minutes, you’ll be charged a late fee.”
“I know Bob, I know. I’ll be long gone before then.”
Brice turned to walk into a barely lighted hallway about six feet away. A hackneyed sign, on the wall before him, pointed left indicating the way to the lockers.
Within seconds he was at the lockers.
He took the key and opened the one with his number on it. He took off his shirt. His smooth cut chest showed developed pecks. It was obvious he was no stranger to a gym.
As he stripped away the rest of his clothes, his naked, attractive physique turned the heads of several men walking by. Their midsections enwrapped in towels, Brice proceeded to wrap the towel around his own waste, shut the door to his locker, and then he pinned the numbered key to his towel.
On yet another sign, posted above lockers, read the words: THERE IS A FIFTY DOLLAR FEE FOR A LOST KEY.
The lay-out of this aged facility was divided into three primary areas.
The lockers were centrally located. Just a-bit-to-the-left, one entered a short narrow hallway running perpendicular from the main entrance; this led to the building’s western section. Here began another, broader hallway, where both sides of the walls had doorways opening to small cubicles built into the walls. Each of these was furnished with a narrow bed. Stacked at each end of this long hall were television monitors, streaming gay-porn-videos exhibiting a variety of sexual’ tastes.
Midpoint down this hallway was an entrance to a sinuous maze which consisted of pieces of plywood painted black. Practically without lighting, the design was intended to provide various niches, hiding places, for anonymous sex acts. This maze led to another short hallway moving into an elevated, medium sized carpeted area furnished with a couple of over-sized bean-bag chairs. A carpeted bench, raised some three feet from the floor, ran fifteen feet along the back wall. Anchored from the ceiling above were several monitors showing the libidinous gay-porn.
Leaving that section one returned to the lockers. Immediately past them stood the most central section of the building, a sizeable room housing a nominal gym. All the walls in this central area were covered with mirrors reaching from floor to ceiling. The equipment, worn and clearly older, gave the appearance that what was there was more for show than serious use.
From the gym area, one short hallway led south, to communal showers and a larger than normal steam room.
The showers and steam room gave off the strong odor of cleaning agents. In fact, in just about every part of the building one would get a whiff of some cleaner. Added to this, signage was plentiful about the need for all visitors to practice safe sex.
Beyond the gym was the third and eastern section. It began with a narrow room designated as a snack bar, filled with vending machines and video-games. This provided a place to loiter, or for the loquacious, it offered a place to sit and chat. From there, through a wall of tinted glass panels, which also ran from floor to ceiling, one could look out onto, first, a medium-sized Jacuzzi and, next, a large heated swimming pool, both situated in an inviting courtyard lined with flowerbeds and complete with outdoor furniture.
Located at both ends of the snack bar were entryways into halls. These actually led to an extended, looping circular hallway that primarily was walled, but had four glass doors which exited onto the lovely, inviting pool area with the patio furniture and the impressive, well-kept garden.
Opposite the poolside wall with its four exits, on the hallway’s innermost wall, were doors leading to larger rooms. Inside these rooms, medium size beds covered with clean sheets and pillow cases awaited paying customers who would come in and watch the porn being displayed on television monitors suspended from the ceiling.
Therefore, amidst surroundings capable of facilitating a hormone-driven erotic mission, since it was a Friday night “The Bulge” would be a busy place! In constant, practically pulsating motion men would mix, mingle, and eventually achieve an orgasmic goal!
With the approach of midnight, and after that over the span of the hours when the gay bars shut their doors, as the attendant who had checked in Brice quipped, the facility literally would be teaming with “horny” patrons. Some intoxicated, others drugged! Each with lustful eyes set, probing face after face, looking, hoping to find a Mr. Right—or maybe two or three of them. On the verge of attaining vampire lore, this would happen during the darkest time of night, well before the damning light of day.
Meanwhile, as the line to get into The Bulge grew longer and longer, Brice embarked upon his typical nocturnal stroll through the building’s shadowy premises. First, he slowly walked down the lengthy hallway where the large rooms were located.
An opened door indicated the person inside might be looking for company. The one passing by the door would need to ascertain if he was the right match for the person in that room. This would be accomplished by lingering across from that doorway, to await some hint or gesture to enter from the person inside.
In this context, eyes were powerful agents!
Occasionally, a walker-by would duck his head into the crack of an almost closed door. He might even ask the person inside if he wanted to “hook-up.” It was within this sort of nexus that a sexual contact would occur!
Brice, as he strolled, glanced into several open doors. None of the guys, however, were his type. Most of them were older men, overweight, and out-of-shape. Some lay on their beds naked. A couple along the route were pleasing themselves, their eyes fixated on the porn streaming into the room.
As he walked back through the gym area, he did see several physically-defined men who were his type. Their muscled frames were what he typically looked for in a sex partner. He nodded a greeting to one exerciser, suggesting potential interest, and rotated toward the hallway in the direction of the showers and the steam room.
However, he was stopped short as someone called, “Brice!”
He turned his head right to look into the face of a friend standing a few feet away. As the man drew closer, Brice spoke, “I figured I might see you here tonight counselor.”
“Of course, it’s Friday, and no court’s in session,” came the reply. “How’s baseball?”
Brice shook his head back and forth as he looked to the floor. “I’m still in a hitting slump. I figured by swinging in here tonight I might be able to get some help getting over it.” He broke out with a laugh, as did the friend.
Just then an individual passed the two of them. As he did, he slightly brushed against Brice’s friend. The latter knew what that meant and looked the stranger up and down as he stepped away.
He then looked at Brice, winked at him, and said, “This is worth looking into.”
Brice nodded his agreement. The man started toward the strange, and as he did, said, “I’ll talk with you a little later about that hitting slump.”
Brice resumed his motion toward the steam room. When he reached the showers, only one other person was there. He was another younger man. He had short blond hair and a slender body. When Brice walked up and began to shower, it was obvious that the fellow was aware of his erotic-presence.
Brice immediately got the notion he was being cruised. Although the fellow did fit within the grouping of the men he was used to hooking up with, Brice nevertheless did a quick wash over, retrieved his towel, did a fast wipe-off, wrapped it around him and promptly entered the steam
