Chase of a Lifetime (7 page)

For an instant, he considered going to an adult
bookstore he knew about on the edge of town. He’d read enough about gay life
online to know that gay men often frequented adult book stores for anonymous
sex. Though he’d never seen a glory hole up close, he knew what they were. He
also considered driving out to a rest stop along the interstate. He’d read
about those places, too. Gay men often cruised rest stops and public parks for
anonymous sex. They went to bathhouses, too.

But he hesitated when he thought about all
the things that could happen to him at one of these clandestine places. He
could wind up with an STD. He’d read about gay men getting crabs and just the
thought of this horror made him scratch his dick and clamp his knees together.
He’d also read about something even more disturbing. Evidently, there was this
thing called “stealthing.” He’d looked this one up in the online
Urban
Dictionary
just to be certain. It basically meant that a top guy would fuck
someone with a condom, and then right before climax he would pull out, remove
the condom without letting the other person know, and ram his dick in bareback
and come inside the other person. The thought of anyone doing something this
awful made him shudder. This wasn’t a chance Jim wanted to take with anyone. If
he was going to have sex with a man, it had to be safe sex and he had to know
at least a little bit about the person first.

So he thought for a moment and considered
his options. He could either take his chances with a stranger or find out what
it was like to have sex with a man he knew. He reached for his phone and dialed
Len Mayfield’s private cell phone number. It rang about six times and Jim
almost hung up. On the seventh ring, Len answered and said, “Hello?”

“Ah, hello Mr. Mayfield. This is Jim Darling.
How are you, sir?” He punched the pillow. He shouldn’t have called him sir. He
sounded as if he were ten years old again.

 
Len
laughed and said, “I’m just fine, Jim Darling. And how are you on this fine
Texas summer night, sir?”

“Well, Mr. Mayfield, I’m fine I guess. It
was a little warm today. But not that bad for this time of year.”

“Why are you calling me?” He spoke with an
eager voice, as if he wanted to get right down to business.

Jim took a quick breath. His voice cracked
when he said, “I was thinking about what you said. You know, about getting
together sometime.”

Len Mayfield cut him off. “Where are you?”

“In my bedroom.”

“I’ll meet you downtown at the Pegasus Hotel
in an hour. If you get there first, get a room.”

Jim blinked. He figured they’d talk about
this for a minute or two first. “The Pegasus Hotel?”

“Yes,” Len said. “I’ll call you when I get
there.”

Before Jim had a chance to reply, Len hung
up and left Jim sitting on the bed with his mouth half open. Though he was
having second thoughts now, he knew it was too late to back out. It would have
been rude. He couldn’t deny two things: he was horny as hell and Len Mayfield
was drop dead gorgeous. All he had to do was to think about being in Len’s arms
and he felt weak in the knees.

He climbed out of bed and put on jeans, a
white shirt, and a black blazer. He didn’t want to show up at an elegant hotel
looking like a slob. And yet he didn’t want to look as if he was dressed for a
first holy communion either. When he was dressed, he grabbed his keys, phone,
and wallet and went down to his car. On the drive over, he listened to Lady
Gaga sing about bad romance over and over again until her voice rang in his
ears.

When he reached the hotel and walked up to
the main lobby, he stepped aside so a group of people could exit. He smiled and
nodded as a train of nuns in full habits crossed through the doorway. He held
the door open for them until the last nun was outside. He almost turned around
and went back to his car. He wasn’t certain he could go through with this. Maybe
the nuns were a bad omen. He never saw nuns anywhere. They were so pure and
decent. He felt so dark and seedy. His heart was on the verge of racing, his
palms were sweating, and his mouth had gone so dry he couldn’t swallow without
discomfort.

He walked up to the front desk and stood off
to the side, not sure if he should get a room before Len arrived. He couldn’t
have been standing there more than a minute when a thin young man with a goatee
on the other side of the desk walked over and asked, “Can I help you?”

Jim turned and smiled at him. He couldn’t
find his voice.

“Are you here for the gay men’s special?” He
spoke with a heavy lisp.

Jim’s eyebrows went up; his face grew warm. “The
what?”

The desk clerk made a face and he glanced
toward a room to the right of the main desk. He gestured with his head and
said, “The Gay Men’s Special Event Weekend. Everyone is gathering in the
Wilson
room over there.”

Jim thought it awfully presumptuous of the
desk clerk to assume he was a gay man without even knowing him. But this wasn’t
the first time it had happened. Even though Jim wasn’t effeminate or outwardly
flamboyant, most gay men could spot him right away. Straight people weren’t
sure. But he couldn’t hide anything from gay men, and this desk clerk was
definitely gay. Jim rubbed his chin and smiled. “Yes, I’m here for the weekend
event.” He had trouble saying the word gay aloud.

As he turned to head into the
Wilson
room, where he saw
men of all ages gathered together through the wide doorway, he thanked the desk
clerk one more time and didn’t turn around again. He could feel the clerk’s
eyes penetrate his back with each step he took. He knew the clerk was wondering
why he was there and what he was up to.

The last thing Jim wanted to do was walk
into a room filled with gay men he didn’t know. He was ready to puke at the
thought of getting together with one gay man that night, let alone a roomful.
He entered and an older man with salt and pepper hair and a wide waist reached
for his arm. “Welcome,” he said. “You must be from the younger chapter in
Bakersfield, California.”

Jim smiled and said, “Ah well, I’m not
really from any chapter. I’m just here.”

The older man started to laugh. He poked
another older man standing beside him in the ribs and said, “He’s so adorable.
I’m so glad we have younger guys coming to these events. I was worried we would
wind up with no one under fifty.”

Jim smiled and glanced at the room. There
were, indeed, more older gay men gathered together than there were straight
people in the main lobby. It looked more like and all male AARP convention. “I’m
supposed to meet someone,” Jim said. He wasn’t going to go into detail. But he had
to say something.

The man said, “I’m sure we have your name
here somewhere. Let me take a look.” He glanced down at a table where there was
a box filled with files. Without looking up, he asked, “What was your name
again?”

Jim didn’t want to give his real name.
“Albert Rhys-Jones,” he said. It was the second name that popped into his head.
The first was Lady Gaga.

The man smiled and continued poking through
the files. “I’m sure it’s in here somewhere. Just be patient, Albert. I’ll find
you.”

This was getting out of hand. He couldn’t
stand there while the man looked for a name that didn’t exist. He thought fast
and said, “Well, I think I see my friend now.” He turned fast. “I’ll see you
later. I’ll definitely be back.” Then he left the
Wilson
room before the man had a chance to
say another word.

The main lobby was virtually empty that
night. It was a holiday weekend and most people were either on vacation or at
home waiting to see fireworks. When he walked back toward the front door, he
noticed the desk clerk glance at him. The clerk’s expression suggested
curiosity, as if he were still wondering what Jim was up to at the hotel. And
this only made Jim even more nervous. He shoved his hands deep into his
pockets, started walking faster, and almost tripped over his own feet as he
passed the main desk.

He wasn’t even sure where he was going. When
he noticed a room with tall double doors, he headed in that direction…anything
to get away from the curious clerk. It seemed to be a lounge, with a bar and a
small crowd listening to a pianist while he played quiet torch songs. Jim
stepped inside without glancing back at the desk clerk and crossed to the bar.
He ordered double vodka on the rocks, left a twenty dollar bill for the
bartender, and went over to a small table on the other side of the room.

In less than fifteen minutes, while Jim was
staring down into his drink, a deep voice said, “Hello. I hope you weren’t
waiting too long. I got stuck behind a slow truck on the way over.”

Jim glanced up and saw Len standing over
him. The alcohol had kicked in and his lips were a little numb. Len wore a
tight black polo shirt, beige slacks, and his thick hair was still damp from
the shower. “I’m fine,” he said. “I wasn’t waiting long.” He didn’t mention
anything about the gay weekend event business or the nosy desk clerk.

After a moment of hesitation, Len sat down
in a chair across from him and said, “I could sure use a drink.” He smiled.
“You look nice. But then you always look nice.”

Jim ignored the compliment. He lifted his
arm and made an attempt to catch the waiter’s attention, but the waiter
continued walking without noticing him.

Len lifted his arm and said, “Waiter,” and
the waiter walked up to the table immediately. “I’ll have a vodka martini.”

When the waiter left, Len smiled and said,
“You should take a few deep breaths. You look as if you’re ready to pass out.”

Jim took a gulp of cold vodka and said, “I’m
fine, Mr. Mayfield.” His lips were tingling now. He had to be careful. He
didn’t want to get drunk.

“Please call me Len.”

“All right, Len.”

Len adjusted his position and leaned
forward. “Did you get a room?”

“Ah well, not yet. I was waiting for you?”

“I’ll get the room. I’ll take care of
everything. Don’t worry.”

Jim exhaled and released an exaggerated sigh.
“Oh, thank you. I’m so glad.” The last thing he wanted to do was deal with the desk
clerk again. He would avoid him as much as possible from now on. That guy knew
he was up to something and he didn’t feel like explaining himself to anyone.

The waiter brought Len a martini. For the
next fifteen minutes, they made small talk about the weather, a new car Len was
thinking of buying, and about the potted plants in the hotel. Len sat back with
a smug expression and smiled a lot, sipping his drink. Jim looked down at the
table and tried hard to keep his voice from cracking.

Before Len finished his martini, he stood up
and said, “I’m going to get a room.”

Jim stood up and said, “I’ll wait outside
the hotel.”

“Why?”

“So no one thinks we’re going up together. I
think the desk clerk is on to us. And who knows who we might run into. You call
me when you have the room and I’ll meet you up there.” There had to be some
kind of a plan. Even though Len had mentioned he was only with his wife for the
sake of appearances, and that they did have an agreement where they could see
other people, Jim didn’t want anyone he knew to run into them and get the wrong
idea. The thought of running into someone from high school and having to
explain all this to Cain was something Jim didn’t want to think about. And the
insufferable desk clerk was working on Jim’s last gay nerve.

Len smiled. “I guess that’s a good idea.
Always best to be safe.”

Jim tipped his head sideways. “You don’t
seem nervous at all. I’m ready to pass out.”

Len gazed into his eyes and shrugged his
shoulders. “That’s because I can’t stop thinking about how lucky I am right
now.”

“Lucky?” Jim felt dirty and naughty.

“I’m with the best looking most adorable man
in the hotel,” Len said. “And I’m going to go upstairs with him in a few
minutes to make love to him.”

Jim almost smiled. If he hadn’t been so
nervous he might have laughed. The best he could do was nod and say, “Well,
thank you for saying that. It was nice.” This was something he’d needed to
hear. And not because of his ego, because he wanted to know there was an
emotional connection.

When Jim had to pass by the front desk, he
noticed the desk clerk stare at him again. He was starting to get annoyed now,
so he flung the clerk a glance, looked into his eyes, and stopped dead in his
tracks. He saw Len walk up to the counter and reach into his back pocket for
his wallet. He thought about the compliment Len had just given him and he
smiled. In a move so bold he almost tripped again, Jim turned around, walked over
to where Len was standing, and stepped right up next to him.

When Jim saw the way the desk clerk glanced
back and forth at them, he smiled and said, “I thought I left something
outside, but I decided to forget about it.”

The clerk smirked and said, “I see.”

Jim felt like smacking his smug face.

Len sent Jim a sideways glance and handed
the desk clerk a credit card. “I’d like a room, please. Anything you have with
a view. I don’t care what it is.” He glanced at Jim and said, “I love a good
view.”

The desk clerk took the credit card and
gaped at them for a moment. He made a face and said, “I’ll be right back. I’ll
see what I can do. We’re booked solid this weekend and I can’t promise
anything.”

When he was out of listening distance, Len
said, “I thought you were going to wait outside for me.”

Jim shrugged. He glanced over at the desk
clerk and frowned. The bitchy clerk was murmuring something to another employee
and they were both staring back and Len and Jim. “I decided I don’t have
anything to hide. And I’m not going to let a nasty little desk clerk with too
much attitude and not enough looks or money intimidate me. I’d like to rip her
prissy little face off.”