Page 12 of Offside

Oh nononono–I didn’t mean to freak him out or insinuate I wanted him to show something.

The guy was clearly new to the whole scene, and it was adorable. I was looking forward to the shy pictures he'd send in an hour when I earned them, but I didn’t think a comment that vague would be enough to spook him off.

Wasn’t my intention.

BaskarKnight: Sorry! I wasn’t asking you to. It was actually my already bad flirting, made worse by the ambiguity of text message tones.

BaskarKnight: I was just saying that I’m interested in you. That’s all.

MetalMonkey: No, you’re not.

His message was fast. That response–I would have sworn it was auto-generated.

And more of a challenge than his last.

BaskarKnight: And you know me so well already? Is this how I find out you recognize me or something?

MetalMonkey: No.

MetalMonkey: You’re just interested in hooking up with me, and that’s cool. It’s the point of the whole app and all that, but I don’t even know why I made this account, and I’m not even into guys, so I’m sorry for wasting your time and your impressively bad flirting.

I shot up in bed, fast enough to earn the quizzical attention of our rookie who was too scared of me to actually ask what was wrong.

The last thing I wanted was for this guy to go–he was already more interesting than the last year's worth of guys on this app combined. He was obviously questioning some things about himself and having a hard time accepting it all, which intrigued me even more.

I'd never once even been curious–I’d known who and what I was for as long as I could remember. The idea that this guy was having an experience that I never did and never would…

Yeah, I wanted to see it.

Or maybe just ask him about it.

BaskarKnight: You’re good, really. I get all that, and I hear you, but can I ask something?

MetalMonkey: Sure.

BaskarKnight: Are you maybe questioning some things about yourself?

MetalMonkey: Not in the way that will interest you.

BaskarKnight: Try me. I’m like an onion, man. Lots of layers.

He typed for almost a full minute before it went away. It kept coming back and going away again, leaving me hanging on to the edge of the bed, ignoring the weird looks I was getting from the rookie.

I should probably have learned his name.

My eyes were glued to the screen, watching, waiting until–

MetalMonkey– Offline

Fuck.

Honestly, it didn’t matter.

He was a noname guy from Toronto that I'd never see or speak to again, but he was interesting! He wasn’t just three messages, and then we’re showing each other our dicks in the shower.

There was substance to that guy, and I was intrigued.

Even if it was selfish.