Blake couldn’t imagine a better job than the one he has with adult film company Wild Card Studios, although few people would imagine he’s truly asexual. Most intrigued by this anomaly is Felix, a pansexual man Blake meets at his cousin’s wedding.
As a homoromantic, Blake is smitten with his new friend, but with his ten year high school reunion the day after the wedding, he has more pressing things on his mind than the obvious conflicting differences between them.
The party starts well, but when an old bully returns with a startling new attitude, Blake is left in an awkward and unsettling position. Can Felix become a real-life film hero and rush to his rescue?
As the best man, Blake assumed he had been introduced to everyone important already. Julie waved her hand at someone. Blake turned to look and saw a familiar metal-studded face heading their way, although he had switched from a T-shirt and running shorts to a well-fitted tux. Somehow the juxtaposition of his piercings and his formal attire made him even more appealing. “Ohh.”
“Blake, this is Felix,” Julie said. “Felix, this is Blake.”
Felix smiled and put out his hand. “We’ve met, although I didn’t have the time to catch your name.”
Blake blushed and accepted the handshake. “Yeah ... sorry again about that.”
Julie looked back and forth between the two of them. “What happened?”
“I, uh, almost ran over him in my car,” Blake admitted bashfully. “I was trying to get my phone out of my pocket and I didn’t see him.”
“It was my fault, too,” Felix said. “I was out for a jog and I had my earbuds in. I figured the church parking lot was going to be empty, so I didn’t bother checking my surroundings before I crossed the street.”
“Still, I’m sorry,” Blake said.
“Same here.”
Julie cleared her throat. “Okay, not exactly how I wanted you two to meet, but I’ll take it.” She put her hand on Felix’s shoulder. “Felix here is pansexual.”
“Really?” Blake knew one or two pansexual people through the adult entertainment industry, but none worked exclusively for Wild Card. Their flexibility gave them a bit of an advantage during casting, but there were plenty of straight or gay actors who were willing to go beyond their sexual preference for the sake of a job.
Felix nodded. “Are you?”
“No, I’m asexual, but it’s nice to meet another non-binary.”
Felix smiled. “Likewise.”
“How do you two know each other?” Blake asked Julie.
“We went to college together,” Julie said.
“Not just that,” Felix said. “We were in a band called ‘The Screen-Door Submarines’ together for three years. I played drums and she played bass.”
Blake turned to Julie in astonishment. “I didn’t know you played guitar!”
“I never told you that?” Travis said. “Huh. Could have sworn I mentioned it.”
“You never said anything about Julie being in a band,” Blake said.
“And she wrote some of our best songs,” Felix added. “There was one called ‘The Extra Hours in My Day’ and it was probably the most popular song we played.”
Julie smiled sheepishly. “It wasn’t that great ...”
“Come on! You wrote a really catchy chorus!” Felix tapped his foot in a quick steady beat and sang, “Fuck my job, fuck my schoolwork too, any extra hours in my day would belooong tooo yooou!”
Julie strummed an air guitar and joined in, “But the Man’s got me down, tryin’ to get out of town. Baby, I’ll take you with me if I dooo. For now I gotta study so I can make enough money --” She took Travis’s hand and looked into his eyes. “-- To give all my extra hours for yooou.”
Travis fanned himself and sniffled. “Awww,” he said in a sappy tone, “that’s so sweeeet!”
They all laughed and Julie hid her face in her hands. “Oh man!” she exclaimed between giggles. “I haven’t sung that since I had dreds!”
Blake’s jaw dropped. Julie being in a band was one thing, but Julie with that gorgeous blonde hair in dreds was another. “You used to have dredlocks?”
“It was college! I wore two-inch platform boots and ripped jeans too. Thought it made me look more punk.”
Felix snorted. “We weren’t punk. We wanted to be, but we definitely came off as college alternative rock.”
“And now I’m singing it in my wedding dress! To my husband! I didn’t even have a boyfriend back then! I was thinking about my bed when I wrote it because I wanted to sleep more!”
“Don’t sweat it,” Blake said. “Sounds like the kind of love song I would have written in college, too.”
“On that note, I think we’ll leave you two to get better acquainted,” Julie said, taking Travis by the arm and leading him to mingle with other guests.
Blake laughed. “I think she’s trying to play matchmaker.”
Felix shrugged and smiled. “So far I think she’s doing alright. Do you want to go somewhere and chat?”
It was so unexpected, Blake didn’t know how to react right away. He was used to instant mutual attraction in pornos, but as a behind-the-scenes guy he had lost his suspension of disbelief. He knew film reality was different from actual reality, and things like that didn’t happen every day. Still, Felix was giving him a genuine smile that made Blake’s extremities tingle. “Sure.”
