Jim laughs, downing his scotch, passing on a third one. He clears his throat and says, “I want to do us both a favor, Toby. It’s one of the reasons why I’m visiting Templeton. This stop isn’t all about seeing my relatives.”
“What favor?” Toby asks, raising his eyebrows with question. Never has Jim asked for a favor in their friendship. Not in the twenty-plus years the two men have known each other. “Tell me what you need, guy. I’m all ears.”
Jim reaches in a back pocket of his blue jeans, shows off a white envelope, and passes the envelope across the table, placing it on the wooden surface in front of Toby. “There’s three thousand dollars in the envelope.”
Toby shakes his head, grins like a wild cat, and admits, “I won’t sleep with you for cash, although I think you’re sexy as hell. If you’re horny and need to get off, I might consider it with you since you have a famous dick and balls. But giving me cash will only make feel cheap and easy. Both of us know I’m not into that.”
Jim laughs. “I don’t want you to fuck around with me. I want you to blog about me.” He taps the money with two fingers, looks into Toby’s eyes, and adds in a confident tone, “I want to pay you the three grand to write six blogs about me. That’s five hundred dollars for each blog.”
Toby shakes his head, pushes the envelope across the table, and ends its journey in front of Jim’s chest. “I’ll do the blogs, but I won’t take any money from you. I’ve known you too long to charge you for blogs. Hell, you were the first boy I ever kissed.”
Jim laughs again. “You stole a kiss from me. I hardly asked for it.”
“Whatever. I’m still not taking your money.”
“This is a business transaction, Toby. You can’t do it for free. I’m paying for some publicity and this is one way to accomplish it. Your Bear Blog gets a lot of attention from queers and men who love me and the raunchy movies I star in. It’s a good investment on my part. Bottom line, I insist you take the money. No one writes for free, which includes you.” He pushes the envelope back in front Toby, asks the bartender for a third scotch, and adds, “I won’t take no for an answer.”
It’s a done deal. Toby realizes that he’s being backed into a corner, collects the cash, pockets the wad of bills, and asks, “When do you want the blogs on the web site?”
“One every two weeks. Can you do that?”
“Of course I can do that.”
Jim shakes hands with Toby and buys him another drink. The two men sit for the next hour and talk about men, sports, and Jim’s new BMW, which is loaded. They catch up on their lives, become a touch intoxicated, and chitchat for the next few hours, enjoying their time together.
* * * *
Toby has quite the buzz. The Bear’s Den interior doesn’t spin, but he feels lightheaded and can’t stop smiling. He reaches his left hand up to Jim’s mouth and wipes a dribble of scotch away from the man’s bottom lip. “I want to ask you a serious question, but only if you’ll allow me.”
“I hate being serious. It makes me feel old.”
Toby ignores him and asks, “Why weren’t we ever lovers? We’ve known each other for most of our lives and we never made out, blew each other off, or diddled. I want to know why that is.”
“You’re drunk, Toby. Lay off the liquor.”
“I might be drunk, but I know what I’m saying.”
“Because I moved to California and you stayed here in Templeton. Otherwise, I would have probably banged you every day.” Jim laughs at his own comment. “And trust me, it would have been the best bang you would have ever had. I think you would have been addicted to my cock.”
Toby also laughs. If he keeps drinking he’ll start slurring his words, so he decides that the cocktail in front of him on the bar is his last one. “Distance took you away from me.”
“It did. Things happen, right?”
“You know I loved you when you were fourteen,” Toby said.
“You were eight when I moved away. You didn’t even know you were gay, and you certainly didn’t know what love between two boys was.”
Toby rolls his eyes, huffs, and says in a tone that comes across as serious, “That’s not true. It was boy-love because I knew you were my best friend, and you hurt me when you left. I lost something important in my life. It was like I lost my brother or relative. I may have not known at the time that I loved you, but now I do.”
Jim reaches a paw out and rubs the back of Toby’s head, showing his endearing side. “I’m sorry, guy. I didn’t know you went through that. I’ll buy your drinks for the next five years and make it up to you. What do you say?”
“I’d say you’re a shithead for even suggesting a thing like that.”
“I’ve been called worse. But at least I’m a shithead who likes you after all these years of friendship, and wouldn’t give you up for anything. I honestly mean that. I’m not bullshitting you, like I sometimes do.”
He’s not bullshitting me, Toby thinks, decides to hug the guy as a friend, and ends their evening together, separating once again.