“Rules of the Game” – Part 2
I couldn’t lose focus of my principles. That was something I kept in mind as I headed to Kenton’s hotel to pick him up. How we met was still unbelievable to me; especially since I met him on my one-year anniversary of becoming celibate. From what I could tell on our first so-called date, he was a good guy. He could hold a meaningful conversation and he seemed interested in me beyond sex. As excited as I was, I couldn’t let down my guard. I had to remember the rules.
“The beach?” he asked me as I parked my car. “This is where you wanted to bring me, first?”
“We’re both already dressed for it,” I told him. “Besides, everyone knows Miami has the best beaches.”
“What, are we gonna rent some bloody surfboards or something?” He laughed as he climbed out of the car with me.
“No, but I do want to get in the water. You do know how to swim, right?”
“Yeah, I can swim.”
I took my shirt off and tossed onto my seat before saying to him, “Then let’s go get wet.”
He smiled as he chased me onto the beach and out into the beautiful water. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking at his sexy shirtless body as we played together in the water. He was easily the sexiest guy out there that day. His smile and that damn accent had me hornier than ever. And after a year of celibacy, I was definitely getting horny at the sight of this beautiful man. However, I was in control of my horniness. I controlled my hormones and urges.
“So, when you say you’re celibate,” he said to me as we exited the water, “does that mean you don’t even masturbate?”
I giggled and with a fake accent replied, “No, I’m not a bloody wanker!”
Me (Julian Baxter)
He burst out laughing and put his arm around my waist as we walked alongside the water. He then asked me, “How do you do it? I can’t go two days without at least a little morning masturbation.”
“I just focus on other things. I put all of my energy into other things. I meditate. I read. I laugh. I do think about sex and I look forward to having sex again, but it’s just not everything to me. Going a year without it has shown me that it’s not everything.”
“You’re brave.”
I giggled and told him, “Stop. I’m not brave for being celibate.”
“Yes, you are. It takes a lot of dedication to do something like that for as long as you have. You have me ready to give it a try.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes. Especially if it means I get to keep seeing you.”
“Ken, we’re just talking and hanging out. You have a life back in London.”
“I have family and friends back in London. I can have a life anywhere I choose.”
“Well, all I know is…”
“Hey, excuse me,” called out this woman as her and a guy she was with approached us. “Hi, can you guys watch me and my fiancé’s stuff while we go swim? You seem like decent guys and you’re obviously together. We’d really appreciate it.”
“Sure,” Kenton told her. “We’ll sit here and watch your stuff for you.”
“Thanks, guys,” the guy said as he shook Kenton’s hand and then mine.
After watching the man and woman go out into the water, I looked at Kenton and informed him, “Don’t make it a habit to help out Americans. People in this country have no shame about taking advantage of people who help them.”
“I didn’t do it just to help them out,” he explained with a smile. “I want to sit on the beach with you and now we have beach chairs to sit on.” He sat down on one of the beach chairs and I sat beside him.
Kenton Clarke
“So, what’s life like in London?”
“It’s not much different than here. It’s a lot rainier there than here. But I love rainy nights back home.”
“Wow, I love rainy nights, too.”
“Hmm, I wonder what else we have in common. What’s your favorite TV show?”
“Game of Thrones.”
His eyes lit up as he said, “Get outta here, bruv. Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’ve seen every single episode and I’m a member of a few online forums.”
“I’m in some of the forums, too. This is wild.”
“What kind of music do you like the most?”
“Soul and neo-soul. I like artists like Maxwell, India.Arie, Floetry, Musiq Soulchild, Corinne Bailey Rae, and I love everything that Jill Scott has ever made.”
“Okay, this is starting to get weird. My iPhone is full of soul and neo-soul music. Wow. The only thing that would make this weirder is if you were a loyal Janet Jackson stan like me.”
His eyes lit up as he told me, “I worship Janet. I keep a pic of her from the All for You era in my wallet for good luck.”
“I have a poster size version of her ‘Someone to Call My Lover’ cover photo on my wall!”
“That’s the pic I have in my wallet! That’s one of my favorite songs by her.”
“Mine, too.”
“This is incredible. I literally have no friends who are Janet fans.”
“Me either. Wow, Ken. We’re more compatible than I thought.”
He stared into my eyes and agreed, “Yeah, we are.”
We sat out there on the beach and talked until the couple came out of the water and thanked us for watching their stuff. Kenton and I continued to get to know each other as we resumed our walk along the beach. After a short while, we headed back to my car and I drove him to one of my favorite places to eat. It was this food truck that sold the best tacos, burritos, quesadillas and enchiladas in Miami. We got some food and then sat down at one of the few tables that were available.
“This is hands down the best taco I’ve ever eaten,” he told me with his mouth full of food.
“I told you,” I said back with a smile. “Me and my friends come here all the time.”
He finished chewing and took a sip from his beer before asking me, “Are you going to introduce me to your friends?”
“Oh, I don’t know about that. They’re not exactly as easygoing as I am. Some of them are picky and others are brutally honest.”
“Their behavior hasn’t fallen on you obviously. You’re like the nicest person I’ve ran into since coming here.”
“I have my moments.”
“I bet you’re so sexy when you’re mad.” He quickly stopped himself from going further and told me, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say it like that.”
“Ken, it’s okay for you to give me compliments. I think you’re sexy, too.”
“You do?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I just don’t wanna disrespect you. I’ve never really spent time around someone who is celibate.”
I stared into his eyes as I admitted, “I haven’t been this tempted to end my celibacy before. But I have rules and I’m going to stick by them.”
“What are those rules?”
“They alternate in level of importance depending on my mood, but the main one is that I will not have sex if an attempt at a serious relationship is not guaranteed. I refuse to be with someone who will not respect my mind, my body and my choices. Absolutely no downlow men, and no one with a crazy stalker ex or a complicated situation that could lead to me getting into some drama. And my potential partner must have goals that he wants to reach in his life. That’s one of the most important rules to me. Do you wanna know why?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Well, because I have my very own goals that I want to reach and if the right guy for me comes into my life at the right moment, then we can help each other reach those goals.”
He smiled as he looked down at the table for a quick second. He then looked back into my eyes and told me, “Those are decent rules. The rules are meant to be broken saying doesn’t apply to your rules, Julian. I wouldn’t want you to break any of those.”
After we finished eating, I took him around to a few more of my favorite spots before bringing him back to my place. No, I wasn’t going to have sex with him but I did want to have a more intimate conversation with him without any distractions. When we got to my little townhouse, I led him inside. I needed to get a little buzz going for myself so I fixed us some drinks. I put on my favorite Janet Jackson playlist and turned the speakers up a little before sitting down beside him on my living room sofa.
“I’ve never had a Tequila Sunrise that tastes this good before,” he told me after taking a sip from his drink.
“That’s because it’s not a Tequila Sunrise,” I told him with a laugh. “It’s a Rum Sunset.”
“I better go easy on this. It doesn’t take much rum to have me jumping off the bloody walls.” He took another sip before sitting his glass down and asking me, “How did you learn to perfectly mix drinks? I can’t make a tasty mixed drink even if my life depended on it.”
“It’s all about balance.” I sat my glass down and asked him, “Do you prefer to be with men more or women?”
“Men, definitely. I have been with only two or three women who knew what they were doing in bed. Every man I’ve been with has either met or gone beyond my expectations. I usually like to go off of body language and most women rarely know what their bodies want.”
“Hmm, interesting. Was your first sexual experience with a man or a woman?”
“Woman. Well, a young woman. We were fourteen and she got me riled up after my soccer practice. That actually came close to messing up my opportunities.”
“How so?”
“She wasn’t on any contraceptives and I didn’t put on a condom. She got pregnant and had to get an abortion.”
“Whoa. I bet you were afraid, huh?”
“I was scared silly.” He chuckled before telling me, “I learned from that mistake though. I’ve been wearing a condom every time I have sex ever since then. What about you? Were you always open with your sexuality or did you have to fool around with some girls?”
“I’ve been out for a good while now and no, I’ve never done anything with a woman except share skincare tips and paint her toenails.”
“I bet you held on to your virginity longer than I did.”
“You said you were fourteen, right?”
“Yeah.”
“I was seventeen when I lost mine. My first time was with a basketball player at my high school. His name was Isaiah Hudson and I still hate him to this day.”
“Why?”
“Because we would talk and hang out all the time before I gave him my virginity. Right after the sex, he started ignoring me. He did hit me up one more time but it was for more sex and when I told him no, he cussed me out. Ken, I felt so used. I hate that feeling.”
“I’m sorry that happened to you. No one deserves that kinda treatment.” He moved closer to me and gently rubbed my back. “I wouldn’t do anything like that to you, bruv. I admit, I do my share of hooking up but when I meet someone I really like, I do like doing the boyfriend thing.”
I giggled and asked, “Boyfriend thing?”
“You know, going out on dates and spending time with each other. Wearing matching clothes.”
“Matching clothes? You’ve done that before?”
“Yeah. Julian, I’ve been someone’s boyfriend before. I know what to do in a relationship. Hell, all of my relationships have ended on good terms and the breakups were over scheduling conflicts or me not having enough time. I am dedicated to finding someone special and devoting my time to him.”
“Don’t you mean him or her?”
He moved even closer to me and said, “No, I mean him.”
Before I could even take in a single breath, his lips were on mine. Surprising myself, I reacted by kissing him back. The kiss only lasted a few seconds but it was enough to make butterflies flutter in my stomach. He smiled the cutest smile and just stared into my eyes for the longest without saying anything. I smiled and finally broke the silence by asking, “Why did you kiss me?”
“Because I really like you. Why did you kiss me back?”
“I don’t know. I guess because…I really like you, too.”
“What are we gonna do about that? I’m going to be here for a few more days. I have an important decision to make and now it’s more complicated because I have a good feeling about you.”
“I’ve had a good feeling about you since we met yesterday. This is definitely a unique situation.”
He reached back to the table and picked up his drink. He took some sips from it and then asked me, “What are your plans for tomorrow?”
“I’m not sure yet. Why?”
“Because I want to spend as much time as I can with you, Julian.”
“Even though you know we’re most likely not going to have sex?”
“I don’t care about that. I don’t need to have sex with you to know that I wanna spend more time with you.”
“But aren’t you worried that we’re moving way too fast?”
“There’s no such thing as moving too fast when it comes to stuff like this. If I know what I want and you know what you want, what’s the problem with acknowledging it and doing something about it? I know you’ve been with some shitty blokes but that’s not who I am. And I’m going to prove it to you. I’ll spend my last few days in America—for the time being—proving that to you.”
“And what happens if you decide you don’t want to play for the Miami soccer team? You’re just going to go back to London and pretend as if you never met me?”
“I’m a man of my word, Julian. I’m dedicated to seeing where this goes with you.”
“I am, too. Okay, I’m in. We have a few days to see where this could go. If by the time you’re ready to leave and we’re both not convinced this is worth it, then we can walk away from it without any hard feelings.” I extended my hand to him and asked, “Deal?”
He shook my hand and replied, “Deal.”
After drinking and talking and listening to Janet Jackson music for nearly two hours, he got an Uber to come pick him up and take him back to his hotel. I wasn’t sure how the next few days were going to go, but I did notice how much I was opening up to him. I felt like I could trust him. While in bed later that night, I texted back and forth with him. All I could do was hope that I was doing the right thing and that he wasn’t playing me.
[Disclaimer]: Pictures used do not reflect the sexuality or personality of people in the pictures. They only serve as visual examples of the characters.
© D.A. Morrison 2017