Benji and the Wireman

by Charlie Winters

  I nodded into the phone. “Alright.”

  She started to weep again and it took all of my strength to hold in another bout of tears… but I did.

  “I love you so much, Benjamin. You know that?”

  “I know, Mom. I love you too.”

  I gave myself a few minutes in the bathroom before attempting to fix things with Jesse. I needed to get it together and I had certainly fucked that up earlier in the hour. But, I had a second chance and I’d even been rehearsing the little speech in my head. Now, I just had to deliver it without having another tantrum.

  Easier said than done.

  But, when I went out to the living room, he was absent, a note in surprisingly neat script left behind in his place.

  Ben,

  I had to take care of something, but I won’t be long.

  Don’t leave, okay?

  And don’t lock me out.

  J

  Fourteen.

  Jesse

  My father bent over his desk staring down at a mound of paperwork. He lifted a pair of readers up onto his nose and glanced between the paper and his laptop, trying to make sense of it all.

  “Hey, um, Dad?” I mumbled. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  He lowered the papers and let the glasses dangle from a chain around his neck. “Sure. What’s going on? Will said you had him covering your jobs this afternoon. You sick?”

  “Uh, no… I, um… I need to talk to you about something, actually.”

  My dad let his chair roll back against the wall and studied me. “Something the matter with you?”

  “Not exactly. I mean, not with me, but I… I just wanted to let you know that I’m gonna take a little time off in the next week or so. Just some personal time.”

  He stared at me without answering, just tipping back in the chair until it squeaked noisily in the quiet office. “Just some personal time, huh? Why?” he asked finally.

  “I’ve… well, I’ve been seeing someone and they’ve had a death in the family. I’d like to, you know, um, be there for that, sir.”

  “A death in the family,” he deadpanned. “You’ve been seeing someone. Someone we’ve never even met. And now you want to take a week or more off of work to be there for this ‘person.’” He put air quotes around the final word.

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  “Yeah, Dad, I would. And last time I checked, I didn’t have to ask.” I was starting to get pissed and I knew he could tell, but fuck it. Will was right. This was my life and I had the days to spend. If I wanted to use it on a family funeral for my boyfriend, he could go fuck himself.

  “Well, alright.” My father pushed his glasses up onto his nose and stared at the paperwork again.

  “That’s it?” I asked, pressing the issue further.

  He swiveled around in his chair again. “Well, now, Jess, what would you like me to say? We wish your boyfriend and his family the best?”

  “Something like that,” I clipped. “Or at least you could maybe ask me about him. You don’t even want to know his name?”

  “Not really, no. Now, you have the time to spend and you’re welcome to use it however you want. If this is how you choose to spend it rather than taking a vacation on the beach somewhere, that’s your business. Personally, I’d rather spend it at the pool.”

  “We live on the beach,” I grumbled. “And I have a pool, Dad. Year-round. So does Ben.”

  He turned back to his laptop, clicking on the keyboard until it sounded like one of the keys might break. “Ben,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Yes, Ben.” I swung toward the door but turned to face him one final time. “I really wish you’d come around on this one, Dad. I know you don’t understand this and, you know what? There was a time where I really didn’t understand it much myself. I was confused about everything and I hid all of it. But now, man, I feel like someone clicked on a light inside of me.” I let out a low chuckle and scratched my beard. “And God, I feel good all of the time. I can pretty much credit Ben for that one. He knows exactly who he is… and maybe I want to be like that too. Maybe I don’t want to be so afraid all the time.”

  “You gonna march in the goddamned parade now?” he grumbled, taking a moment to actually make eye contact for the first time in minutes.

  “I don’t know, Dad.” I shrugged. “Maybe. I never really wanted to before, but maybe now I do. Maybe now I have something that I’m pretty proud of.”

  He started tapping again, even taking a second to give the monitor a swift smack to the side. “Well, that sounds great, son. Have a good week then.”

  “I’ll check in when I get back,” I told him.

  He waved me off, not even bothering to look back up.

  “I really do hope you change your mind, Dad.”

  He smacked the monitor one final time and grumbled, “I won’t.”

  Ben’s Jetta was in the driveway and the door wasn’t locked, giving me a sliver of hope that he wasn’t completely done with me. I had a dozen donuts from the Sugar Shack and I was taking the chance that he could be bought with a box of fried dough.

  “Ben?” I called out.

  He came around the corner from his bedroom wiping at his red eyes, clearly having just finished a fresh crying jag. He was shirtless as usual, and wearing one of his typical pairs of super-tiny shorts, this pair in a bright cotton-candy pink.

  I looked down into the box and said, “I got donuts. I have, um, one Chocolate Butterfinger and one Fruit Loop, which sounds gross, but it’s actually pretty good. I only got one Vanilla Coconut because I wasn’t sure if you liked coconut. Some people hate it and—”

  Ben slid between me and the box, essentially pushing it back onto the counter, before he wrapped his arms around my waist and pressed his warm lips against mine. He tasted like the purple Listerine from the bathroom sink. “Hey,” he breathed. “I’m really sorry about what I said earlier. I was just such a wreck and there are really no words for—”

  I pushed my mouth against his and palmed his ass with both hands while pressing him firmly against the front of my shorts. He let out a high-pitched whimper as he moved to straddle me, pushing his back against the fucking paper donut box while his wet tongue traced hotly over my bottom lip.

  “Hey, Ben?” I whispered.

  “Yeah?” His lids fluttered open in a dreamlike state as he panted against my mouth.

  “I really missed you. I guess I’ve never missed anyone before, so—”

  “Then why aren’t you still kissing me?” Ben asked, going for my mouth again. He pressed his lips against mine, his minty tongue just licking… goddamn it.

  “Okay,” I returned, pushing him back for a second. “I want to basically rip those fucking shorts off of you, but… Jesus, Ben, I can’t. Today, right now, you are going for straight emotional. You found out some really shitty news not two hours ago and now, here we are and… I mean, trust me; I know what it feels like to just want to have someone fuck the pain out of you, you know? But I can’t be that guy. I can’t just do that because I don’t want you to wake up after some blissed-out nap and kick me out a few hours from now because you regret everything you did with the first guy you did it with!”

  Ben smiled and traced a finger down my chest. “You really think that if we have sex, I’m gonna kick you out?”

  “I mean…” I sighed and looked down at my hands. “You were ready to kick me out a few hours ago. And that was because I wanted to help.”

  “And I want you to help now,” Ben whispered into my ear.

  “Nope.” I stared into the brown box again. “Look. I got you a special rainbow donut or whatever. I mean, I guess I thought Pride month was in June, but—”

  “Will you stop talking about the goddamned donuts and take me to bed, Jess?” Ben’s lip began to quiver again, his eyes coated in a wet sheen. “I’m not hungry. I’m not thirsty. I just want you, okay? You asked me earlier to let you know if I needed you. Well, I do. I need you now and you won’t touch
me… you just won’t and I need you,” he cried. “I just need you.”

  Ben felt like a ragdoll in my arms, going limp when I collected him, his noodle-like limbs pooling around my neck as his lips fell to my ear.

  “Thank you,” he said softly as I carried him through the house, following the words up with a slow lick over my entire earlobe.

  The wet sounds he made there, just licking and biting, were enough to make me beg for him, especially when he worked his cock against my groin… Jesus, I really needed to get those shorts off and see him—all of him—for the very first time.

  I dropped him onto the mattress with a thud and when he landed, he did this thing—this thing with his back—where he arched up and made a noise, almost like he’d come, while his hand massaged over his rocklike dick.

  “Jess,” he whimpered. “Take these off?” He lifted his ass off of the bed and gave it a little wiggle for me as he bit his bottom lip.

  “Jesus, Watts,” I groaned. “I’m gonna come before you get undressed.”

  Ben popped the button of his shorts and murmured softly, “Mmm, God, I hope not.”

  I took over for him, slowly unzipping the tiny shorts and tugging at the strained cotton. I struggled with the fabric over his leanly muscled thighs, revealing a goddamned turquoise jockstrap underneath. Ben massaged over the material again, sliding a single finger between his barely cotton-covered thighs.

  “You like it?” he asked, thrusting his hips an inch off of the bed for effect.

  I swallowed a near-concrete gulp of saliva and nodded my head. “Yeah. Did you, uh, wear this for me?”

  “Uh huh.” Ben reached for my hand, guiding it over his ridiculously hard cock. Jesus fuck. “You want to see it?” he asked sweetly, biting that fucking lip again.

  I ran my hand along the side straps of the jock, snapping one against the side of his hip. “You gonna show it to me?”

  Ben rose onto his elbows and stared straight at my chest. “Take that shirt off.” He nodded toward my shorts. “And the shorts. If you show me yours, I’ll show you mine.” He spread his legs wide in invitation, the crack of his perfect ass on display.

  I smacked his cheek once and he flinched slightly followed up with a not-so-shy smile. “You like that?” I asked.

  “I’d like it better if you got naked.” He nodded to my clothing again. “Now, Jess.”

  I tugged on my shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the floor. Snapping the button of my shorts and giving the zipper a quick tug, I dropped them to the ground in one motion.

  Ben lifted off of his elbows and pressed back onto the mattress with a squeal. “Oh my God!” he screamed.

  “What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

  He lifted up again and stared at me. “God, nothing. You know, I was dying to get you naked because I just fucking knew you were going to look like that.” He rolled onto his stomach, baring his porcelain ass in that perfect jock, and squealed into one of his pillows. I smacked his ass again and flipped him back onto his back so I could study that gorgeous face.

  “Look like what? I’m not even naked yet.” I looked down at my black briefs.

  Ben sat up fully and gestured his hand up and down my body. “Okay. You look like a motherfucking Adonis. And I look like some crack whore who sucks cock down at the Gas n’ Sip for an occasional bag of Doritos. I mean, I’m like a hundred and thirty-five pounds soaking wet and you… I mean, what do you even see in me? And when I was lying down, you were eyeballing me like I was the goddamned Sizzler buffet!”

  “The Sizzler buffet? I’m pretty sure that doesn’t exist anymore. And a crack whore?”

  “Just… never mind. You know what I mean, Jess. Why in the world would you want a guy like me? Okay,” Ben prattled, sitting up on his knees now, “why would you want me when you could, say, have a guy like that Doug douche that we saw in the hardware store? I mean, surely you could have a guy like that any time you wanted. You just put your picture up online and voila! Instant fucking hot guy rings your doorbell in like five minutes!”

  “Because I don’t want a guy like Doug,” I said, scratching my beard. “I had a guy like Doug. I mean, I used to date Doug. He was boring as fuck and liked to talk about working out and his dumb car—”

  “Wait,” Ben said, bouncing back on the bed. “You used to date that guy? From the store?”

  “Yeah.” I scratched my beard again. “Why?”

  “Because… why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Um, because you never asked. And I only went out with him for a month or two. I didn’t think it was worth mentioning because it didn’t mean anything… and it was like six months ago.”

  Ben gaped at me. “Six months ago? That’s it?”

  I pulled Ben close, wrapping my arm around his waist. “Yeah,” I whispered, “six months ago. And I’ve never thought about him again. Not once. As a matter of fact, I never thought about him much when we dated. I never thought about stripping him naked or sticking my tongue between his legs.”

  “You are talking about me, right?” he teased.

  “I want to spread that ass like the Sizzler buffet, honey,” I joked, smacking him one final time. Ben smiled widely and kissed me languidly before moving his hand down the front of my briefs with another loud squeal.

  “I just knew you’d have a porn cock!” he returned not-so-quietly.

  Then things did get quiet. His breathing evened and his smile became a bit serious as he stared into my eyes, our faces less than an inch apart.

  “You sure you want to do this, Ben?” I asked, stroking my thumb down the side of his cheek.

  “Yeah.” He nodded once and pressed a kiss to my lips. “What about you? You sure?”

  I slid my fingers into the band of his jockstrap and tugged them down, finally getting to see his entire body on display. Ben looked so young in that moment—much younger than his thirty-five years—completely vulnerable and almost apprehensive, looking up at me as if waiting for my approval. He gave me a coy smile and covered his eyes with one hand.

  “What?” he said softly. “I’m embarrassed. You’ve got this hammer out of Monstercocks ’R’ Us and I’m just… normal.”

  I pressed him back onto the mattress and took his hand away from his face, taking a moment to just look at him. “You’re not normal, Ben. You’re beautiful.” Brushing my fingertips against his eyelid, I carefully pressed a kiss there before pulling back. “I’m sorry about today. I really liked your Oma.”

  Ben swallowed instinctively, his mouth opening an inch. “I—”

  “You don’t have to say anything,” I told him immediately. “You said you needed me, so I’m here. I’m gonna take care of you, alright?”

  He nodded and swallowed again, his eyes quietly filling with moisture.

  “I’m gonna ask you one more time, Ben, and then I won’t ask you again. You sure you want to do this?”

  “Yes!” he blurted, wiping away a quick tear and choking out a laugh. “God, Jess, do you know how long I’ve wanted you to stick that thing in here? Of course, now that I’ve felt it, I’m having second thoughts.” He giggled softly again. “Can you take off that underwear so that we’re on equal playing ground here?”

  “Why don’t you do it?” I asked. “I’ve kind of been sorta… fantasizing about you doing it.”

  Ben smiled and sat up a bit. “Is that right?” Then he did this sort of snake-like roll of his hips, ending up with his face right at the band of my briefs. He stuck out his tongue and traced along the elastic before gripping onto it with his teeth and tugging once. Immediately sitting up, he let out a breath and smiled.

  “Fuck it. That looks so much easier in the movies than it is in real life. It’s sort of complex, you know? It’s like once you get them halfway down your thigh, what do you do? Keep going? I mean, it’s a lot of work for your mouth and it’s only sexy for like the first minute or so. Then you just sort of look like an asshole.” He placed both hands on the sides of my hips and
tugged at the cotton, pulling them off in one drag.

  Ben stared down at my dick and then up at me.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I don’t know whether to kiss you or kick you out.”

  “Don’t kick me out.” I looked down at my aching, swollen erection. “Please, Ben. I’m begging you.”

  Ben bounced on the bed and then lay back down beside me. “Okay, I won’t, but I have to warn you, I’m stressed. And when I’m stressed, I’m bossy.”

  I sat up on my elbows. “Only when you’re stressed? You’re bossy all the fucking—”

  “Shut up,” he snapped. “You should probably start by kissing me.”

  So I did.

  Long and wet, licking over every square inch of that mouth until we were both panting for air, our hands clutching each other so tightly, you’d think it was our last night on earth. I nipped at his neck, his ears, even that blonde hair until his whole body writhed beneath me, begging me to go lower… lower… lower.

  So I did.

  I moved down to his chest, loving the moans escaping his throat… the whimpers begging me to finish what I’d started. Those fingers pressing into my shoulders as my tongue worked its way down until I was right there… right where I knew he wanted me, taking the entire length of his cock into my mouth until it reached the back of my throat.

  “Fuck yes!” he shouted.

  His grip was tight on my hair, nearly ripping it from the scalp as I worked him over, the short hairs at the base of his dick sort of tickling my nose. The smell of him was intoxicating, a light blend of the coconut soap he used along with just a hint of sweat and precome, the sticky material coating my tongue with each swallow.

  And the noises Ben made… it felt like he was a teenager and it was our first time, rutting around in the back of an old car, like he’d never had a man take him this way before. He jutted his hips into my face, gripping harder and harder until my dick felt like steel against the mattress beneath me.