I watched Ryan walk by like I did several times a day, every day. He was the apex of perfection: tall, caramel skin, wide shoulders, narrow waist, short hair, long eye lashes, firm bubble butt, nice manly voice (gruff but not too gruff) and a dimpled smile that could melt butter. And he was a nice guy on top of all that. He was very amiable; everyone that knew him liked him. He was gregarious without being over bearing and smart but not pretentious.
The only real issue he seemed to have (at least to many of his female colleagues) was that he was single. Most of the women we worked with are married so they felt the need to fix up all single men that worked with us. They all knew I am gay so, even though some of them tried to fix me up with guys, their 'magic' didn't really work on me. I guess I was a lost cause to them: a project out of their league. Which was fine by me. That said, one of the more 'eagle-eyed' women noticed my fascination with Ryan.
"Do you think he's gay?" she asked.
"I don't know. Maybe. But he's only been here a few weeks - maybe he's not too keen on announcing his personal life to a room of strangers?" I replied.
"I think he's gay" she responded. "Maybe I should ask?"
"Are you crazy woman?!? That's not something you ask someone - especially when they're a newbie like him!" I told her. Like most women-on-a-mission, she didn't listen and I watched her stroll over to him. I cringed. To me, it was uncouth to ask such a thing to a relative stranger. I couldn't watch so I went back to my report.
"I was right" I heard over my shoulder.
"What?" I questioned.
"He's gay" she replied.
"He told you that? That he's gay?" I asked.
"Yup. Told ya'!" she said as she trotted away towards her desk in triumph. I watched her walk to her desk in disbelief then turned my eyes in Ryan's direction. He was looking right at me. Not only did she ask a question that was, in my mind, inappropriate, but she also outed myself to a stranger. A sexy stranger. A sexy stranger that I fantasized over many a night. But she was wrong to do so. Right?
I was able to finish the day with no additional drama. As I approached my car I heard someone call my name from behind me - a voice I didn't recognize. As I turned around I saw Ryan coming my direction.
"Mark! Wait up!" he called as he trotted towards me. I could see he wasn't carrying any extra weight as the only thing bouncing as he ran was his ample chest muscles. It took an honest couple of seconds for me to free myself from gazing at his chest and focus on his face, which was, if I'm honest, just as good, if not better than, his chest.
"Hey" I replied as he got closer. He slowed to a fast walk, then normalized his approach. I've never spoken to him directly since we were in different departments so I didn't even know how he knew my name. I'm kind of a wallflower at my job.
"Hey...Mark." he started. "Your friend Julie said I should introduce myself. I'm Ryan!" He stuck out his hand for a shake. Damn that Julie! What did she say?
"Good to meet you" I replied. "How's the new job going?" I asked innocently.
"Fine fine. Still learning!" he replied starring at me intently.
"So Julie said we should talk about...what exactly?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, right!" he said. "Well, she said we should, maybe, hand out sometime."
"Oh. Okay. Um...well we could go for drinks sometime...I'm sorry, did she say why? Not that I wouldn't mind" (God I wouldn't mind) "just curious." I said.
He laughed. " I understand totally. She caught me off guard as well." he replied.
"Yeah, she can do that to you" I admitted with a chuckle.
"So, umm..." Ryan wrung his hands constantly.
"So yeah. We can do drinks. What are your plans this weekend?" I asked.
"I work my second job Friday until ten o'clock, but I'm free Saturday night" he suggested.
"Okay, well, here's my number" I said as I pulled out my phone. "What's your number and I'll send you a text with my info and we can figure something out." His phone vibrated with my message.
"Great. Thanks. I'll call you!" he said enthusiastically.
A couple days passed with us making eye contact and smiling throughout the day. I caught him noticing me more now that he had my info. And I noticed his fantastic body more than ever. Anticipation I suppose.
"So how'd it go?" Julie asked at my desk right before lunch Friday.
"Let's talk about it over lunch. Bitch." I said with a smile. She replied in kind. During lunch we dished the details.
"He was instantly in to meeting you" she said. "He kind of jumped at the invite!" This made me curious, excited and anxious all at the same time. But I didn't want to cause any undue stress mentally so I changed the subject.
Saturday morning, I woke up excited. I got my haircut, cleaned the apartment and the car, had lunch, then took a shower. I considered man-scaping thoroughly but decided a partial 'scape as I didn't expect anything more than drinks and maybe a kiss.
Around 4pm a text came in from Ryan with the location and time. I excitedly confirmed and arrived a bit early. I got a seat and while I waited I did the obligatory breath and hair check. I order a drink and as it arrived Ryan came around the corner. He looked amazing. His tight polo shirt showed off his body while his khakis did wonders for his ass.
"Hey man how's it going?" he asked as he sat down.
"Great! Good to see you outside of work. How was work last night? What do you do again?" I asked.
"I bartend at O'Malleys. And it was good. I enjoy it. It pays well. Oh and by the way, this night's on me!" he offered.
"That's great and all, but I can't ask you do that" I replied.
He leaned in closer: "Well if I pay for drinks I thought you could pay for dessert" he said with a slight smirk. I wasn't sure what that really meant. Did he want a cookie or did he want some man meat? I starred directly in his eyes. He didn't even blink. I have to admit it was a turn on - all his dominance he was portraying.
I laughed as I broke my gaze. "Well, okay I suppose." I replied. I sat back in my chair as his drink arrived and smiled.
Over the next several minutes we talked and the conversation flowed quite naturally. I learned he was new to the area and had no friends or family. He was actually 34 (to my surprise - he looked years' younger) and was indeed gay.
As the night continued, we seemed to grow closer figuratively and literally as he moved his chair closer to mine. We broke out the photos of our family on our phones and bonded even more. The next thing I knew he had his hand on my knee under the table. His touch made me tingle from head to toe.
Once the check came, Ryan did, indeed, pay for the whole thing. I smiled as the sever returned his card.
"I guess it's time for dessert!" I replied. "What would you like? I know there's a coffee shop down the street..."
He ran his hand up my leg to my inner thigh. "Coffee would be fine. I have some at my place. Care to follow me?" he asked. Absolutley, I thought to myself.
"Sure. I'll follow you" I said as I immediately regretted not fully man-scaping early in the day. Once we arrived, we went in and got settled.
Ryan twisted his neck. "Last night was a long night. I had to barback also" he said. "My neck and shoulders are so stiff."
"Allow me!" I said as motioned to the floor between my feet where I say on the sofa. He sat down between my feet. I could smell his cologne and commented on how great he smelled.