Page 34 of Waiting for a Prince
“You heard me.”
Mark chortled. “You’re pissed.” Not that he wasn’t in the same state.
Sam’s eyebrows shot up. “Am not!” he exclaimed indignantly. He gave Mark a wicked grin that made his knees go weak. “Anyway, answer the question.” He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table, resting his chin in his hands, staring at Mark in rapt attention. “I’m all ears.”
God, he’s cute when he’s had a few.
And apparently not about to drop the subject.
Mark sighed. “Okay, okay… I was fifteen.” His mind went back instantly to what had been, for him, a defining moment. “I thought my lack of interest in girls was due to the fact that the girls in my year at school seemed to be uncommonly ugly.” Sam snorted. “Yeah, okay, there were a few lookers, sure, but not one girl who got my heart racing, if you know what I mean.”
Sam’s eyes gleamed. “But someone else did, I take it?”
Mark stilled as he recalled glancing across the classroom during an English lesson, listening to David Elmwood reading aloud a John Donne poem. For the first time, Mark heard every word. He couldn’t tear his eyes away. He was struck by David’sclear complexion and startling blue eyes. The way his shiny, short black hair lay in soft layers, framing his heart shaped face. Those rose-coloured lips as they mouthed the beautiful words. It hadn’t mattered to him that David had a girlfriend. What shocked Mark to the core was his physical reaction to his fellow student.
Mark got hard.
“You know what it’s like when you’re a teenager. A gentle breeze can trigger a stiffy. Sitting weird on the bus. Gravity. Random shit.” He took a drink. “Well, I got my first erection from looking at a guy. It was the last thing I expected, and I had to cross my legs to hide it. I was convinced everyone could see it.” He chuckled. “I pulled my sweater down really fast to cover up my crotch.” And of course, no one had noticed. “But it was so weird. Once it had happened, it seemed that everywhere I looked around school, there were all these cute guys I’d never noticed before. It was as if I’d been wearing blinkers my whole life, and suddenly, they were taken off.”
And while none of the girls had got his heart racing, there’d been plenty of boys who did.
“Did you have a boyfriend while you were at school?”
Mark guffawed. “Oh, you havegotto be kidding me! I don’t know what the students were like inyouryear, but in mine? If you did something stupid, you were told, ‘Oh, that’s reallygay.’ It was the standard insult.” He shook his head. “No way was Ievercoming out while I was at school.” Sam nodded in acknowledgment. “Come to think of it, I didn’t really come out at college, either. It was difficult enoughtalkingto other students, let alone coming on to one of them. It took me another two years to pluck up the courage to offer someone a blowjob. I’d been getting a vibe from this one guy on and off for what seemed like ages, so when I found myself alone with him in the college toilets, I went for it.” Mark smiled to himself as he recalledhow nervous he’d been. “God, I was shaking the whole time, expecting him to lay into me and beat me up.”
“But he didn’t, right?” A crease appeared between Sam’s eyes. Mark was touched by Sam’s concern.
He gave Sam a reassuring smile. “No, he didn’t. In fact, he loved it that much, it became a steady thing. Once or twice a week we’d meet up in the toilets. I’d suck him off, or him me. It took me a longer time to get him to fuck me, however.” That first time was definitelynotsomething Mark wanted to share.
He glanced keenly at Sam. “You sure you’re okay with this conversation?” Sam showed no signs he was about to expire of embarrassment, Mark had to admit. The only reaction was the blush on his cheeks.
“Nah, it’s fine,” Sam said with a wave of his hand. “I don’t shock easily.” His eyes sparkled. “So you were, what, seventeen, eighteen when you lost your virginity?”
Mark nodded. “Which was late compared to some of my classmates. Hell, there were Year Ten girls sitting in the school canteen, discussing how they’d been spit-roasted the previous weekend. They were fourteen, fifteen at the most.” He leaned back into his chair and folded his arms. “But enough about my lamentable sex life. Now it’s your turn.” He winked—and then caught his breath as Sam’s lips pressed together in a slight grimace, that killer smile wavering slightly. Sam’s mouth opened and closed and he pulled nervously at his earlobe. “Sam. You okay?”
“Sure,” Sam croaked and then he cleared his throat. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Now that was interesting.
“Sam? Something you wanna tell me?” Mark lifted his eyebrows.
Sam took several long swigs of his beer. He put the glass and swallowed as he raised his eyes to meet Mark’s gaze. “Okay, somaybe I shock more easily than I’d thought. I mean, that spit-roasting thing… I didn’t even know what that was when I was their age.” He shrugged. “I don’t have any stories to tell you.”
Mark snickered. “Oh,Isee. It’s okay formeto bare my soul and share my first pathetic attempts at sex, butyouget to chicken out.” He flapped his arms and madebawkbawknoises.
Sam laughed. “Apparently I need to be more drunk before I reveal the sordid secrets of my sex life.” He picked up his glass and drained it. “And it’s your turn to get them in.” He waved his empty glass at Mark.
Mark grumbled to himself as he stood. “Just when things were getting interesting.” He winked at Sam to show he was joking and then headed for the bar. There was only an hour before closing time. The beer had given him a very pleasant buzz, except nearer to the truth was that he was on the way to being drunk. He handed over his money and grabbed the two glasses, walking carefully to their corner table, trying not to slop beer onto the already stained carpet. The level of noise in the bar had increased as its patrons grew more voluble.
Sam leaned against the padded back of his seat, his fingers laced behind his head. His gaze was on the people around him. When Mark approached, he lowered his arms and patted the seat next to him.
“Sit here and people-watch with me for a sec.”
Mark shrugged good-naturedly and sprawled out on the seat, glancing around the bar. “Who exactly are we watching?” He reached for his beer.
Sam indicated a young man who was standing near the door on his own, his eyes on the TV screen which was silently showing Sky news. “Would you dohim?”
Mark almost choked on his mouthful of beer. “Excuse me?”
