sped up the negotiation. "Of course I have a plug at my house if that's what you mean." It sounded dumb when he asked the question but he was too over taken by luck to notice. If he said no, he'd never get another chance. "Sure you can charge the phone." His voice was a little shaky and he tried to remember if he'd cleaned enough. Attempts in the past to get guys to leave the arboretum with him had failed, a quick fuck without bug bites and unwanted extra hands was the best he'd come to expect. Suddenly he found himself with one of the most common denominators of men, an everyday Joe with desires Christoff understood well, he felt his luck had taken a change for the better.

His dad would be home, but he'd be asleep. He had to be. Christoff told himself twice just to make it true. The hunger for privacy sat irregular in his groin. It had exerted an anesthetic need like a hole that no one could fill. Still he was hopeful that the loneliness would be gone, the searching would come to an end, and they would smile when they came together. Thursday's horoscope had said something new would come his way and it had. Silvio was handsome in his own way, sexy and probably slung a big cock. It had looked so thick in his jeans that Christoff found himself imagining it'd be too much. The sound of the spotty engine went up a notch as the car was force feed a little more juice. "Don't die on me now baby."

The van followed close maintaining a practical distance. He feared losing his tail, but it kept up. Christoff took the scenic route home making certain to pass some of the better houses. He often went that way when he needed time to think. During the day he'd slow down at Grace Avenue just before the turn. The house there had a Japanese style garden, a gargoyle about three feet tall guarded the porch steps on the right with a griffin on the left. The gate into the yard was an arch covered in vines that had white and pink blossoms that opened in the early morning but closed by evening.

He looked over at the house when he pulled up to the stop sign and saw that there was a light on upstairs, and that the balcony door which gave a birdseye view of the street was open. He'd seen the owner a couple of times working in the yard, changing the stone walkway or planting more bamboo. His skin would darken in the summer almost to the point of making his slightly brown chest hair appear bleached.

Christoff thought about the neighborhood and how it had always been peaceful. Nothing had ever happened there, "and nothing will happen tonight" he said wondering for a moment if he was making a bad decision. An old song by the Fixx came on the radio and he turned it up and sang the rest of the way home. He allowed himself to feel good about the situation. He was different, he was progressing, maybe it was time to put experimentation behind him, no more parks, no more bus stops or video stores, "this could be what I've been looking for."

Air caught in Chris's throat and his voice was almost inaudible when Silvio stepped out of the van. He'd changed out of his jeans and into a pair of court shorts while