By slavebladeboi

Getting over his feelings of mortification, Nate slowly climbed out of bed. He pulled the cord and shut those window blinds completely. He knew they wouldn’t stay shut for long. He would soon open them and get some air in the place.

Glad that he didn’t have to face Mike again for at least a week, by which time he’d have determined exactly how much he was visible when standing at that window, he finished in the bathroom and pulled on a pair of shorts, another T shirt and some trainers. Once downstairs he collected Mike’s keys that were still on the floor in the hallway and let himself out.

It seemed strange being in Mike’s house alone. He carefully and quietly walked into all the rooms, all except one that is, although he did give the handle a turn to see if it was really locked. It was almost as though he wasn’t supposed to be there, as if he was a burglar making sure the house was empty. After his “tour” and gaining a bit more confidence, he opened the back door going out onto the rest of the garden and the garage. Letting himself into the garage, he stood looking at that dust sheet and what it covered. He longed to peep under it. He contained himself, for now.

The rest of the morning Nate spent seeing to all the jobs he’d agreed to plus some more odd bits and pieces he thought he could handle, a bit of tidying, rearranging things on shelves and inconsequential things that would show he’d been there and taken some care. Subconsciously his earlier embarrassment was making him try to impress Mike even harder than before.

Nate felt good about getting this job, even though it was hardly full time, as it meant he could do the share of the chores at the house whilst still earning some money and not spend the rest of the day idle. Also, the question of the group trip to the beach was about to rear its ugly head and Nate now wasn’t sure he wanted to take part in that this year if the alternative was to be seeing more of Mike. Having to stay at the house because he was working was the reason he needed, and anyway, the others they were joining were Alex’s friends not his.

He still had daily chores to do, one of which was volunteering to walk Mungo, so it wasn’t till later that afternoon that he returned to Mike’s. He opened the bedroom windows, and once the sun had struck shadows across the garden he turned on the sprinklers. He then sorted out a length of hose from the garage to soak the other areas the sprinklers didn’t reach. Leaving the water running, he decided to try out one or two of those machines in the basement gym. He was determined take Mike up on his offer of some personal training but had no intention of letting him think he had to start from scratch.

The small shiny key was still in the same place. Wedged under the leg of the bench. Nate took it and, after staring at it for several seconds, put it in his shorts’ pocket. The key turned his mind to handcuffs and his wanking. He looked around. “I wonder, if someone is down here looking up at my house, am I more visible in my bedroom from here than from the street?” he thought. “Is that why Mike knew I was there?” Then the thing that puzzled him on his first visit a few days ago suddenly came into focus. Looking round, he now knew what it was.

No windows.

Mike couldn’t have seen him walking the dog on Wednesday when he had called out to him. He would have had to have been waiting for him. But … Nate couldn’t remember Mike’s exact words. Maybe Mike had just finished and caught sight of him by chance. Had to have been. And at least Nate now knew there was no way Mike could see him, or anything else, from down here. He finished off his half hour by trying some chin ups on the bar. Finding it heavy going, he managed eight before giving in, he wiped his sweaty body with his T shirt, turned off the lights and went to attend to the hoses.

The following days all followed the same pattern, with a couple of variations. He tripped up once, midweek, when he forgot to close the windows he had opened the previous evening and had to see to them early the following morning when he noticed. That Thursday Nate also had felt bold enough to lift the dust sheets from the Corvette. After all, he told himself, Mike did say no touching, and I’m only looking.  Satisfied with this excuse, he spent a while simply admiring the bodywork, the shine and reflections the lines of the bodywork gave off from the overhead lights.

Nate wondered if Mike would return by the weekend so made doubly sure all was in order but, having had no word, continued his routine over Saturday and Sunday. He had also done some experiments during the week with his window blinds. He’d hung some clothes on a hanger where he would have been standing, and walked in every direction on the street, both sides and from every angle. It was just possible to see a shape there. But, he couldn’t decide whether movement would make it more obvious or not so was no more convinced either way than he had been at the start.

Sunday afternoon was a rush. The guys had packed for their trip away and the reasons Nate had laid out for not joining them were discussed. Alex was a bit cross at first as he wanted Nate to share the driving, but when he remembered that Nate couldn’t, owing to his speeding ticket, he was more relaxed. “How about an evening out before Greg and I leave?” he said. “You won’t be able to get into town much after we’ve gone. We’ll wait for you to finish up at that house opposite.”

Nate didn’t want to miss going with them as he’d be able to meet up with some of his own friends at the same time, getting a ride home afterwards. He managed to get the watering done, finish the last of the grass cutting and put everything away neatly before racing back to shower and change.

It turned out to be a good evening, Nate hooking up with friends for the first time in nearly two weeks, and he fell asleep as soon as he got back to his bed, well after midnight.

Waking as normal he immediately went to the window and looked across the street. Nothing had changed there, not that he was expecting anything, but it was something he was in the habit of doing. Apart from one thing that is. He’d left another window open all night. In his rush to finish and leave for town he had forgotten it. Best do it before breakfast and the temperature rose, undoing all the work the cooler night air had done. He decided to wear shorts and T shirt, and yesterday’s would do for a quick visit. He forced on his trainers without undoing them, grabbed the keys and in less than a minute was unlocking Mike’s front door. Taking the stairs two at a time, he had determined which room the open window belonged to, opened the door to a darkened room, tripped over an open suitcase and fell headlong onto Mike’s bed.

It wasn’t empty.

Mike woke with a start.

“Whaaa…Fuck!” yelled Nate as he sprawled over the bed covers, one foot still tangled in the contents of the suitcase and one knee in Mike’s groin.

“Make yourself at home, Nate,” laughed Mike as he quickly moved to a more comfortable position. “If you want to share my bed you only have to ask.”

Nate scrambled to get up, blushing and pouring out unconnected words and sounds of apology but was stopped halfway by Mike grabbing his arm and holding him still. “Hey, Nate, hold on a minute, calm down. Sit!” He pulled him onto the bed next to him and put an arm on his shoulder.

“The window, I forgot, I didn’t know, you didn’t sa…” babbled Nate. Mike put his hand across Nate’s mouth to stop the incoherent noises.

“Breathe, Nate!” Mike ordered. “And stop talking. One, you didn’t. I opened it when I got in late last night. Two, it’s of no consequence. It’s only an open window. Three, I’m sorry too. I should have let you know I was due back. But I left it too late.” He grinned at the still very red-faced Nate sitting on the bed studying his foot. “Hey. Look at me, Nate.” He held Nate’s chin and pulled him round to face him. “It’s fine. I keep having to tell you that, don’t I?” he sighed. “Look, I haven’t had a proper chance to see how well you got on while I was away, but the bit of the indoors I have seen looks great, so how about we get some coffee and a walk round the outside together?” Mike thought he detected tears coming from the face he was watching, so he sprang into action. He leapt out of bed and grabbed some boxers from the case. Nate saw for the second time what was normally in them, this time in much more detail.

Nate followed Mike downstairs to the kitchen. Mike kept reassuring him but finally had to get more serious. “Nate. Listen to me. The world has not ended. You didn’t mess up. You seem to have done an excellent job and have seen more of me in twenty minutes than most people have in years.” That ended the serious note and made Nate smile. “Good. Now grab a cup and we’ll do the rounds.”

Mike admired the garden, the neat and tidy borders, the well mown grass, the well-watered seedlings and finally unlocked the garage. “All looks perfect, Nate. You did well. I hope I don’t owe you too much in overtime. How did you like the car?”

Nate shot him a look. “I didn’t touch the car, Mike! You told me not to touch the car, so I didn’t.”

“I didn’t say you did, Nate. I just wondered how you liked it, you know, when you had a close look at it?” This elicited another round of stammered apologies from what seemed to be an endless supply, plus an equally popular shade of crimson cheeks. “Oh Nate. You fall so easily. I shouldn’t be so cruel, but you do ask for it sometimes, well most of the time actually. Come here.” Mike wrapped his arms around Nate and bear hugged him. “Do you really think I’d leave you with my keys and the run of the place if I didn’t trust you, I mean really trust you? Look up there.” He pointed to a corner of the garage where a security camera was positioned. “I saw exactly what you did. It has a motion sensor and sends to my phone. It’s called wifi. Don’t know if you’ve heard of it?” He laughed again. “You did nothing wrong, and you’ve proven your honesty and competence. I am so very grateful, Nate.”

Mike led the way out of the garage and back towards the kitchen. “Now it’s my turn to apologise,” he said, turning to Nate. “I should have asked you. Is there anything you wanted to question me about, anything that went wrong or caught you out? I took it for granted everything was good but…”

Nate shoved his hands into his pockets. He didn’t quite know what to say. He thought about the lack of basement windows, but this wasn’t the time. Then he felt the key, nestled into the fold of material at the bottom of the pocket. He wrapped his fingers round it, squeezing it until it hurt. He looked away, screwing up his eyes, and his courage.

Swallowing hard he pulled the key out of his pocket and looked back at Mike.

“I found this on the floor of your gym, Mike,” he said quietly, “I have one the same at home.”

Mike stared at the key in Nate’s open palm, then lifted his gaze until their eyes met. “I presume, therefore, we both know what it’s used for,” Mike answered just as quietly. “Maybe we need some time to sit and talk, just the two of us, as equals.”

Nate didn’t speak. His mind couldn’t find the words. He looked back at the key then, holding it with his fingers gave it to Mike. “You might need this sometime,” he said.

Mike looked at Nate then at the key. “Oh, I do hope so,” he said, gently taking it.

He took a deep breath. “How about I treat you to breakfast. We could go in my car, that is if you don’t object to touching it this time.” The grin he received back was delightful to see. “Be back here in ten. I’ll get dressed. You might want a clean T shirt yourself.”

It took slightly longer than ten minutes, but very soon Nate was standing in Mike’s driveway in a crisp, clean, close-fitting white T shirt, navy shorts that showed off his perfect ass and white sneakers. He was about to go round the back of the garage when he heard the door mechanism engage and the door rolled slowly up out of sight. Mike was sitting in the car, saw Nate and beckoned him to join him. As Nate opened the passenger-side door Mike started the engine. It roared into life in a powerful, muscley way rather than simply loud; deep and sonorous within the garage, opening out into a flatter sound when driven round in front of the house. Nate just sat in awe. Anything he said would have been superfluous at this moment. Mike pressed the remote and the garage door closed.

“OK Nate?”

“More than, much more than,” he replied, feeling aroused at the warm black leather seat under his thighs. He looked across at Mike. This was more than perfect.

Mike selected first gear and they moved off, gently at first within the built-up area but once on the open road Mike showed Nate what the car could do. The sensation was too much for Nate to take in all at once as he sat, wide eyed, mesmerised by the experience.

Mike drove through the town then up some smaller roads into the hills that were the backdrop to the area where they lived. After a while he stopped in a small rest area that provided some wooden benches looking over the vista which stretched out and below them. They got out and stood, arms resting on a wide wooden railing that acted as a safety barrier from the steep slope in front of them. The sun was warm, a light breeze cooled Nate’s forehead.

“Do your housemates know you’re gay, Nate? Your family?”

Nate swung round. Mike was still gazing at the view as though he hadn’t spoken.

“What?” Nate’s voice shook slightly. “How did … what have I…”

Mike continued, “I wondered if you had come out to them yet or whether they just knew, good friends, colleagues at work, generally tend to.” He turned and looked at Nate, who appeared to be genuinely taken aback at the topic of conversation. “I didn’t, not for ages. Then I found it was harder to do the longer I left it. In the end, when I tried to explain to them, they said they already knew and were happy for me. I just thought you’d like to know that, in case it makes things easier for you.” Mike gave Nate one his smiles.

“I hadn’t thought about it recently,” Nate answered, looking straight ahead again. “I suppose I should, but I can never find the right time, so…”

“So you leave it?” Mike finished the sentence for him. “That’s OK, too. Just don’t leave it too long.”

Nate was torn between saying it was none of Mike’s business and wanting to hold him tightly and ask him for help and advice. He did neither. He stared at the scenery. Mike broke the silence by slapping Nate on the shoulder and telling him breakfast was waiting for them at their destination. Nate turned but didn’t move. Mike slowly shook his head at him, put his arm round his shoulders and walked him back to the car.

The restaurant was on the top of one of the highest points of that range of hills. It was a popular place for visitors and locals alike. It looked quite busy even at that hour.

“Are you sure we’ll get a place to sit, Mike?” asked Nate, who had been unable think about anything clearly for the past quarter of an hour.

“We’d better,” said Mike with another one of his beaming smiles, “I booked us a table on the veranda.”

“You think of everything, don’t you,” answered Nate, more seriously.

“I try,” Nate heard, as Mike strode off towards the entrance.

Their table, laid for two, overlooked the valley and because of its position they were able to talk privately. Halfway through the scrambled eggs, bacon and toast, Mike put down his fork. “We still have to deal with the other elephant in the room, Nate. You know, the one you found on my gym floor.”

Nate did his usual of avoiding Mike’s eyes, staring at his plate.

“We need to at least discuss it, put it to bed as it were,” Mike said as he gave another smile, this time a private one. “We both know it fits handcuffs, and you have some. Can I therefore deduce you are into some form of bondage?” As there was no reply he continued. “Let’s be clear here. You now know I’m gay, it’s likely I’m into bondage, as the key showed, so how about opening up to me. Nothing we say to each other will go any further, I promise you.”

Nate was churning up inside. He so wanted to blurt out everything he felt, everything he wanted to feel, everything he had ever dreamed about. The words were there, they were just hiding behind the wall of apprehension and fear he had constructed for himself.  Mere seconds felt like hours to Nate. Then the dam burst.

Tears came. Soft, gentle tears ran in slow paths down his cheeks as he breathed deeply trying to explain things he didn’t even understand himself. He spoke about being embarrassed, feeling dirty, a freak, weird, the list went on until Mike held his hand tightly and stopped the flow. He gently shook his head and leaned into Nate.

“You’re wrong, Nate. You’re none of those things, any more than I am. You’re trustworthy and honest, a credit to your friends and someone I’m proud to have gotten to know. Being gay and having what some narrow-minded people might think of as an odd interest doesn’t make you any less of a person, in fact it makes you better than most. You’ve got one life, and you’re in control of it.”

He handed over a large, clean, white handkerchief with which Nate smothered his face until the sniffing and gulps for air subsided. He dried up the mess that was his face and sat looking again at his plate.

“Eat, Nate. I’m not paying for you to leave anything here. Have you seen the prices?” Mike laughed out loud and added, “and anyway, there are things to do when we get home. You need some energy to help me with today’s gardening.”

Nate mouthed a Thank You, silently, and then smiled. He found he was hungrier than he first thought.

The drive home was unremarkable. Mike kept to all the speed limits and was careful to keep well away from any roadside bushes that might have scratched his precious bodywork on the narrower downhill twists and turns. They both felt easy with each other, there was no longer any pretence of not knowing. Whatever was under the surface of their relationship was now floating in full view. And it felt good.

“I have a few things I have to do at home when we get there, Mike. Can I call over after lunch? The others in the house are going away for a week tomorrow and I’m staying to look after things here. I need to sort out exactly what I’m going to do and perhaps, I don’t know.” He stopped there.

“Sure, Nate. No problem.” Mike looked serious for a moment then fell silent too.

The car came to a halt in Mike’s drive, and he turned off the ignition. “Did you enjoy that, Nate?” he asked, grinning.

“Much more than you can imagine,” Nate answered. “I’m not sure about some of the things we talked about, you know, coming out and stuff, but I feel a lot easier than I did. Thanks for giving me that support.”

“Well, here’s one more thing to think about,” Mike said. “Because I was working all hours last week, I’m owed some time off. How about we put a few days aside to get to know each other better during the week? You did say I might need that key at some point.” He didn’t smile, but the twinkle in his eyes wasn’t missed by Nate.

“I’ll bring mine over too if you like,” Nate said. “Then we have a spare if one of us loses it again.”

Now it was Mike’s turn to feel slightly embarrassed. “I’ll make sure I don’t lose anything,” he chuckled. See you after lunch.”

To be continued…