Chapter 35
When both Steve and Dan had satisfied their needs, at least for the moment, Dan held Steve against his chest. Dan lay on his back, running his fingers through Steve’s hair.
As Steve lazily played with Dan’s chest hair, he said, “There’s absolutely nothing like man to man sex.”
Seeing an opportunity to exchange more personal information, Dan added, “No comparison. Sex with my ex-wife was nothing like this.”
“So, you were married?” Steve asked, leaning up on an elbow and looking down at Dan.
Dan nodded.
“Why did you break it off? Did she find out you were gay?”
“No,” Dan said, and explained the circumstances which led to the divorce. “I didn’t fully realize I was gay until after we split.”
“Really? Interesting.” Steve lay his head back down and resumed his stroking of Dan’s chest. He didn’t say anything for several seconds, then asked, “Does she know you’re gay now?”
“No.”
Steve raised his head once more. “How do you think she’d take it if she found out?”
Dan shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re pretty good friends, and since it wasn’t the reason we broke up…I guess she’d accept it alright. We’re not together now, so I don’t think it would make a difference. I can’t say what she’d have done if she’d found out before the split.”
Steve was quiet for a while once more. He seemed to be considering what Dan had told him.
Dan decided that since he’d bared his soul to Steve, it was a good time to learn more about the naked man in his bed with whom he’d just shared his body.
Before he could ask, however, three hot, panting dogs raced into the bedroom and leapt on top of the men. In the laughter and tussle that ensued, Dan’s chance at adding to his meager store of information about Steve had passed.
However, once brunch, now closer to being viewed as lunch, was served on the deck, Dan was presented with a further opportunity.
Dan had served scrambled eggs, brown and serve sausages, and bakery-bought sweet rolls. Steve raved about the meal amidst Dan’s admission that Steve had just experienced the full extent of his culinary repertoire, except that Dan could microwave hotdogs and fix popcorn in addition to cooking eggs.
“So your mother never taught you to cook?” Steve asked.
Dan told Steve that as the only boy with five sisters and living on a farm, he guessed his mother didn’t see much of a point in teaching him how to get around in a kitchen. “Besides, my dad was pretty much a traditionalist. A woman’s place is in the kitchen and all that. I don’t know if my dad would have allowed it.”
“Are you out to your family?”
Dan shook his head. He’d only been aware of his preference for men himself such a short time that he really hadn’t given it much thought. He expressed this to Steve, who then asked if Dan would ever tell them.
“I guess,” Dan replied. “I really haven’t given that much thought either.”
“How do you think they’ll react, assuming that you will someday?”
“My dad never expressed any open animosity toward gays,” Dan said thoughtfully. “But I figure his old-fashioned views on men’s and women’s roles would be a factor in how he would react. He didn’t want my mom to work outside the home. He wouldn’t let the girls help with chores, and didn’t like them wearing jeans to school or slacks to church. He was disappointed I never was into sports.”
“Sounds like my dad,” Steve said.
“How about you? Are you out to your family?”
Steve’s response was immediate and emphatic. “Oh, God! Hell no!” However, Steve didn’t elaborate, and Dan let the subject drop.
* * * *
A very enjoyable afternoon was spent at a county park next to a small lake. Since it was a Tuesday they had the park to themselves. Lad and Lady ran up and down the small sandy beach, barking as Midas swam out to retrieve the sticks that Steve threw into the water. The little dogs seemed not to want to get wet.
“Go on, you whimps,” Dan chided in a joking manner. “The water isn’t gonna burn you.”
Dan waded out into the lake a foot or so from shore and called to Lad and Lady. But even their master’s encouragement couldn’t convince the beagle mutts to get more than their paws into the shallows.
Later, men and dogs lay stretched out on a blanket in the sun. The dogs’ strenuous exercise had left them ready for a deep snooze. Dan and Steve lay facing each other.
“This is nice,” Steve said, reaching out to stroke Dan’s chest and play with his nipples.