We were only in the cab for about five minutes, but the AI still needed to cough twice, making us both flinch apart on each occasion. This time, however, it was being fair, as our hands were all over the place.

“Please, come in,” Peter whispers as he opens the door and draws me along behind him. His apartment is small, neat and relatively modern. The building is set a short distance back from the promenade on the north side of town, between the harbour and the park. It is quiet, secluded and surrounded by trees and gardens.

The combined lounge/kitchen area is of a reasonable size and Peter keeps everything pretty minimalist. There are a couple of paintings on the otherwise plain walls and they seem to have been chosen for their colour.

“Bedroom, bathroom,” Peter intones as he indicates the two doors in the wall beyond the breakfast bar.

“I like it,” I tell him as I kiss him on the cheek. “Erm… Bathroom?”

“Oh, sure. The one on the right.”

I close the door behind myself and click the latch. I really do need to pee and might just be relaxed enough to be able to. I also need to catch my breath and take a moment to take stock.

As I stand at the toilet, grateful to be able to relieve myself, I can’t help noticing just how aroused I have been. There’s a very definite damp spot in my boxers and I’ve clearly been leaking a little pre-come. Bladder empty, I turn to the sink and gently retract my foreskin to wash myself. I have no idea how far we might take things, but I should at least be clean.

When I finally emerge from the bathroom, Peter is still standing in the middle of the room. He has removed his light jacket and taken off his walking shoes. “Couch?” he asks as he reaches out towards me.

“Bedroom?” I manage to reply hoarsely.

Peter takes me by the hand and draws me towards the bedroom door, pushing it gently open. There’s a large wardrobe, a small chest of drawers and a little bedside with a lamp. The room is dominated by a king-sized bed that seems neatly made with just a crisp white sheet.

We stand at the foot of the bed and Peter draws me into another deep, passionate kiss that goes on and on. “What do you want, Nick?”

“Fewer clothes,” I tell him as I step back and pull my shirt off over my head. “Not none, just fewer.”

When we get down to our underwear, Peter drops back onto the bed, beckoning with an open hand for me to join him. I lower myself down beside him and then roll over, partly on top of him, my left knee pushing his legs apart as I get as close as I can to kiss him deeply.

Within moments, our arousal is very obvious, I can feel his hardness pressing into my hip and I know I’m the same.

“How far do you want to go?” Peter asks huskily.

“I want to see you and touch you.” Making room I slide my hand down along Peter’s body, marvelling at the firmness of his chest muscles and the tightness of his abdominals. All that work at the office gym has made him taut. Following a narrow trail of pale hairs, my hand stops at the waistband of his boxers for a moment, but Peter has reached the same point on my belly and we move to explore further in perfect sync.

I slip my fingers beneath the elastic and encounter a mat of short, wiry, very curly hair. Peter’s fingers are moving gently through my much lighter bush and my cock is jumping in anticipation and arousal.

Finally, my fingers close around the base of his throbbing shaft and I draw him free from his boxers. I shudder as Peter grasps me softly and draws my foreskin back with exquisite gentleness. I stroke him gently in return and sneak a glance down between us. We are virtually the same size, Peter slightly curving upwards and his skin slightly paler than mine. Both our exposed heads are deeply purple and glistening.

“Peter,” I whisper, “make me come!”

“Hmm…”

Our hands start to move in unison, stroking softly, but our pace increasing as our arousal grows. The feeling of another hand on my cock is a strange one and the sensations are certainly different, but the effect is obvious and there’s no way I’m going to last long. I concentrate on the movement of my own hand on Peter’s shaft and try my best to hold back for him. I roll over on to my back and Peter kneels, partly above me.

When he begins to tense, I can hold back no longer. “I’m coming” I moan and semen sprays over my belly as Peter grunts and releases across my chest and arm.

Neither of us seem able to move for an eternity. Peter finally lets my limp member drop from his grasp and I reluctantly let him go. “Come on, Nick. We need to shower.”

“Together?”

“Yes, together. It’s plenty big enough for two.”

There’s a calm and comfort that comes with being washed by another. Peter’s touch is light and gentle. The water is warm and his shower gel has a pleasant smell. I try my best to be as attentive in return, but I find myself continually distracted by the sight and feel of his muscular, athletic body.

“You’re so fit. How much time do you really spend in the gym at work?”

“Well, usually three one-hour sessions each week. You may have a point. It might be a little too much. I like it, it gives me time around people, rather than here in the apartment on my own.”

“Do you have friends there?”

“Well, not exactly, but it’s often the same group of people and we do chat, spot for each other and offer support.”

“Okay, so it is a social thing as well, not just a fitness kick.”

“I suppose. I do like to be in shape though.”

“Hmm… I like it too! Very much.”

Peter turns me round, into a tight, almost crushing embrace as he kisses me fiercely, the water running down our faces as our naked bodies rub together.

“Peter, you ogre! Stop, you’ll make me hard again. I’m already later than I said I would be. I need to go home.”

“You could call them and stay over?”

I gently extricate myself from our embrace and step out of the shower, grabbing a towel from the rail to start to dry myself. “I’m sorry Peter, but I… I feel that I’ve moved so fast today already. That’d just be a step too far. I really am sorry.”

Peter turns off the water and steps out to join me, just my clutched towel between his wet body and my dryer one. He leans gently in and kisses me lightly on the lips. “I understand. Once again, I’m sorry for pushing too fast. Do you need a cab, or perhaps I can walk you back?”

“Walking back together would be great. I’d like to get a feel for your neighbourhood.”

“Okay. Let’s get dried and dressed. Can I dry your back?”

“Yes, then I’ll do yours.”

“For the record,” Peter whispers as he rubs the towel over my still-damp shoulders. “You’re pretty hot naked yourself!” He pulls back and slaps me lightly on the arse, causing me to yelp in surprise.

“I’ll remember that,” I tell him slyly. “There will be a price to pay and I have a long memory.”

Peter leads us back out into the street a few minutes later and turns in the direction of the town-centre. I’d become a little disorientated on the cab ride, distracted by other thoughts and feelings, but now, as we pass between two of the almost identical apartment buildings, I find myself on very familiar territory.

“Oh, that’s the Middle School. My school. I had no idea you lived so close to it.”

“Well, it’s still quite a small town and nowhere is really very far away, but yes, it’s right next door really.”

“Somehow, it feels reassuringly convenient,” I tell him with a beaming smile. As we walk along, slowly making our way out to the west side of Ramsey, I can’t help smiling and occasionally squeezing the hand that’s intertwined in mine.

“Do we need to talk about anything,” Peter asks after a few minutes of relative silence. “There’s nothing bothering you? About anything?”

“I know things seem to be changing, and I can only put it down to the Nexima therapy, but no, nothing is bothering me.”

“Good. As long as you’re sure we’re not moving too quickly for you.”

“No, I’m suddenly positive. I think I’m in love with a really nice guy. He lives around the corner from where I’m going to work, in his own apartment. He has a terrific body and I like to see him naked. On top of all that, he just gave me a magnificent hand-job.” I pull him towards me with my hand on his cheek and kiss him deeply. “I can’t see anything wrong with any of that.”

“Well, since you put it like that, I think you’re doing fine on this new therapy regimen.”

As we turn into my street, I remember about my parents. “So, you will come round for dinner next week? To meet my parents properly?”

“Yes. I’m free on either Tuesday or Thursday. Should I bring anything? A bottle of wine maybe?”

“That’s sounds perfect. I’ll let you know which day works for them later. I don’t think Sam, my brother, will be there, so just the four of us.”

When Peter and I arrive outside the house, we turn and kiss for a moment in silence. “Thank you for seeing me home. I had a wonderful day.”

“So did I Nick. I’ll see you in the week. I love you.”

“I love you too. Now get out of here!”

Tasha is so late for lunch that I decide to take matters into my own hands and order her favourite for her. I know she’ll turn up eventually and I can’t be bothered to message her.

She beats the waitress to the table by a few seconds at most and looks a little harassed and dishevelled. “Sorry I’m so late, Nick. I lost track of time and had to wait for a cab. Oh, great, you ordered my favourite. Thank you.”

“What was so important that you lost track of the time?”

“Well, I was around at Jack’s house.”

“Oh, have you managed to work out your differences then?”

“Yes, and apparently much of that is thanks to you. Jack said you had a long talk and it helped him a lot. Thank you!”

“Well, you’re my two best friends. I couldn’t see you break up over something that could be sorted out by the two of you just talking. Did you and Jack talk about his anxieties? Did you call round to see him this morning?”

“Yes, we talked, but that was the day before yesterday. I’ve been at his place since yesterday evening. His parents are on vacation.”

“You stayed at Jack’s?”

“Hmm… We may have managed to get over his confidence problem.” Tasha turns what is, for her, a very unusual shade of pink.

“Okay, I don’t need to know details, but I trust everything went well.”

“Yes, better than well. Jack’s fears weren’t entirely without merit. Let’s just say that we needed to work up to the main event and leave it at that.”

“Tasha, are you sure that everything between you is really, totally, okay?”

“Yes. Stop worrying. Everything is wonderful. Intimacy is better than I ever thought it would be and I’m really happy. Maybe a little sore if I’m brutally honest, but happy.”

“In that case, I’m very happy for you both.”

“Okay, enough about me. What’s been happening with you for the past week?”

“Well, I have had a therapy treatment and, frankly, the change is incredible. I feel like a different person. It makes everything so much simpler, so easy and so good.”

“Wow, does it really work so quickly?”

“Apparently so, I need to talk to Paul about it during our next session, but I can’t put this down to anything else.”

“Well, I’m so pleased for you. Does this new confidence extend to Peter and you?”

“Maybe…” I manage to mumble.

“Come on, tell Auntie Tasha.”

“Well, we may have got each other off again, after our workout date.”

“Oh, more Nexima sex?”

“Erm… No, not Nexima sex. We went back to his place and got naked.”

“Oh.”

“Just hands, Tash. I’m not ready for anything more.”

“Okay, that’s still a good start. Was it good?”

“No doubts this time. Yes, it was fucking fantastic.”

“So, you really do like him then?”

“I told him I loved him!”

“Wait. What?”

“I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me too.”

“Okay, Nick, just to be clear, this was all after one Nexima Therapy Treatment?”

“Yes. I think I already loved him, I just needed to be confident enough to say it. The same with the sex really. I just needed to get over my anxieties. I don’t want to minimize being aromantic, because I’ve never felt this with anyone else.”

“And you’re over them now? Your anxieties, I mean?”

“Most of them. Fuck Tasha, you should see him, well, actually, no, he’s mine now, so you’re not allowed to look. He’s so hot!”

“I have met him you know. Mind you, not naked. Not as big as my Jack then?”

“Your Jack? Isn’t that a bit possessive? No, but I told you, I couldn’t!”

“Yes, well, some people have it and some don’t.”

“True. Peter’s coming round to my place for dinner in the middle of the week. Mum and Dad want to get to know him.”

“Things are getting serious then?”

“Honestly, I hope so.”