Baggage

Chapter Six

Chapter Six

THANKFULLY THEY didn’t experience an awkward silence after Marcus’ orgasm. Contrarily, they lay together on the bed, and Marcus kissed Chandler repeatedly, cupping his face with both hands. Marcus rolled onto his side, draping his leg over Chandler’s as he leaned into him and slid one hand under Chandler’s T-shirt. His fingers against Chandler’s skin made Chandler’s whole body tingle.

It had been so long since he’d been lovingly touched. He looked into Marcus’ eyes, his own welling with tears. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“You just gave me the most awesome blowjob of my life, and you’re thanking me?” Marcus laughed softly.

“I probably enjoyed it at least as much as you did. If not more.”

“Doubt it.”

“If I go take a shower, will you still be here when I’m done?”

He nodded. “Sure, if you want me to be.”

“I do. I’m just... um, I’m afraid this all is just a dream or something.”

“I should be the one saying that.” Marcus’ whispery voice sounded so sultry. “I can’t believe it turned you on so much you came without touching yourself.”

“You know, I don’t need you to....”

“To what?”

“Reciprocate. I get that I’m probably not as attractive to you as you are to me.”

Marcus scowled. “Just because you’re older than me doesn’t mean I won’t take you down and beat your ass. I told you, I don’t like when you talk s**t about yourself like that.”

Chandler laughed but then almost instantly grew serious. Marcus wasn’t smiling. “You’re serious?”

“Of course, I’m serious. Dude, if I didn’t think you were attractive, I wouldn’t be here.” He pushed himself upright so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. “I’m kinda getting tired of repeating it.”

“Marcus, I’m sorry. I’ll... uh... try to do better.”

“I wanna take a shower with you.”

Chandler’s eyes grew wide and he gulped. “Wh-wha-why?”

“’Cause you got to see me naked, and I want to see you.”

“But....”

“No buts.”

A wave of panic swept over Chandler and his face began to grow warm. Even with Daniel he never was comfortable being totally naked. He knew it was prudish of him, and he realized it was a deeper issue than just fearing he had an unattractive body. Maybe it was part of his OCD. He couldn’t say for sure, but he’d always been extremely modest.

“I’d feel better if... um, if we took separate showers. If you don’t mind.”

“I do mind.” Marcus wasn’t budging an inch.

“Marcus....” Chandler scooted to the end of the bed to sit beside him. “I’ve always had this thing about getting naked. Even back in school, I could never shower in the locker room. I even used to get undressed in the dark when I was with Daniel.”

Marcus knit his brow as if confused. “That’s a shame, because you look like you have a cute body. How did you... ya know... have s*x with each other?”

Chandler laughed nervously. “I always turned the light off, or else I just gave him head. I don’t know... it took some time, and I kind of got less modest to where eventually I didn’t feel so embarrassed in front of him.”

“If I close my eyes, will you get undressed?”

Chandler laughed again, this time a little more heartily. “Why?”

“I just want you to.”

“And then you’ll peek.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I promise I won’t look unless you give me permission.”

Chandler released a slow sigh. “I don’t understand the point of it. It’s just kind of... weird.”

“Just do it.”

“I don’t know.”

“Am I gonna have to be strict with you again?” Chandler recognized the stare. Marcus was giving him the same look he had in the kitchen when he told him to suck his c**k.

“Okay! But only for a minute. I’ll get undressed and then go into the shower before you open your eyes.”

“Deal.” Marcus sat upright and squeezed his eyes closed. “Okay, go.”

This whole activity seemed pointless, silly even, but Chandler pushed off the bed and stood in front of Marcus, staring at him for a moment to make sure his eyes were closed. Was he squinting? Could he still see?

“I’m waiting. Go ahead, and tell me which items of clothing you’re removing as you take them off. And no, I can’t see anything.”

Chandler turned around to face the opposite direction.

“And I want you to look at me while you’re stripping.”

He sighed and spun back around, then quickly peeled off his T-shirt. “All right. I took off my shirt.” He tossed it on the floor beside him.

“Come here. Closer.” Marcus held out his arms, like a blind man feeling about in an unfamiliar room. Chandler stepped closer, into his arms, and Marcus pulled him in. He ran his fingers across Chandler’s shoulders and chest, slowly tweaking his n*****s. Chandler squirmed, then suppressed the urge to giggle. Marcus’ hands traveled farther down his torso, caressing his abs, then back around his obliques, up his back. He traversed every inch of him. “I bet you look as beautiful as you feel,” Marcus whispered. “Now take off your pants.”

“I still have my shoes on.” He quickly toed them off and kicked them aside, then undid the button of his pants. Marcus slid his hands lower on his backside, slipping them past his waistband and gliding across the globes of his ass.

“Oh, Marcus,” Chandler whispered. He was beginning to become aroused again.

“Go on, take em off. All the way. Pants and underwear.”

He pushed the pants over his butt, sliding his khakis and boxer briefs down his thighs. He used one hand to steady himself, holding onto Marcus’ shoulder and then slid them to his ankles. “I have to step out of them,” he whispered.

Now wearing only his socks, he stood before Marcus, who still held his eyes tightly shut. Marcus continued to explore his body with his hands, rubbing the back of his thighs, then moving around front.

“I’m still wet and sticky,” Chandler warned.

“Mmm.”

Chandler finally did giggle.

“Kiss me,” Marcus said, and Chandler leaned in. Marcus’ strong arms pulled him close and they kissed passionately. Chandler’s c**k now stood full mast.

Marcus found it, fisting it and stroking slowly as he rolled Chandler into the crook of his arm. “Let me look at you,” he pleaded. “Please.”

“Oh, Marcus.”

“Can’t you see how beautiful you are to me?” When Chandler didn’t immediately answer, Marcus went on. “You’re fuckin sexy as hell. Please give me permission to look.”

Chandler’s heartbeat quickened. “Uh... okay.”

Marcus opened his eyes and drank in the sight of him, smiling broadly. “Just as I suspected.”

Oddly, Chandler didn’t feel as embarrassed as he’d expected. “What did you suspect?”

“That you’re perfect. You’re fuckin’ perfect.”

~

CHANDLER BACKED into Marcus’ body and allowed himself to be enveloped by the muscular arms that had held him seconds earlier. But now warm water cascaded over their bodies, and as Marcus reached around to lather Chandler’s torso with a bar of soap, Chandler closed his eyes and savored the surreal moment. Starting at his neck, Marcus worked his way down, gliding across his pecs and then easing slowly downward. He slipped over to the side of his body, the outer limits of Chandler’s ribcage, and teased him a bit with his tickling fingers. Down farther, over his obliques, then back inward toward his navel. At last inching toward the ultimate destiny located just past his treasure trail.

Chandler gasped when Marcus’ slick hand wrapped around his turgid c**k. “You like that?” Marcus whispered into his ear.

“Yes!” His answer escaped his lips like a hiss.

Though Chandler had just come in his pants, he found himself already rock hard, and as Marcus began to pump his shaft, Chandler couldn’t help but thrust his pelvis, f*****g Marcus’ palm while he stood on tiptoe.

Shifting to the side, he lolled his head back, and as Marcus leaned into him, they kissed. Marcus thrust his tongue deep within Chandler’s mouth, in time with the pumping of his c**k. Chandler thought his heartbeat, too, had synchronized with the rhythm.

He knew he wouldn’t last long, not nearly as long as Marcus had when Chandler was servicing him. In spite of himself, he whimpered ever so softly as Marcus pulled him closer to his point of no return. “I’m gonna... come... now!”

A shiver traveled the length of his spine as the hot white lava erupted in all its volcanic glory, pumping copiously in an arced jet. Marcus moaned in his ear as he watched the blast-off. Trembling, Chandler squirmed involuntarily, unable to escape his partner’s still firm grasp. Marcus held tightly to Chandler’s hard-on, milking out every last drop.

Spent, Chandler spun around in Marcus’ arms and kissed him once again. Allowing himself a few seconds to recover, he took the bar of soap from Marcus and began to lather him reciprocally. In the most worshipful manner, he soaped every inch of the younger man’s body, dropping to his knees to bathe his legs and feet and, of course, his most private parts.

When they stepped out of the shower and dried each other, no thoughts of modesty clouded Chandler’s mind. None of this can be real, he thought. It’s all too good to be true.

Chandler found an oversized tee, a clean pair of socks, and some fresh boxer shorts for Marcus to wear while he tossed the clothes he’d had on in the wash. They then curled up on the couch and Chandler handed Marcus the remote, urging him to pick out anything he wanted to watch.

“My friend Nick’s coming over this afternoon,” he said. “We’re gonna go shoot hoops and then work out. Wanna come?”

Taken aback by the unexpected invitation, Chandler didn’t know how to respond. He began to stammer. “Uh... I’m not good at... um, I don’t really play sports. I think I’d embarrass you... or myself.”

“Nah. It’d be cool. We just play for fun. You could come and watch.”

“What gym do you go to?” Maybe if Chandler changed the subject he could avoid the invitation altogether. He didn’t own a gym membership anywhere, so he probably couldn’t participate even if he wanted to.

“We don’t go to a gym. We go down to the basketball court right here in the park, and there’s a gym right here at the end of your street. It’s free to all the residents, and they have all kinds of equipment. Stationary bikes, treadmills, free weights.”

“Really?”

“But if you don’t wanna go this time, that’s cool.”

“I do. I mean, I want to do whatever you want... to be with you.”

“It ain’t gotta be like that,” Marcus said, shaking his head. “You ain’t got to pretend, to be someone you’re not. You don’t got to impress me like that.”

“I know. I really do need to exercise, though. I’ve wanted to join a gym or something, but I get really embarrassed. Self-conscious, I guess.”

“How ’bout just you and me start going to the gym here? We can go together at a time when no one else is there. It’s a great gym, but, like, hardly anyone uses it.”

“I think I’d like that.” He took hold of Marcus’ hand and squeezed it. “But will you come back tonight, after you and Nick are done?”

“Sure. You know I will.”

“I can make dinner. I’ve been wanting to do a cookout. You can invite your friend. I’ll go get us some steaks and make corn on the cob.”

“Oh man! You’re making my mouth water.”

Chandler smiled and looked him in the eye. “You’re the one who makes my mouth water.”

~

WHEN MARCUS walked to the door later that afternoon as his friend pulled up in front of his trailer, Chandler escorted him out onto the porch. “You want us back here at what time for dinner?” he asked, sliding his arm around Chandler and placing his palm in the center of his lower back.

“You tell me,” Chandler said.

“Six o’clock?”

“Sure.” Chandler smiled somewhat sheepishly. What would Marcus’ friend think of him? “Do you want to invite your brother?”

“Hell no.” Marcus rolled his eyes. “He wouldn’t come anyway.”

“Okay. Well, you better get going. Don’t keep your friend waiting.”

Marcus leaned in and kissed Chandler on the neck, a far more discrete gesture than a full-on lip-lock on the front porch. And then he pulled away, turned, and hurried off the porch and across the yard.

The young man who slipped out of the sports car to greet Marcus wasn’t at all the guy Chandler had expected to see. Nick, a tall, slender white guy about Marcus’ age, could easily work as a professional model. Though dressed casually in a sleeveless tee and basketball shorts, he appeared immaculately groomed. He seemed every bit the boy-next-door type, and a perfect counterpart to the gorgeous young man who made Chandler’s heart do somersaults.

An intense, nearly crippling fear swept over him, laced with a smidgen of acerbic jealousy. Instantly he resented Nick, whoever he might be. Though Chandler knew nothing really about him, his mere existence made Chandler feel smaller.

This threatening feeling jolted him, taking him by surprise. He wasn’t used to immediately judging or instantly disliking someone upon first sight. And he had to chastise himself, even as he watched Marcus and Nick embrace. Nick draped an arm around Marcus’ shoulder then playfully patted him in the belly. He leaned into his car, retrieving a basketball from the backseat, which he then tossed into the air. Marcus caught it using only his middle finger and balanced it, making it twirl.

How could Chandler compete with someone like this? Someone so drop-dead gorgeous. Someone totally in the same league, so-to-speak, as Marcus? As Chandler slipped back into his home, every bit of confidence he’d felt earlier when he was with Marcus dissolved. What had he possibly been thinking? Why would Marcus choose to be with someone like him, someone thirteen years older, someone with so many hangups, so much baggage?

Marcus surely could hook up with any young guy of his choosing. Guy or girl, for that matter. Why would he ever be drawn to Chandler?

He slipped into his recliner and felt the storm clouds gathering over his head. Today had been such a special day, perfect in every way. A dream come true. But like with all his dreams, he had to wake up at some point.

As he slumped in his seat, he looked up to stare out his window. Marcus and Nick had begun walking down the street, presumably to the basketball court, when Marcus stopped and turned to look back at Chandler. He made eye contact, and Marcus beamed, then held up both hands displaying one finger on one hand and five on the other. Six o’clock. He was reminding Chandler he’d be back, and Chandler smiled and did the only thing he could do—gave him a thumb’s up.