Opinionman
Jockstrap Fan
Ch 54. The Bookstore.
Skye had thought that Kirk’s remark about the Three Stooges meant there was something brewing in the showers right then, but things were normal, dull even. The Stooges had showered quickly and left, so Skye figured they’d be back with ideas or activities in the next couple of days.
Skye showered and dressed and said good-bye to Kirk, mentioning that he had to hurry. He grabbed a sandwich on the way and arrived at the store at 6:00. Mr. Williams greeted him with his usual courtesy and explained that he really just needed him to be on the floor, keeping an eye on things and helping customers.
Skye was happy to do this, despite his innate introversion. It seemed simple enough and indeed little happened in the first couple of hours.
Around 8:00 he noticed a young fellow walking slowly down the aisles. He wasn’t particularly tall and seemed like he might be Skye’s age, though his physical development was nothing compared to the wrestler’s. Skye watched him walk down an aisle, pick up some object and look at it, and then put it back and move on. After seeing him do this a few times, Skye began to think about what he was seeing. This boy seemed to pick up objects that a guy his age would have little interest in: hair ties, “peds” socks, pencils with Disney characters. Skye thought that he himself might back off a little and try to see the big picture. It was then that he noticed the guy was working slowly but steadily towards the men’s clothing department. Sure enough, in a few minutes he was in the pants aisle. He walked halfway down, pulled off a pair of slacks and looked at them perfunctorily, returned them to the rack and meandered to the end of the aisle. He took a right turn and found himself, though it was clearly no accident, in the men’s underwear aisle. Skye began to develop a picture of what was going on, based on the pace of the fellow’s movements: either he was moving deliberately slowly because he was thinking of stealing something, or he was too embarrassed about buying his own underwear but couldn’t stop himself from checking it out.
The boy paused in front of men’s underwear and scanned the display. Even from a bit of a distance, Skye could see his heart beating, causing his shirt to rise and fall just perceptibly. Suddenly, Skye felt empathy and concern for the fellow. Having just had a couple of days of huge emotional roller coastering, along with an uncontrollable libido, he felt he understood that this guy was looking for some underwear that he could use for sexual pleasure, and Skye assumed that, as this guy was physically unprepossessing, that meant masturbation.
Though not one to embarrass others, Skye nonetheless thought he might use a little friendliness to help the guy relax. He stealthily went one aisle over and then, as if from nowhere, appeared at the elbow of the shopper.
“Can I help you with anything, buddy?” He thought he might use that collegiate term to put the other fellow at ease.
“Me? Huh? Uh, no,” stammered the customer. “I just… Um…”
Skye was himself a little surprised at his own boldness. He had never done anything close to sales and was wholly ignorant of any “techniques,” but he was a sensitive guy and so just said, “Trying to decide what kind of underwear, huh? I had that same question just last week. Most guys in my dorm wear boxer briefs, but a couple wear tighty whities. It’s all cool with them, whatever.”
The boy stared at him, agog. Though Skye’s tone had been friendly, his complete candor about something so personal astonished him as much as Charlie’s upfront approach to intimate subjects had surprised Skye.
“Oh, yeah… well, I’m not in college yet.”
“Still in high school?”
“Yep.”
“You thinking about coming here?”
“Yup. I had to take an extra year so I’m older than my classmates, but….”
“But…?” asked Skye gently.
“But, well, you know… Some of those guys are built… like you.” The student’s blush could have rivaled Skye’s for intensity.
“Yeah, guys are all different at 19. I mean, I guess. I won’t turn 19 for another month.”
“Really? You look…” He left the sentence unfinished, suddenly aware of his frankness.
“Anyway,” said Skye, “in college most guys wear boxer briefs but, like I said, a few wear tighty whities and some have boxers for sleeping but also for wearing. It’s really what you want.”
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, buddy.”
“Do you think boxer briefs would look goofy on me? I’m kinda skinny and I always feel like they’re gonna look like, I dunno,boys pajamas.”
“All depends,” said Skye, assuming an expertise he didn’t really feel. “Well, if we’re gonna figure this out, can I ask what kind of underwear you usually wear?” This statement was so brazen and so personal, Skye couldn’t believe he’d asked it, but the kid seemed relatively at ease, considering the built-in social awkwardness. He looked down, a little self-conscious, but also a little thrilled to be talking like this so immediately with a college guy who clearly knew a thing or two about how underwear looked.
“I still wear Jockey shorts. A bunch of the guys do, but I kinda feel like I should move on.”
“Well,” said Skye, "sounds like you prefer briefs in spite of everything.”
“Yeah, actually… yeah…” The kid seemed to display a little more confidence. In his response, Skye read the story of a small guy being teased for “little boy underwear” but who had enough gumption to know what he liked.
“Ya know, we don’t have a huge selection, but you could try the mall, which has a bigger selection of briefs. Maybe something with a little color, and I can tell you from experience, the guys in my dorm and on my team think that fly front briefs are lame. It’s pouches for them.”
“Must be cool livin’ in a dorm,” said the student. “And what team? Wrestling?”
“Yup. You guessed it. Just like everybody else.” Skye grinned.
“Well, no offense, but it’s hard to miss.”
They remained quiet for a moment. The boy resumed, “All right, I’ll go to the mall, though I think they cost a lot more, don’t they?”
“A little…if you go to the upscale stores, but if you try Bob’s, you can get a good deal.”
“Ok, that sounds good. You sure it’s okay to recommend other stores since you work here?”
“It’s just about helping out a dude. Just yesterday, a guy I didn’t even know helped me out, so I’m just doing that. Good luck, and if you come back here, lemme know how it worked out, ok?”
“Thanks, man.” The boy turned and walked out of the store. Skye felt like he was in new territory, being a kind of mentor in a small way to a kid who, though not much younger than him, seemed that way.
The next two hours flew by, and Skye left at 10:00 knowing that his Saturday paycheck would include four hours’ wor
He entered his dorm hallway and realized that, though he thought he had found the rhythm of the space, he was mistaken. He figured there might be a couple of guys going to the bathroom, but just as he walked in, again with a kind of Broadway coordination, a half dozen guys emerged from their rooms in all kinds of disrobed states. Two of them were buck naked, though only one of those had an erection; two were in boxerbriefs clearly with semi’s and one had on a blue pouch brief and the other plain boxers. They all greeted Skye on the way to showers or teeth or whatever. Skye found himself feeling at home.
Skye had thought that Kirk’s remark about the Three Stooges meant there was something brewing in the showers right then, but things were normal, dull even. The Stooges had showered quickly and left, so Skye figured they’d be back with ideas or activities in the next couple of days.
Skye showered and dressed and said good-bye to Kirk, mentioning that he had to hurry. He grabbed a sandwich on the way and arrived at the store at 6:00. Mr. Williams greeted him with his usual courtesy and explained that he really just needed him to be on the floor, keeping an eye on things and helping customers.
Skye was happy to do this, despite his innate introversion. It seemed simple enough and indeed little happened in the first couple of hours.
Around 8:00 he noticed a young fellow walking slowly down the aisles. He wasn’t particularly tall and seemed like he might be Skye’s age, though his physical development was nothing compared to the wrestler’s. Skye watched him walk down an aisle, pick up some object and look at it, and then put it back and move on. After seeing him do this a few times, Skye began to think about what he was seeing. This boy seemed to pick up objects that a guy his age would have little interest in: hair ties, “peds” socks, pencils with Disney characters. Skye thought that he himself might back off a little and try to see the big picture. It was then that he noticed the guy was working slowly but steadily towards the men’s clothing department. Sure enough, in a few minutes he was in the pants aisle. He walked halfway down, pulled off a pair of slacks and looked at them perfunctorily, returned them to the rack and meandered to the end of the aisle. He took a right turn and found himself, though it was clearly no accident, in the men’s underwear aisle. Skye began to develop a picture of what was going on, based on the pace of the fellow’s movements: either he was moving deliberately slowly because he was thinking of stealing something, or he was too embarrassed about buying his own underwear but couldn’t stop himself from checking it out.
The boy paused in front of men’s underwear and scanned the display. Even from a bit of a distance, Skye could see his heart beating, causing his shirt to rise and fall just perceptibly. Suddenly, Skye felt empathy and concern for the fellow. Having just had a couple of days of huge emotional roller coastering, along with an uncontrollable libido, he felt he understood that this guy was looking for some underwear that he could use for sexual pleasure, and Skye assumed that, as this guy was physically unprepossessing, that meant masturbation.
Though not one to embarrass others, Skye nonetheless thought he might use a little friendliness to help the guy relax. He stealthily went one aisle over and then, as if from nowhere, appeared at the elbow of the shopper.
“Can I help you with anything, buddy?” He thought he might use that collegiate term to put the other fellow at ease.
“Me? Huh? Uh, no,” stammered the customer. “I just… Um…”
Skye was himself a little surprised at his own boldness. He had never done anything close to sales and was wholly ignorant of any “techniques,” but he was a sensitive guy and so just said, “Trying to decide what kind of underwear, huh? I had that same question just last week. Most guys in my dorm wear boxer briefs, but a couple wear tighty whities. It’s all cool with them, whatever.”
The boy stared at him, agog. Though Skye’s tone had been friendly, his complete candor about something so personal astonished him as much as Charlie’s upfront approach to intimate subjects had surprised Skye.
“Oh, yeah… well, I’m not in college yet.”
“Still in high school?”
“Yep.”
“You thinking about coming here?”
“Yup. I had to take an extra year so I’m older than my classmates, but….”
“But…?” asked Skye gently.
“But, well, you know… Some of those guys are built… like you.” The student’s blush could have rivaled Skye’s for intensity.
“Yeah, guys are all different at 19. I mean, I guess. I won’t turn 19 for another month.”
“Really? You look…” He left the sentence unfinished, suddenly aware of his frankness.
“Anyway,” said Skye, “in college most guys wear boxer briefs but, like I said, a few wear tighty whities and some have boxers for sleeping but also for wearing. It’s really what you want.”
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, buddy.”
“Do you think boxer briefs would look goofy on me? I’m kinda skinny and I always feel like they’re gonna look like, I dunno,boys pajamas.”
“All depends,” said Skye, assuming an expertise he didn’t really feel. “Well, if we’re gonna figure this out, can I ask what kind of underwear you usually wear?” This statement was so brazen and so personal, Skye couldn’t believe he’d asked it, but the kid seemed relatively at ease, considering the built-in social awkwardness. He looked down, a little self-conscious, but also a little thrilled to be talking like this so immediately with a college guy who clearly knew a thing or two about how underwear looked.
“I still wear Jockey shorts. A bunch of the guys do, but I kinda feel like I should move on.”
“Well,” said Skye, "sounds like you prefer briefs in spite of everything.”
“Yeah, actually… yeah…” The kid seemed to display a little more confidence. In his response, Skye read the story of a small guy being teased for “little boy underwear” but who had enough gumption to know what he liked.
“Ya know, we don’t have a huge selection, but you could try the mall, which has a bigger selection of briefs. Maybe something with a little color, and I can tell you from experience, the guys in my dorm and on my team think that fly front briefs are lame. It’s pouches for them.”
“Must be cool livin’ in a dorm,” said the student. “And what team? Wrestling?”
“Yup. You guessed it. Just like everybody else.” Skye grinned.
“Well, no offense, but it’s hard to miss.”
They remained quiet for a moment. The boy resumed, “All right, I’ll go to the mall, though I think they cost a lot more, don’t they?”
“A little…if you go to the upscale stores, but if you try Bob’s, you can get a good deal.”
“Ok, that sounds good. You sure it’s okay to recommend other stores since you work here?”
“It’s just about helping out a dude. Just yesterday, a guy I didn’t even know helped me out, so I’m just doing that. Good luck, and if you come back here, lemme know how it worked out, ok?”
“Thanks, man.” The boy turned and walked out of the store. Skye felt like he was in new territory, being a kind of mentor in a small way to a kid who, though not much younger than him, seemed that way.
The next two hours flew by, and Skye left at 10:00 knowing that his Saturday paycheck would include four hours’ wor
He entered his dorm hallway and realized that, though he thought he had found the rhythm of the space, he was mistaken. He figured there might be a couple of guys going to the bathroom, but just as he walked in, again with a kind of Broadway coordination, a half dozen guys emerged from their rooms in all kinds of disrobed states. Two of them were buck naked, though only one of those had an erection; two were in boxerbriefs clearly with semi’s and one had on a blue pouch brief and the other plain boxers. They all greeted Skye on the way to showers or teeth or whatever. Skye found himself feeling at home.