"So the room is three-hundred-fifty bucks a month?"
Luke found it a little hard to believe. The house was located on a quiet residential street, close to the bus stop for excursions into town, and only a ten-minute walk to the university. The room he was looking at was spacious and fully furnished. It was perfect.
"Aside from the room, you share the kitchen, the living room, the laundry room and the bathroom with me. Wi-Fi and cable are on me. There are no other roomers. You buy your own food."
"And you're sure that's the price?"
"That's the price for you. If I thought you might be some roughneck rowdy, you couldn't have the room for a thousand."
The landlord, Mac, was a retired widower in his late fifties or early sixties. His silvering hair had receded and he had a large belly that hung out over his belt. He had wide shoulders and a barrel chest. Before he let himself go, he might have been quite a powerful man.
"Pay the first month today, and I'll hold the room for you. When do you want to move in?"
"Tomorrow," Luke said, realizing how lucky he was to find such a good deal the week before the semester started. He had left housing to the last minute this year and he thought he would regret it, but it looked like it would work out just fine. He had been prepared to pay a much larger deposit today; counting out three-fifty was a pleasure, not a chore. He thought of asking why the rent was so low, but that might give Mac second thoughts. Why spoil a good thing?
"Tomorrow, then," Mac said. "Works for me."
Luke arrived the next day as arranged. With the room fully furnished, Luke only had to move in his clothes, bedding and personal effects. Everything was done by early afternoon.
The following several days were busy as Luke arranged his course schedule, purchased text books and renewed acquaintances from the previous year.
Mac proved a dull old codger. Most days, he would be found wandering the house in a beat-up old housecoat. He would sit and watch a lot of television and play on the internet.
Now that Luke was falling into a schedule, his days were less frantic and he interacted more with his landlord. He helped him with simple household tasks like taking the garbage out. They started watching TV together occasionally. Luke found that he didn't mind Mac's company. The old man was gruff but he didn't put his nose in Luke's business.
As the days went on, Luke kept on top of his studies by doing his reading and research at the library in between lectures and tutorials, so he only occasionally worked on assignments at home. This left him more time in the evenings to relax.
Luke came home after class and saw Mac perched on the couch watching TV. He said hi and got a wave back from his landlord.
Luke had started to notice that Mac wasn't always wearing his housecoat anymore when he was about the house. He was often to be seen in his boxers and an undershirt. It wasn't a pretty sight. And without a barrier of fabric between his armpits and the air, he didn't always smell very good.
Luke didn't mind too much. Mac's hygiene was his business as long as it didn't get too bad. Luke figured two guys sharing living space could take liberties with how much clothing they wore. Come to think of it, Luke was kind of warm in the sweater he was wearing. He pulled it off over his head and took it back to his room. He had a t-shirt underneath. He didn't see Mac turn away from the television screen to watch him.
Back in his room, Luke decided to switch from jeans to sweats to relax. He debated whether to lay on his bed and read or go out and watch some TV with Mac. He was feeling a bit tired, so he chose the easy option.
He walked out and got comfortable in the big chair he always sat in.
A few minutes passed before Mac spoke.
"Are you comfy in that chair? There's lots of room on the couch." He patted the cushion beside him.
"Thanks, this is good."
"Suit yourself."
The old man's tone was abrupt and Luke wondered if he had hurt his feelings. He didn't see how. It was a very small thing. Luke might not have minded sitting beside Mac if he showered more.
Things went on the same for a while. Sometimes Mac and Luke would chat as they watched television and other times they were silent. Luke felt comfortable with the older man most of the time but there were a few off-putting moments.
One afternoon, Luke was having trouble with his window blinds. The cord was snagged somewhere and Luke was trying to figure it out. Mac had walked by the open door of his room and had seen Luke wrestling with the blinds. He came up behind Luke and took the cord from his hands. Luke was pinned between Mac and the window and the landlord had his arms around Luke to reach the cord. Luke could feel the old man's breath on his neck. He could smell Mac's unwashed body. Mac had the blinds straightened out in under a minute and walked away leaving Luke a little confused.
The bulk of the larger man against his back had been disturbing. Luke had felt a sudden stiffness in his own member as the man held him in place. This was strange because Luke was into women, not men. He was certainly not into pensioners with obesity and hygiene issues.
A few evenings later, a strange routine took shape.
Luke and Mac would be watching television, each in their usual spot: Luke in the chair, Mac on the couch. Sooner or later, Luke would get up for some reason-to get a drink or relieve his bladder-and leave the room. When Luke came back, Mac would be sitting in the chair, leaving Luke no place to sit but on the couch. After a while, Mac would follow Luke's example and leave the room, but when he returned, he sat next to Luke on the couch.
This happened three nights in a row. Luke wasn't sure what to make of this pattern. Every time the old man sat down beside him on the couch, Luke was forced to inhale Mac's body odour. At first, Luke found it difficult to be in close proximity to the source of the smell. The second night was better, but he felt a little confused because at one point he realized he was actively inhaling Mac's aroma. The third night, Mac sat ever so slightly closer to Luke.
The next night, the pattern was broken. Without thinking, Luke came out of his room and immediately sat on the couch. A few minutes later, Mac joined him, sitting as close to Luke as he had the night before. If Luke had been looking at Mac, he would have seen that his landlord had a small look of triumph on his face.
So it went for a few more nights.
In the meantime, Luke had begun to adopt some of the informality of his landlord. He came out of his room one night wearing only boxers and a t-shirt. He continued in this way as the days passed. If anyone asked why, and Mac hadn't, Luke would have just said that he felt very warm when he sat in the living room.
Finally, in the second week that Luke lived there, Mac sat down next to him on the couch. After a few minutes, he raised his arm up and set it down across the back of the couch right behind Luke. This had the effect of opening Mac's hairy armpit wide to the air around Luke.
Mac watched Luke very carefully for his reaction. He saw the student's nostrils flare once, twice, and then he inhaled deeply, exhaling a sigh. Mac glanced down at the front of Luke's boxers. The young man's cock was doing little push-ups against the fabric and a wet spot had formed.
"Kid," Mac said. "You might as well 'fess up. You know you want it."
Luke didn't even pretend he didn't know what his landlord was talking about. He turned to look Mac in the eye.
"What I don't understand is why. I'm into girls, even if they're not that into me."
A tear formed in the young man's eye and Mac almost felt bad for him.
Luke continued. "For the last week, I've hardly been able to sleep. When I do sleep, I dream we are together and doing things I never thought I'd want to do."
"But now you do."
Luke nodded. Mac grabbed a tissue from a box on the coffee table and dabbed the tear running down Luke's face.
