17. Jamie

Drag Queen Brunch is a blast, with performers walking around the tables as they sing or lip sync and dance. Who knew it was basically a gay cabaret performance? Based on the enthusiasm from everyone around us, everyone who hasn't been living as a straight guy focused on college.

"Up next, Gladys Over and her Happy Bottom," Magic announces as the host of the event, wearing one of his sequined jumpsuits and a bubblegum pink wig.

They do some impressive moves, showing off fit bodies under all the glitter and makeup, and I am glad I had some cash in my wallet.

"We should have brought more ones." Teddy leans in to comment after boldly slipping a bill into the shoulder strap of the performer. "This is a lot more fun than the strip club the frat brothers used to drag us to. Ha, drag."

We eat brunch and indulge in their bottomless mimosas, leaving me pleasantly relaxed and Teddy tipsy. He's clapping along, cheering with the crowd and I'm enjoying the theatrics.

It takes me back to hanging out with my sister, Sarah, in our local community theater. Gender and sexuality don't matter when it comes to the parts people play. Sarah stopped doing plays during her undergrad, but she dated a non-binary person around the same time. My parents were cool with it, even inviting them home with her over a school break.

But I wasn't gay. Or at least, not gay for anyone but Teddy. Bisexual maybe? Or pansexual? Reading about bi erasure in my human sexuality class made me unsure about that label. What was the term I heard for mostly straight? Heteroflexible! That felt right. Straight with a few exceptions. Though I could be bi or pan. Who knew?

Growing up in Richmond, Virginia, it was an interesting mix of southern and modern. There were gay people around, and also people who had something to say about it. My parents taught me to accept everyone for who they are, to not listen to the hate.

My mom and dad would be chill if I told them I was dating a guy. Dating? Fuck, I couldn't call us dating when it was only a vacation fling at this point. At the same time, could it be called a fling with your best friend? Who you live with…

The implications of our–thing, for lack of a better term, is too complicated to dwell on. It feels good and I am focusing on the good vibes, along with making sure Teddy is comfortable.

Looking at my best friend, I see him relax and enjoy the camaraderie. The community feeling of the cruise is something I've never experienced for myself outside of our frat, but a lot less competitive. I get the feeling they would have been just as welcoming if we admitted to being two straight guys.

Or not so straight guys, as it turns out.

Thinking about Teddy and how he's taken to our sexplorations, I have to wonder if he was ever really into women. He never pursued them, only going to bed with a woman if she pursued him and he'd had a drink or two to loosen up. I'd dated off and on since high school, but he had never had a girlfriend.

Was Teddy gay?

While I didn't want to label him, I thought about the list of sexual identities I'd read about the night before when Teddy fell asleep. Bi or heteroflexible fit me, but I had to wonder if he wasn't Demi, only feeling attraction when he felt a strong bond.

If that's the case, am I taking advantage of our friendship?

Maybe I should let him build a connection with someone else. My stomach twists in knots thinking about watching Teddy with anyone else. I've never seen him kissing anyone but me, and I didn't want to.

Or did I have it wrong? Teddy could have liked me as more than a friend for years, while I was fooling around with anything with tits.

There were too many questions. Answers wouldn't come unless I asked, but that brought me full circle. My family wouldn't care no matter how I identified or who I dated, so long as they were good to me. Or they would care, but in a loving and supportive way.

Teddy's family might not be so understanding. If I wanted more, and he did too, where did that leave us if his family rejected him?

Robert and Catherine James were always welcoming to me, despite my different religious background and upbringing. His mom drove down with one of his sisters to help us set up our apartment, and we often spend holidays together. I call them Mum and Pops, since their parents came from Wales and that's what Teddy called them.

But that was as Teddy's friend from college.

Taking a deep breath, I focus in on Gladys' finale where she falls into a split and everyone cheers for her performance. My eyes saw it happening, but I was too in my head. Teddy stands to clap with the crowd and I take him in.

His blond hair is tousled from me running my fingers through it, and his chocolate brown eyes are lit with joy. I want to see him happy all the time. Normally I do that by helping around our apartment and getting him whatever he needs.

The big question is what does he need?

Back in our stateroom, I pour us some soft drinks from the minibar. We're lounging on the private balcony, watching the waves go by in companionable silence, when I see a sliver of something leap from the blue water.

"Is that a dolphin?"

"Really?" Teddy sits up and looks through the clear plexiglass barrier before standing to get a better look over the railing. "Where?"

Scooting forward until I'm at the edge of my seat, I hold his waist with one hand and point with the other, "Straight ahead."

We only have to wait a few seconds before a fin pops up again, followed quickly by another. Teddy gasps as a few more join in.

"There's more than one, what's the called? A pod?" Teddy answers his own question. He's bending forward, and I'm glad I have a firm hold on him. "How cool."

We watch them, commenting on how playful they seem, and if we think the little one is a baby. When they disappear, I scoot back and pull Teddy down to sit between my legs. He comes willingly, leaning back against my chest.

"It's our last night on the cruise," I start, hoping to discuss some of the burning questions at the front of my mind.

Teddy is quiet and still in my arms, not replying. I'm about to ask one of them to prompt a reply when he turns in my arms. Teddy plays with my ear lobe, not meeting my eyes. He licks his lips and focuses on mine, so I kiss him briefly, but don't let him off the hook.

He sighs and finally looks up, "One more night to not think about what happens after we get home?"

"Is that what you need?"

Swallowing hard enough for me to hear over the sound of water passing below, Teddy nods and sits up, "Please, Jamie?"

Gripping his ass through his shorts, I want to push him, make Teddy talk, but I can't deny him when he begs. Teddy rocks his hips and I feel my dick perk up.

"Okay."

Slipping his shorts down until his dick is exposed, I grip the back of Teddy's neck and lean him back until his head is by my feet. After some careful maneuvering, I'm laid out on top of him with our dicks bare and rubbing together.

"Want me to rut against you like a horny teenager, Teddy?" I pant out as I begin to thrust gently, my head catching on his foreskin. "Get us both off and make a mess we have to clean up?"

"Yes."

Despite the furious rutting he's attempting, I take my time with him. Teddy's breath mingles with mine, and can't help kissing him. I can taste the citrus flavor from his drink as our tongues play languidly.

Our legs are tangled together, but when he stops kissing to moan in pleasure, I go up on my knees to focus on his orgasm. Teddy leaks pre-cum and makes rubbing him off easier. I'm used to jacking off with nothing, but I think about one act I read about. Something I never heard of before researching gay sex the night before.

Scooting back to sit on his thighs, I press the head of my dick against his wetness. Pulling Teddy's loose foreskin over his tip and onto mine, he gasps and grabs onto my thighs.

"What are you doing?"

"Docking," I pull his skin back and forth, barely touching my own head since I'm cut. "Does it feel good?"

"Yes, fuck," Teddy arches beneath me, throwing his head back on a silent moan. I give him a reprieve to spit on my hand and he lifts his head. "Don't stop."

"Not stopping. You're going to come all over my dick and then I want you to lick me clean."

My words are hardly out of my mouth when Teddy's body freezes and I feel his dick throb in my hand as hot cum shoots out to cover me. I let his foreskin go, and Teddy is pushing me back before he's caught his breath. He laps at my dick, licking his own cum off of me.

"You don't have to–"

"Want to," Teddy interrupts before swallowing me down like my dick's a popsicle melting down the stick.

"Fuck that's hot."

He fondles my balls and runs a finger under them. One tap to my hole and I'm unable to give a warning, coming down his throat in thick spurts as he drinks every drop, draining me.

When I get too sensitive and push at him to ease off, Teddy rests his head on my thigh. He's snoring before I can suggest a shower, but I don't mind.

One question is answered for me. I only want Teddy, not other guys.