Recognizing Ritchie

It had already been a very long day, but I was finally getting my lunch break. This manufacturing job takes its toll on you after a while, and having worked from six in the morning straight through to noon already has me so exhausted that I'll be counting down the hours on the clock for the rest of my shift.

As I stepped out onto the dock, the first thing I saw was a delivery truck had pulled in and looked to be ready to load up. It's about damn time to be honest, we only had one pickup scheduled today and the driver was late by several hours. The order on the dock had already been in my way since ten when it was supposed to be picked up, and I was quickly running out of room in my workspace from not being able to move my finished lines out to the docks.

I lit a cigarette and took a long drag, enjoying the nicotine as it hit my system hard from not having one since I'd arrived. I know I need to quit, but honestly this was one of the few things I can afford to enjoy most weeks. I sat heavily in the old broken school desk that had been sitting on the dock since before I took this job and pulled out my phone.

"Still sucking on stuff after all these years, bud?" A voice came from the top of the dock stairs. Looking up it wasn't just some random truck driver, but an old schoolmate from my high school years, his name was Ritchie. We weren't exactly friends back in the day, but having to tutor him through a few of our mutual classes had introduced me to him quite well. He looked very similar but had finally managed to grow a bit of facial hair after all these years. Not a full beard or anything, just a neat mustache and a disconnected lower portion of a goatee that was kind of bushy and made him look like the devil logo straight off of the Duke University basketball team.

"Yeah, guess so man, it's still something I'm good at though" I shot back unfazed, I had become used to some of the commentary him and his friends used to throw at me back in the day. He was never actually rude to me, but he'd always had jokes every now and then ever since I'd known him. He stepped forward and laid a small clipboard with a pickup request order form attached; he was here to pick up the damned chairs in my way. I shot back a quick "your late" as he brushed me off with some defenses about it being a busy day.

"You gonna finish that up soon?" Ritchie asked, "I could really use some help to get back on schedule." He had a pitiful and begging look about him, so it must've been a hard day for him, but I was currently clocked out so I shot back a "when my break is over, I'll jump in" and continued enjoying my time off as I signed his paper and handed it back to him. "The chairs are on the dock."

He huffed, but immediately got to work on loading the chairs as fast as he could. Despite trying to focus on whatever memes I could find on my phone in the brief time I had to take my break, I couldn't help but notice him as he passed back and forth across the dock carrying the chairs.

He was still lean, but had a little more weight to him than he did in high school, and it looked damn good on him. Just a slight slouch to what used to be a washboard stomach and the same thick built pecs leading up to broad bulbous shoulders which had well defined arms shooting out of them. The man could honestly still be a model today even with the little bit of weight that adulthood had finally gifted him with.

Ritchie's waste was still narrow despite the added weight, and he still had absolutely nothing from the hips down except two chicken legs which just made his baggy pants hang sort of funny until they hit his broad calf muscles which flexed so large when he was carrying the heavy chairs that it was almost comical. I'd always had a thing for Ritchie, and sitting here now I couldn't help but wonder if I didn't still have one. Unfortunately he could kick my ass so hard if given half the chance that I wouldn't even have enough teeth left to apologize after if he caught me staring too long.

We made a little small-talk, but it was nothing significant, just a standard 'what have you been up to' and random facts about stupid things we could remember off the top of our heads from the past few years. Eventually my phone vibrated to let me know my break was over and I had to actually help rather than just sit there enjoying the eye candy as nonchalantly as I could manage.

I clocked back in and joined in on the action of carrying out chair frames with Ritchie, and our small talk continued. "What sort of stuff do you do after work?" Ritchie asked. I couldn't really think of anything significant so I just kind of brushed the question off as best as possible and mentioned something about movies and video games. I was honestly more interested in sneaking glances as we passed each other loading the truck than I was having a conversation with someone I felt like I barely knew.

Eventually, like always when you run into someone from the past, Ritchie said "we should hang out sometime, maybe catch up." It is something all people say in their twenties when they recognize someone, but it is seldom something that is actually followed through on. I just nodded and continued with the random small talk to the best of my ability, but Ritchie just seemed to not let that go. "We really should hang out sometime after work man. I've got my own space out by the old mill; we can play some video games, watch a movie, or just chill out one afternoon after work." Ritchie seemed genuine enough, so I agreed.

After we'd loaded the last of the chairs into the truck, Ritchie pulled out his phone and pulled up the Add Contact screen and handed me his phone, "put your number in, and I'll hit you up sometime" he said. I did as he requested, but as I stood there with him in the back of his truck his scent finally hit me.

He smelled exactly how I liked. It was a very manly and sweaty smell just accented slightly by cologne and deodorant, but not covered up like some guys do it. This was the scent of a real and hardworking man. I just finished entering my information and handed him his phone back while mentally thanking God that I still had my carpenter's apron on and any hardwoods I was carrying would be completely masked by the heavy rubberized material that was supposed to protect my clothes from the glue and sawdust I was constantly bombarded with my entire workday.

We walked out of the back of his truck and he closed it up as I went to get the bill of lading for him so he could sign it and be on his way, but while I was getting it I felt my phone vibrate. I took him his paperwork and as soon as I handed it over, Ritchie said "I shot you a text so you'd have my number, let's get up soon for something, ok man?"

I just nodded as I took the paperwork back and handed him his copy. He was gone in an instant after he grabbed it; headed back down the dock stairs, cranked his truck, and started to pull away. I figured that'd be the end of it, but I did go ahead and add him to my contacts. His text message said "This is Ritchie" and that was it.

I went back to finishing out my day, moving the completed frames from my workspace to the dock and finishing my work order from earlier and placing it on the dock behind them. I even went ahead and started on the orders for tomorrow. By the time I got out to my car it was almost six in the afternoon and I sat in my car trying to charge my phone and enjoying one last cigarette while I waited for the owner to finish shuttering and locking the building. He was a decent old man, so I didn't like to leave him here alone in the dark with it getting dark so early in the winter.

When my phone finally sprang to life I immediately got flooded with a few texts, all from Ritchie. "You free later?", "Wanna hang?", and "Gonna grab some beer and order pizza" came across in a sudden frenzy. He must've sent them after my phone had died sometime in the afternoon while I was working.

I sat there staring at them and smoking my cigarette while debating what to say back when Ron, the owner, scared the living hell out of me by shouting "SEE YOU TOMORROW BROTHER" through my window before he hopped into his truck and cranked it. I think he sometimes did that on purpose just to scare me when he knew I wasn't paying attention, but the point was made and he was clearly ready to head home. Thinking quickly I shot Ritchie back a quick text of "Sure, but need to shower and let dog out" and then put on some music as I pulled out and headed back to my apartment.

With Rush's Tom Sawyer blaring through my speakers via Spotify, I drove home much faster than the speed limits recommended, but with it being late and the route I took moving through the county rather than straight through the city, I figured the cops wouldn't mind and I was right. There wasn't another car on the road for most of the drive, and the one sheriff I passed on my way didn't even bother to pull out as I ran my car past him at 60 in a 45.

When I pulled into a parking spot at my apartment I already had two texts back from Ritchie. One asked when I was free and the other was just an address. I knew the road, and knew it wouldn't take me long to get there, but I still had to let out my dog Nugget and take a shower, so I hazarded a guess and shot back a quick "8-830" before I headed inside.

Nugget was not pleased when I opened the door. I was late and she wanted me to know I was late very clearly by sneezing her displeasure with my tardiness repeatedly until I picked her up and took her to the grass outside. She proceeded to sneeze and look back at me as she took her time doing her business as my phone vibrated in my pocket. Ritchie sent back "Fine by me" which I read before collecting Nugget and her mess from the lawn. I tossed the potty bag in the trash can and carried my little princess back inside as she continued to try to sneeze directly into my eyes.

She may be a small 7 pound Shih-Tzu, but she has the attitude of a full grown big dog and did her best to let me know she wasn't happy until I had her back inside on her bed and refilled her bowls. Then she was slightly distracted, but still sneezing and making grumpy noises even as she ate as I took my leave yet again to take a shower.

I put my work clothes in the hamper, spent quite a long time scrubbing all the glue and sawdust smell off of my body, and put on a little cologne and deodorant before getting dressed. It was getting close to laundry day, so the best options I had was an old worn out Blink 182 t-shirt and a pair of jeans that had more holes in them than Jesus, but that would have to work.

Once dressed I texted back "Be there in a few", bid my farewell to Nugget, and headed over to his house. He lived just a few miles away in a neighborhood I knew well. It was impossible not to know the cheapest rental properties in town; but up until they had gotten arrested and evicted, my cousins actually lived just a few houses down from his property. It was a small one bedroom mill home with barely any grass between the porch and the road, and a driveway only big enough for a motorcycle that was already parked there, a beat up chevy truck, and my car which I had to park at the end of the driveway.

Before I even turned the engine lights off and put out the cigarette I had lit for the drive, Ritchie's porch light turned on and he soon came into view at the end of his front porch. He was dressed in an Avenged Sevenfold t-shirt, some cutoff jean shorts which went down past his knees, and the same beanie he'd been wearing earlier that day on his head. He looked like every mom's bad-boy nightmare that they hope their daughter didn't bring home from back in my high school era, so not too much difference between now and back then.

He welcomed me with the typical bro-hug where he grabbed one of my hands and pulled me in to pat my back in a half handshake/half hug as I reached the front porch, and guided me inside to a place that seemed both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Unlike his parents house which was littered with ashtrays and beer cans, his place was very neat and tidy, but he still had band posters and motorcycle stuff plastered everywhere it could fit which still seemed a bit cluttered. It smelled pretty clean, but mostly smelled of pizza which he already had sitting on his coffee table alongside some sodas, plastic cups, paper plates, and a roll of paper towels. He waved me onto the couch and more or less told me he'd get us some beers as he excused himself to the kitchen.

His place was nice, and his couch was somewhat comfy even if it both looked and felt cheap. It was decent to sit on, and was honestly better than my hand-me-down purchase I'd gotten for myself from Goodwill back at my own place. "Here, have a drink," Ritchie said as he returned and handed me a beer, "I've got some pizza and set up Carrie. I know it's probably stupid, but it's something I have here since I don't have cable or anything."

He turned Carrie on via a PlayStation 3 and started handing out pizza as we caught up with some general small-talk. We discussed a variety of things from past and present, shared what was going on in our lives, and he even impressed me a little remembering stuff about me from high school that I never even knew he recognized. He was apparently a fan of both my art and my performances back when I was in band, and he reminded me of a few things I'd honestly forgotten I had even done.

Before I realized it, we were done eating pizza and the movie was finished; though I still don't think I'd even said one thing of value. I was still having a wonderful time. Ritchie was always good at making me feel at home even when I was just his tutor, but this seemed different; it was beginning to feel like I could be friends with the guy.

We continued to make general small talk and soon Ritchie had pulled out his phone to look up some videos to show me. I scooted closer to him on the couch to watch the funny videos he pulled up one by one on his small phone screen. Ritchie also slid even closer to me so we didn't have to lean. His right shoulder against mine, and his right arm nearly coming to rest on my stomach from time to time as he held his phone out for us to watch.

Eventually funny videos turned to pictures and videos of girls Ritchie found hot. I was just enjoying his company and he seemed to be having a great time sharing stuff he found hot with me, but soon one thing lead to another and he showed me a straight-up porn video.

I was never really interested in girls myself, but I really couldn't complain too much because the dude in the video was packing some serious meat on his own and regardless of the girl being present I was very much enjoying the show for what it was and paying sole attention to the cock on the screen myself. Ritchie skipped around the video some to show me different things he found particularly hot or interesting, but everywhere he clicked the dick seemed to be center stage, so it was fine with me.

"The way she stares at that thing is just so hot man," Ritchie said at one point, "it's like you can just tell she's into it by looking her in the eyes." I had to agree though, she never once seemed to look directly into the camera or anything. It was like her eyes were just glued to the scene directly in front of her, and I honestly couldn't blame the girl. I would have been too.

Ritchie continued to show me a couple more videos of that nature, and it seemed as if the girls changed with every video, but the dick stayed the same. 'I guess even straight guys like big dicks,' I thought to myself silently and smiled to hold back my own laughter at the thought.

I glanced over at Ritchie as much as I could without making it obvious, and saw his masculine jaw clenched tight. His tight jaw muscles made slight indentations along his cheeks, making the bit of facial hair he had look even hotter in the barely lit room. Ritchie looked so hot right now with his eyes glued to whatever he was showing on the small screen in his palm, and when I looked back I was greeted with that same long dick stretched out over some random girl's face as she made some of the fakest sounding moans I think I'd ever heard even as far as porn went.

The video ended just a few moments later with the man ejaculating what looked to be at least half a damn cup of semen, most of it missing the girl entirely and launching probably several feet behind her in long unbelievable arches. It was still hot seeing a guy erupt like that for me, even if was for some stupid girl on a tiny phone screen. "It's amazing how far this dude shoots," Ritchie said, still glued to his phone screen and breathing somewhat heavy. I glanced up at him in shock hearing him comment on a man for the first time since this whole awkward situation had begun. He was still so focused on his screen that I don't think he noticed me turn my head until the video finally ended.

"Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away." Ritchie said as he slid away slightly so that his arm was no longer touching my chest and stomach, and put his phone down on his right thigh. My eyes followed the movement.

As soon as his hand landed on his right thigh, I saw that Ritchie had his left hand gripped tightly on the inside of his right leg. He was holding a comically large lump that tented the leg of his shorts out towards the center. It looked like something out of a cartoon porno it was so big. The tube-like lump looked damn near like he had a baseball bat shoved part way down his shorts extending what seemed to be the entire length of the shorts clean down to his knee. "God damn" I breathed out, more audibly than intended.

Ritchie laughed, "yeah, sorry man, it's kind of hard to hide when it gets like this" he said as he rocked his left hand up and down a little bit and made it jiggle ever so slightly. "I just got worked up looking through those videos, I didn't mean to get so carried away. Hope that's not too awkward for you," Ritchie said in a way that made him sound slightly entertained at my surprise.

I want to say Ritchie is smiling, but I can't bring myself to look away. My eyes still glued on the massive bulge in his shorts as I swallowed a few times and tried to come up with something, hell, anything to say. My mind was a complete blank. It was just me, my empty brain, a mouth so full of saliva that I could not swallow enough to get it all to go down, and that beautiful sight before me.

It seemed like an eternity was passing, so I finally managed a nod and got out an "mhmm" in the affirmative of absolutely nothing. Ritchie laughed at that which shook me slightly back to reality. Looking up to his face I was met with a huge smile on his face and Ritchie's eyes staring right back into mine once I met his gaze. "It's cool man, I get that a lot when people see it for the first time" Ritchie said as if it were just a normal everyday occurrence, "It's pretty big. The biggest a lot of people have seen, or so they tell me."

My mind was still drawing a blank as I stared Ritchie directly in the eyes, not even blinking. Ritchie seemed to notice my predicament because he responded back with "I can let you see it... if you want."

'GOD YES' my brain shouted out from inside my skull, but I said nothing. My mouth immediately ran dry of any saliva despite it being full not even a few seconds before.

As I sat there like a deer in headlights, Ritchie took the lead and finally asked, "do you want to see it?" as I managed back a simple nod. My brain was still incapable of processing out anything audible in this situation, and my silent nodding made Ritchie smile again even wider than he had before. He smiled so big that it made the corners of his eyes wrinkle and dimples formed in the space between where his mustache and chin hairs didn't quite meet. He looked so sexy that I just kept staring him directly in the face, unable to look away.