One Day at a Time

I said that that would be fine, and he replied with Can't wait and the winking kiss emoji. I snorted and rolled my eyes. I wondered if he knew that he came off as a decade younger than he was.

That day I had already ordered my coffee and sat down when he arrived. He got a parfait and gave me a peck on the cheek before sitting with me. After the basic introductory small talk ("I'm doing good, how was your day?") I went to the subject of interest.

"So, you're Christian?"

He nodded. "Very much so."

I put my chin on my palm. "I don't have much experience with gay Christians. How has it been for you?"

It was kind of personal, but he seemed casual enough about it Sunday morning.

"All things considered, I've been lucky. My mom knew way before I did, but kept quiet and let me figure things out on my own. She didn't freak out and send me to conversion therapy or anything."

We sat quietly, me sipping my coffee.

"From what I can tell, being a gay Christian sounds exhausting."

"It is," he answered laconically. "But I didn't want to choose one or the other. It's just something you have to take one day at a time."

I could respect that. I stopped prying and changed the subject.

"How long have you been dating?"

"I put myself out there once I graduated college. I came to peace with the fact that it wasn't just a phase, so I wanted to find a partner."

I raised my eyebrows. "I would have guessed you were much newer to dating."

He winced. "Am I that bad at this?"

I chuckled. "No, you just come off as a lovestruck teenager sometimes. Then there's the whole chivalry thing."

Vik blushed. "My mom raised a gentleman."

He was so wet behind the ears and easy to tease it was adorable.

"While we're on that subject," he said, "I just want to lay this out early on: I like you. A lot. But I wanna take things slow."

His tone of voice conveyed the unspoken message. He was giving me an out. If I didn't want to take it slow, he wanted me to make that clear then. I leaned forward a bit and put my hand on top of his.

"Going slow isn't really my style." I admitted. "I want you, but I also like you. I like talking to you and going on dates. If you want to take it slow, I'll do it with you."

He looked so grateful and relieved at that that I couldn't help but laugh. "You're such a dork."

I looked down at his half-eaten parfait. It was moderately sized and had chocolate and strawberries in it.

"Any particular reason why you wanted dessert in the middle of the day?"

"What?" He asked. "I don't drink coffee and this looked good." He used the long spoon to fish around until he had a bite with whipped cream, chocolate, and strawberry. He held it out. "Wanna try some?"

I could tell what he was going for, a cute little thing where he fed me dessert. I didn't really feel like being cute at the moment, though. Instead, I leaned forward and ate the parfait in the most sensual, erotic way I could manage. I used my tongue to scoop it into my mouth, taking care to get some chocolate and cream on my face. After slowly chewing, I made a big show of licking the food off my lips. I swallowed and let out a little moan like it was the best thing I'd ever eaten, wiping my lower lip with my thumb. From start to finish I maintained eye contact. His gray eyes widened and I could see his arousal in his face. It took all my self-control to not laugh my head off.

With romance and flirting, Vik was confident, but he was clearly green when it came to his sexuality. I'd let him set the pace, but I wouldn't give him all control. Taking the scenic route didn't seem so bad if I could tease and surprise him along the way. I wanted to do that more often.

We talked a little bit more as we finished up and prepared to leave.

"I was thinking we could catch a movie," Vik offered.

"What time do you have in mind?"

"Tonight?"

I guess when he said "take it slow" he was just talking about sex. I didn't mind, though. I genuinely liked Vik. He was really sweet, if a little naïve. I agreed to the date and he gave me a kiss before heading out.

The date went well. I don't remember much about the movie, though. I was distracted for most of it. The two of us sat right next to each other, the arm rest lifted up so we were touching fully. He put his arm around my shoulder and I laid my head against him. We were done with the popcorn about halfway through the movie, and I wasn't really paying attention to it. I figured that it was too late to get into the film and opted to entertain myself through other means.

My left hand was on his thigh and I slowly, subtly crept my hand back up his leg. Vik didn't even notice until I was touching his crotch. His breath hitched slightly. I just lightly ran my hand against it or squeezed gently as the bulge in his pants kept getting bigger. It wasn't long until he was rock hard. He let me continue for a few more minutes before he pulled my hand away. He grabbed my head and tilted it towards him so he could assault the area around my ear with his mouth. He already knew I was sensitive there and he brought all his attention to one spot under my ear. Vik kissed it, nibbled it, and sucked on it, possibly hard enough to give me a hickey. It was driving me crazy. By the time the movie ended and the lights turned on we were both fully in heat. I raised my head and whispered in his ear.

"My apartment's close." I got to my feet and walked out of the theater quickly, him right behind me. We may or may not have broken some speed limits in our hurry to get to my place. When we were in the elevator we were making out with everything we had. Our tongues battled each other and our hands were everywhere. By the time we actually got to my apartment all control was gone. Vik pushed us down to the carpet and got on top of me, kissing and grinding his hips. I met his thrusting, rubbing my cock against his. After maybe five minutes of pure intensity he wrapped his arms around me and moved even faster. That was when we tripped over the razor's edge. He groaned as he came, and his dick pulsing against mine was enough to make me shoot a second after he did.

It took a while for both of us to climb down from the high. Our hearts were racing and we were soaked in sweat. I was starting to piece together that we probably should have at least taken off our jackets first. Now both us and our clothes were covered in sweat, not to mention the mess coming in our pants made.

"Alice?" Vik mumbled, his face in the carpet next to my head.

"Yeah, babe?"

"We didn't really think this through, did we?"

I laughed. "No, we did not. Come on, I'll wash our clothes."

We got up and went over to the laundry area of my apartment. Both of us took off every stitch of clothing we were wearing and I put them in the washer. When I was done he pulled me close and kissed me.

"You wanna shower together?" he asked.

"Yeah, but first..." I pulled away and got behind him so I could deeply smell his sweaty hair. I assumed that he wasn't familiar with scenting, and his reaction told me I was right. I lifted up his arm and buried my nose into his hairy pit, trying to etch his scent into my brain. Everybody has a natural odor, and it's common to like the way a potential mate smells. I drank it up, loving the essence of pure Vik. Once I was satisfied I lowered his arm and leaned against his shoulder.

"I love your musk."

I felt his dick twitch against my thigh. He was shocked, but he was loving it. I took a step back and lifted my arm. He accepted the invitation and smelled me back. It was an almost primal act, but powerfully erotic and intimate. He told me he liked my scent, too. I grinned. "How about we take that shower?"

Naturally we couldn't even focus long enough to clean up properly. We were both trying to wash each other with shower gel, but we just ended up groping and making out in the warm water. When we were both hard, I grabbed our members in one hand and stroked. Vik moaned, not as a signal to stop, but to keep going. Our mouths were mashed together as my hand brought us to climax.

After the release, we calmed down and showered for real. We soaped each other's bodies and washed the other's hair. Vik took his time shampooing me, running his hands through my long hair over and over. Once we were both clean and dry, we went back out the apartment. We were both still nude and made no efforts to change that. The clothes were done washing and I transferred them to the dryer. I looked at my phone and saw that it had gotten late.

"Well, looks like you're stuck here for the night," I told him.

He put up no resistance. "I guess I'll just have to get up early, then."

On my bed, we kissed some more, wrapping ourselves up to each other. Our arms and legs were so entangled that it was hard to tell where one body ended and the other began. We were nose to nose, and all I could see were his gorgeous eyes. Ugh, was Vik's juvenile sappiness rubbing off on me?

Maybe, or maybe I had just found a guy worth getting sappy over. I got up to turn out the light and slip under the covers with Vik. He wrapped his entire body around mine.

"Goodnight, Vik."

"Goodnight, baby."

We had dinner at Vik's apartment that Friday night. He was a decent cook, dressing up store-bought pasta sauce and frozen meatballs. It was perfectly serviceable. Our conversation turned into a back and forth of questions, and we both got to know each other a little better that evening. The closest thing to a surprise I got from him was when he said he was a Republican.

"I find that hard to swallow."

"Oh really?" He cocked an eyebrow. "Well, there's more to me besides just being a queer." He was smiling, but I don't think the smile was as playful as he meant it to be. I suspected I'd hit a nerve.

"Shit, I didn't mean it like that. It's just not common."

He nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I know I'm a bit of an anomaly."

That was definitely true. It's not often you meet a gay man on the religious right in a big city like Philadelphia.

I cupped his chin in my hand. "Maybe, but that's why you're interesting. Just don't expect me to agree with you on anything."

He smiled. "Thanks, I guess. What about you, any bombshells you need to drop?"

I laughed. "No, I'm pretty normal."

He flashed a grin at me. "That's great, because 'normal' is exactly what I'm looking for."

He leaned in and kissed me deeply. I returned the favor, arousal seeping through my body.

Later that night we were naked on his bed and Vik gave me a hand job. To my surprise, he worked me like a pro. He knew when to twist, where to poke, which parts of the penis were especially sensitive. Anecdotally, hand jobs are a means to an end and that level of attention to detail was usually saved for oral, but he did it with enthusiasm and variety. He was laying next to me, and as he worked my cock he alternated between kissing my neck and sucking on my nipple. After about eight minutes I came hard, semen shooting all over myself. It took a bit for me to recover. During the moments I was trying to string together a coherent thought he lightly suckled my nipple like a baby feeding.

"Wow..." I breathed, finally able to speak. "You're good at that."

He blushed a little, clearly flattered. "What can I say? When you take it slow, you have to keep it interesting. Plus, I've had a lot of practice, mostly on myself."

I chuckled weakly. A few minutes later I reached for his dick so I could reciprocate.

"You don't have to do that."

Wait, what? "The hell I don't! It's basic manners, Vik."

"No, you really don't."

I raised myself up and saw that he had his own release splattered on his chest. His dick was soft.

"When did that happen?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Right about the time yours happened."

I had to admit, the thought of him being so into me that he came just from watching me have an orgasm was incredibly sexy. I leaned in and kissed him.

After we sat in the afterglow for a few minutes, he rose, saying he was getting a towel. I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I've got a better idea."

He got back on the bed and looked at me quizzically. Without a word I reached over to grab his arm, adjusting his hand so all the fingers were extended. I put his open hand in the load I had on my chest. Once my come was all over it I brought it up to my face and cleaned it with my mouth, licking his palm and suckling his fingers. He got the idea and kept his arm out as I scooped up the come on his body. We fed each other our essences until the loads were gone. Like the scenting from the other day, the act was just a little thing I did to catch Vik off guard and remind him who had more experience.

The rest of the evening was just spent relaxing on his bed, him reading a book and me playing on my phone. It was really comfortable and normal feeling.

That night, in bed, Vik whispered into my ear.

"Thank you, Alice."

I turned around so I was facing him.

"For what?"

Even in the dark, I could see his eyes glitter warmly.

"For being my boyfriend."

I wanted to laugh at that. It was such a clichéd thing to say that I was impressed he had the conviction to pull it off. I gave him a gentle, tender kiss.

"Glad to help, Vik."

Our relationship continued for weeks. There wasn't any other word for it, we were in a committed, exclusive relationship. It's not like we moved in together or talked about wanting kids, but all the little things piled up at an alarming rate. More often than not one of us would spend the night at the other's apartment. We'd just quietly spend time together, not really talking, just relaxing. We found ourselves wearing each other's clothes on more than one occasion. We gave each other spare keys to our places so we could just let ourselves in unannounced.

Besides that, we had quasi-sex pretty much every time we were together. We were still technically at second base, but there was variety. Never had I given much thought to the different forms of outercourse until I started dating Vik. There were hand job exchanges, jerking off together, and naked grinding, in missionary and doggy style. Both of us had a favorite, though, which was making love to the inner thigh.

Vik had clearly done it before and was good at it. He made a conscious effort to make it as pleasurable as possible for me, too. He fucked the rift of my thighs from behind, using his skilled hand to stroke me in time with his thrusting. The position also put him at the right height to kiss and nibble on my neck. The inner thigh is an erogenous zone, so his cock pushing between mine coupled with him jerking me and attacking my neck. I was able to get off from the experience just fine. As a seasoned bottom, I knew it wasn't as good as a proper dicking, but not by much.

As hot as all the fooling around was, Vik was more of the cute-and-cuddly type. While he loved it when he could make us both come at once, I could tell he was mostly content simply to have me beside him. When at our apartments, or even out in public, he just didn't seem satisfied if he wasn't snuggled against me. He loved squeezing me in his arms and nuzzling my neck. Often, he would just lay on top of me, covering my entire body with his. Normally I wasn't too much of a cuddler, but he was so tender and affectionate that I grew to love it, too.

I really got to know the ins and outs of Vik during that time, and vice versa. Vik was one of those people so naturally charming that it was annoying in a way. His day job was as a social worker, and it showed. His interpersonal skills were impressive. No matter who the person, Vik was able to read them and know what to say to make them comfortable. Vik had a nurturing personality, especially with me. He was almost motherly in a way. He let me know that he was always available to talk, except for a few hours on Sunday morning and Wednesday evening when he was at church.

On that subject, it was probably due to his religious upbringing and lifestyle that he had a lot of principles he stuck to. He didn't drink, smoke, or gamble. He didn't even really cuss. Thankfully, he had the same laissez-faire outlook on life that I did and never judged me for indulging in those things myself. To sum up, Vik was absolutely the take-home-to-your-mother kind of guy. I settled for introducing him to my friends.

I asked him if he wanted to go on a double date with my two friends, and he said he'd love to. Even so, I could tell he was nervous. I think he knew how naïve he was, and was apprehensive of how he came off.

The first friend I had in mind was Cary, who was 30, a trucker, and built like a tank. Tall, hairy, and brash, he fit the bear archetype to a T. The other was his boyfriend, a twink named Danny. He was the opposite of Cary: short, thin, and hairless. He was 22 but could have passed for much younger. Danny was a shy, tiny little thing, but I had a lot of respect for him. I'd seen Cary's cock and was blown away that Danny usually seemed able to walk without difficulty. The two of them were probably my closest friends since I moved to Philadelphia for my job nine months prior. Cary was like my big brother and Danny my little brother. They'd been together for a year and a half at that point and it was clear just by looking at them what their relationship was like. Vik and I were equal partners, but with Cary and Danny it was obvious who was in charge. Cary was a Dom and Danny his loyal sub. It wasn't full on S&M, though they did dabble with that on occasion. Cary was rough around the edges but very protective, and I knew he loved Danny to pieces.

We had our double date at an Outback Steakhouse. When Vik and I arrived Cary and Danny were already at our table. Cary hugged Vik and Danny just shook hands with him. Once we sat down Cary got right to the point.

"I have to say, Vik, I'm impressed. I've been trying to convince Al to settle down for months. I never would have guessed it would take a church boy to wrangle him in like that."

I sighed. "I just hadn't found the right guy yet. I don't need to be 'wrangled in' by anybody, that's what you two do."

Cary shrugged. "I have to keep my pup on a leash. I can't have him running away from me." He scooped up Danny in his arms like the man was a doll. "You'd never do that, right, pup?"

Danny shook his head. "No, Sir."

Cary went at his neck, which was already marked with hickeys in a few places. Danny giggled.

I cleared my throat. "Can't you two save that for later?" They were completely shameless with the PDA. I didn't care, but Vik might have. Besides, there were children a few tables over.

The conversation went on throughout the meal. Cary and Danny warmed up to Vik without much convincing, and Vik was his normal charming self. Things only got awkward when Cary asked me a question no one but Cary would ask.

"Al, is Vik a good fuck?"

Vik choked a little on the soda he was drinking and started coughing. While he recovered I glared at Cary.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

He spread his hands. "I'm just making sure my friend's being taken care of."

Thankfully Danny had a little more awareness and tact. "Cary, drop it."

Danny was normally so soft-spoken and timid it was easy to forget that he had Cary wrapped around his little finger. Danny was the only person Cary let tell him what to do.

Vik was finishing up coughing, holding one of his hands up to his eye.

"I think my contact fell out, give me a minute." He stood up and walked to the bathroom. Vik did wear contacts, but I think he just wanted an excuse to leave.

Danny probably suspected that as well, because after Vik left, he asked "Is this a sensitive topic for you two?"

I sighed. "No, not really. He's a great lover, it's just that we're taking things slow. We haven't even blown each other yet."