I'd been home once to get some clothes to keep at Chet's. We were still getting acquainted. I was captivated by Chet's life. I still had to live the life I had while being with him. We needed to pace ourselves so we got a little rest.

Chet drove me to work each morning. He picked me up each afternoon. We went home and it started all over again. We couldn't keep our lips off of each other the little more than a mile we drove from Hitchcock's to his place.

"There's something we've got to talk about," I said in all seriousness.

It was time we had the talk. I couldn't wait any longer.

"You've been hanging around me too long. You're starting to sound like me."

"It's complicated."

"You're really sounding like me. You rob a bank?" Chet asked.

He giggled at the thought of it.

"This is about how you were reluctant to get involved with me."

"That and the fact you're walking dynamite," I said.

"I thought I was the one with a complicated life."

"It involves you. It involves someone you know. Someone I like."

"You said you weren't encumbered. I remember it clearly. "No, I'm not in love with anyone." You told me about Free and some guy named Gordo. How can it involve me? We've been together a few weeks, and we hardly get out of bed."

"It's Skip," I said, regretting it as soon as the name appeared on my lips.

"There's a blast from the past. How do you know Skippy?"

"The guy who takes me surfing is Skip."

"You aren't in love with him though. You said you aren't in love with anyone, maybe Free, I think you said, but he's in Asia. You said he has a boyfriend."

"I do love Skip in a way. He's a nice guy. I could fall in love with him, but he's already in love with a guy. Skip and I are just friends. He taught me to surf."

"How complicated can that be? Skip's okay. He helped me make it through high school. I lived at his house a while. If you aren't in love with him, and he's in love with someone else, I don't see the problem."

He ran what I said through his brain. He came up smiling. I had to tell him.

"He's in love with you, Chet," I said, feeling dishonest and a little dirty. "We look for you on the streets of El Cajon before we go to surf. I should have told you. I was being dishonest, because I didn't want to lose you. I was afraid if you knew where Skip was, you'd want to get back with him."

I felt like I might cry.

"If you knew half the stuff I haven't told you, you'd run screaming from the apartment. We've known each other a couple of weeks. We agreed we wouldn't get too deep into our past, until we'd been together for a while. No dishonesty in that agreement. I am grateful to Skippy. He's like a brother. I was never in love with him. Like you, I love him, because he's a nice guy. I'm not in love with him."

"He loves you. He has been looking for you since he heard you came back to El Cajon and were working in a restaurant here."

"Skippy was a good friend to me. I like him. We had a lot of sex. We were teenage boys, but it wasn't love. Besides, if he was really trying to find me, why wouldn't he have just gone to all the restaurants and ask if I worked there? Skippy isn't losing any sleep over not finding me. It's easy to find me."

"I didn't think of that. It's why he said he came to El Cajon in the first place. He lived here and he thought you might be looking for him."

"I did. I went to his old place, he'd been gone for years. No one could tell me where he went. We were kids together growing up at his house, because I couldn't finish growing up at my house. His parents were good to me. He rescued me from a rotten home life. We had a lot of sex. We were teenage boys sleeping in the same bed, so we had sex. It wasn't love. We were horny teenagers."

"He told me all of that," I said.

"I didn't look that good. I had pimples. My skin was terrible as a teenager. I had pimples on my back. I was a mess. He didn't love me."

"Well, you're hot as hell now, but I'm little more than a kid from a land far away from California. You can have anyone you want, and don't tell me it isn't so. You don't need me. I'm convenient. You have a boyfriend. My god, Skip still loves you from high school. What do you want with me?"

"You got it all figured out, don't you? My life is complicated. Everything you say is true. I've been with some amazing people. I didn't love any of them. I was too screwed up to be able to love anyone. T saw me and he saw where I was heading. He jerked me into the here and now and showed me where I was going to end up. I didn't like it, and he offered to help me, and he did. T is married. He has three daughters. He likes me in a way he doesn't like guys, but he likes me. It's complicated. My life was a mess, but I was never in loved with anyone before I met you. I do love Skippy. I do love T. I'm in love with you."

"How'd I get so lucky," I said.

"You're the guy who was there when I'd been around long enough long enough to find someone to fall in love with."

"Well, I feel dishonest. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, but I forgive you anyway," he tried.

I laughed at how it sounded. I wouldn't be laughing when Skip found out who my new love interest was. Why couldn't life be easy, just once?"

"If you were smart, you wouldn't have anything to do with me. I've been to hell and back. I can take it if you can't love me, but I love you. There's nothing I haven't done. Nothing I haven't tried. It almost killed me, through it all, I never fell in love until now. I am tough, Z, but I'm not tough enough to walk away from you. So, if you want to walk away from me, I'll deal with it. You know you love me. I know you love me, but I don't want to keep having this argument."

His words ended in the last angry phrase. I couldn't walk away from him.

"I'm sorry, Chet. I love you so much it scares me," I finally said.

"I love you, Z. Accept it. Why fight the love we feel for each other? It is what it is. Neither of us can stop what we started. We are hopelessly in love, and it scares me too."

He grabbed me and kissed me hard. Once he was done, he did it again.

"I love you so much, Z. I love you. I love you."

"Shut up and kiss me like that some more. I love you, Chet."

No matter what we said or how we said it, it lead to making love.

He looked at my face for a long time. He took a hold of my chin, and he kissed me some more. After a few minutes, still holding on to me, he let his face rest on my shoulder.

"I want to show you. I want you to go with me to where I was," he said as if I knew exactly what he was talking about..

I couldn't see his face as he spoke. I didn't want to argue anymore.

"Go where?" I asked, hoping I wasn't being too dense.

"Back."

"How?"

"Go back. Face it. Show you where I was. Try to understand what happened to me. How I got so far down the road to self destruction."

I didn't like the sounds of it. I'd love to see Hollywood. Hollywood was Hollywood all my life, and seeing it would please me, but seeing the ground on which Chet nearly died made me scared in a new way. If I said yes, I didn't know what I was in for. If I said no, I'd insult him.

"We'll see," I said. "It's a little early to be heading for parts unknown. My parents haven't met you yet. Let's get that out of the way. T, I need to meet T."

"You'll meet T soon enough, and we're on for dinner at your house. Then, we can talk about going back. I need to be there and leave on my own terms this time."

"Yes, I see what you mean. If you think you're ready, Chet. I'll go with you."

"If you're with me, Z, I'll be safe. I'll have to come home. We don't need to do it right now. I mean, we need to be together a while. I can see that."

Once we were together for a while, I'd feel better about going up there.

"You don't want to take drugs any longer?" I asked him.

"Every day I wanted to do drugs. I wanted to drink. Then, I remember what I've been through. It took months to get clean. I don't do drugs. I don't drink."

"But you want to?"

"I want to."

"You wear me out, Chet."

"I try," he said. "That's if you mean, wear you out in a good way."

I laughed.

It really didn't matter where he'd been or what he'd done, I was in love with the guy. I'd listen to it all and we'd pick ourselves up and make a life together.

"Not so much you wear me out, your life wears me out. I can't keep up. I'm the reverse Chet. My life has been a piece of cake compared to yours. You had to fight to survive, and my parents put me first. There was no question about it. If I had a need, that's the next thing they took care of."

"I'm so happy you didn't need to go down a road like the one I've been on. It never goes away, you know. I am as much a part of my childhood as I'm a part of what my life is about now. I don't dwell on the past. Good thing too," he said.

"I'm sorry it was so hard. I wish I could have made it easier on you."

"You are my everything. I've known hard times. This is great. I have something to compare it to, and I know how good it is being with you."

"I know the feeling," I said, leaning to kiss him.

*****

For the rest of the week, Chet drove me to and picked me up from work. He worked Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights. He had to be at work at seven, and he came home around midnight.

I tried going to sleep and let him wake me up when he came home, but I was never completely awake for him, or for me for that matter. It was then, I began watching television and reading LGBTQ stories off of gay literary sites on the Internet. Staying awake by hook or by crook, so I didn't miss anything. Being wide awake for my lover was one of my best things.

The ultimate antidote for drowsiness was Chet. The site of him aroused me in a way nothing else did. Each time we were a part, seeing him lead me to feeling enveloped by the love we shared.

As glorious as my love for Chet was, two problems remained unsolved.

My parents had an standing order in to meet my new friend. They were expecting me to drop by for dinner, especially after two weeks away from the house. I'd put it off long enough that they now wanted my new friend to come with me.

What was Chet going to say?

I still hadn't done anything about Skip. Chet hadn't brought Skip up again, Skip was my friend. I wasn't being fair to him. He gave me a lot of his time.

I was afraid of what Chet's reaction to my relationship with Skip might be, but he took it in stride. My worries were unfounded and now I worried about hurting Skip when he found out that I was with the love of his life.

Life was never easy. Putting things off made difficulties harder to face. Skip needed to know that Chet and I were in love. He'd been too good to me for me to put it off any longer. It was time to come clean.

After a frantic night of being in bed together, we wanted to get some sleep. Once we exhausted our passion for one another, we held hands and caught our breath, before one last goodnight kiss, a touch, and we were off and running again. Sleep could wait. We couldn't. We didn't, and we wearily awoke at first light, wrapped in each other's arms, and I had to get ready for work.

Each day started with me get ready in the bathroom, while Chet fixed some stronger coffee than he liked, but he was making it for me, and stronger coffee began to appeal to him. If strong coffee was good, stronger coffee was better, and once my eyes were wide open, Chet drove me to Hitchcock's, and at the end of the day, he'd be waiting for me out front when I got off from work..

On Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights, Chet left for work at six, returning home just after midnight.

"My father wants you to come to dinner," I told Chet after he picked me up.

"I wondered how long you were going to keep me a secret. I don't mind. I'd like to meet the people who are responsible for you. Tell them what a fine job they did," Chet said.

"I think that just introducing you and letting them make up their own minds about you is what I have in mind, Hot Stuff," I said.

Chet laughed.

"You're the boss, Z. Whatever you say. I'll just be polite and answer their questions."

"That's exactly what I had in mind. They're bound to like you," I said.

"Why do you say that?"

"I'm crazy about you. I'm their kid. It's a rule. They got to like the man I'm crazy about."

"That's a rule? I have no objection. I didn't know that rule," he said. "My parents didn't like anyone."

We sat together on the couch. I leaned against Chet, liking the feel of him. One of his arms was around me. We made a new rule. We had to get out of bed at least once every day. It wasn't for long every day, but the pace we set had us both dragging much of the time. Chet could afford to drag at work, he didn't sit in one place and dose while dropping cans on the shelves. Chet's tips depended on him being fully present and willing to entertain the people who sat at his tables.

So, we got up Sunday morning to read the San Diego Union. I went for the comics. Chet grabbed on to the sports pages, and we leaned, drank coffee, and kissed a few times while we turned pages.

I hadn't been home for an entire night for fourteen days. I'm sure Dad called Mr Hitchcock to talk about me and my new friend. Since my boss approved of all my men, he'd say only nice things to my father. He wouldn't mention the number of times I fell asleep sitting on a box while stocking canned goods.

Mr Hitchcock remembered when he fell in love with Mrs Hitchcock. He told me he didn't get any sleep for a month after they were married. I'd never thought I'd be able to get married to anyone. Now, Chet and I could marry, thanks to our Supreme Court, but I was smart enough not to think that would last. The haters were always out there looking for someone else to attack. Gay men in love was certain to raise the hackles on those rough necks.

I didn't care about the jerks or the assholes. I cared about Chet. We were in love. No matter what those folks did, Chet and I would be in love. Going into a thing people could snatch away when they pleased didn't interest me. Chet and I were in love. No one could take that away from us. What was in our hearts was far more powerful than any piece of paper could make it.

"More coffee?" I asked.

"Yeah, fix it the way you fix yours. I think I like sugar in my coffee."

"Consider it done," I said.

I filled his cup and mine, adding sugar and cream to both, and I went back into the living room to pick up where I left off, except I leaned to kiss Chet before letting him have his cup of coffee.

"Do you love Tevo?"

"He saved my life. What do you think?"

"Do you love me?"

Chet put the paper down in his lap.

"I love you and I'm in love with you. I love T. I'm not in love with him."

"He was attracted to you?"

"He was attracted to me," Chet said, pulling me into his arms. "What's going through that brain that is a maze.

"When am I going to meet him?"

"That's T's call. You'll meet him when he decides to meet you. He knows you're here. He's been remodeling the restaurant. He is always doing something, and he will come around when he has time to come around. He is giving us all the room we need."

"You told him about me?"

"Before you came to live here, he knew about you."

That would be hard, the day after we met I came here. I haven't left yet, except to work."

"I see him at work. I'll see him tonight. One day he'll bring us dinner and he'll sit down with us and you'll meet T."

I had expected to meet T by this time. I wasn't sure what to expect. I'm sure I knew who he was from hearing his voice in Hitchcock's. He was a big happy man with a delightful Jamaican accent. It's almost as big as he is.

"He loves you?"

"Yes. I love him. It's complicated. You'll do better if you don't look under every rock in my past. It isn't pretty. You will dislike what's under them. I dislike some of the things I did. I did the best I could with what I had to work with, Z."

"I worry he won't like me," I said, not knowing why it bothered me.

"He cares about me. We had sex a few times, but I was always stoned, and he decided he didn't like being unfaithful to the wife he loved. He worried about his daughters and what they'd think if it came out he was sleeping with a guy. T's as complicated as I am. He has rocks too, and he met his wife, fell in love, and they've been together for fifteen years. She has helped his restaurants be successful."

"She know you?"

"Yes, she's at the restaurant almost every night we're open. No, she doesn't know I've been with her husband. If she suspects it, she hasn't let on. She's just as happy as Tevo. They have three beautiful daughters."

He will do anything he thinks I need. Think of him as my guardian angel. It's how I think of him. You see why it's complicated? I'll tell you all of it. it's going to take time for me to sort through it. You give me a reason to look my life over. I need to do it, Z. I haven't done it until I met you. I want you to know everything." I turned my head to kiss his lips. He smiled and kissed me back.

"Tevo did drugs. Mama Rosa gave him the cure. That's how T knew where to take you?" I asked in my latest fishing trip.

"Mama Rosa saved T's life. I know the feeling, because she saved my life. He lived in the Caribbean. Blow was everywhere, according to him. It came through Jamaica on its way to the US. He was hooked from when he was seventeen. He dealt in cocaine. It was the family business. He was a mule. Took cocaine into the US. It's where the money came from for his first restaurant. He had two older brothers. Both dead. His father is in prison. He got out and Mama Rosa got him clean. That's how he knew her."

"I got a feeling I should know all that," I said, worrying again.

"He'll tell you. It's no secret. He has money off short. The families dr7g money, but the family is all dead and his father will never get out of prison. He once told me, "Chet, don't worry about me. I got more money that god." It's off shore and when he wants to do something like buy a sports car or two, he gets it. His wife is a stickler for paying every bill every month. No debt. That's when the drug money shows up, when T absolutely has to have something he wants.""

"I really haven't lived, have I?"

"You've lived plenty. What I know you don't want to know. What T knows you'd be better off not knowing. Not everyone has a checkered past," Chet said.

"T is out of that life, but he grew up in it. You think I came up hard. He was in a Jamaican drug gang when he was sixteen. He had a million dollars in a suitcase in his closet before he turned eighteen. His brothers dealt drugs. His brothers died in a drug deal that went bad."

"How'd he survive?" I asked. "What is the life expectancy of a big time drug dealer?"

"I don't know. He tells me what he did but not any details that could get me into trouble. He's a bad enough dude that when he decided to get out of the family business, they let him walk away, and he opened his first restaurant. He has two sisters somewhere. They're alive. Never had anything to do with drugs."

"Smart," I said. "Just say no."

"Easier said than done. T saw me and maybe it was the dance or my looks, or maybe it was a reaction to what I was doing to myself. The last time we slept together, he sat on the edge of the bed. "I'm a married man. I love my wive. You're some kind of witch. I can't be doing this with no man." We didn't sleep together after that, but he couldn't stay away from me. Then, he came to either take me to Mama Rosa, or say goodbye. Luckily it worked out."

"I'll thank him when I see him," I said.

"He had three restaurants around the Carib. I've seen them. They're high dollar eateries. It's where the in crowd went. He wanted to start building restaurants in the US. All his restaurants make good money. He stays in the newest restaurant for a year or two, and then goes in search of his next place."

"And he knows about me?"

"He knows. I couldn't hide it. I was flying high and he had to make sure it wasn't because of drugs. My happiness worried him."

"He thought you were back to doing drugs."

"No, he said he didn't think so, but he wanted to be sure."

"What does he think of you going back up there?"

"That I haven't run by him. He won't like it. He'll ask me not to go, but I've got to face up to it. I think I've beat it. I have a good life. I have you. I have T. I'd like to see Mama. Haven't seen her since she said, "It's all up to you now, Baby."

"I'd like to meet her. What do you know about her?"

"She's an angel. She saved my life. She saves a lot of drug addicts, using nothing but patience and love. I need to thank her. Let her see I'm fine."

"How does she manage it. Where does the money come from. She can't work if she's sitting with drug addicts all day?"

"T gives her money. That's where the drug money goes these days. I'm sure there are others. I'd send her money if I had her address. I know where she lives, but I've never gone back. I need to go, take her money. I owe her. She and T saved my life. I owe both of them."

It was an amazing story. My lover was an amazing man. He had nothing to go on but his survival instincts and the people he met along the way.

It was his story and it was a tragedy. He never had anything, and then he became a star. He didn't know who he was. I thought I understood now.

His head was in my lap and I let my fingers sift through his beautiful red hair. He grew quiet. I could hear his regular breathing. He was sleeping. How exhausting his life must have been. It exhausted me.

I tried to imagine it. Loving Chet was a responsibility. I needed to be his rock. Keep him safe, Treat my lover with TLC. He deserved that much.

It was the least I could do.

*****

The story was far from complete. As time went on, I had questions about Chet, Kim, Rainbow, T, and Mama Rosa. While putting up canned goods, I'd run it through my mind. He gave me an outline of his life after he left El Cajon. We hadn't discussed him coming back to El Cajon or what he was doing here.

I knew he waited tables at Tevo's, which was an exclusive eatery. It was all the buzz right after I arrived in El Cajon. It was closer to being in Lakeside, one exit up from El Cajon on I-8, but it had an El Cajon address. El Cajon residence weren't likely to be able to afford Tevo's. People came from all over to eat there. From the day it opened its doors, Tevo's was listed as a five star eatery in the critical opinion of people who were paid to know such things.

I'd never thought I'd eat at Tevo's. I never gave much thought to it at all. Fine dining to me was MacDonalds. I would never be confused with a connoisseur, but I did know Chet, would know T, and I would receive an invitation to eat at Tevo's and rub shoulders with people who might drop $500 on dinner.

The fact remained, Chet was digging up a past he thought he buried. That's my opinion but he started telling me his story. That couldn't be easy. I watched him talk. I listened to the words. Chet relived it while he talked. It was all true. No one could make that up. No one would want to make such things up. Chet didn't blame anyone but himself. He credited T and Mama Rosa with saving his life, but Chet was the one who did what needed to be done. He said it in Mama Rosa's words, "It's all up to you now, Baby."

I'd lived in Massachusetts and California. I went to school. I had one regular job at Hitchcock's. I skated and surfed and I had sex with Skip. Chet had lived more lives than I could count. He had his life at home, a life at Skippy's, a life with Kim, a life at Rainbow, a life at Mama Rosa's, and a life back in El Cajon. It was dizzying for a boy who had none of the adversity Chet faced, and he somehow came out on the other side to be the boy I loved.

There were questions that needed to be answered. Chet opened himself up to be questioned. Each time we were separated, I had more questions when I returned. Mostly after I sat at work, doing my thing, my mind worked full time. It wasn't a prying type of inquiry. It was more to add clarity to what he told me.

Chet told me, "It was a wild ride, but it's over. I have a good job as a waiter in a nice restaurant. It's a simple life. I'm happy with my progress."

"You're walking dynamite. I don't want to be blown up, Chet."

Chet laughed. He didn't object to my characterization.

"Once, I blew up a lot of people. I was young and not very sophisticated. I had to fight for what I got. I took a lot of beating. Enough to know, if I wanted to survive, I needed to run. I ran. I blew Skippy up when I left. I ran right into a life I couldn't have imagined. By the time I had my feet under me, I blew up Juliet and her father. I never blew up T and Mama Rosa. That I wouldn't do. If I blow up either of them, I'll blow myself up with them."

"You're talking about doing drugs?"

"I am."

"You want to do drugs?"

"And drink. Don't leave out alcohol. I think about it every day. I've been able to resist that urge so far. My odds are improving now that I met you. I don't so much have the urge, Z. I think of it, and then I think of you."

I smiled. He didn't have to say I was giving him strength. I could feel it each time he told me a little more of his story.

"It can't be easy for you, Chet. Why tell me all this stuff? I don't even know you," I said. "I may love you, but I don't know you."

"If you do stay, and you get to know me, you can't say, you never told me this shit. I'm telling you about a life that nearly destroyed me. I'm not sure it still won't pull me back down into the depths. Anyone who gets involved with me has to be a little bit crazy. They need their head examined. You deserve to know who you are getting mixed up with, Z."

"Now you tell me."

"I'll hide nothing from you."

"I believe you. I'd like to say I'm as honest as your are, but I have nothing to hide. My life is ordinary compared to you. Skip was my only deep dark secret, and I didn't tell you immediately because I was afraid to tell you. I've got to tell Skip about you, about us."

"I haven't seen him in five years. Any feelings he developed for me have to be greatly diminished after all this time. We need to be honest with Skippy. We'll tell it like it is, so he doesn't think there is something to his desires. I can only be in love with one person at a time. I'm in love with you. We'll let Skip down easy."

"Yes. Maybe we can go surfing with him. He'll like that. He's a good surfer."

"I'd like that. I haven't had the urge to get back into surfing, but I use to enjoy it. Skippy and I surfed together. I bought a board and I haven't used it."

I felt better about facing Skip with Chet and me being lovers. It was nothing we planned. It just happened. I didn't know what Skip's reaction would be. He should want to be friends with Chet. I was already his friend. He wouldn't want to end that. I couldn't be sure. As easy going as Skip was, he'd take it in stride.

I wrapped my arms around him. He stood still, not offering to help. I leaned my lips on his lips. His lips lit my fire. I held him and kissed him.

Chet was dangerous and I wanted him more than I'd ever wanted anyone.

"Where's the bedroom?" I asked, and he pulled me by the arm. We ended up where we always ended up at a time like that. We did stop to eat. If we were going to keep up our strength, we had to eat. We refused our need for sleep, but we fell asleep anyway. I dragged at work even though I kept the shelves full, while acting like I wasn't at all tired.

The sight of the Lamborghini made me smile as I charged out of Hitchcock's to see the love of my life. We hugged and kissed, kissed and hugged. Chet let up on the tire burning U-turn, waiting and making an ordinary U-turn. He held my hand as he drove toward the apartment.

We raced inside and embraced as quick as the door shut behind us. There were more kisses and the heat was on the rise. His tee-shirt was off and his Spandex hit the floor before we reached the bed. I knelt to give him what for. He pulled me to my feet for his kisses. We hit the bed and rolled across and off on to the floor. We laughed and kissed, kissed and laughed, getting back into the bed and staying there. Love was in the air as daylight dwindled as the setting sun shined in the bedroom window.

"Hungry?" he asked me.

"Can't you tell," I said, showering his face with kisses.

I kissed his face, neck, chest, and down to his belly button and below. He never failed to be erect when I arrived on the scene, and giving him what for was all the food I needed for a while. I could feel him tensing as his fingers dug into the sheet and his hips did their slow rise to be sure I had all I could take.

Once he began to release the pent up forces that came from deep within him, he exhaled in sharp bursts. His hands dug into my arms as he lifted off the bed. My hands slipped under him as I drank from the fountain of love. I dug my fingers into his butt cheeks and poked at his hot spot until the fountain was empty. He turned over to let my lips light his fire on the other end of our love.

Being top dog made me about as crazy as I could get and he moaned as I drove toward losing my mind. It hardly took any time at all, or it may not have seemed like long, because of how focused I was on getting to where I was going. Giving Chet a reach around as I drove this car of love, we came together, and there was no doubt when I got off. Alert the neighbors, dial 9-1-1, I wasn't dying, only cumming, and once done, my legs and arms were weakened in a way that couldn't resist the kisses Chet saved for that moment once the moment of truth came and went.

"I love you," I gasped. "I've fought it. I've ridden it, and I can't deny it."

More kisses came as our bodies drove themselves together in the death grip only lovers knew. I didn't want to let go.

I wanted to be with Chet from now to the end of time. We did take a time out to eat. I watched Chet as he went about fixing meals. He knew how to cook, because he cooked while he lived behind Rainbow. He watched Tevo cook, and he watched the cooks at Tevo's restaurant. He learned how to season perfectly and never use too much or too little,

We never had clothes on at the house, and that allowed me to watch his beautiful ass as he danced around the kitchen. Every motion had a purpose and once he was done, we had a feast. Tevo delivered food to Chet that came directly from the restaurant. It was fresh, ready to cook, and incredibly good food. If Tevo brought anything Chet wasn't familiar with, it came with the cook's instructions. This made for meals that melted in my mouth, but it wasn't long before we were melting in each others arms.

My life had always been good, except for the queer deal, and now the queer deal meant I would, I could, and I did love Chet. We didn't really know each other, but we were in love, and that meant togetherness as often as it could be arranged, and no one had to tell me what to do.

Love was an odd duck. I'd felt it with Free. I felt a little of it with Gordo. With Chet it was a Roman candle, a shooting star, heaven sent. The only time I'm complete is when I'm holding Chet, being held, loving him, being with him in a way I've never been with anyone. I was new and inexperienced with Free. I wasn't new with Chet. I knew the moves to make, how to get him where I wanted him, and go where he took me. We were learning each others secrets as we shot across the evening sky at all hours of the day and night.

Chet was love.