Anthony was overwhelmed by the selection of lightbulbs before him.  He stood in the aisle at Home Depot, his mind reeling that there could be so many shapes, intensities, and hues to passing some electricity through an LED.  He put his phone to his ear as he scanned the shelves for something that approximated a product as specified by Brandon.

“Bro, there are—no lie—like eighty five different light bulbs here,” he uttered into the phone, keeping his voice steady against the rising tide of annoyance.

Brandon tried not to smirk audibly from his perch on the stepladder.  He had been midway through hanging the new wood slat blinds in the farmhouse living room when his phone had signaled Anthony’s surrender from his assignment.  “Okay, Anthony.  Breathe.  Tell me exactly what kind of bulb is directly in front of you.”

Anthony didn’t relish being treated like a child.  But that’s how out of his depth he felt when it came to these details.  “The box says outdoor flood lights.”  

Brandon nodded, studying his mental image of the aisle.  “I think you are one or two bays too far to the left.  Head to the right.  You’re looking for globes.” He pinned the phone between his shoulder and ear and gave the blind set in front of him one solid push, snapping them neatly into the brackets.  

“First ‘Gregarious Gray’ paint, and now a memorized lightbulb aisle layout.  I don’t know if I should be impressed or concerned,” Anthony mused on the phone, his eyes still locked on the cartons of lightbulbs as he slowly walked the aisle.”  

Brandon sat back on the ladder and smiled, the warm sunlight filtering through the slatted blinds and slanting across his face, filling his entire field of vision with pink light as it shown through his eyelids.  “Agreeable Gray,” he corrected.

“Fuck me,” Anthony said softly, but grinning.  “Okay, yep.  You were right.  I see a whole bunch of ball-shaped bulbs.”  He shuffled slightly to the side as a young man crouched next to him, digging through a jumble of cartons at the floor level.  Anthony was surprised at how naturally he found his eyes falling to the man’s feet.

“Perfect,” Brandon’s voice was coming through on the phone.  “Don’t forget—candelabra base, clear globes, soft white light.  40 or 60 watt equivalent.”  Anthony scarcely listened as Brandon ticked off the required attributes yet again.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it.  Thanks,” he said absently, pressing ‘end’ and thrusting the phone back into his pocket.  He watched the man at his feet, noting the HeyDude Wallies bending against the floor in his crouch.  The man’s olive skin could be seen between his pant leg and the shoe.  Anthony found himself leaning into the shelf, as though examining the ceiling fan bulbs in front of him so that he could get a better view of the man’s pale gray knit shoes, and the way the knotted laces stuck out from the sides.  Anthony could even see a sliver of white foot liner peeking out from behind the lip of the shoe.  Would Brandon be attracted to this man’s feet, he wondered, feeling his own heat tingling through him.  He shook himself and focused on the task ahead of him.

---

“I think I caught what you have,” Anthony announced as he flung a Home Depot bag on the sofa.  Brandon narrowed his eyes as he plucked it up and looked inside.  

“I told you before, it’s allergies.  April sucks for people with seasonal allergies.  What the hell, Anthony?”  Brandon unsheathed the carton from the plastic bag.  “Frosted daylight appliance bulbs?”  

“I’m not talking about your allergies,” Anthony said, ignoring the bulbs Brandon held out toward him in disdain.  “I’m talking about…the other thing.”

Brandon looked blankly at Anthony, who was clearly shaken.  “Come again?”

Anthony sank into the tartan chair, massaging his temples.  “I just looked at a man’s feet.”  

Brandon stared, waiting for him to continue.  “And…?”

Anthony pulled his hands away from his head and spread his palms up to the ceiling in a gesture that said duh.  Brandon registered nothing.  “And I got hard!” he finally cried.

Brandon placed the light bulbs aside and sank into the sofa opposite him.  “Ah.  I see.”  

Anthony clapped his hand on the arms of his chair in irritation.  “You act like you aren’t surprised.  Like…I don’t know.  You’ve been expecting this?”  

Brandon shrugged.  “I wouldn’t go so far as to say that.  I’m not clairvoyant. But no—I’m not surprised.  Let’s face it: there has been a lot of sexual energy surrounding feet and shoes for you.  For a while.  The brain is a malleable thing.  It can be influenced.  And you’ve had quite a lot of influence,” he said with a grin.

Anthony wasn’t convinced.  “I’m freaking out, bro,” he said in a low, serious tone.  

Brandon was quiet for a moment.  Marbles hopped up on a window sill behind the sofa, a long feline shadow stretching across the planked flooring in the afternoon sun.  Brandon stood up and walked around the back of Anthony’s chair, placing his hands on Anthony’s shoulders.  

“What—what are you doing?” he said, startled as Brandon began to run his fingertips lightly over the skin above his collar.  

“Shhhh,” Brandon coaxed.  “Calm down.”  He started to kneed his thumbs into to the cords of tension climbing up the sides of Anthony’s neck.  

“I don’t think I can do this, Brandon,” he said shaking his head.  

Brandon put his head near Anthony’s ear.  “I’ve already had my hand on your dick.  You don’t think you can handle a little neck massage?” he whispered.  For once, Anthony had no comeback.  Brandon continued to work his hands on his skin.  He could feel the sinewy muscles gliding under his fingers.  “You’re sexy,” he observed softly.  

Anthony had started to loosen under Brandon’s manipulation.  He raised his eyebrows.  “Yeah.  I realize you think so.”

“I’ll admit to jerking off to thinking about you after the first few times we met,” Brandon confessed, moving his fingertips over the knots in his shoulder blades. 

Anthony half turned his head in the chair.  “Really?  I thought you had been trying to avoid that when we first started making videos.”

“The fetish, yes.  But not you.  I thought you were incredibly hot.  Even without the boots.  And of course, you were straight, so that just made it hotter.”  Brandon when on, moving his hands down to Anthony’s solid arms.

“Oh.”  Anthony didn’t know what else to say.  

“You’re so strong and athletic.  And you know just how to push the buttons on the rubber boot fetishists.”  Brandon chuckled when he thought about all of the masterful moves Anthony had developed in his career as YouTube mudder.  “It made watching your videos pretty orgasmic.”  Brandon glanced down, seeing Anthony’s erection growing between his legs.  He moved around the front of the chair and brought his massage down to Anthony’s forearms.  “But do you know what drives me the most crazy?  The thing you do that I just can’t stand?”  He worked his hands down to Anthony’s wrists.  They were gorgeous wrists.  Well proportioned, smooth and curvaceous endings to his muscular arms.  Anthony was entranced.

“What?” he practically whispered.

“The way you wink at me.  And the way you put your hand on my shoulder,” Brandon said, looking into Anthony’s eyes as he moved his hands to the tops of Anthony’s thighs.  

Anthony’s eyes widened ever so slightly.  “Really?” His voice held traces of astonishment.  

Brandon continued.  “Oh yes.”  He worked his hands to the insides of Anthony’s legs, just skirting the tenting bulge in his jeans.  “It has made me want you for a long time.”  Brandon knelt at Anthony’s feet and looked up at him.  “And right now, I want to bring you pleasure.  I want to make you feel what you’ve made me feel.  Can I do that?”

Anthony was breathing heavily.  He nodded hesitantly.  

Brandon slowly unzipped Anthony’s fly and parted his jeans.  Anthony had boxers on today.  Brandon made a minor adjustment before looking up and saying “tell me if you want me to stop.”  

He took Anthony into his mouth.  

---

Before long, Anthony’s fingers were digging into the arms of the chair.  “Jesus,” he cried, arching his back.  Brandon accepted the salty-sweet seed as it rushed from Anthony in an incredible release of tension.  Brandon himself was hard, euphoric in knowing that he had just brought Anthony to bliss.  Brandon rocked back on his heels, bringing his hands down to rest on Anthony’s Adidas Racers.  He could feel the warmth of Anthony’s feet radiate through the knit uppers.  Anthony gasped for air and looked at Brandon.  “Oh, my God,” he said between pants.  “That was incredible.”

Brandon rested his chin on one of Anthony’s knees and gazed up at him.  “So you discovered today that you have become just a little more like me.  Tell me—would being together be so bad?” he ventured to ask.  

Anthony looked down at him, surprised by the question.  “Being together?”

“Do you like me?”  

“Of course I like you, Brandon.  We’re friends.  But if you’re looking for love…”

“I’m not saying love,” Brandon quickly contradicted.  “I’m not saying love, I’m not saying boyfriend, and I’m not saying gay.  I’m saying if we like each other and we make each other happy, we should be together.”  He paused and looked at Anthony, who looked down at him thoughtfully.  “We make each other happy, don’t we?”

A smiled played at Anthony’s lips.  “When you aren’t being a shit, yeah.”

“Then let’s commit to spending time with each other.  To getting to know each other.”  Brandon paused.  “And to not entering into any kind of relationship with anyone else.”  

Anthony looked at Brandon for a minute before finally breaking the silence.  “Oh my god.  We’re going to be gay boyfriends.”  

Brandon looked solemn.  “I’m not saying boyfriend, and I’m not saying gay,” he repeated.  

“Brandon, I don’t know—“

“I just want to try it.  I’ll have no expectations.”  Anthony looked at Brandon with skepticism.  “I promise.”

Anthony stood up, leaving Brandon to sit on the floor by the chair and watch him as he crossed the room, pulling up his pants.  He leaned against the window casement and stared out into the late afternoon sun.  When he turned, the lined shadows of the blinds slanted across his face.  

“Okay, Brandon.  I’ll be your not boyfriend.”