This fantasy story features a 'mature' gay man, his boarder, and the psychological struggles they endure on their way to intimacy.
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The Call -
"Hi. My name is Troy. I hope the room is still available, because I start my new job at the end of the week...and I really need a safe place to live." His voice is beautifully deep; with a slight accent that I can not immediately place.
"It is, Troy. You can come and see it if you like anytime after two today. The neighborhood is very quiet and very safe. You'll even have off street parking if you have a car." After meeting and rejecting a half dozen other candidates for the room, I hope this one pans out. As a fairly new homeowner in retirement, I need the income to make the mortgage work.
"Great. I'll be there at two. Thanks." That voice. So very melodic and sensual. Calm down, Colin. Don't get your hopes too high.
Two O'clock -
"Hi. I'm Troy." And I am instantly in love...and also very conflicted. He sounded like a mature man on the phone...but he can't be much over 18! The car he drove here in is what I would call a beater, but, hey, at his age mine was, too.
"Come on in, Troy. So...how old are you, son?" Son. Hmm...not the best choice of words.
"Twenty. I'm twenty. Please. Your house and this neighborhood look really good to me. I can pay the rent you're asking."
"How about checking out the room, Troy?" Colin, you old dog. What the hell are you thinking? "It's just a two bedroom house, but I added an en suite bathroom for my renter, and it includes whole-house privileges with full kitchen access." He's hooked on the place, you don't have to sell it to him.
"Please, Mr. Kochanek, please let me rent from you. I can give you the first month now." All of twenty. Handsome as a cover model. Stay calm. Body like a sculpted marble statue. Colin. That deep sexy voice emanating from luscious full lips...those captivating eyes...
"Let's sit at the table and go over the details." It warms my soul to see how one simple sentence just turned an anxious and worried kid into a beaming young adult; with a smile that takes me back in time.
My Story -
Ken was the love of my life. I took his name when we married. I'll keep it forever. We bought this place a year ago, and had great fun fixing it up. At the time, the extra bathroom was to be for our guests to use. Then everything changed. Ken left me. It went like this...
"My condolences, Colin. What can I do to help? I know the shock must still be with you." Howard is a good friend. I still can't believe that Ken is gone. The accident was...it was...
"Thanks, Howard. With Ken gone, I'll have to figure out how to keep this place. He and I were sharing the mortgage with our savings."
"Rent out the second bedroom, Collie. It's a natural with the bathroom you guys added. You'll get top dollar...and there will be someone around to..." He's starting to cry. He loved Kenny like I did. We'd all been friends since college.
"Hug it out with me, my friend. You're right. I'll place an add for the room this week."
The Details -
"Like I said on the phone, you can park your car next to mine in the driveway. The room is furnished, as you saw, but if you want to change anything..."
"No. It's perfect. Are you...were you a decorator or something?" Oh, my. Here we go.
"Not exactly. My husband Ken and I had great fun fixing the place up and making it our home. He passed a few months ago, Troy." I can read people easily. Troy's mind is racing to choose his words with care.
"Oh. I'm really sorry for you, Colin. I lost my dad a few years ago, so I have some idea of how you must feel." Good job, Troy.
"Thanks." I manage a slight smile, though the pain I feel is palpable still. "When I was your age, I loved to party, Troy...but your renting from me is strictly to share this house for the two of us. No overnights for 'friends', no loud music, just a nice safe place to sleep, eat, and relax in. That's it for the house rules. There's a washer and dryer in the basement that you can use. I keep a clean place, as you can see, so if you use it...clean it. Questions?" He's reaching for his wallet.
"Yeah. How can I be so lucky as to find you?" What a charmer! I take the money from his outstretched hand; and he holds my hand in his with a very firm, yet comforting handshake. He moves in tomorrow.
The Move -
"Pull up near the back door, Troy. I'll help you unload." His car is packed to the roof. We take out boxes, bags, suitcases, and assorted loose stuff and plop them into his new digs. The kid is energized and happy. So am I.
"Thanks, Colin. Sorry. Mr...."
"Woah. Colin is fine. Or Collie, if you like. My friends call me Collie." My heart is racing to have Troy moving in with me. I remember when Ken and I got our very first place together all those years ago...
"I will. You have no idea how glad I am to be here."
"I think I do. Lunch?"
"Please. I was so excited to pack that I skipped breakfast."
"What? No girlfriend to look after you?" Yeah...I am fishing...so what?
"Nope. Never had one. Just a single guy starting out with a new job, a new place to live, and who knows what else in my future."
"Oh, trust me, Troy. Your future is bright and filled with possibilities. Help me get some food together. You can stock these two cabinets with your things, and take half the refrigerator space when you go shopping. There's a grocery store just down the way. You good with beef stew and fresh homemade bread?"
"Absolutely. Okay if I get the dishes?"
"Cabinet to the right. This drawer has the utensils. Let's sit outside. This Fall weather is great, but it won't last." How long will my infatuation with Troy last, I wonder. He is testing my lifelong notions about age compatibility. Ken and I were only a few years apart.
"Yeah, this is great. Can I ask you something personal?" I nod. "When did you...I mean...how did you you know..."
"That I was gay?" He nods, blushes so endearingly, and looks very sheepish.
"At your age. Ken and I met shortly thereafter in college. We fell in love, and were a monogamous couple until he died." Troy looks nothing like Ken did; but he keeps bringing out the same feelings I had for my Kenny. His question has me half chubbed and very turned on. Oh, Colin. Don't be a fool. You can't recapture the past with this kid. You're not the young man you used to be! I feel a few tears welling up.
"Jeeze, Colin. I'm sorry. I won't intrude again." He's quick and perceptive. Ken was, too.
"It's okay, Troy. I'm glad you're here. Let's not keep any subject from each other. Okay?" Oh, that smile!
Four Months Later -
My boarder and I have settled in to a very pleasant routine. He gets up and we make breakfast together, before he leaves for work. Troy is a good cook, by the
way. Ken and I had some plans to open a small Cafe together. Anyway...When he gets back from work, we fix dinner, have a few drinks, talk up a storm, and he gets off to sleep. My days are spent around the house doing the usual chores. It is wonderful having Troy living with me; but there is an emptiness inside me that might never go away.
"Can I take a towel from your stash, Collie? I ran out and I'm just out of the shower." I grab a towel from the linen closet and knock on his open bedroom door.
"Come on in. It's nothing you haven't seen before!" As I round the corner and peer into his bathroom, let me tell you what. I definitely, positively, have never seen anything like this before! Troy is stark naked before me, dripping wet; and I do not know where to look first. I had been relaxing in my sleepers before bed. Now, mind you, I am not a very big man down under...but these baggy sleepers are starting to tent. Noticeably. Undeniably. Embarrassingly.
"Okay, Colin! Nice one there, for a..."
"An old guy?" Before me is the epitome of youthful male splendor. I will not take a thousand words to try and describe the beauty that Troy offers to this world. But suffice to say that the boy-man now drying his glistening alabaster body with one of my towels has me wondering if I could possibly use that same towel for my own morning shower?
"Thanks, Colin." Troy has just finished blotting the beads of water from his crotch; and is holding the used towel outstretched toward me, like an offering of some kind. Is that a Mona Lisa smile on his boyish face? Is the Devil at work on more than just my own fevered mind? "If it's okay with you, I'd like to have our nighttime drink just like this." He is gesturing to his nakedness. I am nodding with way too much enthusiasm for my age.
"You can do whatever pleases you that is safe around here, Troy. Naked it is." The Greek statue is now walking in front of me on his way to get our nightcap. Oh the ass on this lad!
"Good. Have you heard about this virus thing, Collie?" He is referring to the stories of a pandemic on the horizon.
"It's probably nothing, Troy." My mind is not about to go anywhere except to the muscular mass sitting next to me. It's like we are two guys at a bar, sharing drinks and talk. "Bottoms up my boy - tomorrow's workday awaits you." Of course, I take in each and every movement of each and every muscle that tips the small glass to his open wet mouth.
"Goodnight, Collie." I track his progress toward his room with the intense stare of a predator. He turns suddenly. "Sleep tight!" His wisp of a smile speaks volumes...and I am both excited and embarrassed at the same time. What am I doing? What indeed!
Two Months Pass -
