I was living in Tennessee when I met Julie, an artist that ran the local art museum. Julie was attracted to me but I gently told her that I was gay. She took it well and told that her 20-year-old son, Joseph, believed that he was gay. She asked me to meet him and talk to him about his sexuality.
Joseph was a beautiful young man, short, slim and dark haired. He was a budding musician of great promise and looked forward to a career as a composer and musician. He was a charming, intelligent young man.
We met at his mom's house and talked for some time. He was happy to talk to an older gay man and I told him my story and what it was like to come out. Joseph talked very openly about his attraction to men. It was refreshing to meet a young man unafraid of his sexuality.
We became good friends and it was hard not to be attracted to Joseph. I was bit nervous about getting so close to such a young man but Julie was not concerned and told me she was not afraid of our close friendship.
Julie let him visit me one morning at my apartment and we spent the day talking about music, being gay and everything else under the sun. It was great to mentor a young gay man, but it was hard not to be attracted to this splendid young man. His sparkling blue eyes and beautiful body turned me on terribly. He said he really wanted to come out and I urged him to look for someone his own age, but deep in my heart I was attracted to the possibility of bringing him out.
We held hands a few times during his visit and when he left I gently kissed him goodbye. He left with a big smile and I was torn over my attraction. I finally went to Julie and told her what we talked about. She listened calmly and told me that Joseph had told her how close he was getting to me.
I told her I was not looking to be his first gay lover because of his age and she listened and looked deeply into my eyes. She kissed me gently and after a few moments told me that if something happened to please be gentle and not hurt Joseph. I was very surprised, but she told me that she trusted me and she wanted her son to be at peace about his life, and if that meant coming out with me then it was fine with her. She kissed me again and asked me to be gentle if anything happened.