Ch. 2: College Boy
I had a hard time adjusting to college. My roommate had other friends and I didn't click with anyone in the dorm or in my classes. It was about three weeks in when I broke down. I called Gordie on his cell phone and I broke down and cried. I told him how much I missed home, my parents... and him. I told him how awful it was, how I didn't know anyone, how I didn't like my business classes. He listened to me and let me cry and comforted me and told me to hang in there. "Next time I see you, I'll give ya a big hug," he had said. After hanging up the phone, I did feel better.
I pulled out a small box I had hidden away in my desk and opened it. I had several pictures of Gordie and a few of Gordie and me together. My favorite was one that was taken by my friend on yearbook at the homecoming bonfire. I also had the homecoming flier that had the football team picture on it with his name listed below, as well as a few small mementos from things we had done together. I looked through the pictures and then closed the box and hid it in the back of my desk drawer.
A month later on a Saturday night, I went downstairs to the rec room. There were some guys playing pool, but no one was watching the TV. I turned it to a 'Battlestar Galactica' marathon. Yeah, it was really nerdy, but at this point I didn't care anymore what people thought of me.
I was so into the show, I barely noticed when another guy joined me on the couch. During a commercial break, he spoke up. "This episode is awesome, isn't it?"
"Yeah," I said and looked over at him.
He was an attractive guy, tall and skinny. Dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was dressed in a black t-shirt and worn jeans. His forearms were furry with dark brown hair.
"I'm Ben, by the way."
"I'm Clark."
And that's how I met Ben. He was a nice guy. We hit it off right away. We liked the same TV shows and movies. One night after eating pizza in his dorm room, we came out to each other. His high school boyfriend was going to Michigan State and they were dating long distance. He showed me a picture of the two of them. Ben's boyfriend was a tall and muscular black guy. I told Ben that he was very handsome and they made an attractive couple.
I told him about Gordie and what happened between us and he sympathized with me. I later showed him a picture of Gord, where he was sitting on the back of his pickup truck. He was wearing jeans and cowboy boots as usual and he was smoking a cigarette. Ben made a joke that now that he knew what I liked, he was going to find me another 'redneck bear' for a boyfriend.
Things weren't so bad after that. I found it very liberating that I could be myself around Ben and we could talk about anything, even boys. I relied on Ben's friendship to get me through the school year and we made plans to be roommates our second year.
Over the summer, Dad made me work for him again. Dad owned an ag supply company. We sold and serviced tractors and small farm equipment, but it was also hardware and parts retail store. Dad had me work the register in the store.
I did get a chance to spend a weekend with Ben in Grand Rapids and I met his boyfriend, Ty. He was a really nice guy and they did make a great couple. Ty was attentive and affectionate towards Ben. He always had his arm around Ben and Ben's smile and eyes lit up the room when Ty was around. I admit that I was more than a little bit envious of what they had together.
I only saw Gordie twice over the summer. He was really busy working for his dad's landscape company and he was doing this football camp thing with kids. On both occasions we met for dinner. We were friendly and made small talk and caught up. We told stories about school and classes. He had made new friends on the football team and I told him about Ben.
I noticed that he kept his distance from me, both physically and emotionally. I was still very much in love with him and I was still very much attracted to him. All he had to do was ask. I would have done anything he wanted. I'm sure he realized this and that was why he was holding back. I guess he did not feel the same way about me. I guess that was what finally allowed me to move on.
***
My second year of college started out great. I was rooming with Ben and we both got along very well. My classes were better this year, though I wasn't crazy about accounting.
I went to a Halloween party with Ben and he introduced me to a guy he knew, Donnie. Donnie was a big guy, just like I liked. He had a shaved head and his beard was a couple of days outgrown. He was kind of goofy looking and not very attractive, but the fact that he was wearing a fireman's costume and I was on my second cup of beer allowed me to overlook that.
After both of us had another beer, we were back in my dorm room and on my bed. Donnie pulled me to him and kissed me hard. His kisses were wet and sloppy. It wasn't long before he unzipped his pants and pulled his hard dick out. He pushed the back of my head down to his crotch. He had a very respectable circumcised dick. It wasn't as big and nice as Gordie's, but I wasn't complaining. It seemed like I had just taken him into my mouth and started sucking and bobbing when he grabbed my head and came in my mouth. It was over in less than two minutes.
He didn't seem interested in reciprocating and he zipped up his pants and stood up. He thanked me and said it was great and asked for my phone number. I gave him my cell number. I figured I'd give him another shot when he wasn't drunk. Maybe it would be better then. It didn't matter. He never called me back.
***
After working another summer with Dad, I returned to school for my junior year. Ben and I moved into one of the nicer dorms on campus. The rooms were slightly bigger here and we were closer to our classes.
I met Bart Bronson the first week in my business management class, which was my last class of the day on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The prof divided us into groups for projects and discussions. Bart chose himself as the team leader of our group of five. We went around the group and introduced ourselves. Bart said he was a junior, and one of the girls in the group asked how old he was and he said he was 28. He joined the Army when he graduated high school and was in for eight years and even served multiple tours in Iraq. We were all impressed and he took charge of the group right away.
Bart was tall with a muscular build. He had a ruggedly handsome face. He had dark brown hair cut in a high and tight military style. He had a full, but neatly trimmed goatee and moustache, and also a couple days growth on the rest of his beard. He had a gruff demeanor and his voice was deep and gravelly. He had on a black short sleeved button-down shirt over a white v-neck t-shirt, tight blue jeans and black boots. The v-neck of his t-shirt exposed a chest covered in thick dark brown hair. I quickly looked away when he caught me checking him out.
While both of the girls in our group openly flirted with him, he all but ignored them. I caught him staring at me with a smug smirk on more than one occasion. My leg fidgeted nervously. He obviously figured out I was gay and I was sure he was going to make my life hell.
After class, we went to the library because he wanted to go over how we were going to split up the first project. He divided the work pretty evenly and fairly.
"Clark will help me compile everything into one submission," Bart said. "Okay, that's it. See you all on Wednesday."
We all packed up our notebooks and got up to leave.
"Clark, I need you to stay behind," he said. Everyone else got up and left as I stood waiting for Bart. My heart was pounding and my mouth was dry.
"Let's go," he said. I followed him out of the library and we quietly walked to a parking lot to a black GMC Yukon SUV.
"Get in" was his command.
We drove to a pub off campus and I followed him in and we sat in a booth and he ordered two beers. I was surprised that the waitress didn't ask for my ID. He slid one of the glasses to me and took a big drink. I nervously sipped mine as he watched me.
"I make you nervous, boy?" he asked.
I nodded.
"I'm not gonna do anything you don't want me to do. Relax. Drink your beer."
After we drank our beers, we walked back out to the car. He opened the passenger door for me. Before I could climb in, he moved in close. He rested his left hand on the top of the car and his right on top the door. He leaned in closer.
"You got two choices, boy. I can take you back to your dorm, or I can take you to my apartment."
My knees weakened and my pulse quickened. I couldn't believe this big hunky stud wanted me.
"I... I don't want to go back to the dorm yet," I whispered.
