The Trainer (5 page)

T
he next morning, Chris couldn’t wait to get up for his workout. He’d spent the night repeatedly remembering Mason in that clingy bath towel, sauntering into the doorway of his bedroom, and standing there with one armpit exposed to the air as he leaned against the doorframe. He had fantasized about the towel dropping away, and just the suggestion of the man’s package had put Chris over the moon. He hadn’t had that hard of a jack off session in months, and he slept deeply, sore as hell from his workout, but also more relaxed and satisfied than he could remember. More than that, he couldn’t wait to see Mason again.

Yeah, he was hot to look at - damn hot -
but it was just nice to meet someone with whom he could talk, who understood what it was like to deal with a hateful ex, even if he was straight. Plus, he seemed so comfortable in his skin; he didn’t mind that Chris was gay and didn’t show the least bit of hesitation in working with him. Or walking into his bedroom topless with cum on his chin.

Other people might have been alarmed to find out some stranger had jacked off in th
eir shower, but if the stranger was this fucking gorgeous, Chris would invite him into the bathroom any day of the week. He could just imagine him in the hot water, all his manhood glistening, stroking his thick, swinging cock, moaning. Just the thought of it was turning Chris on, and he decided he'd better get going before he got carried away.

He could see Mason stretching and jogging in place at the park as he came up to it. He decided just to walk to the park rather than drive
, since it was only a few blocks away anyway, and he needed to burn off any calories that he could.

He jogged up to Mason and waved.

“Good morning,” Chris said, with a big smile on his face.

Mason gave a quick wave then thrust his h
and out; he could barely look Chris in the eye, and he only guessed it was because of the whole 'soap on the neck' thing.

“Morning,” Mason grumbled.

“So how’d it go?” Chris asked.

“It?” Mason asked. “Let’s start with some stretches.”

“You know, the whole counselor thing with your daughter?” Chris explained, taking Mason’s lead as he stretched his arms from side to side.

Mason’s previously dark expression went sunny. A big smile broke across his face as he moved into the next stretching pose, interlacing his fingers and reaching high above his head. “Oh, that
. Yeah, it was great. Got to see my daughter. Any day I see her is a good day.”

Chris could see he was deep in thought about her. Chris loved seeing how happy his daughter made him
, and to Chris, nothing was sexier than a loving, good dad.

“That’s great, man,” Chris said, feeling the burn as his fingers reached for his ankles. “Glad to hear it.”

“And you? How was your day? Go ahead and lie down on the mat.  We’re going to stretch your lower back and thighs,” Mason explained.

“A lot better than yesterday,” Chris said with a smirk on his face, as he laid on the mat.

“How’s that?” Mason asked, helping Chris lay on his side and touch the mat with his right hand.

“Oh, just my ex and Facebook,
” Chris started.

“Yeah? That’s why I’m not on any of that shit. Facebook, Twitter, none of that,” Mason interrupted
, as he put his strong hand on Chris’ thigh and helped him push it down close to the mat, to stretch his hips open.

“You’re not on Facebook?” Chris asked
, surprised, trying to bear the pain of the stretch.

“No, hate it. I’m a very private individual,” Mason chuckled. “Besides
, anything I reveal, my ex uses against me somehow. I’m not exaggerating. Every detail about my life that she finds out somehow turns into ammunition. The last thing I need is for her to be able to find out about my daily comings and goings on Facebook.”

Chris thought everybody was
on Facebook; at least everybody he knew anyway. He forgot that there’s a whole world of people out there who never use it.

“I’m just not a technology person, I guess. I’m more of an outdoors, nature person,”
as his hand slid up Chris' back side to his lower back.

God, that felt good,
Chris thought. He felt a shiver run up his spine.

“That’s cool,” Chris said.  “Wish I could be like you.  I
t can be kind of addictive. I need it for work sometimes.”

“What do you do?” Mason asked
, as he pushed Chris’ feet into position over his head, trying to stretch out the hamstrings. The position was incredibly erotic, and it was turning Chris on big time to have Mason essentially opening him up and stretching him out manually.

“Oh, I’m a writer,” Chris stut
tered, feeling the bulge between Mason’s leg as he pushed against his legs even more.

M
ason’s eyebrows popped up, and he seemed very interested, yet oblivious that what he was doing was turning Chris on as surely as porn or an inner thigh massage could do. “Oh, really? Wow. I’ve always wanted to do that. I just don’t have the talent for that sort of thing.”

“You can do it, believe me, i
f I can,” Chris said, taking a deep breath, praying Mason wouldn’t notice the growing bulge of his own.

“No, I...
” Mason stared at the ground a bit, releasing Chris’ legs slowly and jogging in place, “I’ve got a bit of a learning problem.”

“Learning problem?” Chris asked, jogging in place like him,
“Oh, like a learning disability?”

“Is that what they call it nowadays? They used to just call me
dumb ass in class,” he chuckled at the painful memories as they began to jog around the park.

“Yeah, my brother had A.D.D. and dyslexia. But he worked through it. He’s an entrepreneur. But looks like things turned out pretty well for you now. I mean, you’re here in Costa Rica, you’ve got a daughter, you’re doing what you love. What more could you ask for?”

Mason shrugged, “Yeah, I guess so. I just want a bit more for my daughter.”

“What’s your family like? Your roots?” Chris asked.

Mason smiled. “My folks live in rural California,” he said wistfully. He talked about his mom and dad’s fruit farm, and growing up in the middle of nowhere. His sister Gabriela was a physician’s assistant in San Francisco.

“That’s good money, I bet,” Chris commented.

“Yeah, she and her partner do well,” Mason said.

“Partner? They’re not married?”

“Well, it hasn’t been legal. She’s a lesbian,” Mason explained.

“Ohh,” Ch
ris said. “That’s cool. I mean, not that they can’t get married.”

“I know what you mean,” Mason said, smiling. “Speaking of good money, did Jessica tell you about my ex and how I lost my job at the gym?”

“She didn’t go into many details, but she said you had a nasty ex-girlfriend,” Chris said, trying to keep up with Mason as they jogged up a hill.

He shook his head, “What a mess. It’s for the best anyway,” he sa
id with a sigh. “Hey, remember:  try to jog on your toes as much as possible.”

“Okay,” Chris said, remembering what he said the other day about the knees
, and noticing what a round bubble butt Mason had in the process.

“I was working at a stupid
, shitty old gym which I hated,” Mason continued, totally unaware Chris was checking him out. “I figure you only live once, so you might as well do what you’re really passionate about, and I’d rather work on my own.”

“Amen to that,” Chris said, trying to keep his mind on the exercise.

“Yeah, man. That’s why I’m going to school and...” Mason started.

“Really? What are you studying?” Chris sa
id, surprised.

“Oh, massage therapy, reflexology, natural healing. That’s kind of my thing.”

“Oh, like Reiki and stuff?” Chris asked, as they rounded the corner.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“You ever read any Wayne Dyer?” Chris asked, out of curiosity.

Mason’s face lit up, “Yeah, man. Wayne Dyer
, that’s my man, and Deepak Chopra. I even love
The Secret
books.”

“Me too. My ex used to say they were just commercial
, but I think they made very complex topics digestible for the masses to understand.  That’s what we really need in consciousness today. Don’t get me started.”

Mason smiled, and watched Chris for a bit as
they slowed to a stop, his hands on his hips, “No man. I agree 100%. Hey, we’re almost done here, would you like to grab a drink? I mean, a smoothie or something?”

“Sure
.” Chris exclaimed.

“We should hang a little bit. It’s not often I run into someone interested in Dyer and stuff.”

Chris smiled, catching his breath. “I’d love that. Where should we go?”

“Only the best smoothie shop in all of Costa Rica,” Mason said
, walking in the direction of his car.

“Where’s that?” Chris asked.

“My house.”

-------------------- 0 --------------------

CHAPTER 9

A
s flattered as Chris was to be invited to Mason’s home, he couldn’t shake the immediate anxiety and feeling of self-consciousness.
Why?
He asked. It wasn’t the first time he’d been in an attractive straight guy’s house. There was something else gnawing at him:  maybe it was how much he loved being around Mason, even though they’d only met a couple of days ago; and he already had hopes, fears, and expectations about what might happen between them. Chris knew the man was straight, but a girl can dream, can’t she?

“Welcome to my humble abode,” Mason joked.

He tossed his sports bag on the floor as they stepped inside. It was a total bachelor’s pad, Chris noticed. It didn’t have imported, European sofas upholstered in leather or the flat screen TVs or the fresh flowers he ordered weekly. No, it was humble, it was simple, but it felt right: down-to-earth, unapologetic, and masculine:  just like Mason. The carpet was a dull green that looked like a lot of tones from the American seventies that were still popular in San Jose. His furniture was all neat but eclectic, chosen from thrift shops or antique spots: a couch made of big orange rectangles, a long mission-style coffee table in black lacquer, and two white bucket chairs. There were a few old
National Geographic
magazines heaped on the coffee table, and a very obvious absence of a television. Instead, there were bookshelves, a simple-looking stereo system, and hundreds of CDs.

Of course, also, there were a lot of books, too, including Wayne Dyer, Deepak Chopra, Pema Chodron, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, and other meditation and new age authors Chris had never heard of.

As Chris walked into the brown-tiled kitchen, he noticed how much it even smelled like Mason. As he thought this, he realized that he already knew what that smell was. And that he loved it.

“I like it,” Chris said emphatically.

Mason gave him a yeah-right look, and Chris responded, “No, I’m serious. Your place is great and it’s safe and you have a backyard. I don’t even have that.”

“Well, thanks. If you like it so much, you can come hang out in it whenever you want. And clean up all the dog poop from the neighbor’s Chihuahuas too,” Mason smirked.

Chris laughed. Mason was a lot more jovial than Chris would have expected.  He was nothing like the guy he met in the driveway yesterday morning.

“So, come on in,” he said opening the refrigerator, “One thing about Costa Rica is there’s no lack of cheap, high-quality, organic fruits and vegetables, which is what you should be eating by the way, young man.”

“Yes, sir,” Chris said.

Mason stopped
, looked up at him, and winked. “That’s what I like to hear.”

Chris gulped.

“Now, what’s your preference: strawberries, pineapples, bananas?”

“I like bananas,” Chris said.

“Yeah, me too. And pineapples are good for you, but pretty high in sugar, so you have to go easy. We’ll throw a few heavy iron veggies in there just to make sure you get your vitamins.”

Mason must have noticed the sour expression on Chris’ face because he said, “Don’t worry, you’ll love it. Promise.”

He grabbed several apples in one hand and somehow managed to carry the bananas and other fruits and vegetables in one scoop before placing them in front of the blender.

“You want me to wash them?” Chris asked.

Mason chuckled, “I did yesterday with lemon and a splash of vinegar but if you want to again, have at it.”

“No, it’s cool. It’s just...
”

“No problem at all. You never can be too careful.
You’ve got to protect yourself,” he said with another wink.