Chapter 7

There were enough people in the car, including a passel of noisy and excited teenagers, who seemed to be on some kind of a group outing, that conversation was difficult. Clay blessed the opportunity to again get himself in hand. If their first contact had unsettled him, the second one had about blasted him into space.

It only took him a moment to decide even a very short but hot vacation fling would be wonderful. Anything long term was an impossible dream, since their worlds were clearly miles apart. Still, he’d gladly take whatever he could get and cherish the memory forever.

People like Jon did not cross the path of someone like Gay-Clay from Clarkdale. The other man might as well be a sports celebrity or a rock star. Most of Clay’s coworkers in Topeka were old, or at least seemed to be, and gay hangouts in the conservative Midwestern town were few and far between. His social life was normally limited in the extreme.