Chapter Seven
Grayson
I pressed down against my cock, forcing my head out of my foreskin, then curled my fingers in. Images of Marco and Demir, touching each other, flashed through my mind. Biting down on my lip, I rode the waves of my orgasm, clenching my thighs and driving my hips into the bed as I came.
I let out a puff of air.That should take care of things.
It wasn’t like I was only interested in sex with the guys, not at all. But if I went into our date without relieving some tension first, god knows what I would do.
I cleaned up in the shower, then flipped on the radio to an oldies station while I got ready. I was excited to see Marco and Demir again and much more comfortable taking them out than I was being on the receiving end.
I pulled on a pair of snug blue trousers, then added a mint, short-sleeve button-up. It was casual enough that I would feel comfortable, although I had to wrestle through a wave of insecurity that they would show up looking like movie stars again. Running my hand through my hair and checking my teeth one last time, I called a car and made my way to the date.
The restaurant I picked was called Suzy’s, and it was my favorite in town. A little old vegetarian café, it was in a building that looked like a cottage, tucked off by the edge of a small park. I had suggested an afternoon date because I knew the evenings were work hours for them, whereas I made my own schedule. With the sun beaming down and summer in full swing, my step felt light, and I had a surge of optimism that the date would go more smoothly than the last.
Right as I was arriving, Marco texted me to say they had a table in the garden, so I headed through the restaurant and out back to meet them. Vines were crawling up the fence, and little yellow flowers sprouted in jars along the planks of the wooden floor. Marco and Demir were waiting at a round table in the back, and when they rose to greet me, I felt a wave of relief that they had dressed down, too, with Demir sporting a sharp black tee and Marco in a pair of stylish overalls that were somehow the perfect look for him.
Marco gave me a warm hug, then gestured to the garden. “Beautiful restaurant, Grayson. I love it here.”
“It’s so easy for us to miss these summer days,” Demir said, taking my hand and brushing a kiss against it. “I’m glad we caught this one.”
I joined them at the small table, and like magic, we fell into an easy conversation. They asked me questions about my business, and after the waitress took our orders, I showed them pictures on my phone of my latest work. I caught a few of the other diners in the garden glancing at us, and I wondered what they were seeing. Did they think we were friends? Did they recognize Marco and Demir from the club? Or could some of them tell that we were on a date, all three of us together?
Normally, attention like that would be make me nervous, but with Demir stretching his arm across Marco’s chair and Marco’s laugh ringing out across the garden, I started to feel proud instead of awkward.
I started to want people to look at me and see me as their third.
“Even if you’re not one for busy dance nights,” Demir offered, “you should stop by the club one afternoon. Usually one of us is there and eager for a distraction from work.”
Marco nodded. “Now that I know you love design, I can show you some of my favorite touches in The Forty-Eight. The details are usually lost in the darkness to most of our clients, so I love the chance to show off.”
“I did notice some of the lightning fixtures,” I said. “Recovered?”
“From an old gay club,” Marco said brightly. “Rocco’s. It closed down in the nineties, but it was a real fixture of the gay scene in Philly before then.”
I lifted up my tea in an attempt to hide the frown that came on my face. I’d heard of Rocco’s, mainly because the bar had been notoriously unfriendly to trans people. They even went so far as to ban trans men from attending some of the “men’s nights” at the club. It was a practice that used to be a lot more common, although thankfully, most clubs and organizations had been educated enough to change their rules.
“What’s wrong?” Marco asked, always sensitive to my moods.
“It’s nothing,” I said. “And they are gorgeous light fixtures. It’s just that Rocco’s…” I trailed off, not wanting to drag down the date.
“Right,” Demir said. “They weren’t exactly the friendliest establishment, were they?”
I shook my head quickly. “It’s not a big deal,” I said. “They’ve been closed for years.”
Marco’s eyebrows rose as he seemed to remember the backstory of the bar. “Have you faced much of that?” he asked. “I know gay spaces aren’t always welcoming to transgender people.”
I glanced around the garden, peeking to see if anyone was eavesdropping. I usually tried to be more discreet in public, but the guys made me feel safe and more able to talk openly. “Actually,” I said, “the last relationship I was in was with a woman.”
“Oh!” Demir said, surprised. He turned to Marco, then chuckled. “I guess I shouldn’t have assumed.”
Marco tucked a thumb under the strap of his overalls. “I’ve only ever dated men,” he said. “But Demir had a couple of girlfriends when he was younger.”
Demir nodded. “I thought I might be bisexual, but over time, I came to understand that my heart wanted to be with other men.”
The waitress came by, depositing plates of salads and sandwiches on the table and refilling our water. I thought carefully, debating what I wanted to share with them, but by the time she left, I realized there was no point in hiding my story, not if I was really going to pursue this.
“It was a bit more complicated than that for me,” I said. “I dated boys when I was in high school, but back then, I was so far in the closet, I wasn’t really in touch with myself. When I did try to get close with them, it was like I floated away into a different reality instead.”
