I met him on a blustery evening under the Cartier Bridge. The bicycle paths that ran along each side of the river were closed for the season. A layer of ice had already formed indistinct patterns on the surface of the water. But the trails were clear with barely any snow on the ground, and it was easy enough to duck underneath the leaden chain that stretched across the pathway entrance. Cars passed along the elevated road that ran parallel to the river, likely taxis with passengers returning home from downtown bars. There were no businesses or residential streets in this part of town though, not even the massive apartment buildings which dominated the skyline further north of the city. Bare trees and park benches marked this stretch of waterway, illuminated by the occasional lamp post.
It was past midnight, but the paths were not deserted. Soon after I began walking a man and his dog quietly passed me from behind. Again several minutes later another man appeared out of the dark, riding towards me on a bicycle. Steam puffed heavily out from between the folds of his scarf. As we approached each other he stared ahead, pretending not to notice me. I frowned and jammed my mittens into the pockets of my coat. He had said that we would meet along the way. I wondered at what point I would see him, or he would see me. How would he know who I am?
The temperature had dropped significantly since the holiday. My scratchy, woolen long johns did not do much to warm my thighs, which were quickly becoming numb from the wind. My toes throbbed from the cold inside my sneakers. When I kicked against the pavement to warm my feet the vibration traveled through my leg into my groin. The sudden stir caused my penis to strain against the fabric of my underpants, but I supposed that no one could see my growing erection through so many layers of clothing.
After some time the Cartier Bridge came into view. It was still covered in incandescent holiday lights, reflected by ice that had frozen vertically against the stone facade. I walked underneath the bridge and leaned against the handrail. Here the water continued to slowly flow downstream. It was here we met.
I looked absentmindedly around me, finally noticing a small structure that had been built into a recess beside the bridge. I had walked by it several times before in the daytime and assumed that the building housed electrical or else traffic equipment. The greasy window was dark. But inside I clearly saw the lit end of a cigarette moving from waist height to mouth. My heart throbbed loudly in my chest. I put a mitten on the handle of the door, but just before I could try it opened. Cigarette smoke wafted out into the night air. For a brief moment, I hesitated. I had never done anything like this before. 'What am I doing? Is this really him?' I wondered.
Then I stepped inside.
I could barely make out the dimensions of the room, but it was as small as it had looked on the outside. The outline of a man leaned against something near the door. We looked at each other. He was of average height and looked to be in his late thirties or early forties, though in the dim light I could hardly tell for sure. He had a thick beard that extended upward into a knit skullcap, and wore a heavy flannel jacket.
"You Michael?" he asked, finally.
"Yeah," I replied a little too excitedly, pulling off my mittens. Before I could say anything more, he threw his cigarette onto the floor and crushed it with a boot.
"Come here," he said.
I hesitated again, then knelt down on the floor in front of him. Wordlessly, he unbuttoned his blue jeans. Pulling the waistband of his shorts tentatively underneath his testicles, I smelled the distinctive odor of humid sweat emit from his crotch. I leaned forward into him, so much so that my nose nudged against a coarse mat of pubic hair. He looked at me, amused. I grinned back at him and wrapped my fingers around the shaft of his penis.
"No," he responded firmly, pushing me aside. "No hands."
I did not know exactly what to do. My arms dropped limply to my sides. He reached down and tugged off my cap. Cupping his palm against the back of my head, he pulled me towards him. Though he stood directly in front of me, my eyes did not yet adjust to the darkness, so I waited. The first thing I felt was the head of his circumcised penis rub against my lips, daubing them with watery precome. As I ran my tongue tentatively along his shaft, I discovered a thick vein that extended to the base of his cock.
I awkwardly tucked my teeth under my lips and bobbed slowly, deliberately over his member. Each time he entered my mouth, I tilted my head slightly and pressed my tongue upward to slide underneath his shaft. He seemed to like that. When he pulled out, I puckered my lips so that the corona of his cock head audibly popped free. We rocked back and forth for a number of minutes. Then, holding the shaft of his penis against his abdomen, he guided me deeper into his musky groin so that I could nuzzle at his scrotum. Despite what he wanted, I found it difficult to capture both of his testicles in my mouth at the same time without using my hands; each time I clamped down on one, the other slid free. He didn't seem to mind, nor did the cold seem to affect him. This time I opened wide and rose with an upward motion this time like a shark, enveloping him. I smiled over the base of his scrotum. My tongue pushed his balls against the roof of my mouth. Moaning loudly, he grabbed a fist of my hair.
Pulling my head gently backward by my hair, he yanked his scrotum free. He lifted me up from my knees and guided me towards the table. "That's good," he soothed, and for the first and only time that evening, he kissed me. His breath tasted like stale smoke, so I focused instead on the unfamiliar feeling of his beard as it scratched my face. His tongue slipped between my lips and hungrily entered my mouth. I had not thought about my penis since I arrived, but I now felt a cold, wet spot forming on the fabric my underwear. I began to wrap my arms around his neck, but he waved them away.
"Off," he said, turning me around to tug at my pants. I turned my head back in his direction.
"Are you serious?" I asked, incredulously. "It's cold man, no way."