Disclaimer:

This is a fictional story with fictional characters. Any resemblance to people living or dead is purely a coincidence.

Please do not distribute this story. But for 50 million US dollars, I will be more than willing to grant you the copyright. Anyone interested?

This story involves love and physical intimacy between two consenting adult men. If you do not want to read this or should not be reading this, please close the browser window and go back to the newspapers.

And finally to those who can and still want to read the story, I would like you to know that this is a story about relations and not about sex. So there will be very limited sexual acts and even when it occurs, there will be no graphic details about the act.

Enjoy the story. Thank you for reading.

First Love - Chapter 3

"Are you out of your mind?" Ken held my arm and pulled me so hard toward him that almost uprooted me from the chair.

"I cannot lie to him, guys. I cannot lie to myself."

"What lie? You love him. He loves you. You have never met this Steven character. End of story." Ken was almost hysterical by now. "Brian, will you talk some sense into him. He is going screw up the best thing that has happened to him EVER."

"David, I think it is not such a good idea to tell Mike. I understand you cannot forget Steven. May be it is because you never meet anyone special. Now you have Mike and you eventually will get over Steven." Brian was calm and collected as usual.

"I think Mike should know." I was adamant.

"Even if you think so, it might be too early to tell him. You guys have been going out for only three months now. You don't want to chase him away. Do you?" Brian asked.

"Why did I ever meet Steven?" I murmured to myself.

"You never did. Do you want to loose Mike?" Ken had considerably calmed down.

"No. I don't want to loose him. I love him...too"

"That settles it. Don't tell him now. Give it at least another six months. I am very sure you will get over Steven." This time it was Ken, who was giving out the wise advice. Brian was quiet, sitting next to me, squeezing my palm gently.

I sighed deeply. My life sounded like soap opera on regular television. How many laughs I have had watching them. I thought about it. I couldn't question myself about how I felt for Steven. For some unexplainable reason, I still had a soft corner for him. I am labeling it love. Is it really 'Love'? I had no way of finding out. How do you find out if you love someone who you have never met and who you are, most probably, not going to meet ever? The more I thought about it, the worse I was starting to feel. I did see the point in what my friends were saying. I did not want to loose Mike. I did not want to think of the possibility of loosing him. So I decided to keep my mouth shut for now.

"I am sorry Steven." I apologized to thin air. "And I am sorry Mike. I hope I am not cheating on you."

We spent some more time chatting about other things and Ken was filling me up with stories about this guy from his work place. He is pretty sure he is gay. And how funny, awkward, exciting, strange the moments are, when they run into each other at the printer or in the men's room. Ken has tried to start a conversation, but the other guy seems to be too shy to even respond. Now he does not care too much as romance at work place are too risky and almost never work. I was not in the mood to be among people. I left.

I returned home and kept myself occupied with laundry, cooking and cleaning the apartment. Later in the evening I spoke for a few brief minutes with Mike. He sounded occupied. So I let him go. I was a little dejected that he would not talk to me more, but I have to be practical. He left only this morning and now he is spending time with his friends. Would I like it if someone intruded my time with Mike? I think not. I started homework and that kept me busy for the rest of the evening. I sent Mike a 'Good Night Sweet Heart' SMS. I waited for a few minutes hoping he might call back. He did not. So, I went to bed around 10. I was exhausted.

I was cheerful when I woke up the next day morning. Why not? I am going to be having lunch with my boy friend. I took a leisurely shower and spent considerable time fixing my hair. Then I spent even more time selecting what to wear. I pulled out a gray t-shirt that said, "I am worth a million dollars", in the front and a stone washed blue jeans I bought from Abercrombie and Fitch. As a teenager I never was attracted to A&F type clothes. I thought I looked like a cartoon in them. But I was now developing a taste for them. Still nothing too crumpled or jeans that looked like rag cloth, but a few tears here and their, I did not mind. I decided to wear a cap too, mostly to keep the snow from getting into my eyes. I never much liked caps. I never looked good in them. Mike on the other hand, looked great in everything. Now I knew that he looked even greater in nothing. Naughty me!

Mike and I had agreed to meet up at his place for lunch on Sunday. I got to his place around 12.30 pm. Mike lived in a high-rise apartment building. He was on the 9th floor. I rang his apartment at the entrance. I rang again. From experience I knew Mike was busy in the kitchen. I waited.

The phone came alive and Mike yelled, "C'mon up." This was followed by the buzzer that indicated that the door was now open.

I took the elevator and reached his apartment. He usually waits at the door after he buzzes open the main door. This time he was not. I feared he had one of his accidents in the kitchen. I knocked on the door.

"Coming...just a minute." He yelled from inside.

"Ok. I am not going anywhere. I will wait." I said softly to myself with my hands thrust into my coat pocket and looking down at my shoes, swaying by repeatedly balancing myself on my toes and then on my ankles.

It was well over a minute before the door opened and Mike appeared in a black suit. He held the door open and bowed a little showing me the way. I was too surprised to speak. He closed the door after me and said, "May I get your coat, Sir?" I handed him my coat. I walked into his living room. It was sparkling clean. Usually it would be strewn with books, news paper, tennis rackets, mails, wine glasses, wine bottles, beer bottles, video games, movie cassettes, CDs, socks, shoes, clothes, anything that you can find in an apartment of a human being, you could possibly find it in Michael's living room. Now it was all spick and span. He even had fresh roses on the side table. I was speechless.

He held his elbow to escort me into the dining room. I put my arm in it and followed him. He had the table set with cutlery and wine bottles. There was a candle stand in the middle with 2 candles. They were already lit. He pulled out the chair for me to sit.

"Thank you." I sat down.

"Would you care for some wine?"

"Sure, I lifted my glass and held it to him. He poured the white wine into my glass and poured himself a glass too.

"If you would excuse me, I will be back in a few minutes." He excused himself out.

He came back holding two plates. There was baked fish, mashed potatoes, and corn and garlic bread with sauce.

"Please save yourself some space for dessert" he warned.

"Mike, what's all this?" I asked the dumb question.

"You don't like it." I could see the disappointment in his face.

"Oh, no, sweetheart. I love it. I only meant, this was not needed." I had to jump on any sort of romantic moment.

"I know that. But I always wanted to do this for the guy I loved." He said looking right into my eyes. Those green eyes sparkling like jewels. "And I meant what I said to you yesterday."

I got up from my chair, sat down on his lap, flung my arms around him and said, "I meant it too. I love you Mike. I couldn't love you more", before I kissed him deeply. Hey...I did not think of Steven this time. It was a mixed feeling, but I think I was more glad than sorry that I did not think of Steven. I now had total faith in my friends' words that I will get over him, even if I never forget him.

"Let's eat before the food gets cold. It looks delicious." I got back to my chair. I must say, the food was great for Mike's culinary skills.

"Did you make all this yourself?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yea. I spent all of yesterday cleaning the apartment and all of this morning cooking. I got the recipe out of the Internet." He said proudly.

The mashed potato was a little lumpy and he had salted the fish a little too much. Yea, I know...I am just too critical. But I kept my mouth shut. It was far better than being just palatable. And the thought is what really counts, right?

So we ate, and then Mike bought in the dessert. "I brought this from the store." He confessed. It was cheese cake. My favorite. It was a lovely lunch. And certainly lovely company. After lunch, he took off the suit, knocked off the shoes and loosened the tie-knot and we settled down with mugs of coffee on his, now clean, couch. He looked luscious. I had never seen him in formal wear before. If he is hot in his jeans and t-shirt, he is hotter in a silk white shirt with a light blue pinstripe tie and black loafers. He turned the television on. He had even cleaned the surface of the television. Doesn't it feel great when a guy does all this for you?

We sat really close to each other, holding hands and legs stretched out on the coffee table in front of us. "What do you want to do now?" I asked.

"Get into your pants." Mike joked. At least I thought.

"Michael..." I acted shocked and tried to push him away. I noticed that I was calling him Michael only when I was thinking of Steven or did not totally agree with him. I was unconsciously trying to shut myself away from him. I also noticed that I was starting to call him Mike more often, which is a good sign, I thought.

He held me by my wrists and pinned me down on the couch and climbed on top off me. I struggled to wriggle out. "Let go" I screamed interspersed with uncontrollable laughter. He demanded a kiss to let go. I acted hard to get. Mike was too strong for me. He quickly had both my arms held above my head and he spread himself over me, so that I could not move very much. I struggled for some more time, but I surrendered eventually.

Our faces were so close to each other. And we were panting heavily. And we were staring into each other's eyes. Mike loosened the grip but I did not want to move. Mike lowered himself and kissed me slowly. The room felt really really hot. Mike then moved onto kiss my ears and neck. I arched my back and titled my head backwards enjoying the pleasure. My hands kneaded his strong back through the silk shirt. Mike's hand moved under my shirt and he reached for my nipples. I gasped and moaned slightly. I tried to reciprocate the same to him. I was not in a comfortable position to do that. So I went back to massaging his back. He had raised my shirt high enough to have complete access to my chest. He ran his tongue over my nipples in little circles.

"Oh Mike..." I moaned in ecstasy.

Mike was concentrating solely on pleasuring me. I ran my fingers through his hair now. His dark black hair was velvety and smelled of his sweet shampoo.

We were in our wonderland when Mike's cell phone rang. I was too busy to hear it. Mike ignored it and continued. But it kept ringing. The caller tried twice before deciding to leave a voice message. The moment was spoilt. The mood was gone. Mike still lay over with his head resting over my shoulders. The cell phone beeped once to inform that he had a new voice message. He kissed me on the check and got off me. "Sorry" he apologized.

"Oh c'mon. Don't be silly. Oh, see, I crumpled your beautiful shirt." I said trying to fix my hair and pulling my shirt back down.

Mike checked his message and turned towards me and said, "You are worth much more than that."

"Huh?" I was confused.

"Your t-shirt."

I looked down and say the "I am worth a million dollars." And broke out smiling. "Who was it?" I asked casually.

"It's the dude who moved in upstairs last week. He was trying to find if I wanted to join him for coffee. Nice chap. Hot."

"Oh. You should go then." I said flatly with jealousy spreading inside me.

If he were looking at my face, he would have seen it on my face. He was trying to change into t-shirt and jeans. "Will you go with me?" he asked unaware of what I was thinking.

"No. I should be leaving soon. So how hot is this chap?"

Mike put his folded trousers and shirt away on a chair and came sat next to me. "Nothing compared to you. He can't even stand next to you." He put his arm around my shoulder and kissed my hair. I calmed down realizing my silliness.

"Forget him. I wanted to talk to you about our friends." Mike started, folding his right leg under him and turning slightly so that he can face me better. "Do you think it is time?"

I had never thought about it until now, but I know how I feel towards Mike now and I could feel how he felt for me. So I thought there was no need to delay this. "Sure." I agreed.

"I was thinking I will meet your friends coming weekend and you can meet mine the weekend after. What do you say?"

Though the thought of meeting his friends scared me, I said, "That sounds perfect. I will have to find if Brian and Ken are available. We haven't planned that ahead. I will let you know once I confirm with them."

"OK. Ben and Randy are going to love you. We might have Randy's little sister Becky with us. His parents are going out of town and they are leaving Becky in his care." He said

"That's lovely. I love kids."

"I know. That's why I invited her. If you get bored of us, you could play with Becky." He gave me an evil grin.

"I am not a girl, Mr. Taylor." I feigned contempt and got up from the couch.

"Yes, you are. You are MY girl." He grabbed me and pulled me towards him, making me fall into his arms.

"OK. OK. I am. So is there anything that I should know about your friends. You know, to make the best impression?" I asked getting back to business.

"Nothing. Just be yourself. They will love you. I have known them since high school. They are very happy for us." That sounded very encouraging.

"Is there anything I need to know about your friends?" he asked curiously.

"The first thing you need to know is not to call me a girl in front of them. They WILL make fun of me for the rest of our lives." It looked like he made a mental note of making sure he called me his girl at least once in front of my friends.

I stood up and paced up and down along the couch. His head was following me swaying back and forth like that of the fans in a tennis court. "What else? Brian is safe. Beware of Ken. He is very sweet but very vocal. So don't take anything he says badly. Umm...use the coasters, leave the last piece of the dessert for someone else, no footsy, don't squeeze the life out of them when you hug them..." I noticed he was looking at me intently.

"What?" I inquired.

"Asshole. You think I am a hillbilly, don't you?"

I gave him the "pinch of salt" sign by holding my thumb and index finger together next to my chin and said, "Li'l bit. And I love it."

He pulled me down into a tight embrace. "Let me the hug the life out of you." He once again pinned me down on the couch. And once again his phone rang.

"Aargh, the gods are against me today." He got up and picked up the phone. "Hello." He yelled into the phone. His frustration was very clear. It was a wrong number. Mike switched the cell phone off and threw it on the couch and looked at me apologetically.

"That's alright. Not your fault. I should be leaving now anyways." I tried to be the good boy-friend.

"You leaving me?" he pouted.

"Not for too long. I will call you later today. And by then I should have an answer about Brain and Ken's availability. Ok?"

"OK." He agreed and sounding like a child who was forced into agreement by his parents.

"Thank you for the lovely lunch. I enjoyed the afternoon thoroughly." I said hugging him and giving him a quick kiss on his cheek.

"Me too, except for that darn phone." He hugged me back and swayed.

"I love you Mike." I said it first for the first time.

"I love you too babe."

I grabbed my coat and kissed him a goodbye at the door and left. I was glad I did not bring up Steven.

Once I got back home, the first thing I did was to call Brian and Kenny to tell them about the afternoon and inquire their availability coming weekend. They had me on speaker phone so that both of them could hear and talk at the same time. They were excited about meeting Mike. Luckily they were both available. Brian suggested that we meet at his place. This would save me from having to worry about cooking and organizing the get-together. Even though I wanted it to be at my place, so that I had better control of the situation, I knew my friends and saw no problem with it. I was silent for a few moments thinking.

"If I know you, you will be too nervous to do anything. Take up our offer." Ken suggested.

I agreed and it was decided that I will leave it up to the two of them to plan the get-together. My only responsibility was to bring Mike. We fixed 7 pm to begin. I called Mike and conveyed the arrangement. He was cool with it.

Weekend arrived. I was glad I had nothing to do. Mike came down to my place and I drove him to Brian and Ken's. Mike was dressed in khaki trousers with a blue t-shirt and a dark blue sweater. He should model. He looks great in just about anything. He had brought yellow roses and a box of chocolates. Not for me, silly. I was dressed in my new found love - stone washed jeans and a cream colored turtle neck.

We arrived exactly at 7. Ken opened the door and blurted out, "Holy Smokes. You are HOT." Mike almost blushed. I gave Ken a scowl.  And we entered the apartment.

"Hey handsome, I am Ken. Give me a hug already." Ken had wrapped his arms around Mike even before Mike could think. He winked at me who was stranded behind Mike.

Brian joined in from the kitchen and shook hands with Michael introducing himself. Mike then took the roses and chocolate from me and handed it over Brian. We all entered the living room and settled in. Mike and I settled on the couch and Brian poured wine for all of us and took the comfy chair opposite us. Ken squeezed in next to Mike. I looked at them all nervously now knowing how to start. Darn, I wish I had practiced something at home. "I HAD to waste all the time I had this morning, watching Golden Girls!" I scolded myself.

Mike started by asking, "So how did you three 3 guys meet?"

"We were all roommates and met through an ad I had placed on the Internet. David moved out when Ken and I started seeing each other." Brian explained.

"So you two are together. How lovely." Mike exclaimed patting Ken his back.

"We are friends now." Brain clarified.

"Yea, I dumped him; He is too good for me." Ken jumped in with a weak joke, making everyone smile, before the air got really sad.

So we chit chatted for like 30 minutes and by now all the nervousness was gone. Brian and Ken really liked Michael. What's not to like? Brain suggested that the dinner was ready if we were hungry enough. We all were. So we moved our party into the dining room. The dinner was delicious. Brain had made lasagna in meat sauce and Ken had prepared old-fashioned rhubarb torte. We ate and talked and laughed. Mike made sure he played footsy with me and made sure that the other two noticed.

"How is my best GIRL doing?" Mike asked loud enough so that everyone heard it. I blushed beet red.

"Michael..." I tried to shut him up.

"He is your GIRL?" Ken almost jumped of his chair.

"Yea, isn't she pretty? Looks like she used a little too much blush in her makeup."

This is all Ken needed. The rest of evening was spent tormenting me with any thing that they could come up with. Mike and Ken were too much for Brian and me to control them. So Brian joined them. I knew they were just joking, but still. Even our seating arrangement reflected it with the three of them sitting on the couch and me on the chair opposite them. Mike came and squeezed in, pulled me in hug and asked, "Are you OK honey?" He kissed my hair. "We were just joking." I faked anger. "Ok, they are all bad boys. BAD BOYS. We will never speak with them ever again. OK?" he comforted me by acting like my mother. Brain and Ken were laughing their hearts out.

I was not actually angry, but I was not going to pass on the chance of making Michael feel bad about it and trying to make it up to me later. Yes, I am evil. It was a little after 11 and we decided to leave. Everyone hugged and said good byes.

Brain said, "Michael, welcome into our little family. You make David very happy. We have never him seen him happier than he is now."

"Amen." Ken joined in.

Mike put his arm around me and pulled me closer. "Thank you guys. I love him a lot. Never felt this for anyone else ever before." I just blushed and melted into the embrace of my boy friend. We said goodnight and goodbyes again and left.

"Do you want to stay back tonight and leave tomorrow morning?" I asked while driving back to my apartment.

"Sure. If you promise to put out." Mike was in the mood.

"That's the idea." I winked at him.

"Getting a taste for it you, are you. I must be really good then." Mike said tickling my waist.

"You got a big head Mr."

"And I know you love it." He was very smart with words. I must know. That's how he won my heart at the novelty store when we first met.

"Your pervert." I acted up.

"Yea and you are a saint. We will not do anything tonight then." He said folding his hands against his chest and turning away from me.

"Oh sweetheart, we will of course misbehave tonight. I am just glad that the evening went so well." I said, trying to change subject.

"Me too. They are great guys. You are lucky to have such friends." He had already forgotten the fake fight we were having about me not wanting to put out.

"Yea I am lucky. Very. Michael, what do you see in me?" I asked unable to contain myself.

"What do you mean?" Mike was taken by surprise.

"I mean, I am so ordinary. There is nothing special in me. You can have any guy you want..." I dragged.

"And I want you. There are too many people who are this and who are that. Not many who are just themselves. Ordinary in your words. I want a partner for life. Not someone who is just a great fuck." He said coolly. He was not talking on an impulse. It sounded to have to have been thoroughly thought over.

"You are a special guy Michael." I said with misty eyes.

"You are too. You just don't know that." He said patting my right knee. "So will you put out tonight." reverting to being flirty.

"Of course stud. Do you want to wait until we get home or do you want me to pull over?" I joked.

"That would be hot, isn't it? I wish we were in my truck. It would have been more convenient." We joked and laughed for the rest of the way home.

Once we entered the apartment, Mike took over. He almost carried me into the bed room. We both fell onto the bed kissing each other like there was no tomorrow. Within minutes we were naked and had taken positions. I still had the 'stuff' in the night stand and Mike had already grabbed it and put it on. He leaned in for a kiss, and murmured several "I love you" into my ear and pressed in. It was ecstasy. I wanted more of him, all of him inside me. I was learning quickly, mostly by instincts, and pushed against him, feeling him deeper inside me. Mike was passionate and gentle, aggressive and at the same time careful. I wanted it to go on for ever. But as all good things come to an end, we were both done. Mike fell over me, with all his weight over me. We kissed and fell asleep in that position.

It was an unusually bright morning for November. It was still cold, but the sun had come out fully. We woke up when the sun rays fell on our faces through the window. "Good morning sweetie" he said giving me a goofy smile.

I was trapped under his 180 pound body. I did not care. "Good morning." I mumbled and blinked.

He rolled off of me. "Come let's shower together." He dragged me into the bathroom. We brushed and showered together. Duh! We did make out under the shower.

After a long warm shower, we ate cereal for breakfast and watched television lying on the couch. Just being with Michael and not doing anything was satisfying. He was running his fingers through my hair.

"Have you spoken to your friends yet?" I asked breaking the silence.

"Yes. Even before I asked you. They can't wait to meet you next weekend." He replied. "We will do something similar. Meet at my place at 7. You should come in early and help me with stuff."

"Sure. I can bring a change of clothes so that I can take a shower before your friends come in." I was thinking aloud actually.

We lay there for some more time before we were both hungry. We decided to go out and get lunch. We took our own vehicles, and Mike returned home from the diner. I came back home and lay on the couch again, thinking about how much my life has changed since Mike entered it. He made me happy. Very happy. Though I should confess that Steven appeared every now and then, I was thinking of him less and less. Hours later, I got out and started with the chores and homework. I hate it, but do I have a choice? I don't think so.

The week quickly went along. It was already Saturday. Though Mike and I talked on the phone everyday, we hardly met during the week. So I woke up early, showered, packed things I needed for the evening and reached Mike's place. He was still asleep. I buzzed and called him on the phone, all in vain. Luckily, a resident let me in. I got to his apartment and banged on the door and had to call him like 5 times before he came and opened the door, in his pajamas and wife-beater with sleepy eyes and messed up hair.

He mumbled a faint "Hi" and hugged me. If I had left, he would have fallen asleep standing there. I shook him out of his sleep and offered to make him breakfast and coffee if he would be a good boy and get ready soon. He obliged and went into the bathroom. I noticed that the apartment had returned to its messy state within two weeks. I prepared scrambled eggs, 'cos they are so easy to make, and put of pot of coffee to brew. I got down to cleaning up apartment. First I gathered all the items, I thought was trash, from the floor and dumped them into a trash bag. I them started putting things, one by one, back in their place.

I was half done when he walked back toweling his hair. He suggested that he clean the apartment while I cooked. I agreed and went into the kitchen. I wanted to prepare the same lasagna that Brian had cooked last week. Luckily Mike had all the ingredients and within two hours we were both done. Mike had done a fine job. You would have to coax him into doing things that he did not like, but when he did anything, he did a great job, paying attention to the minutest details.

We then went to the nearby stores to pickup wine, beer, chips, cookies, pop, chocolates and a chocolate cake for dessert. I bought a couple of balloons and a soft toy for Becky, Randy's little sister. Mike showered again when we returned and started setting things to his liking. I showered and changed into the clothes I carried from home. We were all ready and waited for his friends to arrive. Ben arrived first, followed by Randy and Becky.

We all shook hands introduced each other and sat down with wine. Ben preferred beer and he got it. Becky was only 7 years old. She had bought her own toys to play with. I gifted her with the soft toy and she had to be coaxed by Randy to accept it. She then kept herself busy with her toys. She refused pop, 'cos it was regular coke and not diet coke. Girls!

We talked the usual stuff people talk when they meet for the first time. Mike was right. They seemed to like me and made it very comfortable for me to mingle in. So did Mike. Dinner was served at 8. Becky was a doll. She finished her lasagna without any fuss and declined dessert. We were still at the dining table sipping coffee when Becky asked, "Are you two married?"

Ben broke into laughter. Randy and I were taken by surprise. Mike quickly answered, "Not yet, Becky. Would you come to our wedding?" I looked at Mike fondly. He was serious.

"Yes, if mom says it is ok and if Randy will bring me." She answered sweetly and politely.

"We will make sure we invite you." Mike said looking at me. He then leaned in giving her a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you." She left the table carrying her new favorite doll (the soft toy we just gifted her)

We then sat down to watch a movie and 2 hours later, they all left. We retired to the couch. And as usual one thing led to the other and we ended up in bed doing what all new lovers like doing best. Hehe.

"I don't mind meeting our friends every day, if this is what we will end up doing after they are gone." Mike joked.

"We can do this even otherwise you know." That was me. Being smart.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving? We have only three weeks left. Are you visiting home?" Mike inquired.

"I am here. I have a truck load of assignments to complete for school. I will be going home for Christmas this time. What about you?"

"I am here too. If you are not going home, I would love to spend it with you." He waited eagerly for a response.

He didn't have to wait too long. "Of course I will spend it with you. Brian and Ken will understand." I said with no hesitation.

"Why don't we invite them too? Make that the theme. Thanking them for being such wonderful friends." He suggested.

"I don't think they would have a problem. This is going to be great. All our friends together."

"Well, Randy will go home. Ben should be here though."

We kissed on it and wished each other sweet dreams and fell asleep. It is so much better to sleep with someone you love than alone. Believe me.

The next three weeks flew by so fast that I did not even realize it was the Thanksgiving week already. I met Michael only briefly over the last two weekends because of midterms and meetings with my classmates for projects and presentations. I cannot wait to graduate. Unfortunately things at work also got so busy that it left me with not enough time for anything. We spoke on the phone during the weekdays and met briefly on the weekend, mostly at my place. He even cooked me dinner one weekend. I did not speak too much with Brian or Ken either.

Thursday arrived. We had decided to meet at Brian and Ken's place because not only did they have a bigger apartment but also cooking turkey was a pain. And Brian being the 'mother' to all of us, was more than ready to take it up. I offered to help Brian and Ken to and they agreed. Mike was assigned to bring Ben. When I got to Brian's place, they had already completed the entire cooking. The turkey was in the oven and all other things were almost done.

We sat down to gossip when my phone rang. It was Mike.

"Hey baby. What's up?"

"I have one more person. Is that OK?" he sounded to be all excited.

The first guy who came to mind was the dude from upstairs. "Sure, that would be no problem." I answered looking at Brian and Ken.

"Great. Thanks. I will see you soon." He almost hung up.

"Hey...listen. Who is this new person? Anyone I know?" I was curious to know.

"It is one of best friends Steven. He is visiting us from D.C..." That is all I heard. The rest of it did not register in my mind.

"DAVID...are you there?"

"Oh yea. Yea, I am here. Sorry Ken was asking for something..." I babbled.

"Not a problem. We are starting now. Tell Brian and Ken that we have one more person. Bye babe." He hung up.

I was speechless. I sat down on the couch with a thud. Ken thought Mike called and broke up with me. "What is it David?" he asked, holding his breath.

Brian had to shake me out of the trance. "DAVID."

"Yea?" I uttered without any sound.

"What is it?. What did Mike say?"

"That he is bringing Steven with him."

"What?" Brian and Ken asked again.

"His best friend...from D.C" I mumbled.

"Now what are the chances that it is the same Steven you talked to. This guy is from D.C." Ken reasoned.

"They are going to be here soon." I continued my mumbling.

"Now, baby, cheer up. It is most probably someone else. Even if it is the same guy, what difference does it make. You love Mike remember." Ken justified.

"Let's get the food ready. They will be here soon." I had to get my mind off this thing until they arrive. I was hoping and praying that it is someone else. Every single day after that disastrous date, I had wanted to run into Steven. I cursed myself for having deleted in haste, his phone number and the chat transcript which had his member ID on the dating website. Now I did not want this guy to be my Steven. I tried some deep breathing techniques to calm me down. Did not work. Brian and Ken remained quite now leaving me to my thoughts. It was hell. The table was set. There was nothing else left to do but wait for the guests. Brian suggested that I should go wash my face with some cold water.

I was in the bathroom when I heard the knock on the door. When I walked into the living room. There was Mike, Ben and the new guy Steven.

"Steve, this is David." Mike walked up to me pulling me into his embrace and giving me a kiss.

Steven turned around to face us.

To be continued...

Hello. I wanted to thank all you guys for reading this story and then taking the time to write to me. Atleast half the emails I got suggest that I increase the number of chapters or may be write a sequel later. I just want to keep it short and sweet and not drag it like the soaps on television. As I am coming up with the details only when I write them down, it could go to the 6th chapter, but I don't expect it to go more than that.

Ten days ago, I wondered if any one would even bother to read my rambling. It feels great to see that there are people out there who care for romance and love. I already have a theme for my next story which I am sure is going to be long. It is about an Asian Indian boy coming to America and finding love. Does it sound good?

Please send your comments, suggestions, questions to me at gay_love_fiction (at) yahoo (dot) com

Andy