Date: Mon, 7 Dec 2015 19:07:00 -0500 From: Andrew Phillips Subject: He and I (Part 21) I'd appreciate any feedback, suggestions or questions you might have ( andrewphil69@gmail.com). Whatever turns you on. Don''t forget that Nifty needs your donations to provide these stories. http://donate.nifty.org/donate.html Stay hard, Drew [This series is copyrighted.] ========================================== He and I Part 21 – TGIF Andy: Finally Friday. What a week! When I got to work Tommy was already there, looking sleepy. I raised my eyebrows, inquiringly. He just said, enigmatically, "Didn't get much sleep." We were assigned to two different jobs so we agreed to meet after work at Gino's for a late lunch. When I got there Tommy had already gotten a table. I sat down and immediately said, "How'd it go?" "I think it went great," he answered. "You think?" "Well, we met at the Martens' field. Tim has great seats, right behind home, about 10 rows up. He has a pair of season tickets, y'know. The people around us seemed to know him. The game was a lively one with lots of hits and runs, the Martens won by a score of 10 to 8, but the lead kept changing. Tim told me about each player. And that hot second baseman he had talked about came over and said `Hi' to him." Tommy was clearly impressed with that. "So you liked the game, what about Tim?" "You mean did he like the game, or did I hit it off with Tim?" "You know what I meant. How did it go?" I asked with the emphasis on the last word, "Did you get to first base?" "Well we got along real well. Every time the Martens had a hit or scored a run he'd high-five me and a few times gave me a hug. After the game we went back to his place and had a couple of beers. Then we reviewed the game, hit for hit and tuned in to the late news for their take on the Martens' well-fought victory. After that we had another beer and watched a late movie on TMC, sitting on the couch side by side. It was a hot night and he doesn't have AC, so we stripped off our shirts. Tim drifted off and his head slumped onto my chest. I kept real still since I liked him there. After a few minutes he started awake and jumped away from me, like I was burning hot or something. I told him, `Don't worry about it.' He just looked sort of shocked, I'm not sure why." "So how do you feel about him, Tommy?" I persisted. "I really like him and I think he likes me. He asked me to go to the next game on Saturday afternoon." "So we have a budding romance?" "More like a bromance so far, but I guess time will tell," his face showing a mixture of hopefulness and doubt. I could tell that he had fallen head over heels for Tim and he clearly felt comfortable talking about it to me. And I was a willing confidant. We all live somewhat vicariously, enjoying the adventures/experiences of others. I wasn't jealous of a budding romance since I already had one in full bloom, though secret. I would do whatever I could to help Tommy reach his goal, and enjoyed hearing all about it, and I told him so. Meanwhile I had my own fish to fry. Jim had left a voice message: "Hi, Andy. Want to, er, jog again?" But he clearly didn't mean `jog.' I could tell by the long pause before he said that word. So now we had another euphemism that I would have to navigate around. It's not like I didn't enjoy our last `jog' together, but come on! I realize he didn't want to say, "Want to fuck again?" since he didn't know who would be listening to the voice mail. Anyway, to dispel any doubt of his meaning that might have remained in my mind he added, "And Eric told me he really enjoyed meeting you yesterday." I was living at home and he was right to use the vague reference to an `Eric.' I guess the ball or rather the balls were now in my court. How could I keep him a happy member of the relay team and maintain my, well, dignity? I decided not to give him a call back, at least not yet. In any case I would see him at practice later in the day. Sean: I was getting tired. Tired from too much passion; for Andy and for my scholarly interests. I estimated I was getting only about 5 hours of restful sleep a night, what with my mind on Andy as well as the Founding Fathers. Not to mention my obligations to my family, and to the team and its upcoming first meet a week from Sunday in Springfield. So this weekend I had to concentrate on everything except Andy. Next: Part 22 -- A Day Off