Introducing… Nate!

Well, this is what happens when you let a couple of weeks elapse between log entries. The good news is, my slacking on the journal is largely a byproduct of being very busy with work at WRC and with segment producing House Detective. I’m not quite out of the poorhouse yet, but I’m getting there. The bad news is, there’s just too much to catch up on, but over the next couple of days, I’ll do my best.

First, there’s Nate. A week ago last Saturday, I went to this girl’s birthday pool party at the invitation of a friend of a friend. I didn’t really know anybody there (except my friend, who was very drunk), so I just stood around for a while. Eventually, this cute boy — who was there with a girlfriend — started flirting with me, really agressively. He was young, Latin, lithe, pretty — kind of like a taller, skinnier Wilson Cruz. His name was Nate.

He was pretty smashed, and I was kind of getting there, so we bumped and grinded (?) on the dance floor, and just generally pawed each other. The party began to wind down at the same time it started to rain, so we all skittered indoors, and Nate asked, “So, do you want me to come home with you?” Hey, what was I going to say, no? So I went and got my car, and off we went to give his girlfriend a lift home.

From there, we headed back to my place. On the way, I told him I was HIV-positive. I said, “If you want, I’ll give you a lift home right now, and it’ll be okay. No harm done. Or if you still want to come home with me, we’ll have to play very safe.”

He was drunk, but he thought about it for a few seconds and said, “I think you better take me home.” So I drove him to his apartment; we kissed deeply for a few seconds, and then he got out and walked away in the rain — just like a movie!

Driving home, I was a little disappointed, of course, but I understood where he was coming from. And I was proud of myself for being a responsible guy, I guess. When I pulled up to the curb and got ready to exit my car, I realized he’d left his cell phone on the passenger seat. I didn’t have his number, but I had a hunch he might have done what I do, and programmed his home phone number into the cell phone under the heading “HOME.” Voila, he did! I called him; he thanked me; I gave him my home phone; he said he’d call the next day to get the phone back.

Surprisingly, the next day, Sunday, came and went without a call. But on Monday, he called me at work (WRC) and asked if he could come by my place and get the phone. I offered to drop it off on my way home, instead. Then after we hung up, I kicked myself for missing an opportunity to hang out with him at my place for a little while. Then, bingo, he called back and said he’d just as soon walk over and pick it up at my place after all. Great minds were still thinking alike.

He got to my apartment right on time, and we shared a couple of drinks and got to know each other. He’s 26, grew up in Littleton on the wrong side of the tracks, went to CU-Boulder, came to DC for graduate school, is now a paralegal. After chatting for an hour or so, he plopped himself next to me on the arm of the sofa and placed my hand up the leg of his shorts.

I asked him if was sure he wanted to do this… and he said definitely. He explained that he’d begged off on Saturday night because he was drunk and didn’t think he could trust himself to play safe. But he was sober now, and wanted to at least play around. We were off to the races!

Not surprisingly, he kept a pretty tight leash on what we did. He didn’t even want to take our clothes off and/or go into the bedroom. Basically we just kept it to the use of our hands, which was within his comfort zone, and which was fine with me. I kind of think he was doing it more to prove something to me or to himself, but I guess that’s as good a reason for sex as any.

Afterwards, I asked him out for dinner, so we went to City Lights of China and had a great meal. Got to know each other even more. It was a good experience, all in all. Of course, he’s still 26. At the end of it, he said, “Give me a call. Actually, I’ll give you a call.” And, naturally, he hasn’t. But that’s not the end of the story.

… To be continued…