Sonny Kiriakis was finishing up at Common Grounds and was expecting his date to show up any minute now. He had arrived back in Salem almost a year ago. He promptly went back to College, taking business courses and almost simultaneously opened Common Grounds when the space became available. He had come –out to his parents years ago and actually graduated with College freshman equivalency in Dubai. He then took a year off to travel and find himself.

He did have his fair share of quick dalliances, at least in the beginning. He was finding his sexuality; when he arrived back in Salem, he decided to not do that anymore. He wanted to find his life-partner. He wanted to find his heart. In order to do that, he started to do some serious dating. He no longer started anything physical until several dates in. Sometimes it was hard to do; when he felt an attraction right away. It was even harder when he received pressure to begin something physical. Sometimes the pressure was very overt, and at other times it was more subtle.

The person he was waiting for was a rather good-looking College senior named Thomas Campbell. Sonny had been dating Thomas for about two months now. Their relationship had progressed rather nicely, up to this point. Because of Thomas' busy schedule they had only had about eight dates. But in that time Sonny and Thomas had gotten rather close. They have had a few nice intimate evenings, but Sonny knew that they weren't as intimate as Thomas wanted. But since it wasn't even clear if they were even in an exclusive relationship, Sonny wasn't all that worried about it. Once they became exclusive Sonny thought that would be a good time to take the relationship to an even more intimate level.

Sonny looked at the clock on the wall; it read 7:00 P.M., and right on cue Thomas walked in through the coffee shop's entrance, strolled right up to Sonny and gave him a peck on the cheek. Thomas stepped back in order to talk to Sonny and that gave Sonny the chance to drink him in.

Thomas was slightly taller than Sonny, with Brown hair and Hazel eyes; rather broad in shoulder, yet rather slim in waist; nice angular facial features; great smile.

Thomas, having noticed that Sonny was staring at him, smiled and said: "Sonny, it's only been a week. I hope that I haven't changed all that much." Sonny smiled in his turn and said: "You look great, Tom."

As was their custom when they went out to dinner together, they alternated in choosing the restaurant. Today, it was Sonny's turn. He had decided that they should go to Brady's Pub, for several reasons; one, he had heard the food was good there; two, they would be able to have a beer with dinner; and three, Sonny wanted to check out their coffee, since he had heard they had changed brands or something and it was now rather good.

Upon hearing the choice of restaurant, Thomas used the excuse of having to go to the restroom, so that he could use his phone and ensure that there would not be a conflict. He sat on the toilet with the lid down and texted: "BB R U workn 2nite?"

He got a reply right away: "No. BBsitn till Mom gets home. Y? Want to do something?"

Thomas waited a few second and then replied: "Oh Crap! Remembered I have a study session in a few! Sorry! See you 2morrow."

"Great!" thought Thomas. He was happy that the coast would be clear at the Pub tonight. He won't have to make an excuse to Sonny about the place, and he will avoid an embarrassing situation. He walked back to Sonny. This is going to be a good night. A bit more pressure and he'd have what he wanted from Sonny.

After that bizarre text, Will Horton went back to supervising the bedtime of his younger siblings. He really enjoyed this time with them. He had come back to Salem in January, after being in Private School in Switzerland. He had graduated early and had enrolled and got accepted in the School of Engineering at Salem U. He had been rather busy at the beginning, and didn't really have a life. He had come-out first to his Uncle Austin in the lasts year of Private School.

Coming out to his Mom and Dad was a bit more difficult, but he managed. Telling his Grandma Marlena had been a breeze. He knew he was gay from a very early age, but didn't have the courage to come-out for a long time after. He still found it difficult.

His one and only boyfriend, Thomas, was very understanding. They had been dating for just over 3 months. He wasn't sure why, but Will usually felt a fair bit of pressure from Thomas about expression his affection physically. And again, Will wasn't sure why, but he seemed to always resist Thomas' advances.

Will really liked Thomas, but there was something stopping him from going where Thomas wanted to go. Will felt that he should wait until he was sure that he was with his true love; or at least someone who he felt a long-term connection with, and Will wasn't sure that person was Thomas.

His thoughts were interrupted by his cellphone ringing. He looked at the number and smiled. It was his Grandma Caroline calling. He answered and discovered that his poor grandmother was short-staffed, because someone called in sick. He agreed that he would go over to the Pub as soon as his mother arrived home from a rather long day at work. It shouldn't be too long.

Sonny and Thomas had arrived at the Brady Pub. They had been seated very quickly and staff was acting a little strangely. In fact Thomas was not being his overly affectionate self; instead he had opted to be a little more standoffish than usual. Sonny thought that was a little weird, but did not say anything.

Sonny could have sworn that a red-headed member of the cooking staff had come out of the kitchen, scowled and turned back in a huff. He wondered what that was all about.

Sonny had a rather impressive tasting hamburger and Thomas had an amazing Fish n Chips dish. They both had a beer.

The conversation slowly got back on track with Thomas and Sonny informing one another how their week had been. They made plans to see each other on the weekend, maybe see a movie. Thomas thought that one be a great opportunity for some forced intimacy.

As Sonny talked about his hopes for the future, Thomas couldn't help but look back at what his goal for this relationship was. For Thomas, it was a conquest. He realized that sometimes the best sexual experiences were the ones where the object of his admiration thought that a relationship, usually a long-term one, was in the cards.

That was never Thomas' intention. His goal was to have the best sex possible. And conquer as many long-term seekers as he possibly could; have sex with them, and then announce he wouldn't see them again. Seeing the look on their faces was payment enough for the time it sometimes took to get results.

He didn't waste his energies on just anybody. Oh no…Sonny was the second best good-looking guy in Salem…Will Horton was the first… These two would be feathers in his cap…notches on his bedpost…Sonny and Will were the cream of the gay crop in Salem…Thomas thought that it wouldn't be too long and he would even have Will.

Thomas knew that Sonny had experience…so that would be interesting. He also knew Sonny had decided to wait for "The One"…So the sex was bound to be delicious…when it happened.

As for Will…The sex was going to be ecstatic…since Will was a virgin. Thomas salivated at the thought of Will and him having sex together.

"Wow Thomas, your meal must be good…you are still salivating…can I have some?"

Will entered the pub from the back door entrance, went to his locker, grabbed his apron, and went directly to the front of the restaurant. He would normally say hello to his grandma Caroline, if she were around; but she didn't seem to be. He'd also say hi to his good friend Sherry, who was one of the assistant head chefs of this establishment; but he just didn't have time. He needed to be out front, serving customers, since that is where they were short-handed this evening.

He walked into the front of the restaurant and immediately saw Thomas. He was sitting with the most beautiful man that Will had ever seen. Wait a minute… where they holding hands? What is going on?

Will decided to forgo decorum and confront the situation head on…

To be continued