It had started out innocently enough... the regular monthly meeting he always attended... mostly with other graduate students interested in his field of study... but occasionally an undergrad showed up... They were always invited, but seldom came - it was usually a bit too dry for their tastes.... He came though, was well read on their subject, made some insightful comments, said he was considering a master’s, but hadn’t decided yet...

He’d shown up for a few more meetings.... gone with them for drinks afterwards, because even though they were a serious crowd, they weren’t that serious... no one wore black, square glasses, and they did like to drink and laugh and play pool sometimes......

And they liked to play poker... it was all about math and odds and things they were all oozing over with.... so they planned a poker game one night when he was around, and he wanted to play, so of course he was invited... everyone liked him... he was the liveliest one of their group, smiling and laughing... probably the smartest too, he suspected, but he never said, because that would fire up animosities... grad students were competitive and jealous.... he wasn’t, but he was an exception to the rule, honestly only in it for the science, the excitement of discovery... most of them were in it for jobs and money and prestige... he imagined that if he pursued it, it would only be for fun... he could just as easily do so many other things, become a model or a movie star – he was that beautiful, after all - or a top salesman of any gidget or gadget that he took an interest in... pieces of the moon, twinkles from the stars... if he was selling, people would be lining up to buy..... he was magic and poetry and everything wonderful, wrapped up in the most amazingly perfect package, luscious enough to make even the most serious of men quiver and moan...... in their sleep, or right before they went to sleep, which is what he’d been limiting himself to so far, but tonight was different... it was time for bed, after midnight, time for moonlight and fantasies and maybe one last glass of wine while thinking about forbidden things that would never... ever ... be.....

But he was here, still here, insisting on helping to clean up, finding things to do after everyone was long gone... he’d just put the last dish in the small dishwasher, flipped off the overhead light in the kitchen, leaving only the light above the sink, a warm, dim glow seeping into the living room... he’d turned out most of the lights in the living room himself, readying the apartment for bedtime... left just one lamp burning low in the corner... the light from it seemed to stretch across the room, connect it in a friendly way to the light leaking out from his bedroom.....

As an efficient host, he’d done everything he knew to do... the chips were recased, the table top folded and stored away.... all the beer bottles were in the trash, all the wine glasses in the dishwasher... every leftover snack had been stored... all the chores were done... he had no reason to stay for one second longer, but instead of walking towards the door, he was walking towards him.... instead of saying goodbye, he was saying his name.... “....... Thanks for having me over... I had a really good time..... I think I even won twenty bucks....” He said it, laughing... like it mattered... his folks were set, took good care of him... He worked, but not to survive, just because....

He didn’t begrudge him that, though... his own folks did alright, ran a shop in the small town he was from... it paid the bills, but didn’t allow for luxuries... he’d gotten a good job when he graduated, and the company wanted him to stay on when he finished his masters, was offering him a really nice package - he wasn’t sure what he’d do....

“I’m glad you could come... it’s good to have new players... makes it more interesting...” he said, fidgeting... he wasn’t usually so nervous with people, especially friends.... younger friends.... but he was nervous tonight, could hear it in his voice, feel it in the fine sheen of sweat that was covering him, had just popped up in the seconds since they’d been talking...

“Yeah, more interesting ‘cause you think you can take my money!” he said, laughing, blue eyes sparking with happiness, tempting him evilly with quick peeks of his darting pink tongue....

“You already knew they were cut throat....”

He’d stopped right in front of him... they were so close... he was looking at him oddly, head slanted slightly to the right, studying him.... what was he hoping to see? He stepped one step closer... too close for normal talk... he was making it hard to for him to breathe..... “Yeah, I know they are... what about you?”

He would’ve stepped back, only the sofa was right behind him, so there was no where to go, not that he really wanted to move away anyway... what he really wanted was to move closer, only how could he want that... he wasn’t that way....... had never been that way before... but his dick was hard and throbbing... could he be that way now, maybe just tonight, just with him? Was it possible that this was just a one-shot thing.... fueled only by their two bodies, dead without that special combination?  Maybe so, because he wasn’t that way either, but he looked like he was feeling it now, face flushed across his cheekbones, eyes dilated... fat black centers melting into pools of deep water blue.... pink parted lips showing the tip of a hungry tongue.... no way he was standing this close, looking that way, not wanting him....

“I just like to play... for fun mostly... if I break even it’s good, you know...” he said on a shallow breath.....

He nodded, whispered back...... “Wanna play some more? Just for fun?”

What did he mean? Was he still talking about poker.... surely not, they’d put every thing away... or did he mean that??? He was standing so close... he could smell the beer on his breath, warm and yeasty...... he wanted to taste it, suck it in through his mouth till all their breath was the same, take off their clothes and press their bodies together till they were molded so close and tight that it was impossible to tell where one ended and the other began........ that’s what he wanted... did he want that too?

TBC.......