It’s 8:30 in the evening and we’re standing on the street corner in Chengdu. All around us, scooters whiz past, weaving in and out of the traffic. My heart is racing. Normally I feel excited about a hookup. This time is different. Suddenly, I turn and grab Alex’s shoulder.
“Alex, I–” I don’t know what to say. “You’re my best friend and I–I don’t want to drag you into this…”
Alex stops and looks at me. He smiles. “Pete, don’t worry about it. You came all this way to see me, and I want to make sure you have a good time. I mean it. I want to do this.”
The white car pulls up to the curb. I hold his arm and don’t move. “I know. It feels like it’s OK now. But … this might be the start. It can drag you down. After this, you can’t do more. Promise me! If anything were to happen with you and Amber–”
For an instant, fear crosses his eyes. “She can never know about this.”
The driver rolls down the window and glares at us. I take a deep breath and open the back door and we get in. The driver holds his phone screen up to me, showing me a number.
“Dui,” I say, confirming it’s the right car. He floors it and the car accelerates into the traffic, whizzing through the streets of one of China’s largest cities. Chengdu is also the undisputed gayest city in the country. Despite this, I haven’t had much luck. Back in Beijing, where my flight landed, people were interested in me and I had no problem arranging a meetup or two. Everyone wanted to know my length. Here, there are ten times the number of people on the grid, but they are are jaded and either don’t respond, or just text back a ridiculous dollar amount.
The taxi pulls up to an apartment mega-complex. The vast walls around it have a single gate – a turnstile with imposing, impassible bars. You can only get in by getting your face scanned by a touchscreen.
“Are you ready for this?” I ask Alex as I open the Blued chat. We both gaze at the hot photo of the man, Laurence. He was eager for the excuse to use his English name. He smiles in the picture, but we’re only looking at his perfectly defined abs.
“He is so hot! Like a movie star,” Alex says, almost drooling.
“Dao-le,” I text. Here. “Yeah, I was so surprised he said we could come. It’s almost too good to be true.”
We wait. People are constantly coming in and out of the gate, but it is impossible to tailgate. You’d get crushed by the turnstile.
“That’s him,” Alex says.
Laurence comes out and offers his hand. I shake it as Alex and him exchange pleasantries that I don’t yet understand. He motions for us to enter. He uses his face to open the gate for each of us in turn before following after us.
We take the elevator up. I recognize that he’s asking Alex if I can speak Mandarin. “Yi dian’er,” I respond. A little.
We get to his door, but in the apartment hallway just outside his door there is a shelf of many pairs of slippers and shoes. He carefully puts on a pair of slippers and then motions for us to put our shoes into the cupboard. He goes in, then comes out with two brand-new pairs of slippers, still in the wrappers. We both tear off the wrappers and slip them on.
His apartment is beautiful, with white floors, white walls, and a bamboo trim. A white velvet couch faces a giant TV.
Laurence suggests that we shower. I tell him, through Alex, that we’ve already showered. He seems fine with this, but ushers us into the bathroom and hands me a paper-wrapped object. Chopsticks? I tear it open and find a fresh toothbrush. Its handle is made from bamboo. I nod to him, then carefully wash my hands and brush my teeth. Back in the living room, Alex asks him a few questions.
He offers us a drink. I don’t want to impose, but I say yes to some water. It’s been a hot day. Laurence fetches it, handing the bottle to me wrapped in a napkin, and then settles on the couch between us. He grabs his phone and finds a movie to cast onto the big TV. I don’t even remember which one it is, because my eyes are on him. He seems nervous because he avoids looking at either of us, instead staring straight at the TV. Slowly I inch my hand over his legs and towards his dick.
“Beat you to it.” Alex laughs. His hands are already in the guy’s pants. I see that Laurence’s dick is rock hard, already peeking out of his waistband.
I continue to fondle his leg as I slide my hand up through the bottom of his shorts.
“Oh my god, look at those abs,” Alex says in English. He’s running his hands up into our host’s shirt.
Laurence laughs nervously and says something to Alex, and Alex responds in Chinese.
I notice Alex working Laurence’s cock head, and it is already wet with pre-cum. “Careful,” I tell him. “I think this guy will be a quick one.”
Alex chuckles. “He can always go again.”
“No.” I push his hands away. “Most people are one shot. You have to go around it. And go very slow.”
Our host looks down at his own dick in embarrassment. He turns to Alex and says something. Alex shakes his head.
“He wanted to shower, but I told him he doesn’t have to, and you’re actually turned on more if he doesn’t.”
How well my friends know me!
While Alex rubs Laurence’s nipples, I reach over and yank his shorts down to his knees.
“Ying gai zai na’er tian ni?” I ask. Where would you like me to lick you? Laurence just grins nervously as I move my face down to his balls. I get on the floor in front of him before he speaks again.
“He suggested we move to the bed,” Alex says.
I nod enthusiastically and we move over to the bedroom. Once we’re inside, Laurence turns off the lights. Alex seems to argue with him.
“I told him we want to see him.”
“The customer is always right,” I tell him as I rip off my shirt and shorts and get into bed with them. Alex relays the information.
“With quick ones,” I tell Alex, “You have to go around it very carefully.” I lower my face to the guy’s crotch and very slowly lick his nuts. They are smooth and clean, as if he had freshly showered. Laurence squirms. He emits a short gasp with every stroke of my tongue. Encouraged, I settle down on my belly between his legs, grab both his thighs and press my face in between his firm ass cheeks.
He lifts his ass up, allowing me to press forward, forcing my tongue into his clean hole. His skin feels like silk against my cheeks. I hear him continue to moan as Alex strokes his cock. When I look up, Alex has his face against his chest, working his nipples. I work my way up his body, lingering too long on his abs. I caress them, and it feels like soft velvet sliding over a rippled steel surface. Soon I am hovering over his nipple.
“Do you like it hard or gentle?” I ask in English. Simple enough words.
“Hard!” he answers, between gasps. I find his nipple with my teeth and bite down, squeezing it and rubbing with my tongue. He moans loudly and bucks his hips up against my waist.
It’s time to end the torture. I go down and slurp the tip of his cockhead into my mouth. It is firm and soft all at once, and very slippery. Like licking a dolphin. All at once, I plunge my face down on it. Laurence gasps, seemingly in pain, but still he bucks his hips and enters my throat and begins to thrust himself upwards, jack-rabbit style, before stopping himself.
I slide off and carefully grab his dick with my hand. “In China, you are very big.” I tell him. He understands and smiles. I feel his hand on my head, pushing me down to his dick again.
I slurp it in, and I can taste his pre-cum oozing out. It is delicious and salty. I take it all into my mouth and just rest there, moving only my tongue in a swirl around it. I can hear him gasping as Alex works on his nipples.
“Wo hui she, wo hui she,” he says. “Shou, shou.”
Alex looks up. “He says he’s close. Use your hands.”
I grab his dick in my palms and stroke it. His moans get so loud the neighbours must hear us.
“He says go faster,” Alex says.
I do, stroking it furiously as he bucks his body up against me. Alex firmly presses on his chest to keep him down, leaving him to writhe on the bed.
“Pete, he’s ready!” Alex suddenly exclaims just as I feel the guys hands on my head again. The exact moment I place my mouth over his dick, I feel the first shot blast against my lips. I quickly engulf his penis with my mouth. I plunge deep down, and feel him pulse as he writhes again. Alex is holding him down with all of his strength now, and I can feel him shooting his load into my mouth. It tastes delicious. I remain there, motionless, as pulses subside. After a moment, he squirms again and starts to giggle.
“He says it gets ticklish.”
I laugh, then slide my feet onto the floor and get up. Suddenly Laurence looks at me with wide eyes. Did I do something wrong? After I put on my shorts I finally realize what it is and sheepishly slide my feet into the slippers he bought us.
As I get dressed, Alex converses with him a little. It turns out that despite there being so many guys in Chengdu, he’s never had a boyfriend.
As we are leaving the apartment complex, Alex has a big grin on his face. He has a skip in his step and I can barely keep up. He hasn’t had this kind of fun in a long time. “He’s gorgeous! How could he not have a boyfriend?”
I grin. “Isn’t it obvious? After the first date, they probably forget to wear the slippers.”