"Yes, you were great," I replied spontaneously. For a moment there was silence.
"What are you talking about? Get out of the shower already," Alex's voice sounded from the door.
"Shit, shit, I hope he didn't notice," I cursed softly. I quickly finished showering, got dressed and went into the living room.
"But that was a particularly intensive and long shower," Alex greeted me impatiently.
I shrugged my shoulders and did as inconspicuously as possible. Apparently he hadn't noticed any of my moanings.
"Let's go for breakfast," I changed the subject quickly.
Alex
Daniel didn't need to pretend to me, he had jerked off in the shower. How did I know for sure?
When he was in the shower for so long, I became curious and listened in secret. I wasn't sure, but I thought I heard my name. I probably just misheard it. I couldn't imagine that Daniel was in the shower moaning my name while jerking off.
At breakfast together I noticed that Daniel kept eyeing me secretly. At first, I tried to ignore it, but with time it made me nervous and I wondered what was going on.
"Is there a booger hanging out of my nose or why are you staring at me all the time?"
"No, no, everything's fine. You just look different today. Did you do something to your hair? It looks fine," Daniel replied quickly and turned red.
Now I became even more skeptical. I excused myself briefly and went to the toilet to check on things. I looked at my reflection critically, but could not find anything conspicuous and went back.
"I told you everything was fine," Daniel complained.
"You're acting weird. Is everything all right with you?"
I brought it straight to the point and looked at him in a challenging way.
"Can't a man compliment another man, without it being a drama?"
Daniel was suddenly very thin-skinned and bitchy. I shook my head and devoted myself to my breakfast.
"So, a little sightseeing today?" Daniel asked hesitantly.
I nodded and rattled down the list of sights we wanted to see. Daniel's eyes got big.
"Wow, that's a lot. Why don't we take it easy and just do a few things?"
Daniel took out his iPad and held it out to me.
"I googled what we could do. What do you think of the suggestion?"
Enthusiastically Daniel started. First up the Spanish stairs and enjoy the view, then a carriage ride through Rome followed by a boat trip on the Tiber.
"And if we still feel like it, we'll have a cocktail on the roof terrace of the Hotel Rafael in the evening," he concluded the list optimistically.
Wherever Daniel got this tour, it was more suited to couples in love.
"Where is the real Daniel and what have you done with him" was my skeptical question.
He shrugged his shoulders in embarrassment.
"We don't have to go on barhopping. Something quiet is okay."
I nodded slowly, something was going on here, but I didn't know what and that made me nervous.
Daniel beamed at me happily, we comfortably finished breakfast and set off.
Daniel
Alex had noticed my surprising change, which did not surprise me very much. I suddenly had butterflies in my stomach and behaved like a teenager in love.
Where this infatuation came from, I did not know. What made it even worse ,was that Alex was the catalyst for those feelings. Until yesterday I was sure that I was straight and only attracted to women. Today I wasn't so sure. But what should I do now? I could hardly stand up and confess my feelings to Alex.
So I tried a romantic tour of Rome. If an opportunity arose, I would take it. Otherwise, it was just a tour of Rome.
When Alex became skeptical but still agreed, it took a load off my mind. The first step was taken.
As the Spanish stairs were right next to the hotel, we started our tour there. Together we climbed up the 138 steps. A little out of breath we looked for a quiet place and enjoyed the view together.
"Look at this beautiful view," I raved to him and pointed to the city.
"See the Tiber?" I leaned against him and pointed to the river. Alex nodded, but allowed physical contact. I enjoyed the moment and nestled myself a little closer.
Abruptly Alex stood up and stretched.
"The stairs were quite tiring. I guess I'm really out of shape."
Alex was anything, but out of shape. Under the tight-fitting shirt I could see his well-trained upper body and in the slim-fitting jeans muscular legs stood out.
"You're anything but out of shape. Let's see, maybe you're just tense."
I approached him and put my hands on his neck. Alex tensed up briefly.
"I'm not gonna hurt you. You know I know how to massage."
Gently but energetically I massaged his neck until I noticed that the tension was released. I gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"You see, and away goes the tension."
Alex stretched carefully and smiled at me.
"You have magic hands, I can't feel anything anymore."
His praise made me beam over both cheeks and I almost embraced him with joy.
"Next stop carriage ride", I announced and we started our descent together.
Alex
The many steps at the Spanish Steps were more exhausting than expected. But what surprised me most was Daniel's spontaneous massage.
I'd never seen him like that before. I didn't know what to think, so I kept a low profile.
His gentle hands had released the tension in no time and I would have loved to have been massaged by him even longer.
When we went to the carriages together, I suddenly knew what Daniel's behavior meant. He was in love, that's why he was so upset and acting so strangely. My thoughts were racing, most of the time we had been on the road together, who could it be? We had not met any new people, apart from the two young women on the train.
Nicole was the one, who had it in for him. I would feel him out again later in the carriage. I did not like it and I was suddenly extremely jealous.
Finally
