A Store in Pride Valley

“Get next to me,” I told him. “Just hold me.” We lay side by side. He pulled me close, nuzzling his nose below my ear.

“Johnny, will you stay the night?”

“Mmm,” he mumbled. “I wish I could. I’ve got a six a.m. Internet meeting. If I stayed, I think I’d stay until noon. Maybe longer.”

“You’d be welcome. But I couldn’t be here. I open at ten.”

He leaned over and kissed me. “I…” he paused before turning and getting off the bed. He found his shirt. “Thank you.”

I got on my knees and moved to the edge of the bed. As he brought his shirt onto his shoulders, I reached up and touched his chest.

“May I see you tomorrow?” he asked.

“You are special. After what just happened, you still ask rather than assume. Yes, I want to see you tomorrow.” I stood in front of him.

“I’ll make dinner for you. Mac ‘n Cheese with bratwurst sound OK? It’s my specialty.”

I refrained from making a weiner joke. “It sounds perfect.” I kissed him.

“Enough of that. It’s difficult enough to leave now.”

“OK. I understand.” I slipped my shirt on. We exchanged numbers, and I walked him out to his car.

“I’ll text you my address.”

“Let me know if you need me to bring something.”

“Just you will be more than enough,” he smiled. Even in the darkness, his smile brightened my mood even more.

I stood watching him as he drove away. I went inside and locked up before heading to my bedroom. I buried my face in the pillow that still had his scent. I grabbed the other pillow and held it to me. I didn’t remember feeling this happy and this hopeful.

The next day went by slowly. I finished two more tea towels, sold a sewing machine for a quilter, and a few notions. In the afternoon, there was a two-hour gap when no one came into the shop. I had a cup of Tom Kha soup for lunch and some steamed broccoli. John texted me his address, and I googled it. He was only two streets over from me. I wondered whether I should drive home and walk over. Of course, if I stayed late and had to leave, I’d rather drive the short distance than walk in the darkness.

I texted back. “I’m thinking of running home and changing into more comfortable clothes.”  

“I thought we might shower together before dinner. I bet it’s been a while since anyone has scrubbed your back.”

Oh, fuck, I thought. I want to have this man’s babies. Tears filled my eyes. I’m going to fall in love with him, and he’ll leave me. It’ll be just like Justin. Shit. That did not end well. Maybe he’ll be different. I texted back, “Only if I get to scrub yours.”

“Marché conclu.”

“You’re making me hard,” I wrote. “Mon pénis t’aime.”

“I don’t know much French,” he replied.

“You know enough. I’ll go straight there.”

Since I usually had nothing to do after work, I was never in a hurry to leave. People arriving just before closing time never bothered me. Today, I wanted out of there, so at five minutes before closing, a woman came in with a broken sewing machine.

“I’m not sure what I did, but it jammed up and now it won’t sew.”

“I can tell that you’ve got the wrong bobbin type in it.”

“They aren’t all the same?”

“No.” I removed the needle and the bobbin. The handwheel was jammed, and I could tell the hook looked bent. “The hook’s been damaged, and the race is probably out of time. It will need to be replaced.”

“How long does that take?” she asked.

“I’d have to order the parts.”

The door opened and a man stepped in. “Martha, he’s closed. What are you doing?”

“He can’t fix it now,” she said.

“I’m not surprised. It’s a cheap machine. When they break, it’s less expensive to get another one.”

“That’s often true. It may cost more to fix than you paid for it,” I told her.

“I need it for this weekend,” she said.

“Martha, you broke it a month ago,” he said.

“And I need one now!”

I wondered whether they would start an argument. He walked up to the counter and put his credit card down. “Do you have a machine that we can leave with?”

“What kind of things do you sew?”

“Wall hangings and other kinds of crafts. Maybe an occasional hem.”

“Do you want a lot of decorative stitches?”

“No, I don’t really use them.”

“I walked over to the machine I called the workhorse. This machine should do the job for you. It’s easy to use. It comes with an instructional DVD and there are tutorials on youtube. It’s got ninety-nine stitches, a strong motor, easy-threading.”

“Get it,” said her husband.

“How much is it?” she asked.

“It’s four-ninety-nine,” I said.

“Oh, that’s more than what I spent on that other one.”

“And the other one’s a piece of junk; you’ve done nothing but bitch about it since you got it. Everybody knows that Jennings here doesn’t cheat people.”

“You’re right,” she agreed.

I went to the back and brought out an unopened box. I gathered a package of extra bobbins and a bobbin holder. “Get rid of those other bobbins and only use these in the bag.” I ran his card and filled out the paperwork.

“Thank you, sweetheart,” she said as she left.

I locked the door behind them and practically ran out the back. I couldn’t wait until I was pulling into John’s driveway. I forced myself to walk up to his front door. I rapped gently without even looking for the doorbell. He came to the door in running shorts and a sleeveless t-shirt. I couldn’t help but stare.

“Are you going to come in?”

“It’s just that you look so good; I was momentarily stunned.”

He laughed. “You’re going to make my ego swell.” He closed the door, and I immediately kissed him. He pulled back and took a deep breath. 

“I’m sorry. I’ve been thinking about that all day,” I said.

“I’ve been thinking about you, too, Aaron. I can wait to get my hands on you.”

“Then put your hands on me.”

John grabbed me and picked me up as though I weighed nothing. I knew he was strong, but I didn’t realize just how strong. With one arm around my back and one under my knees, he carried me into his bathroom. I nuzzled my head in the crook of his neck. He put me down. “Take your clothes off.”

I did as he asked. I stood in front of him, completely naked and as hard as I have ever been. John looked at me; his eyes darted from one of my eyes to the other and then he got on his knees. He gently wrapped his fingers around my erection and kissed the head of my penis. I didn’t move.

His tongue licked around the edge of the corona, and then he ran it up and down the shaft before wrapping his lips around it and moving down. As he neared the hilt, I felt my tip reach the back of his mouth, and he began to gag. He pulled off and fell back onto his bottom. He coughed a few times. Looking up with watery eyes, he said, “I’m so sorry.” He looked down; I registered shame on his face.

I crouched down next to him. “Hey, sweet man,” I kissed him. “Nothing to be sorry for.”

“I’ve never done it before. I wanted it to be special for you.”

Tears filled my eyes. “It was, and it still is. I love that I’m your first. It takes practice to deepthroat a huge dick like mine.”

“Yours isn’t much bigger than mine, and I’m not that big.”

“Thanks for the reality check,” I laughed.

“Oh, you were making a joke. Sorry. I’m too serious.”

“Let’s get in the shower so we can relax. Everything is OK.”

“I’m just… This is just so new,” he said.

We stood up, and I turned on the shower. “I know. It’s OK.”

John put his hand on my arm. “You excite me in a way I didn’t know was possible. I’ve spent all these years denying that a man could… I don’t know. I’m gay, Aaron. There I said it. Fuck.” I saw his eyes fill with tears. “What the fuck have I been doing with my life?”

“You’re no different from anyone else, John. You’ve been trying to figure it out. You’ve got a daughter that you love, right?”

He nodded. Huge tears rolled down his cheeks.

I began to cry. “I’ve always wanted a son. I’ll never have that. We don’t always get what we want, and when we do, it isn’t always on our schedule. You have to look at what you have because you can’t go back and change things.”

“I love my little girl.”

I smiled. “You have that, and now we can figure out if we both have us.”

“Us,” he repeated.

“Yeah. Am I here in your life to help you find your way on a new path, or are we here together because we are meant to be partners for the rest of our days?”

He bent forward and kissed me.

“And while we figure it out, we’re going to have fun and enjoy our lives and see where it takes us.” I pulled him into the shower. The water was hot and steamy. I pulled the curtain closed.

John wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the back of my neck. “You’re so patient with me. And caring. You’re going the extra mile.”

“I think you’re worth it.”

“I’m not sure anyone’s ever thought I was worth it.”

I grabbed his wrists and pulled them in opposite ways so his chest was pulled against my back.

“Yeah, I know what that’s like. But I want you to know that you are worth it, and I’m going to cherish every moment we spend together.” I felt his dick push between my ass cheeks.

“You trigger me,” he said. “You’re so fucking sexy and… nice and wonderful.”

I felt him make a chew-like movement on my neck, and I felt my dick pulse in response. “Wonderful sounds great. “Nice, on the other hand, I’m not sure about. They say that nice guys finish last.”

“That’s because they let the other guy come first.”

“Ha.” I leaned my head back into him.

“But now it’s your turn.” His arms released their grip; I felt him push me slightly forward. I could tell he got on his knees again. He pushed my legs a little farther apart. His thumb and index finger wrapped around my balls. He tugged down slightly. I tilted my butt back and up. John buried his face between my cheeks. His nose brushed against my pucker, and I shuddered. Then his tongue danced across my hole and then moved in circles around it. 

I moaned loudly despite myself. The hot water cascaded down my back. John began to push his tongue into me. His hand moved up to grasp my erection. He pumped his hand up and down my hard shaft while he probed my man pussy. The frequency of his movements increased. My mind blurred. I pulled my cheeks apart; it felt as though his tongue reached my heart, and I began to spew my load. The scent of sex mixed with the aroma of cleanliness from the soap on the shelf.

I sank down and sat directly on the shower pan; I leaned back into John’s furry chest. He wrapped his arms around me and held me. It just kept getting better and better.