My buddy Chase had been in a car accident and the aftermath had definitively changed our friendship. His injuries had led to casts which had largely incapacitated his hands. Being a good friend that I am, I helped him out as much as I could. I had been a regular at his house for years, and initially my lending him a hand at his home had morphed into sexual episodes. This ended up creating the new dynamic in our friendship consisting of the classic "friends with benefits".
I had known for a long time that Chase swung both ways. He knew that I did not. Neither of us had any issues with the other's preferences, but Chase had pushed me, either inadvertently or possibly by design, into crossing the fence while helping him. As much as I hate labels, categorizing Chase as bisexual was simple enough. My own status was now questionable though. I still considered myself straight, with the exception of my encounters with Chase.
Chase had a healthy sense of humor but that had changed a little as well. Whereas before was good natured ribbing and sometimes even slapstick comedy, now there was an element of sexual innuendo and risqué suggestions. Trash talk during video games was now more daring and explicit. He now meant it when I would win and his response would be '"suck my dick". Or I would be rummaging through his fridge in the kitchen and he would come up behind me and jokingly grab my hips from behind and dry hump me. It was funny and suggestive at the same time. It was not like one long and continuous sex scene when we hung out, but it seemed pretty consistent that we would engage in some form of stress relieving activity once a day when I was there.
Then the busy season hit my workplace and we lost a couple of other security guards, resulting in massive amounts of overtime for me. I was working seven days a week for two months straight, and during that time I wasn't able to go over to Chase's house to hang out. Yes, the money was good, but I value my time off.
Chase would text me to see if I was coming over, but time after time I had to work. He knew the deal, after all, we had been friends for years and this wasn't unusual with my job.
I ended up getting a day off when I wasn't expecting to. My boss knew about the possibility of burn out from not getting any time off, and finally found someone to cover one of my shifts. I text Chase that I was heading over, and we could finally go see the movie we both wanted to see in the theater. I didn't receive a reply, but that was not unheard of, as Chase worked from home therefore set his own hours. He tended to tune out the world when he was working.
I parked on the street in front of his house and went straight to the front door. I knocked and let myself in as always. He was nowhere to be seen, but could have been in the bathroom or his home office. His car was in his driveway and his front door had been left unlocked, so I assumed he was in there somewhere.
"Chase!" I called out. "Hey man, are you home?"
I heard a thud from the back of the house. It sounded like Chase had fallen out of bed. I started heading that way when I heard him call out.
"Brad? I thought you were working today. Hang on, I'll be right out."
I plopped down in the middle of his couch and turned on the TV while I waited. The moment I switched it on hardcore porn lit up the screen and porn music and porn sounds filled the room from the surround sound system.
It took me a moment as I fumbled to turn it down. Chase emerged from his bedroom in shorts and t-shirt, looking slightly rumpled.
"Did you just wake up?" I asked. "I know you make your own hours, but you're not really a sleeping in kind of guy."
Chase sat down on the couch at his normal spot at the end and took the remote, turning off the TV. "Look Brad, I'm gonna be straight with you. You've been working a lot of hours, and we haven't hung out in weeks...actually months now. I kinda needed to blow off some steam, soooooo... I invited a friend over for a little fun."
His words tumbled out in a rush and once he was finished, he waited for my reaction. I sat there staring at him for a while, watching him sweat. After letting him stew, I finally laughed.
"Chase, I'm your friend, not your wife. We're not married or going steady. I know you play the field. It's not like you ever kept that a secret. You can bang whoever you want, as long as you don't give me something in the process. We can still have our own fun."
He was visibly relieved as I said all this. I'm not exactly sure of the reaction he was expecting, but he was glad for the one he got.
"Is he hiding in your bedroom?" I finally asked.
"He's not really hiding exactly. I just told him to stay in there until I gave him the 'all clear'. I wasn't sure how you'd react." Chase said defensively.
"That sounds like hiding to me."
Chase went back to his bedroom to get his visitor. I turned the TV back on while I waited. I changed to the game show channel, as I didn't really want porn on the screen when Chase returned. He returned shortly with the new guy in tow. I had told Chase that I didn't have an issue with what he was up to prior to my arrival, and I meant every word. That didn't exactly mean I needed to meet the guy though. I am not a people person. Whereas Chase is my friend, everyone else is either an acquaintance or coworker. I kept my circle small and wasn't really looking to expand it.
"Hi there. I'm Karl...that's Karl with a 'K'." he said as he sat on the other end of the couch.
"Karl, that's Brad. He's a friend who doesn't like new people and doesn't know how to make calls on his cellphone, otherwise this whole awkward situation would not be happening." Chase introduced.
"I did text you." I countered.
"I was a little preoccupied." Chase immediately retorted.
I felt my face flush as Karl and Chase both looked at me. I wasn't sure why I was the one who was embarrassed. I wasn't involved until I walked in that door.
"Yeah, I had a mouthful of Chase until you interrupted." Karl laughed.
My face flushed even more and I found I couldn't even look at the new guy. Chase and Karl were easily joking away at the situation, but I was suddenly uncomfortable.
"What's wrong with him?" Karl asked, jerking his thumb in my direction.
