Hard Sell (2 page)

Chapter Three

Jesse poured Lindy, his sister-in-law, more red wine. He offered some to his brother Brian, who demurred because he was driving. Although Jesse had recently moved back to Urlack, his and their busy schedules had kept them from spending much quality time together. Jesse was busy building his freelance video business. Brian and Lindy were shopping for a new house. They went to Alberto’s, their favorite Italian restaurant, for dinner on Sunday evening, the day after Jesse had gone to Gary and Jeff’s cookout.

“We’ve got an appointment next Friday to see some houses,” Lindy said. “The guy who’s showing is supposed to be the best real estate agent in the area.”

House hunting had become Lindy’s obsession. Jesse knew that Brian wanted to buy a house as much as Lindy did, but Brian was just much more laid back about the whole business.

“Really? Who’s showing you around?” Jesse asked.

“Guy named Wes something. Pass me the hot flakes, please,” Brian said, referring to the jar of hot red pepper flakes on the table. Apparently, his shrimp diavolo wasn’t devilishly hot enough.

“Wes Mitchell. Yes. He’s very good. Aaron and Diana had a very good experience with him,” Lindy said.

Jesse had been paying attention throughout the dinner, but the mention of Wes’ name sharpened his focus.

“I met a guy named Wes Mitchell at the party I went to last night,” Jesse said.

“Did he say he’s a real estate agent?” Lindy asked.

Brian had taken out his phone and had started swiping and tapping on it.

“Maybe,” said Jesse. “We didn’t talk about occupations. It was just party small talk.”

Brian handed his phone to Jesse. “That the guy you met last night?”

“Yeah. That’s him.” The picture appeared on Wes’ real estate agency website. Jesse looked at the photo of a smiling Wes Mitchell for a few moments before handing the phone back to Brian. He was reminded of how handsome he thought Wes was. He liked his men older, and Wes was his type.

Lindy started talking about what she would love to see in the houses Wes showed them. Jesse’s mind was still on Wes’ photo. It was a great photo. It looked like a headshot actors would get. There was the same toothy, easy smile and penetrating eyes he had seen at the party.

“What do you know about him? I mean, other than he’s a real estate agent. Sorry for interrupting, Lindy,” Jesse said.

Lindy shrugged. “He’s good at what he does. He’s active in the chamber of commerce. People like him.”

Brian took a sip of his diet cola. “Since he’s in real estate, he most likely has a shaky relationship to the truth. Part of the job description.”

Lindy balked. “I don’t think that’s fair, Brian. Aaron and Diana said he’s honest even when he could easily get away with lying. He was very upfront with them when they were looking to buy a house, and, hey, maybe Jesse would want to date him. Do you think he’s gay?”

Jesse chuckled. Of course, Wes was gay, but this being Urlack, Jesse wasn’t sure if Wes out to the general population. Urlack hadn’t been a hospitable place to LGBT individuals when he was growing up here. Things had gotten a bit better, but he knew that being in the closet in a place like this wasn’t unheard of. He didn’t want to out him, so he ducked the question.

“Still trying to fix me up, sis?”

“Well, why not? I hate thinking of you going back to your apartment without a nice guy waiting for you.”

Jesse had done a little dating in his hometown, but it was hard because the gay community was so small. Everyone knew each other, and there were a lot of closet cases. He found closet cases a turn off. He was good enough to meet someone’s mother, and he didn’t want to be anyone’s dirty secret. And closet cases tended to hold their hearts so far back that they were unreachable. They weren’t unlovable, but they were hard to love. He met guys through friends, and occasionally he would go to Big Ed’s 24/7 XXX Emporium. It was pretty sleazy, but sometimes he needed a no-strings blowjob to get him through the day or night. He was looking for a new long-term boyfriend.

For the moment, Big Ed’s served his needs, and he was glad he had moved back home. He liked being closer to family, and sometimes small, like Urlack, was nice. He had run away to Chicago as soon as he could after high school, and his life there had been good. When that life fell apart, he decided it was time to come home. He had broken up with his boyfriend. He’d lost his job, and his career was going nowhere. Why stay?

By the time Jesse left Brian and Lindy, it was close to 10:30 p.m., but Jesse wasn’t ready to go to sleep. He drove out to Big Ed’s, and it looked like it would be a good evening. The air was warm and smelled vaguely of corn crops, manure and exhaust from the fifty or so cars in the parking lot. Once inside, he thought he saw Wes Mitchell duck into the warren of cubicles, but he couldn’t catch his eye before he disappeared. Then he greeted Marge, the Emporium’s longtime cashier. She was her usual sunny self.

“Hey, five bucks,” she said. “Cash only.”

“Love you too,” said Jesse as he slipped a five-dollar bill through an opening in the bulletproof glass.

Then Jesse turned and saw Wes Western, vintage porn star for July. He had glanced at the poster a couple of days ago. This time the sight triggered a flood of memories. Twenty years ago, when he was a teenage budding queer, he had been dumpster diving and found a VHS tape of
Cock Bear
starring Wes Western. He played that tape every time his family left him alone in the house. That video made everything better. Bullies at school calling him a fag? No problem. Wes Western to the rescue. A “D” on his math test? Wes Western cured all. Jesse cried the day the VCR ate that tape.

But there was something nagging at Jesse. There was something familiar about Wes Western above and beyond
Cock Bear
and his other movies. Actually, he vaguely looked like Wes Mitchell, if he had been younger.

Jesse decided to think about that later and entered the warren of cubicles looking for one that had been recently wiped down. He found one and went in, closing the door behind him. He sat down and knocked on the wall to his right. The man in that cubicle stuck his dick and balls through the glory hole, and then it all came together. Jesse was about to suck Wes Western’s cock. He’d have known it anywhere. He knew Wes Mitchell was in the Emporium, too. That had to be his cock. Wes Mitchell didn’t just resemble an older Wes Western. He was Wes Western.

Jesse wrapped his hand around Wes Western’s cock. It got harder as Jesse stroked the shaft. Wes Western may have changed, but his dick had not. It still curved to the left and had a wavy vein that wrapped around the middle of the shaft. Jesse could feel his dick getting hard and pressing against his jeans. Jesse touched Wes’ hairy balls, and Wes started moaning.

“Suck it,” Jesse heard Wes say. “Suck my cock now.”

Jesse had been dreaming about this for years. He could barely believe it was really happening. He got on his knees and started licking the head of Wes’ cock. He then moved his tongue up and down the shaft. Jesse opened his lips and took in Wes’ whole cock and pushed his mouth up and down.

“Oh, yeah, suck it good,” Wes said.

Jesse reached down and unzipped his own pants. His cock popped out. The tip was wet with pre-cum. His mouth worked Wes’ cock, and his hand pumped his own dick. They were both so close to coming. Jesse pulled away from Wes’ cock for just a moment to take a good, close look at it.

“Hey, no fair stopping before I’m done,” said Wes.

Jesse put his mouth back on Wes’ cock and started to feel Wes’ cum in his mouth. Wes was still beautiful, and he tasted delicious. Jesse came in his own hand. He felt like a teenager again, giddy and excited about the newly discovered magic of orgasm.

“Oh, yeah, thank you,” Wes said, pulling his dick and balls away from Jesse’s mouth.

“You’re welcome. By the way, I know who you are, Wes Western,” Jesse said. He zipped up his pants and dashed out of the Emporium.

Jesse pushed his way through a couple of guys who were paying Marge at the entrance. He tapped the button on his remote to unlock his car and quickly got in. He sank down low so he couldn’t be seen, but not so low that he couldn’t see out. He had a good view of the front door. He was convinced that Wes would be on his way out eventually. Sure enough, Jesse saw Wes emerge from the Emporium looking bewildered, and, if Jesse wasn’t mistaken, angry.

Chapter Four

Hey, Wes. This is Jesse Ekstrom. I got your number from my sister-in-law, Lindy Ekstrom. I was just calling because I’ve been thinking lately of buying a house, and I figured since you’re already working with my brother Brian and Lindy you could show me a few properties, too. Give me a call and we can talk about setting something up. Ciao!

Wes got the voicemail message from Jesse on the Tuesday after his foray to Big Ed’s over the weekend. He replayed the message a couple of times to satisfy a hunch. He had suspected but was now certain now that Jesse had been the guy who had blown him at Big Ed’s and then said he knew he had been Wes Western. Although he had only spoken briefly with Jesse at Gary and Jeff’s party, he recognized the tone and cadence of the younger man’s voice. It was the same that had spoken to him through a thin wall at Big Ed’s. He wondered why Jesse was being squirrely about it. No one, except a few of Wes’ closest buddies like Gary and Jeff, knew he had once done gay porn, so he wondered if Jesse wanted to expose his secret or maybe he wanted to make porn.
Lots of people think they can make porn these days. Lots of amateur stuff being thrown up on the Internet these days,
Wes thought,
most of it not very good.

He remembered being annoyed and a bit freaked out after hearing the voice tell him that he knew who he was. It was just so weird. He couldn’t figure out who would say such a thing, especially after giving great head. Why break the mood? Now that he was sure it was Jesse, Wes just found it mildly amusing, if not puzzling. At some point in his life, Jesse must have stumbled upon Wes’ old porn videos. Wes had never been a mega-star in gay porn, but he had had his share of fans back in the day. He assumed most of those fans had forgotten him and moved on to other performers. He wondered which of his old videos Jesse had seen.

Before calling Jesse back, he searched for his porn name on the Internet. Among the several hits he got was a “Where Are They Now?” blog dedicated to keeping curious fans informed about what had happened to the porn stars of yore. The blogger was indefatigable. He provided brief histories of actors who had done all kinds of porn in many parts of the world. Wes found an entry for Wes Western. It was sparse, offering only the barest details about his background, a filmography and then speculation about where he was now. The blogger opined that since Wes hadn’t, as far as he knew, died of AIDS or ended up in jail, that he must be living quietly in some Midwestern hamlet, probably selling cars. That made Wes chuckle.
Cars? Houses? What’s the difference?

Two pictures accompanied Wes Western’s entry. One was a headshot of Wes. The other looked like it had been taken at a party, maybe a party that had happened after the adult film awards. He recognized Bobby Hawkes, who nuzzled Wes’ left ear as though he was telling him a secret. Wes had always been told how good-looking he was, but, to him, Bobby had always been on another plane altogether when it came to looks. Bobby was like Paul Newman, only with brown hair and hazel eyes. Wes had his right arm around another man, a very blond, fresh-faced young man. He thought a few moments then he remembered that he was Justin Knight. Bobby and Wes had appeared in a cheesy porn movie version of the story of the search for the Holy Grail. Justin had played Sir Galahad. It was the last porn film Wes had ever done. He remembered little of the experience. The entry on Bobby Hawkes was similarly short on information, which frustrated Wes. If there was anyone he would like to see from his old porn days, it was Bobby.

Wes returned Jesse’s call, and they agreed to meet for dinner later in the week to discuss what Jesse was looking for in a house. Wes was surprised that he was actually looking forward to seeing Jesse, even if he had acted weird at Big Ed’s.

Chapter Five

After some small talk about Wes taking Jesse’s brother and sister-in-law around to look at houses earlier in the day, the two men ordered their dinners. Wes had suggested having dinner at the only gastropub in Urlack. Jesse was, thus far, impressed with the beer that was brewed on the premises.

“Urlack tries to be a bit more sophisticated than it used to be. Sometimes it succeeds,” Wes said.

“Well, the beer’s a good start.” Jesse took another gulp. “What did you do before getting into real estate?”

Wes smiled. “I’ve had a colorful and varied career, some of it in front of the camera. But then, you know that, don’t you?”

Jesse at first looked taken aback.

Before Jesse could say anything, Wes leaned forward and said in a low voice, “I know who you are, Wes Western.”

For a moment, Wes saw Jesse’s cheeks bloom into a bright red. Then Jesse smiled, a bit ruefully, Wes thought.

“So, you know that I know,” Jesse said.

“Yes. I now know that you know, you know?” Wes grinned. “Surprised?”

Jesse nodded. “Kind of. What tipped you off?”

“The voicemail you left me the other day. I listened to it a couple of times. It wasn’t until I heard that, that I recognized your voice. When were you gonna tell me?”

“I hadn’t really decided yet, maybe tonight. I didn’t even make the connection until we were in Big Ed’s, you know.” Jesse shrugged. “Does anyone around here know?”

“A few people do,” Wes said. “Why? Did you think it would make good blackmail material?”

Now, Jesse looked hurt, appalled. “No way. I’d never do something like that. I just want you to know how much your movies meant to me.”

Wes chuckled. “Helped you through some of your wet dreams, eh?”

A server came and set their plates of food down and asked if they needed anything else. When Wes and Jesse said they were all right, the server left. Wes had opted for the sea scallops with bacon and braised leeks while Jesse had the chicken burger.

Jesse leaned in and spoke softly. “Okay, yeah. I jacked off when I watched your movies, but it wasn’t just the fucking.” He stopped and looked around. “I also really liked your presence in those movies and how you interacted with Bobby Hawkes. You really touched him. He really touched you. That was clear.”

“My, my. You were actually paying attention,” Wes said.

“Yeah, I was. I mean, I watched that tape more times than I can count so I probably saw more in it than most people who watched it did.”

Wes ate a scallop, pausing to let it glide down his throat. “There really wasn’t anything to those movies, my movies.
Citizen Kane
or
The Godfather
they were not.” He leaned close to Jesse and lowered his voice. “It was just fucking.”

“Okay, so they weren’t masterpieces of cinema, but haven’t you had a time in your life when you crossed paths with something, no matter how ridiculous, that made you realize that the bad spot you were in wouldn’t last forever? Your movies did that for me. I was a teenager in a bad spot, and you helped me.”

Suddenly, Wes felt embarrassed because he remembered that there had been something—a song—that had summed up the yearning he felt to see something different from the seemingly endless fields of corn and soybeans. He had been a senior in high school when he had first seen the music video for Duran Duran’s song
Rio
. The combination of the lyrics and the video’s images resonated with him. Outwardly, high school wasn’t a terrible time for him. He was on the football and track teams, doing pretty well on both. He had no trouble finding girls to go to school dances with him or out to the movies or to parties, especially when he hit senior year. By then he had grown into his looks, and he was very good-looking.

But he had chafed at the subtle and not so subtle demands to conform. Conforming in Urlack included not voicing, let alone acting on, his attraction to men. He felt sheepish now thinking back on how much that silly video, with its depiction of an island paradise so unlike his hometown, had spoken to him. It didn’t matter that Simon Le Bon was singing about a beautiful woman. Wes had had no trouble imagining himself in her place, being the object of affection of a pop star.

Their server stopped by their table to see if either man wanted anything else, which jolted Wes out his reverie. They both asked for refills of their beers.

Jesse had a sly smile on his face. “I knew it. What was it?”

“Well—”

“Come on. I told you how cheesy porn made my life better. The least you can do is tell me about the embarrassing thing that got you through the night,” Jesse said.

So Wes told him about
Rio
, which meant he had to remind Jesse who Duran Duran were. By the time they left the restaurant, they were laughing about the pop songs, movies and TV shows they were embarrassed to admit liking. In the parking lot, Jesse asked Wes if he’d like to come over to his place for a drink. Wes thought about it for a moment before telling Jesse he’d follow him home.

*

Without much preamble, as soon as they were inside Jesse’s apartment, Wes grabbed Jesse and kissed him on the mouth. He discovered that Jesse’s lips were a bit chapped but otherwise kissable. He felt Jesse reach behind him. He heard the flick of a switch. A light came on. Now it was easier for Wes to maneuver Jesse to the sofa and ease him down onto it. Wes began grinding on top of Jesse, savoring the feel of Jesse’s hardness against his own. Jesse moaned.

“I’m just getting started,” Wes said.

With practiced movements, he undid Jesse’s belt and unbuttoned Jesse’s button-fly jeans. Still kissing Jesse, he rubbed Jesse’s stiffening cock over the fabric of his underpants. Then he eased Jesse’s cock and balls out of his underpants. Wes paid attention first to the ball sac, gently massaging it, which prompted more moaning from Jesse. He felt Jesse run his fingers through his hair. He maneuvered his body so he could get at Jesse’s dick and balls with his mouth. Still holding the ball sac, Wes bent his head toward Jesse’s cock and kissed the head before licking it all over.

“Oh man. Take it all in. Suck it,” Jesse whispered.

Wes began sucking the shaft, easing his way down to the base. Then he licked his way back up to the head. Soon, he got into a rhythm of licking and sucking. Jesse began thrusting his hips in counter motion. They moaned, and Wes heard Jesse’s heavy breathing and occasional gasp of pleasure. Wes could tell that Jesse was close to coming. He stroked Jesse’s cock until it gave up its milky fluid. Some of it spurted onto Wes’ hand.

“Oh shit. That felt good,” Jesse said.

Wes sat up and looked around. “Got any tissues?”

Jesse, his eyes still closed, said, “Paper towels in the kitchen.”

“I think I’ve been wanting to do that since I first saw you,” Wes said as he took a few strides to the kitchen. He wiped his hand and came back into the living room.

“I liked this better. No wall between us,” Jesse said.

Wes lay down on top of Jesse. “You’ve got a very nice cock. It could have been in pictures.”

Jesse laughed. “But not the rest of me?”

“Sure. If that’s what you wanted.”

“Nah. I couldn’t be in front of a camera like that. I’m a behind-the-camera man. How did you do it?”

Wes kissed Jesse’s neck. “The first time was the hardest, as you can imagine. The guy I was doing the scene with just told me to pretend that it was a job just like any other. Nothing special about this, he said. ‘It’s just like delivering the mail or milk, only sometimes you’re naked.’ I remember laughing. He looked offended, which made me laugh harder. I didn’t get nervous again after that.”

They kissed some more.

“You can stay,” Jesse said.

Wes kissed him on the lips again and sat up. “I don’t think so. If I stay, I won’t actually sleep very much. I haven’t been sleeping well lately. I’ve gotta be up early tomorrow for a Chamber of Commerce meeting.”

Wes stood up and smoothed down the front of his shirt. Jesse sat up, his dick and balls still hanging out.

“You can’t blow it off?”

“No. It’s a state fair committee meeting. I’m chair of the state fair committee, so I have to be there. We’ll talk soon.”

Wes kissed Jesse again before letting himself out. He meant it when he told Jesse that they’d talk soon. He’d known since he first met Jesse that he wanted to do things differently with him, to approach a relationship with him at another angle. But so far, an exchange of blow jobs didn’t seem all that different from the trajectory of previous relationships. He wondered briefly if he even knew how to do things differently.