The young man continued walking toward the back. But Toby stopped at the bar, pulled out a heavy captain’s chair, and sat down. He didn’t want to trip this time. The bartender had a thick mustache and broad shoulders. He wore a tight white T-shirt that exposed bulging biceps. He walked over to Toby and said, “What can I get for you?”
“Ah well, I’ll have a highball.” Toby wasn’t much of a drinker; he had no idea what a highball was. He’d heard someone order it on TV and it was the first thing that popped into his head. After he ordered it, he wished he’d ordered a beer instead. That’s decided to stick with it and take his chances.
While he sipped his drink, he glanced around the bar. There was some kind of jazz music playing. He wasn’t familiar with the style, but it had a heavy saxophone sound. It was tuneless drivel that annoyed Toby to the point where he started jiggling his right leg. The bar was so dark he wasn’t sure where the music was coming from. At one table, he watched two good looking young men kissing. Along the back wall, there were two other men standing; they were locked in a tight embrace. The taller man was kissing and groping the shorter man. When Toby turned and saw two men dancing slowly, his eyes opened wider. He’d never seen two men dance that way in public. And when he saw one guy slid his hands down another guy’s pants while they were dancing, he pressed his palm to his throat and gaped at them.
At least the highball wasn’t bad. It had a sweet taste and it went down easy. Before Toby knew it, he was on his third highball and his leg wasn’t jiggling anymore. His lips felt a little numb and the men around him didn’t seem as dangerous. A tall man with dark hair and five o’clock shadow sat down beside him and said, “I haven’t seen you around here before. I’m Jake.”
Toby shrugged. “I’ve never been here before. I’m Toby.” He almost used a fake name. He didn’t want anyone at work knowing he went to places like this. Bill Weiss had mentioned to Toby that a lot of homosexual men use fake names, for protection, and to reinvent themselves.
Jake moved closer to him and said, “It’s nice to meet you, Toby. Can I buy you another drink?” He had a smooth deep voice and large brown eyes. He reminded Toby of one of the models his ad agency used for cigarette ads: the rugged, lanky, cowboy type.
Toby had just finished his third highball and he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. But he wasn’t too drunk to know what was happening and he figured one more couldn’t hurt. They tasted so good. “Sure,” he said, with a slight slur. “I’d love it, Jake.”
While Toby sipped his fourth drink, they spoke for a few minutes about how hard it was to meet men and how boring it was to go to bars and cruise the parks. He assumed Jake was in his thirties. Though Toby didn’t frequent bars often, and he’d never cruised a public park, he played dumb and agreed with everything Jake said, pretending to be just as experience, as jaded. But on the inside Toby was excited and eager to see what would happen next. The few times he’d been to places like this he’d never actually gone with the intention of meeting someone. He’d always gone with the intention of watching from a distance, to see what was happening, and he never stayed long enough to order a second drink.
A few minutes later, another guy sat down on the other side of Toby and said, “So what’s going on over here?”
Jake smiled and said, “We’re just hanging out. This is young Toby.” He rested his palm on Toby’s thigh and smiled. “Right?”
Toby nodded yes. Jake’s large, strong hand felt good on his leg and he made no attempts to move. Being touched by a man, in public, felt nice. He felt like moving over and sitting on his lap. He asked the other guy, “Do you two know each other?” A lot of the guys in there seemed to be friendly. Toby wondered how they all actually met each other.
Jake laughed and the other guy said, “We’re a couple.”
Toby swallowed the last of his fourth drink and hiccupped. “A couple of what?”
Jake put his arm around Toby and hugged him. “We’re a couple. We’re lovers. We live together.” He nodded at the other guy and said, “This is Ted. We’ve been together for ten years and we come here once in a while to spice things up a little in the bedroom. There’s always something going on in the back room.”
Toby turned to Ted and smiled. Jake was feeling up his ass now. Toby never actually been felt up by a man in public and he was enjoying it a little too much for his own good. And Ted wasn’t bad looking either. He had the same tall, dark rugged qualities Jake had; only he was stockier. They could have been brothers. “Ah well, I’ve never met acouple before.”
Jake and Ted laughed, and then Ted leaned over and put his arm around Toby, too. “How about we go to the back room and see what’s going on. You’re a sweet little thing. I’ll bet your game for anything.”
Though Toby was light-headed, and his speech wasn’t perfect, he knew what was happening. He just didn’t completely understand it. “Let me get this straight. If you’re a couple, why do you both have your arms around me?” He wasn’t complaining. It felt good to be sandwiched in between two big strong men with stubble. He was fully erect and he’d arched his back a little so they could both slide their hands down the back of his pants.
Ted leaned in and kissed Toby on the ear. “We like three-ways with cute young guys like you. We have an open arrangement.”
Toby laughed. “Oh, I know all aboutarrangements. I have anarrangement, too. You should meet my fucking boss.”
Jake slid his hand all the way down Toby’s pants and grabbed his ass. He didn’t seem to care about Toby’s boss. “We do it all the time. Like I said, it spices things up in the bedroom.”
Toby wasn’t wearing a belt or underwear. He felt the button on his pants pop open and two large hands slide down to the bottom of his ass. He reached up and caressed Ted’s rough face and said, “You guys are bad.” Then he turned to Jake and rubbed his stomach. “I guess it would be okay to go to the back room for a while.”
“You’re not wearing underwear,” Jake said. “I think you’re bad, too.” He kissed him on the lips and Toby responded by wrapping his arms around Jake’s shoulders and shoving his tongue into his mouth.
Then Toby turned and kissed Ted the same way. These guys were so nice. And they were good-looking, too. It seemed like a good opportunity to get some experience. “I like you guys,” he said.