Alex parked his car in the YMCA’s parking lot, grabbed his duffle bag, and walked into the Y. He headed straight to the weight room where, to his surprise, he found Jesse but no Rhys. “Hey Jesse!”
“Hey Alex! Did you have a good day at work?”
“Yes, actually. I was quite productive and got two reports finished up. It looks like I’m going to have one more trip out of town before Christmas this year, to Michigan. How was your day?”
“Meh,” replied Jesse. “There’s some annoying politics going on in the office. Most everyone gets along quite well, but there are a couple of people who can be real pains in the ass. At least they’re directing their attitudes at one another for the moment. Anyway, I got in here a little earlier than normal. I figured I’d release some of that negative energy from work and turn it into something productive.”
“I hear you,” said Alex. “There’s one woman where I work that is just next to impossible to get along with. I can pretty much get along with people, even people I don’t care for. But Jennifer is a real challenge, let me tell you. I don’t think anyone can stand her, other than our new branch manager. And Jenny can’t seem to stand anyone else, either. When I do end up working with her, or around her, she bad-mouths everyone. I wonder what lies she’s told my coworkers about me.”
After a brief silence while Alex stuffed his earbuds into his ears, he asked “So, where’s the third stooge?”
“I talked to Rhys earlier. He said he was going to be a bit late, but that he had a surprise for us.”
“We’ve barely seen Rhys at all for the last few weeks. First it was Thanksgiving, then he had COVID, then parent-teacher conferences,” Alex said. “It’ll be good to see him again.”
Jesse sat up from the weight bench as he looked at Alex quizzically. “What did you bring your change of clothes into the Y for? Don’t you usually just keep them in your car?”
“Well,” Alex responded, “I thought I might need some of that stuff in here tonight.”
Jesse’s eyes widened ever so slightly as a grin crept across his face. “Does that mean what I think it means?”
“It depends on what you think it means,” Alex replied coyly.
“You’re going to shower here?” Alex nodded his head in reply, his lips turning upward as he did so.
“I don’t believe it!” crowed Jesse.
“I know you’ve wanted to get me naked in the worst way, I finally just had to give in,” Alex said with a smile, then added, “You went to church with me last Sunday, which was completely out of your comfort zone. I guess it’s only fair that I get out of my comfort zone for you as well.”
“Yeah, right,” replied Jesse. “You just want to see Rhys and me naked. I bet you’re hoping that some other cute college boys decide to shower after working out as well.”
“Shut up,” said Alex, though the smile on his face suggested that he wasn’t bothered by Jesse’s comment. He quietly added, “I just hope I don’t pop wood. That would be embarrassing if, at 55, I couldn’t keep my dick under control.”
Jesse began to giggle when they heard, “Hey guys!”
“Hey Rhys!” replied Alex. “It’s been too long since we’ve seen…oh, hey Ian! I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”
Ian bumped fists with both Alex and Jesse. “Yeah, Rhys has been on me, on and off, for a while now to come and join you guys.”
“Well, cool! Except that there can only be three musketeers,” Jesse replied.
“Well, I guess we could start calling ourselves the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” said Alex.
The four men laughed. Then Jesse turned to Rhys. “So, bringing Ian is your big surprise, right?”
“Well,” replied Rhys, “it’s part of the surprise.” He stepped closer to Ian and then grabbed Ian’s hand. They both smiled.
“Oh, my land!” exclaimed Jesse.
Alex then added, “I told you you’d find someone, Rhys. And it happened sooner than later, too!”
Rhys nodded. Ian appeared to blush. Rhys explained, “Ian invited me over Saturday evening for dinner. We shared a bottle of wine. Then yada, yada, yada, Sunday morning found us in Ian’s bed, discussing if we were a couple or, you know, just friends with benefits. We decided on the former.” Ian’s blush continued to deepen, though he had a smile on his face as well.
“Wow, zero to sixty in a couple hours, then, huh?” said Jesse. “You guys work fast!”
“Well, this calls for a celebration!” Alex exclaimed. “I’m very happy for you both.”
“Thanks,” replied Rhys. “But I will be taking us all out tonight, my treat, because yes, we are celebrating.” Rhys almost appeared to burst with excitement. Ian seemed quieter than normal, though clearly, he was also in a happy mood.
“Well, we’re going to have another thing to celebrate tonight, too,” Alex stated. “Jesse already knows, but you guys can wait to find out.”
A little more than an hour later, the men finished their workouts. Alex hopped off the bike a little sooner than he would normally, but he knew he needed to cool down before showering. Even if he took a cold shower, he would still end up sweating up a storm after the shower was completed. He told Jesse where he was heading, then stepped outside the building for a few minutes. A cold December evening would certainly help his body temperature to decrease.
A few minutes later, Jesse poked his head out the door. “They’ve gone down to shower. I figured we’d wait a minute, so they’d be really surprised when you walked into the shower room.”
“Neither of them noticed my duffle bag, did they?” asked Alex.
“No, but it’s no wonder. They only have eyes for each other.”
“Well, maybe they won’t notice my fat, then.”
“Alex!” exclaimed Jesse. “What have we said about speaking about ourselves positively?”
“Yes, mom,” replied Alex. Then, as Jesse took a playful swing at him, he added, “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
The two made their way back into the Y, then headed downstairs to the locker room. Jesse poked his head into the room first. He could hear showers running and didn’t see either Rhys or Ian. “Come on in, Alex. I think the coast is clear.”
The two walked to a bank of lockers, where Jesse had already stashed his change of clothes and shower stuff. Alex sat down a few feet from Jesse and removed his shoes. Once his shoes and socks were off, however, he began to have second thoughts. ‘God, it was bad enough that I was going to let Rhys and Jesse see me au naturelle. Now Ian is gonna see how gross I am, too!’ he thought to himself.
Jesse seemed to sense Alex’s sudden reluctance and encouraged him to continue. “You already know that Rhys and I don’t care. I don’t exactly think you’ve got anything to worry about with Ian, either.”
Alex nodded, then bravely removed his shorts and shirt. He looked up to see Jesse’s bare bum walking towards the communal shower. A beautiful bum it was, too. ‘I wonder if he looks as beautiful from the front as he does from the back,’ he thought as he quickly stuffed his workout clothes and duffle in the locker. Thoughts continued to run like wildfire through his mind as he slammed the locker door shut. ‘I don’t believe I’m doing this,’ he thought. ‘God, I hope I don’t get a boner. I’m just going to avoid looking.’ He hoped to God he would be able to keep himself from checking out his friends. He grabbed his soap and shampoo and followed Jesse to the shower.
Jesse was talking to Ian and Rhys as he turned on his shower. He stood back, then held his hand out to check the water temperature. Rhys had just begun to say something to Jesse when Alex walked in. Rhys said, “Hey, Alex,” as he glanced toward the shower entrance when he walked in. He then snapped his head back. “Oh my God, Alex! So that’s your surprise! I never thought this day would come!”
“Neither did I,” responded Alex. He was quite obviously trying to look anywhere but at the three naked men he was sharing the shower room with.
Though Alex didn’t see it, Ian looked confused. He heard Ian ask, “That what day would come?”
Jesse replied, “This is the first time Alex felt comfortable enough to shower with us.”
“Oh. Any reason why?” Alex didn’t see Jesse shake his head. Ian did, however. He got the message.
‘God, I do not need to be hearing this right now,’ thought Alex. He tried to think about the next song that he’d pick for karaoke night. He couldn’t come up with anything.
Alex turned on the shower, then immediately stepped under the spray. Jumping backwards, he nearly fell when the ice-cold water hit him. Though Alex used cold showers to cool down after a workout, even he didn’t shower in water this cold. The water rapidly warmed, however, so Alex busied himself turning the tap, trying to find the perfect temperature which, for Alex, was somewhere between moderately cool and tepid. Anything to distract himself from the view.
He kept his eyes closed as he washed and rinsed his hair. By the time Alex had finished rinsing the shampoo from his hair, he heard two showers being turned off. Seconds later, he was alone in the shower room with Jesse.
Still with his eyes closed, as well as facing the shower head, he heard Jesse say, “Now that wasn’t too bad, was it?” Alex responded by shaking his head, not fully convinced he could find his voice.
As Alex was rinsing the soap from his body, he heard Jesse’s shower turn off. He nearly jumped when he felt Jesse place his hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing just fine. I’m proud of you.” Alex could only nod in agreement.
Once he was sure Jesse had left the shower room, Alex turned off his tap and picked up his soap and shampoo. He then panicked as he stepped out of the shower room. Everybody else had hung their towels up on hooks just outside the shower room entrance. Alex had forgotten his. ‘Shit!’ he thought. ‘Now I’ll have to walk buck-naked through the entire locker room. It’s bad enough that my friends saw me naked. I hope to high heavens there’s no one else in the locker room right now.’ He took a deep breath, then headed for his locker as quickly as he could without slipping on the wet floor.
When he arrived, he saw that Ian and Rhys had chosen lockers in a different row. There was only Jesse that he needed to deal with. Jesse was facing away from him with one foot planted on the bench, finishing drying off. He was still completely naked. Damn, he had one beautiful ass!
Alex wasn’t expecting what happened next. As he began to make his way down the row toward his locker, Jesse put his foot down from the bench, then turned to face Alex, still completely nude. Alex stopped in his tracks, still naked, still dripping wet, his mouth hanging open.
Jesse gave Alex a look of utter confusion. “What?” he asked. “I know you’ve seen naked guys before.”
Alex finally found his voice. “I…I…I didn’t know you weren’t circumcised.”
Jesse began to laugh, but then stopped himself. “That’s okay, isn’t it?”
Alex nodded, then said, “Oh, it’s more than okay, believe me.”
“Alex, stop ogling my junk and dry yourself off,” Jesse said, giggling. He opened Alex’s locker, grabbed his towel, then threw it at him.
Alex caught the towel. “Uh, thanks,” he muttered as he walked the remaining steps to his locker, then began to dry his hair.
“Alex,” said Jesse, “I know some guys are really grossed out by uncut dicks. You really are okay with mine, aren’t you? Foreskin isn’t a deal-breaker, is it? ‘Cause I don’t want to get it chopped off.”
Having recovered from his initial surprise, Alex began to dry off his arms and torso. ‘At least the shock of my penis seems to have taken his mind off hiding his own body,’ Jesse thought.
As he toweled himself off, and as Jesse pulled on his boxers, Alex spoke. “Uh, this is a little embarrassing. I kind of have a foreskin fetish,” he confessed.
“You do?”
“Well, I don’t know if fetish is the right word. I really find foreskin fascinating. I love playing with it. I really think that if I was uncircumcised, I’d have a thing for cut dicks, though. You know, grass is always greener syndrome.”
Jesse laughed as he pulled on his shirt. “Grass is always greener syndrome? Where do you come up with this stuff?”
Alex had just tugged on his boxer briefs when Ian stuck his head around the bank of lockers. “We’re ready when you are,” he said.
“We’ll just be a few,” replied Jesse. “Where are we going, anyway?”
“I’ve got no idea,” Ian said as he began to head for the locker room exit.
“I wonder if Ian knows about how I feel…” Alex trailed off as he applied deodorant.
“How you feel about what, Alex?” asked Jesse. “How you feel about foreskin?”
Alex’s face began to redden. “What I was saying, was if he knows about how I don’t like showing my fat body off to people. I sure as hell hope he doesn’t know about my…ah…fetish.”
Jesse laughed again.
-----
After dinner, Rhys dropped Jesse and Alex back off at the Y, where they’d left their cars. Jesse then followed Alex back to his house. It didn’t take them too long to get comfortable on the sofa.
“I’m happy for Rhys,” said Alex. “When you were in Kansas at your parent’s house, and Rhys and I were hanging out, he was pretty down.” Alex didn’t hear a response from Jesse, so he continued. “I don’t know if you knew, but he’d kind of had the hots for you. He was really depressed when we started going out. He felt like he was left out.”
“From what he’d said the night we told him about us, I was pretty sure he was kicking himself for not trying to start a relationship. I didn’t know he was that down, though.”
“Yeah, I think you heard how he was worried about becoming a third wheel. I told him that you and I both agreed that, when it came to our relationship with Rhys, that as little was going to change as possible. You know, if we went out after the Y, that he was always welcome, that sort of thing.”
After a moment’s silence, Alex added, “That first evening at the Y he was down, but he perked up when I asked him to show me some things I could do in the weight room.”
“You did?” Jesse asked.
“Well, he’d offered to show me before, and I declined his offer, though I said I might ask in the future. It seemed like a good time to ask.”
“You done good, Alex.”
“I done really good when I planted that kiss on you. I think that’s the best I ever done, even if I thought it was the worst I ever done at the time.”
“I’d have to agree.”
Jesse leaned over and kissed Alex. They kissed for several minutes, but then stopped. Despite the closeness, they were able to turn their desires down a few degrees. Ultimately, Jesse broke the silence.
“What are your plans for Christmas, Alex?”
“Gosh, the holiday is coming up pretty quickly, isn’t it? Well, I put up the Christmas lights Thanksgiving weekend, since it was relatively warm. They just need to be plugged in. I like to wait to put up the Christmas tree until a week or so before Christmas. In a perfect world, it would go up Christmas eve and come down on Epiphany. The twelve days of Christmas, you know? Nobody in the family ever wanted to wait that long to put the tree up, and there’s always too much going on around the holidays, anyway. I do leave it up until Epiphany, though.”
“What do you do with the family on Christmas eve and Christmas day?”
“Well,” replied Alex, “It’s pretty quiet around here. We usually just play some board games and graze on snack food on Christmas eve. We always go to 10 pm church service. Now that the kids are older, we sleep in on Christmas day. They were never too terrible about getting up early on Christmas morning, even when they were young. I always waited until the kids were asleep before I played Santa and put the Christmas gifts under the tree. I still do that, out of habit, I guess. One year I almost forgot to play Santa. I sat bolt upright in bed when I realized I’d forgotten. Wouldn’t have been pretty if I hadn’t remembered. We also have a nice dinner on Christmas day. Oh, and I generally take the week between Christmas and New Years off, unless I’m super busy at work.”
Alex gave Jesse a quick kiss, then asked, “What about you?”
“Hmm,” Jesse said, before responding, “I’ve got a small Christmas tree, but I haven’t put it up for a few years now.”
“Oh, so you’re Mr. Scrooge, huh?”
“Shut up, Alex. Well, maybe a little. I don’t ever do anything around town, except for maybe go to a Christmas party or two. Usually someone from our group has a holiday party, though in the past they’ve done it after Christmas since leading up to Christmas is such a busy time for everyone. I always head down to Pratt for Christmas, so that’s a quiet time. It’s just me and my parents. I usually go down a few days before Christmas, then return a few days after.”
After a brief silence, Jesse asked, “Would you like to come down to meet my parents over the Christmas break?”
For some reason, Alex hadn’t given a trip to Kansas consideration, even though he knew Jesse’s parents wanted to meet him. The thought of it, though, made him a bit nervous.
“I don’t know, Jesse. I really do need to spend Christmas here with Charlotte and Cam.”
“Oh, sorry, Alex, I wasn’t clear, I guess. You absolutely need to be here with them on Christmas. I was thinking maybe you could come down for a couple days, either right before or right after Christmas. I mentioned it to my mom when I talked to her the other day, and she liked the idea. She suggested that maybe we could drive down together a couple days before Christmas. Since I’ll be staying there for Christmas, you’d head home Christmas Eve, or maybe the day before. My mom and dad wanted to come up here for a bit of a visit, too, so my mom suggested they drive me back. How does that sound?”
“I think that might work. Charlotte has class right up until the 23rd, if I’m not mistaken, so she won’t be home any earlier than that. I don’t remember Cam’s schedule, either, but I know he’ll be home several days before Charlotte. She also goes back to school before Cam, but she gets, like, a two-week spring break. I can turn getting ready for Christmas over to Cam. He’s responsible. There really isn’t that much for him to do, anyway.”
After a moment’s silence, Alex continued. “I’m very excited to meet your parents and see where you grew up. I’m nervous, though. I suppose meeting your significant other’s parents makes most people nervous. It’s just that I’m so much older than you are. I don’t know what they’ll think of that.”
“Alex, they already know about our age difference. To be honest, I was nervous about that, too. You’re closer in age to my parents than you are to me. When I was down for Thanksgiving, I told them everything there was to know about you, including your age. I’d worried for nothing. They were totally cool with your age, your adult children, everything.”
“You didn’t actually tell them all there was to know about me, did you?” Alex asked with panic in his voice. “You didn’t tell them about my past, you know, cruising for anonymous sex?”
“Alex, don’t take everything literally. Of course, I didn’t tell them about that. I told them everything that was fit to know about you, how does that sound?”
“Better.”
During this conversation, another thought popped into the back of Alex’s head. It was the question that he’d had almost since the time that he’d met Jesse. What on earth happened in his past that caused him such anguish? ‘Maybe if I can get Jesse alone, he’ll tell me what happened,’ he said to himself. ‘Maybe a long drive in the car will be a good time to ask again.’
Alex suddenly realized he’d been off with his own thoughts. He hoped Jesse hadn’t noticed. “You know,” he quickly said, “Cam and Charlotte are also both dying to meet you, too.”
“Well, I know I’ll get to meet them when they’re home for Christmas. I’m looking forward to meeting them as well. I can’t wait to see how messed up your kids really are.”
“Hey!” replied Alex, though he knew Jesse was joking.
“Seriously, though, Alex? I am sure your children are every bit as wonderful as you are.”
‘Damn’ thought Alex, ‘Jesse sure knows how to make me feel good.’
After a few more minutes of tender kissing, Jesse glanced at his watch, then said, “Crap. It’s time I headed home. We both have work in the morning.”
Alex nearly asked Jesse to stay the night. Nearly, but he chickened out. Perhaps it was for the best. Alex was finding it harder and harder to avoid becoming more physical with Jesse. ‘I tell him I want to take things slowly, but I can barely keep it in my pants,’ he thought. Though they hadn’t really spoken about it, Alex had it in the back of his mind that they’d kick their physical relationship up several notches after the new year. Now that he knew there was foreskin that needed playing with, it was going to be even tougher to control himself. They both stood up from the sofa.
“Check your calendar, Alex. See if you can come down before Christmas, even if just for a few days.”
“I will. I think I can make it work.”
Shortly thereafter, Alex watched Jesse back out of the driveway, then begin his drive home. Once his car was out of sight, Alex turned off the porch light and locked the door.
As he walked up the stairs to the bedroom, he thought to himself, ‘How did I get so lucky as to find someone like Jesse? Yes, he’s young and hot, but that’s just the frosting on the cake. Not only is he wonderful, but it also feels like he completes me.’ He tossed that thought around in his mind as he got undressed, then went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. ‘What a trite thought.’ But as he thought more about it, Alex couldn’t come up with a better phrase to describe the way Jesse made him feel. ‘He’s the ying to my yang. He’s the missing puzzle piece. He’s…anything anyone could want in a guy, and still so much more.’
As he pulled off his underwear, chucked them into the hamper, and climbed into bed, another thought popped into his mind. ‘Man, I hope he doesn’t find someone better than me. I wouldn’t stand a ghost of a chance.’ Alex was back to negative thoughts about himself.
Posted 8 January 2025