luis just squirmed in his seat.  “Well, at first I didn’t know you were gay, okay?  I just thought you were, uh, well anyway, I didn’t know.  And then, I was dating Calvin.”

There was a collective groan from around the table at the mention of Calvins’ name.

Davis glanced around the table.  “Was this Calvin a baby-faced chunky kid who looked like he was about fourteen?”

Everyone nodded.  “Yeah, that was him, he was really annoying,” said Jim.

Luis frowned.  “How did you know about Calvin?”

Davis shrugged.  “You posted pictures of him on your facebook page.”

“Oh, right.”

There was a lull in the conversation, until Jim leaned forward and quietly asked Luis, “So, Luis - really five times in only three dates?”

Luis cut a sideways glance at Davis, who looked confused.  “Well, it’s eight and four, now...”

The three guys looked awed.  “Dude!  Three times since last night?” said Scooter.

Davis looked uncomfortable.  “What, exactly, are we talking about here?”

Shelley giggled, and Luis patted Davis on the arm.  “Don’t worry about it, Davis.  C’mon, guys, let’s get something to eat.”

Everyone agreed to that, and they all went to get in line.