Shane occasionally had to stop and pinch himself. How could life change so dramatically, so rapidly? Of course, he knew it was entirely possible. His mother had developed a cough, taken herself off to the doctor for tests and the results had come back three days later -- positive for lung cancer. Six months later she was dead. She’d never smoked a day in her life, but for some reason, the universe had seen fit to curse her with it anyway. And his father. Always so loving and always there for his wife and children, had taken off the minute Shane had turned eighteen. He’d got home one day and found all his father’s things gone. His clothes, his tools, and the car. His older brother had left home two years earlier. He had married a girl and taken off to live in Melbourne. But Shane, who at the time was flipping burgers at Hungry Jacks, couldn’t afford to take on the burden of a rental property. Or pay the stack of unpaid bills his father had left behind.

There was no other choice but to pack his things and crash at a friend’s house until he could afford to find a flat and some flatmates.

So, yes, he realised that life could change in the blink of an eye, but never for the better. And he felt guilty for thinking that Michael and the happiness he felt when he was with him, was all a dream. That at some time, maybe in the next five minutes or maybe tomorrow, it would all be taken away again, revealed as nothing more than a great joke.

Yet, despite this, there was also a small part of Shane that was revelling in the changes. A miniscule aspect of his spirit that dared to hope his current happy situation would stay a permanent part of his life.

Every day he went to work, and almost every day he would see Michael. They would make love and then go out for dinner, to some cheap little restaurant or other, before returning to Shane’s motel room to make love again. Sometimes Michael would stay the night, and sometimes he wouldn’t. And on those occasions, Shane made the most of a good night’s sleep because whenever Michael was over, neither of them did very much sleeping at all.

* * * *

It was a Wednesday. Shane had been home from work for an hour. He was showering in anticipation of Michael’s visit in a couple of hours. He made sure he washed thoroughly, douching and soaping his foreskin. After drying himself, he brushed and flossed his teeth then dressed. With two hours to kill, he turned on the television and watched the five o’clock news.

There was a story about a mammoth bushfire currently burning in the hills. It had been deliberately lit. That explained the haze and the stench of smoke that hung over the city, although Shane wondered, with all the damage a bushfire caused, how anyone could possibly tell whether it had been deliberately lit or not.

There was a knock on the door.

Shane glanced at the clock and was initially confused. He was sure Michael had said seven. Then he smiled. Perhaps Michael couldn’t wait. Perhaps he had skipped the gym because he knew he was going to get a work out with Shane. He hurried to the door, beaming. His cock, already stirring in anticipation.

He opened the door. “Hell ...”

It was Tyler.

“How ... how did you find me?”

Tyler had a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

“Aren’t ya gonna invite me in?”