Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2004 01:57:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: JMH <trandar2002@yahoo.com>
Subject: Wedding Ring chapter 22


Chance clung to the bar as if it were the only piece of dry land in a
stormy ocean. The thudding sound of the techno music was only adding to
the stress-triggered pounding of his head. He had danced twice with
Jacob but had turned down several offers from other guys.

"Come on... you have to loosen up," Jacob insisted as he tried to hand
him a cosmopolitan.

"I don't drink," Chance insisted.

"Good for you. It's a bad habit," Jacob said encouragingly. It did
not stop him from drinking the cosmo himself though. "You need to enjoy
yourself."

"And I think you need to hand me the car keys."

"Sure... I will give them to you... if you hand over that shirt you're
wearing."

"My shirt?"

"Yeah... for some reason flannel has never really caught on here."
Jacob said as he eyed the other men dressed in skintight clothing.

"No!' Chance insisted.

"Then I guess I'll dive off without you," Jacob said as he began to
dance away with the keys in his hand.

"You can't!" Chance said as he followed Jacob onto the dance floor

"Sure I can. You can always charm some guy here to drive you home."

"Jacob!" Chance yelled as the dancers began to separate the two of
them.

It did not take long for Chance to lose Jacob in the crowd. Not only did
other men block his view but also the sight of so much bare male flesh
was definitely distracting.

"Hey new guy!" A bare-chested dark haired hunk said as he intercepted
Chance.

"Hi," Chance said as he tried to look past him to find Jacob.

"Want to dance?"

"No... I'm looking for someone."

"Looks like you found someone to me," The man grinned as he ran a hand
down Chance's chest.

"I'm not interested," Chance insisted as he tired to return to his
island at the bar, giving up on finding Jacob.

"Oh come on new guy. Don't be like that," The dark haired stranger
insisted as he grabbed Chance's arm... pulling him back.

Seeing that the guy was not going to take no for an answer, Chance
decided if he could get a ride back home from him.

"Alright... one dance... but you have to agree to take me home
afterwards."

"Sure thing new guy," The stranger agreed as he began to move his body
to the music.

"Why do you keep on calling me "new guy"?" Chance asked as he moved
stiffly to the beat.

"Cause that is what you are. Everyone can see you are either a virgin
or a closet case."

"I'm that obvious?"

"Yes... just look at what you are wearing...baggy shirt and pants. Men
come here to be noticed. You're dressed like a pair of white drapes...
boring."

"I'm new to this," Chance apologized as he began to relax more.

"As I said..."new guy." Come on, take off your shirt."

"What... no."

"Come on... I know there is a great body under it. I would not be
dancing with you otherwise. Take it off. Show the rest of the world
what you have."

Chance hesitated for a little bit but eventually he unbuttoned all but
the last three.

"Darn and you were doing so well." The stranger said disappointed.
But I must say you have a great chest," The man grinned as he reached
under Chance's shirt as squeezed one of his pecs.

"Hey!" Chance shouted in protest but was soon meet by an open mouth
kiss.

"Come on, just go with it," The man insisted as he finished unbuttoning
Chance's shirt.

Both of them had stopped dancing as the stranger pulled Chance's shirt
off him, letting it fall to the floor. He then kisses and licked his way
down Chance's neck before sucking on one of his large nipples. He gave
Chance's package a good squeeze, checking out its engorged size before
running his tongue back up his body. "I think this dance is over...
ready to go home?"

"What... yes," Chance agreed as he followed the man out of the club,
leaving his shirt on the ground.

***************************************************

Chance remained deep in his thoughts as he rode in the passenger seat of
the mustang convertible. He didn't even tell the guy his address,
letting him drive down the highway. It felt exciting that anther man was
so interested in him even if it was only for his body. It was a major
boost to his ego. Every now and then the stranger would turn and face
him, giving his a wink of the eye or a squeeze of the leg. It was hard
for Chance not to stare and the visible hardon the man carried under the
tight jeans he wore. When the car stopped, Chance was half surprised
that it was not his house but an apartment complex.

"Here we are!" The man said with a wide grin.

"Where are we?" Chance asked as he got out of the car.

"Home... or at least my home... that's where you asked me to take you."

"I meant my home," Chance was about to say but already the guy was
climbing the stairs to the second floor.

"Hurry up... the night's not getting any younger," The man's voice
faded away.

Seeing he had no other choice, Chance made his way up the stairs and
entered the open door. Already the stranger was peeling off his pants to
reveal his bare ass.

"You're not wearing any underwear," Chance said surprised.

"Hehehehe... I haven't wore any in three years," The man laughed.

"I just realized... I don't even know your name," Chance said
embarrassed that he had gone with this man without knowing that basic
information.

"Whoa! We just met and you already want to know my name," He laughed
but stopped when he saw the look on Chance's face. "Just joking... my
name is Scott."

"I'm Chance," Chance replied as he reached out his hand.

"Well I'm glad to have met you." Scott replied with another
infections grin as he shook Chance's hand. "Now that is out of the
way... lets get rid of this excess baggage." Scott continued as he used
his free hand to tug at Chance's pants.

"Hey wait a minute."

"Oh come on... don't be a prick tease. If that is the way you're going
to be just leave now," Scott said as he fell down on the couch
disappointed.

"No... sorry... I just wasn't expecting this."

"What were you expecting? That I would take you home for tea and
crumpets?"

"Well you said it yourself... I'm a new guy."

"Yeah... I did. How about you just join me in bed and snuggle. You can
keep on you underwear or boxers or whatever chastity belt you are wearing
under your pants. I just don't want to be alone tonight."

The almost pleading sound coming from Scott hit a cord with Chance.
"Alright," He finally agreed.

Scott's face immediately lit up as he jumped off the couch and made his
way into another room. Chance followed and saw it was a bedroom with a
full sized bed, two end tables, and a long dresser. The only thing
unusual about the room was that it was decorated with picture frames all
turned so that only their backsides were showing. Scott, who was on the
left side of the bed, patted the spot next to him.

As Chance began to unbutton his jeans, Scott stopped him. "Wait, let me
guess what you have under there."

"Ok..." Chance agreed.

"My first guess would be that you are wearing boxers but with a body
like yours I don't know why in the world you would so I would have to
say boxer briefs, concealing but still shows off your muscles."

"You're right... boxer briefs," Chance laughed as he pulled his pants
down to reveal a gray colored pair.

"Man... with a package like yours I don't know why you don't go
commando," Scott sighed as he eyed his basket.

"Have to leave something to the imagination," Chance explained as he
joined Scott under the covers.

"You will learn soon that life is too short to take time for the
imagination. Best to show all you got cause that is all that counts."

"I will remember that."

"Oh that reminds me..." Scott said as he opened one of the end table
drawers. "Want a hit?"

"A hit?" Chance asked confused.

"Of ecstasy," Scott offered.

"No thanks... I don't do that sort of stuff and I don't think you
should also. It can give you a heart attack."

"Well if you don't want to then I won't... it's not as fun doing it
without a partner."

"It should not be fun at all."

"What are you now... my mother?"

"No, a doctor."

"What! You are telling me I have a doctor in my bed, a real one, not
some chiropractor or eastern medicine guru?"

"Yes, a real one... internal medicine."

"Wow... I'm moving up in the world and here I thought you were some
closeted gym instructor. Why couldn't I have been dating you when I
came out to my mother? She would not have worried so much about me if
she knew I was bedding a doctor."

"I guess regardless of your sexual orientation, dating a professional is
always a good thing."

"Even more so for us gays... the more you are discriminated against, the
more pressure you have to prove yourself."

"Yes... I'm finding out the same thing," Chance agreed. "That is why
I still hold myself to not drinking or doing drugs. I used to be a
drunk."

"Good for you man... wish I could, but as you already know being gay is
stressful, not only do you have to worry about what everyone is thinking
about you but there is AIDS and a whole bunch of other diseases out
there. There is a reason why young gay men have the highest suicide
rate. I might be using it as an excuse but sometimes you just have to
escape from all the shit life hands you."

"That is what friends are for."

"Yeah... if you have them. Not saying I don't, but the ones I have I
wouldn't trust to stand by me against a morning breeze if you get my
meaning."

"Yeah I do..." Chance said deep in thought.

"Do you have a true friend?" Scott asked seeing the look on Chance's
face.

"Yeah I do... I hope I do."

"You're lucky then... was he the blond I saw with you?"

"Jacob... yeah he is a friend but he is not the one I'm thinking
about."

"Oh... I think I hear the L word coming," Scott mumbled.

"What?"

"Its all the same with you new guys... the first guy who treats you nice
you fall in love with. Well let me tell you it rarely works out well.
You just don't have the know how to make relationships work."

"That's why I was out at the club tonight."

"To what... learn how to fuck better cause that is what it will teach
you."

"No... to learn what I want... to see if anything better is available."

"Well I'll tell you that a club is not the place to learn that stuff."

"I met you didn't I?"

"Yeah and do you want to know how long I have lasted in a relationship...
three months. That's my record."

"Well it's better then me... all I have right now are mutual feelings."

"You mean the guy who you like also likes you?'

"Yes."

"And not because he wants to pop your cherry?"

"No... I did that with his boyfriend."

"What... this is getting confusing," Scott said as he raised himself out
of bed.

"I made a mistake. I was asked which person I would like to teach me
about being gay and I picked his boyfriend but I really like Darren
instead."

"So the guy you have a crush on is named Darren," Scott grinned at
Chance's slip.

"Please forget I said that."

"Ok... not like I have enough names in my head. I will be lucky if I
remember yours. So you like another man's boyfriend and WHY do you
think you stand a chance with him."

"Cause he told me he had feelings for him and everyone tells me that
Darren doesn't really love his boyfriend anyway. It's more of a
relationship of convenience."

"And yours is of love." Scott replied in a sappy voice.

"Yes... or I want it to be."

"Well let me say good luck living a dream cause when you wake up you
will have to deal with a nightmare."

"Are we speaking of experience?" Chance asked

"Of course I am... I'm not the new guy remember."

"I was a freshman in college," Scott began to explain. "The floor of
my dorm was run by a junior. He saw quickly that I was a "new guy",
just like you are now. He took me under his wing so to speak and I fell
in love with the guy. It wasn't until the next semester that I learned
the truth. I guess you can call him a cherry picker. He gets off
popping guy's cherries. After he was done popping mine he really
wasn't interested in me."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it was all part of my education. But I guess it was monkey
see monkey do. It was not long before I became a cherry picker as well.
I guess I started down that road because I wanted to regain what first
love felt like through the eyes of another but it never worked out.
Either I got bored or he wised up."

"Is that why you picked me... cause I looked like a new guy?"

"Yes." Scott admitted. "Do you hate me?"

"No."

"You should," Scott said sadly as he lowered himself back into the bed
and snuggled up to him. "I'm a leech."

As Chance lay in bed in Scott's arms he felt the loneliness he had
experienced before meeting Darren returned. Here in bed with him was the
symbol of what he feared being gay would mean... drugs... empty
relationships... and loneliness. It was hard to hate a man who was
suffering like Scott was. Chance hoped that in his education there would
be brighter subjects.

*******************************************************

The spa had been such a success that even the straight hotels were
sending guests over. They kept on pressing Will to get rid of his men
only rule but he wouldn't budge. A spa was supposed to be relaxing and
Will felt that would be hard to do with both sexes roaming the halls. In
the end a compromise was reached. The hotels agreed to help pay for a
separate spa next door, just for women. That way couples would not have
to go to two different parts of the island. All Will had to do was to
agree to manage it as part of his own spa and give them a share of the
profits.

Business was so good that it looked like Will would soon be manager of
the hotel next door to his. Unlike his own, which was made up of
bungalows, the neighboring hotel was a good twelve stories tall. The
land management company that owned it fired the previous managers due to
poor performance. Will planned to keep most of the hotel open to
heterosexual couples but as part of the deal the top three floors and
roof restaurant would become part of his gay resort which had been having
to turn away customers due to demand. The smaller of the two pools was
also to be surrounded by a privacy fence for use of the gay clientele.
Will planned on giving Ryan management of it.

The only thing Will missed was still Darren. None of the men he dated
could predict his needs or finish his sentences like Darren could. Of
course Will never stayed with them long enough for them to know a
fraction of what Darren knew. Now that his life was stable, the need to
share it with Darren was growing. He would upset himself coming to he
apartments thinking that Darren would be there cooking dinner for him.
When a new chief had tried to add lasagna to the menu, Will had almost
fired him on the spot. Instead though he just banned all Italian food in
general from his restaurants least the smell remind him of his one true
love.

Twice he had reserved the hotel plane for a flight to Miami and twice he
had not gotten on board. He thought about writing again but just
predicted that the letters would just be intercepted like the first one
was.

His loneliness for the past month had gotten worse though with Jason and
Lane flying back to Florida for chemotherapy. Lane was giving it one
last chance now that he had a reason to live with that reason being
wanting to be with his friends.

 Then the news arrived from his lawyer. His mother had passed away.
Will gave up on the excuses he had made on why he could not go back to
the states and took the plane to Miami before flying to Kansas City.
During the flight he bounced between fear and hope that Darren would also
be there.

***************************************************

It was not the best time for him to leave but Darren felt he had to be
there to mourn Mrs. Fist's death especially since her only child was
also gone. Leaving John and Kyle with Philip, Darren flew into Kansas
City with Chance.

Chance had gone out dating a few times and while it was educational he
still found the only person whom he felt happy with was Darren. Both
knew that only trouble could result with them flying together but both
were beyond caring. Even Philip had noticed how the two behaved around
each other and he could see that he never really had Darren's love.
Before the trip the two of them had a heart to heart. Philip admitted he
had shot Will and Darren confessed that he had originally gone out with
him because judge Kamp had blackmailed him into it. They both admitted
they cared a lot for each other but Philip could no longer live with his
guilt. Darren agreed to let him out of the relationship if he agreed to
stay with them as he did not think Kyle or John would like to lose each
other. Philip was more the happy to agree to that, for one thing he
still cherished about his relationship with Darren was that they were
parents together.

Going on the trip with Darren served another purpose for Chance besides
being there for support, as being away from the house would let them
explore their feelings for each other away from everyone else.

After making a stop at Mrs. Fist house, the two went to the hotel to
rest. Chance could see the stress on Darren's face and wanted to do
something about it. "What's wrong?" He asked as he joined Darren on
one of the two beds.

"I knew this day would come... I just always pictured it that it would be
Will and me having to do this," Darren said as he wrapped his arms
around Chance.

"Well I'm here for you... Would you like to pray?"

"Yes... that would be nice," Darren agreed. With their foreheads
against each other, Chance prayed over him. He ended it with an amen
followed by a kiss.

"I'm sure that is not what you learned in Sunday school," Darren
grinned.

"No... I learned that from you. I love you Darren," Chance said slowly
as a tear ran down his face.

"And I love you..." Darren agreed as he kissed the tear.

After that a long silence predominated the room as the two men kissed
each other again and again along the check bone, eyelids, ears and
throat, on the chin and inside each other's mouths. Hands explored the
hard muscles under their clothes as slowly each button, zipper and tie
came undone.

When the pants came off Chance sported his black jock strap, the same one
he had worn the night he had gotten wasted. This time though it was not a
magazine cover he was trying to make love to but the real thing.

Darren pulled Chance on top of him as he continued to kiss his body,
running a finger down the crack of Chance's ass, while the other hand
held the back of his neck.

Both men were hard and the fabric of their jocks were damp with the
precum oozing out of them. Chance humped against Darren's thigh,
moaning as he went.

"I'm going to shoot," Chance grunted as he pressed harder against
Darren's body.

"Let's slow down then," Darren said as he rolled on top of him,
stopping his gyrations.

"I don't want to stop... I've stopped myself enough times," Chance
sighed as Darren held him.

"But now we are finally doing it. We can take our time," Darren said.

"I want to cum over you. I want to lick it off your body. I want to
feed it into your mouth."

"You will. And I will do the same to you," Darren agreed but continued
to hold Chance still.

Darren held him like that until he felt Chance soften against him. He
then moved down, hooked his thumb around the band of Chance's jock and
pulled them off. He then did the same to himself. He was about to make
his way back up his lover's body when Chance jumped forward, pushing
Darren on to his back.

"No more slow stuff!" Chance said hungrily.

"Ok." Darren relented as the warmth of Chance's mouth around his cock
soon distracted him. He felt his tongue run up and down the sensitive
underside. Darren ran his finger though Chance's dark brown hair.

Together they almost looked like brothers if not twins. They both had
the same dark tans, nearly the same height. Both wore their brown hair
short, giving cleat view of their sky blue eye. Chance was a little more
bulked up and Darren had a little hair on his chest but lying on top of
each other, the differences were not as big.

While Chance continued to go down on him, Darren reached over to the
table and picked up the condom between his fingers. He brought it over
and tapped it against Chance's shoulder.

Chance look up and saw the condom in Darren's hand and took it in his
own. "How do you want me?" Chance asked nervously. One of the things
Philip and he had not gotten to was fucking.

"Inside me would be good," Darren replied as he stroked Chance's
cheek.

A look of relief fell over Chance's face. "Thanks ... I guess there are
some things I'm not ready for."

"It's ok."

"I mean I'm a man... well you are one too... but..." Chance struggled to
explain

"You have been through a lot... It's going to take awhile for you to
find yourself," Darren smiled as he raised his legs up onto Chance's
shoulders

"You found me." Chance said as he torn open the package and rolled the
condom on.

"Yes... and you know what I found... I found myself again."

Nothing more was said Chance lubed himself up and pushed his way into
Darren, letting the tight muscle clamp around his dick. Darren was so
much better then what Chance remembered of sex back when he was married.
It might have been that he was in love this time but he felt more a part
of the person. When he finally exploded it was as if all the stress of
sexual confusion and self-hatred shot out with his cum. It was finally
over. Chance now knew who he was.... Darren's lover.

*****************************************

Well Folks good news... Just got news that one of my stories will be
publlished on an e-zine keepitcoming.net Will give you all more details
when I have them. Thanks again for all those who have emailed me.
You're support means a lot.


				    JMH

			   trandar2002@yahoo.com

	    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adultwritingworkshop/