Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2001 20:18:47 +0800
From: Lady Poetess <egiggles@moose-mail.com>
Subject: The Gentlemen's Club: Mitch

THE GENTLEMEN'S CLUB
Mitchell

By and copyright Lady Poetess

http://www.gentlemensclub.cjb.net

Disclaimer
This story is fictitious and bears no resemblance to anyone dead or alive.


ONE

Mitchell Whitbaker Pileggi was a big man. No, really, that wasn't a
reference to his dick size, although he had no complains in that
department. His physical form dominated every room he was in, for his six
feet four height was usually unmatched by anyone else in the room (he
didn't hang around basketball players much, by the way). His broad
shoulders and muscular build made intimidation his second name.

But really, he was a nice man. His temper was always even and he cried at
movies sometimes. Sometimes. He just didn't like to smile much. Somehow his
dislike of smiling made almost everyone he came in contact with treat him
as if he was a lit dynamite stick.

Completing his intimidating façade was his hirsuteness. It was bad
enough that his hands were giant paws, but he had to have hair bursting out
of his shirtsleeve edges as well. Long legs, long arms, bulky body, and a
well-developed and finely chiseled upper body, he was too bulky to be
considered slim yet not too bulky to fit the bodybuilder stereotype.

Naturally, he had difficulties fitting in. He stood out like a sore thumb.

Stuck now in the airport, he was grateful for his height and intimidating
façade, however. It was no problem getting the harassed woman behind the
counter to get him a hotel room tonight. His flight -- all the flights --
was delayed until further notice no thanks to an unexpected thunderstorm
this evening. Hell, the phone lines were down, and his cell phone couldn't
get through to his daughter Myrna Lynne to tell her that he would be
delayed.

Of course, she would probably deduce it should she watch the weather news
on TV, but Myrna Lynne was getting married to some Burke Kaminski fellow
and she was getting into the preparations like an army general. The last
Mitch wanted was to her and her mother -- Mitch's ex -- Amber to worry.

He was making to leave when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Biting his lips
in irritation for all he wanted was a long hot soak in a bathtub, he
turned, and his unlit cigarette fell from his lips.

"Oh, sorry," the handsome stranger said. "I thought you were someone I
knew."

Mitch didn't make to pick up his fallen cigarette. He couldn't, in that
brief second, speak. When he was younger, he had a full-blown case of
infatuation over the craggy, ruggedly handsome faces of cowboys in western
movies such as Clint Eastwood, Gary Cooper, and Alan Ladd. This man
standing before him came close, his handsome, stern face a beautiful
tapestry of hard edges and lines, as if a careful artist had lovingly
sculpted him. He was tall, thin while looking fit and strong, and -- god,
his face. Mitch could stare at the man for hours like he was doing now.

The stranger reminded Mitch of those last brave courageous heroes in his
favorite western and adventure movies. And now, when the stranger was
smiling in sheepish embarrassment at his gaffe, Mitch felt his own lips tug
upwards in response.

"Nah, no problem," he said, feeling most self-conscious of the heavy knot
in his throat, a product of instantly rising lust and attraction. "Just
tell me you mistook me for a good friend." God, he was sprouting nonsense
now. He could only rubbed his hand against the back of his neck and hoped
he wasn't making a fool of himself. He was usually better at this; calmer
and more self-assured. Not like this, feeling never more aware of his large
size and awkwardly huge paws and feet. It was as if all those years of he
actually taking ballet classes to enable him to move silently and
gracefully had just evaporated at the sight of this man.

He was stunned.

He had a full-blown erection right here, right now.

And then the other grinned, really grinned, showing beautiful white teeth
and rubbed the back of his neck in self-conscious embarrassment. "I thought
you were someone I knew. Biggish fellow and -- " he shrugged sheepishly.

"It's okay," Mitch said, correctly deducing the other man's gaffe. "I like
my hair this way," he said, running a hand through his bald scalp. "I shave
it. I'm not going bald." He was babbling now. Watch him humiliate himself
entirely before a stranger. Mitch Pileggi, no-nonsense hotshot accountant,
was fast losing it.

"Why don't you let me buy you a drink? Besides, it's not as if we have
anyplace to go," the man offered.

Just what Mitch was hoping, really.

The man's name was Mitch Pileggi. Robert Doyle Patrick couldn't stop
staring, but he hoped he wasn't doing it too obviously. At fifty, he was
really too sensible to be ogling, but he couldn't help it. Mitch was…
big. With that wide expanse of shoulders and solid muscles that threatened
to burst out of the white shirt Mitch was wearing, he was sexy. Actually,
'sexy' was too mundane a word. The man was perfect: solid muscles, hints of
hirsuteness peeking from collar and sleeves, and a regal handsome face that
was mesmerizing.

As much as he loathed to admit it, he had been wracking his brain for an
excuse, any excuse, to touch that man. Anywhere -- he didn't care. He
wanted to feel the man's hairy arms under his palm, to feel the fluid
movements of the bulging biceps under that smooth skin, and he wanted to
follow the hard contours of the man's chest with his hands to discover if
it was as hard as he thought. Or maybe it would be hard, with soft, supple
skin that made a perfect cushion for his head.

Patrick's fingers itched on their own accord to -- touch, he guessed -- and
he had to curl them around the beer jug handle.

Mitch was speaking in that low, masculine bass voice of his, and Patrick
couldn't help but to feel goosebumps on his skin at the sound. He bit back
a grin as he watched from the corner of his eyes at people passing by: yes,
they couldn't resist, men or women, giving Mitch a look. There was
something about Mitch -- an indefinable solidarity, a tangible sexual
exudation. Mitch Pileggi was not only a physically dominating presence, he
was a fucking sexy one. Hence Patrick didn't know whether to be charmed or
amused at Mitch's palpable lack of self- esteem where his size was
concerned. The man slouched, although six feet two wasn't that tall, it was
only his solid musculature that added to the illusion of greater
height. Also, Mitch sat still, a posture of guardedness, as if he was
afraid that his large hands would tip over a glass or break something.

And paradoxically, Mitch just exuded an almost feline grace in the little
movements he made. The tilt of his head, the way he turned slightly with
one hand lifted to catch a waiter's attention (and the way the shirt
stretched taut across that chest -- oh yeah, baby), and the way his hands
worked the fork, knife, and spoon over the late dinner of fried chicken.

Elegant hands, Patrick thought. He could fall in love with these hands.

"So," Mitch said. "What brings you to this part of the country?" He pushed
a piece of chicken into his mouth and chewed silently as he watched
Patrick.

Patrick blinked. "What? Oh yes, my nephew's getting married."

"My daughter's getting married," Mitch said later.

Mitch laughed. He fought to tamper down his laughter -- people were staring
-- with partial success. Patrick was laughing too, and he was more
restrained, classy, and poised. And Mitch only felt like a loud, vulgar
lummox, a feeling he tried so hard to chase. Patrick, when he laughed, was
gorgeous. The square, rugged face lit up, and the shallow dimpling of the
edges of Patrick's lips that was irresistible.

"Yeah, kids," Mitch offered gamely. Patrick had been shelling out anecdotes
of his raising his nephew Colby. The man apparently had been
single-handedly taking care of Colby since twenty-plus years ago. His time
with his own daughter had been nothing more than weekend visits, and he had
nothing to contribute.

Again, his shame. "I hardly saw my daughter," he confessed. "And when I
wanted to, she's all grown up and not needing me around anymore."

And he found himself telling Patrick his story. How he married Amber when
he was twenty and they both too young, and how they parted two years later
because something was wrong. That something was Mitch's sexual confusion.

He came out of the closet during the late stages of his divorce, and Amber
was there to support him. They still remained best friends today, although
Amber had married a man who truly cared for her the way she should be cared
for.

"I never told Myrna Lynne why Amber and I divorced," Mitch said. "Amber
thought it is up to me to tell her, and I just don't -- dare," he
finished. "I mean, I have had men in my bed after the divorce, and I had a
great time, I assure you, but I just don't know how Amber will feel, and I
don't want to spoil our relationship." He sighed. "Sorry, Patrick. I mean,
if you're uncomfortable with me telling you I'm gay and all."

"No," Patrick said. "Actually, I'm just as much in the closet with Colby as
you are with your daughter."

Mitch sat up higher, stunned. And maybe feeling hopeful too.

"Although I envy you. You get to screw around with your daughter kept with
her mum," Patrick said gently. "I have to find ways to keep Colby
ignorant. Which is why I never got laid often."

Mitch looked at his hand which was an inch away from Patrick's on the
table, and it would be so easy to cover it with his hand. Only that,
looking at Patrick's long slender fingers and his own large paw, he felt
squeamish at the thought. He didn't think he could bear it if Patrick
retreated in disgust.

Maybe it was time for a dignified retreat. "What's the time?" he asked,
looking at his watch. "Two am," he noted with surprise. Had they been
chatting and laughing like old friends for five hours? "Well, I think we'd
best get back to our hotel rooms and get some sleep."

"Okay, see you," Patrick said, his face inscrutable. But he made no move to
stand up.

"Aren't you going back to your room?" Mitch couldn't help but to ask.

"I don't have a reservation. Can't get one -- everywhere's fully booked,"
he added unnecessarily. "But it's okay, I can just get some coffee and wait
until morning."

"No," Mitch said, offering his hand. "Come on."

"What?" Patrick looked at Mitch's hand in surprise.

"Sleep in my room. I'm sure the bed's big enough for the both of us," Mitch
said.

He would regret this, maybe. But he wanted this too. Any minute longer with
Patrick would be a minute he would cherish tonight.

"You are a big man," Patrick murmured.

"Then you can sleep on me," Mitch said quietly.

"Sure," Patrick answered, catching Mitch off-guard. He smiled almost shyly.

"Okay."

The most beautiful smile, Mitch decided. Patrick's smile was the most
beautiful he'd ever seen.

TWO

Patrick had never been this nervous since his first time. His fingers
trembled as he missed a button on his shirt, and he swallowed when Mitch
walked out of the bathroom. There was a crooked smile on Mitch's face as he
tossed the wet towel from his naked upper body carelessly and looked at
Patrick. "Second thoughts?"

Mitch asked.

   Patrick shook his head as he pulled his shirt off. Mitch's naked torso
was gorgeous. Lethal even. His heart was pounding so thunderously that he
could barely hear above the rush of blood in his head. Or maybe it was the
rush of blood leaving his head to fill his fast hardening cock.

   The silence in the room was palpable. Patrick looked to see Mitch
studying him, his own nervousness mirrored on Mitch's face.

   Still, he took a step forward, and Mitch met him there.

   Mitch kissed him, a tentative parting of lips on lips, and the man's
hands moved to cup Patrick's cheeks as he deepened the kiss. Patrick closed
his eyes -- but Mitch gently pulled at his eyelids. "I want to see your
eyes," Mitch whispered. And Patrick nodded, feeling as if he was thirty
years younger and in the hands of his first -- no, he was never this
nervous with his first. Mitch's presence and the overpowering sense of
security and strength he exuded -- Patrick had never felt this safe and
protected before. He never had to, but -- oh, what was he thinking?  He
couldn't remember. Not when this surge of lust took over when Mitch kissed
him again.

   He opened his mouth and thrust forward his tongue even as Mitch
plundered his mouth. As they tasted each other, Patrick's hands burned with
the feel of Mitch's back, running down the supple, muscular wall of flesh,
and pushing down into Mitch's waistband. And Mitch moved his lower body
away slightly, letting Patrick push his trousers down.

   Mitch wouldn't let Patrick suck his cock unless he got to repay the
favor at the same time. Hence he lay back on the bed and watched, his blue
eyes dark with anticipation, as Patrick climbed over him. His mouth opened
to engulf Patrick's cock even as Patrick's lips closed over Mitch's.

   Patrick was drunk with pleasure -- Mitch's cock wasn't long, but it was
thick and caused Patrick to stretch his jaw until he ached. Still, the
taste and the feel of the throbbing penis in his mouth, hot and alive, its
veins pulsing as his tongue abraded the shaft as it threatened to spew
forth the very juices Patrick thirsted for -- Patrick wanted this. As he
thrust his hips down, reveling in the sensation of his cock enveloped in
the warm, wet quim-like heaven of Mitch's mouth, he went down on Mitch's
impressive erection. Even the feel of Mitch's pubic hair on his nostrils,
and the smell of the man's skin, sweat, cock, and balls -- all were
intoxicatingly sexual and Mitch. And Patrick, drunk on Mitch, he didn't
even recognize his low, savage moan of need, and he was barely cognizant of
his bruising thrusting -- repaid more than equally by Mitch -- only the
white-hot wracking climax that swept through him what seemed heartbeats
later.

Mitch sighed and lifted his arm to let Patrick lay his head on his
chest. He was used to his lovers doing this. For some reason they liked
that a lot -- they told him so many times that he made a wonderful
pillow. He watched, bemused, as Patrick sighed and adjusted his position
until he found the perfect spot -- somewhere over Mitch's left
pectoral. Then Patrick released his breath and made himself comfortable
sprawled on Mitch.

   The last guy who used Mitch as a cushion irritated Mitch. But Patrick
was the right weight without making Mitch feel suffocated, and the man just
fit right. There was no other way to explain this. He liked being Patrick's
cushion. His sigh was a mirror of Patrick's contentment. Threading his
fingers through Patrick's hair, he looked down at Patrick's sleepy face.

   A thought struck him. "Are you involved with someone else?" he asked
Patrick.

   "Now?"

   "Yeah, now."

   "No." Patrick looked up at Mitch. "You look relieved."

   "It's just a thought," Mitch said, absently inhaling Patrick's hair, a
scent of sweat and something sweeter, something intangible. Maybe he was
just too sleepy to be rational.

"Morning." Patrick looked up at the sight of Mitch pulling on his
shirt. Damn, that hairy, tightly muscled chest -- just what he needed -- or
not -- in the morning. He stretched and lazily considered not waking
up. Alas, he was a practical man. He had a wedding preparation to
attend. "What time is it?"

   "Good morning," Mitch said. "I've kept the water heater on for you." He
surprised Patrick by bending over to kiss the latter. "Go on, I'll wait for
you. We'll get some quick breakfast and dash down to the airport."

   Ah yes, the airport. Where he would probably never see Mitch again, and
where he would resume being stoic, practical Robert Douglas Patrick. Think
of Colby, he thought -- think of that and he would get through the day.

   Yet his eyes strayed once more to Mitch before he closed the bathroom
door, and the sight hurt his heart. Only this time, it felt right to hurt.

   An hour later, they had their confirmation. Flight at 9 am sharp, to the
same destination as well. "Imagine if it's your daughter marrying my
nephew," Patrick chuckled as he watched his luggage hoisted on the conveyer
belt.

   It hit him then. And Mitch too, judging from the stunned look they gave
each other.

   "Myrna Lynne Mulberry Jones," Mitch said.

   "David Colburne." Patrick ran his fingers through his hair when Mitch's
words -- and face -- sank in. "Fucking shit, Mitch, our kids are going to
marry each other."

"It wouldn't change anything. We can do this," Mitch said as they walked
down the arrival lounge. "We'll just pretend we met each other on the plane
and that's all."

   Patrick nodded. "Friends," he echoed.

   They both didn't want to see the kids' upcoming marriage affected. And
they also didn't want their kids to know. Mitch looked at Patrick and bit
his lower lip in frustration. Even now, he wanted Patrick. Their hot mutual
blowjobs last night only whetted his appetite slightly, and now, the sight
of Patrick's rangy body made his cock harden painfully. As if his hands had
a life of their own, his right arm closed around Patrick's shoulder.

   "It's only a week until the wedding," Patrick said quietly.

   Mitch took what Patrick offered like a lifeline. "Yeah," he said
agreeably.

THREE

Patrick looked at his reflection in the mirror and grinned. He looked good,
he decided. This was his first suit-and-tie ensemble. It had been two days
since he and Mitch were plunged into the wedding hysteria, and being men,
it was all they could do not to have Amber lose her temper and kick them
out of the house. The endless procession of guest seating arrangements,
floral orders, endless checking and redecorating the wedding grounds, and
other bewildering process both Mitch and Patrick couldn't help but to
intrude upon made them all on a short fuse.

   Finally, Colby sent Mitch and Patrick to town to get Robert fitted for
his tux.

Mitch's careless remark of why Myrna Lynn couldn't just have a small,
simple wedding affair had Myrna Lynn actually screaming in exasperation and
Amber coming after him with a raised handbag. Amber's husband, Tom, wisely
sat back and grinned evilly at the fleeing Mitch. He never liked Mitch that
much, not comfortable with Amber's friendship with her ex-husband.

   It was pandemonium, and Patrick was glad to be out of it now, albeit
temporarily. And yes, having Mitch to himself was a good thing too. In the
magnificent mansion of Amber and her husband, Mitch fit in perfectly with
his familiarity with money and luxury. Obviously that man wasn't born
wanting. While he, Patrick, felt discomfited with all this nice, showy
trappings he was living in at the moment. Hell, he had never worn a suit
until now.

    But Mitch took it all in stride. Patrick never had to say anything --
Mitch somehow understood. Patrick picked up the same spoon as Mitch during
dinner to avoid any gaffes yesterday, and the embarrassment was kept to a
minimum.

Mitch knew Patrick didn't want to embarrass Colby before his future
in-laws, and Patrick was indebted to him for that.

   They had agreed not to let anything show. They were friends -- right?
But Mitch had to fucking take his hand under the cover of the table and
rubbed his knuckles playfully and sensually, causing Patrick to bite down a
sigh of pleasure. It was as if Mitch was taking every slight opportunity he
had to touch Patrick, to remind Patrick that after that week, he would want
Patrick back in his bed. As if he could forget, he thought.

   "Lovely," Mitch said, walking up to Patrick. Without qualms, he adjusted
Patrick's bow. "There, you look gorgeous." He even dipped his finger into
Patrick's collar, that incorrigible rogue, and rubbed the man's neck. "The
collar's okay, not too tight," he said unnecessarily. "You're gorgeous," he
whispered only for Patrick's ears.

   "Thanks," Patrick whispered back, trying not to encourage the man.

   "Fine. Now take them off," Mitch said.

   The way he said it -- with a low purr -- damn, Patrick felt his cock
jump to life.

He loosened his bow, and scowled into the mirror when he saw Mitch not
making a move to leave the changing room. "You want them to tell our kids
their fathers- in-law were fucking in the changing room?" he asked, lifting
a brow.

   "Don't tempt me," Mitch said, grinning. However, he made to leave.

   Patrick found Mitch signing the credit card receipt when he walked out
of the room. "I thought we are renting this," he asked.

   "Nope, the rental store is at the end of the town. I'm buying you this."
Mitch, not caring who would look or take offense, lifted his finger to
Patrick's lips to silence the man. "My gift to you, Patrick, that's all."

   "I can't take this," Patrick started to say.

   Mitch shrugged the man's protest aside as he picked up the suit now
carefully folded in a box. "I want you to wear this when I fuck you later."

   Patrick stared at the man, too surprised for words. Mitch only pushed
the box into Patrick's hands and pushed open the door for the both of them,
his grin firmly in place.

   "This suit?" Patrick managed to ask when they were in the car.

   "Yeah," Mitch said. "This suit." He reached over and rubbed his hand
along Patrick's thigh before touching the gearshift stick. It was probably
habitual and instinctive, that gesture. "Wanna stop by a motel room?"

   "Very, very tempting," Patrick said honestly. "But probably not wise."

   "Yes," Mitch agreed. "Not wise. Fuck."

   Patrick grinned and looked out the window, but not before another
sidelong glance at Mitch.

Mitch came to his sense that night feeling warm breathing on his neck. It
took awhile to reorient himself, but his hands knew, even before he
realized whom he was holding, Patrick and strayed across the man's sleeping
face, touching the man's face gently.

   He should gently ease Patrick off. They were seated on a couch in the
living room, supposedly to watch TV only to doze off on the couch. All was
quiet apart from the small creaks and sighs typical of a large house and
the soft snores of the man in his arms. Somehow, in sleep and free from the
self-imposed restrains of thought, they had gravitated towards each
other. How else could Mitch explain how right it was to have Patrick's face
resting on his chest? There was a quiet calm in him, one he hadn't felt in
a long time, one that burst into warm spurts of -- happiness? -- with each
rise and fall of their chests. Hell, even their heartbeats seemed to be in
sync.

   The last few days were the happiest of his life, he'd to admit. Those
long quiet walks with Patrick in the evenings, where they talked about
anything and everything, they made Mitch felt lighter and freer than he'd
ever felt before.

Sometimes he felt as if he was walking in a sappy, romantic movie. And he
wondered if he was falling in love. He touched Patrick's cheek as he, in a
habit now as common as breathing, inhaled Patrick's scent. Patrick was a
middling traveling salesman that sold anything depending on what time of
the year it was.

His life had been easier since his nephew landed a five-digit salary job
after college, but he was still uncomfortable with Mitch's lifestyle. Mitch
wondered where Patrick would him to take the man to at the end of the
year. How about Bahamas?

   Patrick gave a soft rumbled snort and snuggled closer onto Mitch. Mitch
gently lowered his body down until he was lying on the couch, letting
Patrick sleep on him easier. The man seemed to find him some super
comfortable cushion of sorts, Mitch thought in bemusement. Not that he
minded. Patrick, despite his height, was a thin, rangy man that weighed
almost nothing on Mitch. When Patrick placed his hands, palms flat, on
Mitch's shoulders and his right thigh over Mitch's left leg, Mitch would
lie here forever and let Patrick sleep.

   Yet the peace was broken when Patrick muttered something then, and
opened his eyes sleepily at Mitch. Mitch smiled, "Hi," he said. "Have a
nice sleep?"

   "Yeah." Patrick made to sit up, but Mitch wouldn't let him. And the man
must have seen the gleam in Mitch's eyes, because he licked his dry lips
and settled back down. "What if they come down for a glass of water?" he
asked.

   Mitch shrugged. "They can watch if they want."

   "I didn't know you like that sort of thing," Patrick said, making to
unbutton Mitch's shirt.

   "With you, I think I'll like anything. Including taking it up the ass."
Mitch chuckled at Patrick's startled face. "No, I haven't done that
before," he admitted.

"I've been a big, macho top guy all my life."

   "So I will get to go where no man has ever been before," Patrick said
with an evil grin on his face. "Nice."

   Mitch stopped Patrick's unbuttoning his shirt at the third button. "I
wanted to fuck you with you in a tux."

   "But I'm wearing T-shirt and jeans," Patrick pointed out.

   "So?" Mitch pushed Patrick up slightly and pulled his shirt off. "Don't
take that shirt off. Don't even move your pants any lower than
necessary. Oh yeah, like that," he said approvingly as Patrick pushed his
pants and briefs down to his knees, enough for the latter to spread his
legs. "Now come here."

   Patrick gasped when Mitch turned him and pushed him face down onto the
couch. His initial instinctive struggles only reinforced his belief that
Mitch was fucking strong. The other man, completely naked, loomed over him
like a heavily muscled beast, that thick penis poised to hurt -- or
pleasure -- Patrick with one mighty thrust. Then Mitch pushed Patrick's
shirt up the man's back, exposing the man's vulnerable buttocks.

   And Patrick was barely ready when Mitch forcefully plunged deep. His
soft choked cry of pain was cut off by Mitch's hand closing around his
mouth. Another hand closed around Patrick's cock, and the man began fisting
Patrick's cock in his meaty hand along with his hard, dry, relentless
thrusts. It was obvious now how this fetish of his illusion of
vulnerability due to his nudity as compared to Patrick's clothed state
aroused Mitch to a fevered pitch. But there was nothing gentle in the man's
hard fucking, and Patrick thought he would go mad from the maddening
bruising of his prostate by Mitch's cock. The Mitch was coming, his semen
ejaculating into Patrick's burning hole with each bruising thrust.

   Patrick gasped for breath as he told Mitch, "It's fucking payback time."

   Mitch's hoarse cry was one of pleasure when Patrick mounted him this
time and that man's cock, while not as thick as Mitch's cock it was much
longer, forcefully pierced Mitch's hitherto unbreached anus. Patrick felt
fuck juices seeping down his thighs, causing a soaking mess in the crotch
of his pants that was increasingly made wetter by the sweat of their
skin. Mitch threw his head back, reveling in the pleasure-pain of his first
prostate banging, and his powerful thighs clamped hard around Patrick as he
pressed his fingers in a bruising grip into Patrick's buttocks. Yes, yes,
he thought, this was what he could get used to.

The pleasure pooling at the base of his groin finally splintered -- and
coupled with the burning abrasion of Patrick's trousers on the insides of
his tautly-clenched thighs -- and with every muscle of his in hard tensed
straining, he felt the warm explosion in his loins. He cried, and he arched
his back, trying to find fulfillment.

Then he found it in the hot explosion at the base of his spine, so powerful
that it caused his senses to explode. He came in a wracking orgasm,
intensified by the feel of Patrick's climax flooding his insides.

"How are you feeling?" Patrick asked later as he stood outside the
bathroom, looking at Mitch drying himself with a towel from the doorway.

   "A bit sore, but that'll do," Mitch said, wincing only slightly as he
took a step towards Patrick. "You're my first, Patrick. Be nice to me."

   Patrick's crooked grin was reassuring. "I will."

   Mitch's fingertips brushed his as they passed each other. Patrick held
them for a second. "This is crazy," he finally said. "We are behaving like
two crazy teenagers."

   "I don't have a problem with that," Mitch said pleasantly, entwining his
fingers with Patrick's. "I'm glad I met you at the airport that night."

   "Yeah, me too," Patrick said. "Look, you want to sleep in my room for
whatever's left of tonight?"

   "What will we tell the kids?" But it was a token protest. Mitch couldn't
say no.

He was already a goner.

FOUR

"Hello, Jeffrey Nordling's residence."

   "Jason, it's Mitch here," the man said. "I'm at the airport. Where's
Jeff?"

   "Mitch? Jeff's outside, barbecuing for the guests. Hold on, I'll call
him -- "

   "No need. Just tell him I'll be back tonight. The wedding was great, and
guess what? I came out of the closet and Myrna Lynne only blinked and said,
'Oh, that.

That's old news, Dad. I pretty well guessed that long ago.'"

   "Uh, yeah," Jason Behr, Jeffrey Nordling's significant other said,
scratching his head in bewilderment. "I think I'll go get Jeff. You are
telling me things I think you'll regret later."

   Mitch chuckled when he heard Jason yell for Jeff at the other end of the
line.

Amber was right in a sense: he had greatly underestimated his
daughter. Same with Patrick: Colby didn't blink an eye. "That doesn't
change anything, Patrick,"

Colby had said, "you are still my father that I never had." It all worked
out okay.

Everyone hugged and the kids got married, and Mitch and Patrick were now
left to wonder where they would go now.

   Where else but to New York, Mitch's home and where they would try to
make this work?

   Jeffrey Nordling picked up the phone. "Hey, Mitch, son of a bitch, how's
the wedding?"

   "Great," Mitch said. "I'll tell you guys all about it when I get back."
He caught sight of Patrick and smiled to the man. "I miss you all, Jeff,"
Mitch told him.

   "Yeah, yeah, you sentimental old sap. You want someone to pick you up
when you reach there?"

   "No need. By the way, I met someone."

   "Shoot me."

   Mitch chuckled. "I met the most wonderful guy ever, and I'll be bringing
him over one of these days. Be nice to him. I have a great feeling about
us."

   "Well, why the fuck not?" Jeff said cheerfully. "The more the
merrier. Can he bowl?"