Me and My Boys

Me and My Boys Chapter Four

**If you don't mind reading about gay sex between characters that don't intentionally resemble anyone in real life and if it is safe for you to do so in your area then please enjoy!! Also, your feedback at Heavensforlife@aol.com is greatly appreciated. **

**In his high rise office downtown, Charles was furiously busy finalizing plans for his big bash tomorrow. Every year, Charles throws two parties- one in fall and one in spring and this year was no different. Even when we were in college, with whatever budget he had, he'd throw a party to ring in the two seasons. My favorite one was during our first years of college when he convinced his parents that he needed to take a trip to Dallas. Instead of actually going, he took the money they sent him and threw an extravagant hoe-down in a warehouse in Alphabet City. Everyone got laid that night, even the take it slow Beau, and the wild west never tasted so good.

Since then, Charles' parties have become fashion shows of sort. His growing popularity all over New York City made him a main stay with the NYU crowd in our day and now his charm, wealth and beauty attracted the elite of Manhattan's gay and straight alike. Last spring, one of the waiters actually spent the entire evening making sure that Lindsay Lohan and Mary-Kate Olsen didn't get into a fight. That wouldn't be a problem this year- Lindsay wasn't invited.

Charles spent all day Friday meeting with different heads of different responsibilities. He tasted the final menu with the caterer. He saw the finalized centerpieces, ready to go up, that the decorator had slaved over. The bartender had narrowed Charles' drink list to three very classy beverages that he would be serving. DJ, security, lighting, clean-up, they all needed to be dealt with and Charles handled every detail.

Around noon, shortly after I'd called him, Charles was on the phone yelling at a sound technician, demanding to speak to someone who spoke English, when his assistant came in.

"You have someone who insists on seeing you," the young overqualified secretary said. "It's urgent."

Charles nodded, said something rude in Spanish and hung up his phone.

"You're so hot when you get all fired up," Jay said, walking in and taking his jacket off. To say Charles was surprised would have been an understatement. He didn't truly believe this kid had tracked him down even though Charles had given him the go ahead a few days earlier. "You didn't think I'd have the balls to find you."

"If I remember correctly, you certainly do have the balls," Charles responded.

"How about I refresh your memory," Jay said. Charles stood up, showing obvious signs of early arousal. Something about this arrogant bastard intrigued Charles. No one he knew had this kind of audacity. When Charles had challenged the guy to look him up, the last thing he thought Jay would do was actually do it.

But there they stood, in Charles' office, ready for another round.

"Have a seat," Charles said and Jay did, in Charles' recently vacated desk chair. Charles smiled as he walked around the office closing the floor length blinds that kept his normally exposed office private. He made his way back to where Jay sat and smiled down at him. He swung his leg, straddling the guy that currently sat at his desk chair and unzipped his suit pants. In a brief struggle of power, Jay tried to stand up and give Charles a kiss. He pressed his bulge into Charles' exposed crotch, but after a brief but hard kiss, Charles pushed him back down and fed Jay his cock.

Jay new that even though he was as good a match as Charles had seen, this still wasn't a check mate. He may have been sitting in the boss's chair, but all the power still belonged Charles and when Charles wanted this mysterious guy to suck his cock dry, that's exactly what he did.

His tongue was all over the underside of Charles' dick and the guy loved it. He ate it up, swallowing all of the precum that Charles was spilling. While Charles' hands did nothing but rest on the back of Jay's head, Jay's were everywhere, trying desperately to take off the layers that Charles was wearing so that he could feel the rock hard body that was now famous in Manhattan.

Using only his hands to guide him, Jay loosened the DKNY tie. He unbuttoned the oxford shirt. And underneath, he felt rock hard muscles covered by the thinnest of cotton undershirts. He kept his mouth firmly on Charles' cock, but his hands were roaming everywhere. Up went the shirt and Jay felt the hard pecs that made Charles a mainstay at the Gold Gym. He moaned as his fingers traced up and down the studs ripped abs, defined back and sculpted chest. It was unbelievable the effect this guy had on him, because minutes after Jay had dove in, Charles was ready to let loose. He grabbed Jay's hands and brought them to his waist. He grabbed the guy below him by his hair and pulled his head back so that only the tip of his rock hard cock was in his mouth. With a loud grunt, he lifted his leg up to the armrest of his chair and bent the guy backwards almost 180 degrees. With another moan, he let his seed shoot out of his hard dick and straight into this guy's mouth, rope after rope cascading over Jay's tongue and down his throat.

The guy panted, swallowing feverishly, trying not to waste a single drop. When Charles was finished coming, he didn't say anything. He simply bent down to pick up his pants and put them back on. He noticed that he'd left a stain on Jay's dress shirt as the guy stood up to leave. No words were exchanged, Charles simply licked the semen off of the guys shirt with his tongue and then brought it to Jay's mouth. Jay sucked Charles tongue as if he hadn't just had what felt like gallons of cum go down his throat a second before. A minute later he was gone.

**Instead of doing my usual pre-date ritual of trying on everything in my closet before settling on the first thing I'd put on anyway, I spent Thursday night catching up with Will. It was surprisingly easy, considering how angry at him I still was.

Before I called him, I'd sat at my computer for a few minutes, writing down my justification for a future article. They say fool me once shame on you, but what if this time I refuse to get fooled? In seeing the photographer again, in hearing his voice and seeing his face, I realized that people who were once influential can return to your life and have little effect on you. Why is it that I don't have those feelings anymore? I'm not entirely sure, but since they are indeed gone, why can't we simply be friends?

And that evening, before Jesse was supposed to pick me up at 8, I spent an hour and a half listening to Will's stories about North Africa, France and a million places besides. I laughed a little more than I thought I would, fought back the urge to cry a couple of times and when it was time for him to leave, it felt like he hadn't been gone a single day in his life.

"When can I see you again?" he asked. A thought came into my mind. I was planning on asking Jesse to Charles' event tomorrow but for a brief second, I thought about asking Will instead. It would be a date. I wasn't ready for that.

"I'll call you. Maybe we can do lunch sometime this week," I said. "I'm sure my boys would love to see you."

"I bet they wouldn't," he laughed. We agreed on meeting for lunch on Tuesday or Wednesday.

By the time Will left, I had exactly ten minutes to get ready. I only got to try on two outfits before I settled on my favorite pair of jeans and a white button down shirt.

All throughout my date with Jesse, I couldn't help but think about Will. It was weird. Earlier this week, I wouldn't have thought about giving him the light of day, but a few minutes ago, he'd had me laughing, joking and feeling like the old times. Maybe people do stupid things, I thought. But maybe they learn from them. Maybe people change. Jesse must have sensed my distraction because he asked me :"You seem distant today. What's wrong?"

I couldn't pretend like everything was fine. After the late night phone call, which I'd methodically avoided talking about, I felt I needed to explain. The question was, would I tell him the truth or would I tell him a lie? I thought for a quick second and decided that the truth would be the best. Besides, what did Jesse and I have to lose at this point? It was our third date.

"My ex is back in town," I said casually. I continued eating.

"Oh," was Jesse's reply. I'd told him a little bit about Will, so he must have felt a little threatened. "Does that mean anything?"

Again, I could lie and say no it didn't. But truthfully, after mine and Will's talk earlier, I didn't know what it meant.

"I'm honestly not sure, Jesse," I said. "I like you a lot."

"And that's all you have to say right now," Jesse replied. He'd made it so easy for me. The more I got to know Jesse, the sweeter I realized he was. I guess he knew this Will thing was something I'd have to figure out, but he also knew I was developing feelings for him, so I'm sure he didn't feel threatened. "We'll work on the competition later."

"Let's go back to my place," I said. We were both in mid plate, but for some reason, I wanted to be with Jesse. It wasn't that I was suddenly horny and needed to get fucked right then and there. I wanted to hold Jesse more than ever and that night, that's exactly what we did.

"I thought you'd never ask."

**The next day was the big party and Jesse had agreed to come with me. Charles of course would have Justin on his arm, although from what Charles had told me this morning, I wouldn't be surprised if Jay found his way there too. Frank made sure that he was available to accompany Tanner or I'm sure Tanner would have killed him. As for Beau, we found out Saturday morning at brunch exactly why he didn't have a date.

"So Luke is out?" I asked when we'd all gathered, ordered and knocked back our first drinks. The waiter had gone to get us a second round of Pineapple Mimosas.

"So out," Beau replied emphatically. He was wearing his diva sunglasses so I couldn't see what he was thinking through his expressive eyes.

"Might we ask why?" Tanner said.

"Inquiring minds want to know," I added. Charles was silent. I knew he honestly didn't care. Beau and Charles' relationship was the weakest of any of the four of us. In fact Charles hated Beau when we were undergrads. He wasn't a fan of the flamboyant type and Beau in college was nothing if not flamboyant. Even though he'd tamed down a little and they'd grown to appreciate each other- mostly because Tanner and I wouldn't stand for our best friends not being able to get along- Charles still opted to keep quiet anytime Beau had a "crisis."

"It's nothing really," Beau said. "He's just always on the phone and yapping about this couple or that couple. I felt like I was dating TMZ or Perez Hilton himself. I couldn't deal with all of that gossip."

Coming from Beau that means this guy must have been a 24/7 information hotline. Charles let out an audible laugh at how ridiculous the statement was. I simply said "well I'm glad you realized that."

To tell you the truth, I'd known the guy was a gossip queen the minute Beau told me about him. It was always "Luke said this," or "Luke said that" from the get go. I feared though, that now that they weren't dating, rumors would circulate about our friend. Tanner expressed the same sentiment, but Beau assured us he wasn't worried.

"He's got a reputation to protect, and I know something about him he doesn't want let out," Beau said.

"Botox?" Charles asked.

"Worse," Beau replied. I was expecting something gritty, but all Beau said was "He shops discount. I'm talking bargain basement , Filene's Closet type discount."

"That's gross," Charles said after an unusually long swig. "I'll take a Blueberry Martini next," he told the waiter.

"What's wrong with buying on sale?" Tanner asked.

"Nothing if you're straight, blind, or a lesbian," Charles said. Leave it to him to be the snob, but we all loved it and laughed profusely.

The conversation quickly turned to me and my situation with Will although I was trying to avoid the subject.

"Let's talk about how Charles is seeing one of my advisees!" I said in a last ditch effort to avert the spotlight.

"Charles is seeing someone?" Tanner asked flabbergasted. Beau snorted and I swear a little Orange/Pineapple juice flew out of his nose.

"No, no," Charles said. "We're already talking about you."

"You guys will meet him tonight," I pressed. "He'll be the blond twink arm candy."

"And which one of your boyfriends will be on your arm, Mikey," Charles said. Vicious, I though- he rarely called me Mikey.

"Considering I have no boyfriend," I began.

"Really? From two to zero in one night. That my friend is a record," Charles pressed.

"Wait, you're seeing Will now?" Beau asked. The romantic in him was elated. Tanner was silent and I could tell he was pissed. First of all I'd called to talk to Charles about the whole thing this morning and Tanner hated hearing things about me from Charles.

"I'm not seeing Will," I defended. "I saw Will. Briefly; last night."

"Mike," Tanner said. "I thought we talked about this."

"It's not a big deal," I said. "I called him over for a drink so that we could-"

"You called him over?" Tanner said. He was growing increasingly upset with me. "Did we forget what this guy did to you?"

"Tanner, lay off," Beau tried to interject.

"No, this is stupid," Tanner continued. I felt like a two year old being lectured. "You're setting a trap for yourself. This guy is just going to hurt you again, Mike."

"Well we'll have to wait and see, won't we," I said raising my voice. At that point, I'd had it with Tanner. Maybe it was the fact that it was only noon and I'd already had three drinks. Or maybe it was the fact that I'd gone from lonely to happy to angry to hopeful in the course of two weeks and I didn't know what to think anymore. "But that's exactly what you're rooting for isn't, Tanner? I mean god, Charles and Beau are willing to give this guy a second chance. I'm willing to accept the fact that he's sorry for what he did, but you're holding on to his mistakes as if he'd done something to you. You might be able to live suspiciously of everyone around you but I just can't do that."

He knew right then and there that I was talking about him and Frank. You see, even though Frank had offered that plausible explanation, Tanner still wasn't convinced. He thought Frank was cheating and his behavior recently didn't do anything to refute that. His eyes got a lot smaller and he looked at me as if I'd poured the contents of my drink over his head.

"I need to use the restroom," he said quietly and then excused himself.

"What was that about?" Beau asked when Tanner was inside of Anaria's. I shrugged as if I didn't know. When Tanner returned to the table, the conversation went back to be lighthearted. We teased Charles about dating an undergrad for the rest of the meal.

We finished brunch and I went home to write my next column before preparing for tonight's gala.

In all that had happened in the past week, I couldn't help but think about how much had changed. How much about me had changed. How much about Tanner and Frank had changed- they used to be so secure and strong and they were my perfect vision of love. That vision had changed into a murky kind of view at this point and I prayed they could recover. So much about Charles had changed in the past week. He was merging from the guy who tried everyone once to the guy who called some people back. In all the time I'd known him, I don't recall Charles ever having this many repeat hookups with the same person- and this past week he'd been with Jay and Justin on multiple occasions. Was he evolving as well? And Beau. Well, some things actually don't change, I suppose.

In relationships, whether plutonic or romantic, what happens when things begin to change? We can't stay the same forever and in a city that moves as fast as Manhattan, a week can bring about some of life's biggest changes.

**Meanwhile, uptown, Charles was putting the final touches on the hall that would host the party. When I'd asked him earlier why he didn't hire a party planner to do all the nitty gritty work, he simply said "And let some other queer take my fun? Fuck that." He handled everything personally and at 7 o'clock, with an hour to go before the red carpet was rolled out, Charles was still perfecting every detail.

"These glasses aren't crystal clear," he said to one waiter who was wiping down crystal. "I should be able to see your ugly face threw them."

After tasting a mini pot pie, it was "Salt, salt, salt people. We aren't feeding a nursing home," to the chef. "The steaks better not be this bland."

The lighting could be moved to the left an inch, the air conditioning could be taken up a degree and every centerpiece could be a little more centered. Still, Charles knew he was being difficult. Everything was perfect.

"Well, well, well," he heard a voice say from behind him. He turned to see Justin standing there looking exquisitely handsome and a few years older in a very tailored navy blue suit. "Everything looks perfect to me."

"It does now," Charles said. Something about this kid brought out the same feeling that Jay did and he liked it. "My watch says its quarter till eight."

"Which means we have 15 minutes until guests begin arriving. I can think of something we can do in 15 minutes," Justin hummed. By this point, he'd come so close to Charles that none only where their chests and crotches touching, but they could smell each other's cologne as if it were their own.

"Don't be silly," Charles said moving away. "This is my party. I can arrive whenever I want to."

And with that, Charles led Justin to a room down the hall that he'd been using as his make shift office during the planning phase.

The room was completely bar aside from a small table lined with different contracts, detailed notes and plans. Charles didn't waste any time sweeping the pages off of the desk and hoisting himself up. Before he could even sit down on the edge, Justin already had both of their pants down.

"You move fast," Charles said.

"No use beating around the bush," Justin replied. He was massaging Charles' dick when he said this but then instinctively planted a passionate kiss on Charles' lips. Charles was initially surprised at this kid's forward thinking, but eventually he let himself go with it. He knew he'd be fucking Justin's cute little ass in a matter of minutes, so why not let the co-ed think he was in charge.

"Have I told you how great your dick is?" Justin whispered. One hand was still pulling up and down on Charles' shaft while the other was playing with Charles' nipples under his dress shirt. Slowly and sensually, Justin took Charles' strong right hand and put on the small of his own back. "I want you to fuck me with your great dick."

Charles didn't reply. He just smiled. He was happy to let the kid imagine he was in control. Charles showed is enthusiasm by lightly fingering Justin's tight hole while the kid continued to pump away at Charles' hard cock and lay kiss after kiss all over his lips.

"You have a great ass, too kid," Charles said.

"It's all yours sir," Justin said. Charles realized right then that the kid was begging for it without actually begging for it. Every few seconds he would thrust his pelvis forward so that Charles would have an easier time digging his fingers into his hole. His eyes showed that he wanted nothing more. Charles was amused at how much confidence the guy exuded when actually, Charles was in total control. This realization was enough to take Charles to a whole new place and a moment later, he'd gotten off the desk, spun Justin around so that he was kneeling over the make shift work space and his ass was in the air. A moment later, Charles was pulling a condom over his red-hot pecker and Justin was slowly backing his ass into Charles' crotch.

"You really want it, don't you, sir?" Justin asked. How ironic, Charles thought. I do. But who wants it more.

"Not as much as you want this cock, huh," he said. It wasn't a question, although and untrained ear might have assumed it was. Justin just moaned softly and on his next thrust backwards, Charles cock was penetrating his tight hole. He let out a loud yelp before Charles could clasp his hand over the kid's mouth.

"There's a party going on outside, remember?" the kid nodded. He'd never felt so sexy. Charles pulled back slowly, letting go of Justin's mouth and almost pulling out of his ass. The kid let out a kind of whimper and Charles knew it was time to plunge back in.

He thrusted in and out, faster and faster each time, until Justin was panting incoherently how much he loved being fucked by Charles. Before long, neither one of them could take any more and just as Justin started shooting his load of skeet all over a picture rendering of the centerpieces, Charles was shooting his deep into Justin's ass.

As they recovered, both of them sweating just a little and breathing heavily, Justin smiled at Charles.

"That was incredible," he said. "I knew you wanted me."

Charles could have come up with something extremely snarky now that he'd had his fill of the undergrad. Instead, though, for some reason, Charles simply smiled, bent down and picked up his pants. He left the office without saying anything else.

**Earlier that night, while anxiously getting dressed and wondering what my friends would think of Jesse, we discussed how we'd introduce each other.

"If it were my event you were coming to," he said, "I'd tell all my friends you were my latest conquest."

I laughed. "Hi, this is my latest conquest, Jesse. My friends will eat that up."

"How about boyfriend?" he asked point blank. Before I had to time to analyze he continued. "I mean, unless it's too soon for that." Was it too soon for that? I wasn't sure. "But this is like our 5th official date and we have talked like every day this week." Had we really? Was this shaping up to be a relationship? Or did Jesse's urgency have anything to do with Will being back in the picture. "And we have known each other for a very long time." This he said very sexily as he leaned in close to me in the cab. "I just think it's appropriate." He was right and I couldn't deny it. And with that, we settled on boyfriend as the official introduction.

When we arrived at the party a quarter after eight, neither of us had any idea that Charles was down the hall fucking the living daylights out of my advisee. "This is sweet," Jesse said. He'd been to his share of events working for Ralph Lauren, but he was utterly awe struck by what Charles had put together this year. We went over to the bar to get drinks and then meandered until we ran into Tanner and Frank.

"Nice to see you Frank," I said. "This is my, um, boyfriend Jesse," I said as confidently as I could. The words sounded somewhat awkward to me, but I'd get used to them I hoped. I could see Tanner's face light up after I said it.

"Well, it's certainly nice to meet you, Jesse," Tanner said beaming. "You're so much cuter than Mike described."

"Tanner!" Beau said creeping up on us holding two drinks in his hand. "Now that was just rude. You can't insult the new BF until I've had a crack at him."

"And where is your date, Mr. Stag McStagson?" I asked trying to take some heat off of Jesse. I could tell he was a little nervous and intimidated and I was trying to do my best to keep him from the lions.

"I am my own date," Beau announced holding up his two glasses. "But as you can see, I'm still drinking for two!"

"As I can see, you're crashing my party," Charles said coming into the circle along with Justin. Charles grabbed one of Beau's drinks and began chugging it. Beau let out a "hey!" and Charles gave him a peck on the cheek before handing him back the empty glass. "This everyone, is Justin."

There was a round of "hi Justin" and "My name is" before we all go acquainted and Charles showed us to our circular table that dinner would be served.

"I hope you guys are enjoying yourselves," Charles said excusing himself once the room had been seated. "I need to make an announcement before the first course comes out."

And he stood up, tapped his glass so that the room of elegantly dressed socialites all looked up from their tables. "Tonight, it is my honor to welcome you all to my gathering. As you know, the theme of this evening is A Fancy Feast, so please enjoy the three courses you are about to be served from renowned chef Gil Po and remember, you are what you eat." There was a round of applause as Charles raised his glass and the band struck up a chord to continue playing.

"I hate doing those things," he said, sitting back down. Watching him tonight was like watching a different person. Sure he was still tall, confident and sexy. Sure I expected him to sneeze out a hundred dollar bill at any moment and sure I was 100% sure he and Justin were doing some under the table petting, but Charles was different. He was happier than I'd seen him in a while. His usual scowl that I took for attitude was slightly, ever so slightly, softened. To anyone not paying attention, he seemed the same- sarcastic, arrogant and rudely funny. But to me, I could tell that one of his two affairs was having a strange effect on him and I was putting my money on Justin.

"Damnit, Charles," Frank said after dinner had been served and people were beginning to get a little tipsy and ready to dance. "You've made it impossible for Tanner and I to top this in November."

Tanner, who had been relatively quiet all evening just smiled. I had noticed earlier that Frank was spending a lot of his time on his blackberry and Tanner must have been pissed but was trying his best not to show it.

"We're going to have to get with his decorator, babe," Frank continued. "I told Tanner, anything he wants is his. We're having the biggest bash this town has-" and then his Blackberry beeped. He excused himself and as soon as he was out of ear shot, Tanner went off.

"Is he fucking kidding me?" I felt embarrassed for anyone at the table that didn't know Tanner. "Is it not bad enough that I had to drag him, drag him to this party? He's going to spend the entire night answering this call after that call." Then in an unexpected move, Tanner stood up and started walking towards the coat check.

"Tanner, wait," I said getting up after him. "Where are you going?"

"I can't be here. This sucks. The rest of you are so happy. God even Charles found someone who adores him."

"Beau doesn't have anyone," I pointed out trying to be helpful.

"And here I am. I'm supposed to be the relationship one. The happily-ever-after one and I'm miserable, Mike. Something with Frank isn't working and I don't know what it is."

"Do you have to deal with it here, like this?" I asked.

"I'm going home," he said.

"What should I tell Frank?"

"I don't care. Tell him I left or whatever. If he even notices I'm gone."

And with that, Tanner checked his coat and checked out. Being the good friend that I am, I immediately got my own phone out and texted Frank the simple words "You're Fucking Up" before rejoining everyone at the table.

Back at the table, our party was winding down. Charles was in a bad mood over the recent outbreak.

"I swear to god, he's not coming to my party next year." And I could tell Justin wanted to leave so that the two of them could sweat out another round in bed.

Beau had had so much to drink that in my absence, Jesse had called a cab for him.

"Is he going to be alright?" Jesse asked me.

"As long he can still say his address, he'll be fine."

As for Frank, he must have just received my text because he came to the table, and quickly made his round of goodbyes. He got his coat from the front and then sprinted out to find Tanner.

**While Jesse and I were settling in for the night, the exact opposite was going on uptown with Frank and Tanner.

"You humiliated me tonight," Tanner said dramatically. Frank knew he was pissed and he couldn't do anything but apologize.

"All you ever say is I'm sorry, but I'm not asking for that much, Frank," Tanner continued. "I'm a lawyer too. I know the drill, you work hard to get far."

"You work in contracts, Tanner," Frank blurted before he could stop himself.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," he corrected. "It's just that your job ends at 5. You don't have clients calling you in the middle of the night."

Quietly, indicating he was even more pissed than he'd been before, Tanner said "But I asked you for one night, Frank. One night and you couldn't even give me that."

"I told you about the whole partner thing," Frank tried to reason. "It's important that I nail this. This is what I've been working for all my life, babe."

They continued back and forth like this for twenty five minutes until Tanner, who wasn't letting up, eventually said "I think maybe I should find somewhere else to spend tonight."

"Don't be silly, Tanner," Frank said but Tanner was already up and putting his coat on. "Where are you going?"

"I can't do this. I can't waste my time with someone who would rather be a law firm partner than mine."

Thirty seconds later I got a call from a crying Tanner. Thirty minutes later, he was fast asleep on my couch. For the first time I'd known them together in three years, Tanner and Frank spent the night apart.

**The next morning, I woke with Jesse cutting off the circulation to my arm. As I squirmed to try to release myself, Jesse opened his eyes, yawned and smiled at me.

"Do you realize that we just spent the night together?" he asked. His breath was unbearable and I bet mine was pretty bad too. I subtly moved the sheet over my face so that I could have a little relief while we talked.

"Yeah," I said. And then I realized the magnitude. Jesse and I had had a lot of sex with each other for a long time, but never in our FB days had we ever stayed the night. The walk of shame across Manhattan was our forte and we'd mastered it. Until tonight that was. "I guess that makes the boyfriend thing official."

"I guess so," he said. "But there's still the problem of the ex."

"He isn't a problem," I said. I realized I was smiling on the inside of my sheet and I couldn't have felt better that morning- until I heard a knock at the bedroom door.

"Who's here?" Jesse whispered. I'd forgotten to tell him that Tanner had spent the night. By the time I'd gotten the call and laid out sheets and a pillow for Tanner, Jesse had already passed out.

"Shit," I said jumping up out of the bed. It took me a second to realize I was naked. "Hold on Tanner," I shouted reaching for the sheet to cover myself. Sadly, the sheet I reached for was covering Jesse's naked body and he yelled "hey" as he lay there in his birthday suit. "Shit," I said again. Luckily, Jesse was able to scramble under the sheets before Tanner opened the door and peeped in. He saw Jesse laying there barely covered and me rapped in a sheet and immediately apologized.

"I'm so sorry," he said. "I'll be out of here. Do you want anything to eat of something?"

"We have brunch in an hour," I said. I expected him to leave right then.

"Ok, then," he stammered awkwardly. "Um. Yogurt?"

"Tanner," I said.

"Ok, I'm gone. I'm gone. Hi Jesse," he said.

"Tanner," I repeated.

"Hi Tanner," Jesse smiled. This was so uncomfortable I couldn't stand it. I pushed the door closed almost getting Tanner's face.

"Ok, ok," Tanner said disappearing as the door closed.

Both Jesse and I erupted a second later. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

"He had a fight with Frank last night and crashed here," I explained. "You were already asleep so I didn't tell you."

"Frank?" Jesse asked thinking. "The asshole?"

"He's usually really sweet. We all like him. He received a pretty high score at brunch when Tanner debuted him."

"Debuted him? Like a ball or something?"I laughed at the look of confusion on Jesse's face. As we got up to dress, I explained that whenever a guy was getting serious with someone, we brought him to brunch for grilling. Afterwards, in a very sophisticated system, we rated said guy on a scale of thirty. Ten points were for looks, ten points were for personality and ten points were for stability.

"So a very hot, very funny but clinically insane boyfriend could leave with a potential score of twenty," Jesse asked.

"If he's lucky," I said. "We're pretty harsh. We consider twenty-one to be average- that's sevens across the board. A twenty-five means that there's a chance of a future there. "

"What's the highest score ever given?" he asked. I knew the answer to that question, but I couldn't quite tell him the truth.

"Um, I think one of Beau's exes got a 28 once." I said. But I knew there had been one 29 on record that had been Will's score about three years ago. I paused a minute to wonder what he'd score now, after disappearing for a year.

"So Frank got a..."

"Frank got a twenty-five," I said. "If I remember correctly, he got nine for looks and stability and a seven for personality. We thought he was a keeper. They'll work it out- he must be going through a rough patch at work or something."

At this point, Jesse and I were fully clothed.

"What do you think I would get at brunch?" Jesse asked as we were about to head out to the living room. I thought for a second, and then decided it was a good idea.

"Why don't you find out today?" before I'd even finished the sentence, Jesse gave me a huge hug and a kiss.

We went out to the kitchen to find Jesse eating a bowl of cereal.

"What are you doing? We have brunch in like an hour," I said.

"I know," he said. "But I was really hungry. I barely ate last night."

Tanner went on to explain to us what had happened between he and Frank when they got back to the apartment last night. Both Jesse and I agreed that he had acted like a jerk, but that it wasn't a deal breaker- the probably just need a break. And we needed brunch- so the three of us took turns in the shower. Both Tanner and Jesse borrowed clothes from me to wear that morning.

**As for Beau, going stag to Charles' party was the best idea he could have had. Not only was he the life of the party, but he also collected a surprising amount of phone numbers. In fact, after I'd put him in a cab to go home, Beau called in one of the numbers of an investment banker he'd met at the bar.

"Is this Philip?" he asked when a guy answered the phone. His voice wasn't quite as slurred as it had been a while earlier, but he was still definitely drunk.

"Yes," the guy answered tentatively.

"This is Beau. From the bar at Charles' party. We did lemon drop shots together."

"Oh, Beau," the guy said recognizing him. Beau noticed for the first time the sheer attractiveness of the guy's voice. He must have been from the south because his drawl was a perfect blend between country south and Matthew McCaughney. "What's up shot buddy?"

"Nothing," Beau replied. "I was just riding around town looking for a good spot to night cap."

"Well I'm not tucked away yet," Philip replied. "I could come over for a late nighter."

Beau gave Philip his address and fifteen minutes later, both of them were sloppily kissing each other in Beau's doorway.

Beau's small studio was simple and neat, mostly because Beau couldn't afford any furniture. A futon in the main room faced a table with a television on top of it. His desk and exercise bike were in a corner and his bookshelf with a stack of barely read textbooks was in the other corner. A small kitchen and bathroom completed the space.

Even though there wasn't much room, the two quickly found their rhythm. Beau locked the door behind him as he and Philip entered the apartment and Philip backed Beau into the closed door immediately after.

"You've got to take your clothes off right now," he told Beau. "We don't have much time."

Beau was turned on by the urgency and quickly slipped out of his trousers and shirt. He was going to help Philip out of his, but the guy had already taken everything off, revealing a toned and hairy body that couldn't have belonged to a guy over 24. His chest was full and huge and his arms were even bigger.

"Where's the bed?" Philip asked. Beau pointed to the futon and Philip dragged him over. He immediately dove for Beau's cock with his face and licked everything in the region- ass, balls, head. He didn't leave a single inch of skin untouched by his tongue. Beau was simply in heaven, moaning at the feel and sight of a man who couldn't get enough of his hard dick.

The alcohol coursing through Beau's system must have had the opposite effect on Beau than it did on most people. When I drink too much, getting up and done is an impossible chore. But Beau wasn't suffering from whiskey-dick one bit. A few minutes after Philip's oral assault, Beau had a verbal assault of his own.

"I'm gonna cum, oh my god.. agh, that feels so good. Agh, agh, aggggggh-" and with that final grunt, Beau came all over Philip's face and chest.

The guy came up beaming, having received what he'd come for and Beau couldn't be more satisfied.

"I would stay and finish," Philip said standing up and using a stray towel from Beau's floor to wipe his face. "But I kind of just left my girlfriend at the apartment."

"Girlfriend?" Beau said, not really comprehending in his drunkeness. He thought he'd just gotten head from a man. Men with girlfriends didn't give head. What was going on?

"Yeah," Philip replied. "I'm not really gay. I just, I don't know. I was drunk." And as the guy left, Beau realized that his investment banker had turned out to be nothing more than a day trade.

**The four of us heard the story, laughing the entire way. It wasn't so much the story that was funny, but Beau's deliver. Not to mention the fact that he was extremely hung over, wearing big diva glasses and a scarf although it was 85 degrees out.

"You've got to be kidding me," Tanner laughed.

"You're telling me. It bugs me like crazy when guys that like dick claim to be straight. If you like dick, you like men. If you like men, you're gay," Beau said. "It's simple."

Jesse had been quiet all throughout brunch, but I knew that after Beau was done reliving his night, the grilling would begin. Was he ready? Was I ready? Was I moving this relationship too fast because I needed to be in one in order to keep my hands off of Will? I couldn't help but feel like I was somehow using Jesse although I did have genuine feelings for him.

"So, Jesse," Charles said at last. "You were introduced as my good friend's BF yesterday. What's the story?"

"The story, Charles," Jesse said confidently. "Is that Mike and I are dating. And I give him sex that he can't live without."

Tanner smiled. Beau let out an "ah" and Charles faked a gag. The next question came from Beau who pointed at Jesse's strawberry blonde hair and asked "Does the carpet match the drapes?"

"Beau!" I exclaimed. I must have flushed red because Charles put his hand in his water glass and spritzed me with a few drops. This got a laugh as well.

"Actually," Jesse said. "I have tile flooring."

There was a round of "oohs" and the final question went to Tanner.

"I know you're a buyer and all, but how much do you earn, Jesse?" Tanner asked.

"Well, I don't earn nearly as much as a you, Tanner, a Columbia law graduate. Or Mike here who not only teaches but runs a column. And you Charles with your- well, what is it that you do, Charles?" that got a laugh out of me and Tanner. Beau was putting his water glass up to his forehead and Charles was only slightly amused. "But I can assure that as a buyer for Ralph Lauren, I do at least make more money that Beau does."

"Hey, acting pays the rent!" Beau defended.

"In Chinatown," Charles said sounding disgusted.

"And let's not forget that you trick yourself out to straightees on the side," I pointed out.

"It wasn't a trick," he defended yet again. "And you bitches know it's every gay man's wish to snag a straight one. Stop pretending."

He was right. We all liked "straight" meat, but it was still fun to pick on the still sobering up Beau. We finished brunch and because it was tradition, Jesse and I excused ourselves first so the others could stay behind, deliberate and send me the score.

"How'd I do?" Jesse asked.

"I think you did well," I said. "But we'll have to wait for the numbers."

"Are they that serious?" he must have quickly noticed my face change because he added "I mean I love that you take your friend's opinions, but would you really stop seeing someone because the numbers aren't high enough?"

I didn't say anything for a second. It was a question that had been asked to me before and answering it was always hard. Of course I took the numbers seriously, but Beau, Tanner and Charles knew me better than anyone in this world- sometimes including myself.

"You don't have anything to worry about," I said. And two blocks later, I got two back to back text messages.

The first one was from Tanner and it simply read: Looks-10. Personality-10. Stability-9.You're guy did well. Even Charles likes him. I was shocked. He'd tied Will for the highest score ever on record and at the moment I couldn't be happier.

"I told you that you had nothing to worry about," I told him. He just kissed me on the cheek and said he wanted frozen yogurt to celebrate so we headed toward Pink Berry.

The second message could not have been a bigger mood kill. The ominous W in the From section should have told me to put my phone away and read the text later. How he managed to pop up every time I was making strides with Jesse, I didn't know, but I couldn't help myself from opening Will's message.

I went by Madison and saw the old gang having brunch this morning. I forgot what a ritual you all were. I miss it and I miss you. Call me and let's do drinks sometime. BTW, who was the fifth guy you guys were scoring? He didn't beat my 29 did he? Love, W.

"What's wrong?" I suddenly heard Jesse ask me. I looked and realized I hadn't said anything in about two minutes and we were getting close to Pink Berry. "Um," I said. "Nothing." It was the first second lie I'd told Jesse about Will that day and as hard as it was, I was protecting my own feelings more than his. "It's nothing." And I clicked delete on the message I'd just read.

**Thanks for continuing to follow the story of Mike and his boys. I hope you enjoyed the extended chapter. Please send me your feedback at heavensforlife@aol.com. And also check out my other story on Nifty They Say.