Petrichor

Cherry Bomb-1

Cherry Bomb

Being the only openly gay guy in a frat should be hell, but Carl has won the college lottery when it comes to fraternities. He’d thought it was a joke when they’d asked him to join. But it turned out one of the Delta Omega Beta big brothers was the proud son of two fathers and another had a gay brother.

They didn’t tolerate homophobia, so Carl had joined up, and many shots and a few pranks later, he had become a member and moved into the frat house. His parents thought it was a good idea, despite knowing about the drinking, because they know how shy Carl is. That was a year ago. Now it’s the week of his twenty-first birthday, and he thinks he’s been pranked yet again by his brothers.

He’s in line for a club called Cherry Bomb. His brothers said they would meet him here, but they’re not outside when he gets there. Carl sends them a text, and they say they’re inside, so Carl gets in line—a line he can’t help but notice is all male.

They’re taking him to a gay club. Part of Carl wants to run away and hide, but if his frat brothers have the balls to go inside a LGBT club, and he doesn’t, he’ll never hear the end of it. So Carl waits, and a few minutes later, a bouncer with a shaved head comes down the line and asks for Carl’s ID. Carl knows he looks a little young.

But the guy doesn’t tell Carl to get lost. He smiles at Carl and waves him to the front of the line.

“Are you sure?” Carl blurts, not understanding.

The big guy laughs. “Oh, cutie, you have no idea how hot you are, do you? You’re going to get eaten alive in this place. Sure you want to go in?”

Carl’s surprised at being called “hot.” He’s tall and thin, with icy blond hair and blue eyes. His mom tells him he’s handsome all the time, but that isn’t the same thing. He spends most of his time with his frat brothers, who certainly don’t call him “hot,” and sorority girls who just call him “cute.”

“I’ll be fine. I’m meeting friends inside, but thank you.” Carl grins.

“Lord, I hope your friends are half as sweet as you.” The bouncer smiles. “Did your friends get you a guest pass?” the guy asks, and Carl realizes it’s a members-only club. Either the trick is that he won’t get in, or his pals didn’t know that when they sent him here.

“Sorry, we’re not members. I guess I’ll go,” Carl says, feeling embarrassed.

“I shouldn’t do this, but you’re just too pretty to send home. Go in as my guest.”

“Really?” He wants to go in, to show his friends he’s not chicken, and have a good time.

“Sure.” And just like that, Carl is being waved through.

Carl walks into the club, and he’s figured out it’s a gay bar, but he’s never been inside one before, and he’s sure they aren’t all like this. He scurries over to the bar, aware because of the porn he’s seen that this is a b**m place.

There are people having s****l experiences, of the whips and chains variety. No one’s naked, but there are people on leads, in collars, doing things that are s****l—if you’re into licking a guy’s boots. There are all kinds of things going on that Carl’s never seen before, not even in porn. Joining the line at the bar, he tries to look like he belongs as he fires off texts to five different guys that said they’d be here. Not one of them answers though, and Carl can’t see them anywhere in the club.

So maybe they didn’t have the balls to come into a gay bar, and maybe they’re just trying to mess with him—especially since the club is members only, which they’d probably known. Just last week one of the older guys sent a strippergram to another brother in the middle of an exam. They just want to embarrass each other. It’s typical guy stuff, and Carl guesses it’s just his turn.

What should he do now? He could just leave, but he’s kind of fascinated. He’s never been the fake ID type, so he’s only ever drunk alcohol at the frat house. He should have his first legal drink in a bar, and then he can go back to his friends and tell them their prank didn’t work. They haven’t made a fool of him.

So he stays at the bar, trying not to gawk at the things going on around him, when he feels a large hand light on his shoulder—not grabbing, not trying to cop a feel, but just getting his attention. Carl turns and almost swallows his tongue.

The man facing him is taller than Carl, with dark hair and green eyes. He has tattoos on his arms and neck, piercings in his eyebrow, lip, and nose, and he’s wearing all leather. He’s older than Carl, and the hottest thing Carl has ever seen.

“Hi, my name’s Kristian. What’s yours?”

“C…Carl,”

“Would you like a drink, Carl?” Kristian’s voice is deep and sexy. Carl almost shivers at hearing his name said by this man.

Carl’s about to reply when his cell phone starts ringing, and he jumps as it vibrates in his pocket. He fumbles to get it out and see who it is, but then he doesn’t respond. He doesn’t want to be rude.

“You should answer if it’s important. Is it your boyfriend looking for you?” Kristian says gently.

“No…No boyfriend. It’s just one of my frat brothers.”

“Frat brother?” Kristian repeats.

“Yeah, they sent me here, but it was a prank—”Carl starts to explain, only to be cut off by Kristian holding a hand up.

“Didn’t realize I was wasting my time. You college kids think it’s funny to come here and laugh at the freaks? Not everyone will take it as well as me.” Kristian shakes his head. “Get out of here, kid.”

“I’m not. They were joking, but I’m…” Carl doesn’t get to finish before Kristian walks away.

Carl curses. He can feel his cheeks flushing with embarrassment, and he feels like everyone is staring at him. They’re probably not, but Carl feels like a fool, so he turns from the bar and heads out of the club and away from the line of people.

He finds his frat brother Jamie’s number in his contacts and calls him.

“You’re an asshole,” Carl says in way of a greeting.

“I’m guessing that means you went into the club?” Jamie asks.

“Yeah, I went in. I thought it’d be fun to finally go to a gay bar, now I’m old enough, but I didn’t know it was a kinky club, and I got all awkward and made an ass of myself,” Carl admits.

“It wasn’t like a prank,” Jamie replies, then hastily adds, “It was, but it wasn’t. We thought it’d be kind of funny to send a guy who’s never been on a date with a guy into a hardcore kink club, but at the same time, I thought you might have fun.”

“I spoke to some guy. He thought I was there as a joke. And I was too much of a loser to get the truth out fast enough. He was really hot, and he wanted to buy me a drink. I totally messed it up. The minute I said I was in a frat, he assumed I was an asshole there to mock the club. Probably didn’t help that I was staring at everything, and I’m just in a T-shirt and jeans. Most of the guys are really dressed up.” Carl hates the slight whine to his voice, but he’s really annoyed.

Carl has never been on a date, he’s never had s*x, and his frat brothers know that. Some of them laugh at him for being a virgin, but Carl was so shy in high school, there was no chance he was going to be in a relationship. He hadn’t even come out until his senior year. Now he’s a few years into college, and he still hasn’t made the leap.

Half of it’s not knowing what he wants, and half of it’s being timid. He needs someone else to make the first move, to give him a push. It’s just never really happened, not with a guy that makes him feel anything. He liked the look of the guy in the bar, though. He thinks the right description for the guy would be a “leather daddy.” He’d seemed so confident.

Carl sighs. “I hate the guy thought I was trying to make a fool of him. I don’t mind that you were trying to embarrass the gay virgin, but I feel shitty that I couldn’t explain and that I probably made him feel bad.”

“So, find him again and tell him you’re not playing a joke. Yes, you’re in a frat, but you’re gay, and you didn’t mean any harm,” Jamie suggests.

“I bet he thinks I’m a loser. He’s probably laughing with his cool friends about me. You didn’t see him. He was really handsome and confident. He knew what he wanted, and for a second what he wanted was me. But I get so tongue tied around hot guys.” Carl sighs.

“You don’t get tongue-tied around me, and I’m hot,” Jamie points out.

“You’re straight. It’s not the same as talking to a gay guy. I know you’re not interested. I don’t want you to be; you’re my brother. But I wanted him to be attracted to me. Maybe it’s for the best. A guy who goes to a hardcore club like that wouldn’t be interested in a virgin who doesn’t even know what he likes yet.” Carl groans.

“You need to be more confident. I’m not gay, but I know you’re a good looking guy. You’re smart and funny. You’re a catch. This guy would be lucky to get a shot with you.”

Carl hears someone clear their throat behind him. He glances back and sees Kristian, looking just as good under the street lamp as he had under the flashing club lights.

“I have to go, Jamie. I’ll text when I’m on my way home,” Carl says, and he waits for Jamie to say goodbye before he hangs up.

“I came out when I saw you take off. I felt a little bad for being so harsh with you. I heard your phone call. So this wasn’t a joke on us? It was more a joke on you?” Kristian asks.

“They’re cool with me being gay, but we kind of all take turns embarrassing each other. I’m kind of shy, and they thought it’d shock me to come to a place like this,” Carl tries to explain.

“I thought frats were all homophobic.” Kristian frowns.

“Not mine. I got lucky. The guys all stick up for me if anyone says anything. They’re good to me. But, ah, I guess I’m sorry if you thought they sent me here like it was a freak show. No one meant it like that. It was just meant to be a harmless joke at my expense.” Carl bites his lip, hoping he’s making sense.

“You don’t have to apologize. I think I overreacted. I’m thirty-four, but in my day, the frat guys were assholes, all of them. If they showed up at a gay bar, it was to make fools out of the people there, to mock. You weren’t pointing and staring. You looked curious when I was watching you, but nervous,” Kristian says softly.

“I only turned twenty-one this week, and I never had a fake ID to get into places like this,” Carl replies. “My folks would have killed me if I got caught in a club when I was underage. So this was my first time in a gay bar.”

“Really? You’ve never been here before? And I ran you off after five minutes? I feel like an asshole. Would you come back inside? Let me buy you a drink? No pressure or obligations. I just don’t want the story of your first trip to a gay bar to be a bad one.” Kristian looks like he feels bad, and for a tough guy, he seems kind.

“I guess we could have a drink.” Carl’s heart races, and part of him wants to run and hide, but he doesn’t want to listen to that side this time.

“You don’t have to, but I’d like to hear more about your gay-friendly frat.” Kristian has a gorgeous smile.

“I want to. It’ll give me a better story. They all thought they were clever sending me here, that it’d embarrass me.” Carl grins faintly. “It’ll be cool to be able to go back to my frat saying I had a good time.”

“Well, if I know anything, it’s how to have a good time. Come with me.”

Carl takes a deep breath and follows Kristian back into the club. The bouncer who’d let Carl skip ahead in the line smiles at them and winks at Carl. They go inside and manage to get seats at the bar, close to a huge cross thing pinned to the wall, with a man strapped to it, being whipped.

“It’s called a Saint Andrew’s cross,” Kristian says close to Carl’s ear as their drinks arrive. Kristian’s breath on his skin, his deep voice, make Carl shiver slightly.