Alex & Clayton (9 page)

“I’m the owner, and I can do what I want. Here’s your change, and thank you for coming in today. Can’t wait until Saturday!”

Alex smiled, winked, and said, “Nor can I, stud, nor can I.”

He left Clay with his mouth hanging open. He just called me stud! That incredibly gorgeous hunk of manflesh just called me… stud!

A
S
A
LEX
walked home, he was delighted that the cute bookstore guy had agreed to come over for a date. It would be the first one in his new home, and the only question was whether to take him to bed that first date or wait. Alex thought highly of Clay and was less likely to do a hit and run on him because of that. He was quite used to a “date” consisting of nothing more than deciding whose house they were going to hit the sack in.

Alex wanted this to be a little different. He wanted to make a good first impression outside of the environment of the bookstore, and he had a nagging suspicion that some guy in the past might have done a number on the owner. He seemed too timid and reserved for a gay guy with his looks.

Now, what to cook?

O
N
T
HURSDAY
, Clayton only had three customers, but one of them was a very cute guy who looked around thirty years old, well built, and very masculine but obviously gay. He walked in and made eye contact with Clayton as he walked the aisles of the small bookstore. Finally, he picked up a book and walked up to the counter.

“Hi, I’m Blake. You the new owner of this place?”

“Hello, yes, I’m Clayton,” Clay said, sticking his hand out to shake.

“You’re kinda hot, but I suppose that’s nothing new for you to hear. I suppose you’re married?” Blake boldly asked.

“Married? Ah, no, of course not.”

“You’re kidding. You’re single? Wanna go out tonight?”

“You’re asking me out? Tonight?”

“Yeah.” Blake grinned. “You act like no one has ever asked you out before, which I know to be a lie from looking at you.”

“Why do you say that?” Clay asked confused.

“Dude, you cover it up well, but it’s obvious you have a nice body, a great face, and I bet you’ve got one fine ass on you. Now see what you’ve done! You got me talking trash, and I didn’t intend to go there. You’re new here. Come on and lemme take you out to dinner and tell you all the town’s dark secrets.”

Clay was flattered that a total stranger wanted to take him out to dinner. And the guy was very cute, so why not?

“Okay. Where do you wanna meet and what time?” Clay asked.

“Let’s see. Have you been to the Blue Moon Restaurant yet? It’s over on Baltimore Avenue, about two blocks from the beach.”

“I think so. I’ve certainly seen Baltimore Street while driving around. If the restaurant is on Baltimore, I’ll find it.”

“Great. Let’s see, why don’t we say seven o’clock.”

“That suits me. I’ll see you then, Blake. And thank you for asking me out.”

“Oh, it’s my pleasure.” Blake paid for the book and smiled. “See you at seven, then.”

Clay couldn’t believe his luck. He hadn’t been asked out by a male in his entire life, and now in the space of two days, he had made two dates. It’s just dinner, he kept telling himself. No big deal, after all. Everyone has to eat!

T
HAT
evening, Clay arrived at the Blue Moon Restaurant a little before seven and waited outside so that he and Blake could go in together. The air was turning a little cool, but it was still a fine evening to be outdoors. Finally, Clay saw Blake walking up the sidewalk in a tight pair of new-looking jeans and a pullover sweater. Clay immediately felt overdressed in his dress pants, shirt, and tie.

“Don’t you look nice there, sexy!” Blake said as he walked up the steps to where Clay was waiting.

Clay blushed. “You look very nice also. I hope I’m not overdressed this evening,” he said in return.

“Nah, you’ll fit right in. Come on, let’s go in and get our table. I’m starving!” Blake said as he grabbed onto Clayton’s hand and began to guide him in. Startled, Clay quickly withdrew his hand from Blake’s grasp.

Blake looked back and frowned but said nothing. Once they were seated and had placed an order for beverages, Blake looked at Clayton.

“The way you reacted to me taking your hand reminded me of someone who stuck their finger in a light socket. Did I do something wrong?

“I was just taken by surprise, that’s all. Please forget it, it’s nothing.”

A waiter returned to the table and set an iced tea down in front of Clayton and a martini in front of Blake. He told the couple he would return in a minute to take their dinner order.

Blake raised his glass in a toast. “To a very nice-looking gentleman who I hope to get to know a lot closer.”

“Oh, ah, yes,” Clayton said as he raised his glass of tea. He began talking to cover his nervousness. “So, tell me, Blake, what do you do for a living, since I assume you live here year round?”

“Actually, I live here and in Philadelphia, where I run an advertising agency. Most of my work is done via computer, so it allows me the luxury of living where I want and still be able to do my job. It’s one of the benefits of the modern age. What did we do before the Internet?”

“I see. So what would you say is your average time in each place?”

“I live here most of the spring, summer, and fall, and in Philly during the winter. It can get real cold here, as you’ll see. It even snows occasionally. It’s not all that different from living in Philly, so I use the winter months to work on any problems that have come up. Of course, I can always run up there if I’m here, so I do have the best of both worlds.”

They ordered dinner, and while they ate, Blake filled Clayton in on the “dark secrets” of Rehoboth Beach. These secrets turned out to be where the best sex parties were, who was wealthy, and who had the prettiest young men hanging around their houses during the summer. Clay didn’t say much, as he really wasn’t used to gossiping about other people’s sex lives or how they chose to entertain themselves.

Blake paid the check over Clayton’s objections. Clay felt they should split it, but Blake won. They walked out of the restaurant and into the night where Blake once again took Clayton’s hand. It still made Clayton nervous, and he looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching.

When they stopped at Clay’s car, Blake took Clay into his arms and tried to kiss him. Clayton broke away and stumbled backward.

“Please, we’re in public! We hardly even know each other, and you’re trying to kiss me,” Clay said in shock and anger.

“Oh come on! This is Rehoboth Beach! Gays practically run this place. We own most of the businesses, have gay cops, and in the summer, you’ll see a lot more than just two guys kissing on a street!”

“I don’t care. I’m not used to such behavior.”

“Okay, so you like things to be private. I get it, not a problem. Do you wanna go to your place or mine?”

“For what?”

“For what? To fuck, of course! I wanna get into what’s under your clothes and own it!” Blake said loudly.

“I’ll assume the four drinks you had are making you behave so crudely. I have no intention of going anywhere with you to “fuck,” as you put it. Another thing, no one owns me or my body. Now, thank you for a nice evening and be careful going home,” Clay said as he turned around to get into his car.

As Clayton pulled away, Blake stood at the curb in shock at being turned down. No one said no to sex. What the hell was wrong with this guy?

“Jerkoff!” he shouted after Clayton, who was much too far away to hear it.

While Clayton drove home, he fought to get his composure back. No one had ever grabbed him like that on a public street and kissed him! And then the guy thought he was going to fuck him that night? Not a chance, buddy. Clayton was brought up better than that, or so he liked to think—despite his previous forays into instant gratification that never brought fulfillment. Maybe going out on dates wasn’t as good an idea as he’d thought. He had gotten along fine for many years without getting tangled up with a guy, and maybe that was the type of life he was meant for.

Oh, but what about Alex? Should he cancel his date with Alex? That was going to take place at Alex’s house—the house of a virtual stranger—not even in a public place. Anything could happen.
Why am I so uptight over sex and love?
Clay wondered as he pulled into his parking space at the condo. He got out, looking around warily as if expecting to see Blake charging at him with a raging hard-on intent on raping him right there in the parking lot.

But there was no Blake, and when Clayton closed and locked his condo door, he breathed a sigh of relief. Tears sprang to his eyes, and he clenched his fists as he thought over the evening.

“Why the fuck can’t I deal with this shit like every other gay guy? Why do I have to be such an uptight asshole?” he asked in the silence of his home.

He went to bed early and tossed and turned while playing the incident over and over in his mind, trying at the same time to decide if he should cancel his date with Alex on Saturday night. Finally, he drifted off into an exhausted sleep.

T
HE
next morning, Clayton got up and went through his usual routine. It was Friday, and he briefly thought about not opening the store on Saturday. As he drove to the shop, a nervous flutter stirred in his stomach as he thought about Blake and what might happen if he came into the store today. Would Blake be angry at not getting sex last night? Was a guy expected to put out if a guy bought him dinner? Was Clayton wrong for saying no? After all, what was the difference between going into an adult bookstore and blowing a guy through a hole in the wall and being expected to do the same thing on a bed after a nice dinner?

When he finished opening up, he restocked a couple of the book racks while he was trying to decide about Alex. Alex was a retired cop who could reasonably be expected to follow the rules of polite company. On the other hand, Clay had always heard that cops were horny men and needed sex a lot. He had once heard a saying: “You don’t mess with a cop’s food, or his sexual partner.” To do either was to gain the ire of someone who carried a gun and was trained to use it.

Just after noon, Clayton’s stomach turned over as he saw Blake walking toward the shop. He didn’t like confrontation at all, especially when he was the center of the controversy.

“Hello,” Blake said when he entered the store, looking around to see if they were alone.

“Good afternoon,” Clayton responded out of habitual politeness.

“Look, dude, you owe me some kind of explanation for last night. I treated you well, took you out to dinner, and when I kissed you, you reacted like I had slapped you! What the hell, man? And then you just drove off leaving me with blue balls. You do that to every guy you go out with?”

“First of all, that was my first date. Second, where I come from, we don’t do such things in public, and finally, for you to think you were going to get sex merely for buying me dinner is just wrong. I have to get to know someone before I take off my clothes, and I’m sorry if you got some signal that made you expect that you were going to get laid last night. I’ll be happy to pay for my part of the dinner, if you’ll tell me how much it was.”

“Fucking unreal. Forget it; I invited you out for dinner. As for the sex, forget that too. You probably have a small dick anyway,” Blake said as he swung around and walked out of the store, leaving the door open.

Clayton was slightly shaken by Blake’s behavior, but after he settled down, he became angry. What right did Blake have to talk to him like that? Was Blake typical of the kind of men around here? Was it really worth the aggravation to find someone?

Chapter Six

L
ATE
that same afternoon, when the shop phone rang, Clayton answered expecting questions about what books were in stock. Instead, he found Alex on the phone.

“Hi, Clay, just checking to make sure we’re on for tomorrow night. You know, dinner at my place and a movie?”

“Oh, dear, I’m not sure, Alex. I’m having second thoughts about seeing anyone socially.”

“What? Did something happen, or are you just not interested in me?” Alex asked.

“No, it’s not you, believe me. It’s just that…. I went out on a date last night that ended terribly, and it ran over into my shop today. I’m miserable and not even sure I wanna see people.”

“You’re not making one damn bit of sense. Start from the beginning, and tell me all about it, if you’re not busy,” Alex asked.

“No, I can talk. The shop is empty right now,” Clay paused and then began his story. “A customer asked me out on a date. Dinner at the Blue Moon, and nothing else planned for afterward as far as I knew. Well, the dinner was fine, but when we walked outside, he grabbed me and kissed me right in the middle of the street! I pushed him away, and that’s when he told me he had expected that we’d have sex. Apparently in his worldview, buying dinner equates to my paying for it later with my body. I told him no, got in my car, and drove home, leaving him angry at me. He came into the store today and told me what he thought of me for not putting out last night. I thought at one point he might hit me. Instead, he insulted me and left.”