Simply Red

Max’s Perspective

The plane touched down in St Louis and I was so excited for our big Mardi Gras weekend with Seth and Zach. Since Dylan and Gina were preoccupied with finishing up the new house and preparing for the baby, Daddy and BA moved into our house to take care of Zoey and Jimmie while we were gone. Both Brody and I agreed to shut down for the next couple of days and avoid work, the candle barn was locked up tight, and The Agency knew Brody was off the grid… we really needed this break.

We got off the plane and I texted Seth to let him know we had landed; he was running late but told us to wait for him by the curb outside baggage claim and he’d be there within the next twenty minutes. We got a cup of coffee and headed outside to wait. I had been to St louis a couple of times with The Pride Crew when I was in college but never during Mardi Gras, and it was Brody’s first trip there altogether. We had no clue that Mardi Gras was such a huge deal in St louis until Seth and Zach moved there. Apparently, it’s the biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the country second only to New Orleans and there were like more than 50 events that went on around it. The weekend before we arrived, there was a big pet parade, I don’t mean like a neighborhood pet parade, this was a big fucking deal. It was the biggest pet parade in the world attracting about 85,000 spectators. It held the Guinness World record for the largest costumed pet parade in the world. Seth and Zach were dressed up as ghostbusters and dressed Petunia up as the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man. They marched in the parade with Alec and Chip and their boxer Scotty (named after Chip’s college roommate… Seth’s brother in-law Scotty. That cracked me up). They were dressed up as chefs and Scotty was wearing a rat costume, dressed as Ratatouille. The pics were hilarious and it was obvious that they all had an awesome time. I wished we had something like that by us, there’s no doubt in my mind that Brody would go all out and have Jimmy and Zoey dressed to the nines.

Anyway, we had been waiting at the curb for almost a half hour when The Green Dragon finally drove up, its horn was tooting, and everyone was looking our way. Seth pulled up to the curb, lowered the passenger window, and there was Petunia ready to greet us with puppy kisses. Damn she was cute. Seth tried to get her to jump in the backseat, but no such luck. Brody and I ended up riding in the back seat while Petunia sat in the front riding Shotgun with Seth at the wheel. On our way back to their place Seth told us about the plans for the weekend. He had us booked solid until our plane left late Sunday night, and everything was within walking distance from their place. On Saturday night Chip and Alec were having a huge party at their place. I knew Chip from working on the Pride Crew. He was the PR guy for The Resort and, Scotty’s old college roommate. They were also with us in Vegas for New Year’s Eve the year before and Seth and Zach’s wedding, so Brody had met them too. They lived a few blocks from Seth and Zach next to Chip’s Dad and his partner Brendon, they threw a big party every Mardi Gras Eve. Alec spent days smoking ribs and simmering his special BBQ sauce… it was his thing.

Seth and Zach lived in an historic district near downtown St Louis, about a half hour from the airport in a cute little house that they rented from Chip and Alec. The neighborhood was wall-to-wall brick one, two, and three story houses from the 1800’s, all with flat roofs and no real yards to speak of. They looked more like store fronts than houses to me, but it was charming as hell. When we got to their place, Zach was still at work. “Day-um, this place is nice” Brody said as Seth showed us around the old, remodeled building. It was a perfectly appointed little two-bedroom two bath, with a modern kitchen. There was a small courtyard-style yard with a view of the St Louis Arch just outside the French doors in the kitchen, it even had a hot tub. “This place is so cool” Brody said, “I can’t believe y’all gotta hot tub.”

“Yeah, the couple that lived here before didn’t want to move it, so they sold it to us for dirt cheap” Seth said. “Chip and Alex said they’d buy it from us when we moved and leave it here for the next renters.” We went back inside and Seth showed us to our room and we got settled in. Once we dropped our luggage, we went into the living room and Seth grabbed us some beers from the fridge. Petunia plopped herself down on the dog bed in the living room and made herself at home, she had a bed in every room of the house (she was spoiled rotten). “We thought we would take an Uber to The Grove for dinner and then hit the bars if you’re up for it.”

“What’s The Grove?” I asked.

“That’s where all the gay bars are, there’s a couple of good restaurants down there too. It should be hoppin’ on Mardi Gras weekend.” Seth said. We were talking about our options for the night when Zach drove up. Petunia heard his car and ran to the front door; Seth let her out. We watched out the window as she ran out to greet him, got to the sidewalk, stopped with a jerk, and sat waiting for him to greet her.

“Do you have an electric fence?” I asked as I watched Petunia wait.

“Nope” Seth said. “Zach taught her boundaries. He works with her every day, sometimes twice. That dog is Smart as hell.”

I was impressed and started to feel like we had neglected Zoey. He was a year and a half older, and not nearly as well trained. I looked at Brody, “Damn, she’s way more trained that Zoey.”

“Well, she’s a city dog, Zoey’s a farm dawg. He don’t need ta’ know boundaries.” Brody said defending our boy. Just then Zach entered with Petunia walking obediently at his side. He greeted us, then went into the bedroom to change out of his suit. He had been interning at a law office since the beginning of the semester.

When Zach came back into the living room he said with a smile on his face “I’m so freaking exited to have you guys on our turf. How about Tapas for dinner?”

“Tap-ass’ Brody said in his deepest draw. “What the hell is that?” The rest of us laughed.

“Tah-puzz” Zach said phonetically with a chuckle. “It’s small plates, you know like appetizers that you share” he added as he pulled out his phone and showed Brody the menu.

“I’m game” Brody said. Our typical fair was simple meat, potatoes, and seafood. “They got little sliders burgers, I can make a whole meal outta them if I hafta’” Seth and Zach were getting a kick out of him. But I gave him total credit. Since he started his new job, I knew he had experimented with different kinds of food like Sushi, and Asian, Fusion, etc. when he went out with his team from work… he always seemed to be pushing his own limits. Zach made reservations online and with that settled, we all got ready to go out.

Brody was the last to enter the living room after getting ready… and yet, another surprise. He had on a new outfit I had never seen before and he looked cute as hell! “Damn, you look hot as fuck. Where ‘d ya get that?” I asked.

“I had to go out to dinner with the team last time I was in Phoenix and didn’t have shit to wear, so I bought this.” He said holding his arms out to the sides and turning around. “Whadda y’all think?”

“Cute!” Seth said.

“You look hot, Brodes.” Zach added. He DID look hot, it occurred to me that we NEVER dressed up to go out back home and I rarely got to see him like that. Our world was very casual and laid back, I didn’t even own ‘clubbin’ clothes anymore… damn my world had changed. When I was in college, I’d go out all the time and had plenty of outfits to choose from. Anyway… I had on tight jeans and a tight black button up, it was really all I had with me. “You look hot too, Max” Zach added throwing me a bone, I took it with a thank you.  Seth put Petunia in her crate and Zach ordered the Uber.

The Grove was hopping that night, it was a big party weekend in St louis. We got to the Tapas place and took our table. The menu was awesome and we ordered about a million small plates that kept coming as we dined. Brody tried a little bit of everything and was loving the whole concept. I saw him spit something out subtly in a napkin, other than that he was loving it… I just smiled to myself, proud of my husband for pushing himself outside of his comfort zone. While we ate, I swear like a dozen people came up to greet Seth and Zach… damn, they knew everyone! They hugged everyone who came up to the table with enthusiasm and seemed to be in their element, like they were holding court. “Y’all seem to love it here” Brody said.

“We do” Zach responded without hesitation. “It’s like Milwaukee with different beer and a different baseball team” he chuckled. Then he and Seth went off on a tirade about how much they loved living in the city and having so much within walking distance. Zach went on about his political work, he was recently elected the local chairman of a national LGBT civil rights group fighting for equality and he loved it. Seth was working with an organization that helped LGBT Youth. The two of them glowed as they talked about their volunteer work.

“So, are you guys planning on staying here after graduation?” I asked.

“It’ an option” Seth said. “But we have no clue at this point. I still want to go back to Phoenix.”

“And my dad is pushing hard for us to move back home and join his practice” Zach added.

“And Dr. Aarons still wants me to join his practice in Brookfield” Seth chimed in. “Plus, we’d love to live out by you guys too. We’ve definitely got options.”

“But we still have a year and a half left of school” Zach said.

“Wait, wait, wait” I said. “Back up. You’ve thought about moving out by us?”

“Hell yeah” Zach said with excitement. “We love it there!”

“Plus, you guys are there, Gina’s there… I could totally see us in North Carolina” Seth said.

“Not to mention BA loves me” Zach added… he wasn’t wrong, she took to him for some reason, hell she loved all our friends. We had all gone our separate ways after college, but it didn’t occur to me how we were at different stages of our lives. Brody and I were like the old married couple of the group. Settled down and settled in our ways, yeah, we were ever evolving but we had established our home base and were building on that. Seth and Zach were still working on their degrees and trying to figure out where they were going to put down roots.

“So, how do we make that happen for y’all?” Brody asked. Seth and Zach laughed, but I had never seen my husband more serious. He had always been a loner with very few friends. Seth was the one who first got him to open up and let us in, and I guess I was the one that got in the deepest. Because he was such a loner, there were very few people that he called friends, but Seth… and especially Zach were on that list, and Brody (and I) would kill to have them close by again. “Do I gotta start rubbin’ elbows with lawyers and shrinks to make some connections and help y’all get jobs?” Brody asked only half joking, but getting a full laugh. As we listened to Seth and Zach talk about their future goals and dreams, two women came up behind them and put their arms around them. I had seen them before.

“Hey boys!” Said the bigger of the two, she reminded me of a young Bea Arthur. The other woman was petite and had beautiful, long, wavy red hair. There was something familiar about her face. Zach introduced them as Alec’s moms, Rhonda, and Laurie, we had met them briefly at the guys’ wedding. It was clear that Laurie was his biological mother… she looked exactly like him. Rhonda was politically active and was the one who pulled Zach into politics and it was clear that the two women adored Seth and Zach. We invited them to sit with us… god knows we had ordered enough food. They were outgoing and a lot of fun. Rhonda was a presence; she was loud and jovial. “So Max, I bought about a dozen of your sage candles when Seth was Selling them at the Soulard Farmer’s Market. I’ve got one burning whenever we’re home. I love em’.” Rhonda said.

“She’s not kidding” Laurie added. “They burn twenty four seven in that house.” The two of them asked a lot of questions about the business, the farm, and living in North Carolina. They listened with interest. Rhonda wanted to know about the gay community and if we ran into any issues being out and open about it. I told her about the ‘Mimi Fargus’ incident, then we told her about Ricky and his friends tagging our barn and how Ricky turned out to be an amazing guy with a lot of potential. She was fascinated by the story.

“See, guys. This is exactly what I keep telling you” Rhonda said looking at Seth and Zach. “You need to change hearts and minds one at a time, that’s how you change the world.” Rhonda was a mentor to the guys when it came to politics and volunteering. “Instead of writing the kid off as a redneck punk, Max gave him a chance and turned him into an ally.” We talked a while longer, then parted ways for the night. We would see them on Saturday night at Chip and Alec’s party.

After dinner we hit the bars and clubs. Oh. My. God. It was so much fun to be able to just walk down the street and choose from a bunch of bars; leather bars, dance club, drag shows, neighborhood-style bars. There were so many to choose from and we went bar to bar and club to club. Everywhere we went people would come up to Seth and Zach, they knew freaking everyone. We ended up at a leather bar, but it was more of a mixed crowd, they had a great dancefloor and the four of us were shirtless as we danced and sweated off the dinner and drinks. Brody was buzzed and totally into it as hot guys kept bumping and grinding up against us on the dancefloor. The bars were still open and going strong when Zach ordered an Uber and we headed back to their neighborhood. He had the car drop us off almost a half mile away from their place at this little corner piano bar. It was much more mellow than the other place and the crowd was a bit older and more… well, I guess you could call it local. Again, they knew everyone there and the older guys were putting their arms around us and singing along with the piano. We had a nightcap, closed the place down, then stumbled our way back to their place. Their world was so different from ours.

When we got back to their house Zach poured us drinks and then the four of us went outside in the cold February air, stripped, and got into the hot tub. Over the years we had all gotten more comfortable being naked around each other. Well, Brody was as comfortable as Brody was ever going to be in that situation… in other words shy, but participating. The yard was tiny, in fact the hot tub took up about half of the entire postage-stamp-sized, brick patio that spanned the entire yard. Even at almost 3AM it wasn’t quiet like back home. With its six foot high fence, it was surprisingly serine and the noise of the traffic from nearby I-55 just became white noise as the four of us talked quietly and Petunia laid next to the hot tub sleeping. I was seeing a whole different side of my two old friends that night. They were comfortable and confident here (well, they were confident everywhere). As we talked my hand moved to Brody’s thigh, he almost instantaneously returned the favor. Our hands innocently ran up and down each other’s upper legs and inner thighs at first, occasionally grazing a nut sac or a growing shaft. We discretely fondled each other as the four of us talked. I could feel my manhood grow under the hot, bubbly water and eventually we wrapped our hands around each other’s manhood; it was hot playing with each other secretly just inches from our best friends. After about fifteen minutes or so the timer on the tub turned the jets off but the lights inside continued to shine bright, and there we were caught red-handed holding each other’s cocks. It was clear those two were doing the same thing.

Zach let out a laugh as he quickly reached over his husband raising his naked ass out of the water as he fumbled to turn the jets back on. “I see the dick of death is alive and well” Zach joked referring to Brody’s hard cock and reminding us that he hadn’t forgotten that Brody had fucked me into unconsciousness last time we were all together. That’s the thing about true friends… the longer you know each other, the more history you have, and the more shit you give each other. The jets came back on and the bubbles covered our hardons and hands again, and we all carried on like nothing ever happened. It was only a few minutes later that Zach let out a heavy sigh and said, “I’m wiped and we got a big weekend ahead, I’m hittin’ the hay.”

“Me too” Seth said as the two stood up, hardons proudly in front of them and stepped out of the tub. Brody let out a groan of defeat, we were both so comfortable in the hot tub with the cool air blowing through the little yard. “You guys can stay out here if you want” Seth said as he showed us how to shut down the tub and put the cover back on.

Zach handed us a little bottle of spa chemicals and said, “Put a scoop of this in there when you’re done to kill anything you… um… leave behind.” I loved Zach, but he could be an ass sometimes. Brody just let out a nervous laugh and we said goodnight. They went back into the house with Petunia at their heels.

When they were gone, Brody said, “Do you think they’re serious about movin’ to North Carolina?”

“I don’t know, I think they’re just dreaming out loud at this point, but it would be awesome to have them by us.”

“But damn, our world is so different from theirs” Brody said shaking his head.

“And I fucking love our world” I responded as I put my arm around him and kissed him and added, “I wouldn’t change a damn thing.”

Brody smiled broadly and our kiss became more passionate. We were making out when I moved onto my knees in the hot tub, then hooked my hands under Brody’s arm pits and lifted him up so he was sitting on the edge, his beautiful, rigid manhood standing at full mast begging for my attention. Without hesitation or thought I just took him in my mouth and down my throat in one swift motion. His scrotum was touching my chin, the cold night air caused his balls to tighten up making it difficult to tug them as I swallowed him whole. Brody moaned at the efforts of my warm mouth and hand working his most sensitive parts. With his hands planted on the edge of the steaming hot tub, he threw his head back, closed his eyes and just enjoyed the pleasure I was giving him in the middle of St Louis on a cold February night. I bobbed up and down on his shaft, slowly at first. I moved my mouth from tip to base and back again, over, and over. My hand dutifully followed my mouth and mimicked its movements awakening every ridge and pore and stimulating every nerve ending. Brody didn’t buck or push my head, he just sat there leaning back quietly moaning, enjoying the pleasure I was giving him. I knew my husband and could read every sign; he was ready to explode. I pulled my mouth off him and exposed his hot cock to the cold night air. He leaned in for a kiss and I stood to meet him.

We were both standing buck ass naked in the middle of the hot tub, in the middle of a city with the sounds of a freeway in the background, devouring each other. Our faces were smashed together as our hands roamed up and down each other’s bodies groping, grabbing, caressing in a frenzied lust. We were both shivering in the night air while the hot 102F water pulsated around our thighs and nipped at our scrotums. We could hear voices and music from a pre-Mardi Gras/after-bar party going on about a half block away, but that didn’t stop us, in fact… it fueled us. The idea that we could get caught made it kind of dirty and taboo; and let’s face it, not much was taboo when you were in a monogamous relationship with the same person for over four years.

Brody stepped forward, pushing me back until I was the one sitting on the ledge with my protruding wood pointing towards the city sky. Brody stared into my eyes with that shit eating grin on his adorable face as he took my raging red demon into his mouth… damn I loved that face. He swallowed me inch by inch, his eyes never leaving mine. As much as I wanted to throw my head back in ecstasy induced euphoria, I couldn’t look away from the eyes of the one person I valued above all others. Oh, my fucking god, the heat from the hot water on my legs, the cold air chilling my upper body, all dwarfed by the feeling of Brody’s how throat on my iron rod was pushing me into oblivion. He was moving up and down, eyes locked, hand twisting, FUCK it was amazing. I whispered my warning, “I’m so fucking close.” He quickened his pace in response, working me perfectly. I sat up straight and moved my hands to his head, losing my fingers in his soft auburn curls. I pushed his head down and lifted my hips slightly as I lost my sweet, salty spunk down his throat with a guttural groan. Brody hung onto my hips and gagged a little as he swallowed every drop that my balls churned out. Damn, it was SO satisfying. I released my grip as Brody continued to lick my cock clean.

He stood and kissed me as I clung to the edge of the tub, tasting my own juice, too weak-kneed to stand up right away. We kissed until I regained my strength, then stood in the middle of the hot tub. There we were once again, our hands roaming up and down each other’s bodies groping, grabbing, caressing in a frenzied lust as we shivered in the night air, the 102F water pulsating around our thighs once again as the music and the voices from the party down the block still floated in the air. This time I pushed Brody backwards until he was sitting on the edge of the hot tub this time. I knelt in the bubbling water once again and swallowed his cock as he leaned back quietly moaning, enjoying the pleasure I was giving him. This time he started to buck, his hips driving his member down my throat, once again he was ready to explode… this time I didn’t stop him and he shot his load into my gullet with a muffled grunt. His hands were planted firmly on my head and his fingers were stroking my red hair. It felt so damn good.

I hoisted myself onto the ledge next to my husband and we kissed tenderly with our legs in the water and our deflating genitalia exposed to the cold night air. We gained our composure after a few minutes, then dried ourselves with the towels Seth had left for us on a patio chair. Brody put in the scoop of chemicals like Zach told us to do, then we covered the tub and tiptoed into our room.

We crawled under the warm comforter naked and I fell asleep with my back against Brody’s tight chest and his warm arms around me. Our first day visiting Seth and Zach was so much fun… we lived in different worlds and theirs was a fun place to visit. 

To be continued…