8 comments/ 187713 views/ 14 favorites Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 01 By: Story guy It all started when I was reassigned to a new project at work. I was still fairly new and not very comfortable yet with the office culture. The jerk that I worked with on the last project was difficult, and did not do too much to make me feel secure in my new position. In fact, I almost lost my job because of him. Thank god he flunked the random drug test. Now here I was, faced with both a new project AND a new partner. Here we go again... I thought about quitting and finding something else that I liked better. In fact, I was working on my resignation letter when I was introduced to Taylor, who would work with me on the next project. Thank god I never had the chance to finish that letter! I stood to greet Taylor, and it was like looking at me. He was around six feet tall and slim, with dark hair, chiseled features and a slight five o'clock shadow. He had a firm handshake, but it was his eyes that I noticed the most. They were dark brown, and seemed to be searching for something as he looked at me. I somehow sensed that he was a sensitive guy and that we would become fast friends. He smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Trent. I look forward to working with you." We developed an immediate rapport as we rolled up our sleeves to put together our project scope. After a few weeks, we found that we had so much in common that it was almost spooky. Other than Taylor being five years younger than I was, our personal lives were much the same. We were both married (at the same church, even!) and we shared that there had not been many girlfriends. In fact, both of us admitted that we were virgins until we met our wives. Most guys would try to impress each other with macho talk, but with Taylor it was so different. It was like we were both on truth serum or something. We just connected in a way that I had never experienced before. There was never any shame or embarrassment with anything that we discussed. One day we even compared notes about how hairy we were, even our asses. "All the way up," he had said. Boy, did I enjoy THOSE visuals! I remember looking at him when he was unaware and just thinking to myself, "Why oh why didn't you show up in my life a few years ago, before I was married?...You DO things to me, dude...DAMN!" This is where I need to share that I have always been attracted to men. Not all men, but the masculine ones who have a sensitive side. In other words, I was attracted to someone like me! Not a soul in the world knew. I was very alone. I sleepwalked through high school, carrying the heavy weight of that secret everywhere I went. It was with me when I first kissed a girl. It was with me at the prom, in my dreams, and especially when I lay alone at night, touching myself as I imagined my "dream lover" would. At some point in my early twenties, I resolved to myself that I would live my life as others expected me to, and that I would settle down with a wife that I loved and raise a family. I knew that it would be a challenge at times, but I felt that it was the best thing. Besides, I DID like women. Fast forward to the present. I have been married to a great woman for several years now, and I do love her very much. We have a son who I think the world of. I decided before we were married that I would be faithful to my wife and that we would grow old together. Back then, it began to be difficult to reconcile that commitment toward my wife with the attraction that I felt for Taylor. I fantasized about him more and more, and I started to feel guilty about that. I had to stop. We were both married, and I was afraid of what I was experiencing. I certainly did not want to do or say anything that would jeopardize my friendship with him. As time went on, Taylor and I talked about sex a lot. We made jokes, poked fun at each other and laughed ourselves silly. One day one of the girls in the office had a bachelorette party during the lunch hour and she received a lot of naughty toys. She smuggled some of them back to the office and we all had a good laugh. One of the toys was a six inch erect plastic penis with a spring inside of it. This girl was very shy, so she was mortified by it. Later on, I saw her wrap it up and throw it in the trash can when no one was looking. All I knew was that I had to have it, and that I was somehow going to play a joke on Taylor. When everyone was gone for the day, I secretly took possession of my new toy. I waited for the right time, which was the next day, when we were joking about one of the girls (Barbara) in advertising. She was hot, and we decided that she should come over and give us hand jobs when we got bored at work. Taylor was facing me on the other side of the work table. The work table had holes on the surface to accommodate phone and PC cables. I waited until he reached up for a binder off of the shelf. At that moment, I slumped down in my chair and I thrust that plastic penis upward through one of the holes, just in time for him to look down and see it. The look on his face was priceless. There was a brief moment when he thought "Is that real?,"followed by a smile, some blushing and then his laughter when he realized it was the sex toy from the day before. I kept pushing it up and down and making faces like I was "getting close." He kept egging me on, so I said, "Come on man, I'm almost there, help me out. Where is Barbara when we need her, anyway?" Still laughing, he reached over and put his hand on that plastic penis and stroked the tip. He whispered, "Barbara is busy. I guess I'll have to stand in for her. Go for it, Trent; make a mess. I'll help you clean up." He grabbed a couple of tissues, for effect. Our eyes met and we stopped laughing. We just kind of looked at each other nervously. I decided that he was pushing the boundary and it made me very excited, but also very scared. I didn't know what to say next. With the plastic penis still sticking up out of the hole I said, "Mine's about like this, you know." The minute I said that, I was mortified. The toy penis fell to the floor and I straightened up in my chair. God, what made me blurt that out? I was aware of my real penis being very erect. Good thing he could not see that. I felt the heat in my face as I blushed and broke his gaze. "Trent." I looked back up at him. He was smiling as he said, "Well then, that would make us the same size... Yet another thing that we have in common." Not knowing what to say next, I broke eye contact with Taylor, and after an awkward pause, I replied, "Yeah, that's cool." One more furtive glance and we both grew quiet and went back to work. We knew that we were in unchartered territory. I picked up the toy penis, wrapped it back up, and threw it in the trash can. I tossed and turned that night in bed. After my wife was asleep, I crept out of bed and went into my study. I dropped my boxers and laid back in my recliner. I jacked off; pretended Taylor's hands were doing the work. It felt so good. I replayed his words over and over again in my mind, "Make a mess, I want to watch. I'll help you clean up." I pinched my nipples, and my cum shot out at the memory of his stroking my fake penis. I lay there with my chest heaving, slicked down with my cum, and I decided that I had to find out if Taylor was attracted to me. His remarks gave me that hope, but I needed to know for sure, even if nothing ever came of it. Taylor was quiet the next morning, so I decided to break the ice. "Taylor, let's get together with Laura and Beth and have dinner, what do you say?" He smiled and said he would like that. In fact, he wanted to have the dinner at his house. After a couple of phone calls to our wives, it was set for 5:00pm Saturday afternoon. He told me to bring some wine and our swim suits in case we wanted to get into the spa. I felt a very warm feeling creep over me, and I hoped that Saturday would get here quickly. After introductions and appetizers, it was clear that our wives would get along great. Beth instantly bonded with Taylor's wife, Laura. They loved to shop, liked the same reality TV shows, and giggled a lot at stuff we did not understand. Taylor and I headed out to the grill while the women did their thing. It was a nice evening, and I enjoyed being alone with him. Wow, he had a great lot. He was on a cul-de-sac, and his backyard had mature trees and shrubs in all of the right places. It was very private, and just like something out of a magazine. "Hey Taylor, this is a cool backyard. And your spa and dressing room are so secluded! I hope we can find time to take a dip tonight." "It's heated and ready to go, Trent. I have to tell you, Laura said she would pass; I'm not sure why. She said something about not wanting to sit in real hot water and she mentioned the chlorine. She normally loves going in the spa. I don't get her, sometimes. Did Beth bring her suit?" "No. I think it was because it was the first time meeting you guys. She told me she was ok with it if I wanted to go in without her, so I brought my suit." Taylor turned the steaks and poked at the potatoes. He looked at me and smiled his handsome smile. I held his gaze as he stated, "I am hoping we can sneak out here for some guy time at some point." "That would be cool." I felt all tingly at the thought. Laura served some Port after dinner was over. Despite its sweetness, it was very high in alcohol. I found that I liked it and I enjoyed two refills. Since I had drunk wine during dinner, I was very loosened up, as was Taylor. He and I were cutting inside jokes and using sexual innuendo about some of the shenanigans we pulled on each other at work. It was a little over-the-top and kind of risky, but we were oblivious due to our inebriated status. I stated how grateful I was that he had given me "a hand" on the situation that had popped up unexpectedly last week, and we laughed like hyenas. Laura and Beth laughed because we laughed, but they looked at each other, then at us and asked, "Tell us again why that's so funny?" That just made us laugh harder. Laura rolled her eyes and said to Beth, "As you can see, Taylor is a happy drunk, and it looks like he met his match with Trent. Let's leave these two clowns here with their nonsense, while we go shopping. I asked Taylor this morning to get some Gelato for dessert, which he says that he forgot to do. So we will need to stop at the market as well." She gently flicked his temple with her fingers. He winked at me. "Laura, be sure to get Passion fruit Gelato. Trent also wants Passion fruit. I'm learning that we pretty much like the same things." I looked at him and wondered what was going on in his mind. "You know I have to go across town to Cafe Italia for that, Taylor. Aren't they only open until 10:00? "11:00pm on weekends, I think." She looked at him...silence. Ok guys. That means that we won't be home for awhile, so dessert will be very late. I take it you are too drunk to think about Gelato anytime soon, anyway. Beth and I will go to the Galleria and let you two sober up. Maybe you guys can hit the spa since we are not really into that. Don't drown, and be sure to clear the table and have the coffee made by the time we get back, Taylor. Can you two handle that, do you think?" "Yes," we said in unison, and then we busted up again. "Ok, see you later." Laura and Beth were both shaking their head as they grabbed their purses and headed for the door. Taylor then looked at me with what I could only describe as a wicked grin. "Looks like we were just handed some guy time, Trent." We started to clear the table. However, as soon as the garage door was down, Taylor stopped clearing and looked at me. "This can wait. Grab your suit and meet me outside, it's spa time. I figured we had plenty of time to clear the table, so I went into the bathroom and put on my swim trunks. I had this giddy, happy feeling, knowing that I had him all to myself, at least for a little while. The thought of being alone with him in the spa was giving me some liftoff. I couldn't wait to see him without a shirt on. I looked at myself in the mirror. I had a moderately hairy chest, with a patch around my navel and a "treasure trail," as Beth called it. I ran my hands through my hair, and decided I looked ok for him. Taylor was waiting at the spa with a freshly opened bottle of wine and two plastic cups in one hand and his swim trunks in his other hand. "I expected you to change out here with me, Trent. I wanted to show off the dressing room." As he said this, I could see that he was looking me over. I just shrugged. Hmmm, what did that remark mean? He set the wine down and went around the corner to change. When he came back out, I caught my breath. I could clearly see the outline of his dick. It was at an awkward angle, and it was hard. He tried to cover it with his hand as we climbed in. He turned on the jets and dimmed the lights way down. I felt dizzy with lust, and was speechless. Not much was said for a little while, so we sipped our wine and just kind of looked around. I had definitely had my share of alcohol and I was feeling it, being more relaxed than I could ever remember. I looked up at the stars, and listened to the crickets and the wind through the trees. "Taylor, I'm glad I'm here tonight. This is really awesome." "Me too, Trent. Thanks so much for having the idea for us to get together." We closed our eyes, enjoying the massaging jets. After about five minutes, Taylor made a splash and rose up out of the water. The steam was billowing up now and I could not see him very clearly in the dim light, but he was standing on the step. Shocked, I saw that his erection was now poking out of his swim trunks. He was stroking it. My eyes bobbed out of my head. He arched his back and was really going at it. My mouth went dry. Suddenly, he grabbed his penis and pulled it entirely out of his swimsuit and held it out over the water for me. I thought, my god, I must be really drunk. What just happened to his dick? Taylor laughed and stepped back down into the water. He held his prize up for me, and I could see that it was the toy penis from my work joke. He must have sneaked it out of my trash can. Now that I understood, I laughed until I cried. Taylor dunked me and I dunked him back. Still laughing, I said, "Damn, Taylor, you really had me there." "I saw that you noticed it when I came out of the dressing room. Sorry to say that it wasn't me, but I was glad you looked." "So, is that how it's going to be out here, tonight, Taylor? No holds barred?" "Yep. No holds barred. That's what I want." I thought to myself, "Ok Taylor, I read you loud and clear now. You dig me." I was stoked. Impulsively, I pulled off my trunks and brought them up and out of the water. I was terrified and excited at the same time. I threw them far enough away from the spa that I would have to get out to retrieve them. "I dare you, Taylor." He looked unsure for a moment, and then without breaking eye contact, he reached down and took his off also and held them above the water. He hesitated. "Taylor, are you going to toss the suit over there with mine?" I was starting to feel that I had misjudged his intentions. I could see his indecision. "Taylor, you sent them across town for 'Passion fruit' Gelato after their shopping trip, to a store you know is going to be closed. It might be as long as two hours. And, if not, so what if they catch us skinny-dipping...they know we're drunk, big deal. They may not even realize that we don't have our suits on." The wine was talking. I said the words, but I was scared shitless. I had never before been naked with a guy, one-on-one. At some point we would have to get out of the spa, and my hard-on was not going to deflate anytime soon. I wondered if he were hard, like me. "Trent, they will be gone at least that long. Do you know how far away Cafe Italia is? And Laura is a shopaholic. She will not leave the Galleria until closing time, trust me. And Cafe Italia is not open later on weekends, I made that up. After going there and back, she will end up at the local market getting us whatever Gelato they have. I figured this whole thing out. You might say that I have a devious side to me. Hopefully you are cool with that." He smiled at me wickedly and tossed his suit. It landed even further away than mine. "There, I took your dare!" He gave me a look that I interpreted as, "So what next?", and he leaned back and closed his eyes. I did the same. At that point, I realized that we would soon have no secrets. I peeked at Taylor with one eye. His eyes were still closed. God, he was handsome. His thin lips were still curled in a smile as I gazed at him. He had just the right amount of hair on his chest and his armpits were so sexy. I was going out of my mind with lust and my erection was rock-hard. I couldn't see his junk because of the swirling water and steam and it was making me crazy. I let myself slip down under the water and I opened my eyes. All I could see were bubbles, damn! I quietly came back up. "Hey Taylor, do you have any swim masks?" He opened his eyes and laughed. "Do you see a swimming pool here, Trent? No, I don't have a swim mask. Why do you want one?" "What else? Underwater visibility. That would come in handy about now." I locked eyes with him and Taylor quickly realized where my train of thought was going. He gave me that wicked smile that I enjoyed so much. "So now YOU are the devious one, huh? I am learning more about you all of the time." "Do you want to learn even more? Taylor had a questioning look on his face, but he replied, "Yes, always." I decided that it was either now or never, even if I hated myself tomorrow. I lifted my leg and put my foot gently on his crotch. OH MY GOD, HE WAS HARD, TOO! At first, he had a startled look on his face. He started to say something but I quickly put my finger to my lips. I then proceeded to caress his cock and balls with my foot. My heart was beating in my throat. I decided that this was the most exciting thing I had ever done in my life! I thought I heard Taylor gasp. I could tell he loved what I was doing, and I sure loved doing it! He again leaned his head back with that sexy smile on his face. I rubbed his cock and balls with my foot until he had a diamond-cutter. It was time to get him back for poking that fake penis out of his swim trunks. I pulled back to the side of the spa with a splash, and his eyes opened back up. I braced my arms on the sides and lifted my body up. My hard cock was jutting up and out of the swirling water. I said to him in a quavering voice, "Here's to learning more about me, Taylor." He stared at my hard flesh and his mouth was hanging open. In a flash he headed toward me. I dropped myself back into the water and I looked into his eyes as he got very close to me. A very scary moment passed and I said, "This is where you kiss me." Taylor embraced me, holding me tight. I could feel his hard cock against my thigh. Why wasn't he kissing me? My heart sank. Taylor moved up and straddled me with his knees on the step. His cock and balls were pressed against mine. He said into my ear, "I'll do a lot more than kiss you, Trent. This was my plan, to get you out here, alone. I was hoping we would change together and I was going to suggest that we go in naked. I wanted us to get to know each other much better, Trent. But then, you came outside in your suit and my plan fizzled. I was terrified as it was. After that, I was just too chicken shit to make the first move. Thanks for helping things along." He pressed his cock against my belly and rose up and down. "I have been hard the whole night. Can we play?" I pulled his head toward mine so that we were facing each other. "Yes, we can play! But I am really scared right now, Taylor. I swear, I have never done anything like this before. I am kind of shaking." Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 01 "I'm scared too. I've never been with a guy before, either. This is SO HOT! Let's learn together, ok?" Our lips met and we finally kissed. How sweet this moment was. We were at first very gentle with each other as our hands roamed each other's body. There was no fear now, just the hope that this moment would never end. Our cocks were pressed together as our tongues found each other. I was breathing hard now and my inhibitions were long gone. "I want to give you a blowjob, right now! I swear, I wanted to do that the first time I laid eyes on you at the office." To my surprise, he said, "Ah, but you are the guest, so YOU get first honors." He then helped me up onto the edge of the spa and leaned down between my legs. He licked the underside of my cockhead, gently at first, then more aggressively. His tongue explored every inch of my cock and bathed my balls. He looked up at me and then back at my cock and said, "We are the same size. Gee, I wonder how I knew that." He smiled and went back to work on my rock-hard cock. I ran my hand through Taylor's hair as he sucked me. My hands found their way to his face and I caressed his cheeks. I could not believe that my cock was in Taylor's mouth. The image of it made me so hot that I knew that I would not last much longer. I gently brought his mouth off of me and I slid back into the water and kissed him for a long time. I then urged him up onto the ledge. In front of my face, for the first time, was an erect penis. TAYLOR'S erect penis! I was never so hot for anyone in my entire life. I kept my eyes on his as I started to suck him. Unlike me, he put out a lot of pre-cum and it stretched between the tip of his cock to my lips as I took him in and out of my mouth. Taylor gasped as he saw me playing with his pre-cum this way. "Trent, does that freak you out, how wet I get?" I took my tongue and lapped it up as it dripped from the tip of his cock. "What do you think?" The salty taste only made me want him more. I took my fingers and stroked his balls and perineum. He threw his head back and moaned as I lifted his furry legs onto my shoulders to give me access to his equally furry ass. I licked his thighs, his balls, and between his ass cheeks. As my tongue swirled around his bud, I reached up and played with his nipples. Taylor suddenly looked over and gave me an anxious look. I knew that he must be close to cumming and that he did not know if I was ready for it. I just nodded at him and smiled as I resumed sucking him. As my tongue swirled around his swelling dick head, I did my best to locate every erogenous zone that I could. Taylor moaned, stiffened, gasped, and suddenly he was cumming into my mouth. I used to worry that I wouldn't actually be able or willing to swallow, but now it seemed completely natural and fitting that I do just that. After all, this was a part of Taylor, and that made it all good. With my own hard cock pressing against his leg, I sucked him hard, drawing out the last of his cum as he continued to come down from his orgasm. I craved keeping his cock in my mouth as it softened, but Taylor was starting to shake. I figured that he was cold. I let him come back down into the water and he put his arms around me. Still shaking, he said into my ear, "I loved that more than anything I have ever experienced, ever. Thank you, thank you." He tried to hide them, but I saw his tears. I held him tight, and through my own welling tears I said to him, "I loved doing that for you. It was a turn on for me, too." We held each other close for awhile, gently caressing each other's body. Taylor brought his face up to mine, and wiped the tears with the back of his hand. We looked at each other for a long time. He leaned in to kiss me again, and I just turned to jello. We deep kissed for what seemed like hours. He cupped my balls and then let his fingers roam my ass. "Trent, I want to finish what I started before, let me bring you off before we run out of time." I remembered his shaking and I said, "Are you sure? I am ok if you need to think..." It was his turn to shush me. "No thinking, just doing. I want this, I want you." He kissed me hard. He had my cock in his hand as his eyes begged me to let him blow me. I allowed him to push me up on the ledge and I lay down on the deck. "Not here. Let's go into the dressing room." I followed Taylor around the corner to the dressing room. His furry ass and legs were so sexy as he walked, and his swinging dick was hard again. My head was swimming. I put some towels on the bench and lay down. Taylor ran back out and got our suits. "We can put 'em on fast in here if they get home early." My eager cock was ready for him. Taylor sucked me like it was his life's quest. I was never in my life this horny and I knew I would not last long, watching him suck me. I lifted by legs so that my feet were flat on the bench and I felt totally uninhibited in allowing him to see all of me. His tongue lowered down and flicked against my hole and I thought I might pass out from the pleasure. Taylor then lifted my legs, as I had done to him, earlier. He said, "Oh Trent, it felt SO GOOD when you did this to me out there that I knew I would definitely return the favor." He never took his hands off my cock as he licked my hole, the whole time moaning lightly. When his mouth was back on my cock, I felt him cup my balls. It was for naught because they soon rose up and his palm was empty as the first spurts of my hot cum left my balls and shot out of my cock and into Taylor's waiting mouth. It was like he was eating me alive and could not get enough of me. I moaned while he sucked me dry, giving me the most pleasure and the strongest orgasm I had ever experienced. Taylor suckled my softening cock. He licked me clean, and then he rose up on his knees and just looked at me, breathing heavily. Seeing him there, vulnerable, naked, erect, I knew that I loved him like I had loved no one else. He came up and kissed me. I think that I tasted myself in our kiss. He laid his head down on my abdomen and lightly stroked my thighs. I never felt more sexual, more aroused and more alive than at that moment. Not saying a thing, we helped each other into our suits and then embraced one last time. We dried each other off, and I wiped some cum off of his chin with the towel, and he just smiled, sheepishly. "Trent, I really dug that. I didn't mind the taste too much. I hate to admit it, but that was the best oral sex, ever. Did I taste ok?" "I was too busy swallowing it all...you put out a lot of cum. It was salty, but in a good way. Taylor...it makes me hot to have a part of you inside of me. Jesus, who would have thought that this would really happen, that we would actually do this? It's like living a dream." "I know." He kissed me again, then smiled and we went back inside. We did the dishes, mostly in silence. I could feel him looking at me. "You have a nice ass, by the way. And a nice cock, nice balls, nice eyes, nice smile, and...everything else is nice also. I just wanted you to know that." The way he looked at me when he said that made me melt. "Back at you, Taylor." I pressed against him, and licked his nipples, one at a time. He moaned and untied his trunks, which I took as an invitation. I pulled them down to his ankles. I backed him into the corner of the kitchen cabinets and I went down on him. We had very little time, and this was risky, but that's what made it so exciting. Besides, I knew that we would hear them when they came back. I put my hands on his waist and bobbed up and down on his delicious cock. More pre-cum, more sucking, then he moved my head gently upward. He wanted to look into my eyes as he released another load of semen into my mouth, and with a loud gasp, he did. Everything had fallen into place for me this evening. This was a milestone in my life. I had found what I was looking for with Taylor, and I could not stop smiling as we finished the dishes and got the coffee going. Later, as we were eating our Gelato, Laura said that she had an announcement. I looked at Taylor and he just shrugged. "Taylor and I are going to have a baby!" Beth was jumping up and down with her, and hugging her. I looked at Taylor. "I can't believe you didn't tell me!" I was angry and confused, but it quickly abated as his shocked reaction made it clear that he was hearing the news for the first time also. Laura had just taken the test that evening before we had arrived, and she decided to make it a public announcement. Truth is, my wife found out while they were shopping. Taylor rose out of the chair to embrace Laura. He was clearly dumbstruck at the news, especially after our life-changing encounter this evening. Our eyes met and locked. We instantly knew that everything had just changed. As for me, the bottom had just fallen out of my world. I was in a fog the rest of the evening, and I remember almost nothing else that was said. One thing I do remember is Taylor looking at his wife with a full grin, full of love for her. Taylor was a mess at work the following Monday. He put his hands over his face, pulled them up through his hair and said to me, "Trent, I really want to be a dad. I want to do the right thing here. I NEED to do the right thing. I MUST do the right thing. I went to church today and I prayed. I can't be selfish, Trent. That means that I have to make some changes, and, god, Trent, I am so sorry. I don't regret Saturday, but I have to put it behind me. I am so very sorry." I could tell that he was conflicted, but he had made his decision. My look told him everything that I suspected he already knew. That I was in love with him, and that I was dying inside as he spoke these words to me. He put his hands back over his face and looked down. We both knew that we would not be able to make it work. There was no way either of us would throw away our marriage, or put a new baby in peril. It helped to put things into perspective for me as well. I had experienced with Taylor a sexual awakening that was very overdue, but I knew in my heart that it would be selfish to try to continue it. Maybe there would be someone else out there like Taylor, some day. Right now it was an impossible thought. As the work week progressed, I knew that Taylor and I could not possibly remain focused. Our work was deadline-driven, and we were both very distracted. Taylor had distanced himself and it was awkward for both of us. With a very heavy heart, I had myself removed from the project the next week, and Taylor was assigned to someone else. I once again began penning my letter of resignation. How odd that things had come full circle. I was never sadder in my entire life, yet I knew that I had to let go of Taylor, forever. As I left the office on that fateful day, Taylor and I exchanged sullen looks as we said our good-byes. "Please reconsider leaving the company, Trent, please. We can find a way to be friends." He was in denial. That showed me how he felt about me, but I would never be able to be just friends with Taylor. In his heart, he knew he could not be just friends with me, either. The looks that we had exchanged when we were together conveyed silent words and thoughts that moved me to the core of my being. I knew that I would go a lifetime and never get over him, but the baby changed everything and we both knew it. We had an audience as I left, so I just said, "Taylor, you will do great things for this company and in your life. I wish you and your wife the best of everything, and I will never, ever forget you." As hard as it was to do, I accepted an out-of-state position with the same company, and I left without looking over my shoulder. Twenty years later I am still married and content enough with my day-to-day life. I am privately comfortable with my bi-sexuality now, and that takes away some of the marital stress that I had experienced in earlier years. Other than Taylor, I am the only one who knows about that side of me. At least I am no longer in denial. Taylor and I had exchanged a few, brief work e-mails over the years. It is clear from the tone of his writing that he had been deeply affected by our encounter. It is equally clear that he had moved on and was not comfortable staying in touch. In his final e-mail, Taylor said that he was the father of four, and that he is deeply committed to his family, and to his church. His oldest son ("the baby") is 19, and the triplets are 16. I brought him up to date on my life, and I wished him the best. I sat at the computer a long time, just staring at my reply. I hit send, and then deleted his e-mail from my address book. One thing is certain...it is still Taylor's hands that I imagine are touching me when I find myself naked and alone. It is Taylor's mouth on my cock when I stroke it with my eyes closed. I cannot help myself from wondering what it would have been like if that baby had not come along. What if? What if? I coached my son for many years and he is now in college on a basketball scholarship. I can't imagine what a broken home would have done to my family, either. We did the right thing, Taylor and I. It hurt, but we found solace in that we thought about others, and not just ourselves. The harsh reality is that we must all accept life the way that it unfolds. Knowing that, I soldier on. Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 02 This is a sequel to, "Everything happens for a reason-Ch.1." * The sun was shining right in my eyes when I awoke. Ooh, my head...I had WAY too much wine last night. "This was getting to be a habit,'" I thought again for the hundredth time. I focused on the source of the light, and it was the partially closed hotel blackout curtains. Damn those things. No matter which hotel I stay at I can never get them all the way shut! As I gradually got used to the light I started to remember the night before. My routine seldom varied. First, check in to the hotel and unpack. Second, go to the store and buy some wine. Third, hit the hotel happy hour. Fourth, go get some dinner and have some more wine. Finally, back to the hotel room, open up yet more wine and hook up the laptop and chat with hot guys on-line. Sometimes, I would surf for a hot adult movie and hope that I find one that promises lots of hard cocks with cumshots, because many of them don't. I always preferred porn that focused on oral sex. Then I would pass out for the night. As I lie there reflecting, I wondered how I had gotten into this rut. I had a modicum of success in my career. I had a stable (if not passionate) sex life with my wife, and no kids left in the house to complicate things. Beth was still attractive and had her own success, and our son was doing well in college. So why did I always feel like something was missing? Why did I keep chasing on-line what I could not have in real life? Given the choice, I would always choose Beth. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the sensations of my fingers as I wrapped them around my reliable morning erection. My erections usually did not last long in the mornings but they were always rock-hard. I propped my head up on two pillows and watched my hands at work. One glance at the clock is all it took to cause my erection to subside. I headed for the bathroom to prepare for the day. "At least I can still get it up," I conjectured. I turned on the bathroom light and gazed at myself in the mirror. The man with the hangover looking back at me was not half bad, I decided. 6' tall, 180 lbs, with thick dark brown hair graying at the temples. My skin was not too wrinkled, despite my efforts at staying slightly tanned. I needed a shave, but I still looked younger than my age. I looked into my eyes. My wife used to call them "Bedroom eyes," and I thought she meant that I looked sleepy. I later came to understood that expression very well when I saw it in a man I loved, so very long ago. "Where is he now?" I asked myself out loud. If only there was an answer. Maybe if there were, I would not drink so much. Showering, I thought about the coming day and the meetings I would be attending and the presentations and debate that would follow. "Oh man, fuck that," I thought, as I sat down in the hotel tub and sat under the spray. It is always so relaxing to sit under the shower instead of standing. It is like being a kid in the rain. I leaned back against the back of the tub with my legs bent and I relaxed. I maneuvered my body so that the spray was coming down on my cock. I stroked it with my right hand and lifted my left leg onto the edge of the tub. My left hand's soaped-up middle finger worked its way inside of me. It was a challenge, but sometimes I could find my prostate and press against it just right. That sensation was highly sexual, but in an entirely different way than when my cock was stimulated. As my fingers stayed busy, my mind wandered back to the time when I finally understood the expression, "Bedroom eyes." God, the memories of Taylor and me in the spa that night haunted me more than any ghost ever could. As I looked up at the spray coming down on me it was like being hypnotized. I allowed myself to return back to that fateful day in the spa when I discovered what it was like to be with a man, a very special man. The memory was sweet. With tears rolling down my cheek, my aching cock released its pent-up load as I remembered our explosive encounter, way back when. I closed my eyes tight against the thought of what could have been. After a couple of minutes, the sound of the spray brought me back to reality. "What a fool I am for obsessing about Taylor," I said out-loud to no one but myself. We had exchanged a few e-mails over the years. The last one was like a skewer through my heart. It was several years back, and his words are imprinted in my mind, forever. It was clearly the last one that we would share: "Trent, it has been so long and so much has happened. Please know that I want everything good in this world to happen to you and that I will never ever forget you. I mean that buddy, but my life is on an even keel. My oldest is in college and the triplets are doing commercial work. Things may not be perfect with Laura, but we are finding our way as best we can. We're planning a romantic cruise this fall to re-kindle the spark. Wish me luck and promise me that you will always take care of yourself Trent. Good-bye, Taylor" I must have kept that e-mail for a month. I kept reading it over and over and in a moment of strength and with a sense of honor I finally made that promise to him. I responded back, "I promise, Taylor." Now several years later, here I am lying in a hotel bathtub obsessing about it yet again. If only Taylor knew how often I think of him. He found a way to move on and I have not. It wasn't healthy and I knew it. It was time to live up to the promise I had resolved to make to him to take care of myself. I had a client that was expecting to be "wowed" today, so I stood up and rinsed off the remnants of my release. It was time to get on with my day, and my life. The meetings were over and my client was happy, so I headed back to the hotel. I prepared for the same evening routine, but I felt like a lemming headed for the cliff. I turned on the PC and headed for the chats logging in as, "Imissit." Twenty minutes later I am chatting with a guy in a hotel in New York City. Just when I think we hit a groove he says he wants me to, "Fuck him up the ass" and then, "Lick it clean." I shook my head, blocked him and looked for others to chat with. The next one wanted me to, "Suck his big black cock in front of his wife." He gets blocked also. I go into a bi-curious married chat room next and as usual, nobody is chatting. "Why do I waste my time with these guys?" I ask myself. The next pop-up was a husband wearing his wife's panties and looking for the same. Good god. I got up to pop some popcorn, turned on the TV and sat down for awhile, only occasionally glancing at the lap-top. After about fifteen minutes I noticed that someone had sent me an instant message. I ignored it. Half hour later, I wander over to my laptop. There were two or three "Hellos", and I deleted them. The last one was from, "Itsbeen2long." The message said, "So, you are searching for the right guy also, and he has to be married?" Here we go again, I think. I typed, "Yes, aren't we all." The server response was, "Itsbeen2long is no longer logged on." Aha, that was the one that I had ignored, earlier. I had to smile at how typical it was for us guys to reach out, only to be ignored. I had done the same thing. After all, what are the chances of meeting someone like me on-line? Zero? What I was doing seemed so futile as I was not looking for casual sex, and I only wanted to chat with married guys. The bi-sexual married chat rooms seemed to consist of 95% gay men. I started to log off, but I noticed that I had a new e-mail from "Itsbeen2long." I opened it up. It said, "Hey Imissit, I like your profile. You sound like a decent guy and there aren't too many of us on-line. E-mail me if you wanna chat. I could use another married guy's perspective." I replied that it would great to chat, but only if he were "real." I knew I would not hear back from him. The word, "real" always scared them off. A day later I was back home. Laura has a thriving consulting business that she runs from our home. She has a handful of clients that are out of state, so she never knows when she will be called out of town. This was one of those times. She left me a note saying, "Trent, I will be in St. Louis for an extra couple of days. Please water the plants on the patio." I loved Laura a lot, but I have to admit that I craved time alone, so I wasn't too bummed that she was away. Our marriage was good, but not great, and we both knew it. I made a note to try harder. I went out to get the mail and dumped it on the table. The usual junk mail and magazines. What's this? I picked up a magazine that was wrapped in brown paper. I noticed the address label...it belonged to the same address as mine but on the next street. It was obviously porn and someone was expecting it, but what do I do, ring their doorbell and say, "Here, this is yours?" Smiling, I tore into the package. Sweet Jesus, it was a gay mag. I had to chuckle to myself as I realized how humiliated my neighbor would be if they knew I had intercepted this. Page after page had naked guys doing any number of things with each other. I wasn't into the leather thing, but I sure got hot seeing all the naked guys worshiping each other's hard cocks. One pic was in a gym with naked guys lifting weights. That turned me on. I made a sandwich, watched the news and headed for an early bedtime, stolen magazine in tow. Let's see, which of these guys do I suck off and then dream about tonight? I got the tissues ready and quickly got as hard as the guys in the magazine. I remember laying the magazine down on my chest to rest for "just a minute." I was tossing and turning in my sleep. Three guys were standing over me, jerking over me as I am on my back on a weight bench. One guy is spotting me as I lift weights, and I look up his shorts and see his cock and balls. He says, "Pull my shorts down," so I do. His cock then pops out and starts cumming like a geyser all over my hair, face and neck. Awake now, I am slicked with sweat from head to toe, and breathing hard. My erection was a "ceiling scraper." That magazine had me so worked up, but I had fallen asleep before I could jack off. I needed to find some on-line porn, right now. This would be quick, I knew. I would not be particular about what I jacked off to, not this time. I got up and logged onto the PC. It was only 1:00am. So there I sat with my erection demanding attention, surfing the porn sites, looking for a quick release. I found one of my favorites, the gallery with the guys who were naked, hard and kissing. I clicked on the one with the guys in the spa and I went to work on my throbbing cock. It didn't take long. Within thirty seconds I was cumming. After cleaning up, I sat at the PC feeling very lonely. As useless as it has always been, I still felt compelled to enter the bi-married chat room. Thirty wasted minutes go by, then an hour. A few pop-up chats that go nowhere. Same bullshit, different day. I was ready to log off when "Itsbeen2long" joined the room. He sent me a message saying, "Wow, you're on-line! Thanks for the e-mail; I was wondering if you got my message. I was really glad to see your response. Hey, did I tell you that I liked your profile?" I typed back, "Yeah, sorry guy, I was doing other things and you were gone when I got back. I was tired and needed to get back to bed." "So can you chat now? We seem to have a lot in common." I then went to look at his profile which stated, "Middle-aged bi-married male, 6', 175, brn, brn, go-t. Still look pretty good and in good shape according to my wife-LOL---:) Not much experience, and very curious to chat with someone like me." Ok, I will bite. I typed, "Hey "Its," I like your profile also...what did you like about mine?" He replied back, "You just seem different than the other guys...more "real," as you said in your e-mail to me." I had to chuckle at these guys and their attempts at on-line flirting. However, two hours later we were locked in a deep discussion on being married and secretly bi and hating it. Both of us had only one experience with another guy and it had left us "marked for life." We both admitted to being hooked on gay porn, ever since then. We loved our wives, but we secretly craved cock, and oral sex. It seemed to be a sensitive subject for him to discuss, but he said that he grieved many years for the guy he had been with. "Did he die?" I asked. "No. It's a long story, but I had to break up with him. Hardest thing I ever had to do. It was for the best." We finally shared our names. His name was Brian, but I lied about mine. Instead of telling him I was Trent I said my name was Jim. I felt guilty, but I had learned from other obsessive guys on-line to stay away from using my real name. I had been doing this for years. I swear this guy was addicting. So addicting, that I preferred him to my wine. I was drinking less, and I used that as justification for our time together. The weeks passed. Night after night I would sneak away from bed and log on to chat with him. He was in a different time zone, but he was more or less sneaking time for me as well. We soon had a code for an approaching spouse and it was to type, "F" (for fuck!) We got a good laugh out of that. Sometimes that "F" would be there forever and we would log off while the other one lived his "real life." Somehow we both understood. We had our "ground rules," which meant that we would never push the other for anything more than chatting on-line. No pictures, no phone calls, no employer info...just innocent chat as friends. We both had wives and careers and we did not want to rock the boat, so we would NEVER meet. He made me swear to the ground rules as a condition of our chatting. I was in agreement with him, and so it was. Brian was different than the others and after a short time I abandoned all attempts at chatting with anyone else. We stayed out of the public chat rooms and created our own private room. I was drawn to him like a moth to flame. Infatuation had a strong grip on me, and my chats with him became the highlight of my every day. Brian and I graduated to hot cyber sex at every opportunity (which with wives around was not often) and we both shared that we dreamed about the other. It soon got to the point where people would be trying to talk to me at work, and I would be caught up in the previous night's dialogue with Brian. I would remember us talking about being in a "69" position and tonguing each other to orgasm. It was affecting my concentration. He said that he had the same problem. One week-end, both of our wives were out of town. Hot damn! We arranged to be on-line at 7:00pm, and we both promised to be naked. It was as if we were immersed in a bubbling cauldron of sex. Whatever we typed to each other seemed to cause the sexual flames to burn hotter. Brian got me off twice and I got him off three times. We were both in need of a cold shower yet we couldn't stop. It was beyond hot. We finally and begrudgingly said our goodnights at 2:30am. Wow, a seven and a half hour chat, with five orgasms between us! That was a record. We were typing "I love you man," getting the response, "Me too." I typed, "Imagine that I am sleeping in your arms tonight, Brian." Brian responded back, "If we did that Jim, we would never get any sleep!" We were like a couple of high school kids who could not hang up the phone. After a quick shower, I went to bed. I was exhausted, but my mind was as stimulated as my cock had been. Try as I might, I just could not sleep. I thought of the deadline that I had missed the week before, because I was chatting with Brian instead of working. After two hours of tossing and turning, I realized that I was letting this cyber thing consume me. I had actually told Brian that I loved him and wanted to be in his arms! I suddenly felt embarrassed and juvenile. I was letting important work projects slide, and I was virtually ignoring my wife. I was slacking, both personally and professionally, and I was a better person than that. I decided that I had better tell Brian that we have to back-pedal a bit. I was hoping that he would understand. After all, he was having trouble at work, also. I got back up out of bed at 4:40am with the intent of e-mailing a serious note to Brian. To my surprise he was on-line again! God, here I was trying to send an e-mail to him that we need to cool it down, and he is on-line when I am trying to send it! I decided to beat him to the punch so I sent him an instant message, "What are you doing up?" He immediately responded back, "Jim! I am SO glad that you are back...I can't explain it, but I somehow knew you would be. I can't get you out of my mind, guy. I could not sleep and I have been doing a lot of thinking. I was just going to send you a note asking you if it would freak you out if we met with NO EXPECTATIONS. I know that goes against what I said before, but we have such chemistry together, man. I can't take not knowing what you look like and what you sound like. I want to know what it's like to look into your eyes." Ok, that did it. Brian had found my hot button and he had pushed it. I was immediately hard again. What was this power that he had over me? "What about our ground rules?" I typed. After a long delay, he responded, "Fuck the ground rules, Jim! I'll say it again, fuck the ground rules! I'm going crazy here. You know I had someone special once and I was stupid to not find a way to keep him in my life. I let him go. I don't want that to happen again. Call me crazy, call me a hypocrite because of my goddamn stupid ground rules but I gotta do this. I'm saying I wanna meet and talk, nothing more! Please don't say no, Jim. I know that you are several states away, but if we really want to meet, we can make it happen. Jim, say anything, say that you will think about it, just don't say no. Please!" I could tell that Brian was riled up and of course I was too at that point. We had whipped each other into a sexual frenzy several hours before. This sexual tension that we had built up was starting to undermine the safety nets that we had in place. I hated to waffle on what I needed to say to him, but I agreed to think about it. After a moment, I began to type again. "Brian, you are all that I think about. I don't know how healthy that is, but I can't help myself. It has been a very long time since I felt like this. I feel like I am addicted to you! I am putting my real life on hold for our chats, and I need to be careful here. We both do. Let's take some time to think this all the way through. I know that we planned to chat again tomorrow night, but let's both swear that we will take the night off and cool down. Will you do that for me Brian?" I pressed the send button. After a long delay, he replied back, "Jim, I will do that for you but I hate to waste a precious night with our wives away." I saw his screen name go blank as he logged off. His pleas had been so passionate, and my response had been so practical and composed. He had a right to be pissed. Sighing, I headed back to bed, still aroused from his passionate pleas. Lying in bed, I felt guilty that Brian didn't even know my real name. We had shared the most personal things with each other and discussed meeting, yet I was lying to him. Perhaps it is best to keep that last bastion of privacy. That was the last thing I thought about before sleep engulfed me. I not only stayed away from Brian the next night, but also for four weeks after that. Staying away from his frequent e-mails was like an alcoholic walking back and forth past the bottle. I also chose this time to literally walk past my wine bottle. It was hard, but I knew I had to stop drinking, that it was not helping anything. I had decided that we both needed time to cool down. Brian obviously disagreed. However, too much was at stake and I was frankly scared of my own passion toward the man. I even fantasized about being single again and having the freedom to pursue a relationship with him. The last time I felt this way was with Taylor so many years ago and that made me a basket case when it didn't happen. I could not go through that again. Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 02 Admittedly, my chats with Brian had enabled me to move away from torturing myself with old memories of Taylor. Brian had been good for me but I didn't trust my judgment when it came to him, so I just stayed away. Brian finally found a way to reach me. He sent an e-card from a different e-mail address so that I would not notice that it was from him. I opened it up and it said, "Friendship is something you cherish and it can sometimes perish, but love is forever and it diminishes never. Jim, what I feel toward you is love, I am sure of it. Let there be no mistake. I want to be married, but I want you in my life, too, in whatever way works for us. I won't push you. I know that you wanted time to think, but damn it, where are you? Jim, I have been doing a lot of thinking as well. I decided that if you do not respond to this card that it means that you are saying good-bye. If that is the case, God be with you. Promise me that you will always take care of yourself, Jim." Chills ran up my spine at that last statement...it struck a familiar chord. I had been suppressing my feelings for Brian in an attempt to stick to the "rules," and look at me now. I was a mess...he definitely had a huge effect on me, and I had never met the man. I had a big decision to make and I felt suddenly clueless. One month later The cars kept whizzing by. I tried to spot the PT cruiser before it spotted me, but I guess I wasn't quick enough. I had turned my back to the road and walked up to the rail and looked out at the expanse. I was at a viewpoint on Skyline drive in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. The trees reflected every one of the fall colors. The sky was cobalt blue with puffy white clouds, but I still needed my sunglasses. The air felt crisp when the clouds temporarily blocked the sun as they scudded by. A buzzard was riding the thermals, just below me. My ears were cold, so I lifted my collar up as the wind blew through my hair. I heard Brian pull up before I saw him. I turned around, and his PT Cruiser was about thirty feet away. I had planned this day for weeks and rehearsed every word of my greeting, but I was suddenly blank as to what I would say. My knees were shaking and my stomach felt like I was in a plunging elevator. The plan was that we would both rent a car and meet each other half-way at this scenic turnout. Yes, I had to come to terms with the fact that I had come here to this secret meeting point to meet Brian, my Internet lover. He told me in his last e-mail that he had rented a PT cruiser, but he did not know what color. He had stated, "Just watch for a PT cruiser. How many of them do you expect to see on Skyline drive? :)" I had told him to look for a very nervous guy wearing a navy blue and red down jacket. I watched Brian through the windshield as he turned the engine off and took off his seatbelt. He sat there a moment, looking at me. This was the moment of truth. I thought that he would never get out of the car. The door finally opened, and out stepped Brian. He had a huge smile on his face as he walked toward me. He stopped about six feet from me, and we both took off our sunglasses. What happened next made both of our hearts stop. "Oh my god, OH MY GOD!," I mumbled. I felt like I had just lost all touch with reality. The world was spinning around me and I thought that I would pass out. I could hear the wind in my ears and the beating of my heart as it pounded in my chest. It just couldn't be, it was impossible! With all the strength in the world needed to do so, I remained standing as I looked at him. I was dizzy and I wondered if my legs would hold me up as Taylor slowly approached me. He had not yet fully realized that he was seeing Trent, not Jim, but I could see that his mind was struggling with the concept. As for me, I could not have been more shocked than if a flying saucer had come down on the highway and he had walked down the ramp. Our eyes were locked onto each other and time seemed to stand still. I could see that Taylor was in a state of shock. I thought that he would never speak. My eyes were wet as I watched him come closer, yet. "Can it be? Trent, is that really you?" I nodded, not able to speak. He exhaled loudly, and literally collapsed to his knees and put his head in his hands, almost touching the ground with his elbows. He jerked his head back up. "No way! No fucking way!" He then stood up and came face to face with me. "Let me look at you. My God, let me look at you." His eyes scanned my face and I will never forget the way that he looked at me. His next words will be written in my soul, forever. "This is heaven, and there is a God. Now I finally know. I finally know." He choked out those final words. We embraced and the world slowed to a stop. How long we held each I don't know. We finally stepped back and looked at each other, our hands still tightly clasped together is if the other would disappear if we let go. "Please, please tell me that this is not a dream, Trent." "Taylor. Oh Taylor. It must be. I can't believe this. I can't understand how this happened." The years had been kind to Taylor. Like me, his dark brown hair was graying. Still very handsome, his hairline had receded a little and he had crow's feet, but he could have had a hunchback and he still would have been a vision to me. Taylor was studying me as well. The tears rolled down our cheeks as we stood there, shocked to be so unexpectedly reunited. Soon we were rocking back and forth, not giving a damn what the passing cars thought of us as we embraced. Taylor broke away from me, ran to the edge, picked up a rock and threw it over. "Wahooo.....YESSSSS!!! I can't believe this is happening, JIM!" He turned around, then ran back up to me and punched my shoulder. "Yes, that would be you I am talking to, Jim!" "Back at you, BRIAN!" We were laughing now, as we headed for his car. We sat in the PT Cruiser until dusk. Taylor told me that he took the name, "Brian" on-line to avoid harassment. I had done the same thing by calling myself, "Jim." We both admitted how guilty it made us feel to lie about our names when we poured our hearts out to each other about everything else. He said to me, "Trent, at one point I swear your words spoke to me in such a way that it seemed like you. I even fantasized that it was you in some of our "cyber sessions." "Taylor, I never ever stopped thinking of you, not for one day! That day when you made me promise to take care of myself and you said "Good-bye" was the hardest damn day in my life. I just didn't want to let go of you but I knew I had to do it." "Trent, I can't say that I made a mistake by putting my family first back then, but I swear to God, I'm never saying good-bye to you again, ever, and that's a promise! You have NO IDEA how hard that was for me. I had many sleepless nights, and yes, there were tears. I did not know what to say to you when you moved away, because I knew that my feelings toward you would betray my words. Forgive me Trent, please say you forgive me. I was a freakin' coward." "No, not a coward...just confused. The circumstances were against us, Taylor. I'm just amazed beyond words that it was you that stepped out of this car. Wow." We decided that our reunion had to be more than coincidence. Powers greater than us had to be at work. We didn't want to jinx anything by questioning it. We were just so incredibly happy that we were together again. Taylor leaned over and kissed me. Looking into his eyes, I was happier than I had ever been. The sun dropped down below the Virginia mountains and the stars struggled to shine among the last pinks and blues of the high clouds as we shared the last twenty years of our lives. The sunset seemed to have been painted just for us. I knew that I would never forget this day. "Trent, it's getting dark, we can't be making out here. What's next, where do we go now? "Someplace where we can make up for lost time. Do you have anywhere to be tonight?" "Yes, I have to be with you, and I am in a hurry, so let's go!" We kissed again and smiled at each other with the confidence that this time it would work out, somehow. I jumped out of the PT Cruiser and got into my car and Taylor followed me down the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was not sure of our destination, but I knew there was one. We had found each other, and I still could not believe it. It was such a miracle! I did not know what to expect next. I just knew that Taylor was right behind me on this highway, and that he wanted to be with me. We had both been through a lot of pain and heartache over the years, and we had unknowingly shared it all behind the façade of Internet screen names. As we headed back down the mountain, I thought about Taylor and I wondered what was to come. Whatever it was, I was ready. Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 03 This is a sequel to, "Everything Happens for a Reason, Ch.2" * The storm blew in quick. We both woke up and looked at each other and I quickly went to the window. The wind was like a gale, and sleet was pelting the side of the lodge. I heard a crack and a thump as one of the many trees out front lost a branch. I wondered if the power was next to go. It was not yet dawn, but I could see enough to know that we weren't going anywhere soon. A sleepy Taylor called out from the bed, "Trent, what's going on?" "You won't believe this wind. I'm worried that the parking lot will be blocked by the fallen trees and sleet is beginning to glaze the cars and the road." I moved away from the window and sat down on the side of the bed. In just my boxers and shivering, I was suddenly aware of how cold the room was. It was certainly not this cold when Taylor and I checked in. What a night. We were so happy to be with each other! We had mind-blowing sex most of the night. In fact, we had only been asleep for a few hours. I had driven past this rustic lodge on the way up the mountain. In fact, it was only about three miles from where we met at the turnout on Skyline drive. We had booked the only remaining room. It seems that other travelers had heard about the sudden storm and decided to sit it out overnight. My mind wandered back to the previous evening. We had talked in Taylor's rented PT Cruiser for many hours, catching up on all that had transpired in our lives. We both agreed to set the "Real world" aside and live for ourselves this week-end. For me, the events of 9/11 brought home the fact that life is too short to miss out on opportunities for finding happiness. Our hands had been all over each other in the car as we kissed. We knew that we needed to be alone together to finish what we had started so long ago. I had been so nervous that afternoon as I waited for him. I had chosen that location to meet "Brian" because we both loved the Blue Ridge Mountains, and they were roughly half-way between us. I knew that a front was coming down from the Ohio valley, but it was expected to stall, so I suggested that we both make the trip anyway. What a total and absolute shock it had been to see Taylor step out of that PT Cruiser instead of Brian! I was sure that I had traveled to the Twilight Zone. Taylor had taken on the Internet name of "Brian" and I had taken on the name of "Jim." We had been chatting for months using those fake names and we had fallen hard for each other. We had finally arranged to meet, even though we had always sworn that we would never cross that line. We were both married with almost grown kids and established careers. We just did not want to take any chances with our reputations. However, after wearing each other down with late-night cyber-sex sessions and declarations of love, we finally could not stop the inevitable. Fate had a hand in it, I just know it. After all, it was Taylor that had stepped out of that car and not Brian! I had been in love with Taylor for many years but we had only been intimate that one time in the spa way back when, before I moved away. I still had to shake my head in disbelief. The whole thing brought thankful tears to my eyes each time I thought about how amazing it was. Once we were reunited, we talked in the car for hours at the scenic overlook. There was no doubt in either of our minds that we would spend the night together and that it would be hotter than hot. After checking in at the front desk of the lodge, I remember unlocking the door and putting down my overnight bag. I walked over to the window to look out at the changing weather while Taylor laid his bag on the bed and put his stuff in the bathroom. I was looking out at the stars and watched as the fast moving clouds overtook them. As I reached up to close the curtains, Taylor came up behind me and put his arms around my waist, his hands lowering down to grip my crotch. He laid his head on my shoulder and said softly to me, "Trent, I still can't believe this is really happening." I turned around and our mouths met in a kiss that started out tender, but quickly erupted in unrequited passion. Our tongues and roaming hands betrayed our lust for one another. We stumbled toward the bed, tearing at each other's clothes, trying not to break our kiss. I was sure that our shirts were losing some buttons but we didn't even care. I had finally broken away and dragged his pants off and pulled his boxers down to his ankles as he fell onto the bed. As he slipped off his boxers, he said to me, "Trent, I dare you!" He then tossed his boxers across the room. I laughed at the memory of saying the same thing to him about his swim trunks so long ago in the spa. Thank god he had taken that dare. I pulled my own boxers off and tossed them over with his and we both laughed. Free of our clothing, our naked bodies were pressed together in a tight embrace. Both of us were breathing hard and clutching at each other. Our hands and fingers caressed and wandered all over each other's naked flesh. Taylor said to me breathlessly, "I forgot that you said in one of our chats that you wanted to shave your balls some day! I want you to know that I got a lot of mileage out of that thought, while jerking off! And now, here they are, all smooth in my hands." I laughed. "You told me you liked them on that guy in that hot pic I e-mailed you, so I decided to surprise you by shaving my own, once I knew we might be together, Mr. Itsbeen2long! I take it you approve?" Taylor gently stroked and cupped my silky-smooth balls and said hoarsely, "I definitely approve!" I slid my cock up and down against his belly as we tussled on the bed. I warned him that I was so horny that I would not last long. He just smiled at me and said, "In that case, I'll race you!" He began grinding his hips underneath me and pressed his hard cock against mine. We could feel each other's hot cocks, pressed against each other. After a few minutes of kissing and rubbing, he called my name out, "Trennnnnnt...aaahhhh...ooohhh....geeeez...ahhhh!" I could feel the heat of his cum on my belly as he spurted it between us. That was all it took for me. I lifted up onto my palms and shot all over Taylor's chest. The intensity of my orgasm stunned me. I was aware of at least six spurts. I collapsed next to him while we both caught our breath. He smiled at me as I took his hand into mine and held it to my chest to feel my heart beating. He tenderly took some of my cum from his chest, and with his index finger, massaged it onto his rigid nipples. I then kissed his nipples and then kissed his lips. We were both hopelessly lost in the abandon of uninhibited man sex. Nothing was taboo between us. Everything just felt so right, and we felt safe. We looked tenderly at each other for the longest time without even speaking. Finally Taylor broke the silence by saying, "You know Trent....it's all your fault, for daring me to take off my bathing suit in the spa all those years ago!" "Yeah Taylor, I really had to twist your arm, didn't I?" As we lay there gazing at each other, I knew that I finally had my dream lover back. I rose from the bed and went in to turn on the shower. I called out from the bathroom, "Are you coming, Taylor?" "I already did. Look at yourself in the mirror if you don't believe me!" I charged back into the room and wrestled with him on the bed. We were laughing hard as I tried to get him into a half-Nelson but he quickly got the upper hand and flipped me over and grabbed my balls. I was pinned underneath him. The aroma of his drying cum was intoxicating. "Ok, ok, I give!" He let me go and then he climbed on top of me in a 69 position. He licked my cock like a lollipop and tickled my balls. Returning the favor, I pulled him into my mouth and before long we were both moaning. I tasted his oozing pre-cum as he got more and more aroused. He abruptly lifted himself up and turned over. I did not want to let his cock out of my mouth. "Come on Trent, the shower is running." Shit, what a tease! I reluctantly allowed him to pull out of my mouth and I followed Taylor into the bathroom. He turned off the main light and just kept the heater light on. In the soft orange glow he looked like a Greek god. As we stepped into the shower I put his glorious naked body under the spray and I said to him, "Let me bathe you." That had been our first shower together and it was sweet. I started at his neck and massaged the lather against his chin. I could feel the stubble on his face as I washed and rinsed him. The look in his eyes told me all I needed to know about the feelings that Taylor felt toward me. I turned him around and washed his back. Soaping up my hands again, I massaged his buttocks and cupped them in my palms, swirling the lather on his fuzzy buns. I worked my way lower and he instinctively spread his legs and groaned, leaning forward with his palms against the shower wall. I knelt down and gazed up at the wonderful sight of his half-erect cock, those delectable hairy balls and that tight ass. It was like a meal on a plate. I detached the shower nozzle and brought it down beneath his ass. I aimed it up and the strong jets rinsed off the soap and needled his balls. I moved it forward and up to allow the jets to stimulate the underside of his cock. Taylor reacted by quickly coming to full mast and groaning at the sensations. After putting the nozzle back and soaping myself up, I stood and pressed myself against Taylor. My cock was now between his legs and nestled in between his ass checks. Taylor and I had never shared anything but oral sex, but now all I could think about was mounting him. I reached around to his chest and pinched his nipples and pressed myself against him until he was flush against the shower wall. There could be no doubt in his mind what I wanted to do to him. Taylor's head was turned to the side. He gasped and looked at me expectantly. I kissed him and said, "Do you have ANY idea how much I want you?" "Yes, and I want it too. Fuck me, Trent." He then slid down the wall a little and pressed backward against my cock until I was pressed against his male opening. I wasn't sure I could do this, but I sure wanted to. Taylor must have sensed my hesitation because he reached up to get the conditioner and then handed it to me. With a nervous smile he said to me, "Lube me up good, Trent!" He then turned back toward the wall and flattened himself against it. I put the bottle up to his ass and squeezed it. Taylor squirmed and chuckled at the sensation. I then "conditioned" my cock. The spray came down on us like rain as I pressed into my lover. I had no experience with anal sex, but I knew enough to go slow. Taylor had gritted his teeth a little, but every time I slowed down he said, "Keep going Trent." I felt like I had six inches of hard steel rather than flesh as I felt my cockhead get past the first barrier. Taylor gasped again and moved his arms up over his head and hung onto the shower wall. All I could think about was, "I am fucking Taylor." It was like I was sex-crazed, yet I was careful not to hurt him. After about a minute of gentle pressure, I felt Taylor relax a little and I slid deeper into him. Taylor clenched his ass as a reflex and I loved the way that made my cock feel. At the same time, he exhaled loudly and turned his head toward me. I could see he was in pain. I wanted to continue but I asked him if he needed me to pull out and he said, "Yeah, I'm really sorry." I gently pulled out, stopping at the last minute, as I felt resistance against the head of my cock. "Don't be sorry, Taylor. We can try later, if you want." One more gasp from Taylor and we were separated. Taylor turned around, looking relieved. "Uh...I'll be honest. That hurt a lot Trent, but it was kinda interesting. Maybe it would work better on the bed, I don't know." He then French kissed me and said, "Let's clean up because I want you to shave my balls!" "No way," I replied back. "Yes way, but after this." He sank down to his knees and took me into his mouth. I leaned back against the wall and felt waves of pleasure as Taylor sucked me. He put some conditioner on his finger and inserted it inside me, ever so gently. With subtle pressure, he waved his finger back and forth. I felt the volcano rumbling and I warned him that he was going to be covered in hot lava soon. He kept sucking and working his finger in my hole. I am sure the folks in the next room heard me as my cock erupted into Taylor's mouth. He pulled back and let some of my cum splash on his face, then he went back to finish me off. My god, he was savoring my cum, and it was all I could do not to collapse as I witnessed the wonderful blowjob that he was giving me. When it was over, he smiled up at me. I grabbed his head and brought our lips together. Our tongues met and, between us, we cleaned up his face. Taylor suddenly opened the shower door and ran to the sink, dripping wet. He rummaged for his razor and shaving cream. I love the look of a naked man with the hair on his ass and legs plastered down from the water. I stepped out of the shower and said, "Taylor, you need scissors or we can't do this!" I went into the other room and found scissors in my shaving kit. They were small, but they would work. Complaining like babies about how cold the air felt on our wet bodies, we practically ran back to the shower, accusing each other of causing the other "shrinkage." We were laughing as we both jockeyed for control over the shower nozzle. The hot water felt SO good! It was kind of awkward at first, but I finally figured out a way to trim the hair on his balls. After cutting 95% of it off with the scissors, I rinsed him and applied the shaving cream. We kept laughing as he maneuvered himself in such a way that I could get access to his balls and ass. No matter what position he was in, he looked like he was posing for a porn mag. Of course I had no complaints about the view! After several false starts with him saying, "No, wait, I'm not ready yet," Taylor finally let me go to work. I started on the sides of his scrotum where he could see what I was doing. After he felt more trusting, I headed for the more sensitive areas. Rinsing the razor constantly, I slowly and carefully shaved the hair around his hole and worked my way up. His erect penis made the job easier and a lot more fun! I worked my way up to his shaft which was mostly hair-free with just a small tuft of pubes on each side of the base. The power dimmed a couple of times and Taylor got scared of the razor but I was almost done. The whole thing took about ten minutes. He was surprised when I announced, "Ok, all done and with hardly so much as a paper cut!" Taylor caressed his smooth scrotum. "Wow, oh man it feels hot, just like your nuts feel...so smooth. I'm not going to be able to keep my hands off of myself!" He rinsed off and I then pulled him toward me and licked and sucked at his hairless ball sack. His cock was sticking straight up as my tongue explored between his legs. I worked my way up and down his ass crack, pausing each time to tickle his hole. I took each ball into my mouth as Taylor trembled. He leaned back against the wall with one hand clutching his newly smooth balls and the other hand working its way up and down his hard shaft. Trent...Trent...aaahhh...you're gonna make me cum buddy....oh man, oh man...uuumph....aaah...aahh...AAHH!" At that moment I pressed my finger against his hole and put myself in the line of fire as he jerked himself off. He came all over my face and neck. I opened my mouth and some of his sweet nectar found its way onto my tongue. When he stopped spurting, I brought him into my mouth and gently suckled him until he was dry and spent. I stood up and we repeated our "cleanup routine." Our open mouths met, and we moaned and panted out how hot it was to share our cum with each other. We could have stayed in the shower forever but the water was getting cold. We rinsed and dried each other off, shivering the whole time. We knew it was windy when the lights dimmed in the bathroom, but when we went back to bed, we could hear the wind gusts slam against the side of the lodge. Taylor got up and looked out the window on his side of the bed. Even with the distraction of the storm, I could not take my eyes off of him. He was the very definition of masculine. Tall with dark features, he was slim and fit. His silhouette against the faint daylight was like an erotic sketch. I could see every angle of his handsome face. His chiseled jaw was clenched as he peered anxiously out at the weather. My eyes took in his wide shoulders tapering down to his narrow waist. He turned to the side and leaned against the window to see more and I once again drank in the vision of his body. My cock started to harden again as my eyes followed his treasure trail as it made its way toward his cock which was now flaccid and nestled against his brown triangle of pubic hair. He was barely visible in the dim light. I imagined my tongue exploring the crevices of his body as I had in the shower a little earlier. He was amazingly sexy, and I could not get enough of him. "Trent!," he shouted out. "Shit!" We both heard the crash as another big branch went down, this one right behind his PT Cruiser. I got up and looked out and saw huge branches blocking and covering several cars. Some of them must have come down when we were in the shower. We looked out in silence at the thrashing trees. I finally left the window and lay down on the bed. I watched Taylor some more as he gazed out on the landscape. He stayed at the window for quite awhile. I wondered what he was thinking about. As if on cue from my thoughts, Taylor returned from the window and crawled back into bed. We wrapped our arms around each other. Taylor looked at me and told me, "I still can't believe I am here with you. In my wildest dreams I would never have guessed that I came here to meet "Jim" and that it turned out to be you." I smiled at the realization that we had said this over and over again to each other since meeting the day before. He pulled the covers up to our necks and snuggled next to me. As I held him tight I asked him, "Taylor, I know you made the right decision about us, so long ago. Can you forgive me for having such a hard time with it? I can't explain it to you, but when you found out that you would be a father for the first time and I saw the adoring gaze of your wife as she told you that she was pregnant, I knew that I could not compete with that. If I had gotten in the way of that baby's future I could never have forgiven myself. At the same time, I felt like she was taking you away from me. Taylor, you were never mine...I had no right to feel that way. Taylor laid his arm over my chest and his fingers gently tickled my underarm hairs. He instinctively knew I loved that. After a moment or two of reflection he responded back, "I thought we agreed not to talk about that stuff. Besides, I am the one that told YOU in that e-mail that I had my life on track and that it was best that we go our own ways, remember? Trent, I was a fraud then, pure and simple. I was going through the motions, man....doing what I felt was expected of me without regard to my own needs. I knew you were into me, and maybe I was selfish for saying that to you at the time, but that's how I felt, then. But I don't feel that way now, Trent." "No, you were not selfish; you were just trapped, like me. Like you, I have always loved my wife, but as the years went by I realized that my life was incomplete without you, Taylor. I thought I was going crazy. I was drinking too much and I was depressed. I had decided to ignore my cravings for men and to just go with the flow but it has been a steep uphill battle. The chat rooms were both my friend and my enemy, you know? Taylor, we have raised our kids and accomplished a lot, but you were always in the back of my mind. What I did to deserve you coming back into my life and by such coincidence, I don't know." Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 03 Tears were in my eyes now and Taylor reached up and gently wiped them away. "Trent, the world does not make it easy for men like us to be together. We both identify as straight, and we want to be married, but at the same time we both admit we want dick, right? Honestly, craving dick won out, because here we are, two married men, lying here naked. Think about the sex that we just had." We lay silent for awhile, listening to the diminishing wind. The sleet had stopped, so we assumed that the weather was getting better. Little did we know that it was snowing like gangbusters now and that the authorities had closed the road. We had no TV or radio to listen to, and here it was almost 7:00am already. Both of our wives were expecting us home tomorrow and we each had 400 plus miles to drive to get home! The memory of the trapped PT Cruiser reminded me that now we had only my car to rely on. Oh man, how were we going to explain why we are here, and how in the hell is Taylor going to explain his shaved balls to his wife? Funny that should pop into my mind. Realizing that I was allowing the "real world" to encroach on my tryst with Taylor, I decided that we would cross those bridges when we got to them. It didn't take me long to fall fast asleep in Taylor's arms. Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 04 This is a sequel to, "Everything happens for a reason-Ch.3" EPILOGUE The room was cold. I pulled the blankets up half way over my head and gradually awakened. The heat of Taylor's body next to mine reminded me that I had died and gone to heaven. Seeing each other again after so many years had been a shock. And the sex last night, and this morning...wow! The clock on the night table was blank. The power was out. That must be why it is so cold in here, I thought. The power had flickered on and off last night for hours during that terrible, noisy wind. Now it was quiet, except for something droning outside. I carefully untangled my leg from Taylor's and lifted his arm up so as to get out of the bed without waking him. Man was it cold. I could see my breath. As I headed for the window I smiled at the sight of our clothes strewn around the floor. We could not wait to jump each other's bones after we had checked in last night. The quaint lodge was now booked, ours being the last room available. I pulled the curtains apart and peeked out. Using the curtain, I wiped the moisture off of the window so that I could see out. "Oh... my...god!" I said out-loud. That woke Taylor up. He rose upon on his elbows to see what was going on. "Trent, is the storm still bad?" "Oh man Taylor, we are snowed in. The wind has stopped, but there must be four feet of snow out there and it is coming down like crazy. I can't see the cars or the road, but I see some guys out there with snow blowers." A moment later I felt Taylor's arms reach around me from behind. He pressed his naked body against mine. I could feel his warm, flaccid penis and pubic hair as he pressed himself against my ass checks. I shivered, but not from the cold. I reached my hands around back and cupped his furry ass cheeks. He caressed my nipples and said, "Trent, you're either very cold or turned on, or maybe both. Brrrrr, it's so cold in here!" He reached down to goose me playfully before he moved next to me and looked out. "Wow! All I see is white, everywhere. I need sunglasses, just to look out the window! It looks like we need snowplows, not snow blowers, Trent." The room had a fireplace, and I did my best to start a fire, but it did not throw off enough heat to keep the whole room warm. It did feel good, though. I pulled a couple of chairs up close and warmed up a bit. I let Taylor have the bathroom first. We fortunately had hot water, but we took quick showers just in case it didn't last. Good thing, because the water was barely lukewarm by the time it was my turn. Our plan was for me to get dressed and head down to the front desk to get an update on the road conditions. We needed to leave by tomorrow morning, or else we would have a lot of explaining to do to our wives. Both of us were on supposed "business trips" and were due back tomorrow evening. We had driven separately, but now both cars were buried with snow and blocked by equally buried fallen tree limbs. We kept stopping to kiss as we were getting dressed, running our hands all over each other and down into each other's underwear, which is all we had managed to put on, so far. It didn't take long before we were naked again. We jumped under the covers and our tongues were busy as our bodies pressed together. We ground our hips against each other. God how I loved having our cocks and shaved balls rubbing together! Taylor's tongue seemed like it was after my tonsils. I could sense his hunger for me and it ignited my passion for him even further. He pushed me onto my side and buried himself under the covers. I felt his hot mouth surround my cock. I lifted my leg over his body as he sucked me. This allowed Taylor's hands to have easy access to my balls and ass. It also kept the covers from smothering him. Every time his finger brushed against my hole I got that much more excited. I managed to gasp out, "Taylor, can you breathe in there? Do you want some light?" "If you keep that up I'm gonna cum Taylor, oh man." His left hand was cupping my ass cheek and his right hand was tickling my balls. Taylor gripped my cock at the base and held it tight while he surfaced from under the covers and kissed me. "Trent, I want you to finish what we started in the shower last night." He then got out of bed and ran into the bathroom. He came back with the complimentary hand lotion and said, "I mean it. I want you to make love to me." "Taylor, are you sure?" He replied by kissing me hard and whispering to me, "I am really, REALLY sure. I want us to fuck, Trent." His hands were busy squirting the lotion onto my cock. When I was greased up, he turned over and asked me to lube him up. I took the lotion and squirted it up between his furry ass cheeks. I worked it in, feeling his hot hole grip at my fingers each time I worked the lotion into him. Despite the cold, I was very hard at the thought of entering him. I kneeled behind him as he raised his ass for me. He reached his hand down and grabbed my cockhead and pressed it against his opening. I put my hands on his hips and pulled him up to me as my cock penetrated his hot and waiting man hole. Taylor pulled the covers down and we were buried underneath them. He was very tight at first, but after awhile he relaxed and I was able to push my cock deep inside of him. We lay clutched together for several minutes, experiencing the bonding that only two males can know. Taylor groaned as he lifted himself against me, his body begging me to fuck him. He was definitely ready for me this time. Once I was inside of him, we moved as one as my body penetrated him and as his body accommodated me in return. I reached down under him and cupped his cock and newly shaved balls as I thrust my hard cock into him. His moaning, and the fact that he kept pushing his ass back against me gave away his enjoyment. My hand was wet with his pre-cum as I felt my lover react to my gentle thrusting. He raised his head up and turned to kiss me in the dark of the covers, all the while gasping, "Trent, fuck me...oh please fuck me. Fuck my brains out!" I felt his cock get harder and my cock was squeezed tight inside of him as he yelled out, "Oh my god, that's so good, fuck me Trent, oh my god, oh my god...please, oh god, right there, right there, press right there. Oh man, ahhh, don't move...ahhhh." His ass was like a vice, gripping my hard cock as he spurt gob after gob of his hot cum into my hand. That was it. We were cumming at the same time, and it sounded like a couple of bears were in the room. I wondered if the whole lodge knew we were having sex. Our breathing was heavy and we were coated with sweat, despite the cold. To lie there and caress my naked and sweaty man after we came at the same time was beyond sexy. After hugging each other for the longest time, I withdrew from his ass and lay down upon my back. I pulled the covers back so we could get some air. As I came down from my orgasm, I luxuriated in the sensation of his tongue licking my nipples and underarms. He was breathless, but he was smiling as he kissed me. He ran his tongue along my lips and nibbled my ear. His eyes grew sad as he wondered out loud what we both were thinking. "WHAT are we going to do?" There was a crowd of guests in the lobby, and everyone was talking to each other, or else they were on their cell phones, at least the ones that had service. I could see a lot of people borrowing phones. I remembered that Taylor and I had left our cell phones in our cars, on purpose. We decided that they were a reminder of our responsibilities, and that we didn't want them intruding on our fantasy weekend. I walked up to the desk clerk. His name badge said, "Chad," and I asked him what he knew about the weather. He told me that the storm had plowed south over the mountains and that no one had forecast it to get this far. The front had stalled and heavy snow was falling for a radius of almost fifty miles. Chad continued to say that everyone here planned to leave today or tomorrow, and they were frantic, because they knew they would be here for several days. I blurted out, "Several days? You must be joking!" He said that he was the owner, and he assured me that there was enough firewood and enough food in the fridge and pantries and not to worry, that we would all make the best of it. He said the power might be back up by evening, but he had a couple of generators to use in the meantime. Chad said, "The only real problem is that my chef, Ben, went down the mountain last night, against my wishes, and now he can't get back up here. I can't even hard boil an egg. I'm furious with him!" He scowled and then turned his attention to another guest. I walked outside and watched the silent snowfall. It was beautiful. I hadn't seen snow like this in decades. As a kid I prayed that we would be snowed in. Now it just made me very anxious. Taylor and I would have to develop a plan, and fast. In other words, we would have to lie to our wives even more than we had the last few days. I had hastily arranged this "business trip" and told my wife that I preferred to drive to enjoy the fall foliage. She expressed an interest in going with me, but I held her off by telling her that I will be on the phone all the way there, and probably all the way back as well, needing to concentrate on the deal. She knew that I had business in Nashville, and that's where she thought I was. Little did she know that I was really in the Virginia mountains with my male lover. Wow, how sordid did that sound? Taylor had done virtually the same thing. His wife thinks he is in Phoenix! Both of us drove to VA so that there would be no itineraries and no drop-offs at the airport that might betray our secret rendezvous. Lies, lies, lies. Not to mention the overwhelming emotions at finding that my Internet lover, Brian, was really Taylor. Taylor wasn't expecting me either, since we had both had used phony names. All these months of chatting on-line and we were both completely clueless that we were about to be reunited after all these years. I shook my head again in amazement and looked up at the sky with moist eyes and said, "God, you work in very mysterious ways. WHAT do you have planned for us next?" I went back upstairs and found Taylor packing his bag. "Don't bother, Taylor. The roads won't be open for at least a couple of days. At least they hope to have power by tonight." "Trent, we can't stay here. We have to find a way out; I'm not joking. Laura thinks I'm in Phoenix, and I promised her that we would go to dinner on Monday night for her birthday." I just looked at him. I didn't have plans with my wife, Beth, but I was worried about having to call her and give her a bogus explanation on my whereabouts. Taylor and I sat down next to other by the fire. After several minutes of deep thought, he turned to look at me. He looked very worried, and seemed to be trying very hard to keep his emotions in check. "Trent, I'm a mess right now, man. You were downstairs, what, thirty minutes? During that short time, I thought I was going to totally lose it. I don't want to let my wife down, but I also don't want to be away from you. I love Laura, but I realize that I also love you. I really do love you, Trent, and it's killing me." I wanted to hug him, but I sensed that he needed some space right now. "I have loved you since the first time I saw you, Taylor. That day at work so long ago when you were introduced as my new partner changed my life forever. We will figure something out, we WILL! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Right now, we need to decide on a plan to buy us time here at the lodge until we can drive down the mountain. After that is out of the way, we will both feel a big relief. Can we agree on that plan?" He nodded, and we looked at the flickering flames for a long while. "Taylor, in any event, we need to go down and find our cell phones. Hopefully they will have service." It took us awhile, but we finally figured out which snowy mounds were actually our cars. The snow blowers were done making paths in-between. We could then see the color of the cars, and find our way inside to get our cell phones. Good, I had service. I made my call first. After much thought, I decided to keep it simple. I told Beth that I had to stay in Nashville two to three more days because one of the key players had reservations and wanted more time to consider. I told her that I would be wining and dining him and playing a lot of golf in order to win him over. Beth had asked me for my hotel phone number, and reminded me that I didn't take my golf clubs. I told her that I was planning to rent some, but first I was switching hotels because I did not like the one I was at. I told her to just use my cell phone since hotel calls were always billed and I would seldom be there, anyway. She bought the story. I walked over to Taylor's car. Taylor was more nervous. Laura was accustomed to constant communication with him. She was upset that she was just now being informed of the delay and that he might miss her birthday. I watched Taylor as he talked to her. He was all smiles, psyched up for the big story. He paced outside the car as he did his song and dance about a change in plans and told her to trust him, that he would more than make up for not being there on her birthday. Taylor suddenly frowned and then closed his phone. "She told me not to bother to be there for her birthday, that she would spend it with the kids. Then she hung up on me. I feel like shit. I have NEVER missed any of her birthdays. Not the kids', either." He got into the car and put his head in his hands, as I learned he was prone to do when he is overwhelmed. "Come on, Taylor. The hard part is over, and you have to admit that being alone together in a snowy lodge is not exactly punishment." I reached into the car and laid my hand on his shoulder and reassuringly squeezed it. He got out and walked around the car and then back again. After a few minutes of serious thought, I decided to break the ice, so to speak. I threw a snowball at him. At first he was indignant, and he brushed it off with a frown on his face. I threw another one, then another. Finally, he got me back, including a cold one to the neck; the kind that leaks down into your clothes. He was laughing now...good. We ducked between the various cars and tried to sneak up on each other. More than once, we surprised each other and got hit. The elevation was getting to us. Breathing heavily, we sank down between two cars and kissed, our hair matted with snow. God, how I loved this man. The snow slipped off of our hair and clothes as we made out between the cars. I could not remember when I was happier. Chad was asking the guests if anyone knew their way around a kitchen. He needed help feeding the twenty-four stranded guests. A couple of us volunteered, and before I knew it, I was helping a guy named Stephen whip up a big pot of chili. We cooked it in a large Dutch oven, within the confines of the old-fashioned kitchen fireplace. Coupled with cornbread and soft drinks, it tasted mighty good. I really enjoyed cooking for the guests, who were all very appreciative. Taylor was holding his own with the other guests, as I abandoned him again later on to make dinner. I am a fairly good cook, so I leaned on my repertoire of recipes and with a little help, put on a feast that more than one guest described as being, "gourmet." We sat among four big round tables in a room overlooking the snowy valley. The visibility was poor from the falling snow, but it was still a lovely sight. Having made my excuses to Beth earlier in the day, I felt very calm. Chad sat down next to me. "I want to thank you for taking charge in the kitchen. As I told you, I can't cook. Chef Ben is very good, but he is not reliable. I can't believe he insisted on going down the mountain. He's done that before, but never before a big storm. My wife Liz, rest her soul, cooked here for fifteen years, ever since we bought the place. She cooked comfort food, and it was always good, but things really picked up here when I hired Ben after she died. "Chad, I'm sorry to hear about your wife. It must get lonely up here at times, especially in the off season." "Yes, it does, sometimes. Liz and I made the best of it, though. It's very peaceful up here, and a good place to be if you want to be alone with your thoughts. Now, with her gone, I wonder how much longer I can do this. Maybe I should sell and move back down the mountain. Ah, but I would miss it." He looked around at the guests, who were chatting and laughing. It was clear that they were quite content, especially considering that they had nowhere to go. "You are a good man, Trent." He shook my hand. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving me. My guests would have revolted if I had tried to cook for them!" Taylor and I had discussed with each other how to respond to inquiries about why we were there. We looked enough alike to pass each other off as brothers, so that was our story. Both of us were around six feet tall, 175 pounds, with dark brown hair and brown eyes. Although not skinny, we are both slim and fit for our age. Taylor constantly fights a five-o-clock shadow, but it is very sexy on him. Hell, everything about him is sexy. I look at him and I am literally hypnotized. He says the same thing about me and it makes me blush, every time. So, we told the other guests that we passing through on the way to a family reunion. By the end of the second day, the on-and-off power was on for good, and the snow had stopped. We took turns working the snow blowers, because the snow had been coming down as fast as we could clear it. Taylor was relaxed and seemed right at home socializing with the guests. I told him that he was a natural manager, and that he should buy the place from Chad. He laughed and said, "Yeah, and you can cook!" We both smiled at the fantasy. Taylor and I stole glances at each other during dinner. We could not wait to get each other into bed. This would likely be our last night together for a long while, and he seemed to be reconciled with the fact that he was not home to take Laura to dinner. He had called her earlier to wish her a Happy Birthday, and she had settled down a bit. He told her that this business trip was more enjoyable than he imagined and that he would tell her all about it tomorrow night when he got home. Yes, Taylor was finally relaxed. I winked at him and he winked back. After a few minutes, I noticed that the man across from me, whom I knew as "Eric," kept looking between Taylor and myself. I had spoken a few words with Eric, but knew little about him. After dinner, I went up to Taylor and whispered, "Let's say good night and go upstairs and get naked." "Great idea. You are a mind read..." Taylor stopped mid-sentence, while looking over my shoulder. I turned to see Stephen and Eric approach us. "Trent, I believe you have met Eric, and this is his business partner Stephen." I smiled and greeted them. Stephen had helped me in the kitchen, of course, so I explained to Taylor that I had already met him. Eric invited us over by the fireplace for an after-dinner drink. I hesitated to say yes, but he insisted. I wanted to be polite, so the four of us sat down and after a few drinks we had a lively conversation going. At one point we were all quiet, looking out at the moon and the blue-gray glow it gave the snow-covered landscape. Eric said, "Well, we did a good job with the snow blowers, if I do say so, myself. It enabled us all to get to our cars. I hear the highway will be passable by tomorrow morning. By the way, "I saw you two lovebirds kissing yesterday in the parking lot. I know you thought no one could see, but I was rummaging inside my car and you two were next to me when you made out after your cute little snowball fight. I have to admit, it turned me on. Your kisses were tender and sweet, and lord knows where your hands were. I tried to see, but you two were causing me to fog up the windows." Eric chuckled and continued on, "You don't need to use the "brother act" with us." Everything Happens for a Reason Ch. 04 I was stunned, and I saw the same look on Taylor's face. Eric continued, "Let me apologize for being so direct, but I think we can all talk here. Stephen is not my business partner, he is my life partner and I am deeply in love with him." Eric gazed at Stephen, who just sat there and beamed. Stephen chimed in, "You guys seem surprised that we're gay. We knew you two were gay the very first day." It was Taylor who spoke first, but my words were right behind his. Almost in unison, we replied, "Oh, we're not gay." I continued on, "We just, um, well we knew each other a long time ago and we chatted on-line and found each other again and, well...we're just really close." I looked over at Taylor to see if he would help me out but he was not making eye contact with anyone. Eric broke the awkwardness of the moment by saying, "Ok then, you're both wearing wedding rings so that means you guys are married." I thought we were in the clear, but then he continued, "Yet you are having a hot and steamy love affair with each other." Now it was my turn to avert my eyes. I did not like being labeled as gay or anything else for that matter. Besides, who did this guy think he was, getting in our face like that? I don't care how much alcohol was consumed, it wasn't right. He must have read my thoughts, because Eric leaned forward and said very sincerely, "Stephen and I used to be married to women also. It was another lifetime ago. The truth is that, like you, we prefer men. I am telling you this because we used to sneak around also and after awhile it was no fun, believe me. We accepted who were are and we have no regrets." Stephen then said, "You know, some guys always stay in the "bi" stage. Sometimes, especially if they have always been with women they will choose to remain at that stage. I considered that. That's ok if that is your thing, but it's going to be a tough row to hoe for you two to always find excuses to be with each other. It is also hard to maintain a relationship when you are apart, and you guys already mentioned that you live 800 miles from each other. We're not trying to give you a hard time, we just know what it's like, and how happy we are to not have to constantly lie and play games. Come on guys, look at you two! You're in love! It's SO fucking obvious...do something to celebrate it! Let's raise our glasses to LOVE!" To say, "OUCH," would have been an understatement. Taylor and I knew full well that they were right, but we didn't want to admit it. It was clear that Eric and Stephen seemed very happy together. I had been side by side in the kitchen with Stephen for a couple of days and he was the epitome of content. Now I felt anger toward him for exposing a nerve that I would rather have kept hidden. If it hadn't been for the pleasant times in the kitchen with Stephen, I would have told them both to mind their own fucking business. Instead, I stood up, a bit wobbly from the drinks, yet I still had my wits about me. I decided to take the high road and not say any more on the subject. I thanked them both for the drinks and the advice, and then I took a shell-shocked Taylor upstairs to bed. Something told me that it would be a long night. Taylor and I did not speak until we were in the room. At that point, we just sank into each other's arms and lay on the bed, just holding each other for the longest time. After a long while, Taylor stripped to his boxers and undershirt and got under the covers. He said matter of factly, "Ok...ok, I'm gay. I don't want to be, but I am. They were right, Trent, we're both gay. You and I can say all day that it's ok because we have marriages and separate lives in different states, but you know damn well that we can't be apart. We're gay and we're liars. I'm gay...I'm GAY!" He was almost shouting now. "I fucking HATE that! If it's so obvious to them, does Laura see it too? What about my kids? What about the guys at work? He pounded his fists into his pillow several times, and then turned over and looked the other way. I didn't say anything, because although I had also been in denial, I saw this moment coming and I was more prepared for it than he was. I knew that at some point Taylor and I would need to make some huge decisions on how we lived the remainder of our lives. Our sexuality had been precarious all of our adult lives. To feel it and experience it privately were one thing but when someone else noticed it, the proverbial cat was out of the bag. Taylor and I were silent for the longest time, just listening to each other's breathing. My lover, ok my GAY lover, was in pain and I didn't know how to make things better. I scratched his back, ever so lightly. Taylor finally rolled over and looked at me and declared, "Trent, I love you, but I'm not leaving Laura...I can't." He was shaking his head back and forth, finishing with "I won't leave her. No!" I understood him completely, because I felt the same way about Beth. I wouldn't leave her either, and he knew that. We just needed to figure out a way to make it all work. The passion that we communicated with our eyes earlier at dinner was cooled by the seriousness of our conversation with Eric and Stephen. I replayed their words over and over again in my mind. The last thing I remembered thinking about was that Taylor and I had been touched by fate before, and that we would be again. We WILL be together in the end, we WILL! It wasn't long until sleep overtook me. TWO YEARS LATER "Trent, are you sure that we have enough Dover sole for tonight?" I looked up at Taylor. It was Saturday afternoon, the weather was nice, and we would have a full house for dinner. He exuded sex from every pore as he stood there looking at me in his halfway unbuttoned Tommy shirt and khaki shorts. I just had to pinch myself that he was really here with me. I smiled at him. He could be so serious, sometimes. "Check the basement fridge, I purchased plenty this morning on the way up." Since buying the lodge with him last year, he was doing everything he could to be the perfect host. I looked out at our ten dinner guests sipping their cocktails on the deck overlooking the Shenandoah Valley. I remembered fondly when Taylor and I had done the same thing here ourselves. The difference was that we had stayed inside because of a fierce winter storm. I closed my eyes as I remembered getting "reacquainted" with my man. We had left our snowbound visit that fateful weekend and had headed home to lives that seemed suddenly mundane. We knew that we would always be together, but both of us were equally as adamant about remaining married. Unlike before, Taylor and I stayed in regular touch. Six months after Chad had told me that he was considering a change, I contacted a realtor and asked him to work up an offer. I then called up Taylor and said, "You don't know it yet, but you and I are buying a Bed and Breakfast up on Skyline drive. You might remember it better as "The Lodge," but I have plans to scale the operation down a bit. The only hitch is that we need another $75k." After his initial disbelief, then nervous laughter, we talked for two months, working out the details on how to sell our wives on the idea and also how to transition away from our existing careers. It took about six months to raise the remaining capital, and two week-end stays up on the mountain, but both Beth and Laura were finally convinced that it was a good idea. We met with financial planners and liquidated as many assets as we dared. We remodeled the lodge to create two large master bedrooms, each with its own, private living area and patio. That took away four of the twelve guest rooms, but by the time we personalized the decor and made upgrades, we had eight rooms that would provide more revenue than what twelve of the more Spartan rooms would have provided. Now we had a waiting list that responded to newspaper reviews that raved about "The casual ambiance that we had created in our private and quiet mountain getaway." As owners, the week-ends could be long and the work challenging, yet it was a very satisfying existence for all four of us. Every once in a while a couple of guys who said they were "brothers" would spend a weekend here with us and we would knowingly nod at each other, and send a bottle of wine to their room. We also saw Eric and Stephen again. They loved what we had done to the place. They only came back once, but they were happy that we had found a way as Eric said, "To have our cake and eat it too." Beth and Laura had been amazed that Taylor and I had reconnected. Of course, they did not know the real story, but almost all of our guests commented that we seemed ideally suited as co-owners of the B&B. Taylor and I were secret lovers and we knew that we would be until the day we died. We both had sat down and told our wives that we were best of friends, yet we respected each other's varying viewpoints, when needed. It was our way of letting them know that we would be with each other A LOT, so get used to it. Taylor and I had many honest talks, and we realized that we needed each other as much or more than we needed our wives. We had more than enough private guest rooms that beckoned us when we needed to be alone together, not to mention the remote land up above our B&B. The bond between Taylor and I would never break, of that much we were certain. Sure, we had spats with each other and we had spats with our wives, but we all knew that having a thriving B&B in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains was our calling. Between my cooking, Beth's herb and gardening finesse, Laura's floral design training and Taylor's God-given socializing skills, we made a beautiful life together. Our kids came up and spent time with us in the summers. When it was cold in the winter, the guests thinned down to the skiers and snowboarders. In the off-season, our wives spent most of their time at our apartments at the bottom of the mountain, so Taylor and I found ways to keep warm that nobody but us knew about. Sometimes we would not surface for days. The fact that our lives had fallen into place surprised neither of us. We knew that we had something very special together, and we found our way to true happiness. The Bed and Breakfast did well, and our many happy guests were testament to our ability to make a difference in people's lives. After all of these years and after all we had been through, we both knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything happens for a reason.