Lewis Klein, the Part-Time Sugar Daddy

Chapter 1: When They Met and Almost Lost Each OtherAaron Training for the ballet had become Aaron’s number one priority. This meant quite a few hours at his local gym if he wasn’t at school, and he was lucky enough to be one of a few people who used the ballet studio—he could practice all day and nobody would bother him. The hardest part was the walk through the weight room to get to the showers. Though ballet had made him more confident than he had ever been, walking through a group of burly, sweaty guys wasn’t as much fun as it looked in porn. He felt more like a deer at the hands of a mountain lion than just a man with a bunch of other men. Either way, his past few relationships had left him worse off than he had been before, and now he avoided other men like the plague, especially those who looked like they might hate-crime him. He was taller than most men, but the two decades of ballet lessons had made his form lanky and graceful—not very helpful when it came to scaring off the unwanted advances of men. He could typically escape without any interaction except for employees, and on days he didn’t need to shower after his session he could get out of there without even passing through the weight room. Those occasions were far in between, however, due to the limited hot water at his shoebox apartment. He could manage a cold shower now and again, but the free sauna would usually win him over. He had been attending university for over a year before anyone at the gym piqued his interest. Suddenly, one day, there was this man. Maybe Aaron had overlooked him before, but that wasn’t likely because he seemed like the brightest guy in a room full of dead bulbs. He was maybe a little shorter than Aaron and built soft—not like the lug-heads who go there for their looks. He had light skin and blue eyes, and his hair was dark and curly. When Aaron first saw him, he actually paused for a moment in the middle of the weight room and they locked eyes, but only for a second. Aaron had hurried away and took a long shower in hopes the man would leave before he got out. Since that day, the man had been in the weight room almost every time that Aaron was there, except for if he had shown up early in the morning. Being that Aaron would usually go after class in the evening, he judged that this man was also more of a night owl and would often be there by the time Aaron was leaving, sometimes nearing midnight. It was a twenty-four-hour gym, but because the trains stopped at one A.M., he had to leave near midnight or he’d have to choose between sleeping there and walking six kilometers home. One day after his workout, Aaron had gone to the steam room to relax a tight muscle in his shoulder. They had been practicing for their show at the end of the year and he had been working overtime to be ready for his part as one of the main dancers. He had already gotten halfway into the U-shaped room before he realized someone was already in there—the steam was so thick, he could see only the white towel around their waist. He sat down in his own towel, feeling vulnerable without his shirt, and wished he had checked the window before coming in. Whoever they were, they didn’t indicate that they had noticed him, so he relaxed a little against the hot wood. He leaned back his head and breathed in the steam, feeling sweat already start to roll down his back. He knew it was already nearing eleven and he wouldn’t have much time, so he rubbed at his shoulder to loosen it. It really was painful and was making it difficult to turn his head—he could feel the soreness run all the way up the back of his neck and down to his shoulder. He rested his arm across his belly and sighed, hoping it would work itself out, but five minutes hadn’t passed before he started worrying it again. “You should try a hot pack—” Aaron yelped, then clapped his hand over his mouth, looking wide-eyed through the steam. “Sorry,” the man said under a breathy laugh. Aaron could see his silhouette now that the steam was dying down and realized that it was the man with dark, wavy hair. His eyes were bright blue and, from this distance, seemed…kind. “I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, smiling. “I just wanted to suggest a hot pack—if your shoulder is hurting you. Alternating with cold packs—you know.” “Yeah,” Aaron said. “Thanks.” “Sure.” The man leaned back his head against the wall and shut his eyes, but Aaron could still see a little smirk on his face. Aaron wiped at the sweat on his forehead and rubbed his shoulder again, embarrassed at how quickly his heart was racing. It wasn’t long before the man got up, tucking his towel more securely around his waist. “Do you want more water?” he asked, gesturing to the generator, which signaled that it was empty. “No—I’m about to leave. Thanks.” The man nodded and left, but Aaron waited a long time before coming out to shower. He made it to the trains around twelve-thirty and thought about the man the whole ride home. * * * * He couldn’t help himself—no matter how hard he tried not to, he found himself looking for the man every time he entered the gym. He even passed through the weight room without necessity on a few occasions, kicking himself when he felt disappointed at the stranger’s absence. When he was there, though, Aaron’s heart skipped a beat every time the man smiled at him. And he always—always—smiled when he saw Aaron. Aaron found that he held himself taller and walked more gracefully when he knew the man was watching, even though he never stopped to say hello or indicate in any way that he would like to talk to the man at all. They had been in the steam room a few times since their first interaction, but the man left him alone. Aaron wasn’t sure how he felt about this, but thought that the guy might just be afraid to scare him again. The thought made him smile, then he immediately smoothed out his face and cleared his head—the last thing he needed right now was a crush on some guy with whom he’d never end up. He had seen how the women at the gym looked at this guy, drool almost hanging from their mouths. Aaron had never caught the man looking back, but that didn’t mean that he was blind. The man always seemed so focused on doing his squats—he hardly seemed to notice a thing except for when Aaron walked by. Once he even dropped his weights when he had seen Aaron in the mirror—this made Aaron blush but he tried not to let it go to his head. It was probably a coincidence, after all. One day, about a month after their first interaction, Aaron ran into him in the changing room after coming out of his shower. The man was undressing from his sweaty clothes and gathering his shampoo and body wash. Aaron met his gaze and looked away as quickly as he could, trying to hide behind his locker door while he unpacked his clothes. He paused to listen, staring at his reflection in the mirror on his locker door—grey eyes hidden behind his brown fringe. He heard the man’s locker shut and peeked around to find that the guy was standing there, looking at him. It was too late—he had seen Aaron and smiled, so Aaron tried to smile back and took his clothes from his locker. “I’m Lewis, by the way. I never introduced myself.” He reached out his hand. “Aaron,” he said around the lump in his throat, and they briefly shook hands. Lewis smiled again and left while Aaron changed at break-neck speed and ran before he could come back out of the shower. * * * * It was a couple of days until he saw Lewis after that, and he couldn’t help but feel relief when he saw those bright blue eyes from across the weight room. Aaron even smiled at him—which he had made a rule to never do. He was in the steam room after a long training session and he didn’t realize he dozed off until he woke up at twelve fifty-five. He jumped up and changed clothes as quickly as he could, but by the time he got to the train station, the attendant said the last train had left. He shivered as he walked back to the gym, realizing he needed to get his bag and jacket before starting the six-kilometer walk home. He groaned as he entered the gym, tiredly rubbing his eyes. He knew he had to go home because of his early classes, but he dreaded to think of how sore his feet were going to be. He also wasn’t thrilled to walk through that part of town at this time, but he didn’t have anything valuable to steal and he was sure he could run quicker than most people anyways. He bundled himself up and moved his pepper spray from his bag to his pocket before he started to leave, stopping short when he turned the corner and— Lewis was there, panting from his workout. “Hi,” he said cheerfully. Aaron felt his heart skip in spite of himself. “Hi,” he answered, sounding miserable even though he was trying not to. “Is everything okay? I saw you run out of here a little while ago.” “Yes, I’m fine.” Aaron sighed and hauled his bag up farther on his shoulder. “I have to go, though. Sorry.” Aaron passed him and started towards the door, shoving his hands in his pockets. He cursed himself for wearing himself out and not paying attention to the time. He knew that he was pushing his luck when he went in there at twelve, thinking he’d stay for only twenty minutes and have plenty of time to catch the last train. “i***t,” he whispered to himself, shivering in the wind. He had walked down only half the street before he heard quick footsteps behind him. A chill ran down his neck and his heart raced as he whipped around with the pepper spray gripped in his hand. “Woah! Please don’t—” Aaron gasped when he saw Lewis, hands shielding his face, a few meters away from him. “You can’t just go running at people in the middle of the night!” Aaron exclaimed, shoving his pepper spray into his pocket. “I’m sorry! I called your name, I thought you heard me.” He was panting but looked on the verge of laughter. Aaron turned away from him to carry on down the street. “Oi!” Lewis called and Aaron sighed, slowing his pace. Lewis caught up to him and rested a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I’m sorry—really. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” “It’s fine,” Aaron said shortly, but he softened by how genuine Lewis’s expression was. “Listen, I know you don’t know me very well, but why don’t you let me give you a lift?” Lewis said, and Aaron frowned at him. “It’s one-fifteen. You take the train, don’t you?” Aaron raised his eyebrows, feeling both self-conscious and freaked out that this guy knew he took the train. He gripped the pepper spray in his pocket. “I’m sorry, that sounded a lot creepier than I meant it to—” He nervously carded a hand through his curls as Aaron stared at him. “I have seen you walk toward the station—it was an assumption. I don’t follow you around—I mean—” He barked a laugh and pushed his glasses up his nose. “God, this isn’t going how I expected.” Aaron kept staring at him, his hand ever tighter on his pepper spray. “Please don’t mace me,” Lewis begged and Aaron almost smiled. “It’s just—I have a car. And I thought—well, I don’t know how far away you live, but it’s not safe to be walking around—” “I’m fine,” Aaron said shortly. Lewis pressed his lips in a line. “Right,” he answered with a sigh. “I’ve creeped you out, haven’t I?” Aaron didn’t answer but Lewis got his answer from the expression on Aaron’s face. “Right. Okay.” Lewis nodded and put his hands in the pockets of his coat. “Well—just thought I’d offer.” He ducked his head away from Aaron’s gaze and turned, mumbling goodbye under his breath. Aaron watched him start walking away, then looked over his own shoulder at the long street ahead of him. It was dark and empty and the wind was already making his ears numb. He heard Lewis crossing the street and the farther away he got, the more jumpy Aaron felt.