“Well, I guess I just wanted to know why you choose to use truck stop glory holes, especially with you getting into politics and all,” I state before taking a deep breath. “I mean, not that there’s anything wrong with it obviously because it would be the pot calling the kettle black, it’s just that I—”
OMG, what am I doing? I’m babbling like a nincompoop, and regret bringing up the topic almost as soon as it leaves my mouth. Shit. Of all the ways that I could have started the conversation, it had to be this? Ugh, I could just kill myself right now.
But Jeremiah merely looks amused, those blue eyes glinting.
“No, it’s fine,” he says, lifting his drink up to his lips before taking a long swig. “It’s natural to ask, and I know I should stop visiting glory holes,” he says in a light voice. “Especially seeing how much I have at stake. I mean, if word got out that a man of my position frequented a place like that, it would be bad. But old habits die hard, and it’s something that I’ve been doing for years now, if you can believe it.”
I stare at him.
“Really?”
He nods, amused.
“Yeah. Weird, right? The first time I ended up at a glory hole was somewhat of an accident,” he states, his eyes going far away for a moment. “It was way back when I was in law school and shit was beyond stressful. My days and nights, weekdays and weekends were filled with studying, moot court, bar prep, and participating in a criminal justice clinic. We were representing indigent defendants pro bono, and you can guess the outcomes of most of those cases.”
I shake my head slowly.
“No, I can’t.”
Jeremiah sighs, looking tired all of a sudden.
“Basically, most of our clients were guilty, but we weren’t trying to exonerate them or anything. We just wanted to make sure they got a decent defense, and they did get that. My fellow wannabe lawyers and I worked our asses off to make sure these folks were seen and heard as part of the judicial process, but as you can imagine, we lost of lot of cases. It gets to you after a while, and I was having a tough time with my string of defeats.”
“I’m so sorry,” I say in a soft tone. “It must have been hard.”
Jeremiah shrugs.
“It was, but that’s just part of what pro bono public defense is about. But yeah, I’m not too proud to admit that I had a meltdown one night. You ever hear of how Hunter Biden went out and partied with a ‘fuck it’ attitude? That was me.”
I gasp.
“Seriously? Hookers and blow?”
Jeremiah shakes his head and laughs at that one.
“No, no narcotics, thank god. Although maybe I should have, thinking back. No, one of my buddies suggested that we get away from it all for a little while, to just try and decompress. So we decided to take a little road trip, and long story short, we ended up stopping at a truck stop. I just needed to take a leak, but unbeknownst to us, this particular truck stop was known for its glory hole action, and I ended up having a crazy time with a woman on the other side of the stall. I’ll spare you the details, but…wow.” His eyes widen, and I let out an amused snort.
“How did you know it was going to be a woman though?” I ask. “Some of these glory holes are only populated by men.”
Jeremiah nods.
“Yeah, I didn’t. That’s the thing. I guess I just got lucky that first time, but after having my eyes opened, I did research on the different glory holes in Texas, and I assure you, I made sure only to go to the ones populated by women.”
I giggle.
“I know what you mean. Do you read Texas Back Page, by any chance?”
Jeremiah winks at me.
“Sure do.”
I laugh.
“That’s what I use too to make sure I’m at the right rest stops. Otherwise, who knows what’ll happen?”
My date chuckles and looks me
“I know. I’m glad you understand, honey, because the lifestyle can be crazy. In fact, I can’t even imagine explaining this lifestyle to anyone else, so it’s great that I don’t have to do that with you because you already understand. I mean, after that first experience, it was as if I’d discovered something magical. It’s like out of a wet dream, right? Going into a stall and having a woman waiting to serve you on the other side of it? Fuck,” he shakes his head. “I still love it.”
“I know,” I breathe. “I love the high I get when I’m in the zone too. It’s just that … well, I’m a long-haul trucker, and really, my sexual proclivities don’t matter, given my profession. But you’re a lawyer and a politician. That’s playing Russian roulette, right?”