Title: Casual Encounters

Author: brage

Fandom: Emergency!

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Kel/Johnny

Genre: Slash, first-time

Warnings: graphic m/m sex, language, gratuitous sex.

Summary: Kel seeks a first-time encounter among strangers but ends up finding a friend instead.

Note: Thank you to my beta reader, Maryann. Great job as always but you really gave me some fast turn around time on this. I completely appreciate you.

Casual Encounters

The light from the neon strobe hits against me making my flesh burn. I know I'm not being cooked alive but there are entirely too many people…too many men crowded into this room. The bass of the music reverberated the sidewalk before I entered but now, contained within the walls, it surrounds me like a blanket, suffocating me. I know I can still breathe, I know there is air left in this room even though I'm dizzy and purposefully trying to keep control of my breathing. 'dizziness, shortness of breath, confusion' I list the familiar symptoms of hypoxemia and try to put a look of something other than complete and utter panic on my face. The years I've wasted, the months of attempting to face my fear, the weeks spent finding a place to go without being seen has led to this place, right now. I can do this. I will do this.

I take a deep breath through my nose. Something familiar. Sort of gym locker room with a touch of fresh sex. I briefly think about my college days when I played football. If we would have had more orgies in the locker room, I'm certain it would smell like this. Looking through the crowd I'm certain I would hear the lust consume this room if my ears were not ringing. I can see it though, flashing colored lights against flesh. Lots of flesh.

I cock an eyebrow and amble up to the bar with attitude. I'm determined to complete my mission with some semblance of dignity. I will not come off like some 35 year-old pathetic virgin. I am confident, I'm a fucking doctor. I know my way around the human anatomy for god's sakes. How hard could it possibly be to get laid on a Saturday fucking night in fucking L.A.? I look around at the 18-25 year old populace of the dance floor—most shirtless with hard-body pecs and tight abs—grinding against each other like they are starting the foreplay early. I shake my head in misery. I wore a black silk shirt, tight jeans and a leather jacket. I thought I looked pretty good, I mean I'm not exactly hard to look at but among the crotchless chaps, cut-off shorts, leather vests and the absence of clothing altogether, I feel like Uncle Pervie doing stake-out at the local playground.

The green-eyed bartender finally notices me and gives me a smile and a wink. My mouth goes dry and I have no idea what the hell I was going to order. His smile gets wider. I wish to hell I could hear what he just said. He puts up one finger to tell me to wait one second. I'm sure he is a mind reader when he comes back with a bottle of Jim Beam and pours me a shot and stands there with the bottle. I slammed the first one down and he fills it right back up again. He fills up a tall glass with ice and pours water into it with his little bar gun. I'm taking the next shot slow. He stands in front of me with this lopsided grin and winks again. God is he hot. Is he coming on to me? Does he want me to go home with him tonight? Does it really work this fast? Is the leather jacket really that hot? When he rubs his thumb and forefinger together I feel myself turning six different shades of red and I realize I haven't paid the man for the drinks. I slap a twenty on the bar and slink off with my tail between my legs. So much for that dignity thing I was talking about.

There is no moving through the crowd without touching. There is no turning around without rubbing against someone. My ass was found by more than a few groping hands on my way across the floor. Encouraging. Somewhat. I find a dark corner behind the dance floor. There are no tables left but I find a ledge to lean against and just watch. Closer inspection of the dance floor has me revisiting my opinion about the foreplay. It's not just foreplay, it's sex. You would have to look for it through this crowd but there were definitely men being fucked right out there on the dance floor. Hell, I bet they don't even know each other's names. How hard could it possibly be to get laid here? I take off my leather jacket. Shit. Now what the hell am I going to do with it? Should have left the damn thing in the car. I'm hot as hell. I cannot put it back on and I'm not leaving. I'm suffocating in this heat. Hell, I've been suffocating in this façade. I have been for decades. I am NOT leaving.

I'm surprised when a skinny boy springs directly in front of me smiling from ear to ear. He takes the jacket from my hands and lays it over the ledge then grabs my hand and hauls me out to the dance floor. If this child is 18 I will eat my stupid leather jacket. He's a bit effeminate and flamboyant in bright orange pants and a lemon-yellow tank top. I feel like everyone is watching me be with him. I'm trying to move to whatever beat is pounding its way through my body. He looks at me like he's just found the cutest little puppy and presses himself against me. He's looking me dead in the eyes with such a lascivious look while his hands are working the buttons on my shirt. I'm mesmerized at the tenacity of this child. My shirt is completely open and out of my pants. I'm actually grateful for that. I wouldn't have had the nerve to open my shirt myself but I notice a few appreciative smiles on the dance floor and I'm also much more ventilated. My flesh mixed with the acres of the other flesh on the dance floor makes me feel slightly less inhibited. When I feel his hands go for my belt, I have to stop him. I'm not what he is looking for. He's not what I am looking for. I'm not going to pretend to have high standards on this day but someone finished with puberty would be good. I'm holding his wrists. I smile and give him a wink with much more confidence than I actually had. I think that's a pretty smooth let down. He shrugs and by the time he turns around he's with someone else. I think he'll get over me.

I scrub a hand through my hair and figure out I'm on the dance floor by myself. Fuck. One word comes to mind…. Retreat!

Woah….wait. I'm NOT fucking leaving. I am not fucking leaving!

I notice a black hallway to my left. Traffic seems to have a steady flow there and I quickly deduce it must be the bathroom. Splashing some water on my face and regrouping sounds like a good plan and I head in that direction. There was a bathroom but that was not the source of the main traffic. A heavy, steel door pushed open and in that brief glimpse I could see another world on the other side. Lighting was dim, ambient. There were benches along the wall and men in various stages of undress. There was no doubt in my mind what the purpose of that hidden, out-of-the-way room was. I hang outside of the room leaning against the wall with my shirt hung wide open trying to look like I belonged there. One more person comes out. He's got a cigarette in his mouth and patting his jean pockets.

"Hey, you got a light?"

I feel my shirt pocket. Fuck. It's in my jacket. "No, sorry."

"No sweat. You goin' in?" He points to door.

"Yea." I move forward. He opened the door for me. Yea, what a gentlemen. Thanks. Oh fuck.

I never stop to dance here anymore. I don't see the point. It all leads to the back room anyway. I flag Daniel down. He greets me with a smile and those gorgeous green eyes and brings me my icy beverage. Gets it right every time. He winks at me and I strip off my t-shirt and throw it to him. I've lost too many in this damn place to trust it to stay where I put it so I leave Daniel in charge of my shirts now. He's happy to help out that way. What a guy. I'm just glad I don't have to sneak into my apartment building half naked at 4 a.m. I slap a bill on the bar and I'm off with my beer in hand.

The blonde that I've known far too many times comes toward me smiling. His name is …Billy, yes Billy. I know he wants to be with me again. Some get fixated that these casual encounters are something more than what they really are and he might need a reminder…soon. He's easy though and a sure thing. Some days I like a challenge and some days I don't mind a little familiarity. It was a particularly hard shift yesterday, I lost count of how many people I had treated at the scene of the four-alarm blaze, lost a couple people, sadly- so familiarity and good old-fashioned stress relief sounds good today. I paint a smile on my face, give him a quick kiss and lead him toward the room.

We turn the corner and the familiar face talking to Steve made me stop in my tracks. I watch as Steve ushers Dr Brackett into the place where I like to satisfy my craving. Dammit! He walks in tentatively. I know he's never been here before. He looks like the bazillion other people who finally buy a clue and muster up the balls to walk in this place. He made it to the back room though. That takes some moxie. "Hey, Steve? Who was that you were talkin' to?"

"Hell, I don't know. Just another repressed homo newbie. Why? You goin' after that one too Johnny?"

"Get outta here asshole."

"Fuck off. Hey, you gotta light?"

"No. Those things'll kill ya."

"Yea, yea."

I feel bad about Billy but he's got to go. I turn to him with that lop-sided grin I know makes him melt. It's dirty pool but my friend just dove into a shark's pit head first without knowing it and I really need to see what the hell he thinks he's doing.

Billy breaks my heart when he forces a smile to his face and turns back toward the dance floor. He tries to play it off like it means nothing to him. That brief look of disappointment is there for only a moment but he quickly corrects just after he knows his emotions have betrayed him. I know he's been waiting for me to show up. I'm not a heartless bastard. I get that he wants more. I can't fix him today. Kel has been in the room for too long alone already. I have to get to him.

I quickly zero in on him as soon as the door is open. He looks amazing. I ditch my beer on a nearby bench. I hang back lurking behind him. He's got this touristy wonder about him the way he is moving through this room, taking in the sites around him like he just got off the plane in some sort of alternate dimension. His cluelessness is so endearing.

I notice Paul notice him. Paul is a charming, manipulative loser that gets laid way more often than he should. I move closer. Kel's back is to me. I don't want to lay all my cards out on the table but I also don't want to leave the bait out there for the sharks to eat. I still have no idea why he is here. Is he here to bust me? I take in his appearance once more. His shirt is wide open. His skin is flushed. He's hot and sweaty. He's been here looking for something and I doubt it's me. Well this is going to shock the shit out of him. Paul is making his move. I make mine faster and give him a 'so sorry' smile.

I wrap my arms around Kel's and snake them around his bare chest, trapping him against me. He sees what is happening in here but I don't know if he'll just go with it or if fight or flight will kick in so I speak directly into his ear keeping my voice low, breathy. I grind into him giving him no room to doubt my intentions. "Tell me what you want."

His body stiffens for a moment but he grabs my arm and his head leans into my touch. He grinds back. "You."

I push him up against a nearby wall. My cock is hard as hell and I thrust against him pushing him into the wall. "You want my cock in your ass?"

I feel his body acquiesce. It's so beautiful. "Yes." He says with a nervousness I'm certain he feels from his toes. His head lulls back to touch mine.

"You've never had cock?"

"D…does it matter?"

"No." I breathe into his neck. I kiss his ear. I bring his arms down to his sides. I'm confident he's not going to slam me and run away at this point. His chest feels amazing. He's walking, talking sex and I have got to have him. "Do you want to know my name."

He sucks in a breath. His body shivers. "Um…yea…no. No, that's okay. I mean. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He's so fucking incredible. He's so fucking mine! I take a moment to think. I'm not even disguising my voice really but I know he doesn't know it's me. Moment of truth. "Doc, it's Johnny."

He bolts and flips himself around and is out of my hold so fast I have no idea how he did it. The look of hurt, embarrassment and ….disappointment is more than I can bear. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He started buttoning his shirt.

"Now, just wait a minute doc. I could ask you the same question."

His look turns to horror and he rushes past me just about knocking me on my ass. I'm hot on his heels. We got out to the hallway when he suddenly turned on me with this look of pissed-off determination. Whoa, like I said, I like a challenge. He is so going home with me.

After he finishes rambling on about privacy, latent homosexual tendencies and I think my eyes glazed over when something about the human anatomy was mentioned, he finally ran out of steam and blurted "…and my only purpose of visiting this Sodom and Gomorrah re-make was to finally get fucking laid and …and I can't even do that right." He looked distinctly defeated. He sighed and turned to walk away.

I could not let him walk away. I ran to catch up with him and grabbed his arm. "Doc…Kel, wait." Oi vey! How do I put this like I'm not a predatory bastard? I flash him my infamous grin. It usually works.

Much to his credit, it did not leave him in a melted heap at my feet so I actually had to open my mouth. Damn! "Look, I know why you came here, you know why I came here. This doesn't have to be over."

He looked highly skeptical.

"I think we really need to at least talk this through tonight. I don't want it to affect our working relationship." Yea, I pulled out the 'working relationship' card to get him in my house. I exploited his sense of responsibility to the paramedic program. I'm an ass.

"Do you think you're going to have a problem working with me now that you.. that you know…how…"

"God, no. That's not what I meant. Geez." I was getting a bit frustrated with myself. "Let's say I'm this guy that goes into a bar looking to find …sex. Gay sex…"

"You would be in the right place then…"

"Yes. Say some other guy comes up to me and wants to bring me home with him?"

"Ah. And do these two random people looking for sex…gay sex in some bar, know each other, say from work?"

"Yea, yea. They just might."

"Uh huh. And is one of them the other one's boss?"

"Boss shmoss."

At least he was laughing. "Doesn't work that way Johnny."

"No no. Stay with me." Hands are just as much an erogenous zone as the dick. I picked up his hand and kissed his pulse point at his wrist. Yes, I'm channeling Rico Suave, I know, but there has got to be a way here. "Yes, these two random people happen to recognize each other from real life but this isn't real life. This is two random people looking for… something." He didn't look impressed so I switched tack. "How long did it finally take you to get the guts to come here tonight?"

He hung his head. "A lifetime."

"And after tonight, after seeing me, how hip are ya to get your ass back out again and do this all over? Taking one more chance, feeling that vulnerable to attack one more time?"

He shook his head. "It will never happen again."

"Yet you still haven't found what you're looking for. You still have no idea. You were ready to be with some random stranger from this place. Well, I can guarantee you none of them would give you an experience you would want to remember. They would never even ask you for your name. I would treat you with respect. I would care about you."

He looked up at me debating with himself or with me, I wasn't sure. "We can still work together without it being weird?"

"Swear."

"Nobody will know?"

"If you won't tell, I won't tell."

I have no idea how I went from the strobing, fog-lit dance floor of "The Happy Ending" to the soft sounds of Marvin Gaye curled up on a couch in Johnny's house. I would kick myself in the ass right now but I'm kind of busy. Johnny stops kissing my nipples long enough to ask me if I'm ready to go to his bedroom. Let me think….Hell YES!

I wish we would have stayed on the fucking couch! He stripped off his pants the moment he past the threshold of his bedroom, the covers were turned down, there were condoms and lube on the nightstand and he has this candle burning on the other side of the room. I balked. "I'm gonna get a quick drink of water…real quick. Be right back." Too fucking real. I'm scared to death. I cannot help it. Truth be told, I know I'm a doctor and I know that the human body adjusts to accommodate but the part of me that's not a doctor…the part that's just some random guy looking for ….well, for this, I just …I'm scared. I cannot help it. I said it. I'm scared. Well, I guess technically, I didn't say it so much as I thought it, but still some points right? Ugh!

He grabs me before I make it five feet down the hallway. He wraps his arms around me. He feels nice, secure. It feels good to be held by him. "Hey. It's okay."

I shake my head. I'm 35 fucking years old. Of course it's okay. Don't patronize me. He feels too good next to me to give voice to the true snark I am feeling right now, not to mention the desperate need to run.

"Kel, talk to me."

"I don't….know."

"You're scared?"

"No…." I'm not fucking scared. Shut up.

He nods. "Yes you are."

"Fuck off." My actions do not profess what my words are saying as I clench a needy hand around his bicep.

"I can understand that. Been there." He's nibbling my neck. Isn't that cheating? "I promise to be as gentle as I can."

"Just tell me… it's going to hurt like crazy isn't it?"

"Kel, no. It doesn't hurt like crazy. It hurts right at first and then it turns into something amazing. I promise that any orgasm you have ever had prior to this will pale in comparison."

I laughed and sank into his embrace. He is breathing into my ear. God, does that make me melt.

"Every other orgasm you've ever had are going to be jealous of the one coming up next. I promise."

His kisses leave a tingly trail. My shirt is off. We are tentatively moving toward the bedroom again. I'm moving more slowly than he is. I trust him though. I can do this. I want to do this. I am not leaving.

"Leave your pants on. Just lie down with me."

"Okay." That's pretty safe. That's easy. I can do that. I feel like such a dumbass.

His naked form is next to me and I've still got my tight jeans, my underwear and my socks on. He's rubbing my cock through my pants. I can't stop my hips from thrusting into his touch. He's nibbling my neck, my ear. My pants are open. He's dipping his fingers inside the waistband of my underwear. He's smiling. I look down in horror. I forgot I wore the red, silky briefs. How humiliating.

"I love them."

"Shut up."

"Okay." He pulls the briefs down just past the head of my cock and presses his tongue to the sensitive underside. Oh my god! I want him so bad. He knows it. His smile tells me that.

He grabbed the waistband on my jeans and started yanking them down. I gasped. "Can we go ahead and get rid of these?" He's asking in a sort of tentative voice as though I haven't been dry humping his hand for the past few minutes.

"Yes." I raised my hips and he quickly divested me of the rest of my clothing. Skin on skin from head to toe. It felt surreal. It felt like I should have been doing it my entire life. I felt his right hand reach under my balls placing a finger at my opening. I couldn't stop the gasp that came out of my mouth.

"It's just me. Relax. Breathe."

I nod my head. How do people breathe? I've forgotten.

He brings his hand up to his mouth and gives his fingers a healthy dose of saliva. "You'll feel a little pressure." I think about all the times I've told my patients that same line. Depending on the outcome of this day I know I will either have to come up with a different line or smile inappropriately every time I say that.

I hiss as a finger makes its way inside me. It feels foreign, not pain, just not right.

"Relax for me Kel. You're okay."

I nod, take a deep breath.

He's working my ass with one finger, his tongue is back in my mouth and I love life right now. I am helplessly oblivious when he removed his finger, coated them with lube and replaced his one finger with two fingers. I hissed in pain. "Oh my god!"

"I know. Breathe. Relax. I've got ya."

He started working his fingers in.

"Here we go. Tell me how this feels."

"G…good."

"No, this."

I was not prepared for that. I don't know why I wasn't prepared. I am a doctor with full knowledge of the prostate and what its function is but I was not expecting that. My lips are numb. Oh, ….

"Do you like that?"

Are you fucking kidding…oh sweet mother of all that is fucking….holy shit…the heavens parted and the angels sang. There may have been a "guhnnng…ahhh" in answer to his question. I do not know, I just know that I need to feel like that more often.

I ride his hand and he's nailing that mind-melting spot and licking my cock and ….pinching a nipple…damn…how coordinated. Fuck.

Soon he's kissing my face and licking and nibbling my lips, my tongue.

"Kel, I need to be inside you when I come. Is that okay?"

Gulp. "Yes."

He brushed the hair away from my face and kissed me before he reached for the condoms and lube "It'd be better if I was behind you."

"I don't want to be on all fours."

"It's easier on you if we do it that way."

"Pick another way."

"Okay. You don't have to do it that way. Turn on your other side. I'll come up behind you."

I slowly moved over to face away from him. I shuddered involuntarily when he moved up behind me.

"Just me. Relax."

"I know." I know he's trying to be gentle but making me feel like a blushing virgin is making me crazy.

This stuff will feel kinda cold but it'll heat right back up.

Cold? No shit! Ugh, god. I feel him moving behind me, lining his cock up. Blunt pressure. Fuck, that cannot be right. "Ow…no." Pop. "No, NONONONONONO. Johnny it isn't ….." I had to get away. I lurched forward. A firm grasp at my hip stopped me from escaping. "I can't Johnny. It won't go."

He held me tight. "I know. Relax, . .I know it hurts. You have to relax. I'm already in. You just need to listen to me. "

I could not relax. I was being pole-axed and I had to get away.

"Kel. Focus." His hand found my softening cock and began stroking slowly. I heard a distant, soft voice behind me. "Breathe Kel. Right now, breathe."

I heard him. I can't move any muscle in my body that isn't geared toward flying out of this bed. He wants me to relax and breathe? My heart is beating out of my chest. I can't breathe asshole just get it out!

"Kel, listen to me. The worst part is over. Now I want you to concentrate on relaxing every muscle in your body and breathing."

The worst part is over? Promise?

"Just think about how good I feel up against you. How good your cock feels to be stroked. Take a deep breath Kel. Breathe with me."

Okay, I can breathe. I copy him and let my body fall flaccid with my exhale. Oh that feels better. I feel my cock filling once again. Oh yea, that's better.

"There you go. Relax and breathe. That's all you have to do right now. Breathe in. Breathe out."

I feel his dick twitch inside me and it makes me clamp my muscles down on him.

"Ah! Okay. That was my fault. Sorry. I shouldn't have surprised ya there. Keep breathing. Keep relaxing."

I nod my head. It wasn't nearly as painful. Actually it felt warm and pleasant. I leaned back against him relaxing into his embrace. I'm more on top of him than we are side-by-side.

"Kel, I want you to try to push me out of you. It'll open up your muscles a little bit so it doesn't feel so much like you've got me trapped in a vice."

"Oh, okay." I know that.

"When you do, I'm going to push forward. Are you ready for that?"

I take a deep breath. I nod my head.

"There you go." He pushes himself inside me in one long, slow, gentle push. "I'm in Kel." He grinds his cock inside my ass as if I needed a better demonstration.

I was amazed that it didn't hurt when he moved forward. Hmmm…felt really good actually. My cock is harder than it's ever been. I could hammer nails with this monster right now. His cock is continually twitching inside me. It feels nothing short of amazing. His warmth surrounds me, goes through me. His voice lulls me into that same warmth. If feels like someone is playing a sweet, angelic, three-dimensional song and it is engulfing me, filling every sense—smell, touch, hear, see, taste—god it's all around me.

"You okay?"

"God yes!"

His hands roam across my chest. He takes an experimental thrust. Just a small one.

"Oh yes. That feels good Johnny." I push back against him.

He pushes me onto my side and grabs my hip once more. I feel his cock slide out minutely and push back into me.

"It's …so good, Johnny. Do it."

He pulls himself almost all the way out and all the way back in again as if he's still testing the waters. I moan with delight. I can hear him smiling behind me as I feel his weight shift pushing me forward. I'm not all the way on my stomach but nearly. He's holding his weight up with his arms as he fucks me hard with several short and fast jabs. Sonuvabitch! I still feel like I'm being pole-axed but now it's in a good way.

"Still okay babe?"

"Yes…yes…so good." That's the second time he's called me babe tonight. Oh yea, I don't give a shit right now. "So…good."

He reaches under me and puts a firm grasp around my dick. He is stroking with purpose. He's trying to angle behind me somehow and getting frustrated. I don't know what to tell him.

He stopped stroking. He stopped fucking. What?

"Hey babe?" He sounds like he suddenly got nervous. "I know you don't want to do doggie-style but I'm trying to get the right angle to hit your prostate while I stroke you and it's difficult where we're at right now."

"Oh. How 'bout if I just lay on my stomach?"

"Yea, that'd work but your cock would be underneath you and I couldn't reach it."

"Trust me, I'll come anyway."

"Okay. However you want it."

I'm not trying to be difficult but I really cannot do doggie-style with Johnny today. It's just so completely submissive and relenting and humiliating. I can't do it.

He pushes me forward and straddles my ass. "Can I put a pillow under your hips?"

"Yes." I push up and he quickly places the pillow. His dick pops out of my ass as I lurch forward. Damn!

"It's okay." His hands caress my ass. I feel two fingers run from my balls all the way up the crack of my ass. He separates my cheeks. He runs the side of his hand up and down the crack. My ass is propped in the air. I am completely vulnerable to him. How was this different to doggie-style again? "Um, Kel?" Shit he sounds nervous again. "I'm going to do something else…it's…well, you'll like it." I have no time to respond when I feel my cheeks being pulled apart and something warm and wet directly on my asshole.

"Oh!" I lurch forward in shock. He's got me pinned down to the mattress with his legs. "Oh my god!" Oh, that's so nice. Wow! Jeezus H I am in heaven. His tongue is busy working my ass. All I can do is hold on.

Finally he sits up, shifted forward and thrust two fingers inside me. "You like?"

"Well, fuck. I'm not pissed about it."

He laughed. He added more lube, placed the blunt tip of his cock at my opening again and pushed forward. I know what to do now. It hurts. It hurts like a sonovabitch but I relax and let him in.

"Yes, nice. You feel so good Kel." He pushes all the way inside. "Is your cock getting enough friction where it is?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'm just going to take a few jabs to find what I'm looking for." He thrust in once, noted my response and pulled back out. I felt like a science experiment. In Pornland but an experiment nonetheless. "Tell me when I hit it."

I have the feeling he'll know.

After a few tries, he finally plows right into my prostate and I moan like I'm a sex slave in heat. I couldn't help it. Hey, that's it right there! Yea, he already knows. He's plowing into that mark like he owns it. His hands fix my hips to the right spot, he spread his legs and started pounding me. Oh glory, oh joy oh god… "Johnnny, I'm ….oh…" That familiar warmth that starts low in the belly became more intense than I've ever known. It encased me slowly, methodically, purposefully. I cannot feel anything but that warmth, that pure and utter bliss. I'm coming. I'm coming so hard I don't think I'll ever stop. He waits until I go absolutely limp, thrusts a few more times then slams into me to empty his load. He milks his cock a couple more times into my sensitive nether region and collapses on top of me.

"Relax, I'm gonna pull out."

Oh, trust me, I'm freaking relaxed. A little twinge of pain when he pulled out but not bad. I feel him separating my cheeks and looking at me.

"You didn't tear." He plops down next to me taking me over with him. We are spooning in his bed basking in the warm afterglow of homosexual sex. I'm deeply, deeply satisfied. "Feel okay? Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm okay." I know he feels connected to me in some way. The pet name, the cuddling, the tenderness. I hope this works. I don't want it to be awkward working together. He's a good friend to do this for me but we both have lives to get back to. I guess some people would take sex to mean more than what it is but these casual encounters after meeting in a pick-up bar are just that. Casual. I don't want to have to remind him of that.

"I'll grab a warm cloth. Be right back." He hops out of bed. "Then we can get some sleep. You work tomorrow? We could catch a game or somethin'."

I don't think so.

The End