Riding With Love

*** Note: I do not advocate any unsafe sexual practices portrayed in this story. Their inclusion is for erotic story-telling pleasure only.

The last customer had been rung up and at last, I could shut the gate to the music store I was Assistant Manager at in the mall. It had been a busy Saturday night and Doug, who had worked with me that night and myself were glad it was over.

I closed out the register and gave Doug his cash drawer to count down and balance.

“Thanks, Matt.” He said with a smile, his dimples flashing.

Doug was a good-looking guy. Still a senior in high school but he’d recently turned 18. I couldn’t help but glance at his khaki-clad rear as he walked down the center aisle to the back office. Nice. But he was also straight.

I, of course was gay, 27 years old, and killing time in retail until I could get a job in my chosen field as a computer graphic artist. Years of college and tech school do not automatically guarantee a job as I had found out. I was 6ft, 4inches tall, 195lbs, a fairly good build that you could see through my shirt which wasn’t really tight, straight brown hair and a face that was a cross between handsome & cute. I didn’t have any problem getting dates. Meaningful relationships on the other hand were a problem. I hadn’t found many guys which shared my interests and I really wanted to spend my life with. Now that I was out of school, I found myself less and less interested in casual encounters and more into settling down with a good man.

I had been “out” since I was 17 and was fairly open about my sexuality. I didn’t announce it to people like my co-workers because I felt it was beside the point. My being straight or gay doesn’t define who I am. If they asked, I would tell them. But unless they were clueless, I’m sure most knew just from watching my eyes dart to a good-looking guy who walked in to the store. Certainly they would notice the exchange of phone numbers after I’d spent a wee bit more time with a male customer than was really needed.

I went to the back room, counted down my own cash drawer and soon was locking everything up in the safe. Done at last! As we walked up to the front gate of the store, Doug asked me if I had anything planned now that we were “finally free”.

“No,” I said, “just get something to eat and quiet night at my apartment. Maybe watch some TV to unwind. How ‘bout you?”

“ I was going to going meet Vicki for dinner, but she called and canceled. She’s sort of my girlfriend.” Doug responded.

“Sort of? That doesn’t sound too good.” I laughed.

“Well, we’ve been going out together for almost a year now. But,” he hesitated, “but. Well, nothing’s happened yet. You know what I mean?”

Doug seemed a little uncomfortable and obviously needed to talk to someone. People seem to feel comfortable with me and often confide their problems so I wasn’t really surprised at the conversation. I’ve always been a good listener, so as we went out of the store and began walking through the now empty mall to the exit hall, I told him, “Yes, I guess so.”

“I mean we’ve kissed and all, but… Well, never anything else. I’m not sure...”

“Not sure if she’s the right one?”

“Yeah. And… also not sure, well… what to do. You know?”

Now this did surprise me. I never would’ve pegged Doug as being a virgin, let alone uncertain about what to do. To me, he seemed to have a lot of confidence in everything he did. When talking about girls, he appeared to have a “smoothness” about him that I figured could get him into any girl’s pants. And with his looks, I’m surprised the girls weren’t begging for him to fuck them.

Doug was the same height as me, but had a very strong face in the classically handsome sense. His black hair was longish and his bangs were combed over to the side and often would cover part of his eyes. Even though he was straight and still in high school, I found the way he flipped those bangs back with his hands rather sexy. He was slim, but with tight muscles, which I had seen once when he came in for his check on his day off wearing cutoffs and a short sleeve shirt practically open to his waist. It was sort of a surfer look, and which he actually was one. He had even competed in semi-regionals. Doug really turned me on, but trying to convert straight guys was not my bag.

“Well, in my experience, you sort of listen to your heart if you think this is the right person.” I told Doug as we got to the darkened mall parking lot. “And as far a sex goes, well, you’ll know what to do when the time comes. Sort of instinct. And it should be whatever feels good to you both.”

“I guess so.” Doug answered sort of unsure. But he brightened up when he added, “Hey, do you want to go over to Ruby Tuesday’s? Grab something to eat?”

I wasn’t really in the mood for cooking so I said “Sure”.

“I can drive.” Doug said, animatedly.

“That’s fine. I don’t have my car. I walked.”

“Oh, that’s right. You live only a couple of blocks from here at the Park Place.”

“Yeah. I usually walk to work if it’s nice out.” I said, slightly puzzled. I’m pretty sure I’ve never mentioned to him where I lived in the four months that he had been working at the store.

Doug drove us to Ruby Tuesdays and when the waitress came by, I ordered a beer. Doug said he’d have one too. The waitress didn’t card him even when she brought the beer. I gave Doug a questioning look.

“I never get carded,” He said. “and I’m only going to have one.”

Well, I had to admit Doug did look over 21, but still… I decided to let it got but to make sure he actually had only one and that enough time would pass before he drove.

We had a good time. In the four months that he’d been working at the store, I’d really enjoyed the nights we worked together. We had a lot in common with our taste in music and reading material. He was actually very mature for a 17 year old, now turned 18. Far better rounded that the other teens we had working at the store. He was up on current events and had a passion for history like me. For me, a good mind was almost as big of a turn-on as a man’s appearance. Between Doug’s sexy body and mind, I had found myself many a time thinking “too bad he’s straight” and jerked off thinking about him later when I got home.

Before we’d finished our meals, Doug asked, “Do you have a girlfriend?”

“No.” I laughed. “I’m gay. And no, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“Oh.” Doug said, acting genuinely surprised. “I’d figure a guy like you would have plenty of boyfriends.” He laughed.

“Well… I’ve had my share. I just haven’t found the right guy yet.”

“Oh” Doug was quiet for a while then he asked, “When did you know you were gay?”

To be honest, that wasn’t a usual question. I had just as many straight friends as I had gay. And I was often the first gay person they had ever known. As I said before, I tend to make people feel comfortable and many people took that opportunity to find out more about what a gay person’s life was like.

I told Doug how I had always known I was gay, but kept it hidden during school, partly because there wasn’t anyone to be gay with. I didn’t try to date girls. I just figured that sooner or later I would meet someone. Doug asked me how that had happened and I explained that it was in my senior year when I was 17 and I there was this basketball player. We became friends and sure enough found out we were both gay and it went from there.

“So you like tall men?”

I was a little surprised by the question, but the laughter that followed made me dismiss any other thoughts.

“Well, yes.” I laughed in return. “There’s a certain… advantage to being with someone pretty much your own height.” I smiled and maybe it was the light in the restaurant, but I thought I saw something in his smile back. Doug then changed the conversation to something else so I figured I was wrong.

We’d been at the restaurant for nearly three hours talking about all sorts of things. Doug had had plenty of time to get over his beer and it was getting late so we decided to call it a night. I reached for the check and Doug grabbed it out of my hand slowly sliding his fingers across my palm. Whoa! Have I been misreading things all night? I’d pulled the exact same stunt with cute customers in the store and usually gotten a phone number and a date!

“I’ll pay for it.” Doug insisted.

I let him pay and Doug drove me home to my apartment.

“Can I come in?” Doug asked. “I really need to use the bathroom.”

“You should have thought of that BEFORE we left.” I responded in a funny voice and laughed. “Sure, come on up.” I was curious to see where this was going.

Up in my apartment, Doug went on to the bathroom and I pulled off my tie. I was standing at the bar separating the living room from the kitchen glancing through that morning’s newspaper when he returned.

“Hey.” He said. I could tell he was nervous and had a feeling I knew what was coming.

“Hey.” I said back.

Doug came closer to me.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you.” He said without making eye contact. “I really like you, Matt. I really, really do.” He paused and looked me in the eyes with a bit of fear mixed with yearning. “I’m gay.”

A tear started down his cheek and instinctively, I reached out to hug him. Doug returned the embrace. I held him gently as he cried. I whispered, “It’s okay.”

I pulled my head back and brushed that sexy lock of black hair back from his face and our eyes locked. Without thinking about it, we began to kiss - lightly, gently at first, but soon our mouths had opened in hunger and we found our tongues moving into play. Our embrace grew tighter.

Pausing for breath, I said, “You’re a good kisser,” and smiled at him.

“God, I’ve wanted you so much.” Doug choked. “I’ve liked you ever since we met, but I was afraid. I really wasn’t sure if you were gay. And if you were, did you already have somebody or would even be interested in me.”

“Of, course I was interested in you. You’re very sexy and I’ve loved the time we’ve spent together. We have so much in common, you’re smart… hell, you’re just the kind of guy I like, but I thought you were straight.”

I guided Doug to the couch and we sat down closely together. My arm around him, Doug began to unburden his soul. He told me of how he had known he was gay, but like me in high school, had been uncertain about coming out. He’d gone so far as to date girls just so that no one would ask questions. I hugged him reassuringly and gave him a gentle kiss.

“I really like you Matt, You are so sexy.” He said looking earnestly in my eyes. “I want to have sex with you.”

There was no denying that I liked Doug too. I sure had masturbated to thoughts of him often enough and I already had a hard on from our close contact and kissing. But he was 18, still in high school… and I genuinely liked Doug… I didn’t want to take advantage of him and I told him as much.

Doug seemed disappointed and made it clear that he felt it was he taking advantage of me. I laughed at this. That was another thing I loved about Doug, his sense of humor. I kissed him and asked, “What about you parents? It’s late. Aren’t they expecting you home?”

“I already told them I was spending the night with a buddy of mine. A bunch of us were going to be playing Dungeons & Dragons most of the night.” Doug said sheepishly.

“You planned this ahead of time?” I teased.

“No. Not really.” He stumbled, “I sort of hoped that I would have the nerve… and sort of hoped… well you know…” he smiled at me, not knowing what else to say.