Gail had just left the latest plate of fresh cookies when Jack said, “Man, I love your mom!” He shoved a whole cookie in his mouth.
Stephen laughed at his friend and then did the same thing. He gulped down coffee, then sighed heavily. “Yeah, I do too.”
Jack narrowed his eyes as he looked at his friend. There was a tone of voice there, almost wistful, that Jack hadn’t noticed before. Jack, being gay, wasn’t interested in Gail sexually, but he could see how attractive she was. He wondered if Stephen was seeing it, too.
The idea that Stephen might be attracted to his own mother didn’t bother Jack. He had a very live-and-let-live attitude towards love and sex. Besides, Stephen and his mom were two of his favorite people. He wanted to see them happy.
“I’ma stay for dinner, too, Man. That alright?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. Lemme just tell Mom.”
At the dinner table later that evening, Jack paid close attention to the family dynamic. Frank almost pleaded with the boys to talk sports with him, ignoring Gail. Gail in turn ignored Frank while she waited on Stephen and him. She seemed to know precisely what they wanted and had it for them before they could even ask.
Jack noticed her warm smiles aimed at himself—and her embarrassed blushes aimed at Stephen. He watched Stephen closely and thought he saw an extra measure of tenderness in the glances he sent his mother’s way. Jack was beginning to think he was not wrong.
After dinner, Jack and Stephen studied for another couple of hours before deciding they were punch drunk and any more would be wasted.
Jack didn’t like Frank any more than Stephen did and always wondered at Frank and Gail. He knew Gail was submissive almost from their first meeting. Frank was an odd sort of weak-willed bully–definitely not the kind of man that would make a submissive woman happy, but possibly the kind that might fool a young and inexperienced girl long enough to get her pregnant.
Jack knew all about submissives as that was the kind of man he was drawn to. He had never been attracted to Stephen because Stephen was definitely not submissive. Jack grew thoughtful.
Stephen asked him, “Why you so quiet all of a sudden?”
Jack looked around to make sure the door was closed. “Stevie Baby, we need to talk about my sex life!”
Stephen screamed and crossed his fingers. He laughed and said, “No thanks, Man!”
“Seriously. Forget about the who I’m talking about and concentrate on the what.”
“Naw, Man, I can’t get past the why!”
“The why will become obvious if you’ll listen.”
Stephen didn’t really want to hear about gay sex, but his friend’s intent expression convinced him it was important to Jack that he listen.
“You remember when I first came out?” Jack asked. Stephen nodded. “I was very unsure of myself. I didn’t really know anything about sex or about myself beyond that I was gay.” Jack went on, “One of my first friends in the scene was a sub.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sub is short for submissive. He liked to serve and be used by Doms, or dominants. I was so scared of making an ass of myself that I came across as a sub. Tim, my sub friend, and I talked about dominance and submission a lot. The more he talked about being a sub, the more I knew that was not me–that I was simply lacking confidence.”