Part 9

The following Saturday we lay in bed, the post orgasmic glow beginning to wear off of me. It hit me that it was the weekend before Labor Day which meant classes were going to begin again and my life was going to become hell.  The Harris Group offered me to extend my internship through the Fall semester. This meant that I was working Monday, Wednesday and Friday with classes all day from 8AM to 730PM Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“You know I start classes next Tuesday, right?” I said turning to look over at Hunter.

“Yeah, I figured as much.”

“It’s going to be hell.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked with a sympathetic expression.

“I’m working three days a week and then in class all day the following two.”

“So? That’s basically the same amount of time you spend at work now.”

“Except that right now I haven’t had to do 200 pages of reading a day or paper writing.”

“Oh yeah, homework. I forgot about that. God, that was the worst part of college.”

“You’re telling me.”

“You’re a smart guy - you’ll survive.”

“Either way, it’s going to be an adjustment. I don’t know how much i’m going to be able to see you during the week.”

“Let’s not dread on this right now,” he said with a gentle smile that made me want to forget about my worries.  “Want to get out of the city for the day?”

“Sure, what did you have in mind?”

“We could go stop by a vineyard in Virginia,” he said meekly.

“Why are you giving me that look?”

“I expected you to make some kind of smart comment about Virginia vineyards.”

“I’ve never been. Are they any good?”

“It’s not Napa or anything, but they’re not bad.”

“Sure, that sounds like fun!”

“Awesome, let’s get you all cleaned up,” he said running his fingers through the cum pooled on my stomach and chest.

What should have been a quick shower turned into a much longer ordeal, as once we began to lather each other with soap, we devolved into groping, then kissing, and ultimately fucking.  At 1:30 we were finally clothed and made it out of the house and into Hunter’s car. It was an unbelievably beautiful day with clear blue skies, low humidity and a mild 75 degrees - abnormal for August in Washington. Rolling down the windows we headed over the Key Bridge into Virginia and then got onto the highway taking us southwest to parts unknown.

I’d never felt so content with life as I did in that moment, sitting letting the wind blow through my hair, and enjoying the music that Hunter had playing.  Hunter had his hand characteristically on my left knee as we cruised down the highway. He looked very sexy with a bit of stubble from not shaving that morning, his aviator glasses reflecting the scenery as it played out in front of us, and a characteristic grin on his lips. Whereas even a month ago I would have been sitting in wonder of him and uncertain of how he felt about me, but I now found myself just enjoying the view knowing that everything was good, and that he couldn’t keep his hands off me as much as I couldn't him. Confident. That’s how I felt.

As I took in the scenery go by, the urban spaces of Arlington morphed into the suburban spaces of Fairfax County, and slowly changed again from sprawl of housing developments and strip malls to forest and fields as we made it farther out into the country.  After an hour we finally turned off the highway and started to head onto smaller roads that opened from forests to pasture lands.

“This is horse country,” Hunter said finally interrupting the pleasant silence we had for most of the drive.

“Who knew it could get so pretty so quickly?”

“There’s more to Virginia than most of you city folks know.”

“You city folks? I’m pretty sure you’re one of them too,” I responded with a laugh.

“Yes, but i’m a country bumpkin at heart.”

“Is the town you grew up in similar to this?”

“It’s a little more suburban than this, but yes, it has a similar feel.”

“That must have been pretty.”

“Yeah, I guess. Though i’m glad to be living in DC now.  Maybe if I ever decided to have kids I’d think about moving back out to someplace like this.”

“Raise some hillbilly Confederates?”

“Moonshine and all!” he responded with a chuckle.

“Mr. Blume, I’m not sure my Yankee sensibilities could handle that.”

“Who said I want to do any of that with you?” he asked with a repulsed expression making my stomach dropped a little. “I’m just messing you with you,” he finally said breaking into his usual grin.

“Always the jokester,” I responded trying to mask the emotion that had just quickly flooded through me.

“Oh and you’re so innocent,” he said and I knew he meant of my joking around.

“I was much more innocent before I met you,” I retorted making an innuendo.

“My case in point,” he said getting back to his original point of argument, rubbing my knee.

“Do you really see yourself with kids in the future?” I asked after we’d driven another couple minutes in silence.

“I don’t know. To be honest I’ve never really thought too much into it.”

“You haven’t? I feel like every kid thinks about those kinds of things.”

“Back when I hadn’t come to terms with my sexuality I definitely thought I’d grow up to marry some blonde woman like my mom and have kids. But I guess when I realized that I liked men, those thoughts kind of disappeared. In fact, I’m still shocked that I ever came out. I don’t know how much you’ve read about my father, but having a gay son was the last thing that was supposed to happen.”

“Did he know?”

“That I was gay? I pretty sure he did, but I never told him and we never talked about it. That’s probably one thing I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”

“Were you close?”

“When I was little we were, but as I grew up we definitely grew apart. Mainly because I tried to distance myself from him.”

“Does the rest of your family know?”

“Yes, my mom was a little shocked when I told her a couple years ago, but she’s gotten over that. My sister Claire has always been supportive - I think that’s why we’ve gotten so much closer in recent years. My brothers were a mixed bag. I only told John a couple weeks ago. He took it much better than i’d expected. Then again, he kind of always suspected. I never told him because I was afraid of his reaction and that he’d tell my father. And my other brother Peter actually approached me about the subject and asked me after my nephew was born two years ago. Again, I think a lot of that explains why I’ve gotten closer with him in the past couple years.”

“Why was your mother so shocked but yet your other brother figured it out?”

“Well, I was the stereotypical prom king jock in high school. I always had some girl after me. When I went to college and figured out that I was gay, well, I tried to keep the same mystique going when I was home. It was hanging out with my brother in DC in my natural environment, if you will, that probably caused him to figure it out. Plus the fact that there began to be fewer and fewer women in my life to keep them guessing whether I was dating or not. I still don’t really have that many female friends.”

“Yeah, it’s always a sausage fest with you,” I quipped. Hunter didn’t respond and merely gave me slight shake to his head, i’m sure rolling his eyes behind his glasses.

“Do you think I’ll ever meet any of your family?”

“I don’t know. I like having you to myself. I’m afraid if they find out about you, especially Peter’s wife, Morgan, that they’ll suck you in an you’ll find out all of my embarrassing secrets.”

I was a little underwhelmed by his response. Really, that’s what he’s worried about? Or was that all just a line to get me to move the conversation forward?

“Now you’ve piqued my interest,” I stated deciding to play along. “What sorts of things are you embarrassed for me to find out.”

“My lips are sealed.”

“I once pooped my pants on the way back from a soccer game when I was 10. I was in a minivan full of other guys on my team. It was the most mortifying thing I think that’s ever happened to me,” I said laughing at myself. This also got Hunter laughing.

“Remind me to see if there is a place where we can get you diapers for the ride back.”

“Har har har, such a gentleman.”

“Good thing we can drive with the windows down,” he continued. Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

“You’re not going to provide anything embarrassing childhood stories?”

“Nope, you told that one all on your own.”

“You’re no fun.”

“You seemed to be having a lot of fun this morning when you were moaning my name.”

“You’re impossible.”

“That’s my favorite part about having sex with you.”

“What is?”

“That you let me get you all wound up, and then once you’re there you’ll then let me do anything as long as it makes you cum.”

“I like it when you make me cum.”

“Me too, little man.”

“Speaking of sex, there’s something I’ve wanted to ask you…” I trailed off.

“Yes?”

“Do you ever bottom?”

“I have, yes.”

“And is that something you’d do with me.”

“It’s not something I’m that into, but if it’s something you want to do, I’d be happy to switch things up some night.”

“You would?”

“Yeah, you’ve been a good sport about everything else, why not try something else new.”

The thought of that got me excited.

Fifteen minutes later we reached a sign for the vineyard and pulled off the road, and followed the treelined driveway until it cleared into the expanse of the parking lot. Parking the car we got out and walked towards the main building in front of us, which appeared to be a converted farmstead. There were lots of people off to the left of the building sitting on picnic benches enjoying the view of the expanse of grapevines down the hill, the the clear blue sky and the beginning of the Blue Ridge mountains in the distance.

Once inside, we made our way towards one of the bars which were surprisingly not as busy as I would have expected seeing all the people outside.

“Welcome, are you here for a tasting?” A petite brunette asked us once we made it to the bar.

“Yes.” I responded a little eagerly.

“Have you ever been here before?” she asked.

“I haven’t, but I’m not sure about him.” I said looking over at Hunter.

“No, I’ve been to some of the surrounding vineyards but not you guys’ yet.”

“Great. Well, we actually offer two tastings: a more limited one of our six best selling wines for $10 or one that includes those six, plus four more of our more limited varieties and vintages for $18.”

“I think we’ll go with the 10 wine tasting,” Hunter responded after gauging my interest.

After she carded me, she proceeded to pour us the first glass, a chardonnay. Taking it, I swirled the wine around and took a sniff, a little suspicious. Not smelling anything horrible, I took a sip.  It was a light wine, much more oaky than buttery, which I prefered in a white wine, but overall not bad. Putting the wine glass down, I smiled up at Hunter, who had a pensive look on his face, unsure what my reaction would be, however, upon seeing my smile he too relaxed with a smile.

Twenty-five minutes later, we’d finished the tasting which overall was much better than I was expecting.  There wasn’t anything that I’d write home about, but it was definitely drinkable wine. We purchased a bottle of the Viognier, which was nice and crisp and perfect for the beautiful day we had. We then made our way outside to find a picnic table in the shade of a large tree. The view looking out onto the vines below and the mountains in the background really was quite beautiful.

“Viognier is actually the state grape of Virginia,” Hunter said as he poured us each a glass of the wine.

“Well, cheers to Virginia,” I said raising my glass towards his, and clinking it with a smile. “Thanks for bringing me out here, it’s absolutely beautiful.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Cheers,” he responded with a smile, and we both took a sip.

We lazily sat at the vineyard, enjoying the bottle of wine and each others company. Perhaps it was the fresh air and the wine, but Hunter started opening up more about his childhood and his family. After an hour or so we ordered another bottle of wine and a cheese and meat plate.  Hunter being the driver didn’t have much of second bottle, which was fine with me. As our food came, a band started playing and our conversation then turned to the people watching - particularly the Baby Boomer couples who all appeared a little buzzed as they dances and sang along to covers of the a mix of Stones and other classic rock songs.

Soon it was nearing six, and we decided it was time to head back into the city. I made sure Hunter was fine to drive, but after not having anything to drink for over an hour, knew he was fine.  We piled into the car, and I again enjoyed my comfortable and content existence as Hunter’s hand rested on my knee and the wind whipped through my hair as we drove down the country roads - I’m sure my buzz from almost a bottle and a half of wine helped.

We ordered a pizza when we made it back to his house, turned on the TV, opened a bottle of wine, and watched the end of the Nats game while we waited for it to arrive. Once I was full from pizza and buzzed again from the two or three glasses I had waiting, I felt relaxed and was enjoying having Hunter’s arm wrapped around me, pulling me against his chest.

A half hour later I started to get a little bored with the game and started to get a little adventurous and began to run my hands slowly up in the inside of Hunter’s thigh, lazily playing with the hairs that coated his leg. Hunter didn’t stop me, but gave me a knowing smile acknowledging what I was up too. Before long my hand was practically in his lap and I could feel his arousal under his shorts.

I turned my head to make a comment to him, when his right arm grabbed my chin gently and directed my mouth so that he kissed me. Initially I was a bit of a surprise, but I readily gave into the kiss, enjoying the passion. Letting go over my chin, we continued to kiss as I roamed my hands across his chest and stomach and down to his crotch where his erection was very straining against the fabric. After a couple minutes he broke the kiss and gave me a very mischievous smile.

“Can I try something a little kinky on you tonight?”

“Like what?” I asked unsure, but a little thrilled as well as very horny.

“Well that’s part of it, I’m not going to tell you. You have to trust me.”

“Is it going to hurt?” I asked rather matter of factly.

“No, no, nothing like that,” Hunter responded with a laugh.

I sat and thought about it for a second. From previous conversations he said he’d be up to try new things and just that afternoon we’d discussed him bottoming. Taking a quick inventory of past sexual experiences with him, none of them had ever been unenjoyable so I thought why not. Also, I was intrigued what he had in mind--worse comes to worse I could always say no later.

“OK…” I finally replied, which resulted in a huge grin on Hunter’s face.

“Sit here, I’ll be back in a minute. I had to set things up,” Hunter said standing up, adjusting the erection in his shorts and then making his way out of the living room towards the stairs.

“Set things up? What am I getting myself into?” I asked aloud laying back on the couch.

“You’re going to like it, little man, I promise... Or your money back!” he said bounding up the stairs.

I turned the volume down on the TV trying to listen and see if I could make out what he was up to, but there was hardly any noise.

“OK, come on up,” Hunter yelled down to me less than five minutes later.

When I entered to bedroom, there was nothing different about it.

“What did you set up?” I asked apprehensively standing in the doorway as Hunter sat on the edge of the bed with the mischievous grin still plastered across his face.

“It’s a surprise, now come here,” he said standing up and making his way towards me.

He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a very gentle kiss on the lips. I was still feeling a little apprehensive, but gave into the administrations of his lips as his hands grabbed the hem of my shirt and pulled it up over my heads. He smiled down at me taking in my naked torso and running the back of his hand down my stomach before leaning down to kiss me again and pulling me back against him. I could still feel his short-encased erection against my stomach as his hands staked their way down the back of my shorts, under the waistband of my underwear to start kneading my ass.

After a minutes of this, Hunter began to undo my belt and button of my shorts and then pushed them down so I was standing in only my underwear. He then lead me never breaking the kiss until the back of my legs were touching the side of the bed at which point he pushed me back against the bed.

I lay there smiling up at him goofily as he quickly pulled off his t-shirt and then pulled down his shorts and underwear in one swoop. I was hoping to be able to take in more of him naked in front of me, but he quickly jumped on the bed and then proceeded to starting pulling at my underwear, trying to get my naked.

With my final article of clothing removed, he returned his lips to mine and began to kiss me hungrily as he ground his erection into my thigh. I was enjoying kissing him for a couple minutes before he then grabbed me by the waist and proceeded to move me up the bed until my head was on the pillows and he was on all fours above me. Hunter then broke the kiss as he reached to the bedside table, putting something behind his back so I couldn’t see it.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked, again his mischievous grin all over his face.

“I guess?” I said, again unsure what to expect.

“Close your eyes,” he said.

Giving him a suspicious look first, I then followed his instructions.

As I did so I could feel him sit up, and then felt as he slide something behind my head and then over my face. I immediately moved my hands to touch it, but Hunter quickly grabbed my wrists keeping me from doing that.

“Nope, no touching.”

“You could have just told me you were blindfolding me,” I said dryly.

“But that would have killed some of the mystery.”

“Is this it? You want to have sex with me blindfolded?”

“Nope, this is just the start, little man.”

“Now I’m intrigued,” I stated truthfully.

Hunter leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on my lips before grabbing my wrists

again and pulling them above my head.  I then felt him lean back over towards the bedside table and heard him open the drawer and then felt something soft around my wrist as he then tied first one and then the other to his headboard.

“OK, now i’m definitely intrigued,” I said pulling on them. I felt intrigued but also a little nervous why he now wanted me both blindfolded and restrained.

I could feel him moving around and was about to open my mouth to ask him what more he had in store when his mouth clamped down on the sensitive part of my inner thigh, and I both moaned and sucked in a deep breath at the unexpected sensation. He then proceeded to kiss, suck and nibble on that spot for a minute before licking over and taking one of my balls in his mouth. I squirmed, tugging gently against the restraints of my wrists. I had to admit, the addition of feeling very helpless and not being able to see what he was doing really added to the sensation.

After a minute, Hunter stopped torturing me and allowed me to catch my breath while he gently rubbed his right thumb in a slow circle on the thumb. After a second he then moved my torso and then began to gently kiss my left nippled. I then felt his thumb on my lips pushing its way into my mouth as he bit my nipple a little harder than I’d have liked, but it caused me to immediately open my mouth with a groan. I also bit down on his thumb, eliciting a groan from him, but not hard enough make him remove his thumb.

I ran my tongue along his thumb, enjoying the rough sensation of his skin against my tongue and the slight saltiness of it. After a minute, he started to pull back and to play with him a little, I bit down on it again. I immediately regretted that though as he then quickly bit down on my other nippled causing me to release it. His thumb now free, he released my nipple and then gently kissed it before he began to lick laterally to my side causing me to squirm and moan and he expertly tormented the ticklish areas of my body.

Eventually he kissed his way down my torso, and then bypassed my penis, kissing his way over my balls before he grabbed behind my knees and pushed my legs back against my chest, exposing my ass which he immediately pounced on, eliciting more moans from me. His lips and tongue gently kissed and licked all around turning me into putty as I threw my head back against the pillow. Again, my arms pulled against the restraints and I felt utterly helpless

After a couple minutes of working magic on my ass, Hunter then shifted again and I felt him move up my torso allowing my legs to move back so I was prone on my back.  He then kissed me on the lips again, just as hungrily as before.

“This is so much fun,” he said breaking the kiss and I could imagine the grin on his face.

“You like me tied up?”

“I have to say, I’m getting off on this more than I thought I would,” he responded.

“You’ve never done this before?”

“Nope, now quite,” he said kissing me again while his hands roamed across my body.

I have to say, though I normally love to grope him while we made out during sex, it was also kind of nice knowing I couldn’t do anything and resigned myself to just lay back and enjoy as everything played out. In other words, it was the perfect excuse to be lazy during sex.  

Hunter then again broke the kiss and I heard him again reach over to the bedside table, before moving back to kiss me gentle.  I then heard the sound of the lube being opened, and his fingers work their way back to my ass, coating it and pushing a finger inside of me. I spread my legs wider giving him better access.

“Good boy,” he said and then rewarded me with another kiss.

I then heard him again with the lube bottle and before I knew what to expect, felt him pushing something against my ass. It was not his penis and I immediately tensed as he pushed into me.

“Relax, cutie. It’s just a toy,” he said as he pushed it farther into me.

I was still tense and the sensation felt strange. To be honest, the only thing that had ever been inside of my was someone else's penis and I wasn’t sure I was as into the idea of having some “toy” inside of me but waited to see what Hunter had in mind and let him continue.

Hunter shifted his position and I could tell that he was now sitting, straddling my right thigh. I could feel his erection or balls rub against my leg, and the sensation went straight to my groin. He then pushed the toy into me all the way, and I finally I felt the familiar fulness.  It was at this point that he leaned down, and I really wanted to grab him and pull him into a deep kiss, but again pulled against the restraints of my arms.

“You have no idea how hot you look right now, all tied up, letting me have my way with you,” he whispered seductively into my ear.

“Who knew you were into the kinky stuff?” I asked with a slight laugh.

“I’ve always wanted to do this, but I’ve never had the courage to ask anyone,” he again whispered, this time as if he was telling me secret.

“I’m not sure we can technically classify it as asking me,” I said with a sly smile.

“Always the wise guy,” he said and then grabbed my erection pulling it back and then letting it slap against my stomach, causing me to yelp slightly. .

“Again, quiet please,” he said leaning to kiss me as his hand then went back to the toy as he started to pull it out of me.

Over the next couple minutes he proceeded to push and pull it in and out of me, twisting it, and ensuring that every so often it would rub against my prostate eliciting a moan from me. When he initially put it inside of me and I was a little apprehensive, but once I relaxed and let him do his thing, I was thoroughly enjoying myself.

He eventually stopped kissing me and kissed back down my torso until he took my erection in his mouth and proceeded to suck up and down. A couple minutes of the sensation of his mouth on my cock and his administrations with the toy on my ass and I was really moaning, and getting close to coming.

“Hunter, stop, I’m getting close,” I finally said a little breathlessly not wanting to come yet.

“But I want you to come,” he responded.

“I want to come with you inside of me,” I responded, wishing I wasn’t wearing the blindfold so I could see his gorgeous expression.

“Well, fuck, little man. That’s hot.”

He immediately yanked out the toy out of me, and a second later I could hear as he tore open a condom packet. He didn’t need to do any prep and immediately I felt him push my legs back before he was pushing into me as he leaned down to kiss me.  I moaned into his mouth. God that felt amazing.

“So much better,” I said breaking the kiss, wishing again that I could pull him against me.

Not needing any instruction, Hunter proceeded to fuck my brains out.

“You are so fucking sexy,” he said as he grabbed my waist for better leverage picked up his pace a little more and I could tell he was close.

He then grabbed my cock and started to jerky me as he fucked me and that was all I needed to get close to the edge of orgasm again.

“Fuck, Hunter, don’t stop. I’m so close to coming,” I grunted.

“Oh god, me too,” he said and then smashed his lips against mine again, hungrily kissing me.

A second later I felt the familiar tingle build from my balls and explode throughout my body, as I stiffened and moaned into Hunter’s mouth. My orgasm appeared to be all he needed to also set him over the edge as I felt his body tense and he too moaned back into my mouth.

                Hunter collapsed ontop of me, and I could feel the sweat on him as his breath was raging. We lay there spent for a couple minutes, before I felt him to start to move again. First his placed a gentle kiss on my lips again, and then I felt as he then pulled the blindfold down my face so that it was now on my neck.

                “Hi cutie,” he said as I blinked at the light for a second before I focused in on the adorable grin on his lips as he sat next to me.

                “That was unexpected,” I said with a grin.

                “Unexpected in a good way or bad way?”

                “Let’s just say, anytime you want to surprise me with someone like this in the future, I’m totally game.”

                He responded with one of his patented grins.

I lay there for a minute more, still taking in my post-orgasmic bliss when I went to sit up and realized I was still tied up. Looking up I could see that he didn’t used anything too exciting as bandaged and had just used neckties. I’ll admit, the silk did feel nice against my skin.

“I’m pretty sure this is the only time in my life that the knots I learned in Boy Scouts has come in handy,” he giggled.

“I’m sure this is exactly sure what they had in mind as well,” I responded also with a bit of a laugh.

“Are you going to untie me?” I then followed up with after our giggle was over and he was just sitting there.

“I guess…” he said sarcastically and then quickly untied my wrists.

Arms now free, I sat up and looked down farther at the bed to where there was a blue cylinder with a rounded top lying. Hunter saw where I was looking and he immediately looked a little nervous, as if I now knew a deep dark secret of his.

“So you just had that lying around?” I asked, picking it up and inspecting it’s rubbery surface.

“Yeah…” he responded sheepishly, “but don’t worry, it’s never been used before.”

“And why did you have it?”

“Like I said, I’ve always wanted to do this, but never built up the courage to ask anyone,” he said, still with a sheepish smile on his face.

“Well I’m glad you asked me. Are there other fantasies you’d like to play out?” I said with a smile. His grin immediately returned.

“It vibrates too,” he said and then pressed a button and it began vibrating in my hand.

“Why didn’t you do that before?!?” I asked with an excited laugh.

“You seemed a little nervous and I didn’t want to freak you out any further.”

“Well, we’ll have to try to this again sometime so I can see what it’s like. Maybe next time not blindfolded or tied up though.”

“Why, did you not like that?” he asked and I could see a bit of worry on his face.

“Ha! No, I enjoyed that, but I wish I could have seen your face while you did all of this,” I said with a laugh.

“I like watching you while we have sex...” I added sheepishly. It was the truth and since he was sharing something, I thought why not as well.

“Oh yeah? Any particular things you like to see?” he asked with a grin and then proceeded to flex his arms jokingly.

I laughed and then leaned up and kissed him gently. He laughed for a further second against my lips mouth as I gently kissed him, and then ran his hand down my chest coming into contact with the cum that was still splashed all over my torso.

                “Let’s get you cleaned up,” he said and then gently kissed me again.

                A couple minutes later we were in the shower taking turns gently lathering each other up. It was these moments with Hunter that I think I enjoyed the most. All of our sexual energy was spent, and it felt so comforting to have him hold me against him as we let the warm water wash over us--not to mention that his Molton Brown soap smelled like heavy. Twenty minutes later we were lying contently back in his bed, relaxed, clean, and ready for an enjoyable night's sleep.

***

        Labor Day eventually rolled around and I flew home for a long weekend, and enjoyed the time with family and high school friends before the semester was starting up. The weekend was pretty low key, but I had an enjoyable sail with my father on Saturday followed by dinner in Boston with my grandmother Jane - my mother’s mother. My grandfather had died when I was young and sadly don’t really remember much of him, but my grandmother and I were fairly close. She’s an amazing woman that won’t take shit from anyone, is very opinionated and isn’t afraid to tell it to your face. She also drinks like a sailor. In other words, I know exactly where I get some of those attributes from.

At dinner she chastised me for not calling her enough, made me promise to visit her in Florida when she moved down there for the winter - standard dinner conversations. However, she threw me a loop for a minute when she asked who I was seeing. I hadn’t mentioned anything to my mother about Hunter, and I doubted my sister would have mentioned anything, so I played coy for a minute, fishing.

“Honey, don’t lie to your grandmother. We have intuition about these things. You seem happier than you normally are. I’m assuming it’s because you’re getting sex. Men always smile more when they’re getting sex.”

I coughed my gin and tonic mid sip.

“Well, there has been someone I’ve been seeing, if you’d call it that.”

“Tell me about him,” she said with an inquisitive smile.

“Well, he’s older than me. He’s 28, actually. We met at a bar. He does similar work to what I’m interested in, so that’s been fun to talk to him about. Otherwise, I don’t know how serious it is. I have fun with him, but he can be distant at times. Everything is always to his schedule,” I said hesitantly, not sure what to say.

“Is he handsome?” she asked leaning forward with a smile.

“Yes, very.”

“Well that’s good. Though as you’ve never really dated anyone, or at least that you’ve told me about, I’m going to give you a piece of advice. Don’t waste your time chasing after a man. If they can’t get out of their own damn way to realize you’re a catch, and treat you as such, then fuck ‘em.”

That made me smile. Grandma Jane always had a way of inserting some small words of wisdom that were always what I needed to hear.

“Now, where is that waiter? I need my drink freshened.”

As if he knew I was talking about him at dinner, I received a text from Hunter later that evening as I was in bed reading a non-work nor school related book - something I was reveling in while I still had time to do it.

Hey there, cutie. Missed you today. I went to Annapolis to sail with Charlie and Elizabeth.

Oh yeah? That’s sounds exciting. I went sailing with my father today as well.

Fun!

Yeah, then I had dinner with my grandmother tonight in the city.

Oh cool.

Now I’m snuggled in bed with my boyfriend reading.

Come again?

He’s a real cutie. Blonde hair, brown eyes. He’s very loyal. Though I think someone gave him some cheese since he’s been farting a lot tonight.

Does he happen to have a tail and enjoy fetching balls?

Yep, that would also describe him.

I was afraid you’d might have found a replacement for me.

Boatswain is doing a pretty good job right now. I actually prefer his slobbery kisses.

That’s not the only thing you like slobbery…

:)

I’m picturing you in bed and I’m getting rather jealous I’m not there with you.

Oh yeah? What would you do if you were?

I’d love to get into that, but am out at a bar and I’m afraid if we start down that path, I’m going to get too excited for public.

You’re no fun. I’m going back to my book.

Text me when you wake up and I’d be happy to let you know what I’d like to do with you then. :-)

I’m getting hard just thinking about it.

Don’t tease me.

        Goodnight, Mr. Blume. I’m going to go watch some dirty pictures on the internet.

        Now you’re really teasing me.

***

        I was a bit of mess when I walked into the office on Wednesday, my first day back at work of the Fall semester. Checking my calendar, I quickly made it to the conference room for a kick off meeting with the team just as it was starting. I was sitting down with my coffee, and was about to open my mouth to apologize for my tardiness to my boss when I noticed that new, and might I comment, very attractive guy sitting across the table from me. From previous conversations I knew two of the other girls that had been interning with me over the summer, Liesl and Audrey, were also staying on for the Fall semester, but I wasn’t expecting the new eye candy.

        After an introduction by my boss I learned that his name was Watson and he was living in DC for the semester at the University of California Washington campus near Logan Circle. He was original from La Jolla, California and studying political economy at the Cal Berkeley. I looked over at Audrey who I’d become pretty close with over the summer and we both gave each other a knowing look that said “we need to find out more info about him.”  The rest of the meeting went on as planned, and I regained my focus on the task at hand which was our new project.

        When one o’clock rolled around, I stopped by Audrey’s desk to see if she wanted to go grab lunch.

        “Should we invite the new guy?” she asked.

        “I think so.”

        “Did you get a gay vibe from him?”

        “To be honest, I have no idea. My gaydar has never been the best, but there were no major flags. He also doesn’t seem like a douchebag either.”

        “Good, I didn’t either. Maybe I’ll get lucky and find the one cute guy who works in politics that isn’t socially awkward nor a douchebag.”

        “He’s probably got a girlfriend.”

        “Don’t be a dick, Philip. A girl can hope.”

        With that, we headed over to Watson’s desk.

“Hi Watson,” I greeted.

“Hi guys, Philip and Audrey, right?”

“Yes,” I responded.

“I’ve met a ton a people today so I wanted to make sure I had that right.”

“Oh no worries. I’m horrible with names myself, so I totally understand. Anyways,

Philip and I are heading to lunch and wanted to see if you wanted to join us?” Audrey asked.

        “Oh thanks guys, but I already ate,” he said with an apologetic expression.

        I think Audrey looked a little heartbroken.

        “Oh okay. Well, let us know if you need any help with anything. Perhaps lunch or coffee on Friday?”

        “Uh, maybe. I’ll see how I feel on Friday, but thanks for the offer on the help. I’ll be sure to come find you guys if I have any questions,” he said a little aloof and then immediately went back to typing up the email he was working on.

        Audrey and I again gave each other a look, this time suspicious.

        “Well, maybe his is a douchebag after all,” I said once we were out of earshot from him.

***

I’d had jobs and other internships during previous semesters, but I’d never worked this hard before.  The first week of class flew by in a breeze. It was Thursday and I’d been on campus all day in class and my mind was absolutely fried.  I was walking past the White House on my way home when my phone vibrated in my pocket, a text from Ari.

Happy Thirsty Thursday! Are we still on for Cobalt later?

Praise baby Jesus! Yes I am in desperate need for a drink. I’m almost home.

I’m at Brian’s. A bunch of people are coming over here to pre-game. Want to join?

Sure! I need to eat something and then will be over… probably around 9-ish?

See you then!

        I plopped down on the couch as soon as I walked in the door, enjoying that fact that I didn’t need to do any reading tonight. I turned on the TV, opened a beer and let myself enjoy the moment.  I hadn’t seen Hunter all week and was unclear what his plans were for the night so I decided to call him during a commercial.

        “Hey there, cutie!” he greeted into the phone.

        “Hi.”

        “What’s up?”

        “Right now I’m enjoying a beer and the fact that I don’t have to think for the rest of the night.”

        “Long day?”

        “Yes.”

        “I just got home myself. Come over and I can think of a few ways to get you relaxed,” he said and I knew he had a devilish grin on his face.

        “Mmm, that sounds nice, but I can’t. I’m heading over to Brian’s apartment in a little bit to have a drink before going to Cobalt. Want to come?”

“Hmm, sounds tempting but I think I’m going to stay in tonight.”

“Boo! That’s no fun.”

“I know, but I’ve got a breakfast meeting at 7.”

“Can I see you this weekend?”

“I was just about to ask you the same question.”

“We could do dinner tomorrow night and maybe go see a movie?”

“Sure, that sounds like a plan.”

“OK!”

“I’ll see what’s playing and text you times?”

“OK, i’m going to go jump in the shower.”

“OK, have fun with your friends. Don’t get too drunk.”

“Why? Afraid I might go home with someone else?”

“No, more that I don’t want you to be hungover tomorrow so that I can do lots of naughty things to you without you falling asleep on me.”

“Mmm, like what?”

“If I told you it would ruin the surprise. Also, telling you would probably get me too riled up, and you’re not coming over.”

“You could always masturbate.”

“How else do you think I made it through the week, little man?”

“Mmm, now that’s a visual that is going to require me to now take a cold shower. Bye, stud.”

“Bye, cutie.”

I can say that I definitely did not follow Hunter’s instructions. Two minutes after walking in the door of Brian’s apartment, shots were being poured and the debauchery began. An hour later, a group of about ten of us walked over to Cobalt for dollar drinks, of which I had too many and devolved into a sloppy mess.  Thankfully I was not drunk enough to participate in the best package contest, to the sorrow of the drag queen that was trying to recruit me; there was not enough gin in all the joints in Washington to get me to do that. 

Around 1AM I stumbled outside to get a breath of fresh air as I was sweaty from dancing. Taking out my phone I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have any messages from Hunter, and made the wise decision to drunk dial him.

“Hello?” he said sounding half asleep.

“Hey there, stud,” I slurred into the phone.

“I see you didn’t follow my advice.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t going to say anything before but Thursdays usually get really sloppy.”

He didn’t respond.

“Are you in bed?”

“Yes.”

“Mmm, I’m picturing you in your underwear.”

“I’m picturing myself going back to sleep.”

“Can I come over?”

“It’s late, you should head home. I need to get back to sleep.”

“So that’s a no?”

“Sorry, Phillip.”

“OK, fine. Bye.” I said a little annoyed and hung up the phone.

I was about to head back in to drink away my annoyance when a drunken eureka moment struck me.  I quickly walked to the corner and hailed the first cab that came. I told the cab driver the cross streets, and texted Ari to let him know I left.  Ten minutes later I was pulling up in front of Hunter’s house.  I paid the cab driver and then hopped out, walking up to the door and ringing the doorbell. At first there was nothing, but I rang the doorbell again, and a couple minutes later, a sleepy and confused Hunter opened the door.

“Phillip, what are you doing here?” he asked with an annoyed tone in his voice.

“I really wanted to see you.”

“At 130 in the morning?”

“Yes,” I said and leaned forward to kiss him, but as kissing him requires me getting up on my tiptoes, my lean was more like a stumble.  Thankfully, Hunter caught me, otherwise there is a good chance I would have tumbled straight into the door jam.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed,” he said with a sigh as he lead me into the house, closing the door behind me. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” he finished with an even tone.

I followed him upstairs.

“Here, drink this” he said handing me a glass of water once we entered his bedroom.

I downed it dutifully, handing it back to him.

“Arms up,” he further instructed and cozied up closer to me as he grabbed the hem of my shirt, lifting it over my head.

I smiled up at him once my shirt was removed. He in turn kept a calm, straight face and rubbed the back of his hand down my stomach until he got to my belt which he dutifully began to undue, followed by the button my jeans.  Soon my pants were falling down my legs, and he instructed me to lay back on the bed. He then proceeded to untie and remove each of my shoes before pulled my pants off from the hem. I was now lying on the bed in only my underwear and a goofy smile as I watched in turn as he removed his glasses and the lacrosse shorts he was wearing.

“Scoot over,” he further instructed as I pulled the duvet over me as he turned off the light, and got in bed next to me, pulling me back against him once he was comfortable.

“You smell good,” I said inhaling him next to me.

“You smell like cheap booze.”

        I didn’t respond, but started to run my fingers through the hair in the cleft between his pecs. It was softer than I expected. I then began to trace them down his stomach following his happy trail to the waistband of his underwear. Finally he grabbed my wrist when I started to ease my fingers into his underwear.

        “Phillip, I have to be up in a few hours. Be happy that I let you in. Now turn around and go to sleep,” he said sternly.

        I really wanted him, but knew he was annoyed with me.  However, now that I was in bed I could feel the long day of classes and the booze taking their toll. I rolled over with a huff. Hunter wrapped his arm around my stomach, pulling me back against his chest and I succumbed to sleep.

        The next morning I awoke to my phone ringing.

        “Hello?” I asked groggily.

        “I wasn’t sure if you’d set an alarm, so I wanted to call to make sure you got up in time for work,” Hunter said through the phone.

        “Thanks. What time is it?”

        “10 of 8.”

        “OK, thanks.”

        “There’s a spare set of keys on the table by the front door. Please lock up on your way out. Also, please give those back tonight at dinner, Phillip. I’d rather you not have a pair and sneak in at god knows what hour in the future.” From his tone I could tell he much more annoyed than I expected.

        “OK, what time and where should I meet you tonight.”
        “I’ve got to got to get back to this meeting, but i’ll message you with details later.”

        “OK, bye.”

        “Bye.”

        I wasn’t as hungover at work as i’d expected which made focusing on the research I had to do that much easier. Before long it was lunch time and I still hadn’t heard anything from Hunter, so texted him:

        We’re still on for tonight right?

        An hour later I looked at my phone and was starting to get peeved that he hadn’t responded.  When four o’clock rolled around and I still hadn’t heard from him, I was beyond peeved and now full on angered.  I was about to send a passive aggressive text message telling him that what I did was childish, but his ignoring the situation was worse. After writing the text I gave myself a second to go to the bathroom before sending it, and when I returned was relieved to see a missed call from Hunter.  I immediately deleted the unsent text and called him.

        Our conversation was brief, but we agreed to meet at dinner at 7:00 at a sushi restaurant next to the theater before an 8PM movie. I wasn’t very productive the rest of the day at work as I sat mainly thinking of what I should say to Hunter. Obviously I would apologize, but at the same time, was what I did really that bad? I’d have to gauge his level of annoyance/aggravation and respond accordingly.

        I was the first to arrive at dinner, and was seated at a table by the large panel windows that overlook the intersection of K and 31st Streets under the Whitehurst Freeway, that ubiquitously horrible structure impeding the Georgetown waterfront. Hunter had selected this sushi restaurant called Maté that doubled as a cocktail lounge after dinner service ended. What this mainly translated to was that decor was cheap and the food overpriced, but it was directly next to the theater so it made sense. I ordered a beer while I waited for him to arrive. Uncharacteristically, Hunter arrived 15 minutes late.

        “Sorry I’m late, traffic was more of a disaster than I was expecting,” he said with an apologetic expression.

        “No worries,” I responded, relieved that his mood was fairly upbeat, or least that any annoyance that he had with me wasn’t immediately discernible.

        The waitress came to our table quickly and asked if he wanted a drink. He ordered a beer and we decided to put in our sushi order to make sure we made the movie on time. Then we sat and just looked at each other for a minute. Just as I was about to open my mouth to apologize, Hunter cut me off.

        “I think you have something of mine,” he said with flat expression I couldn’t read.

        “Yes, your keys,” I stated, reaching into my messenger bag to retrieve them.

        “I’m sorry about last night,” I continued placing the keys in his hand, and looking back to his gaze. “Though it’s no excuse to blame it on being drunk, I missed not having seen you all week, and well, drunk me really really wanted to see you,” I said with a meek smile.

Hunter paused for a minute, letting my apology hang between us for a minute.

        “What am I going to do with you?” he finally said softly with a slight flicker in his eyes as he took my hand. My apprehension immediately melted.

        “I’m not going to lie, I was rather annoyed with you this morning. In fact I tried to get you up when I woke up at 615, but you were pretty dead to the world,” he said with a slight scowl which quickly changed to a smile. “That made me a little more annoyed. Please, just don’t do that to me again. When I tell you not to come over, please respect my boundaries.”

        “Yes, it was very immature and I swear it won’t happen again,” I said with a smile.

        “You have to admit, you enjoyed manhandling me,” I said again with a bit of smirk looking down at my beer as I took a sip. When I made eye contact with him he didn’t say anything, but there was both a glint of humor as well as annoyance in his eye. I decided not press the issue any farther, content that we’d made our peace and I wasn’t in the dog house.

        The remainder of dinner was much more light hearted as we brainstormed what he could get his nephew for his sixth birthday. I thought it very endearing that Hunter was determined to be the coolest uncle ever, but at the same time not show up his brothers. That said, I don’t think I was much help, but offered to ask my coworkers with small kids what was hip these days.

        Once we finished dinner, we walked the 50 feet from the entrance to the of the movie theater and were waiting in to get tickets when someone called Hunter’s name. Turning, I saw a preppy looking couple a few yards away, the guy waving over at him. He waved back, and they approached us.

        “Hey Hunter, good to see you,” he guy said pulling Hunter into a hug.

        “Yeah, you too. God what has it been, three years?” Hunter responded.

        “Sounds about right. Hunter, this is my girlfriend, Cecilia. Cecilia this is one of my friend’s from Yale, Hunter,” the guy said introducing them.

        “It’s great to meet you, Cecilia,” Hunter said shaking her hand, and continued introducing me, “and this is my boyfriend Philip.”

        Wait, what? Did I just hear that right?

I’m sure I had a surprised look on my face when I shook Cecilia’s hand, and then turned to Hunter’s friend, who introduced himself as Danny.        

They stated that they were in town for the weekend visiting one of Cecilia’s friends who just had a baby. To be fair, I was more focused on the thoughts running through my head after hearing Hunter refer to me as his boyfriend than I on the conversation at hand, but I think I managed to add enough comments and head shakes to make it appear that I was interested. Hunter and Danny made plans to get together for drinks the next night, and we made our way into the theater.

I’m pretty sure I had a shit eating grin on my face the whole movie, which was probably rather awkward as the movie was a thriller about Western/Arab politics - you know, oil money, the CIA, terrorist threats, the works - and overall pretty dense. As I walked out of the theater, Hunter asked why I smiling and I decided not to say anything, part of me afraid that maybe if i brought it up he’d write if off as saying it was the polite way to introduce me, and didn’t want to kill my high. Also, as a stereotypical WASP I didn’t like to talk about my feelings and this would most definitely start a conversation that would force me to bring up more than I wanted to air - something that Ari despises about me.

When I got home that night, I provided my gratitude for his comment in the best way I thought possible: being a willing sexual participant.

* * *

        At work Liesl, Audrey and I still couldn’t get a read on Watson. He was quiet for the most part and kept to himself. We were all pretty busy, but part of the office culture was to take breaks every so often and socialize by getting coffee or snacks. As an intern it was a great way to meet the other staff, do some networking, and find out about some of the office gossip that we as interns weren’t as privy too since we worked only part time.

        One day, we did manage to get him to come out for coffee with us, and Audrey immediately began to question him, not quite a grilling, but she was pretty constant with her questions. I’m sure she tried to be a little sly, but sadly it came across pretty blunt when she asked if he had a girlfriend. Her demeanor also immediately changed when his response was no. You could literally see her eyes light up. However, I think she was so excited by his response that she missed the slight grin he gave me. When we discussed it later she said I was making it up because she definitely did not see him “make any type of facial expression, grin or otherwise” to me. I swore by it, but we were at odds. Women.

        Once we got the coffee with Watson it appeared to be a watershed moment as there after he was a little more relaxed and open with us. I think it didn’t hurt that we cued him pin on some of the office gossip, such as that one of the manager we worked with was secretly dating one of the directors. He didn’t buy it, but then a couple days later informed us that he’d seen them at the supermarket together. We also realized he had very dry humor in general, and it now registered with me that some of the comments he’d made previously that I’d perceived as odd almost backhanded compliments were actually jokes that had fallen flat on me. Poor guy needed to work on his delivery, but at least I found out that we didn’t have a mutual hate for each other.

* * *

        The following two weeks were as grueling as the first and my school work began to fully take over my life again.  It was ironic that over the summer I found that where once my life used to seem to revolve around Hunter’s schedule and when I could see him, that was now the farthest thing from my mind. Now it was my schedule of readings and papers that were beginning to set the pace. In addition, Hunter and I had still not had a discussion about his comment referring to me as his boyfriend, but honesty, we hadn’t seen each other enough to really discuss it. When we did see each other, it was usually briefly for dinner before I had to start reading or writing a paper, or sex, after which I really didn’t want to kill the mood getting into the details of what he thought of our relationship. Perhaps it was me being juvenile, but he didn’t bring it up either.

        It was a Wednesday night and I was sitting in Hunter’s bed reading and taking notes for the class I had the next day. After not having seen Hunter most of the previous week nor much of the week thus far, Hunter had me over after work to cook me dinner. I’d love to say that I was marveled by his culinary talents, but was actually happy to have found something that he was not that great at. Not that his food was bad, but cooking was definitely not going to be his fall back.  After dinner, I made my way up to his bedroom to change out of my suit into some comfortable shorts and tshirt to hunker down and start the three-plus hours of reading I had ahead of me.

        About 30 minutes into my reading after having finished the dishes, Hunter crawled into bed next to me and turned on the TV. My quiet space was now filled with the sound of talking heads on CNN arguing over the latest political drivel. I looked over at Hunter meaning to give a look of slight annoyance, but instead received a response from him of a smile and the comment “You’re very cute sitting here studying,” as he kissed my neck gently. I didn’t respond but turned my attention back to my book and tried to drown out the noise.

        I was going strong for about 30 minutes, but Hunter then began to run his fingers on my exposed thigh just below the hem of the lacrosse shorts I was wearing. This was a distraction I couldn’t ignore. Not taking my eyes off my book, I grabbed his hand and removed it to the safety of the duvet that was bunched up between us. A couple minutes later, it was back. I again removed it, but this time looked over at his mischievous grin.

        “Hunter, please. I really need to focus on this and that’s not helping.”

        I was hoping that this would have been enough, but less than five minutes later he put his hand around my back and scooted closer to me in the bed. At first I was hoping he would just sit there, resting his head on my shoulder. That would have been a cozy position to read. However, he had other plans as his hand made it way to my stomach trying my make it up under t-shirt to rub my stomach playfully.  Again, I removed his hand only to have it move down to my other thigh and very gently begin running his fingers farther and farther up the inseam. This was the last straw. I marked my spot in my book by dog-earing the page, and placed the book down. Hunter sat up a little with an excited smile, and moved forward to kiss my lips. Instead I pulled back from him and put up my hand to stop him from getting too close.

        “No, you will not be rewarded for annoying me while I’m trying to read,” I stated tersely.  

As I said it the excitement fell from his face.  If it wasn’t for the fact that I had to lead the discussion in class the next morning, that look alone would have made me cave and lean over to kiss him, but I was going to be steadfast.  The last two times I’d come over to study he managed to distract me into having sex, and I was going to show him that I had resolve.

        Collecting my items, I moved from his bedroom down the hall to the small room he had set up as a study. Turning on his desk light, I made myself at home at his desk and got back to my reading.  The two hours flew by as I finished the reading and then outlined some key questions to facilitate the discussion. As I was reaching for the glass of water I’d brought into the study with me, in a moment of poor coordination between my tired eyes and hands, I knocked it over spilling its contents onto the sole item that was sitting on Hunter’s immaculately tidy desk. I quickly ran to get a towel from the bathroom, and when I returned I opened the folder and started blotting the papers hoping to absorb as much of the water as possible and also hoping that the file contained nothing important.

        As I blotted through the pages I noticed that I was looking at polling results. Each page had a question at the top and breakdown of the responses by gender, age and political association. Being that Hunter didn’t get involved in individual races I was initially curious as to why he had to the documents, but as I read more it came clearer. The questions started with general questions ranking importance of general issues like the economy, the environment, etc., and then they got into more specifics about age and experience of candidates. The more I read through, the more I realized these questions were describing Hunter. However, it was the question on the last page the stuck out at me the most: If your party nominated a generally well-qualified person who happened to be gay, would you vote for that person? The breakdown did not look very favorable.

        I set the documents back on the desk, now damp but not destroyed, sat back in his chair and started off into the space of the office. Why did he have polling data on himself? Was he thinking of running for office? Numerous other questions along the same line ran through my head as I tried to make sense of the information. More importantly, what should I do with this? Should I talk to him about it? How would this affect our relationship? In the end I decided I was going to keep mum on the issue and wait for him to bring up the subject first.

        When I returned to Hunter’s bedroom, I entered to find the TV still on but him asleep, his glasses still on his face. I paused for a minute at the threshold of the door and watched him for a minute. As I took in his features of his beautiful face, I realized I was holding in my breath slightly. Letting out a heavy sigh, I made my way to the bed, carefully removing his glasses and placing a light kiss on his forehead. I then crawled under the covers and turned off the light, letting the darkness engulf me.  

What the fuck was I getting myself into?

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