by J. P. Scott
“Shit.” He said, without context to Jessica.
“You’re finally getting this?”
“I mean, I knew this would be a big undertaking, but I thought we had it.”
“We do have it. You just have to put in some work.”
He looked at Jessica, determination in his core, “I’ve got this. I don’t know what I’ll train, but I’ll make it amazing.”
There were endless possibilities of what he could do. Jessica and he had thought about how to modify the curriculum for years. Now, here it was. He could do this. Just pick a piece of the new hire lessons and make it rock. That was what he always wanted.
He went back to his desk and started sketching out ideas and looking through resources to help bolster his position. Then he realized that he had old training materials stuffed in a drawer. What better way to show improvement, but to compare current training to what he had imagined for years?
He worked through the rest of the day doing the bare minimum. Then, he dashed off to the gym, desperate for a workout to clear and focus his mind.
He checked in and headed to the locker room to change. Normally, he did not pack for the gym, but he thought that morning that he might want to do some sauna time after his workout and cardio. He remembered his incident with the Silver Fox—he hoped that there was none of that shenanigans. He really just wanted to use what the sauna was for: relaxation.
“What do you have for me today,” he asked Patrick.
He smiled, “Remember these?” He held up the bands from the infamous workout.
“Are you kidding me??
“Well, I want to see that boner again.” He laughed, “But it’s still a great workout.”
Ollie had the bands around his upper legs and worked his way across the gym doing a squat and sideways crawl. Thankfully, there was no touching by Patrick and no erection.
Ollie realized during the workout that it was the most non-sexual workout that he ever had. He was focused on what he was doing and barely aware of what Patrick was doing…or what he looked like. He may have said some innuendos, but Ollie just focused on breathing and pushing through the set.
After, there was the typical fist bump and then he was off to the machines to do cardio. Cam had texted that he could not make it that night and to work out without him.
Ollie walked back to the locker room. He changed out of his workout clothes and wrapped a towel around him. He walked to the sauna. He thought about the guys he had seen in the gym. Had the Silver Fox been there? Would he be in the sauna?
The real question was, what Ollie would do in the sauna if the Silver Fox was there? Jeremy had given him a pass. Would he use it for a repeat of that moment in hopes that no one walked in? Would there be another hottie looking for some action?
He really hoped it was empty and that he could just relax.
When he entered through the second door, he found that it was not empty. There was one guy in his forties in the upper right-hand corner and a guy to the left on the lower tier massaging his foot. Both looked uninterested in any human interaction. Ollie made his way up to the upper corner on the left and sat back, letting the heat and quiet soothe him.
He heard movement and opened an eye to see the foot massager standing, securing his towel, and heading for the door. A few minutes later, the other gentleman got up to leave and Ollie was alone.
This is actually kind of nice.
He could feel the tension release from his shoulders. He knew that the process for preparing for the application for the job was weighing on him. And if he was honest, the idea that Jeremy was in Seattle and possibly hooking up this weekend with another guy was weighing on him, too. He felt like with each minute he went back and forth on whether or not he was okay with it.
He heard the door open but did not open his eyes. Part of him fantasized that the Silver Fox was there for a visit, but that fantasy was quickly replaced with the image of an old, overweight man coming in and dropping his towel. He realized that even in his fantasies, he was not totally confident. Why would a hot man come in here with him?
Ollie kept his eyes closed and tried to just clear his mind. He had a man who was very much into him. Why did he need to worry about others and whether or not they found him attractive?
The other man cleared his throat, and Ollie could not resist taking a peek. From the sounds he made, Ollie knew that he had replaced the man in the other corner. He opened his eyes, looking downward and across the teak. Towel open, cock hanging out. Ollie’s eyes moved up the man’s body to see abs, pecs, and…Patrick’s face.
Shit!
Ollie closed his eyes. Patrick was sitting in the sauna with him with his junk hanging out? Why was he not working with a client right now? More importantly, why was he not covered up?
He opened his eyes a sliver again. Damn, that’s a nice cock.
He should not be looking at his trainer’s penis, or chiseled body, or any part of him. It just brought up thoughts of doing things with those parts that he should not think about with a person he was working with professionally.
It’s time to go. Even though the sauna was feeling great, he did not trust that he could sit here with Patrick and not continue to fantasize or take peeks. What would Patrick do if he knew that is what Ollie was doing sitting there?
“Doesn’t this feel great?”
Ollie startled at Patrick’s question. “Um, this is great. I rarely come in here.” He paused, uncertain if he should carry on the conversation or get the heck out of there. “Aren’t you supposed to be with a client?”
“I had two call out back to back. I thought about working out, but I already got some good sets in. I thought this would be a nice break before my last client of the night.”
That seemed reasonable. One of the perks of working in the gym was using the facilities during breaks. Why not the sauna?
Ollie questioned whether the perks allowed for being fully disrobed.
“I usually only get in here late at night…when everyone is gone.”
The pause before that last phrase had Ollie wondering. What did Patrick mean by that? Did he like it when everyone was gone? Or did he like it when there was someone to show off for? If it was the later, Ollie was confused. Patrick was straight, right?
Was it possible that a straight man would want to be ogled and admired by other men in the sauna? Did he like the opportunity to show off the body that he spent so much time working on?
But did he want to be ogled by his clients? With only Ollie and Patrick in the sauna, the answer seemed to be a resounding “Yes.”
“I…I was just about to leave.”
Patrick’s eyes popped open, “No, stay, relax.”
Ollie looked down at Patrick. His hand was on his cock. “Um, I think it’s getting late.”
Had he stepped into an alternate reality? What was Patrick doing? And why was it making Ollie so excited?
“Leaving so soon?”
What kind of excuse could he give? “I…uh…I have work I have to do tonight.”
Ollie stumbled down the tiers and towards the door.
“Wait…” Jeremy’s words were too late to stop Ollie’s momentum. He made his way through the double doors and to his locker. He dressed and scrambled out of the gym trying to understand what just happened.
What am I going to do when I see Patrick again?
He was certain that he would never use the sauna again. There was no telling what would happen in there.
Twenty-Eight
“I saw his penis.”
Jeremy was silent on the other end of the phone, and after a few seconds asked, “Whose penis?”
“Patrick’s.”
“Your trainer? You saw his penis?” His questions were a mixture of excitement and bewilderment.
“I…I didn’t know what to do.” In fact, Ollie had been sprawled out on top of his bed since getting home, unable to move or make sense of anything.
“I mean…touch it? Suck it? I fell like you know wh
at to do with a penis, Ollie.”
“No…I just wasn’t expecting him to be sitting in the sauna with his cock out. Was he wanting to play?”
Jeremy laughed, “You’re asking the wrong person. My guess is that he was. Asking him would be the best way to find out the truth.”
“But…he’s straight.”
“Everyone likes a hand job. Or a blow job.”
“But…wouldn’t he want it from a stranger? Someone that he doesn’t have to see three times a week?”
Anonymity in gay sex was not a new thing. It was pretty common. Suck, get sucked, hook up and get fucked. That was pretty much what a lot of gay men went for. The whole idea of a glory hole was all that Ollie needed to make the case that if a guy just wanted to get off…there were options.
“Maybe he’s not that straight? Maybe he likes knowing the guy who is pleasuring him. Or, heck, he’s just a visual guy and likes to see who is sucking his dick?”
None of this was helping Ollie deal with the situation, “But, he’s my trainer. I have to see him on Friday.”
“You had a boner during a workout the other day. You still went back.”
That was true. But it felt different now. An erection could happen at any time and any place. It could be accidental. The incident in the sauna was much different.
“You’re making too much of this,” Jeremy said calmly. “And besides, I said you could have a pass.”
“I thought that would be with the guy on Flame…or some other random. Not my trainer!”
“Take what you can get, I guess.” Jeremy was clearly enjoying Ollie’s distress. “Try to get some sleep.” He kissed the camera on his phone and said good night.
Ollie could not sleep. He did not know what to do about Patrick. He doubted that Patrick was trying to do anything and had innocently started something that he did not intend to do.
He felt his phone buzz. He assumed Jeremy was sending him a text, but did not see a notification there. He scrolled through his apps and saw that there was a notification on Flame. He hesitated, but pushed the app icon.
“Hey.”
The guy he had exchanged pictures with was trying to start a conversation. Ollie could not believe that in the same night, Patrick had shown him his dick and now his online flirty friend that may be fair game was hitting him up. Any other time that he was not trying to cultivate an actual romantic relationship, he would have been all over both situations.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Ollie was not really in the mood to chat with a stranger, but fired off the question anyway.
The response came quickly, “Sorry about today.”
What did that mean? “Um, I think you meant to send that to someone else.”
“No, at the gym. I didn’t mean to surprise you like that.”
At the gym? He had barely spoken with anyone at the gym. “I don’t know what you mean.” Ollie’s mind tried to piece together what he was reading with his workout. Had someone bumped into him or tapped him on the shoulder? He could not think of anything.
“In the sauna. You seemed very surprised.”
“Patrick?”
“Yeah, who did you think I was?”
He had been chatting with his trainer on Flame?
“We never exchanged names or face pics.” And the rest of the pics were not enough for Ollie to recognize his trainer.
“I thought you knew.”
“I thought you were straight.” Had Ollie missed signs that Patrick was gay? Had he mentioned dates or going to places with friends that would have been a clue? He pretty much only seemed to be focused on the gym.
“I guess I don’t give off the vibe. I don’t really go out much to gay bars and stuff.”
There were certainly all kinds of gay men. The guys who went to the bars and the clubs were not necessarily what gay men had to be. If Patrick did decide to go out to a bar, he would certainly be popular.
Ollie’s mind circled back to the event in the sauna. “Sorry if I made things awkward. I was surprised to see you.”
“What did you think was going to happen?”
“I wasn’t sure. I’ve heard sometimes things happen in there.”
“Like what?” Was it possible that the staff was unaware of what some men did in the sauna? Could it be that well-kept of a secret?
Ollie sent him some examples. Patrick replied with a shocked face emoji.
“And how do you know?”
“Well, my friend told me. And one time a guy tried to invite me to play.” Ollie decided to leave out that he had started to participate.
“You thought that I was going to try to get some action from you?” The choice of the word “action” made Ollie smile. It seemed to be an older phrase and more of a straight phrase than a gay one. “And is that what you were looking for today?”
“I went in there to relax, but I had thought that someone might make an offer or a request.” He wanted to make sure he dispelled any idea that he liked to cruise the sauna…or anywhere else in the gym…for sex.
“I just wanted to relax, too. I just hate being wrapped up in the towel. I wasn’t thinking that it might surprise you.”
“I guess I let my imagination run away with me.”
“It all makes a lot more sense now. I’ll still see you on Friday?”
It would be a bold new frontier for their working relationship, but he replied that he would be there.
“Wait for me in the sauna after?” Patrick followed it up with a winking emoji.
How do I respond to that? He’s joking, right? “Or maybe the showers. We can shake things up.” Ollie hoped a joke back would be appropriate.
He plugged in his phone to charge and tried to go to bed and not think about Patrick’s giant cock.
Twenty-Nine
At the end of the workday on Thursday, Jessica leaned over Ollie’s shoulder at his desk.
“I think it’s ready. You should submit it.”
“I have one more day before it’s due. Maybe I should more on it tonight.”
“There’s literally nothing else that we could possibly change or improve. You should just submit it and be done with it.”
Jess was right, but Ollie had that same fear creeping in on him. What if he thought of something better that he should include in his application, but it was too late? What if he decided he did not want to apply? What if he reread the application and found there was a mistake?
He knew those fears were unwarranted. With Jess’s help, they had poured over each draft, debated word choices, swapped out situations and examples for better ones. It was the best it was going to be—and it seemed pretty good.
“Push the button,” she whispered in his ears.
Then he did it.
Jess stepped out into the aisle and did a little dance, “You’re going to get it,” she changed over and over as she gyrated and flailed.
“You look ridiculous.” Ollie could not stop laughing at his friend. He had never seen her so excited about anything in his life.
“We need to go celebrate.”
A couple of drinks and maybe a dinner seemed like a good reward for all the work they had done. “Please, let it not be someplace where this is dancing.”
“You’re just jealous of my moves.”
“They are certainly unique.” They grabbed their keys and bags and headed out of the building.
“Jess, do you think there are other people applying?”
She shrugged, “I haven’t heard anything. And I’ve been too busy to pick up on any gossip around the office. Everyone must think that I’m angry with them.”
“Well, you can go back to your old social ways.”
“A little time apart from everyone has been a good thing…and for a good cause.” They reached the parking lot, settled on a location, and said they would see each other in a few minutes.
Ollie slammed his car door and was about to start up the engine when he felt his phone ring. It was Cam. “Hey, buddy, what’s going on?�
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“I told Mark.”
“Oh, wow. I didn’t think you would be doing that for a bit. Isn’t he tied up with that trial?”
Cam was crying, “He wanted to surprise me with dinner. He said he did not like that work always took him away from me, so he wanted a date.”
“That’s sweet of him,” Cam must have been very surprised to see Mark come through the door. He had said it could be weeks before Mark was done in court and could have a normal life again. “And you decided to tell him?”
“I didn’t mean to. He had all this great food delivered and had an assistant set up the dining room with tablecloths and all the fancy dishes and glasses. There were flowers and candles. I was just sitting there looking over at him as he opened a bottle of wine and toasted us. I just couldn’t smile and enjoy it. All I could think about was that I had put him at risk. He could be positive, too. If he waited weeks to get tested…” There were certainly ramifications to Mark’s health to consider.
“What did you say?”
“I told him everything. About how I had been playing with other guys. About the tests and my new medication.”
Ollie tried to imagine what Mark’s reaction had been. He was expecting a romantic evening and was smacked in the face with really bad news. The man he loved had been cheating on him. Cam was sick, and he possibly was positive, too.
“Is he still with you, or did he go back to the office?”
“He’s at the office. And I’m packing.”
“Packing?”
“He wants me out. He said to take what I needed and to get out. Then he left.” As Cam spoke, Ollie could hear the sounds of Cam putting things into a suitcase, “I was hoping you could do me a favor.”
“Sure, anything.” If he had to ditch Jess to go help Cam pack and move, he would do it. She would be pissed, but Ollie knew that he would do the same in reverse if Jess needed him and he had plans with Cam.
“Can I stay at your place tonight?”
“Of course, you can! My door is always open. You even have my spare key.”
“I don’t know what time I’ll be there. I’m trying to take as much as I can fit in my car.”
