Lucrezia Magazine

Jamie couldn’t help prematurely blowing his smoke out, laughing. “I don’t know what’s more ridiculous,” he answered in his southern drawl, giggling, “your question, or you saying ‘make out.’”

With his ego slightly bruised by the laughter, Stephen grabbed the joint and took a hit, and debated whether he still felt like “making out” with Jamie.

Stephen and Jamie had met earlier in the night at a straight friendly gay bar in Brooklyn. Stephen had gone with his friend Grace - a popular lipstick lesbian whom he’d once hooked up with on a whim – to shoot pool when he ran into Jamie, a good shooter who had played for a rival bar in his pool league. Jamie was partnered with a petite young guy who couldn’t control his giddy bouncing whenever he made a shot, but after winning a couple of games, his partner wanted to retire to the bar. Jamie wasn’t ready to give up the table and, still wanting to play doubles, asked Stephen to be his partner. Stephen despised playing doubles, but he was too far down on the list to say no, and accepted, not expecting to win as many games as they won. The more they won, the drunker and friendlier they got until, finally, they stopped calling, “Next up,” and wandered off to play Mega Touch - forfeiting the table.

“Have a music preference?” Jamie asked. “But no Radiohead. I’m so fucking sick of Radiohead.” Stephen didn’t care, so Jamie selected something from his iPod that Stephen didn’t recognize, but liked, and sat next to him on the couch. Stephen wanted to avoid any conversations about music, since he didn’t know much about it, and ignored Jamie’s question about whether he knew of the band.

“Do you have roommates?” Stephen asked, changing the topic.

Stephen let out a dramatic sigh. “I hope she doesn’t come home tonight,” he said. “She met up with this guy she’s been into, but she thinks he might have given her Chlamydia, so things are tense.”

“What? Isn’t she pissed?”

“Yes, and no,” Jamie said, trying his best to be diplomatic. “She also thinks she could have given it to him.” Stephen couldn’t help but think about how much of a college campus the neighborhood had become.

“So, are you working on anything new these days?” Jamie asked. “You mentioned a group show in a few weeks.”

“I have a couple of new pieces I’m working on, small ones.”

“You should let me know,” Jamie said, patting Stephen’s leg flirtatiously. “If you charge by size, and it’s small enough, then I might take all of it.”

Uncomfortable with the way Jamie went about his offer, Stephen immediately stood up and asked for the bathroom. Jamie pointed him down the hall but not without a warning. “The water pressure sucks,” he said, “so you gotta hold the handle down for a few seconds after you flush. Count to ten or something, and then let go.” Stephen took the opportunity while away to contemplate what he was doing.

Stephen had always considered himself a hypersexual heterosexual, even settling down into a few significant relationships in his thirty years. His love for women was like anyone else’s, with his mother, grandmother, sisters, and girlfriends at the top of his list. His lust came in spurts since losing his virginity at seventeen, but it reached its zenith when he moved to New York City after college. His number of partners quickly climbed from four to twenty and, out of the women, three were girlfriends and the rest - no hard feelings. Dating was kept loose in part to Stephen’s dependency on fucking in public places - preferably, the restroom of a bar where he’d been flirting with a girl.

This started years ago with Grace while doing drugs in the handicapped stall of a local bar. She missed being with a man and, for kicks, decided to give Stephen a blowjob that made him come in three minutes, which beat his best time by twenty-seven minutes. To ensure that they would come back, he took her panties and put them in his pocket before leaving the restroom. Grace was so turned on by this that on their second visit, he ate her out in equal time, beating her best time. Stephen reveled in having her taste on his lips throughout the night, which had them both so hot that on their third trip she came twice as he played with her clit while taking her from behind. The next day, they left the night behind and, with their friendship fully intact, made it out in time for brunch.

The bar was set pretty high after that, and despite several attempts with an assortment of women, lightening never struck twice. Even serious girlfriends - unless involved in some extraordinary sexual situation with Stephen – couldn’t compete with the inconsistency of his finicky libido. This was the case with Isabel, a girlfriend whom he’d lived with for two years. Her frustration over his lack of intimacy was validation enough for her to cheat on him in the bathroom at her friend’s party, which coincidentally, was what drove Stephen out of public restrooms indefinitely.

His sex drive was just as particular with pornography. He could never watch the same scene twice, and it was rare for him to have a full erection while masturbating. What gave him a full erection one day might leave him at half-mast the next. And, it didn’t depend on his mood, either. If he was uninspired or depressed, he could jack off all day. If he was horny, he sometimes had to accept ejaculating without an erection. This was the norm after Isabel, until he discovered a YouTube-like site for pornography that put tens of thousands of videos at his disposal without the slow drip he experienced when downloading large video files.

He had been obsessed with large breasts and close ups, and was jacking off to a missionary anal close up, oddly titled, “Big Tits Big Dicks ATM Anal Creampie DP Facial.” The sound on the video wasn’t the best, but the clip was long and so focused on the close up that it looked like the camera was on a tripod. So turned on and, in anticipation for the “Big Tits,” Stephen would let go of his dick from time to time to savor the full clip and prolong the act. When the camera panned out to get a full shot, Stephen grabbed his perfect erection but couldn’t fight back finishing as the guy came on the other guy’s goatee. Surprisingly, he was more impressed with the erection he maintained afterward than he was with the outcome of the scene, and found another similar scene and jacked off again. After that, he opened up an account, refined his search and started saving all related clips to his Favorites.

By the time the sun came up, his Favorites were primarily gay, filled mostly with masturbators and blowjobs.

Jamie was anxious to move things along, and had his shirt and shoes off when Stephen returned from the restroom. “Everything okay in there?” he asked.

“I drank too much,” Stephen replied, “and it’s running through me. Plus, I think I did too much coke.”

“Urgh,” Jamie retorted, making a cough syrup face. “I don’t know how people do that crap. It makes you shit all night. Do you want to shower or something?”

“No,” Stephen answered, defensively. “It’s not like that, no.”

“We could still take a shower. It might be nice; loosen things up a bit.”

“No, because then I’ll be all wet for no reason.” He noticed Jamie impatiently roll his eyes. “And then when I’m dry,” he continued, “my skin will be dry and it always sucks to have ashy arms and hands on the train.”

“Come on, Stephen,” Jamie pleaded. “My roommate has an assortment of lotion. There’s even some lube that should work fine. It’s unscented.”

Stephen laughed, which opened him up to flirting, and moved in closer to Jamie. “What does lube have to do with this?” Stephen asked, shamelessly admiring Jamie’s body.

He couldn’t help but laugh out loud when Jamie replied, “why else would corner stores be open at 4 a.m.?”

Stephen had always had a fetish for funny girls - once even masturbating to Whoopi Goldberg in the scene from Jumping Jack Flash where her top gets caught in a paper shredder to unveil a preposterous amount of her side boob – and couldn’t help associating Jamie with the funny fat girl who gives great head.

When Jamie couldn’t hide the erection in his pants, Stephen couldn’t hide staring at it. “I know,” Jamie said, caressing it. “I’m so fucking horny.” Stephen suggested that Jamie take it out, but then felt momentarily paralyzed when Jamie’s slick gaze while unbuttoning his pants reduced the act to a cheesy cliché.

Nonetheless, Stephen was impressed by the extent of Jamie’s arousal, but didn’t respond right away when it was offered to him. “You don’t want to touch it?” Jamie asked, frowning like a child who had dropped a freshly purchased ice cream cone. Stephen could not have found this more unattractive.

“Not right now,” Stephen replied, but still mesmerized, added, “You could play with it for a while.” Without hesitating, Jamie slipped off his socks and jeans and began gently stroking himself, while Stephen sat there, glued, and pondering what exactly it was that he wanted from Jamie.

Stephen had been out a lot in the last few months. He drank a lot, and treated last call like a yellow light, attempting to drink as much alcohol as he could before closing, but drugs weren’t a regular thing for him. One night on his way out of a fairly good weeknight at his favorite bar, Stephen walked into the restroom on a guy standing at a urinal peeing hands-free and snorting coke off the porcelain. These things happened all the time so, assuming that he was just one of a number of coke dealing thugs who huddled around the dance floor, bundled up in an oversized North Face coats in Spring, he ignored him. While peeing, Stephen noticed that the guy had not made a move since he walked in, and figured that he must be waiting for him to finish so that he could get back to his business.

“Sorry,” Stephen said, doing his best to hurry, “I’ll be out of here in a sec.”

“No hurry,” the guy said, sniffling. “I kind of like that.” Stephen immediately stopped shaking himself dry and, ignoring the comment, zipped up.

“You want some?” the stranger asked, sticking his long pinky fingernail, full of coke, out. He’d been saying no to his friends’ offers all night, but there was something about this offer that he couldn’t turn down.

“Sure.” Stephen snorted the bump out of his nail. “Thanks.”

The guy offered the bag to Stephen. “You take it. Free. I got more.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, here.” Stephen took the bag and thanked the guy. Stephen did another bump, and offered back some of his acquisition, but the guy didn’t answer right away.

“It’s good ain’t it?” the guy asked after watching Stephen do more. “That shit will have you fucking all night.”

It came as no surprise when Stephen saw the guy’s erection poking through his oversized jeans. “I usually like girls,” he said.

“Me too,” Stephen replied, and with the erection too much for anyone to walk in on, Stephen locked the door, and took his dick out, too. Both stared at the other’s dick, vigorously jacking off until they came on the floor. It wasn’t until Stephen got home that he noticed semen had stained his camel suede Hush Puppies.

Jamie was overeager for Stephen to undress. “Now you,” he said, anxiously waiting, but Stephen was apprehensive.

“I did too much coke,” he replied. “I’ll look like I’ve been in the pool all day.”

“At least take some clothes off. I’m not shy, but I’m no performer either.”

“Maybe, give it a little time until the drugs wear off some.”

“Want some more pot?” Jamie offered, still stroking. “That will help you calm down.”

“But then I’ll be self-conscious, and over think not being able to get it up.”

“I have some Viagra.”

“That’s the last thing I need,” Stephen snapped. “With all the shit in my system, I’d be primed for a heart attack!”

“Come on,” Jamie begged. “You have to take something off. At least pretend to be comfortable.”

Stephen gave in, and began with his shoes and socks. When he took off his shirt Jamie let out a moan at the sight of Stephen’s body. Jamie watched closely as Stephen slipped his jeans off, and once down to his boxers, Jamie lunged at him, kissing his neck and face. Stephen joined in, vigorously stroking Jamie’s erection, but stopped soon after to focus on his own, or lack thereof. As Jamie reveled in the playful nature that their fooling around had taken, Stephen’s resentment toward Jamie’s powerful erection frustrated him. He obsessed over it, flying through a backlog of memories in hopes that one would get his blood flowing, until he heard something and pulled away. “What’s that?” Stephen abruptly asked.

“What’s what?” Both listened closely but heard nothing. “Probably neighbors coming home,” Jamie suggested. Then they both heard a light crash, and the front door opened. It was too late for them to run and hide; plus, why should they? These things happen.

“I thought you were staying out tonight?” Jamie said.

“That doesn’t mean you can fuck on my couch,” his roommate slurred, laughing and brushing her bangs out of her eyes, drunk. She kicked her purse into the apartment and shut the door, the whole time paying close scrutiny to Stephen. “I know you.” Stephen hoped to be led out of the room, but Jamie was slow to the jump. “I fucking know you,” she repeated.

Jamie finally got up, and Stephen followed. “Okay, then,” Jamie said, getting his and Stephen’s clothes off the floor. “Stephen, Katherine. Katherine, Stephen. See you later!”

The two made their way to Jamie’s room, but before they could laugh about the situation and pick things up again, Katherine banged on the door. “What?” Jamie yelled, like a frustrated older brother.

She invited herself in. “You and Grace, my old roommate,” she told Stephen. “I would’ve never thought about it if you hadn’t been on the couch just now.” Stephen couldn’t believe his luck.

“Small world, huh?” was all that he could muster.

Jamie couldn’t help but be as disgusted as he was entertained. “You dated her old roommate?” he asked.

“We didn’t date!”

“They just fucked for like two hours on that couch at my old loft,” Katherine pointed out.

“Gross!” Jamie shouted, playfully, but still erect. “And you can’t even get it up for me! Fuck you, man!” Stephen couldn’t hide his embarrassment, but lucky for him it was Katherine that would restore some of his dignity.

“That’s too bad,” she said, flirtatiously. “I watched the whole thing, and your guy’s cock is a beautiful thing to behold.” Both watched as Stephen’s dick slowly rose out of the slit in his boxers.

“You can’t go now,” Jamie pleaded as Katherine attempted to leave them alone. “This cock of his needs a chaperone.”

After taking a moment to consider the offer, she quickly made her decision while watching them jack off. “Keep doing what you’re doing,” she said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Can I?” Jamie asked, eying Stephen’s erection once Katherine was out of the room.

“Yeah, but first, what the deal with your friend’s Chlamydia?” he whispered.

“She finished her meds weeks ago,” he said, peeling Stephen’s boxers off. “Plus, we have plenty of condoms between the both of us.”

“And, uh,” Stephen hesitantly muttered, Jamie’s mouth hovering over his erection. “What about you?”

“No worries. I don’t do penetration, no top, no bottom.”

It was as if a load of anxiety had been lifted from Stephen’s psyche, ridding him of any, and all, suspicions he’d harbored throughout the night. His erection stood far apart from Jamie’s - confident and independent as a teenager’s - and he couldn’t wait to get started.

“Are you guys stoned?” Katherine asked, naked, and sipping on a tall boy of Budweiser. Stephen was surprised at the size of her tattoo, a series of green cymbidium orchids that went along the side of her torso, which complimented her big, light green eyes and shoulder length dark hair. He felt that she was paler than usual for the time of year, and had hairy arms, but he only noticed that because his family’s genetics had rendered his arms bare.

“I am,” Jamie confessed. “He’s been doing coke.”

“Do you have anymore?” Katherine eagerly asked. “My guy is tapped out.”

Stephen directed her to his jean pocket and, as she organized her lines, objectified her body from top to bottom while Jamie gave him a blowjob. He fantasized about cupping her compact butt in his big palms, squeezing them, maybe even getting a finger in; and imagined her well-groomed pussy already wet from the sight his dick in Jamie’s mouth. He got off on the way she enthusiastically eyed his erection, and was especially captivated by her large hanging breasts, which, as she pranced toward the bed, he thought swung like pendulum balls. As she stood at the foot of the bed, he noticed that she had a bit of a gut but, then again, he also recognized that she was a heavy drinker first and foremost, so he couldn’t hold that against her. Besides, slutty, good-natured, party girls had always held a special place in his heart.

© 2008 Chuck Nwoke

Chuck Nwoke is an award-winning writer, and was previously unpublished until "Renaissance Man." He currently is working on his second untitled novel, which he hopes to get published along with his first retitled novel and other titled and untitled stories. He lives in Brooklyn, NY with his girlfriend and their shoes. His website, www.chucknwoke.com, is under construction and coming soon.