Out and About

I went for a bike ride for an hour and then had lunch with Nick in the city.

"So, what man is in your life at present?" asked Nick. "I don't hear you talking about any new ones."

I shrugged. "None, really."

"None to speak of, clearly," said Nick in a snippy tone. He loves it when I am single, we can share more equally in the shared loneliness.

I thought for a minute. "No, there are none, really."

"What about the girlie one from the gym?"

"Too girlie."

"Not that there is anything wrong with that," said Nick. "What about the one you were doing the skin on skin nasty with?"

"Matt? No, I haven't seen him."

"Why did you do that?"

I shrugged. “I don't know, really.” Sometimes you just want to, feel that boy skank on your todger. And he said he'd never done raw sex. It was stupid really. We had HIV tests together, though. Kind of at the end, I know, but we had them.

"Anyone else?"

"No."

Nick's eyes widened and he bought both his hands up to his chin. "You feeling the passage of time, baby?" He reached out to, I can only assume, caress my face, like a mother would, like his mother does, as he likes to do, but I pulled my face away.

"No, I'm not."

"Why are you getting so defensive then?"

"I'm not!"

"Why are you raising your voice then?"

"I'M..." my voice squeaked and even I heard it, I pulled it back to a whisper. "not."

"I see," said Nick. "The great Josh Grant... dateless?" He shook his head. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Oh... fuck off."

"Shall we order coffee?"

Then I rode home. It was a lovely day, one for the carefree to venture out into. The vibe during the day, a weekend, is so different. The day is calm, and even and dare I say, carefree, the breeze was fresh and the possibilities seemed endless.