4. Ben
FOUR
BEN
“You should wear something really slutty tonight.”
Kaleb was unrelenting ever since Richard – or should I call him Dick? – showed up at The Stable last weekend. Even with classes starting, it was practically all he talked about when we were together. And now that I lived with him, that was pretty much all the time.
“Weren’t you upset that some rando at the gym called us sluts? Now you want me to be slutty?”
He was pulling out clothes from our closet and holding them up for my approval. Graciously, he had offered me half his closet so I didn't have to live out of a suitcase.
“It’s called taking the word back, genius. When it’s on our terms, it’s fine.”
“Gay logic?” I asked.
“Works for me.” He shrugged. “I know you can go shirtless at work but what about pantsless? Maybe you should just wear a jockstrap? Like the dancers. I bet you'd make way more money.”
“I would not be caught dead wearing just a jockstrap in public!”
“Even if it meant that daddy Dick's tongue could work overtime to get your hole ready for his huge crotch rocket?”
“You are far too obsessed with the needs of my hole.”
Against my better judgment, I grabbed the offered jockstrap, pulled off my boxer briefs and slipped it on.
Kaleb practically squealed – “Yes!!!” – until I pulled jeans on too.
“Boo!”
“It's not like I can go to work without pants, Kaleb. By the way, are you going to accompany me to every shift?” I asked, trying to figure out which shirt to wear though it was coming off anyway.
“It's a gay bar and I'm besties with the bartender. I think you know the answer.”
On and off all week, in between my classes, I had been studying the flashcard set Drake gave me and it had really made a difference.
We were slammed again but I didn’t feel overwhelmed tonight.
Or maybe it was because no one was ordering mojitos or old fashioneds.
In any case, I was feeling good.
“You’re doing good tonight, kid.”
From my place at the touchscreen, I glanced over at Drake. Grabbing the newly-printed bill, I said, “Thanks to you.”
“You’re the fastest learner I’ve seen. You tryin’ to impress me?”
“I’m tryin’ to not suck in front of a bar full of gay guys,” I answered.
“At least go into the back room if you’re gonna do that.”
I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that he was gonna go there.
He continued, “Though you might get better tips depending on your, ah…skills.”
“Whip it out and let’s give everyone a show.” I challenged, crossing my arms and leaning against the counter.
Drake chuckled as he finished wiping off the bar. “You’re cute but your friend Kaleb’s more my type.”
I was a bit surprised at his honesty, considering we had only known each other for a week. “Is it his big mouth?” I asked.
Drake shrugged. “Big mouths can handle big dicks.”
“Who’s talking about my big dick?”
I could’ve sworn Kaleb was eavesdropping on us. He certainly always popped up at the most opportune moments.
“In your dreams, shortstack.” Drake came over to stand near us.
“You know what they say. Big things come in small packages,” Kaleb said, leaning over the bar.
“My big thing certainly does.”
Oh jeez.
“Do you two want to just fuck right here?” I asked. “I can handle the bar.”
“What?! No! I was just teasing,” Kaleb said. “I am not interested.”
“Aw, don’t hurt my feelings now. You know where to find me.” Drake walked away to take care of a customer.
“What was all that about?” I asked.
“I should ask you. You’re the one talking about big dicks with him. I thought you liked the other Dick. The gym-owning kind.”
I didn’t need Kaleb to remind me. I had been keeping an eye out for him since my shift started and he hadn’t shown up. He sure seemed interested last week.
“Haven’t seen him tonight.”
“Chin up, Ben. I’ve got a good feeling.”
I tried not to get my hopes up and focused on work. “You want another screwdriver?”
Kaleb shook his head. “I’ll switch to water. I don’t want to make any rash decisions.”
I followed his gaze. His eyes were glued to Drake’s ass.
He could deny it all he wanted, but there was something between them and it was only a matter of time until their pants came off.
“Hey, Ben!”
A shiver crept up my spine and I tried to give my smile a normal level of teeth as I turned.
Speak of the devil.
It was Richard – who else had a voice that could make my taint tingle? – and he looked better than I remembered. The tightness of his black t-shirt left little to the imagination. I didn’t care what Kaleb said about his age, he was hot.
If the number of years he lived on this Earth meant anything it was that he was experienced. Although thinking of the things he could probably do to me was not making my pants any looser.
“Richard!” Wait. “Or is it Dick? Which do you prefer?”
“I think we both know I prefer dick.”
I smiled at his joke, but watched his expression change.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. You probably have a hundred guys creeping on you every shift.”
“It’s okay. I didn’t mind.” I really didn’t.
“To answer your question, Richard is fine, though I won’t get mad if you call me Dick.”
“I’m glad last weekend didn’t scare you away, Richard.” I opted to not make another joke about his name. “It's a little more manageable tonight.”
To be honest, I was happy to be able to relax a bit. The flashcards had helped, but I was still nowhere near Drake’s level of competency. A little chat with Richard was an enjoyable break.
“It wasn’t so bad, though I’ll admit, it does seem a bit better this week,” he observed.
He had an easy smile and it was impossible not to return it. After all, he had come back. Maybe he was interested?
I braced myself on the edge of the sink and leaned forward, flexing my arms as much as I could without making it too obvious. “‘What can I make for you tonight?”
He seemed to consider the question for a moment, or maybe he was checking me out. Or so I hoped .
“I’ll have a whiskey sour. Extra cherries.”
Oh, I’d give him an extra cherry if I could.
Technically, I wasn't a virgin anymore but I was willing to bet there were things that Richard could do to me that Corey had never even imagined.
We were out of cherries so I had to squat down to get a new jar off the lower shelf.
“Pink?”
I stood back up, tilting my head. “Pink what?” And then I realized that probably made me look like a golden retriever.
“Your jockstrap.”
I almost dropped the jar of cherries as I felt my cheeks redden.
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Richard said. “Everything looked good from where I’m standing.”
The attention was appreciated. Despite my shirtlessness and what I thought was a pretty nice body, not many guys had actually flirted with me. Drake had but he was only trying to make me feel at ease, especially since he had all but admitted his interest was in Kaleb.
“Thanks. You're not so bad yourself.” I said, standing up to untwist the cherry lid.
“You don't have to say that just because I did. You're cute as shit.”
“Well, I must not be very cute then or I’ve been looking at the wrong shit.”
Richard shook his head and smirked. “Alright, you're cute as a button,” he said. “That better?”
“That depends.” I poured his drink and added the extra cherries.
“On what?”
“What kind of button?”
“One of those tiny heart-shaped ones.” He took a sip. “Ooh, that’s good.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a heart-shaped button before.”
“Then you need to get out more.”
“How about Sunday night?” I asked, crossing my arms in front of my chest and hoping it made my pecs pop.
“What?” It was Richard’s turn to head tilt.
“You said I need to get out more. How about I take you out?”
When Richard started coughing his drink up, I knew it was going to be a no, but I waited patiently.
“I don’t do that.”
Not the answer I expected, but it wasn’t exactly a no.
“What do you mean? You’re here, aren’t you?”
Richard smiled. “I go out, yes. I meant that I don’t get taken out.”
“You can always take me out if that’s the issue.”
“Can I get two cosmos please?”
I glanced over at my new customer who was wearing a big smile.
Damn.
“Of course, handsome.”
I chatted him up, doing my best to make Richard jealous or, at the very least, see what he was missing out on.
“Thanks.” The guy handed me his credit card. “You can start a tab under Handsome.”
“Will do.”
After Handsome left, I didn’t bother pretending to occupy myself. I went straight back over to Richard.
“Why don’t you go out with him? He seemed to like you.”
I knew he was watching me.
“I don’t want to go out with him. I think you know what I want.”
I gave him the best Flynn Ryder smolder I could muster.
“To tell you the truth, Ben, I don’t date, I fuck.”
“I’d be into that.”
Kaleb would’ve been so proud! Look at me, getting back up on another horse…cock.
Hopefully.
“I don’t fuck guys that go to my gym.”
“You have a lot of rules, you know that?”
Richard shrugged. “Rules are important to me.”
“So you like discipline?” I grabbed a cherry and popped it into my mouth.
“I do,” he said.
“I’m on board with discipline.” A few seconds later, I spit out the cherry stem tied in a knot. “I’ll go to a different gym. Never liked yours anyway.”
He didn’t say anything right away. Instead, I watched his gaze travel down my body. He had to be thinking about it.
I thought about dropping my shorts on the floor then and there, or deep-throating a banana, or–
“Convince me in one sentence to break my rule.”
Okay. I could work with that.
Fuck! What should I say?
My dad would just tell me to be honest. Not that my dad would give me advice on how to have sex, but for whatever reason, that’s where my brain went.
Fuck it.
“My best friend told me that the best way to get over one dick is to get another one inside you, and I agree with that statement, and after what you did at the gym for me and him, I know you’re a nice guy and I feel like you’d be a considerate sexual partner, and I don’t want to get taken advantage of again, but I also want to put myself out there because I love getting fucked and it’s been a few months and I just need a nice, rough, mind-numbing fuck, you know, and you probably didn’t need to know that last part – why am I still talking? – and if it doesn’t work out, I won’t make the gym weird and I can also fit a beer bottle in my mouth.”
Richard started laughing before I could even relive my ridiculous response. I felt like crawling into the basement.
Thank God no one else had heard that. I glanced over at Drake – who seemed much busier than me – and reminded myself to thank him later. It seemed we were busier than I thought, so maybe he was covering for me so I could chat up Richard?
“Was that convincing enough?” I asked, deciding to interrupt his mirth. Better to be humiliated sooner rather than later so I could start getting over it.
“You want me to fuck you here or at my place?”
If there was a soundtrack to my life, whatever noise accompanies a body going stiff and falling backward in shock would’ve been playing.
“Both,” I answered.
“Then it’s not a one-time thing.”
“It is if it’s the same night.”
After a few seconds of silence, Richard asked, “When do you get off?”
“Midnight.”
I checked my watch.
Two more hours.
Apparently I needed to get into the gym-owning business. Richard's apartment – a penthouse really – was incredible. I could see the lights of the city skyline through floor-to-ceiling windows as soon as we entered.
“Do you want to shower?”
I looked over my shoulder. “Together?”
Richard’s eyebrows went up. “I hadn’t considered that.”
I shouldn’t have asked, but I was nervous. I had no regrets about what was about to happen, but after seeing where he lived – there was a doorman, for fuck’s sake – I was starting to wonder what he saw in me. Surely there were hotter guys out there. What did I really have to offer a guy like him?
“I’ll let you wash up and relax a little,” Richard said. “I’ll wait out here. The hanging towels are all clean. Feel free to use whatever’s in the shower to clean yourself.”