A nice dinner, a quick fuck, then blessed silence in my own clean hotel room.
My finger froze on a listing.
Wanted: one night of lovemaking with absolutely no talking. I just want to be held and loved on without chitchat or expectations. I prefer to bottom and would desperately like to be taken care of and treated like I’m the most important thing in your world, at least for a little while. Please stay all night and hold me, but don’t be surprised if I’m gone in the morning. No names exchanged.
I read the entry over and over. Emotions weren’t something I did. While I frequently fantasized about having someone waiting for me at home, my schedule didn’t allow for settling down that way. I’d learned that the hard way. Twice.
Plus, I loved my job. I felt energized by traveling to different cities and meeting all kinds of different people. Sometimes I felt like I’d hit the jackpot with my career as a commercial airline pilot. The job had given me a steady paycheck and benefits, the ability to see more of the country I’d grown up in, and several good friends. When I wanted a man in my bed, all I had to do was call one up on my handy app. Relationships and actual dating were unnecessary.
But this guy? This wasn’t someone looking for a relationship. It was someone looking to pretend for one night only. Did I want something like that?
Hell yes.
For one night only, I could pretend to have it all. Lavishing someone with attention all night and imagining they were my special someone sounded like an interesting departure from the anonymous fucks I was used to.
I read it again as the shuttle bus pulled up.
The needy emotion pouring out of the ad did something to me. My throat tightened and my heart thunked around in my chest. Maybe this was exactly the kind of one-night stand I needed. Even if the emotions were pretend, they’d be there.
And not talking? Man, that would be a treat after the shitty flights I’d just completed. Quiet, slow fucking without strings attached or awkward small talk. I could get on board with that quite nicely, in fact.
I clicked the link to respond.
His username was NurseTee which made me assume he was a nurse. I told him I was free to meet at 8:00 p.m. if he was still interested. He quickly wrote back:
NurseTee: You’re okay with no talking?
FlyGuy: Absolutely. Have had enough talking for the day anyway.
There was a hesitation before he responded again with hotel room information and a time. A couple of hours later when I arrived at my favorite steak house downtown, I received another message.
NurseTee: You’re okay with condoms?
I smiled, wondering if this was his first anonymous hookup or something.
FlyGuy: Yes. Do you need me to bring them?
NurseTee: No. I have them. Unless… you need a special kind, or…?
I laughed again. Was he a size queen fishing for information? In hopes maybe my dick was so large I needed special-order condoms?
FlyGuy: Whatever you have is fine. See you soon.
After sitting back and enjoying a nice glass of red wine while I waited for my food to arrive, I read the news and checked some ice hockey scores on my phone. A text message from my sister, Millie, popped up.
Millie: Where are you?
Jack: Chicago. Will be back through South Bend in a few weeks. Dinner?
Millie: Yeah, sure. Kirk wanted me to ask if you heard back about that job.
My brother-in-law owned a skydiving operation and was always trying to lure me over to work for him. I wasn’t interested in that kind of work, but I had considered moving from the large airline to private charters.
I thought of the job interview I’d had the week before at Teterboro.
Jack: Not yet, but it didn’t sound like they were willing to pay enough to make it worth the switch to private.
Millie: Well, that’s too bad. Maybe you can find something closer to here.
While there were several airports in the nearby South Bend area that accommodated private jets, the opportunity for those jobs was minuscule compared to being based out of the Newark/New York area. Hell, even Chicago would be a better option. Besides, I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to move quite that close to home. I was still single and gay after all.
Jack: We’ll see.
Millie: You’re not going to get as much as a United pilot does, but think of the quality of life, Jack.
It was an argument she’d made to me many times before. Supposedly private corporate pilots had predictable schedules which made for a better work/life balance. I wasn’t sure what she meant by that considering I already had a stellar work/life balance.
I thought of my hookup app and how convenient it made my life. It was like having a universal gym membership and being able to visit any of their hundreds of locations all around the world without losing training momentum. As long as I had good books in my bag, the internet on my phone, sex on demand, and decent restaurants to feed me, well, I was pretty damned happy regardless of what city I laid my head down in.