"Just Like Old Times" - Sunday
A few weeks ago I received a LinkedIn request from someone I hadn't seen in decades - my boyhood best friend Billy, who now went by William. We had lost touch after high school when he moved to the West Coast. After a few catchup messages he informed me that he was spending a week in town for business.
I agreed to meet him for drinks the Sunday night he arrived, at a bar near his hotel. He was in great shape - his years of lifting weights showed - and he looked much younger than 50. He was dressed smartly, his hair was trimmed neatly, and his two-day stubble gave him a cool look. He was gregarious, funny, and flirtatious with the bartender. The drinks flowed as we talked about our lives: our jobs, our grown children, and our marriages (I had married at 25, he at 30). He had matured into a take-charge, domineering sort and while I enjoyed talking with him, I felt slightly intimidated by his personality and by his physique (I'm thin, even a bit scrawny, not muscular at all).
Around eight o'clock he decided we'd hit the strip club near his motel. I say 'decided' because I didn't want to go but he refused to let me call it a night. The place was somewhat seedy, and for an hour we sat in front of naked women shaking their bodies. Naturally the subject of sex came up. I confessed to having a vanilla sex life with my wife. "That's too bad," he told me. "There's so much to try. But who knows - you're not dead yet."
When William wanted a real drink - the strip club didn't serve alcohol - he said he had a 12-pack in his room. "One last brew before we say goodnight."
"No, I really should-"
"One more beer." The finality in his voice surprised me. Once again I allowed him to take control of the evening.
Soon I was following him into his room - 207 on the second floor. He emptied his pockets onto the nightstand and told me to grab beers while he relieved himself. I extracted cold bottles from the cooler. Since the room's chair were filled (a suitcase and cardboard boxes) I waited on the foot of the bed. William stepped out of the bathroom with his shirt opened (which displayed a forest of chest hair) and kicked off his shoes. I handed him a bottle. He clicked his against mine. "To old times," he said. "And new ones, too!"
Before he sat down he handed me an envelope of old pictures. We had known each other through middle and high school. We were in the same classes, played sports together, hung out and got in trouble, and obsessed over girls. The faded photographs brought back many memories. But there was one memory I was hoping wouldn't come up. William had other plans.
"We were horny kids back then," William told me. "Weren't we?"
I just said, "Yeah," hoping the conversation wouldn't continue.
"I can't believe the things we did with other. To each other. Remember?"
We had had a period of sexual experimentation that lasted about a year. Not wanting to talk about it I nodded and took a long sip of beer.
"And I admit I started it." William laughed. "In that theater on 12th Street, waiting for the movie to start. The place was empty; there was maybe a dozen people. And I took out that magazine -- Penthouse Forum, I think. And after a while I asked if you had a hard-on. And you said..."
I remained silent but William kept staring at me, waiting for an answer. Finally I gave in. "I told you that I did."
"And then I asked if I could feel it, and you said..."
There was no way to avoid answering. "I said you could.... if you wanted to."
"I guess I did want to, 'cuz I reached over and, yes, you certainly had a hard-on!" He eyed me, then shook his head. "What? Are you embarrassed about what we did? Ashamed?" When I didn't respond (which actually answered his question) he said, "What we did was normal. Natural. No harm, no fowl."
William could always rationalize away my concerns, could convince me to try different things. He had initiated all our explorations, which led to us not only rubbing each other through our pants, but stroking each other's cocks and even having me use my mouth on him. Now, to be clear, I wasn't controlled or even used by him. I had allowed - and even enjoyed - everything I did back then. But it was always - always - Billy in charge.
He placed his bottle on the floor. "Did you ever fool around with anyone el-"