Solutions

Solutions

Long time friends with common problems

Author's note: I haven't tried writing a story solely about two men before. I've written about some bisexual antics that included male-male, but those were in the context of a larger setting. I had originally set myself the goal of writing at least one story in each category. That went right out the window as I looked at some of them (Loving Wives, I'm looking at you...) but I'd still like to push my boundaries. So this is an attempt for the Gay Male genre, although the protagonists are technically bi. Voting is how I know how well I'm doing pleasing you, the reader. And constructive comments are certainly welcome. Enjoy...

*~*~*~*~*

[Friday]

"I'm glad you could join me, Harry. It's been years since I've had company on one of my getaways."

"I guess life got in the way, John... I've missed our 'gone fishing' trips, too."

Both men looked out at the country highway with the woods on either side as they snaked their way towards John's cabin on the lake. For the first time in fifteen years, the long time friends had been able to get time away together.

"I hope Madge wasn't too hacked at you taking the long weekend with me," John offered as he drove.

"No, she wasn't hacked," Harry told him. "She was actually glad to get me out of her way! She's got a lot of gardening she wants to get done and taking care of me is just a nuisance."

"Yeah, same deal here," John pointed out. "Betsy has a bunch of painting she wants to get done and she told me the only way she wants to see me in the house is if I'm carrying in a stringer that I'm going to clean and cook, not her!"

They both chuckled, then fell silent as they thought about how life had gotten them here. Both were in their upper 50's, both had retired early after successful careers, both had wives, homes and grown kids. They'd been friends since 2nd Grade and had gone through a lot together before drifting apart after college.

It was gradual at first... the two couples would get together at John's parent's cabin a few times a year, until the kids came along. Then it got more difficult, especially when they'd gotten transferred to opposite coasts.

John eventually inherited the cabin and Harry would try to make a couple of trips a year to see John there and go fishing. They'd spend days in John's bass boat, drinking beer and drowning bait, then evenings in front of the fire, shooting the bull about current world conditions and reliving their glory days.

Finally, they stopped getting together when the combination of business travel, soccer, band, Scouting and high school theater got to be too much. They did occasionally talk, and stayed in email contact... neither was a fan of social media. And now, fifteen years after they'd last gotten together, it was time to do it again.

"Here we go," John commented as he pulled into a gravel drive that disappeared into the woods. "Man, it seems like forever since we drove in to the cabin together."

"It has been," Harry agreed. "Fifteen years. But it sure looks like nothing's changed."

"Oh, there's been a few changes," John mused aloud. "I'll show 'em to you as we run across them. Starting with..." He pulled out of the woods and in front of the cabin. "The apron is bigger. I had to have some place to put the kids' cars."

"They must have a lot of cars," Harry chuckled at the size of the expansion.

"Well, theirs and all their friends' on a holiday weekend," John told him. "Oddly enough, traffic hasn't gone down all that much, even though they're all out of college. Grab your gear. You can take one of the front rooms. I'll take my usual."

The two men pulled their backpacks, rods and tackle boxes out of the trunk and headed indoors with John leading the way. To Harry, it was both familiar and not. The rooms were laid out as always, but there had been some major redecorating. Harry noticed the new kitchen on the way through, plus new carpet and drapes, and so forth.

"Well, that's new..." he told John, pointing out the front window. "That pier didn't used to be there. We used to just pull the boat up on the beach. And where's the boat?"

"The pier is one of a few additions necessitated by family. Plus, I got lazy. There's a raft the kids swim off of out back... they get to haul it down to the water when they're up here. The boat's still in winter storage. I haven't pulled it out yet, and won't unless the fish aren't biting off the end of the pier."

"Nice," Harry nodded. "Any other nifty new additions?"

"A couple," John smiled. "But the one you're going to care about most is the Jacuzzi off the back porch. Fantastic for relaxing after a long day drowning worms."

Harry smiled and shook his head. "A Jacuzzi... man, you really have gone soft!"

"Yeah, in more ways than one," John smiled. "But I can still cast a mean line. Let's get everything put away, grab a six-pack out of the cooler and go see what the fish have to say..."

* * * * *

"This is a beautiful setup, John."

Harry and John were sitting in canvas folding chairs on the "T" that was the end of the pier, with the cooler between them. The six-pack hadn't lasted nearly long enough, so they'd just brought the whole cooler down. They each had a line in the water and were gently jigging their lures towards them. They'd already scored three for John and two for Harry, which they'd measured and weighed, then tossed back, following their usual catch-and-release routine. It was, admittedly, a slow day for fish. They didn't mind, though... it gave them time to talk.

"You know, I'm not ready to get old, yet," John commented at one point. "It seems like everything's conspiring against being able to enjoy my retirement. The kids are off doing their own thing, true. But 'their thing' seems to include a lot of financial support, from me, and schlepping stuff around for them, plus working on projects they're doing... that's why I appreciate a chance like this to get away from the parasites. With somebody I like."

"I hear you," Harry answered. "It seems like the number of projects Madge wants me to get done is growing exponentially."

"Yeah... my dreams of traveling around the world and visiting all kinds of exotic spots have been pretty much squashed," John nodded. "We seem to be settling into that 'companionship phase' I didn't think would happen until our eighties."

"Yeah, same here," Harry agreed. "But at least this weekend is just you and me and the fish."

"Amen to that, Brother!" John murmured. "Amen to that."

After that sobering thought, they fell back into the quiet tranquility that was fishing.

* * * * *

"You grill a mean steak, too, my friend," Harry told John as he looked at the remnants of the steak-and-potatoes dinner in front of him. "Not just cast a mean line. That was awesome."

"Thank you, thank you..." John smiled. "No need to applaud... just throw money..."

Harry laughed. "Sorry... I left my change in my other pants."

"Okay," John chuckled back. "Then I'll just have to win it out of you at poker."

"You think fifteen years is enough for me to forget what kind of card shark you are?" Harry chided his friend. "No, thank you. I think I'll just go sit on the pier for awhile and let dinner settle before I haul these tired old bones off to bed. After all, we're getting up bright and early, right?"

"Right," John nodded. "Although, one: you don't look all that old or tired to me, and two: if you really do want to relax before bed, you should try the Jacuzzi. I think the warm bubbling water is great."

"Not a bad idea," Harry mused. "Maybe I'll do both."

"Maybe I'll join you," John smiled.

In the end, that is what the two friends did... sit at the end of the pier, sipping on drinks and watching as the last of the day faded away.

* * * * *

"So, John... have you got any spare suits? I didn't know about your Jacuzzi, so I didn't bring one." Harry was definitely thinking that jets of hot water pounding his back right about then would be a really good idea.

"What's a suit?" John kidded him. "The spa has been a suit-free zone ever since the kids -- and their friends -- turned 18 and told us parental units that we needed to get used to the idea or give them a wide berth. I was going to read them the riot act, but Betsy agreed with them, and after I got my jaw off the floor, I caved.

"But to give you a serious answer, I've probably got something somewhere. I can try to dig it out if you really need it. Or you can use your shorts and we'll throw them in the dryer later. Honestly, though? There's no reason. It's just the two of us and there's no one to offend with going au naturel."

"Your kids actually decided on 'suit free' in your home, and you let them?" Harry was very surprised that his normally Alpha friend would let himself get run over like that.

"It was Betsy that turned the tables," John explained. "She pulled me aside and pointed out several things... like, for a guy whose sex life was jerking off a lot, there were advantages to pretty, young, naked females walking around. And even if she didn't want to do anything, she didn't mind looking at attractive, young, naked men.

"And the coup de grace was, given the liberal proclivities of the kids and their friends, there might be benefits for an old horndog like me beyond the visuals. So I decided to go with 'my wife is right' and cave."

"You and Betsy don't have sex anymore?" Harry was even more surprised. According to Conventional Wisdom, John had always been the well-hung stud who enjoyed phenomenal sex with his slightly nymphomaniacal, and stacked, wife.

"Not since the hysterectomy. Something got screwed up. Her sex drive went to zero and trying to fuck hurt, even with plenty of lube. Suddenly I was too big for her or something. Or maybe some screw up with the surgery. Nobody knows, and she doesn't feel like pursuing it. So we kind of just stopped trying. It sucks, but that's the way it is."

Harry could tell that John was irritated, but trying to be nonchalant about it.

"Well, in the spirit of being honest," Harry decided to tell his friend, "Madge and I aren't having sex anymore, either."

John gave him an inquisitive look, but didn't say anything.

"It wasn't surgery," Harry went on. "She had a really bad menopause. She refused to do the Hormone Replacement Therapy. She figured when she stopped, it would just be Hell all over again. She started keeping her distance and like you, I went to masturbating -- mostly to avoid fighting about it. I didn't try for an affair or anything because I didn't want to destroy my marriage."

"Makes sense," John nodded. "So we've ended up a couple of not-quite-so-old wankers." He smiled slightly and shook his head. "We've regressed to Junior High!" he laughed.

Harry chuckled, too. It was certainly ironic.

"So anyway, I'm going to go fire up the Jacuzzi. It'll take about 15 minutes to get up to temp. Then me and a tall rum 'n' Coke are going for a long soak," John told him. "Feel free to raid the liquor cabinet and join me, if you want..."

"Will do..." Harry nodded, amazed again at how much his and John's lives had paralleled. He wondered for a moment just how liberal John had become, then went to fix himself something strong.

* * * * *

Harry eased into the roiling water, where John was already sitting, sipping on his drink. The hot water was a welcome relief to his joints, still stiff from the day's fishing.

He'd decided not to be embarrassed about being semi-hard. The images of a bunch of college age young adults -- specifically female -- hanging around John's back deck nude had him "interested." He might not be having sex with Madge, but he certainly wasn't dead below the waist. He was still jerking off about once a night, sometimes more.

At 58, he still got pretty firm erections, and he was still slightly above average in the size department. And he could still deliver a pretty healthy blast of cum. Overall, he didn't feel too horrible about sex going solo... he just missed the physical contact, and fantasies about nubile nymphets definitely got him going.

He found it a little disconcerting that the jets of hot water were having an unexpected effect on him... he was getting harder. And the harder he got, the more he realized he was horny. Not a good situation when he was sharing the Jacuzzi with his best friend. He tried ignoring it, but he still ended up subconsciously squirming.

"You got a problem?" John asked. "Are you uncomfortable?" He'd noticed Harry's squirming.

Harry suddenly felt trapped. Caught out, and no convenient explanation.

"Look," he decided to be honest, "I'll be honest, but you can't laugh or be critical. It's pretty personal."

"Anything here stays between us. I'm not going to give you any shit," John told him. "What's the problem?"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out. He decided to go with the truth.

"I'm horny, and the water jets have got me hard. I usually jerk off at least once a night and because of getting ready for the trip, it's been a few days. I'm trying to sit on it because I don't want to offend you and I don't want to look like some kind of weird horndog. So just remember... this is between us."

"So jerk off," John told him seriously. "I do. Just remember, though... when you're gonna cum, stand up and aim it over the side. Jizz is hard on the filters."

Harry was astounded. "Are you serious?" he asked. "It wouldn't bother you?"

"I do it," John reminded him. "I jerk off about as often as you, and this hot tub has seen plenty of dolphin flogging. Why would I be bothered by you taking care of business? As a matter of fact, I think I feel some monkey spanking coming on, myself."

Harry, though surprised, made a huge decision. He decided that, just like everything else in their lives had paralleled, John was as perverted as he was. Or, maybe not that perverted... but nowhere near as conservative as he'd thought he was.

Harry took a gentle grip on himself and started stroking. He noticed John watching him with a wry smirk as his hand, too, moved under water. Harry sighed and leaned back against the wall of the spa, closing his eyes and drifting into the comfort of the autoeroticism.

The real secret he didn't want to share with John was his interest in guys. After his sexual relationship with Madge had tanked, he had tried acquiring female balling buddies -- with Madge's tacit approval. They had agreed that no extramarital affair would be allowed to undermine their thirty-plus years together. Cuddling and other physical intimacies continued... just not sex. Madge blamed herself, but she just didn't want to have anything to do with anything sexual.

She understood that Harry had needs and she encouraged him to get them met elsewhere. Certain precautions were required... no pregnancies and no diseases. Otherwise, she didn't want to know about it.

Although Harry managed to score a few times, he had a very hard time picking up women, which is why he had relied primarily on masturbation. His drive hadn't fallen off at all. He and Madge had fucked every night, even during her periods, and more than once a night on a regular basis -- usually weekends. He was used to that routine and still felt a need for it.

His encounter with Fate was the night he picked the wrong bar.

The place had a good band and reasonable prices, and was full of men and women of varying ages. It took him a while to figure out that the men were hanging with the men and the women were hanging with the women. When he realized his mistake, he called for his check and got ready to go. What stopped him was the guy sitting next to him.

"You in the wrong place?" he asked. Harry turned to look at him. Mid-20's, medium build, sandy blond hair, not bad looking.

"Uh, yeah..." Harry acknowledged. "Seems I made a mistake."

"What are you looking for?" the guy asked.

"Companionship of the female variety," Harry told him. "Which doesn't look very likely at the moment."

"You mean sex?" the guy persisted.

"Well, yeah... pretty much," harry admitted.

"So what's wrong with a guy?" the guy asked.

"Uh, same sex?" Harry pointed out.

"Ever had a blowjob from a guy?" the guy asked, surprising Harry and making him feel defensive.

"No," Harry told him emphatically, "and not interested."

"Why not?" the guy asked. "Mouths and hands don't really have a sex, unless there's a beard involved. In fact, a guy knows what's happening with another man's body better than a woman... since she's just using her imagination."

"You're telling me a man can give a better blowjob than a woman," Harry stated. The question was implied in the statement.

"Sometimes," the guy nodded. "Sometimes not. Guys can be klutzes, too. And some women really know what a guy likes. I'm just sayin' you shouldn't write off half the human race if you're horny and want to get off."

Harry took a longer look at the man. He seemed pleasant, and wasn't being pushy. He didn't even seem to be talking about himself... just men in general. As horny as Harry was, maybe he was making sense. A very little sense... maybe...

"So... what?" Harry asked. "No emotions, no 'relationship'... just an animal rut and blow your load in some guy's mouth?"

"It can work like that, yeah," the guy told him. "Although Glory Holes can be a lot of fun. They've got a Gay, Lez and Mix 'n' Match here. Depends on what you want."

"What's a Mix-and-Match?" Harry thought it sounded weird.

"A mix of guys and girls inside the core," the guy explained. "You stick your dick in the hole and you don't know if you're getting blown by a guy or a girl."

"And you think I wouldn't know the difference." Harry was fairly certain he'd be able to tell the difference.

"You might," the guy nodded. "The point is, you wouldn't care. You'd be too busy getting your rocks off."

"Really..." Harry was skeptical, but a very horny part of him was starting to think it sounded like an interesting one-time deal. It was anonymous, and he'd never have to come back to this bar.

"So what does it cost?" Harry asked the guy.

"They're strange... they work on a tip system. If you get off but it's mediocre, then maybe $5. If it was good, maybe $10. If it blew your sox off, maybe $20. It's completely up to you.

"Or, you could come out back with me and I'd do you for free."

Harry was surprised... but then again, not. Here was the proposition he'd expected all along.

"You're hitting on me," Harry told him, stating the obvious.

"Pretty much," the guy acknowledged. "Name's Jimmy, by the way. Like Jimmy the Greek, 'cuz I like Greek. But I'm not pushing... if you're interested, you could have a lot of fun."

"Would you expect a blowjob in return?" Harry asked. It had crossed his mind to find out what all was involved.

"If you wanted," Jimmy answered. "Or you could fuck me up the ass. Like I said, I like Greek. Not to offend, and... you don't look like a guy walkin' around with STD's, right?"

"Right," Harry told him. Some part of his body was making the decision for him. Some part that had him tingling and starting to chub up.

"So," Jimmy asked him, standing up, "ready to get your mind blown?" He fished a bill out of his pocket and tossed it on the bar.

"Among other things," Harry nodded.

"C'mon," Jimmy smiled as he nodded towards the door, then headed through the crowd towards it, with Harry in his wake.

* * * * *

Harry took a surreptitious look at his best friend, sitting across from him and wanking, just like he was.

I wish I could tell him, he thought. I just don't know if he'd freak out or not. I'd hate to blow our friendship just because I like sex with guys...