by T V Hartwell
“Antonio! How are you?” Charlie said as he reached out to hug and kiss him. “Please, have a seat. I want to introduce you to a couple of my dearest friends. This is Lucy and Amanda,” Charlie said, gesturing with his hand to identify each as he said their names.
“Hi, nice to meet you. I think I’ve met you before,” Antonio said, looking at Lucy.
“Yeah, you look familiar too,” she replied.
“And you’re Amanda Climent?” Antonio asked, already knowing.
Amanda furrowed her brow slightly, a bit startled that he knew her full name. “Yes, I am.”
“I work with Adam Weinstock at his production company.”
“Oooh,”Amanda and Lucy both said in unison, smiling broadly in acknowledgement of the mutual connection.
“That’s how I know you,” Lucy said. “Adam is a good friend of mine. I must’ve met you at a party or something.”
“Probably. I go to a lot of parties. Do you work in the industry?”
Charlie snickered at the question as Antonio appeared to be completely unaware of who Lucy was.
“No, not really. I work in fashion, but I know a lot of people in the business.”
“You don’t have to be so modest. Tell ’em who you are, honey,” Charlie said. “She’s just being modest. Forgive me for not introducing her properly. Antonio, this is Lucy Simon, the daughter of Rod Simon. Heard of him?”
“Of course. Wow, your dad’s—” Antonio started to say, his face lighting up before Charlie continued over him.
“And the daughter of supermodel and New York fashion designer Alana Dupree. Oh, and did I mention she’s currently dating Cassius Bettencourt?”
“Thank you for that lovely intro, Charlie,” Lucy said, nearly blushing and a little embarrassed.
“I know Cass. He was in Adam’s second film, Hell-Bent. I was just a lowly production assistant then, but I got to know him a bit. He’s a great guy. His career has really taken off.”
“Yeah, that was his breakout role and a breakout film for Adam as well,” Lucy said.
“Being on set watching Cass up close was an awesome experience. He was brilliant reprising that Rebel Without A Cause role in a modern context. He was perfect for the part and his Oscar nomination really helped put both him and Adam on the map.”
“I love that movie. How cool that must have been for you, being a part of making such a great film,” Amanda said. “So what do you do for Adam now?”
“A little bit of everything really, except for accounting and finance stuff. I’m kind of his right hand on the production side of things. I worked as a production assistant on two of his films and then he brought me on board full time after he signed his production deal with Warner Brothers. I believe you guys started dating right after that, right?”
Oh my God, he knows about me and Adam? Amanda thought a little taken aback. But why wouldn’t he since they work so closely together? “Yeah, exactly. We dated for about a year shortly after he got his deal with Warner Brothers. Adam is an amazing person. Do you like working with him?”
“Be careful. I wouldn’t answer that question if I were you,” Charlie said.
“Most of the time,” Antonio said with a grin and a wink.
Lucy laughed at his response. “Good answer.”
“Well, Amanda is poor Adam’s loss. You know she’s about to get married to this hot, young lawyer. In fact, I need a date for the wedding. I was supposed to escort Ms. Lucy over here, but she dumped me for her Oscar-nominated boyfriend, and now I need to find someone else. Want to come along?” Charlie said to Antonio half serious and still feeling the need to poke at Lucy.
Antonio did not know that Amanda and Jake were about to marry, but he knew they were a couple because of his relationship with Adam and with Kirby, which he chose not to disclose directly. “Actually I should come with my closeted boyfriend instead. That would be far more interesting and shocking.”
“What?” Charlie said, stunned. “You of all people are dating a guy who’s closeted? I can’t believe you’d put up with that. He must be something special. Tell me more.”
“I’ll save it for another time. I better get going or else my friends will start to wonder where I went. Nice meeting you both,” Antonio said to Lucy and Amanda as he got up from his seat. He and Charlie exchanged a kiss goodbye.
“Let’s make a lunch date soon. I want to hear more about this juicy relationship,” Charlie yelled as Antonio walked away.
“I wonder who his boyfriend is,” Amanda said as soon as Antonio was out of earshot. “He said it would be shocking and now I’m curious.”
“I bet it’s a celebrity,” Charlie replied. “There are so many closeted actors in Hollywood it’s beyond ridiculous. These guys just need to come out already.”
Chapter 17 Morning Wood
Shortly after 3:00 a.m. Jake and Kirby stumbled home from a long night of bar and club hopping with some buddies to celebrate the birthday of Dexter, a high school friend. They both crashed as soon as they found their beds and slept in a little later than usual for a Sunday morning when they normally would rise early enough to make it to Runyon Canyon by no later than 9:30 a.m. for their weekly run. When Kirby awoke shortly after 10:00 a.m., he rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom to pee. Something that was a little hard to manage because his morning wood was firm and fully erect. He normally solved this problem by hopping in the shower and relieving himself in the process, but today he was enjoying the sight of his sexiness and the feel of his hard-on so much that he didn’t want to lose it until he blew a load. He opted to pee in the toilet, using his powerful legs to squat down as low as he could so that he could aim down into the bowl without missing and accidentally spraying the wall.
“Damn you look good,” Kirby said, admiring himself in the mirror after quickly washing his face and brushing his teeth. His muscles hard and tight after waking up, he walked back into his bedroom where he had a full length mirror. He stood in front of it and began to stretch and flex the muscles in his arms, legs, and chest. Stroking himself a couple of times to keep his erection, he continued to pose in the mirror, imagining he was in front of a crowd of people giving a performance, feeling horny and pleased with the image the mirror was projecting back to him.
Still hard and nude, Kirby walked out of his bedroom and into the kitchen to make his morning protein shake; he didn’t notice Jake sitting on the sofa reading the paper. “You ready to go running?” Jake said to Kirby whose back was turned to him standing at the kitchen counter. Kirby looked over his shoulder without fully turning around.
“Oh, hey, man. Didn’t know you were up. I’ll be ready in a minute. When did you wake up?”
“I don’t sleep well when I’m buzzed. I kept dozing off and waking back up. I finally just got up about an hour ago or so and took a shower,” Jake said, yawning and not fully rested.
Kirby continued to make his shake mixing in a banana and some blueberries with whey protein powder and skim milk. “Want a shake, dude?”
“Sure,” Jake replied.
Kirby was turned on by the idea of exposing his morning glory to Jake. Given the complicated nature of their relationship, they were very comfortable with one another sexually and would often walk around nude in front of each other in the privacy of their bungalow with as much ease and nonchalance as they did with their girlfriends. Kirby kept his back turned to Jake the whole time he was at the counter making their shakes, turning just slightly to grab the fruit and milk from the refrigerator. He could feel Jake’s gaze, which excited him even more, before he finally turned around to face him with a shake in each of his hands.
“Are you ready for your muscle milk?” Kirby said, grinning from ear to ear strutting over to Jake, exaggerating his pelvis forward so that his large cock wobbled about.
Laughing and smiling broadly, Jake was amused and aroused by Kirby’s boldness and erection!
Kirby stood directly in front of Jake, making his desire obvious without needin
g to verbalize it, and Jake responded, grabbing Kirby’s muscular thighs with each of his hands and taking Kirby’s manhood into his mouth. He lubricated Kirby’s hard-on with the wetness of his mouth, licking and sucking loudly with passion and a sense of purpose. After Jake pulled him down onto the sofa, Kirby lay on his back so that Jake could resume his oral treatment and worship of Kirby’s body, rubbing his hands up and down Kirby’s hard pecs and perfectly sculpted abs. “Oh my God, you’re so fucking hot,” Jake said as he slurped on Kirby’s tool like a Popsicle. Pushing Jake back so that he was lying on his back and then pulling off his gray sweat shorts, Kirby then began to apply his oral skills on Jake for a while before the two ended up in a full blown sixty-nine, pleasuring each other at the same time with toe curling abandon.
“I love you, bro,” Kirby said with emotion in his voice after pulling Jake around to face and kiss him, inserting his tongue deep into his mouth, tasting the smell of his own musk on Jake’s tongue. Jake pressed his body hard against Kirby’s, chest to chest, pelvis to pelvis, in a fucking motion. They continued kissing wildly, their mouths covered in the wetness of each other’s saliva. The pace of Jake’s pelvic thrusts became more charged and the sensation of their body to body contact more intense as Kirby slapped and grabbed on to Jake’s ass tightly with both hands, spreading Jake’s cheeks and using his middle finger to tease and finger Jake’s hole, wishing just once that Jake would allow him to fuck him. Jake moaned as Kirby’s finger slipped deep inside him, causing him to thrust against Kirby with even more urgency.
They kept saying to one another, “I love you, bro,” “I love you too, bro,” with emotion and trembling in their voices as they neared climax. With Kirby fucking Jake even more deeply with his finger, Jake kept thrusting harder and faster, aligning his body so that his cock was pressing up against Kirby’s. Gasping and moaning in the heat of their lust, their sensations intensified by the deep love they shared, only they could describe and understand the connection between them. The titillation of their hard bodies pressed tightly together, the passion in their wet, open-mouthed kisses, and the adrenaline from their hot-blooded energy brought them to a climax that was intense and emotional.
“I’m going to come,” Jake repeated in between moans and heavy panting.
“Let’s come together, bro,” Kirby said. “Come on me, bro. Oh yeah, baby. That’s it, baby. Oh, fuck yeah,” Kirby said as Jake got closer and closer to release. And then they came together, shooting their loads onto each other at the same time. Their solidarity and bond felt so strong in that moment as they lay there lingering in each other’s embrace, kissing softly with the warm flow of their seed between them, skin to skin.
***
After graduating from college, Kirby’s attraction to men became stronger than his attraction to women. However, he found it more difficult to discreetly hook up with guys. He steered clear of the gay club scene in West Hollywood, and although he got hit on regularly at the gym, he found most of the guys there to be too out and proud, which made Kirby uncomfortable because he didn’t want to be identified as gay. He eventually found a regular hookup partner in Antonio Villar, but Antonio was never a replacement for Jake—only a stand-in.
When Jake remained at Stanford for three more years to attend law school, Kirby had savored their periodic reunions and gradually over time, his romantic feelings for Jake grew. He began to see Jake not just as a homoerotic playmate, but more as a lover; someone that he cared for and felt invested in, someone he could have a future with. By the time Jake returned to LA after finishing law school, not only was Kirby in love with Jake, he was ready to come out as a gay man for him and him only.
While eager to come out to Jake, Kirby had been waiting for the right moment to do so. He hesitated because Jake began to pull back. The two were like humping bunnies when they first moved in together, after having not lived in the same city for seven consecutive years. However, once Jake and Amanda became officially engaged, Kirby noticed that Jake seemed to become less interested in him sexually, spending more time with Amanda and sleeping overnight at her place during the week. Kirby became discouraged and less sure of himself as a result. He knew his feelings had evolved but what if Jake’s hadn’t?
With the wedding day looming and the window of opportunity to tell Jake how he truly felt closing fast, Kirby knew that he had to act soon. Their impassioned make-out session on the sofa that morning provided some much needed motivation.
The ideal scenario in Kirby’s mind was that Jake would tell Kirby that he was in love with him too, and they would realize that the reason they waited so long to tell each other was because they were afraid of their feelings for one another and of the stigma of being perceived as gay. Once they were able to share their true feelings, however, they would be so happy and gratified that they would make their love work and together overcome any consequences. Kirby even imagined that he and Jake would come out together as a couple to each set of parents. They would first meet with Jake’s parents as Kirby figured they would be more understanding and accepting. In Kirby’s mind, white parents were always more accepting and supportive of their gay children than black parents. Plus if Jake’s parents were on board, Kirby thought, then it would be easier for him to break the news to his own parents, whom he believed would be resistant to the idea of a gay son.
Jake being a handsome, rich guy with a Stanford education whom his parents had known and loved for years would certainly soften the blow, Kirby thought. After all, Jake was like a son to them, just like Kirby was to Jake’s parents. It would all work itself out and he and Jake would live happily, but privately, together as a gay couple. Not like the sort that marched down Santa Monica Boulevard in the Gay Pride parade. Kirby hated those parades and loathed gay men who danced around half naked in the street celebrating their gayness and displaying their sexual freedom for all to see. In his mind, there was still a certain shame associated with being gay, and he wanted no part in pride parades or in the gay civil rights movement in general. He only wanted Jake.
Yet the self-hate he internalized about being gay prevented him from feeling entitled to live openly and be who he was without conditions. Living openly as a homosexual was not something to embrace but rather a stigma that needed to be overcome. Therefore, Kirby had a different path in mind. One where he and Jake—living together quietly as a couple—would establish themselves in their respective fields; he a successful and celebrated filmmaker, an Oscar or Golden Globe winner one day perhaps, and Jake a distinguished lawyer and managing partner of a prestigious law firm.
Kirby admired successful men in the entertainment industry known to be gay, men who were revered for their business acumen and professional success without their sexual orientation getting in the way. Similarly, he thought that he and Jake could be model citizens and solid contributors to their community and professions. Once they were established, they would be like a gay power couple and people would come to appreciate them as being normal and worthy of respect despite their homosexual relationship. That’s how Kirby fantasized and approached the idea of living as a gay man.
Chapter 18 He Loves Me Not
After showering off, Jake and Kirby hit the trails at Runyon Canyon Park for their Sunday run. Warm weather and bright, clear blue skies made it a perfect LA day. By the time they finally made it to the park, the place was packed with people and dogs everywhere soaking in the sunshine and the beautiful view of the LA basin. They normally ran two to three laps up and down the length of the canyon’s main trail, but with the thick crowds, they only ran up the trail once and decided to walk back down chatting with one another along the way and stopping a couple of times to say hello to people they knew from the gym.
As usual, they garnered stares and comments from passersby who admired their striking good looks and buffed physiques. “You guys trainers?” one guy asked. “Looking good fellas,” a female runner said as she passed them by. An older man who looked to be in his late 60s or early 70s, dark tan,
slender, and appearing in good shape for his age was the most demonstrative in his admiration. Walking up the hill as they walked down, the man stopped right in front of them. Another Sunday morning regular, they had noticed him many times before but had never spoken to him.
“I just had to stop and tell you guys that you are the hottest-looking couple I’ve ever seen. Wow, look at those bodies. You guys are just amazing. I’ve always wanted to tell you that,” he said.
Laughing, smiling, and clearly flattered, Jake and Kirby politely thanked the man for his compliment. “I’m Jon by the way,” he said, exchanging handshakes with them as they each offered their names in return. Jon continued to flirt with them and make small talk before eventually telling them that they reminded him of himself and his late partner, Luke, who died of prostate cancer three years before. They had been together for thirty years. Before parting ways, Jon wished Jake and Kirby luck and told them that he hoped they remained happy together. They allowed their exchange with Jon to end without informing him that they weren’t the gay couple he believed them to be.
“That’s funny,” Kirby said, grinning from ear to ear. “We do make a nice-looking couple, don’t we?” he asked rhetorically, feeling like the moment was right for him to open up to Jake and tell him how he truly felt about him.
“Yeah, I think a lot of people who don’t know us think we’re gay, especially at the gym.”
“Well half the guys at the gym are gay, so they probably think every other guy who works out there is gay too. I didn’t want to correct that guy for some reason. He seemed so happy and thrilled to see us together. I guess I didn’t want to burst his bubble.”