As the months passed, Jason and I began to talk more and more. We were talking every few days. Sometimes we would even use webcams. That first month of talking caused me to buy a new webcam, because I wore out the first one. Obviously we did more than just talk on the phone. He came to visit me a few times before I finally moved out there. Once was before Thanksgiving and another was around Christmas for a couple of weeks. Charlotte and Brian went back to Michigan for Christmas, so we had the whole place to ourselves. Unfortunately, we never had sex. He wanted to wait until I moved. I didn’t see the logic in that. How could we know if we were sexually compatible if we waited for 5 months?

“We will know because of our attraction to each other.” He gave my ass a quick squeeze and then gave me a deep and passionate kiss.

I turned it around on him. “So, when we met, you jerked off before our date so you basically wouldn’t rape me after the date. Now you’re saying you don’t think we should do it. That is so unfair.”

“It’s totally fair. I want to get to know you better and I can’t do that if I’m nailing you every night. Even though I really, really want to, I’m not going to.” He gave me this deep and sultry look. I melted right there.

On Christmas, Jean, Matthew and Matthew’s brother Ryan came over. I also invited a new friend and an old one. Larry and Scott came over. There were seven of us I had to cook for, so Jean helped me in the kitchen. We had a great time just laughing and eating great food and drinking a little.

Jason left right after New Year ’s Day. He had to get back for filming. We did have a good week together. Still no sex however. I’d never had blue balls before. Now I knew how married men must have felt.

These visits only made my preparations to move more fervent. I now had a romance waiting for me. I didn’t know how some people could handle long-distance relationships. It was torture for us. More for me than him, because this was my first relationship and we were thousands of miles apart.

I did have something or rather someone else waiting for me in LA. When I told my mom that I was about to move there, she called up her old friend, my aunt. My aunt and uncle got in touch with me immediately. They lived up in Pasadena. My cousins were still in school. One of them was in for a Masters’ in business and the other a law degree.

Earlier that year, I had gone to LA to check out places to live. I found this one place in Hollywood that wouldn’t break my budget. It wasn’t the greatest neighborhood, but the apartment itself was amazing! They approved my application right away, but I only received the lease agreement in January of 2001; a month before I moved. I had a lawyer look it over and he approved it. Said lawyer was a guy I met in the Florida Philharmonic Chorus. I joined in September at the behest of Jean. He told me they needed some good tenors. It paid pretty well, and I needed all the financial support I could get.

I joined too late to participate in their summer concert, but I sang in their Christmas concert. It was very good. There were a lot of good singers in the group. Some of the singers, the tenors, attended my school, but they were a few years ahead so it was like a reunion. The lawyer guy, named Scott, was not a tenor. He was a dreaded baritone. Baritones are the most common voice type of a man. The reason I said dreaded is because baritones take all the tenor parts because they have a good falsetto. We tenors hated that. Scott was cute though, so we let him hang with us after rehearsals. I became really close with him and we started hanging out a lot. It was this Scott that came to my Christmas dinner. Outside of the chorus, it became him, Jean, Matthew, Larry and me. We were joined at the hip.

Six weeks before I was set to leave, my friends threw me a farewell party. I had so much fun. They did a really good job putting it together. There was just one part of the party that was really weird. I must have had my blinders on for the last few months since I only had eyes for Jason. For instance, I had no idea that Scott was into me. He gave no hints. And, it wasn’t just him. There was another guy who I had recently reconnected with. This guy I went to school with, Larry had started calling me and hanging with me. He had also attended my Christmas party. I also dated him over the summer. Okay, maybe not dated, but we did go on one date.

Well, at the party which was at my place, I went into my room to get something when in walked Scott. He told me how glad he was that we had met and that he was going to miss me after I was gone. He pulled me in for a hug. I had to admit, it was nice. He was a very attractive man. As we were hugging, I felt his hand go lower and lower. Before it could reach my butt, I gently pushed him away. At that point Larry walked in. All three of us talked for a few minutes, and the next thing I knew, they were moving me to my bed. They both pushed me to the ground and started groping me as they followed me down. I couldn’t say that I hated that; they were both hot guys. If someone else hadn’t walked in, it probably would have ended in a three-way. Other than that event, the party went along swimmingly. It went on until the wee hours of the morning.

In the middle of January Jason came back for a few days. He was about to begin filming again, and this was all the time he had. Plus, we had spent Christmas together so it wasn’t as if I hadn’t seen him for a while. Those three days of Jason’s visit were amazing. The whole gang was together. Matthew loved him. Of course, he also had a crush on Jason. When the show “Kansas” first aired, we took turns hosting viewing parties. Jean liked him because Jason was clearly into me. Jean had always had my best interest at heart. And if Jason ever hurt me, I’m sure Jean would hunt him down and crucify him. I loved that man.

On Jason’s second night in Miami, we all went out dancing after having another fabulous dinner at the Pie Place. Of course I got the same thing I always did. Jason got the same thing as I did. He immediately fell in love with it. There was a Pie Place in Los Angeles too. Jason said, “I don’t go to chain restaurants in LA.”

Scott looked at him weirdly and asked, “Why not? Are they bad out west or something?”

Jason laughed. “No, it’s nothing like that. It’s just that there are so many other good places out there that we don’t waste our time with restaurants we already know about.”

Scott scoffed at that. “What’s wrong with going to a place like The Pie Place all the time?”

I jumped in at that point. “Well, I would say that I’ve been there several times and nothing is wrong with it. But, don’t you want to see what else is out there? Jean, Matthew and I have been trying different restaurants every week. It’s really fun trying new or different kinds of food.”

“I suppose.” Scott was sulking over his food.

“Did I say something wrong?” Jason asked.

“Don’t worry about him Jason. He just really loves The Pie Place.” After he said that, Jean gave Scott a pat on the shoulder. We all laughed and eventually Scott joined in as well.

After we left the Pie Place, we drove up to Ft. Lauderdale and went to our favorite club to dance. Since it was a Friday, I was able to stay all night and clubs in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale were open until 4am. And we so danced the night away. I don’t think I ever left the dance floor except maybe to use the restroom once. I barely noticed if my friends were even beside Jason and myself until we left. All of my attention was on Jason. We were dancing so close all night. Though, it was a little distracting with that third leg pressed up against me. And he insisted on grinding it into me. If I did have a complaint to make, it would be that we didn’t have sex afterwards. I was so frustrated.

That same month, my parents came into town so they could buy me a new car. They didn’t trust my then current car to make the journey west, and I was inclined to agree. It really wasn’t the most reliable car.

The trade in for the car was fairly reasonable and I got a new FORD. It was a good car and a brand new one as well; my first new car. If only it had come in green, my favorite color, but red was the only kind they had left, and I was on a deadline.

My parents left the day after Jason arrived, so they were able to meet him. My father was less than thrilled to meet him, mostly because he was white. They no longer had a problem with me being gay. I came out when I was seventeen. That whole year was a nightmare. But before graduation, they realized they might never see me again. I had received a full scholarship to U of Miami so I didn’t need their support. I would have gotten a job doing something. My mother approached me first and we had a long talk. It was very painful for her. Afterwards, I spoke with my father. Talking to a minister about being gay is like…..well, it’s like talking to a minister. He didn’t talk to me again until just before I had to start the fall semester in Miami.

Now after years of getting them acquainted with the gay community, they were proud parents of a gay son. But they still would have preferred me dating someone of my own race. I told them it didn’t matter since we couldn’t reproduce on our own anyway. Before they left, all they could talk about was Jason this and Jason that. He was on his best behavior I had to say. He totally charmed the pants off of them. I had to clue them in on whom he was. I sat them down and made them watch an episode so they would believe me. Things were settled after that. Half serious, my father told me my new boyfriend should pay for the move. Ironically, Jason had offered to help, but I refused. “Why won’t you ask me to help you?”

“I don’t like asking for help if I don’t need it. I mean, if you wanna give me a few hundred dollars for the trip there, I won’t object to it. I will have all the necessary funds saved up by the time I need to go,” I said.

We were having dinner with my parents when he brought this up. Jason grabbed my hands under the table and said, “But I want to do more for you. I know you aren’t moving to LA for me, but I have more than enough money and I don’t spend it on anything. Why shouldn’t I help my boyfriend out if he needs it?”

“Because I don’t need it Jason.” I was a proud and stubborn guy.

My mother knew all about my pride so she said, “I’m sorry about my son Jason. As he said, he can be very stubborn. James, please accept his help. After this car, we really won’t have a lot to give you and with my medical bills rising….”

I was doing this on my own as much as possible. I didn’t like taking help when I didn’t need it. I didn’t like asking for it either. Things would have to be really bad for me to ask for help. I didn’t consider moving across country as needing help. “Alright then; I will take your help. You know I don’t like doing this mother.”

“I know dear.” And she smiled. That woman. But she was right. With her health on the decline, there was no way they were gonna be able to keep bailing me out. You see, my mother had Lupus and she had been diagnosed with it when she was fifteen. The doctors told her she could never have children because it most likely would shorten her life. I wasn’t supposed to exist, but they really wanted kids, so I and my brother were her miracle children. It was hard for me to ever deny her anything considering she shortened her life just to have me.

After the matter was closed, Jason gave my hand a quick kiss and we continued our meal.

However, there was one thing I really needed help doing. I needed help packing and moving the stuff out to California. Matthew and Jean helped with that. They helped me pack up the apartment, at least what I was taking with me. I left some stuff for Charlotte and Brian. We packed the moving truck and also put some stuff into my new car. We were going to take turns driving. There would always be one of us fresh enough to take over from the others.

We stopped only twice at hotels, and despite the distance, it was a nice journey. On the third day we arrived in Los Angeles. Honestly, from the moment we arrived, I felt like I had come home. This was where my life would truly begin.

Next Chapter: New Life