Chapter 3: Rising Action
Under the glitzy marquee of The Locker Room, Benny hesitated. A rush of humid air hit his face, nearly dampening his brow. His heart pounded in his chest, a steady, anxious rhythm pulsing in his temples.
Todd grinned at his best friend, clapping him on the shoulder with the force of a tight end, ready to storm the field. "You're gonna love it here, man." His eyes brimming with excitement, he yanked Benny past the bouncer and into the faintly lit lair.
The heavy beat of pop music thumped relentlessly as it vibrated the floor underneath them, while plumes of fog tried their damnedest to choke out whatever breath they mustered.
A kaleidoscope of color and sensory input assaulted Benny's senses. The Locker Room was unlike any place he had ever experienced, its tenebrous atmosphere crowded with profuse, sweaty-bodied men that he wished he could study without others raising an eyebrow.
They got in line at the clothes check.
"Do I really have to?" Benny eyed the hanging garments with suspicion.
"Hell yeah, you do! How else are you going to see everyone?" Todd pulled Benny's arm forward, pinning his phone and wallet to a cubby before pressing his own to the one beside it. "Come on, lighten up. I promise this will be fun."
The barest whiff of musk clinging to the garments reminded Benny of the subway; the same seductive energy coiled menacingly in the back of his mind. At this point, Benny had stopped wearing deodorant and was afraid his friend would notice when he took off his shirt.
Benny took his shirt off and Todd looked at him and smiled. "I always forget how hairy you are." They're going to love you here. As Todd took his shirt off, Benny caught of a whiff of Todd's musk.
It was faint, but it was there, triggering an insatiable craving within Benny. A silent shiver swathed his spine as he imagined how it would feel to press his face into his best friend's armpit, breathing in his unique scent.
But he quickly shooed the thought away, swallowing hard and reminding himself that this was Todd, his best friend since grade school. They had gone through puberty together, shared their first heartbreaks and intimate moments, and he couldn't afford to let his newfound desires destroy their bond.
"Thirsty?" Todd shouted over the the pounding music, his breath Egyptian cotton warm.
Benny nodded quickly, clutching the hem of his well-worn t-shirt in a tight fist, unable to take his eyes off the sea of masculinity surrounding them.
"Let me introduce you to someone real quick." Todd gestured towards the bar.
The crowd parted just enough so Benny could catch a glimpse of a man that would change everything.
Bradley was a man of strength and was built like a Greek god.
He stood tall and broad at the bar with the practiced ease of a man who could navigate his surroundings with quiet confidence. As Bradley took a swig of his drink, a towering silhouette against the gauzy stain of the Locker Room's lights, muscular forearms tensed at the edge of the bar.
It was in the rugged set of his jaw, the bold outline of a Freudian ego that bespoke his dominance. Todd made the introduction.
"Bradley, this is my best friend Benny. I've been telling him that he needs to get out more, meet new people. I figured you would be a great first step."
Bradley's smile was electric as he extended a hand to Benny. "Pleasure to meet you, Benny. Have a seat." He gestured to the empty stool next to him.
Bradley put his arm around Benny and was enveloped in his incredibly strong musk.
Benny's knees nearly buckled at the rush of pheromones that invaded him, flooding him with a new kind of intoxicating ecstasy.
Bradley's lips quirked as if he could read Benny's mind, "So, Todd was telling me about a buddy of his who suddenly got a lot muskier. That you?"
He lifted up Benny's arm and too a deep smell.
"Oh, yeah. I can definitely smell it on you. What brings this on?"
Benny's flush deepened, unsure of how to explain his unconventional fascination. He also didn't want to turn off the first person willing to explore his newfound desires. "I, uh, just discovered I like the smell," Benny managed to stammer, before clutching his pint a little tighter.
Bradley scrutinized Benny, his heat-laden gaze lingering on Benny's half-bare torso.
"A man after my own heart. I'll tell you what: I'll buy you a drink, and you tell me more about this newfound discovery of yours."
Bradley flagged down the bartender, the same ruggedly handsome man who had slung him whiskeys all night, his deductive reasoning decreeing that Benny would soon follow suit.
A few moments, and two drinks later, Bradley leaned in, assessing Benny's reaction "Have you ever licked a pit before?"
A half-smile tugged at his lips, smug, game for anything.
Caught off guard, Benny studied the wood grain in front of him, heart beating faster than his fingers could dance over the keyboard. Todd chimed in, "He hasn't tried anything."
Bradley was like, "Benny, you buddy Todd has some of the best tasting pits in the game."
Todd's laughter filled the increasingly loud bar, his wide grin a testament to his approval of this unusual turn of events, "You ought to try it sometime, dude."
Benny's breath hitched, his fingers cold and clammy around the frosty glass. The air in The Locker Room pulsed thick with anxious energy, mixture composed of alcohol-soaked sweat and pheromone-rich hormones, all begging to bend time and space around Benny's newfound love.
Bradley lifted up his armpit, offering it to Benny.
A potent scent, a heady mix of masculinity and sweat, lured Benny in. He could practically hear Jack's subway voice urging him on as he felt Todd's anticipatory stare on the back of his neck.
This was uncharted territory for Benny, testing every ounce of courage he had left. Nevertheless, the challenge unfurled an exciting thrill inside him, that same thrill he had felt upon realizing that musky body odor had consumed his most secret fantasies.
Bradley grabbed the back of Benny's head and shoved it in his pit.
The world shrunk to the pungent scent that rolled over him like waves, inebriating him with a newfound power. He inhaled greedily, and let his inhibitions go. His nerves dissipated, replaced with a thirst for this forbidden headiness. The haze of arousal and liberation clouded any remaining qualms, pushing him to taste the musky skin beneath his lips.
Benny plunged his tongue into Bradley's pit, savoring the saltiness of his underarm, and glorying in the sheer vulnerability of the action.
It was a moment of transcendental bliss, linking pleasure, liberation, and true understanding of his newfound fetish. The scruff on Bradley's armpit grazed his face, a sensation as natural as touch can be.
Bradley groaned, his grip on Benny tightening as raw, sensual pleasure danced through his body. In experiencing his fetish for the first time, Benny pried open the doors to a world of pleasure that had been suppressed for too long.
Bradley pulled Benny off his pit and shoved his face in Todd's pit.
In the midst of the chaotic bar, the pulsing sounds of EDM barely audible in their ringing ears, Benny found himself finally free - free of judgment, free of ostracism, and free of the confines he had placed on his sexuality.
Bradley and Todd shared a smile as Benny hungrily lapped at Todd's sweaty armpit. The two men each lifted one of Benny's pits and dove in. Benny had never imagined men would be into his pits. It had long been a source of self-consciousness for him, having heard his fair share of adolescent teasing for the sweat that seemed to flow a little too freely from his pores. But as his tongue danced across the sublime landscape of Todd's armpit, tasting the heady symphony of salt and manliness, he became overwhelmingly aware of the extraordinary allure contained within his own body. And, it seemed, within the bodies of all men.
A crowd began to form as the three men explored each other's musk. An intertwining of sweaty limbs and moans melded with the thrumming beat of the club, creating an oddly soothing ambiance. Hushed conversations and curious gazes flowed around them, yet none dared to interfere in the decadent ritual that unfolded.
What the patrons could not fathom was that this was just the beginning of Benny's journey. Through the sweaty embrace of newfound friendships, his libido would catch fire and consume the timid programming nerd.