Peter was at work when he got a text from Eric.
"Hey dude. Busy?"
"Nah, just filling in the day. The boss is away and we're between projects. You?"
"I was earlier, but now and coasting a bit. My story edits are done, so I'm taking the afternoon off. Wondered if you wanted to pop by for a beer tonight."
"Sounds cool. I'll let Sam know I'll be over at your place. How does 6 sound?"
"Perfect. I'll throw on a couple of steaks."
Peter called Samantha.
"Hey gorgeous," he greeted with a smile in his voice. He felt happy, right at that moment, fulfilled at the thought of being honest with his woman. What that meant to him and their relationship. How good it was to honour his promise to her.
"Hey babe. What's up?" she asked.
"Eric called. He invited me over for steaks and beer."
There was a pause. Then her voice came over the phone, an edge discernable in her words.
"You gonna fuck?"
Peter was taken aback by her directness.
"It wasn't my first thought, no," he answered truthfully.
"'Because it's okay if you do, but do me a favour; two actually."
"Sure, anything," he offered.
"If you do fuck, don't cum. I want that for myself. And I want you to tell me about it when you get home. I want to hear the details as I slide MY cock up your ass."
Holy fuck.
What do you say to that?
"Wow Sam," he choked. "I never thought I'd hear those words. I can do that."
"Then have a good time lover. I'll see you later." A wink emoticon appeared on his phone from her.
The conversation derailed his concentration for the rest of the afternoon, his body throbbing, now anticipating fucking his friend again. But the thought of his woman wanting to know the details was even more intense.
When he got to Eric's place, he could already smell the grill, and it made his stomach growl. The idea of steaks had left him hungry in addition to being horny, for the entire afternoon. He'd picked up a giant tub of gourmet potato salad on the way, so expected to be pleasantly full by the end of the night.
Eric's house was the end unit on a cul-de-sac, backing onto green space with enough tree coverage to be entirely private. He pulled open the gate latch and went on in to the rear yard. He was dismayed to see the pool cover off and Eric standing in his bathing suit with the smoke of the grill wafting past him. Eric's body was already tanned, despite the early point in the season, a testament to his outdoor-themed athletics and hobbies. Peter did indeed objectively admire his friend's physique, how the sunlight highlighted the contours of his muscles.
"Dude, you didn't tell me you opened your pool, man!" Peter complained.
"Well, I figured, what the hell. It's June," said Eric with a casual wave of the spatula.
Peter went over to the water and stuck his hand in it.
"Warmer than I thought it would be."
"Yeah, I have this new solar thermal heating system. It uses some sort of differential pressure to slowly pump water through these black tubes that get crazy hot with the sun."
"Well, I didn't bring a suit."
"No worries. We'll think of something. But right now, let's eat. The meat's just about done."
The two guys sat on the patio eating their fill of steak, beer and potato salad; a meal blessedly free of anything green.
After they ate their fill, the two guys sat digesting comfortably on the deck chairs. Peter thought it a good time to bring up Eric's situation with Wendy.
"So, how are things with Wendy?" he asked.
Eric waved an unconcerned hand. "We're kind of on the outs I guess. We're talking, which is fine, but she has trouble accepting the fact that I get off on gay sex."
"Well at least she didn't completely break up with you," Peter offered.
"She doesn't know about last weekend," Eric said with an ironic smile.
"Oh yeah. I suppose that might twist her hair a bit," Peter acknowledged.
Eric barked a short laugh. "A bit, yeah."
Nothing more was said as they let the enormity of what happened that weekend sit unspoken between them. Neither of them knew how to comfortably acknowledge the fact that they had fucked each other. In a way, both were equally comfortable with not really saying anything, just letting what happened, BE.
The setting sun prompted Eric to get up and walk over to the water and sit on the edge, immersing his legs in the warmed water with an appreciative "ahh".