Chapter 20
He posted the same picture he’d sent to Calvin: the one of him with Lad and Lady. Dan figured what he’d not expressed about himself physically in his profile could be indirectly, and with less emphasis, communicated in a photo.
After reading through his bio several more times, he pressed submitwith the thought, There’s gotta be someone out there who’s looking for the same things I am.
It didn’t take long for responses to begin pouring in. Most were from the free site and many immediately received the standard reply that the site provided at the stroke of a key: Thanks for your interest, but I don’t think we’d be a match.
One of the first to receive that message were the two guys looking for a monogamous threesome whose profile he’d seen the first time he’d searched the Internet for a partner.
Hi - Darren and Dennis here. Looking for a third guy to join our loving relationship and add a bit of spice to our sex lives. We saw your picture and then, when we saw your name was Dan, we just knew it was kismet. Your name starts with a “D” just like ours.
They’d attached the same picture they had sent the first time: the two of them, naked, with hard-ons and arms around each other’s shoulders. Dan shook his head as he sent the not gonna workreply.
Over the next week, as with his last venture into Internet relationships, Dan was overwhelmed by the volume of men out there looking for sex and/or love. He’d thought by specifying what he was seeking he would get fewer responses which were off the mark. But he was wrong. He began to wonder if anyone really read what he’d written in his profile. Then came a reply from Damion.
Hello Dan—My name is Damion Simons and I just read your profile. It seems like we are both looking for the same things in life. You may be a bit out of my league as I’m a bit older than I think you are looking for and I’m a road construction worker not a professional, but if you’d like, we could meet and see if those differences are something that we can overcome. Looking forward to hearing from you. Damion.
P S—Here’s my phone #. 555-2870
Dan went to Damion’s profile. Damion was in his late forties. He’d posted nothing about his physical characteristics or his sexual proclivities. He did say he wasn’t looking for a string of one night stands, but something more substantial. He had one picture. It was a face shot. Damion was ruggedly handsome, had salt and pepper hair and beard, and very blue eyes. His smile was sweet and sincere.
Dan stared at Damion’s picture for a long time. He reread Damion’s note and profile several times. His profile seemed to reflect much of what Dan was hoping to find. The longer he looked at the photo and read Damion’s words, the more Dan was attracted to the man. The difference in their ages and the fact he wasn’t in a professional career were not as important as was a relationship based on more than sex. Damion seemed to want that, too.
Dan checked his watch. It was a little before ten. He didn’t want to call too late if, due to his job, Damion had to be up early. In the end, he decided to take the chance and dialed Damion’s number.
After three rings a deep, mellow voice said, “Hello?” It washed over Dan like a warm ocean wave. Any trepidation he’d felt at making the call faded away.
“Hi. This is Dan Parker. You answered my profile on Man to Man. I hope I’m not calling too late?”
“No…no…I’m glad you called.”
There was an awkward silence and then both men said together, “I’d like to get to know you better.” They both laughed.
An hour and a half later Dan lay in bed on his side with Lady curled up against his chest and Lad behind his knees. Once the ice was broken, he and Damion had talked freely. Dan had told Damion everything about his divorce and how he’d gotten to the place he was now. Damion had shared that he’d never been married and had had two long term relationships with men. Both had ended amicably
They talked about their jobs, about their families, and their dogs. Damion had an English bulldog named Chauncey and a mastiff named Brute. Damion admitted Chauncey and Brute slept with him after Dan disclosed Lad and Lady were his bed partners.
“I’m glad you and your babies sleep together. Some guys I’ve dated found that to be really gross,” Damion said.
Damion, Dan could tell, seemed a bit embarrassed about his being, what Damion called, a common laborer. When Dan assured the man it made no difference to him, there was a perceptible change in Damion’s tone. He was more free and relaxed. He showed a keen interest in Dan’s being a vet.