Several inches of snow cover the ground, and thick gray clouds blanket the night sky. I drive carefully, following the directions. I have a good idea where I’m going but use GPS to be sure. Once I’m behind the wheel of my car, I plug the address the man gave me into my GPS unit just for the hell of it. I don’t want to disturb anybody, regardless. There’s always someone awake in the dorm, studying, watching TV, sexing it up, but there are also plenty of guys here who are sleeping. I move quietly down the hall, down the stairs.

I grab my wallet, my keys, and the items I’ll need for the job, and I’m out the door. Then I dress in black jeans, black boots, a black jersey, and quickly shrug into my thick leather jacket. I slip into black cotton boxers and a black T-shirt. At the mirror I inspect my body front and back, making sure I haven’t overlooked anything. When I’m done with the blow-dryer, I shave, brush my teeth, and gargle with an antiseptic mouthwash. Maybe that’s my body’s attempt at camouflage. Since then it’s darkened to this murky brown color. My hair was blond until I left home a year ago. I blow-dry my short, thick hair, running my fingers through it to fluff out the strands. In the bathroom I clean myself inside and out. The when is an hour from now, which doesn’t leave me a lot of time. After that, it’s just a matter of the when and the where. He lays out the parameters of what I have to do in a few sentences. It’s a man’s voice on the other end, deep and authoritative. It’s important that I sound alert and ready. I blink several times and clear my throat. My eyelids feel as if they have glue under them. At once I stick my hand under the pillow and retrieve my vibrating phone. I’m on call during the late-night weekend hours. I lift my head and look at the digital clock on the nightstand. A muffled vibration pulses against the left side of my face. He seems set on destroying himself, and Dex might not be able to save him.

There’s no denying the chemistry between the two young men, but a lingering lack of physical desire continues to confuse and upset Mace. RA Dex Hammel doesn’t like the road he sees Mace going down, and he offers his help before it’s too late. When ill-treatment at the hands of customers isn’t penance enough, Mace turns to the bottle, hoping to drink away the demons still plaguing him. He believes he deserves the abuse because he was responsible for the death of his brother. Mace has never experienced any erotic longings, but his profession satisfies much darker needs. He specializes as a submissive-for-hire to dominant clients. Nineteen-year-old Mace Danner is a college freshman-and a male prostitute.

Bender by Gene Gant