Which Way the Wind Blows

Chapter 9

Warren rolled his eyes at Jake’s leering smirk. They were having a leisurely lunch at a café on 7th Avenue. Seeing as it was Sunday, they knew they could take time to savor the food while they talked. Jake had called late that morning to ask Warren to meet him there, presumably to check up on his “charge”. Warren didn’t feel comfortable discussing exactly what went on the night before. But the blonde’s expression didn’t leave him with the feeling that he’d be successful in averting any embarrassing conversations.

“Oh, come on,” Jake laughed. “You don’t have to take me through it step-by-step. I just want to be sure you used protection!”

“He had a 12-pack of condoms,” the brunette bit out, looking away as his cheeks colored. “We were protected.”

“Good,” Jake nodded. “So, sex was it then?”

Huh? Warren’s surprised eyes flew back to Jake’s. “I thought you said I didn’t have to walk you through it.”

You don’t. But you can tell me the basics.”

“Jake, we’re not girls,” Warren complained. “We don’t need to dissect things like … last night.”

Jake smirked again, knowing he was winding his painfully shy friend up and enjoying the hell out of it. It was so easy to do. But he also was concerned about Warren’s newly revived sex life. From what the other man told him, it had been nonexistent, other than what little attention Chris provided him, for the past three years. And since Chris was always so worried his family would find out about Warren that attention was sporadic at best and brief when it occurred. It still boggled his mind that the cute, lanky brunette put up with it for as long as he had. But Chris was his first boyfriend and Warren seemed to be so uncertain of his own appeal. Well, Jake was happy to help him change that self opinion, anyway.

“Okay, let me spell it out for you,” he smiled. “Did you have oral with him?”

Warren looked away in mortification. This was beyond the scope of guy friendship, he was sure of it. But maybe gay guys had a different code? He needed to Google that sometime and find out if there was a rule book out there somewhere for him.

“Wa-rren?” Jake sang.

“You can’t seriously expect me to just blithely answer that, can you?”

“We’re pals!” Jake laughed. “Besides, I know David.”

Huh?! What?! He looked the blonde over again in renewed shock and horror. Just how well did Jake know the waiter? Oh, Warren wasn’t jealous. Just … well, weirded out. Sharing things like books, magazines … even computers ... was fine. But sharing a guy … a casual screw at that? Now that HAD to be crossing some lines.

“Oh, don’t look so horrified,” the blonde snorted. “You knew what David was after before you even left the bar. Did you think he hadn’t picked up before?”

“No! But I didn’t think you’d be one of his pickups. Thanks for ruining the afterglow!”

Jake sat back in his chair and laughed long and hard at the serious and irritated look on Warren’s face. He was attractive normally, but when pissed off … well, he was definitely a sight to behold. The waitress chose that moment to deliver their beers and Warren sat back and glared at Jake while she did so. When she moved away from the table, he grabbed his bottle by the neck and chugged half of it before returning his glare to his friend.

“Don’t be mad at me,” the blonde laughed. “I wasn’t going to let you go home with some stranger the first time.”

“Did you set me up?” Warren cried out in alarm.

“No! I swear!” The grin finally dropped from Jake’s lips as he rushed out an explanation. “David approached you all on his own, and I didn’t speak to him the whole night! In fact, I haven’t done or said much more to him besides order drinks and pay him since that night.”

Warren sat back in his own chair, still irked. “Why not?”

“We just don’t have anything to say,” Jake shrugged. “Look, he’s a great guy and all, but we had an understanding at the beginning that it was a one-time thing.” Then he looked at Warren closely. “You did too … right? You didn’t get attached, did you?”

“Oh, we have an agreement. He called it friends with benefits though.”

“You’re seeing him again?” Now it was Jake’s turn to look astonished.

“Maybe. He seemed to like my … um,” Warren turned beet red, “skills.”

Jake chuckled at that and took a sop of his own beer. “So, you used protection during oral then?”

Protection? Warren looked at him in alarm again. “Um …?”

“You didn’t?!” Jake demanded. “Jesus, Warren! Don’t you read the news? AIDS is everywhere, and New York is a huge city! And let’s not forget about the other lovely ‘gifts’ you can get, like syphilis, which is on the rise oddly enough!”

Warren winced as Jake took a deep breath, apparently preparing himself for “the big lecture” he was about to deliver.

“Whatever a guy could give you in intercourse, he can probably give you during a blowjob,” the blonde sighed, lowing his voice so as not to attract attention. “Please tell me he sucked you off.”

“I did it to him,” Warren whispered glumly. “And I swallowed.”

“The virus that causes HIV may be vulnerable to stomach acids, but all it takes is one, small cut inside your mouth to get it into your bloodstream,” Jake added. “David is, I happen to remember, fanatical about getting tested. I asked him about it before we did anything and he showed me his latest test result. Then I used a condom while he sucked me off. But I’m concerned that he even let you expose yourself to that risk.”

“Things kind of happened pretty fast after we talked for a while.”

“Talked talked?”

“Yeah. I felt like telling him about Chris when he asked, and when we started up … again, he even asked me if I was sure I was ready, making sure I knew I didn’t have to to anything.”

“Hmph!” Jake murmured distractedly.

“What?”

“As far as I know, David doesn’t like to talk to his pickups at all.”

“It was probably that forlorn look I have where everyone can read my face before I tell them anything,” the brunette sighed. “Well, he did mention that it was nice talking to someone who didn’t try to mask things from the world.”

“Yeah, you do evoke a feeling of protectiveness,” Jake teased. “Just promise me you’ll protect yourself all the time from now on.”

“I will.”

“And you’ll get tested this week?”

“Tested?”

“We’re responsible gay men,” Jake said haughtily. “Testing often comes with the territory.”

“How about I resolve not to have any more sex?” Warren griped, not liking the sight of needles ... or blood. “Will that let me off the hook?”

“Like you’ll be able to keep the urges under control now that you’ve let the beast out,” Jake laughed.

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Chris winced as he came awake. The sun was streaming through the open window blinds and it was already giving him a hellacious headache. He was alone in the bed and for the small respite he was grateful. He yawned and stretched then rubbed his eyes before getting out of the warm bed and stalking to the bathroom. He took care of his immediate needs first then took a quick shower and changed before finally heading out of the bedroom.

Victoria was seated at the kitchen table reading the Sunday paper with a cup of coffee in front of her. At the sound of his approach she looked up and regarded him critically, making him uncomfortable. Now he was certain she wasn’t an airhead, and he wondered how he missed that all these years.

“Sleep good?” she asked as she picked up the cup and sipped form it.

“I guess.”

“No you didn’t.”

Uh oh. What now? She didn’t take her eyes off the blonde as he took another cup from the cabinet and poured himself some coffee. Then he took the milk out of the refrigerator and added a generous amount to the cup before replacing it. After adding a copious amount of sugar to sweeten the bitter brew he sat across from her and looked at her in dread, not knowing what to expect. Victoria was suddenly an unknown quantity and he needed to be careful with her. Their families were close, after all.

“You miss him, don’t you?” she asked softly.

Miss him? Chris hadn’t even told her Warren had left town. Oh, shit! She knew. She knew something that was for sure. He just stared at her warily, not bothering to answer.

“Don’t try to deny it, Chris,” she said sadly. “I know about you two.” She leaned across the table and put her delicate hand atop his. “I’ve known from the start.”