Danny
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Danny pushed the 'off' button on his cordless phone, his quiet reserved manner vanishing as he punched the air with his right fist in a victory sign and yelled, "Yahoo!" The call had been from his former roommate in college. Back then, Brad had been a daredevil, a lot of fun. Now, because the computer consulting company he worked for had transferred him to town, Brad had asked to stay with him for a few days while he looked for a flat of his own. It would be great to see him again.
Danny grabbed a beer from the fridge in celebration, wondering how much Brad had changed over the four years since he'd last seen him. Brad, the guy with the beautiful face and perfect body he had drooled over for the two years they had shared the same dorm room. Never the slightest sign did he give that Danny might have interpreted as interest. Danny shook his head. The only flaw in his dreams was that Brad, the perfect guy to live with and enjoy, was straight. 'But, hell,' he thought, 'that's always my luck.' Knowing the guy hated gays, he'd played a macho role whenever Brad was around.
He thought of the fairly young guy he'd followed on the street that afternoon, until the guy crutched his way up the walk of a house. Danny had gotten hard seeing the left jeans leg pulled snugly over the mid-thigh stump, but it went limp when a couple of children had run out of the house yelling, "Daddy!" Another straight, and fairly decent looking, too. How much bad luck could a guy take.
He was home from work early, cleaned his small house and made up the extra bed for Brad, then showered and put on his sharpest jeans and a knit pull-over shirt, just in case Brad wanted to go out for something to eat. He wanted a beer to help pass the time, but, then, Brad would want one before dinner and no way was he gonna get plastered before this reunion.
When he heard the crunch of gravel in the drive, he flung open the door in anticipation. Brad eased slowly from a fantastic looking sports car. "Hey, buddy! Long time no see!" He yelled.
"Come here, guy!" Danny's outstretched hand dropped as he noted the long strides Brad had always taken had been replaced with a hesitant limp.
Instead of the handshake he expected, Brad grabbed him in a hug. "God, it's good to see you, buddy." He pushed Danny back enough to look him over. "Damn, you've gotten even better looking. How'd you do it?"
Danny grinned. "Clean living, man. Come on in."
"Gimme a hand with my stuff, then you can get me a beer. It's been a long trip."
When Brad opened the boot of the car, Danny spotted the shiny forearm crutches first thing. 'What the hell does Brad need them for?' He asked himself. 'Must be gettin' over a busted leg or something from the way he limps.' He grabbed the two large suitcases and carried them to the room Brad was to use. Brad followed carrying a suit bag and the crutches.
"Ready for that beer now?"
"Let me get a shower and change first. Wish I'd had sense enough to get air-conditioning in that car, but I never thought I'd be living down this way again."
While Brad showered, Danny realized he had become even more beautiful than he'd been in school. 'I want him. Man do I want him. I'm glad he's here, but it's going to be hell going around hard all the time.'
Hearing the shower stop, Danny pulled two icy beers from the fridge and took them into the living room. He popped the top on one and took a drink. As he lowered the can, it slipped from his hand, his eyes bulged. "Oh, shit!" Brad stood in the doorway, supported by the crutches, the right leg of his slacks folded up neatly over the waistband. Danny could see the outline of a short stump.
"Surprise, buddy." Brad said, and crutched over. He dropped into a chair next to Danny's and opened his beer.
"What the hell happened, big guy?"
"You remember that old crate I had in college?"
"Yeah."
"A couple of years after we got out of school, I got plowed one night and wrapped it around a tree. A cop was chasing me and I didn't need a DWI. Hell, I got one anyway. Took me six months to get my license back. It would have been longer and I could have gotten a big fine, but the judge said he figured the leg I lost amounted to life time punishment and I'd need a car for work, so he let me have my license back."
Brad finished his beer. "Let's go grab something to eat. I didn't stop for lunch and my belly thinks my throat's been cut. You don't mind being seen with a one-legged guy, do you? I've had that leg on too long already."
"No way! You look fantastic, big guy."
The well prepared meal could have been sawdust for all Danny tasted of it, lost in memories of how many times he had closed his eyes, dreaming of that perfect body having only one leg. Now it did. He shifted in his chair against the constraint of his jeans and looked at Brad who was pulling himself up on his crutches.
"Let's go. I want to make it an early night. That drive took a lot out of me with the heavy traffic and all."
"Anything you want, big guy."
They walked the few blocks back to Danny's house, Danny frequently dropping a few steps behind to admire the view of his amputee friend.
Brad dropped into a chair. "Got any coffee, buddy?"
"Coming up."
Once he had fixed coffee for the both of them and had settled in his chair, Danny noticed Brad staring fixedly at him. "What is it?"
"I gotta ask you something. It's well it's personal. You can tell me to go to hell, if you want."
Danny smiled. "After putting up with me in the same dorm room for two years, I guess you've got a right to ask most anything you want."
"You're gay, aren't you?"
Danny turned pale. "What makes you think so?"
"Nothing from the way you always acted back then or even now, but I learned something about myself that made me wonder about you."
"Like what?"
"Danny, I'm " he choked on his words. "Damn it, it's still hard for me to say. Don't hate me, guy, but I found out I'm gay. I didn't really know for sure until this spring. While I was on a business trip, I picked up a cute young hustler just to see what it would be like. That kid was good. He made me feel like I never felt before, and that's when I knew. I thought sure as hell he was gonna leave when he saw my stump. I had to pay him an extra ten because of it, but it was worth it."
He might have said more, but Danny was kneeling beside him, pulling him into a bear-hug. "Two whole years as roommates wasted, big guy. Damn it! Two whole years wasted while I was going around with a perpetual hard on and trying to keep you from seeing how much I wanted you."
Brad put his fist under Danny's chin and tipped his head up enough to look into his eyes. "What about now? Does my stump bother you?"
"It sure as hell does, buddy."
Seeing Brad's forlorn look, he put Brad's hand on the bulge in his jeans. "Just feel how much! It's a real turn on."
The End
Posted: 07/30/10