I Love Corey, Chapter Sixteen

By now it was lunch time and I was familiar enough with the town to know of a good restaurant. We had lunch and talked about what else we should get while we were shopping. I still had to get JJ’s magazines but I really didn’t have anything else I needed to shop for. Corey wanted to look for a few more art supplies so we hit and art supply store and he picked up a few things he needed and then it was off to find the magazines.

Since I had never really shopped for that type of reading (well maybe looking) material it took a while to find a store that handled porn magazines. When we finally found what we were looking for I was extremely uncomfortable. I felt like a pervert while standing there trying to pick out what I thought JJ would like and need for his quest to learn the sexuality of his friend. It didn’t help to have Corey next to me and I finally had to ask him to leave. I just couldn’t let anyone see me looking at that type of ‘literature’ with him close to me. It was just too discomforting. 

After he left for the pickup I waited a while and just wound up grabbing several that I hoped would do the job. I walked up to pay for them and I’m sure my face was red as a fire engine when I handed them to the sales clerk but she didn’t even appear to notice the titles, only the prices. My god, porn is expensive. She put them in a sack and gave me my change and I bolted out the door. I vowed to myself not to get involved in something like this again. It was just too discomforting to me to even be seen in public shopping for something like that. After this I vowed to myself I would go to the adult stores in San Francisco where they expect perverts so I would not be so upset. Yes, I know it’s odd that I could have the relationship I did with Corey and still be so upset with the way I felt about buying porn magazines but hey, man is not a logical animal. He just likes to think he is.

It didn’t help matters any that when I got back to the pickup Corey teased me about being so embarrassed. I finally stopped that by handing him some money and telling him I forgot one and he should go in and get it as he needed to exercise his knee some more. His face immediately got red and that was the end of the teasing. If one can dish it out one had better be able to take it.

We headed home and Corey wanted to see the magazines. I’ll admit I was kind of curious. He got the shrink wrap off of them that they seem to use to stop you from seeing what you are buying and started looking through them. On the way back we stopped at a drive in and got a milkshake. While we were sitting in the pickup waiting and then drinking it I checked them out and agreed with his assessment. Out of seven of them, five were pretty good. One each of gay and straight were dogs in our opinions. That left two gay and three straight that we considered acceptable.

When we got to town we stopped and got groceries at Downeys. I was still a little nervous and wondered if Mrs. Downey could see that I had been buying porn by looking at me. She apparently couldn’t and things were very normal at the store. I picked up some nice looking t-bones for dinner. When Mrs. Downey saw them she inquired why three instead of our usual two. That’s the way things are in a small town, nobody thinks anything of asking personal questions as everyone considers almost everyone their friend. I explained that Bob Asher was coming over for dinner and Mrs. Downey grinned and said maybe she and her husband ought to come too. I just laughed and told her that I had gotten the last of the steaks and if she wanted to come over she would have to go cut some more. The next thing I knew we were back in the meat cutting room and we exchanged the steaks I had picked up for some porterhouses and the Downeys would be over for dinner. That was fine with me as I liked both of them and besides the steaks looked marvelous. 

When we were checking out I finally noticed that the steaks had no price on them and protested. Mrs. Downey laughed and told me a home cooked meal was worth the price of the steaks. I knew they both put in long hours at the store and had just never given a thought to the fact that that would make it difficult to do much cooking. I set the dinner time later than normal so they could close the store and make it and we headed on home.

When we got home Corey had a sandwich and some cookies which he said would last him until our late dinner. When he left to put his new clothes away I started fixing some twice baked potatoes to go with the Steaks Esterhazy I was going to prepare. I also had some fresh string beans which I thought I would fix with a little dill weed. Those things accompanied by some garlic bread and a green salad would have to satisfy my guests. When the potatoes were baking I looked through the wine cellar and picked out a good red wine to go with it and placed it on the table to warm up to room temperature. Things were now underway for dinner so I went and put my new clothes away and then called Bob and told him about the dinner plans. He said he’d be over about half past six for Corey’s lesson.

When Bob showed up I fixed him a drink and he and Corey went to Corey’s room for the art lesson. I got the rest of the dinner ready and by that time I figured Bob’s drink needed refreshing so I fixed us each one and took it to Corey’s room. I was right, Bob’s drink was empty and he and Corey were in the middle of a discussion on how to represent perspective in a picture and Bob was showing him. I had no desire to become an artist but I found the lesson interesting. I sat and listened to the lesson until about the time I thought the Downeys would arrive. 

I wasn’t far off as they showed up about ten minutes after I had returned to the kitchen. I fixed them each a drink and when they learned Corey was having an art lesson they went to his room to listen in.

I finished preparing dinner and when I was done I called them out of Corey’s room and we all sat at the table and I asked Bob to say the Grace. Dinner turned out about as well as I can prepare it and we were all eating and enjoying it when Corey commented on how well the wine I had chosen went with the rest of the meal. I was so used to serving him wine with our meals I had just put a glass at his place without even thinking. Of course and empty wine glass needs to be filled so I had done that when pouring never even giving it a thought. I froze trying to think of what to say. Mrs. Downey saved the day by asking what there was about the wine that made him say that. Corey and I had discussed the wines I served with our normal dinners and he was quite knowledgeable about wines for his age. He gave what I would consider a very good critique of the wine. It seemed to impress Mrs. Downey that he would be able to correctly give such an evaluation. When they finished I told them I had chosen it as I thought the quality of the steaks deserved a good wine.