Zane was taking thirst traps in front of the mirror, because frankly the vapid validation on Grindr and Tiktok made him feel better about the bad day he had. Suddenly, he heard a noise.
Zane paused the music on his phone playing from the bluetooth speaker and tilted his head like a confused puppy. Someone was knocking at his door. It was nearly 9 pm. Zane pulled on a pair of athletic shorts, grabbed his phone, and wandered into the living room. He set his phone on the arm of the couch, and checked to make sure the baseball bat was leaning against the wall next to the front door of his apartment. He cracked door cautiously, sticking out only his head.
Zane was expecting to see one of the random drug addicts that roamed around this neighborhood at night, or his nutty cat lady neighbor who kept asking if he’d seen cats that had escaped. She had like ten and most of the time, they hadn’t escaped, she just couldn’t find them in her apartment amongst all the clutter. But this was a new face (Hispanic? Filipino?) of a young man in a puffy jacket he filled out well. Beanie. Tight fitting black jeans. Late 20s Bit of an emo vibe.. He was fiddling with something in his hands, which were clad in fingerless gloves. Zane assumed it was probably his phone.
“Hello? Can I help you?” Zane opened the door a bit more. The cold breeze gave him goosebumps and made his nipples harden.
The young man’s eyes widened; he almost looked panicked. “Uhhhh. Yeah um. Are you Zane Truman? I found a wallet today, the ID said you lived at this address.”
Zane’s jaw dropped. “Holy shit. I did, yeah. I’m not sure when I lost it, but considering I took public transit today I assumed I lost it there- thought it was a goner.” He held out his hand and the young man passed the wallet over.
Zane turned his wallet in his hands in disbelief. He opened it. His credit cards, ID, and cash were all in there. “Wow,” he murmured. The wallet seemed like an illusion; things like this never happened to him. “Thank you so much.”
“I’m happy I could get it back to you.”
“I can’t believe you actually brought it all the way out here to this sketchy party of town.” Zane took some bills out of the wallet. “Here please take this.”
The young man held up his hands. “No no, not needed at all. I don’t want anything in return.”
Zane furrowed his brow. “Nothing?”
“Nope. Nothing at all.”
“Damn. Guess there are nice people left in the world,” Zane said half to himself. He put the bills away.
The young man didn’t reply. He was looking at Zane’s tattooed body and legs, eyes half focused. Zane raised an eyebrow and cleared his throat. The young man snapped to attention. His face turned red. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.”
“No, it’s ok, I don’t mind when people stare at my tattoos.”
“No, I mean, it’s just-,” The young man shifted his weight between his feet. “I think I recognize you.”
“Oh from where?” Zane asked, perplexed. He’d never seen this guy in his life. “From um, Grindr?” the young man squeaked.
Zane couldn’t help but laugh. It was his turn to blush. “Oh my god. Are you serious? My shirtless bathroom selfies are coming back to haunt me?”
“I mean, they were good pictures…”
“So, yes. I don’t remember getting a hit from you. Did you message me?”
“Me? Nooo I would never have a chance, you’re way too hot to respond to someone basic like me.”
Zane put his hands on his hips. “Now that is nonsense. For one, you’re cute, and two, I’m a slut and love attention from any man no matter what. I would have definitely shamelessly flirted with you.”
The young man tried to stammer out a response.
“What is your name by the way?” Zane asked.
“Alejandro,” he said.
“Alejandro.”
Zane leaned back and grabbed his phone off the couch. Grindr was still open. He did a search to see who was in the area and found Alejandro with ease. With a grin, he sent a message. “If you don’t have to rush home, you’re welcome to come in for a bit.” Alejandro had an inkling of what he was doing and yet, he was still surprised when his phone dinged. He pulled it out of his pocket and giggled nervously as he read it. “I mean, I don’t need to be home right away tonight,” he wrote back.
Zane smiled as the message came through. He lowered his phone and stepped aside. “Please do come in.”
Alejandro gaze’s lingered on Zane’s chiseled tattooed torso, drifted down to his abs, and followed the dark trail of hair until it disappeared below the waistline of those shorts. Shorts that did nothing to hide the curve of what was held within.
Alejandro’s feet moved forward on their own, and he found himself in Zane’s apartment, taking off his coat. This was all completely crazy, probably the riskiest thing he’d ever done! But the more he stared at Zane, the more Alejandro wanted a reward.
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Captions are fictional.