FOR OLD TIMES' SAKE - CHAPTER 1 [PATREON EXCLUSIVE]

CHAPTER 1

My friends, Allison and Mary, were tying the knot. They’d always been flirtatious when we hung out back in the day but never had anything official until a few years ago. We all used to serve tables and bartend at a restaurant together nearly ten years ago. I worked at a different restaurant now as the general manager, but they’d all gone on to do other things.

Allison followed her dreams and became a successful photographer, specializing in weddings and family portraits. Mary was in college when we worked together and finished her accounting degree, in the field ever since. The fourth person in our group, John, had gone on to paint houses.

I didn’t know if John would be at the wedding since he moved out of town and pretty much disappeared from the face of the Earth, but I hoped that he would be at the wedding. He posted the occasional photo on social media, but otherwise, I had no idea how he was doing after all these years.

I was on my way to Allison and Mary’s wedding, feeling anxious about the reunion. Allison, Mary, and I had hung out a few times since they stopped working at the restaurant, but I didn’t know their friends that well and worried that I would have nothing in common with them.

People were walking around and chatting at the venue when I arrived. It took half a lifetime to walk across the parking lot, but once I was inside, I felt more comfortable. Not entirely at ease, but some of the girls’ friends recognized me and said hello.

I looked around the room for John but didn’t see him anywhere as the time until the ceremony slowly passed by. Everyone seemed to have a date or knew someone else to chat with, which left me all alone. I read through the pamphlet at least a dozen times to look busy.

It wasn’t until about five minutes before the ceremony was supposed to begin that John came flying through the door, looking as handsome as ever. He had a thick head of brown hair, a dusting of facial hair, and light blue eyes that captured attention wherever they went.

John’s eyes met mine, and he came over to me without hesitation. I worried that he would bring a girl with him, but he was alone, and his smile only grew the closer he got to me.

“Yo, Tim! It’s so great to see you!” John said as he held open his arms to give me a hug.

“Likewise,” I said.

John probably knew it, but I had the biggest crush on him back in the day. It was a borderline obsession. The only problem was that John was straight and always dating some hot chick who would meet up with us when we went out dancing or drinking or whatever else was on the agenda for the night.

“Can you believe that Allison and Mary are finally tying the knot?”

“It’s amazing! I’m so happy for them.”

“Me too.”

John and I stared at each other for a moment, nearly ten years older than when we used to hang out all the time, but I swore he was sexier than ever. The ten years had done wonders to his face, and I could feel my obsession growing back to its former glory, like a perfectly preserved time capsule being dug up from the ground.

“Oh, shit. The wedding’s starting,” John said and folded his lips as the music sounded. Everyone turned to watch as bridesmaids began walking down the aisle, each wearing a different color dress. It wasn’t exactly a rainbow, but their colors were bright and beautiful.

Allison and Mary surprised everyone by walking down the aisle together and facing each other when they got to the altar. Some people cheered. Others whistled. Allison and Mary smiled at the crowd that had joined to watch them marry each other before turning their attention to the officiator.

The wedding was short and beautiful and very much Allison and Mary. They were both feminine girls who loved flowers and beautiful treats and bubbly letters, and if the wedding was a decent representation of who they were, the reception was an even better vision of these women.

John and I walked over to the reception together, which was being held in a barn on the same property as the wedding. The barn doors were open, and there were tables spread across a large field for people to enjoy the spring weather.

“Are you drinking?”

“Yes, please. Can you get me a glass of red wine?”

“Red wine? Isn’t it an open bar?”

“Yeah,” I said with a laugh. “I like wine. Do you have a problem with that?”

“No, it’s just—. Nothing.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Get me my wine, boy!”

John smiled and shook his head, looking so sexy as he walked away to grab our drinks from the bar. He got himself a rum and coke, but I was more than happy with my red wine. They didn’t buy anything extra fancy, but the girls knew which cheap wines tasted delicious and went with those.

“Tell me what you’ve been up to, Tim. I can’t believe we’re finally back together!”

“I know! It’s crazy!” I said and then told John that I was managing a restaurant down the street from the one where we used to work.

“Tony’s? I thought you hated fancy restaurants.”

“Times change,” I said with a laugh. “They offered me a lot of money to manage the restaurant, and I felt that I had to take it.”

“Sometimes I miss working at Knights Bar and Grill,” said John.

“Really? Why?”

“It was a lot of fun! Even though I had basically no money, I felt like I had few worries too, you know?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Do you enjoy painting houses?”

John shrugged. “It pays the bills and leaves enough leftover to add to my retirement accounts, so I can’t complain too much.”

I nodded, not sure what to say. My job put aside some money for my retirement, but otherwise, I didn’t think much about the future, and I certainly wasn’t trying to think about money or retirement when I had John Emerson in my presence.

My former obsession.

John had no idea how often I used to doll myself up in the privacy of my bedroom, wishing that John would knock on the door when I was en femme. I always fantasized how sexy it would be if he found me while I was Gina and ravished me, but my dreams never came true.

John never came over unannounced when I was dolling myself up, and he never saw me as Gina except when we went out with Allison and Mary on random nights that none of us had to work and decided to hang out together, which happened maybe a handful of times.

“I have a question,” John said after several beats of silence of us staring at the many people walking around the grounds of the venue.

“What’s that?” I asked.

“Do you ever dress up as Gina still?”

John asking about Gina.

My heart nearly leapt from my chest.

“Uh, yeah, whenever I have the time. Why?”

John bit his lip, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite form the words. I had no idea what he was thinking, but I needed him to spit it out. That look on his face was driving me absolutely wild.

“Uh…”

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering if you ever dressed up as Gina because…”

“John!”

“Fine! I thought you were hot as Gina! There, I said it!”

My body flushed as the words registered in my mind. Did John Emerson, the man I always wanted, tell me that I looked cute when en femme? I blinked and couldn’t focus my eyes, too lost in my thoughts to do anything other than picture John’s lips against mine. They felt incredibly soft in my head, but how would they feel in real life?

“Uh, Tim, are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” I confessed.

“Would you like another glass of red wine?”

“Yes, please.”

“Okay,” John said with a laugh, like he hadn’t just dropped the biggest bomb in the world. He picked up my empty wine glass before walking away from the table, leaving me wondering what I should do. I never went on a trip without women’s clothing and my makeup bag, but was John pulling my leg, or was he being serious?

John came back a few minutes later with a fresh rum and coke for himself and a glass of wine for me. I took a big gulp of the red wine, trying to steady myself, but alcohol only made me feel crazier and hornier for this man sitting across from me.

“Were you being serious when you said I look hot as Gina?”

“Yeah! Why would I lie about that?”

“I don’t know,” I said with a shrug. “It’s surprising to me that you thought I looked cute as Gina.”

“I was young and too afraid to say anything about how I felt back then, but I had a crush on you ever since the first time I saw you as Gina. I was always so fascinated that you could be both Gina and Tim so effortlessly.”

“It’s a bit harder to be Tim,” I said with a laugh.

“Would you rather be Gina?”

“I prefer being Gina, but it’s a lot of work to get ready as her.”

“I believe it,” said John.

“If you want, I’m willing to do the work.”

“Do you have girl clothes with you?”

“I do.” I chuckled, and the look that crossed John’s face was priceless. “Would you like me to go put them on?”

“Very much,” said John.

“Why don’t you join me?”

“Okay!” John said and followed me to my room in the guesthouse where everyone was staying, so they didn’t have to worry about driving drunk and could party as hard as they wanted.