I went to college in the Bible Belt, back when it could still be quite dangerous to be openly gay, bi, or anything but totally straight. I was mostly straight, but had enjoyed a few experiences with guys. Although far from being some macho jock, I still wasn't one to set off anyone's "gaydar".
I met Karl in the first few days of school. I had taken a "gap year", so he was year ahead of me, but the same age. We worked together at the college radio station, and bonded over our arcane knowledge and deep love of music, and it was obvious we'd be lifelong friends. Soon, we were taking late-night walks after the station shut down, drinking beer and smoking pot.
We would go on what we called "adventures". His mother owned the largest real estate agency in the area, so he had the codes to the lock boxes of all the houses for sale in town. Late at night, we'd go into empty houses and drink beer. We had to be fairly quiet, and no flashlights, or the neighbors might call the cops. But sneaking around in the dark was what made it fun.
Our friendship, and conversations, were opening up, so one night, sitting on a lush carpeted staircase, with only the streetlights for illumination, we started swapping sex stories. I asked who gave him his best blowjob. He hesitated for an uncomfortably long time.
"It was a guy, wasn't it?" I asked.
"How did you know?"
I told him it was a "birds of a feather" thing. There was something about him, and as soon as we met, I knew his door swings both ways. He said he had the opposite feeling about me.
We discussed how most guys have their first experience with another guy, usually jerking it with their best bud over a stolen Playboy. We began telling each other our sexual histories, and I explained that besides five women, I had, by that time, gone down on a total of four guys, and sucked each multiple times. I could see he didn't expect that.
"I wouldn't have thought... I mean, everybody... but you've really been learning how to driving stick..."
"Yeah, like you said, it started by jerking with my best friend, but the fantasy of sucking him off was too much to ignore, and he was into it, so I tried it once, and really liked it. After that, if an opportunity showed up, well, why not? I think the taboo aspect of it is a big part of what turns me on."
"And a lot more taboo down here than where you're from," he said.
"Yeah, but you can't tell me these good ole boys out here, hunting, camping? I bet there's a lot of guys round here, knocking back a few beers in a fishing boat, just two good buddies, then somebody says 'let's try it once', and one of the two finds out how hot it is to suck a cock. That's how it happened with me. But of course, you've got to hide it a lot more here. Bury it deep, at least till the fellas are alone n the woods again."
"Sorry, you just seem more like the one who would be getting head, not the one on his knees giving."