If you've come this far you know all of the obligatory crap that we say at the beginning."if your under 18." blah, blah, blah.
So, Douglas is a divorced man. Works for me! We got to talking about what each of us do for a living; he's a general contractor, I'm a house designer. I told him that I'd always wanted to be a builder and that someday I hoped to restore at least one old house. Douglass told me that he and his wife bought an old farmhouse on the outskirts of the city we live in that was about to be condemned and fixed it up. A few years ago his wife divorced him because "she got sick of it all." I didn't know if that meant she didn't want to be married, or married to him, or if there was something he'd been doing. My fantasy was that she was tired of seeing him check out guys' asses, but that's just a fantasy, babe.
Just then a woman came up to our row and he introduced her to me as his mother. I moved a few seats down to give her some space. One thing that sucks about being on the same row as him is that it's REAL hard to steal a glance at his package or ass while we're up singing. While we were talking the topic of people raising their hands while they sing (if you go to church you know what I mean); both of us thought that it was kind of silly so during the songs when people started doing that, he and I'd look over at each other and smile or act like we were lifting up our hands too.
Guys, here's a question for you: when you're hot for some guy do you ever look into his eyes during conversations and think "I'd love you to nail me at the soonest moment," hoping that he'd read your mind and want to go along? Just damn!
After that service I caught up to him outside and gave him one of my business cards and told him that if he ever needed any design / drafting services (thinking "oral services") to please give me a call. I should depart here for a second and say that he's probably one of the most polite guys you could run in to. He never meets a stranger. Oh yeah, and he actually doesn't mind drinking alcohol, which is something that a lot of churchgoers seem to forego - not me. I like..well, that's another conversation w/ Douglas.
The next week I talked to him about doing some minor renovation work to my kitchen (fix my pipes, baby) and we agreed to have him come over the next day. After he came over and looked at the work that we wanted to have done I walked him outside to his big damn truck (what is it about cowboys and their trucks!). I asked him if he was involved in the various church groups, notably the divorced group. He said he had checked it out but that there were too many women w/ emotional baggage. He went on to say that he hoped to find someone soon because he was "so tired of being alone." Uggg. Bring it on!
A couple of weeks go by and it's going to be a real pretty Sunday in North Texas. Douglas was sitting one seat away (for the cowboy hat) and he asked me if I'd like to go fishing with him. Shit yeah! I'm thinking. But I had already promised my kids that we'd take them to the mall to ride the merry-go-round and play at the playground. Alas, I asked for a raincheck. "Absolutely" was his response. Now, I have a tendency when I'm sitting in church to stretch my arms out and put them on the backs of the chairs next to me. When I did this my hand brushed against his shoulder and I pulled my hand back a little bit. Just a macho thing.
"It's ok, I'm not homophobic," Douglas said. I wanted to lean over and give him oral right then! I laughed and he gave me a peppermint.
The week came and went and it was Sunday. By now I'm really digging going to church! I always look forward to seeing and talking to Douglas. As I've said before he's just really a nice guy who always makes me laugh. I feel good when I'm around him. I feel safe. Oye vey! This particular Sunday my wife was sick so I was alone. Douglas came up and sat down next to me; this time without a seat between us. His shirt was untucked so - no package shot! I asked him what his weekend was like so far and he said that he was hurtin' from the night before. He and a bunch of his friends went to this place called Cutters, which is a country/western bar north of here. You see, Douglas likes to dance. They had too many beers the night before and he was feelin' it that day. I told him that I could never stand the taste of beer. "I'm a fruity drinker myself."
I realized what I said so I go "Well, I like to drink fruity drinks." He just laughed and said it didn't matter if someone was fruity as long as they kept their hands off of him. Otherwise he'd have to break my fingers. I laughed. Now we all know what that kind of statement means to us gay guys: either 1) I'm really not gay - keep off, or 2) I'm gay and just making a macho statement. We'll see about that later.
The next day I called him and asked if he wanted to go to lunch. Said he'd take a raincheck because of having the girls over the extended holiday weekend. That Saturday he called me to see if I wanted to have a late lunch with him. Shit, I was on my way down the highway w/ my family to do family stuff. Told him I'd raincheck. "Absolutely," he said.
The next Sunday I got to church real late and couldn't get to sit where I normally did. Shit, I missed talking to him. It's really fun to have someone who likes to cut up and point out the funny people in church. The two of us are kinda like Heckel and Jeckel during the services; above and beyond any sexual feelings I have for the guy, I just like being around him. Do I sound like a dramatic chick?
The next Sunday it was just he and I; again sitting right next to each other. Again the shirt was untucked - dammit! About halfway through the service he asked me if I wanted to go fishing.
"Sure" I said. "What time do you want to go?"
"After church."
"Aah-ight" (Southern-speak for "all right").
Just before the service ended he asked me, "You really wanna go fishing?"
"Yeah," I responded. I really wanted to get to know him more. No, pigs, not in the Biblical way. Man, you guys are nuts.
I called my wife and told here that we'd be fishing for a couple of hours, and followed Douglass to grab a bite to eat real quick. The wind was starting to pick up that day; I had dressed in a short sleeved shirt because it looked like it was going to be pretty. Hopefully it wouldn't get too cold.
At the restaurant we talked over hamburgers and I learned that he was a bit wild in his youth. His stories made some of mine look like Raggedy Ann and Andy tales. Afterwards, I followed him to his house and we went into the garage to get the fishing poles ready. I hadn't been fishing in 25 years and had no clue what to do, so he got my pole ready for me. When we drove to the pond he wanted to fish at we discovered that the gate to he property was locked, so we had to go somewhere else. That was fine with me.
On the way we talked about everything from sex to legalized drugs to whatever. He made a joke that he'd been known to participate in a few adult "recreational" activities. I figured at the very least he meant pot. While I don't smoke or do drugs, if someone else wants to and nobody else gets hurt, all the power to 'em, baby!
Douglass and I got to the second pond and the wind had really kicked in. It turns out that we had a surprise change in weather pattern. Hell, if you don't like the weather in North Texas, wait a minute. We lasted a half an hour on that pond before we called it quits because of the wind and the cold. On the way back to Douglass' house he said that he'd like to give me a tour but that it was a mess, so we'd just hang out a bit.
"Cool," I said.
We drove around his property for a while and then wound up back at the garage. He turned off the truck and I went to unbuckle my belt and get out. But then I noticed that he wasn't opening his door, so I just sat back in my seat. We talked about everything from music to church to people - everything. From my vantage point I could make out a bit of his package, which I glanced at every now and then hoping he wouldn't see me.
I'm not sure how it got brought up but the subject of us meeting came up in topic. I was a bit nervous as I said that I wasn't sure why, but something about him made me want to meet him.
"I hope that doesn't sound weird," I said.
"No, but why?"
"Why would it sound weird?"
"No. What is it about me that made you want to meet me?" At this point he had turned with his back to the door so we were talking face to face. I was just hoping he'd lean across that seat and kiss me, but he didn't.
Think, Mark, think.."Well, I saw the way you act with your sister and your daughters, cuttin' up in church and all, and I figured that 'hey, this guy's the kind of dude I can have fun with.' " Whew! Hope that came off well.
"Cool, cool," he said.
"It's just that there have been a few times in my life where I've seen someone and thought that I'd be interested in making friends with that guy. Things have usually worked out pretty well in those instances. We'll see." I don't remember exactly what I said because I was nervous.
We talked for a little while longer and then I had to go. I hoped that I didn't freak him out, but honestly, beyond wanting him to pound my ass with his 10 inches of dangling fury, I really wanted to get to know him.
The next Sunday Douglass wasn't at church because he was helping his sister move to South Texas. I missed my "pew buddy" as my wife joked about him, and was kinda bored with him gone. Oh well.
I called him the next day to see how the move went and he said that he was really whipped. He had been trying to sell his house for a while and I asked him how that was going.
"Having a hard time getting rid of it. Hopefully I can sell it soon."
"Where will you be moving?" I asked him.
"Closer to my girls," he said, which was about 20 miles away, on the other side of town. Shit! I thought. I was really looking forward to a friendship with this guy; sex would've been great, but.. He was trying to do the right thing by being closer to his daughters and I admired that. I told him that I had a client who needed some renovation work done, and that I had given him Douglass' name.
"Cool, cool." He said that a lot.
The rest of that day I was feeling mighty down at the prospect of Douglass moving away. Going in to Tuesday I was feeling a little less crappy. After I was done with work I sat down to play some video games with my son when my cell phone rang. Normally I turned it off at 5:00 but that day I had left it on and sat it on the bar. I saw on the caller i.d. that it was Douglass. "Hello?"
"How's it goin' baby!!!!!"
"I'm doin' aaah-ight, how about you? Whatcha up to?"
"Nothin'. Hey man, there's something that I need to tell you."....
To be continued.