“The dominos start to fall.” When you stack dominos in a line, all it takes is one little push to start a chain reaction. It only stops when the last one falls.
***
It had been about a month since dad was released from the hospital following his heart attack. I had been taking him to his weekly appointments and the doctor was pleased with his progress. I was proud of dad for changing his diet and his willingness to take his daily walks. Every week he increased the walks by a block, and he had even lost some weight. He was getting stronger every day and was getting antsy to go back to work. I was able to talk him into two more weeks and Fred, his boss, agreed that he could return for just half a day for the first couple of weeks.
I still hadn’t decided when I was going back to Houston, to be honest, I was liking it here and the slower pace. I was able to work from here just fine, and I think that dad was getting used to me being home. At least he wasn’t asking me when I was leaving anymore. We were still planning our trip to Pheonix to visit Al and Sarah as soon as the doctor said dad could fly, so I had no immediate plans to leave.
As I was finishing my latest erotic book, once again I was thinking about my college days. Nate and I continued our relationship over the next four years, and he made many trips back to McAlester with me. He and dad always got along well, and Cole was happy for us as well. The band was still keeping him busy, especially in the summer when all the county fairs were in full swing. I had gotten an internship at the Houston Chronicle and that turned into a part time job during the school year and full time in the summers. As we approached graduation, it was becoming clear that Nate and my lives were probably headed in different directions. I was offered a job as a reporter at the Chronicle and Walker was talking about moving to Nashville to pursue his music career.
I asked Nate, “do you want to go to Nashville with Walker and the others?”
He shrugged, “part of me wants to go, but part of me wants to stay here with you.”
I said, “I know what you mean. I could probably find a job in Nashville, but I really like it here. The only reason I would want to move is because of you.”
He nodded, “yeah, the only thing keeping me here is you, I know I don’t want to go back to Dallas. My family made it clear I am not welcome there.”
As we pondered our options, I said, “Nate, you want to see where your music career will take you. The best place to do that is in Nashville with Walker and the others. I don’t want you to get ten years down the road and find yourself as a music teacher or something and have regrets about not trying to play music professionally.”
Nate looked at me, “and you have a good job offer at the Chronicle, there is no guarantee you will have the same in Nashville.”
I smiled, “I think we both need to follow our dreams, it is the best thing for both of us.”
Nate sighed, “as much as I hate it, I think you are probably right.”
I took his hand, “when you guys hit it big, I am sure you will be back in Houston for a show, I’ll be right there in the front row.”
He smiled, “you better be and as soon as you finish that first novel, I expect a copy in the mail.”
I gave him a kiss, “it will be autographed and everything.”
We spent as much time as we could together over the last few weeks of school. To be honest, I was going to miss Walker and the rest of the guys almost as much as I was going to miss Nate. They did their last show in Houston, and we went out afterwards to celebrate. The day after graduation, they loaded up their trucks and headed to Nashville. Dad had come to Houston for my graduation and was able to say goodbye to Nate. He stayed a couple of days and helped me move into my new apartment.
Dad asked, “so, are you ok Devin?”
I forced a smile, “sure dad, I’m good. I’m going to miss Nate, but it really is for the best, for both of us.”
He nodded, “yeah, I think so too, but it’s never easy. I’m only a phone call away if you need me.”
I gave him a hug, “I know you are, you always have been. Thank you for everything dad, I love you.”
He said, “I love you to son.” He broke our embrace, “now quit being so sappy, let’s go someplace and I’ll buy you a beer.”
I laughed as I wiped my tears away, “sounds like a plan old man, I’ll drive.”
Dad left the next day, after he helped me get settled into my new place, that was the last time he was ever in Houston. He said he hated the traffic and there were too many people, I couldn’t disagree, but I guess I had gotten used to it. I just found it easier to go back to McAlester to visit him, than try to talk him into coming to see me, besides, I only had a one-bedroom apartment.
I spent the next 15 years going from that apartment to the newspaper office, to the courthouse and back to my apartment. After a year of doing whatever story was assigned to me, I got a small, attempted murder case. It didn’t involve a lot of mystery or intrigue, so the veteran reporters didn’t want it. I must have done a good job, because after that, the stories I was assigned got bigger and I was solely working big court cases. I dated frequently while I was in my twenties, but I never found anyone like Matt or Nate. I did have fun, and I became close to several guys, but we were only in it for the fun. A couple of them, I only reached out to when I needed to release a little sexual tension, they only called me for the same reason. As I got into my thirties, that group only got smaller. Oh, I had a group of friends that I socialized with, but even that group dwindled as I got older. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t a hermit, but I wasn’t a man about town either. Nate did come to Houston a couple of times as well, so we were able to spend some time together. I was successful in my career and basically happy with my life, I never felt like I was missing anything by not having a true partner.
So, here I was, 38 years old, and I was back in the town that I swore I would only visit. I was telling myself it was only temporary. I was only staying until dad was well enough to care for himself. If I was being honest, I wasn’t hating being back in McAlester and certainly didn’t miss the traffic and crowds of Houston. Shit, was I really pondering staying here? I could work from here easily enough, and I could give up my freelance news writing, after all, the cost of living here was a lot cheaper. I guess I would wait until dad went back to work before, I made any decisions.
I had called Cole right after dad had got home from the hospital and we met for dinner. We had to find a new place to eat, the Shapiros had long since retired and the restaurant had changed hands several times. He and Nicole had married fifteen years ago and now have three children. Cole was a manager at a manufacturing plant and Nicole worked part-time at a doctor’s office, the kids kept them pretty busy. Trever, Joey and Josh had left after graduation and like me, the only time they had been back was to visit their families. I had lost track of where they were now. Blake was still in town and had his own heating and air conditioning business, he too was married with kids.
Dad had been really sticking to his diet and had given up coffee, the doctor had told him to limit his caffeine. So, when I went to make a pot of coffee one morning, I was disappointed to find the can empty. Trying to be supportive, I decided to go to the local coffee shop while dad was out for his morning walk. I would drink the coffee before I returned home, no need to tempt dad since he was trying so hard to stay healthy. I got my coffee and was going to walk around downtown while I drank it. As I stepped out of the coffee shop, I heard someone say my name.
“Devin, is that you?”
I turned to the direction I heard the voice, my eyes went wide, “Matt?”
Matt smiled, “yeah, wow, it’s great to see you.”
We gave each other a hug, I said, “yeah, you too. What are you doing here?”
He said, “my folks have been laying the guilt trip on me for not visiting for 5 years, so I came to see them for the week. How about you, visiting your dad?”
I chuckled, “well sort of.” He got himself a cup of coffee and we found a table on the outdoor patio, and I told him about dad’s heart attack. I told him about my job in Houston, and he filled me in on his life. He was now living in Tulsa and was a Financial Advisor and had his own small firm, selling IRAs and investment accounts. As we sat and caught up, I couldn’t help but notice he still had those same beautiful eyes and smile.
He said, “hey, I need to get going, I am having lunch with my folks. I am staying at the Candlelight Inn on highway 69, would you want to stop by this afternoon? I’ll pick up some beers and we can catch up a little more.”
I asked, “you aren’t staying at your folks place?”
Matt laughed, “no, I told mom the only way I was staying all week was if I could have a little time to myself. Mom still thinks I’m a little kid.”
I chuckled, “about 2:00 then?”
He smiled, “perfect, room 116.”
Matt walked away, he still had a great ass. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I was thinking that Matt wanted to do more than talk. To be completely honest, I didn’t hate the idea, it had been a while since I had been with another man.
Dad smiled at me as I walked in the door, “hey, where did you disappear to?”
I shrugged, “I wanted a cup of coffee, so I went downtown.”
He said, “you can have coffee here, you don’t have hide it.”
I chuckled, “I know, but I am so proud of you for following doctor’s orders, I don’t want to tempt you.”
Dad smiled, “I appreciate that, but don’t give up things you enjoy.”
I changed the subject, “guess who I ran into when I was at the coffee shop.”
He shrugged, “who?”
I said, “Matt, we are going to get together for a beer this afternoon.”
He grinned, “that’s good son, is he in town for good, or just visiting.”
I said, “just visiting.”
Dad asked, “so does he have a boyfriend or husband, or…”
I chuckled, “I’m not sure, I guess I didn’t ask.”
Dad though for a minute, “so why haven’t you found someone, I mean like a partner or whatever?”
His question caught me off guard, I said, “I don’t know, after Nate left and I started working, I guess it wasn’t a priority. After I turned thirty, I was used to being by myself and any guy that I dated just disturbed my routine.” I decided to turn the tables on him, I asked, “what about you? You were still young when mom died, why didn’t you get remarried?”
Dad gave me a look, “I was taking care of you, there weren’t too many women that age that wanted a kid before they were married.”
I raised an eyebrow, “so it was my fault you didn’t date?”
He laughed, “no, I didn’t mean it like that, and I did date. Do you think you spent all those Saturday nights at Al and Sarah’s house because I wanted to stay home alone?”
I chuckled, “I did spend a lot of time there, didn’t I? But, once they found out you had a kid, they didn’t stick around.”
Dad shrugged, “some of them couldn’t get away fast enough, others just didn’t seem to care, but like I told you before, other than your mom, women are nuts. Besides, I never found anyone that I felt the same about as I felt for your mom. Then when you were older, the only available women were ones who had kids too. I love you Devin, but I didn’t really want more kids or to go through the whole blended family thing.”
I hadn’t really thought about all those things before, dad really loved mom and would rather be alone than feel like he was cheating on her. Plus, he was looking out for me, I can’t say how I would have felt about having stepbrothers or stepsisters. The older I get the more I appreciate all that my dad has done for me.
We ate a quick lunch, and I took a shower. Maybe I was being overly optimistic, but I wanted to be prepared if Matt wanted to do more than talk.
I drove out to highway 69 and knocked on the door to room 116 at the Candlelight Inn. I was surprised when an attractive Hispanic man answered the door.
I said, “I’m sorry, I think I have the wrong room, I was looking for Matt Grey.”
Just then Matt stepped into the room from the bathroom, he said, “hey Devin, come on in, you have the right room.”
I was slightly confused as Matt walked toward us, he said, “Glad you made it, Vince this is my high school friend Devin Taylor, Devin this is Vince Perez, my boyfriend.”
My heart sank, I should have known, Matt had someone in his life, it was too much to hope that he was still single. I put on my best happy face as I shook Vince’s hand and said, “nice to meet you.”
He returned the smile and said, “nice to finally meet you too, Matt has told me a lot about you.”
Matt handed us each a beer as we all sat down, he said, “so Devin, what about you, do have someone special?”
I took a big swig of my beer, “no, not at the moment. So how long have you guys been together?”
Vince said, “it’s been close to eight years now.”
I smiled, “good for you guys, I’m very happy for you.”
Matt asked, “has there been anyone…?”
I chuckled, “yeah, I guess you would say Nate was pretty special to me.”
I gave them a brief recount of my college years with Nate, and then the same excuse for not having anyone that I had given my dad earlier. I assured them that I was happy with my life and while I was not opposed to finding the “one”, if I didn’t, I would be fine.
As we continued talking, I could see that Matt and Vince were happy and I was honestly happy for them. Although I would have loved to have a little fun with Matt, I was still glad I came to see him.
Matt got us each another beer and as he handed one to Vince, he asked “what do you think?”
Vince opened his beer, “you were right, he is as nice as you told me he was.”
I took a drink, unsure why they were having this conversation in front of me, it was clear they were talking about me. Vince sat his beer down on the table and walked behind me and began to massage my shoulders.
Vince said, “and you didn’t do him justice when you told me how good-looking he is. Do you want to ask him, or should I?”
Matt rolled his eyes, “well now we have to, don’t we.”
Vince continued to rub my shoulders as he said, “Matt and I spent the last week in my hometown, and I introduced him to my old boyfriend. Well, as we were talking about old times, we ended up making some… shall we say, new memories.”
I looked at Matt, he shook his head, “what Mr. Subtle is trying to say, we are a pretty open-minded couple. From time to time, we like to include others in our fun. We both have to agree, and we never play without both of us being there. Of course, the third party has to agree, if you are not comfortable, just say so, we will drop the whole thing.”
I stuttered, “you want to have a three-way?”
Vince leaned down and kissed my neck, “yes we do, would you like to join us?”
Vince’s kiss and massage already had my cock swelling, I just gave them a nod. Matt joined us, pulled me to my feet and started to kiss my lips as Vince was still kissing my neck. My mind was racing as I felt my clothes being pulled from my body. Vince pulled my shirt over my head as Matt unbuttoned my pants and pulled them off. They both went their knees and removed my underwear, Matt licked the head of my cock as Vince began to spread my ass so he could lick my hole. Just as they had me close to climax, I pushed them away. I panted, “you need to lose your clothes too.” They both grinned and seconds later we were all completely naked and, on the bed, each of us with a cock in our mouth. I was sucking Matt, his dick was still as tasty as I remembered, he was sucking Vince and Vince’s skilled mouth was giving me much pleasure. We rotated and I was now getting a good taste of Vince’s uncut cock, Matt was reminding me how talented he was with his mouth and Vince was pleasing his boyfriend. Matt was also working a finger into my ass, it may have been twenty years since we had been together, but he still knew how to push my buttons. I moaned as I spread my legs slightly to allow Matt to work in a second finger. I released Vince’s dick from my mouth, rolled onto my back and pulled my legs into the air. Matt soon replaced his fingers with his swollen manhood. Vince once again fed me his tasty love stick as he and Matt kissed above me. Just when I thought I was ready to explode, Matt and Vince swapped places. I now had Vince’s big uncut cock buried deep inside my hole, Matt moved up and fed his cock to Vince. This left Matt’s sweet hole right above my hungry mouth, he squatted down giving me full access. Once I had Matt’s hole good and wet, he got onto his hands and knees beside me, he said, “I want you to fuck me now Devin.” Vince grinned as I scrambled into position behind Matt, he guided my cock to Matt’s love tunnel and had his arm wrapped around my chest. Matt groaned as I pushed in and bottomed out. I felt Vince move in closer behind me, as he pushed inside me. My eyes rolled back in my head with pleasure as my cock filled Matt’s warm hole and my hole was filled with Vince’s manhood. We were soon in rhythm, and it was as if Vince was fucking us both, using me as an extension of his own cock to fuck Matt. I reached down and began to stroke Matt’s precum dripping cock as his breathing quickened. Matt let out a final grunt as he cum began to cover my hand as I gave him one last stroke, setting off a chain reaction. His spasms clamped his ass muscles around my cock, and I let my seed fly inside Matt. Vince then followed by flooding my guts with creamy, white, love juices. We collapsed into a heap in the center of the bed, catching our breath.
We cleaned up and I began to dress, Matt and Vince remained on the bed, naked, holding each other.
Matt said, “it was good to see you again Devin.”
I tied my shoes and moved toward the door, “yeah, good to see you too, and it was nice to meet you, Vince.”
Vince smiled, “yes it was, if you ever make to Tulsa, you have a place to stay.”
I chuckled, “thanks, I’ll remember that.” I left and drove home.
Dad was reading the newspaper as I walked into the house.
He looked over his glasses at me, “so did you and Matt get all caught up?”
I smiled as I sat down, “sure did. He does have a boyfriend, his name is Vince and he is a nice guy. He has a successful business in Tulsa, and they seem very happy.”
Dad nodded, “good for them, I always liked Matt.” He turned the page of his paper and said, “your friend Matt isn’t the only one of your old school mates doing well for himself.”
I asked, “what do you mean?”
He said, “I was just reading this article on Conrad Brooks III.”
I rolled my eyes, “oh please, what is Connie’s daddy doing for him now to make him a big success?”
Dad shrugged, “well, you already know he went to law school, and then he moved back to work in the family law office, he was elected to the city council, and at the next election became the mayor.”
I chuckled, “just like daddy, I expected nothing less from my dear friend Connie.”
He said, “not so fast Devin, after his two terms as mayor, he has spent the last 4 year in the state senate.”
I said, “wow, next thing you know he’ll be running for governor and for the US Senate and who knows, maybe the white house.”
Dad nodded, “you’re not far off, it says here that he is on the short list for Lt. Governor in the next election. Jack Kavanaugh is looking for a young and upcoming Politian for a running mate, Conrad appears to be the frontrunner right now.”
I shook my head, “of course, when you have enough money, you can buy any life you want.”
I only followed enough politics to be an informed voter in Houston, I hadn’t really paid attention to what was happening here in McAlester. I guess I did remember hearing that Connie was elected to the city council a few years ago, but I didn’t care enough about him to keep up past that. I had been back home for two months now, and dad was back to work full-time. I suppose I needed to decide if I was going to go back to Houston or stay here. If I was going to stay, I should get rid of my apartment and find some place here, and of course, register to vote.
Dad handed me the paper and I reread the article, it was clear that Connie had a press agent or a friend at the newspaper. After we ate dinner, I decided to go downtown and have a beer, I had been so busy taking dad to his doctor’s appointments and therapy sessions, I was due a night out.
I walked into the McAlester Tavern and found a seat at the bar. I took a quick look around the room, I didn’t see anyone I recognized. The bartender smiled as she asked, “what can I get you?”
I smiled back, “I’ll have a Miller, in a bottle please.”
She said, “sure thing hon, I’ll be right back.”
She returned a few seconds later, setting the bottle on the napkin she had left in front of me. I took my first sip as the tv above the bar was airing the news, and the story about Conrad being considered for Lt. Governor. I shook my head as I took another drink.
I sensed someone approaching me, I turned to see who it was.
He said, “hi Devin, do you mind if I join you?”
I shrugged and used the same line I used that first day we walked home from school together, “hi Mike, it’s a free country.”
To be continued…
