Page 2 of Hammered and Nailed
"Maybe as friends, but that’s it."
"Aw, come on, man. What happened? Did you blow it or something?"
I rubbed a hand over my face, keeping one hand on the wheel. "Not exactly. I told her I wasn’t feeling it. We decided to part ways amicably and maybe hang out platonically sometime. That’s all."
Josh let out a low whistle. "Wow, I can’t believe it."
"What?" My tone was more defensive than I’d meant it to be.
"Nothing. I’m just surprised my hook-up-with-everyone brother wasn’t interested in hooking up with the person who is hands-down the hottest teacher at the high school, if not in all of Cedarvale."
I let out a sigh. "I’m going to hang up on you if you don’t stop objectifying women."
"Hey, I didn’t say youhaveto sleep with her. Just surprised that you didn’t want to, that’s all."
"I don’t know… I feel like maybe I'm getting too old to keep playing the hookup game, you know? I’m almost forty."
"Fair. You’re getting old." I could hear his smile coming through the line.
"Hey, fuck you. You’re older than I am."
His voice took on a sad tone. "Yeah, but I met the one for me when I was in college. I’m set. No more dating for this guy."Josh’s wife had passed away after only a few years of marriage, in their late twenties, and he’d been single since, raising their daughter alone.
"So what you’re saying is that I should settle down like you did? Get married, have a kid, the whole thing?"
"I’m not saying youshoulddo anything. I guess what I’m saying is, figure out what makes you happy and go for it. Who am I to judge?"
"Yeah. You’re right." I thought for a few moments, worrying my lower lip between my teeth as I drove.
"Hey, in other news, how’s work?"
"Ugh." I sighed deeply. "Tommy fucked himself up. Broke his ankle the other day. It’s going to be a long summer working solo."
"Got a lot of work lined up?"
"It’s more that everything will take longer by myself. The good news is, I’ve kept my schedule light for the first few weeks of summer. Figured I’d go camping or fishing or something, hang with Emery. I’m going to move my summer jobs around, too. Give myself a little freedom, since Tommy can’t work. I did line up a major project for the fall though. Helping a family totally renovate. They want a ton of work done." By then I had pulled into my driveway. I let Josh know I had to hang up and we said our goodbyes before I headed inside.
The house was dark—I'd forgotten to leave the lights on—and as I made my way in, I flipped the switches to illuminate the inside. The front door opened into the living room where I kicked off my shoes onto the hardwood floors I’d installed myself less than a month after I’d bought the place. That led me into the kitchen, which I’d painted a friendly pale blue with slate-colored tiles. It wasn’t much but it was mine.
I grabbed a beer from the fridge and cracked it open with the refrigerator door still open. Taking a long swig, I closed the door before leaning against the counter. "Well," I said to nobody. "That date was… something."A colossal failure on your part, genius, my brain said, unbidden.
The beer wasn’t as appealing as I’d hoped, so I took a second swig before pouring it down the drain and leaving the can on the counter before heading to my bedroom. Once in my room, I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed. It took me ages to get comfortable, tossing and turning as if I could release the restlessness from my body by sheer will alone.
I picked up my phone and navigated to my favorite porn site, clicking on video after video. None of them seemed to get my dick’s attention, until I came across a video of two men that somehow piqued my interest. I watched, weirdly captivated for a few moments. One of the guys in the video almost looked like Emery. When I realized that, I laughed, shook my head and kept scrolling. As I scrolled, my mind kept going back to that video. I tried to imagine telling Emery I’d spotted his lookalike in a porn video getting railed by another guy.He’dfind it funny, surely. It reminded me a little of the first—and only—time I’d kissed another guy. It hadn’t been a big deal, but it also hadn’tbeen arousing. It just…was. Funny, maybe. Just something that happened and I moved on from. Just like this porn. Right?
Except I couldn’t move on. I couldn’t stop thinking about the look on the Emery-lookalike’s face, the sounds he made, the way his dick looked as he stroked it.
After a while, I sighed and tossed my phone aside, having no real luck with the videos after that. There was definitely,definitelysomething going on with me if I couldn’t get hard from my usual porn. I just wished I knew what it was.
Chapter Two
Emery
Iclosedthelastboxof my classroom supplies and taped it shut. Looking around the room, I took mental note of all the boxes of classroom materials that belonged to me, gave myself a few moments to remember the best—and worst—times I’d had in the room. A month ago, I’d applied for a prestigious teaching position across the state and if I got the job, I’d only be back in this room to gather my belongings and get the hell out of Dodge. My last step before leaving for the summer was to sign out in the front office. After that, I’d be free until August. The moment it was done, I hurried to the parking lot and slid into the driver’s seat of my SUV. Naturally, as soon as I sat down, my phone rang. I turned on the ignition for the air conditioning and answered. "Hello?"
"Oh, I'm so glad I caught you," my mom’s voice said over the speaker, sounding harried.
"What’s up?"
