Andy Stevenson vs. The Lord of the Loins (11 page)

I reached out and slowly pulled him closer. He didn't resist—a good sign in my book—and pretty soon we were in a very comfortable embrace. This wasn't sex, and it didn't suggest sex was expected, either. It was ... taking things slowly.

"Are you okay?” I asked, concerned.

"Yeah.” His voice was just a little over a whisper. “I was just thinking about all those stories I'd heard about Tristan, the things he does. I don't want to be a notch in somebody's bedpost. I want it to be special, but I'm a little scared."

"Me, too.” Finally! Maybe there really was somebody out there who I could identify with.

"There was a story I heard some people laughing about the other day. They said Tristan wrote about some guy who kept chanting his name and begging for more during—"

"Alan?"

"What?"

"Let's not ruin the moment by talking.” I held him a little tighter.

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I didn't dream that night. Heck, I don't even think I slept. Alan did, though, and he must have been a heavy sleeper to snooze through all the noises coming from the other rooms. Everybody else was busy having sex—everybody but us, and for the first time since I'd been at college, it didn't bother me. I didn't need sex at the moment because I had a human being snuggled next to me.

Alan brought out a peaceful side of me that had been missing since Tristan brought out the beast. It never would have occurred to me to try and take advantage of Alan, but those damn
noises
...

Sleep was finally coming upon me, and it couldn't have looked or felt more inviting. I was flat on my back with Alan snuggled up to me on my right, the neighbors had orgasmed themselves out, the flannel sheets were comfortable and all was as it should be, which is, of course, when the first little snore exited his mouth. He wasn't loud, but then, he didn't have to be since his mouth was nuzzled up right next to my ear.

I tried very gently to turn him over, only every time I pushed against him, his body responded by doubling its force back towards me. Alan wasn't about to go anywhere, even in his sleep. Was this my first look into his inner personality? Was he clingy or just stubborn? Either way, it struck me as, well, cute.

Cute ended after fifteen minutes. I decided to be a bit more forceful and devise some way to turn him over so I could snuggle up and fall asleep. It seemed fair, only his unconscious didn't think so. The harder I pushed, the harder
he
pushed. I laid there and attempted to lull his unconscious mind into a false sense of security. Just when I thought he was completely at peace, I made my move. His body reacted the moment I tried it. Not only did I get pushed right back down where I'd been, but his leg came up, over and pinned me. Further, he sighed and I felt something wet trickle down my neck. Oh, charming. He'd drooled on me! What would he do if I did something he didn't like when he was awake?

A thought occurred to me, and I wondered why Kendra never called and what would happen if she and Kim came down here in the morning and found us like this. I mean, it wasn't like anything major had happened. We were just two people getting to know each other, which is how I would expect it to be viewed if someone walked in. And ... well, okay, so we were in our underwear under the sheets, but it didn't mean that anything had happened.

I couldn't help but wonder if I'd acted properly or improperly. I mean, just because he told me in not so many words that he was gay, did that mean I had to share my bed with him? Did I just ruin any chance of getting to know him better by adding even a small form of physical intimacy into the equation? I really would have just loved to live in the moment and not worry about anything; but now was as good a time to dwell on this as any, since I sure as hell wasn't getting any sleep!

Finally, sometime around 5 a.m. or so, he opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Good morning.” It sounded trite, but I had no idea what else to start with.

"It's too god(mumble) fu(mumble) early,” he grumbled, glared at me and turned over.

Did I miss something? Alan had been very sweet and even-tempered with me at the party and then back here in my room, so what happened? What if he was one of those people with a violent sleeping disorder? While awake, he was mild-mannered Clark Kent and while asleep, he was ... Sean Penn. Maybe he was just schizophrenic, which made this my first menage a trois.

I must have stared at the back of his head for a good ten minutes trying to figure out whether I should chance cuddling up to him or leave well enough alone before he rolled back over and opened his eyes again.

"Good morning.” He grinned from ear to ear and rested his head on my chest.

"Damien?” I asked, and Alan sat straight up in bed.

"Who's Damien?” he demanded.

"It was a joke.” I tried to calm him down. “I said good morning to you about ten minutes ago and you acted like someone getting up minus beer goggles. Figured I'd find out if you were
The Omen
or not."

"Oh.” Alan looked embarrassed. “Even my family hates getting me up in the morning because I tend to react when I'm not awake.” He closed his eyes. “Look, I never brought this up last night because it seemed kind of embarrassing, but you're ... the first guy I've ever, well, shared a bed with."

"I'm flattered.” I pulled him back down and gave him a hug. It seemed to be the thing to do to show support.

Some time went by, and I got the feeling he was waiting for me to say something else.

"What?"

"Well,” he answered cautiously, “I'm just waiting to see if you realize that was your cue to tell me that I was your first, too."

"Ah.” I laughed nervously. “Well..."

"All right, how many men have you been with?” His tone grew accusatory.

"Before last night or after?” I said it as a joke because I really didn't want to have this conversation.

"I'm leaving.” Alan started to crawl out of bed.

"That was meant as a joke."

He turned and glared at me.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I use humor to cover up my insecurities ... and I have a looooot of those.” I also procrastinated. “The first time I ever had sex with a guy was this past summer in California. He's my cousin,"

Alan's face contorted ever so slightly, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.

"By marriage only!"

His expression returned to normal.

"There were feelings involved, but I had to come back home and we parted with an understanding that what had happened wasn't just some fling."

"You slept with your cousin?” He stared at me. “Isn't that illegal in west Michigan?"

I leaned over, picked up a picture of Jordan and I standing outside one of the restaurants we ate at and handed it to Alan.

"Whoa. He's cute. Maybe I can understand."

"Yeah, I thought you'd say something like that."

"I was also remembering some of the events of last night and things Tristan was saying to you kind of made it sound like ... well...” He looked me in the eye. “Did you sleep with him?"

"No!” I met his gaze. “Absolutely not.” I totally lied ... or did I? In essence, I really wasn't lying because there was no sleeping involved whatsoever. Besides, Alan looked totally relieved. “I never slept with him."

"Wait a second.” His eyes narrowed. “Did you have sex with him?"

"That wasn't the original question."

"A simple ‘yes’ would have sufficed.” Alan started gather-ing his clothes up and putting them on.

"I'm not like Tristan.” He didn't slow down. “I didn't have the good fortune of hearing any of the stories you did. If I had known what he was like, I never would have done anything with him.” I was getting desperate for him to believe me. “I told him that I didn't want a one-night stand, and he led me to believe he felt the same way.” Alan was putting his shoes on. “Didn't you hear anything I told him last night when I was yelling at him in front of everybody?"

This got his attention.

"I want a relationship. I want the real thing. You told me last night that you didn't want to be a notch in someone's bed post, and I could never do that to you or anyone else because that's what happened to me.” I started to break down. “I know how that feels, and it hurts. I'm not the kind of person who can make someone else feel that way."

"Okay.” Alan looked at me for a long time. I didn't have a clue what he was thinking because his face wasn't giving anything away. Finally: “Do you really want to give this a try?"

I did.

"Because I don't want to find out down the line that you've been playing around behind my back. I may not be the most experienced person in the world, but I'm faithful, I expect the same and there are no compromises on that point. Are you sure you still want to try a relationship?"

"As long as it means you're going to be nice to me again, then yes."

Asking him to be nice wasn't such a bad tradeoff for being faithful. I would have been faithful anyway, but it never hurt to throw something in my favor into the negotiations.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves.” He finally lightened up. “One thing at a time, and right now I have to get home. I've got a ton of homework to do."

"Can I call you later?” Ah, the beginning of my neediness.

"I'll consider it.” Ah, the beginning of his domination over me.

"Then should I call you to find out if you've considered whether or not I can call you?” Ah, the beginning of my cute challenges to his authority.

"How about if I just call you?” Ah, the beginning of him trying to get the final say. Alan put his jacket on.

"Famous last words...” I'd at least get the last word in.

"It's not like that.” No, he would. “Besides, I know for a fact that you'll be seeing me later, otherwise you'll never get your
Pearls Of Passion
CD back!” He grinned from ear to ear and rushed for the door.

Well, if I didn't learn to love him early, one of us was going to wind up dead.

Kendra came down about an hour after Alan left. I'd managed to get a few minutes of sleep, but that was all. She grabbed her toiletry kit and some clothes out of her bag then went back up to Kim's floor to shower. I figured now was as good a time as any to do the same.

We were on our way over to the Commons half an hour later for anything we could find that was edible.

"I'm sorry about not calling you last night, but Kim was in such bad shape and Alex and I couldn't get her to stop crying. She kept talking about various body parts developing cob-webs.” Kendra munched on a piece of bacon dipped in syrup. Yep, I could tell we grew up together because I did the very same thing. It was the only way to really enjoy sausage or bacon.

"Kim cries when somebody loses on
Jeopardy
, so it's nothing really new. I mean, just because Alan didn't sleep with her last night..."

"Yeah, she was really disappointed about that, but that's what happens when you get your hopes up, I guess. After the night she described when you interfered with her and Tristan and then did it again last night, she needed someone like Alan around...” Something dawned on her. “How did you know Alan left?” She frowned.

"Simple seduction, Watson.” I raised my eyebrow. “Aside from game shows, Kim also cries when she doesn't get lucky. Well, wails more like, actually."

"Speaking of lucky, you seem awfully chipper this morning."

"No, I don't."

"Now you're just trying to cover it up,” Kendra informed me matter-of-factly.

"Are you just making this up as you go along or what? I'm not chipper. Even if I was British, I wouldn't be chipper."

"Isn't Alan British?” I didn't like the tone her voice was taking on.

"No, he was born in Britain, but he's actually American and Chinese."

"Alan...” Kendra stared at me. “Alan...” She spoke again and scrutinized my face. “Alan..."

"Why do you keep saying his name like that?” This was annoying.

"Because every time I do, your eye does this little...” Kendra sat back in her chair. “He snored in your ear!"

"What?"

"That's how you knew he left. You spooned with him last night!"

Why didn't she just say it a little louder?

"How the hell do you know that?” I whispered as intensely as I could without looking like I was being ridiculously emphatic. “We didn't have sex, but yes, we spooned. What is it my face does that makes you able to read my mind?"

"I'm really going to tell you.” She rolled her eyes. “Okay, so, we've established that you stole Alan away from Kim, but what's the story about Tristan?” she pressed.

"I did not steal Alan from her and..."

"Tristan...” She scrutinized my face again. “Tristan..."

"Cut it out!"

"Whoa. You did the nasty with him! How could you do that? The guy has slut written all over him. Didn't you see that?” She peered at me.

"I'm a guy. Stuff like that doesn't always occur to me first.” It was time to come clean. “To make matters more complicated, I'm a guy ... who's into other guys."

"No shit, Andy."

I sat there and stared at her, stunned.

"My family has been saying that about you for years,” she added.

"They have not!"

"No, they haven't.” She giggled. “I was pulling your leg there.” I relaxed a little. “Seriously, though. They have been saying it for years. That's okay. You and I are in the same predicament."

"I hate to break this to you.” Oh, how did I tell her this. “But you aren't gay. It's considered acceptable for you to like guys, not for me to."

"I know what gay is, thank you.” She pursed her lips. “I'm a woman who's into other women."

"Oh, Kendra.” I faked looking deflated. “Don't tell me you're a manhater?"

"Don't annoy me. I'm still very much a woman, but I'm butch enough to kick your ass ... unless you're into that."

I choked on my piece of bacon.

We spent the rest of the day talking and walking around the campus. The sky was clear and there wasn't much wind, so that made it all the more enjoyable. I brought her up to speed on my endeavors over the past six months—or was it seven now? I told her all about Jordan and my summer in California, then Tristan and what had gone on between us. Finally, I filled her in on Alan.