The Boy I Met on the App Didn’t Live Alone

Back then I was living in a port city on the Gulf, one of those places where the heat hits like an open hand and the working-class neighborhoods fill up with men who left their countries looking for work. I had been alone for months, with no one to share anything with except the hum of the air conditioner, and my nights felt endless.

One afternoon, almost out of boredom, I opened one of those apps where you can find what you’re looking for without much fuss. Among dozens of profiles, his appeared: he called himself Karim, said he was twenty-three, and in the photo he looked lean, with long hair tied back and dark eyes that seemed to smile on their own.

We started messaging that very night. First a few scattered lines, then photos, then the inevitable question.

—Where can we meet? —he wrote.

He wanted to come to my apartment, but in my building there was a guard at the entrance who logged every visitor, and a guy like him would never have made it past the lobby. I explained that to him. He didn’t have it easy either: he shared a flat with several roommates, men who came and went at impossible hours.

We spent nearly a week negotiating until one morning he wrote to me early.

—Today’s the day. Only one is home, the others are at the construction site. Come now.

I didn’t think twice. I ordered a taxi, told him to wait for my message, and let myself be carried to the address he’d sent me. It was an area of narrow streets and low buildings, laundry hanging from every window, the smell of spices and dust in the air. Karim was waiting for me on the corner, in an old T-shirt and flip-flops, shorter than I’d imagined but just as handsome as in the photos.

—Come on, quick —he said, and led me through the entrances without taking his eyes off me.

We went up to a second floor by a stairway with no railing. The door opened directly into a large, almost empty room, with twelve mattresses spread across the floor, each with a folded blanket at its feet. It smelled of clean clothes and of something more human, of bodies sleeping piled together every night.

On one of the mattresses another man was lying there, shirtless, with a two-day beard and a torso shining with the heat. He must have been about twenty-six. He looked me up and down without even trying to hide it and asked Karim something in his language. Karim answered in a low voice. The other man slowly sat up, put on a T-shirt, gave me a half-smile, and left the apartment without saying a word.

Karim locked the apartment door, came back into the room, and slid the bolt on that room as well. We were alone, the noise from the street filtering in through a half-open window.

—Finally —he murmured, and came closer.

He kissed me without rushing, holding me so tightly against his body that I immediately felt how hard he was getting under his pants. I ran my hand along his neck, then down his back, and started kissing his throat while his breathing turned ragged. His skin was hot, almost feverish.

He yanked off my T-shirt and lowered his mouth to my nipples. He licked them slowly, glancing sideways to check whether I liked it. I grabbed his head and pressed him harder against my chest; he understood the gesture and bit a little harder, just the way I wanted.

I took his shirt off too. He untied his tracksuit pants and shoved them down in one go: he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. He was lean but wiry, with a chest of fine hair that suddenly stopped, shaved from the navel down. He was circumcised, not very big, hard as a stone. I held him in my hand while we kept kissing, and he took the chance to part my ass cheeks and probe with one finger.

I ended up taking off my pants too, and we collapsed onto one of the mattresses, tangled together, never stopping searching for each other’s mouths.

I slowly worked my way down his body. I kissed his neck, bit his biceps, ran my tongue through his armpits too, shaved as well, smelling only faintly of fresh sweat, with no trace of deodorant. I paused for a moment at his navel and went on to the smooth pubic mound.

His cock was begging for attention, with a shiny thread of precum showing, but I took my time first with his balls. When I ran my tongue over them, he let out a long sigh. I made them wet with saliva, massaging them with my hand, and only then did I start working my way up and down him. His breathing grew more and more intense with every lick.

I cleaned away what was leaking from him with my tongue and took him into my mouth, slowly. He was moaning so much I was afraid he’d finish right away, so I went back up to his face to kiss him and give him a breather. I offered him my nipple, and while he licked it he stroked the other one with one hand and my ass with the other.

I turned around, sat his face between my cheeks, and went back to his cock. It was obvious he didn’t have much practice eating ass; he wasn’t bad at it, but he lacked confidence. I didn’t care. I sat up, kissed him again, and straddled him, leaving his erection wedged between my ass cheeks. He moved slowly, enjoying the friction, and I pushed back so the tip would hit right at the entrance.

—Wait —I said, and licked my fingers.

I lubed up the entrance well with saliva, he helped me by doing the same, and I moistened his cock too before starting to lower myself little by little. He slid in centimeter by centimeter while I rose and fell, tracing circles with my hips. His face was pure pleasure.

—I’m going to come —he gasped after a while.

I pulled out in time. I was enjoying it too much to let him finish so soon. I lay down beside him, he threw an arm over my shoulder, and we kept kissing for a long while, his still-firm erection brushing my hip.

—Turn over —he whispered.

I lay face down. He sat on my back, kissed the nape of my neck, kneaded my shoulders, and worked his way down my spine with his mouth. This time, when he parted my ass cheeks and buried himself in my hole, he did it better; I guided him with my moans so he’d know where to keep pushing.

He spit a couple of times, spit on his cock, and started entering me again, now with more determination. I grabbed his hips so he’d sink all the way in. He began to thrust harder and, after a few minutes, I heard him gasping right by my ear before he collapsed onto my back, still inside me. I squeezed my legs to hold him there until his cock started softening and came out followed by a warm spurt.

We got up. He handed me a towel, I cleaned myself off, and he started getting dressed. I did the same. He looked at me, baffled, as I buttoned my pants.

—Why are you getting dressed?

—We’re done —I replied.

—My friend wants to have fun too. That’s why he left, to leave us alone.

I fell silent for a second, remembering the smile on that bearded man’s face.

—Okay —I said—. Tell him to come in.

***

Karim opened the apartment door and his roommate was sitting on the landing, patient, waiting. He gave him the key so we could lock ourselves in from inside, and he came in. We went back to the room, slid the bolt, and before he could say anything, he lunged to hug me. He kissed me on the cheek; I kissed him back on the lips.

Karim had been handsome, but this one was even more so. We lay down on his mattress, tangled together. He stroked my face while I slipped my hand under his T-shirt and ran it over his hairy chest. He’d been hard since before, probably from imagining what he was going to do during the whole wait.

I took his shirt off and saw the marks his friend had left on my nipples. He ran his tongue over them and I held his head; he licked them slowly, biting them now and then until he made me moan. We stood up only to finish undressing while never stopping kissing.

He pulled down his pants and he wasn’t wearing anything underneath either. He was somewhat longer than Karim, and quite a bit thicker. His body was just as hairy as his friend’s, but also shaved from the navel to mid-thigh. His armpits were shaved, with a slightly stronger sweat smell after half an hour waiting in the sun.

We went back to the mattress. I lifted his arm over his head and buried my nose in his armpit; his smell lit me up in a way I couldn’t explain. I ran my tongue over it until I had cleaned it, and he, delighted, put the other hand behind his neck to offer me the other side. Just that was enough to make me close to coming.

I went straight to his cock. I didn’t want to waste time: I took all of it into my mouth until my chin hit his testicles. The groan he let out must have been heard in the street. I worked it calmly, taking it down to the back of my throat every now and then. He liked it, but I liked it even more.

I didn’t want him finishing in my mouth. I had it well lubricated with my saliva, so I moistened one finger and prepared my ass again, still open and wet from before. I sat on top of him. It was a little difficult at first, because of the thickness, but he got in. I rested my hands on his chest while he stroked my nipples with one hand and held me against his body with the other.

The excitement took over me. I wanted to see his face when he let himself go. I started moving faster and faster, squeezing to milk him. His breathing broke into gasps, and his pleasure-struck expression made me ride him harder.

—If you keep doing that I won’t last —he murmured.

That was exactly what I wanted. He matched my rhythm and, shortly after, let out a snort followed by a long moan. He tried to sit up to kiss me and I leaned in to give him that kiss with his cock still inside me.

I lay down beside him. He stroked my ass while helping me with his hand, and I, too hot after the two fucks, didn’t last long. I came over his hairy abdomen. He spread my semen over his skin and licked his fingers without taking his eyes off me.

We got dressed in silence, still breathing hard, and said goodbye with one last kiss.

When we left, Karim was still sitting by the door, waiting for his turn again. He wanted another round, but I was already empty and, deep down, I knew I’d had a much better time with his friend. I said goodbye to both of them with a smile and went down the stairs into the blazing street.

That was the first time I met up with one of them, but it wasn’t the last. Little by little I would get to know the other roommates in that flat, and each one would leave me a different story marked on my skin.