Boyfriend Material

by Jerry Cole

  “Boyfriend Material”

  M/M Straight to Gay First Time Romance

  Jerry Cole

  © 2017

  Jerry Cole

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  This book is intended for Adults (ages 18+) only. The contents may be offensive to some readers. It may contain graphic language, explicit sexual content, and adult situations. May contain scenes of unprotected sex. Please do not read this book if you are offended by content as mentioned above or if you are under the age of 18.

  Please educate yourself on safe sex practices before making potentially life-changing decisions about sex in real life. If you’re not sure where to start, see here: http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com/safe-sex-resources/.

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner & are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. Products or brand names mentioned are trademarks of their respective holders or companies. The cover uses licensed images & are shown for illustrative purposes only. Any person(s) that may be depicted on the cover are simply models.

  Edition v1.04 (2017.08.24)

  http://www.jerrycoleauthor.com

  This book is dedicated to my friend Ken P. Thanks so much for the support.

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  Table of Contents

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Authors Note

  Books by Jerry Cole

  Chapter One

  Jason looked around the class and smiled. He had been a fully certified Salsex instructor for a little less than a year and he had never expected to enjoy it as much as he had. He had never been a gym bunny, but after his break up, things had changed. He didn’t want to be the gay hair stylist with the fabulous pink and blue hair anymore.

  Well, he didn’t want to be just the gay hair stylist with the fabulous pink and blue hair anymore. He had started going to the gym after Blaine had broken up with him. Blaine was a gym bunny and Jason knew that he would have no problem moving on.

  The issue was that Jason didn’t really like the gym. He thought benching was stupid, he didn’t understand the appeal of sitting there and doing the same thing until he was so tired that he couldn’t breathe. He had tried to find ways to switch it up, go for runs, listen to podcasts. Do something. But he could feel his motivation waning the more he went, which wasn’t the way it was supposed to go, according to what people had told him.

  He spent most of his time strategically hanging around the machines which were already taken and pretending to politely wait while he listened to the latest pop hit on his headphones and tried to stop himself from dancing.

  One of the workers, who he had kind of become friends with, asked him if he was interested in joining a class. He wasn’t, but it was better than going to the gym just to pretend to work out. However, the moment he walked into the class, he was in love.

  The instructor wasn’t that good, but Jason was having fun. The rhythm spoke to him in a way that no other exercise did. He wasn’t bored and he didn’t dislike it. He was legitimately, hands down, having fun.

  Three years had gone by since he had first walked into Tatiana’s class and his life had completely changed.

  He didn’t like giving Blaine too much credit. After all, Blaine was a selfish, ridiculous man who had made Jason think that he was going to be with him forever. Then he had proceeded to break his heart in tiny little ways over the few years they had spent together, until Jason had started acting out. Then Blaine broke up with him.

  Blaine was at fault. They both knew that he was. But by then, it didn’t seem to matter that much. And the breakup seemed more like a competition than something he needed to grieve.

  That was likely one of the reasons, if not the chief reason, that he had fallen into the class. Years had passed, and things had changed for Jason. The days he didn’t teach, he went to class. He had never felt as confident or as happy with his body as he did now.

  He had shaved his head, changed the shape of his eyebrows and started wearing sleeveless shirts to show off his biceps and triceps.

  At the gym, his classes were always packed. He liked the extra cash at the end of the month, but mostly, he liked being there. He still couldn’t believe that he got paid to dance and exercise, something he would be doing by himself anyway.

  It had taken a lot of work, but it had changed his life. His class had been so full he had been a little bit worried, but now that everyone was leaving, all he felt was happy and proud.

  He walked across the room to unplug his laptop and started to pack things up to go home when someone walked through the door.

  Jason didn’t pay them much attention. Pilates came after his class and the moment his students started leaving, Tee’s students would start arriving.

  “Is this Salsex?”

  Jason looked up, his gaze following the male voice. He rarely had male students and he was always curious about them. But when he saw the man standing in front of the double-glass doors, looking a little bit lost, Jason had to stop himself from gasping.

  The man was gorgeous. Jason spent most of his time around men who did go to the gym, who were gym bunnies, who thought having a six-pack was “an average body type.” But this guy wasn’t just fit, he was pretty, too. There was no other way
to describe him. He was tall and well-built with a wide back and incredible arms, but Jason wasn’t focusing on that. He was focusing on his face. His long black lashes, his dark brown hair and eyes that were so bright Jason could tell they were shining even when he was standing so far away.

  “Sorry,” the man said again, smiling this time when he saw that Jason was looking at him. “I just need to know if this is Salsex.”

  “You missed it,” Jason said, when he finally found his voice. “It’s at six on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

  “Oh,” the man said, looking at the floor. “They gave me a ticket at the front.”

  “That’s probably for Pilates,” Jason said. “The class is good. Tee is a great instructor.”

  The man laughed, shaking his head. “I know I’m going to sound like a spoiled child, but I was really looking forward to a dancing class.”

  “Come back Thursday,” Jason said, winking at him. “Just make sure you come a little earlier. Because if you come too late, then you’ll be doing martial arts.”

  The man nodded. “I need to get better at time management, anyway.”

  Jason wasn’t quite sure what to say, so he nodded and kept putting his stuff away. He expected that the man would either go or hang around until Tee came in, but he didn’t seem to be making a move to do either.

  “So tell me,” he said, leaning back against the wall and crossing his arms over his chest, “is this instructor any good?”

  “Tee? Yeah, she’s fabulous,” Jason replied. “I don’t even like Pilates, but I’ll do it if she’s teaching.”

  The man shook his head, laughing. “No, I meant for Salsex.”

  “I like to think he’s pretty good,” Jason said, getting on his feet. “But you’d probably have to ask a student. I’m kind of biased.”

  The man laughed, shaking his head. “Shit, sorry. There I go, putting my foot in it again. As usual.”

  Jason laughed, too. “I didn’t think that was too bad. You didn’t say anything bad about me.”

  “Yet.”

  “Yet,” Jason replied, conceding. He smiled, then kept talking. “I’m Jason. I’m the Salsex instructor, I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays here at six. So if you’re interested, you should definitely try to come early. The classes fill up quickly, so you may want to find a spot somewhere near the front for your first few classes. If you decide to come back, that is.”

  He shrugged. “I’m supposed to be doing cardio.”

  “Yeah,” Jason said, looking him up and down. It didn’t look to him as if the man’s exercise routine was lacking, but he understood the need to switch it up. “I get that. Well, the class is a fun way to do it, but it can be a little intense at first. There’s some choreography, too and that may not be your cup of tea.”

  “I like dancing,” the man said, raising one eyebrow. “Better than exercising. Well, I think I would anyway.”

  “I feel you,” Jason replied. “Well, you can come back in a couple of days and I can get you started.”

  “Aren’t you afraid Pilates is going to steal me away?” the man replied, his eyes twinkling.

  “Terrified,” Jason said, standing up and putting a hand over his chest. He was smiling, but he didn’t like how true this stranger’s words felt when they had just met. He supposed he did miss having some eye candy in class, as much as he loved his students. “Look, um —”

  “Taylor,” he replied, flashing a smile at him.

  “Look, Taylor, if you promise to come back on Thursday, I won’t hold it against you that you stay for Pilates,” Jason said. Now that his stuff was all packed up, he should really get ready to head out and go home, but he was enjoying the banter too much. Or maybe he was just enjoying looking at him.

  Taylor was so pretty, Jason was having a hard time getting over it. He could hardly believe he was even talking, when all he wanted to do was stare at Taylor’s beautiful dark and full lips and his adorable turned-up nose.

  Most men didn’t stick around for Salsex classes, but Jason suddenly had the need to see him sweat. Maybe if Taylor took a liking to Tee’s class, he would start sticking around for it. He would be exhausted, for sure, but there was nothing that could stop him from seeing Taylor again. Even if it was seeing him from far away.

  Taylor seemed to notice Jason staring at him because he looked down and bit his lower lip. He couldn’t be — no, he couldn’t be. He had been friendly, but nothing else. Jason’s gaydar never malfunctioned. But if he didn’t know better, he would have thought that Taylor, the hot stranger with the pretty face, was flirting with him. Which was probably not the case.

  “Anyway,” Jason said, as the rest of the students for Tee’s class started filing in. “I’m going to head out. It was nice to meet you.”

  “You too,” Taylor said, flashing him a smile. This time, it was a smile with teeth, and it was completely perfect. There was a little dimple on the side of cheek and Jason heard himself sighing aloud, like an idiot, before he gave Taylor an awkward little head nod and left the gym as quickly as he could.

  Chapter Two

  Taylor sat up in bed and looked around his bedroom. His arm hurt in its sling, which he was only supposed to put on when he went to bed. He almost always forgot it, though, because he was already doing so much better. It was better than when it was stuck in a cast, but it wasn’t good. He missed not waking up because he was sleeping in a funny position or accidentally sitting up in bed due to random, unexpected pain shooting up through his arm and over the rest of his body. Basically, it was better than the way it used to be, but he still didn’t like it. He just wanted to get back to normal.

  The way his bedroom looked wasn’t helping, either. He hadn’t slept very well and the way that the walls were painted in bright orange and blue never helped. He knew that his friends had been trying to do something nice for him when they repainted his bedroom with the team’s colors, but he wished the team’s colors were something a little more subdued, like beige and off-white. He was a light sleeper and he had always been particular, but it wasn’t like he could just paint the walls back. He would be insulting all of his friends, the ones who had been there for him when he had been injured, even though they didn’t have to be.

  Taylor had never felt more loved than when they had all filed into his house and left stews and casseroles for him — as if someone had died, he remembered thinking grimly. They had painted his bedroom and his living room, brought him team paraphernalia, gotten him a big rubber gator dressed in the team’s colors. The gator was holding an oversized cardboard sign that said, “Get Well Soon” in very pretty bright blue and orange coloring.

  He had always appreciated the school spirit at the university, but he hadn’t realized how deep in its veins it ran until he had broken his arm. It wasn’t a complicated fracture — thankfully, he would be able to play football again, which he didn’t care about, and his scholarship wouldn’t be affected, which he did care about. He cared about it a lot.

  His education depended on his ability to play football. Most of his teammates were legacy students or they were on track to be professionals. But Taylor just wanted to play football and get his applied mathematics degree, then forget he ever played football again.

  He liked exercising, but he was nothing like the rest of his teammates. They liked girls, beer, fraternity parties and being followed around by adoring members of the marching band, which, as far as Taylor could tell, was more difficult than playing football. It wasn’t that Taylor didn’t like girls or beer or fraternity parties. He liked all those things, quite a lot. He was just busy and he didn’t have as much time for them as his teammates did.

  When he had broken his arm, his first thought had been about his scholarship. His second one had been about his arm. His third one had been about calling his father.

  His father had listened to him rant and apologize at the same time until he was practically in tears. His father then had softly stopped him and asked him if he was okay. That was the momen
t that Taylor had told himself that he had to be okay, he just had to be, and he would do whatever it took to get himself there.

  He had started going to physical therapy, and that had been working out okay. But he needed to incorporate more athletics into his routine if he wanted to get back to the playing field and a budget gym had recently opened near his house.

  He had access to the university’s facilities, of course. Unlimited, VIP access. And he didn’t live that far from campus, because living in the expensive suites was a benefit that came from being part of the football team. He was probably being ungrateful, but he needed to get away from all the support. Everyone supporting him and cheering him on was supposed to be encouraging, but he found the pressure crushing and unwanted. People recognized him when he went out, since the city wasn’t that big and it was mostly students, but the further away he got from campus, the less likely that was to happen.

  And he didn’t like running. He thought he would join a class, and Salsex was a fun, interesting choice. He did like dancing and he preferred that over doing cardio any day.

  But then, as he was sitting alone in the dark, trying to shield his eyes from the bright colors of his bedroom walls, he had to wonder what else was compelling him. There were lots of other, more advanced classes he could go to that were taught at the university, and he wouldn’t have to pay anything.

  The thought of going to Salsex shouldn’t have been enough to literally keep him up at night. He supposed it could be anything, really. It would probably be hard on his arm. He would need to talk to Jason, the instructor with the hazel eyes, before the next class. Taylor didn’t think that he would be opposed to sharing some modifiers with Taylor so that he wouldn’t get hurt. Jason seemed nice enough.

  He seemed really nice, actually, and if he recognized Taylor, he didn’t let on. Which meant that his kindness had been real and that Jason didn’t care about who he was. There was no way for Taylor to really know if Jason hadn’t believed him or if he was just exceptionally cool. Some people were exceptionally cool.