The Trouble with Love

by Max Hudson

  “Whoa! What did I miss?” He stepped into the crowd with a smile, anxious to hear the gossip.

  “I was just telling everyone,” Samuel said, gesturing with his mug, “that a parent just complained to me about the upcoming school dance. Apparently, the ‘Diversity in our School’ theme is too dangerous. I asked her what she would make it and you’ll never guess what she chose.”

  Tony studied the faces in the room. All of them were watching to see if he might get lucky and accidentally guess. “I’m going with…’We Love Sports’.”

  Everyone shook their heads; nope, not that one. He tried again. God Bless America? No, they told him. Not even close.

  “Okay, I give up,” Tony said finally. “What was it?”

  Samuel looked down and put his face in his hand, shaking it a little as he started laughing again. “Her suggestion was Beautiful Unicorns.” The whole room cracked up again as Tony stood with an open jaw.

  “No! What did you say?”

  Samuel shook his head. “Honestly, I had to walk away because I was about to crack up. I told her I would consider it and then got out of there.”

  Tony laughed with him again and looked around the room. From every side, he saw big smiles, friendly expressions and warmth. All for Samuel.

  The history teacher found himself talking and laughing with Samuel, completely forgetting his promise to himself to find something unattractive or repulsive about the man. Instead, Tony laughed and whispered with his crush, looking deep into Samuel’s eyes and finding a lovely being there. Repulsion was the last thing he felt.

  After school, Tony was still at his desk, trying to get some planning for the next semester done before home. His phone dinged a reminder. He had forgotten to call Sheila! His thumb scrolled down to her number as he sat at his desk, then leaned back into the old springs as it rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, is this Sheila? Our former receptionist?”

  “Tony!” she squealed. “Oh my goodness! How wonderful to hear from you! How are you, darling?”

  The two caught up on small talk. Yes, she was married, and yes, they’d had a baby together, a little girl. The father, her spouse, was over the moon and the two were inseparable.

  “I swear,” Sheila said, laughing, “I always thought it was the moms who got to do all the intense bonding with the children. I never imagined my daughter would be such a daddy’s girl.”

  “That’s great,” Tony said, smiling into the phone. “I’m so happy for you.”

  “And what about you, Tony? Married? Any kids?”

  “No,” Tony said in a flat tone as he shoved images of Samuel out of his head. “I’m afraid not. I wish I could say yes to that question, but it just hasn’t happened.”

  “Haven’t you met anyone you’re attracted to? You’re such a good guy. You need a good partner.”

  He gave into his urge and told her about Samuel, all the while insisting that the match was an impossible one, while Sheila listened and sighed into the other end. By the time he got to the end, she let out a big sigh.

  “Well,” she said. “I am disappointed.”

  “What? Disappointed in whom?”

  “In you, dear!” she insisted. “You know as well as I do that the district overlooks office romances. Several teachers from that school have gotten married because of a good work relationship. You act as if it was never heard of, but I hear about these things all the time.”

  “Yes, but, he’s in administration.”

  “And?” Sheila sighed over the phone. “Tony, if it’s meant to be, it will work itself out. You can teach at another school, he can take another position, what is the problem? I promise you, if it’s love, real love, it will be worth it.”

  They talked for a long time, so long that Tony looked up and jumped at the sight of the clock. It was almost six. So much for planning. He said goodbye and promised to send Sheila’s little one a present. Packing up his stuff, he didn’t think to check if anyone else was still at school. He was certain he was the last one.

  He walked down the hallway and to his shock he saw Samuel walking straight toward him. He looked tired but otherwise normal, but he blanched a bit at the sight of Tony.

  “Hi there.”

  “Hi.” Tony stopped and Samuel did as well, though it felt like a polite stop. “Um, what are you doing here at school so late?”

  “Work. Loads of it.” Samuel ran a hand through his hair to show just how tired he was. “You?”

  “Oh, same. Just planning.” He noticed that his V.P. looked off, like someone uncertain where he was, and Tony stepped closer. “Hey. You okay? You seem a little…”

  Samuel closed his eyes and shook his head. “I’ve been better. A hacker just sent us a scathing email demanding that I be let go. It was unclear why, but this troll is claiming to have access to my home computer and wants to publish all of my information publicly.”

  “That’s terrible!”

  Samuel sighed and looked down. “I have to get my personal computer to a professional, see if I can stop this.” He looked at Tony with a little glimmer of hope in his eyes. “Any chance you could go with me?”

  Tony nodded and then, as if they had done it a million times, the two of them kissed in the hallway.

  Chapter Nine

  As soon as they realized what they had done, the two men stopped and pulled away from one another, each too surprised to speak.

  “So…” Samuel tried, but he seemed uncertain how to continue.

  “Yeah,” Tony concurred. “Let’s, uh, go to the… what was it?”

  “The computer repairman. That’s the one. Yes,” Samuel said, his lower lip shaking. “Let’s go do that.”

  The two walked out in silence as their faces burned bright red. Neither could look the other in the eye. They made it to the parking lot and both paused.

  “Should I drive?” Samuel’s voice had a rasp to it and he tried to clear his throat, but it didn’t help.

  “Let’s go separately. I’ll follow you,” Tony offered. They nodded to one another and moved to their cars. They had parked on opposite ends, and Tony let out deep breath he had been holding as soon as he flopped down into his seat.

  “What was that?” he asked himself. “Okay, okay. It happened. We have some chemistry. Now I need to be his friend, not his lover. Get it together.” He looked up to see Samuel’s car pull around in front of him and the two waved to each other. Samuel took the lead and Tony slowly pulled out to take up the space behind him.

  Driving cleared Tony’s head. He turned the radio up and let himself sing along with a new song he liked. The two went to a small, grey strip mall that boasted several random stores, one of which was a computer repair space.

  Inside, cords dangled from the ceiling, processors were placed at random on the floor, and a silent woman tapped away at a keyboard behind a counter.

  “Hello?” Samuel approached the woman with raised eyebrows. “Can you help me with my computer?”

  She sighed and looked up from whatever it was that had such a hold on her attention. Her tone of voice was cold and flat, a reflection of her attitude toward life in general. “What did you do?”

  “Me?” Samuel stepped backward away from his accuser. “Well, I didn’t do anything. I was hacked and I need some help. I’ve never had this happen before so if you could—”

  “Hand it over.” She stood with her hand out. He grumbled to himself and put it in her hand. The attendant had a name embroidered on her shirt. Angie.

  Angie opened the laptop and let out a low whistle. “Yup. You’ve been hacked.”

  Samuel rubbed his forehead a moment for strength. He took in a slow inhale of air. “Can you do anything?”

  Angie tapped on the keyboard once more and a loud, deep tone came from the machine. Her eyebrows flew up her forehead. “Sorry. It’ll have to stay with me tonight. Was this computer connected to any kind of network? Any way the hack could have gotten into someone else’s machine?”
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br />   “Yes,” Samuel said, his face crumpling. “I work at a school and all the employees are connected.”

  She gave him a slow, disappointed head shake. “You had better alert your colleagues right away. This could be very bad news.” She closed the computer and walked it to a space behind the counter. Yelling over her shoulder, she added, “I’ll have a full diagnostic for you by tomorrow afternoon. In the meantime, shut down your network and try not to log into anything, not even social stuff online. The more you do the more you’re susceptible.”

  When Angie returned, she had a small, black business card in her hand. “Feel free to call if your school is under attack. I have a whole team of specialists who can rehab your system.”

  Samuel seemed to shrink down a little as he accepted the tiny card. It was specially designed so that it would stick out of a wallet a little after it had been put away. Samuel looked at the black wedge jutting out from the wallet like a knife and then put it back in his pocket as fast as he could.

  “Thank you,” he said, his voice almost inaudible. “I’ll be in touch.”

  The two stepped out into the parking lot and took in the flat, grey space. A few cars dotted the lot and the occasional voice rang out through the air, but their source was not anyone they could see.

  Tony looked over at Samuel and realized the man was crying.

  “Hey! Hey, it’s going to be all right. Really. People get hacked. We’ll deal with it.”

  Samuel looked up at the sky and gulped down some air. “It’s not just that. What I’m feeling is more than all of this - the hacking, the complaints, the stress - I don’t know what to do.”

  A little tear rolled down Samuel’s cheek and Tony pulled him in for a tight hug. “Listen,” he attempted, “you are amazing with all of the students. You came into a school where no one knew you, no one was sure what to think about you, but you found a way. We’re all on your side.”

  Samuel wiped the tear from his face and looked down at Tony. The two paused, their two bodies touching and supporting one another. Each could feel the other’s heartbeat going faster and faster.

  “Can we get out of here?” Samuel whispered. “Just go somewhere and talk?”

  “My house. Follow me,” Tony told him and they separated, the two of them shooting each other a smile. They returned to their cars and started the journey to Tony’s house. Traffic had died down and the town was quiet giving them their moment together in their separate vehicles.

  The whole way he kept checking his rearview mirrors. The warmth of his velour seat on his back and the familiar steering wheel in his hands reassured him; this was the right thing to do. They were together and no one else mattered. Samuel was right behind him, his face visible in the rearview mirror.

  They arrived and went inside. Both stood in the door for a few seconds, huge smiles on their faces.

  “You okay?”

  “Yes. You?”

  Tony nodded. Yes. This was what he wanted; Samuel alone with him. The two of them in his house. The reality of it made him stagger forward a little, uncertain how to continue.

  They went in and Samuel looked around with a smile. “I like your house.”

  “Thanks. I like it too.” Tony stepped closer to him and took his hand. “Samuel, I—”

  “Let’s not talk,” Samuel interrupted. “Just come here.”

  Tony let Samuel’s pull him into his tall, imposing frame. The man had strong, square shoulders and the more Tony felt them, the more he needed to see them. He worked his way down the buttons of Samuel’s shirt to open it and pull it off.

  Just as he’d suspected, Samuel was covered in long, sinewy muscles. His waist made a perfect V and his hips were narrow and sleek. When Samuel’s pants hit the floor, Tony saw he had on boxer briefs, his favorite.

  Samuel didn’t let him get away with any clothing of his own. The man made quick work of Tony’s work clothes, tossing them aside until both were down to the bare minimum. Tony paused the undressing ritual by leading Samuel down the hallway to his room.

  He clicked on the light so Samuel could see his way over to him. Tony stepped away from him, hooked his thumbs in the waistband of his briefs and let them hit the floor. His lover’s eyebrows went straight up. He stepped forward to put his hand on the big, wide cock which Tony had just brought out of hiding.

  “Wow.”

  “Let me see yours.”

  Samuel blushed a little but complied. He wasn’t as big as Tony, but he wasn’t small. The two naked men held one another as they stood next to the bed and kissed some more, slower this time. Now that they were in the dark, in a silent room, they felt no need to rush through the moment. Instead, they stretched every second into minutes, tasting the rough skin over each other’s lips and sliding their tongues together.

  Tony felt Samuel’s fingers in his hair and the sensation sent tingles down his skin and through his nervous system. He could do this all day. He arched his neck back and stood on the tips of his toes, exposing his entire chest to Samuel.

  Samuel licked the space between his pectorals and then bit Tony’s neck a little, a move that made the man melt where he stood. He returned the bite, nibbling on Samuel’s earlobe but gently. Samuel leaned his curly head against Tony’s and the two rubbed their cheeks together for a moment.

  “Hey,” Samuel whispered, “do you have any lube?”

  “Of course. Condoms, too.” He kissed his lover and dove across the bed to reach under the opposite corner and pull out the secret box where he kept all his necessities. Inside were condoms, a good brand without allergens, water-based lube, and even a couple of nipple clamps. Samuel’s eyebrows raised at the sight of the tiny metal jewelry, but he didn’t comment on them.

  “Come here.”

  “Why?” Samuel smiled at him, not moving.

  “Because,” Tony said, unrolling the condom down his erection, “I want to make love to you.”

  Crawling over on his hands and knees, Samuel nuzzled Tony’s cock with his nose. “How? How are you going to do it?”

  Tony thought for a moment. “Hard. I think you like it that way.”

  “Mm…I do. How did you know?”

  The naked history teacher smiled a little. “I think it’s because that’s how I like it, too. And,” he touched Samuel’s face, “we’re very similar.”

  That last comment got his lover back into his arms and the two wrapped themselves around one another and kissed with more ferocity than they had at first, losing themselves in the feel of skin on top of skin. The heat between them built until it burned away any doubt or hesitation and left only lust there between them.

  Tony rolled so that he and Samuel were on their sides spooning with Tony behind. He kissed Samuel’s neck as he slid his lubed cock between the man’s butt cheeks. He heard Samuel gasp and he slowed down for a beat.

  “Keep going.”

  “It’s not too much?”

  “Yes, but I like it.”

  Tony kissed the man’s ear and went back to making progress gently, up the pathway that led to the inside of his body. The feel of it was more than Samuel was ready for and he gasped over and over. Tony grabbed his shoulder and pulled the man down and back onto him until Samuel's body had taken in every centimeter of his thick, hard dick.

  The two of them stayed like that, as close as they could get, then Tony moved his hips back and forth, sliding in then back out again in a steady rhythm. Samuel’s voice left him for a few minutes, but as he relaxed he could speak again.

  “Like that. Yes, yes, keep doing that.”

  “You like it?”

  “I love it.”

  Tony moved harder and faster, making Samuel cry out as he jostled forward and back so much that he lost the sense of the world around him. Tony moaned into Samuel’s back as his climax built up inside him and pushed its way forward.

  “I’m cumming,” he whispered.

  “Me too,” Samuel groaned, grabbing Tony’s hand and putting it around the shaft of
his cock. Tony closed his hand around the base and worked the erection up and down as pressed his hips against Samuel. He felt his own orgasm building and pressing against the inside of his skull and continuing down to the arches of his feet. With a loud cry, it burst out of him and into Samuel just as the cock in his hand reached its climax as well. The warm sperm flew up and then down all over Tony’s hand. It slid down his skin slowly, heavy with desire.

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. That was…”

  “It really was.”

  The two stayed curled up against each other and caught their breath. Tony could feel his chest against Samuel’s strong, straight back. He could even feel a few sections of his spine. He had failed to notice just how thin Samuel was. His hand slid down to Samuel’s hip and there he could feel the structure of it and how unprotected it was from the world.

  “I’m skinny,” Samuel said to the unspoken observation.

  “So?” Tony rolled onto his back to unroll the now spent condom from his flaccid penis. “People pay good money to look like you. Enjoy it.”

  That got him to smile, though he did so with an air of reluctance. “I tried to bulk up a few times. You know, gym memberships, protein powders, a special diet. My trainer helped me get in the habit of working out, but I only got thinner.”

  “Really? I had the opposite problem.” Tony stood to walk into the bathroom and Samuel sat up in alarm.

  “Are you leaving?”

  “No, no. Just visiting the bathroom.” He left the door open so that Samuel could see him reflected in the mirror. Tony tossed the used condom and washed his hands, watching the sperm from their lovemaking swirl around the sink drain and then down. He caught Samuel smiling at him in the mirror and sent a little smirk back.

  “What?”

  “Nothing,” Tony teased him. “I guess I feel a little smug. You’re a lot of fun in bed.”

  Samuel blushed and looked down. “I know we aren’t supposed to be doing this, but I couldn’t hold back anymore.”