They slept late the next day-or at least stayed in bed-both of them happy that it was Memorial Day and Toby didn't have to go to work. When they finally did get up, they showered, shaved and went to brunch at Plum.

"Tell me about this party we're going to this afternoon," Toby said, over mimosas.

Sam tasted his drink. "Nothing much to tell," he said. "It's just the complex getting together to enjoy the holiday. A couple of guys, Clark and Jeff, like to organize these things, and the Home Owner's Association pays for them. They had one for me when I first moved there. Good food, too."

"And it's an orgy, right?"

Sam laughed. "Don't get your hopes up. Most of the guys will be naked, but... Hey, you'll probably get to see more of Duane and Howard."

The waiter appeared, and they ordered: a lamb sandwich for Toby and a seafood omelet for Sam. When he had gone, Toby smiled. "You're sidestepping the orgy question, aren't you?"

"Not really," Sam said returning the smile. "Not much of anything but a little casual fondling happens out by the pool. More serious stuff sometimes happens in the locker room or the showers." He took a drink of his mimosa and winked. "If you disappear I'll know where to look for you."

"Not to worry, Sam. We're a package deal, remember?"

Sam rubbed Toby's ankle with his foot. "And a very nice package we are."

Before Toby could respond, brunch was served.

They were late getting to the party-for the usual reason-and a lot of the guys were already there. It was nowhere as large a crowd as had been at CCBC the day before, but it was a nice group of friendly guys. From the beginning they made Toby feel very welcome.

They took off their clothes in the locker room, sharing a locker. Toby looked into the shower room, but it was empty. "Too early," Sam said. "Wait an hour or two-until the guys get a couple of drinks in them."

They went outside. The first people they ran into were Howard and Duane. They greeted one another and frankly looked each other up and down. "I see I'm not the only lucky one in the boyfriend department," Howard said to Sam, still looking at Toby.

Toby grinned. "That's double for me," he said, looking at Sam. "Not only is he handsome and smart, but he has a... Well, you can see his attributes for yourselves."

"And nice ones they are," said Duane with a smile. "You guys up for a drink?"

They all went to the bar. Once they had their drinks, Sam took Toby around and introduced him to as many people as he could remember. He even introduced him to Scotty, the man who catered the party, and Scotty, as was his habit, gave Toby a hug, making sure to push his impressive endowment firmly against Toby. He then proceeded to scratch his pubic hair, making his dick flop. Toby was enthralled.

"Don't even think about it," Sam said quietly as they looked over the buffet. "According to Pete Addison, he doesn't get it on with anyone here."

Toby looked back at Scotty. "There's always a first time," he said.

Sam laughed. "Well, if that first time ever comes, remember, we're a package deal."

Toby ran his hand down Sam's flank. "It'd have to be. It'd take both of us to do him."

"Hey, no fair touching," a blond man behind them said, "unless I get to touch, too." He brushed his hand down Toby's side and patted his ass.

"Hi, Pete," Sam said. "We were just talking about you. Toby, this is Pete Addison, who knows everything about everybody. At least everybody here." He turned. "Pete, this is Toby."

Pete put out his hand. "Hi, Toby. Welcome to Desert Pride. We wondered when Sam was going to bring you around."

Toby shook the offered hand. "Thank you. I haven't been here long enough to meet much of anybody."

Pete turned to Sam. "Naughty, naughty, Sam. You trying to hide this fine specimen of a man from the Home Owner's Association?"

Sam grinned. "And just what interest, Mr. Addison, might the H.O.A. have in Toby?"

"Well, besides being a hell of a good-looking man, you need to register him with us. Didn't you read your C.C. & R.'s?"

"What's that?" Toby asked.

Pete turned to him. "It's the Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions: you know, the rules of the place. Your handsome friend here got a copy of them when he closed on the condo."

Sam tried to look innocent. "I did?"

Pete laughed. "You did. But that's okay, nobody ever reads them unless they're on the board, and even then most don't. The relevant part says that we have to have an information sheet on everyone who lives here. Also, and this is the important part, your fees are increased."

Sam shook his head. "It costs for him to live here?"

"Of course it does," Pete said. "Let's see, there's potential increased wear and tear on the gym equipment, extra water used in the showers..."

"If it'll save water, we'll shower together," Sam said, with a grin.

"If you let me join you, I'll see to it that the water is free. Now let's see, what else? Oh yeah," he waved his arm, taking in the whole party. "These little get-togethers. They don't come free, you know."

Sam laughed. "Okay, you got us there, Pete. Where do I sign him up?"

"I'll be in what we laughingly call 'the office' on Wednesday morning." He patted Sam's cheek. "Bring your checkbook."

They went to the bar where Sam introduced Toby to Nick and Walt. Nick took an immediate-and obvious-shine to Toby. As they talked, both Sam and Toby became aware of tension building between Nick and Walt. At one point in the conversation Nick put his hand familiarly on Toby's shoulder, and Walt gave a very nice simulation of breathing fire and smoke. "Bitch," he said under his breath, putting his hand on Nick's neck and yanking him away. "Excuse us," he said to no one in particular.

"What was that all about?" Toby asked.

"Jealousy," Sam said with a shrug. "An emotion I hope never to experience."

"That was kind of heavy-handed, wouldn't you say? I mean just yanking him away like that for everyone to see."

"I think," Sam said, putting an arm around Toby's waist, "it's something everyone is aware of already. It seems to happen a lot."

Sam glanced up at the clock. "You want to go inside? I'll bet the showers aren't empty now."

He was right. They stood in the doorway for a few minutes and watched. "You want to dive in?" Sam asked.

"No," Toby answered, running his finger tips lightly over Sam's nipples, "I think I'd rather go home."

Sam's body responded almost immediately. "Come on."

"What's this? Leaving so soon?" It was Pete Addison, standing behind them.

Sam turned and flexed his dick. "Yeah, Pete. Something just came up."

Pete followed them into the locker room where he bent down and kissed the head of Sam's dick. "And that, young man," he said turning to Toby, "is something to go home for."

The following Saturday they met Bill and Mary at the house for the preliminary layout of the kitchen and bathrooms. The more they talked and made chalk marks on the floor, the more Mary was impressed with Toby. "You've really thought this thing through, haven't you?" she said, marking the position of the bar sink on the floor.

"I guess I have," he replied. "You know, we've only been together for what...three weeks? In that short time Sam's really made me feel a part of this. Part of his life, too. I also want to do this thing right, because, let's face it, I'm going to be the one cooking in it."

Mary smiled. "Bill's told me about Sam, and now I see what he meant. The man isn't afraid to go after what he wants, and he does it right. Better hang on to him, Toby. A man like that doesn't come along all that often, you know."

Toby nodded. "I know. But you know what? I think I make him as happy as he makes me. And we're already a team." He stopped and rubbed out a chalk mark with his shoe. "But you know what's scary? We each know what the other is thinking." He remade the chalk mark six inches to the right. "He'll want the bar sink here."

The work went smoothly, and they were well along when Bill and Sam came back from the master bath. "When you're finished here, bring him along to the bath, will you, Mary? Sam says Toby can explain better what they want in there."

"Sure," she said. "We're almost finished here. But I need to ask, how difficult is it going to be, putting a grill near the stove?"

Bill turned to Sam. "What kind of a grill? Gas? Electric?"

Sam shrugged. "Ask him," he said, nodding towards Toby. "It's his grill."

"Neither," Toby said. "We want a proper charcoal grill, with a gas lighter."

Bill scratched his head. "You mean like outside? Why don't we just put it there, on the patio?"

"Because we like grilled stuff, and Palm Springs winter evenings are often cold," Toby said. "It would be so much easier to have a grill right by the stove where I can keep an eye on both at the same time."

"See," Sam said to no one in particular, "the man knows what he wants and why he wants it." He turned. "So? How much trouble, Bill?"

Bill sighed. "Never mind. I'll work it out. Just mark where you want it."

A few minutes later, in the master bath, Toby pointed to the outside wall that hadn't been moved yet. "When that's moved I think it should be mostly glass block, at least the part that's going to be the shower, right Sam?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, let in a lot of light. So I can find you."

Toby didn't even blink. He turned to Bill. "Lights under the wall, too-for night."

They discussed the lights, and Bill promised to figure out a way to access them to change the bulbs. Then they went to the other fixtures. Toby insisted on a bidet and a urinal along with the toilet. "It's guys who will live here, and guys use urinals. That reminds me, we'll want another one out by the pool somewhere."

Bill nodded and said they'd cross that bridge with the pool people.

Later that evening, while Sam was watching Toby make spaghetti sauce," he said, "That was a great idea, the urinal. I never would have thought of it."

Toby turned, holding out a spoon of sauce for Sam to taste. "Think of the water we'll save, not flushing a toilet all the time."

"This stuff is wonderful," Sam said passing the spoon back. "That'll let us spend more time in the shower."

Toby grinned. "The spaghetti sauce?"

"No, dummy. The water we'll save by not peeing in the toilet. The spaghetti sauce we'll rub all over each other so we need to spend more time in the shower."

On Sunday they went to the pool for cocktails and conversation.

"You know," Toby said as he was putting his shorts and tee shirt in a locker, "I'm really getting into this naked socializing. It's not like it was when I was at Some Guys or even CCBC. This is more for, I don't know, for friendship or maybe comradeship rather than being so sexual." He smiled. "Well, except for the showers and the steam room, maybe."

Sam laughed. "That's because whenever you get a group of men together, especially a group of naked gay men, some of them-maybe even most of them-are going to find a place to have sex. That's just the way men are; it's inevitable. It's just that here, the main purpose is, as you say, comradeship. The sex is more play than anything else, an easy release."

"I never thought of it that way," Toby said, "but I think you're right. Maybe one of these days we will try the steam room."

They went outside and at the bar several guys were talking about the web site called OlderAndBetter dot com.

"It's really a fun site," a man named Cory said. "There's lots of guys from Palm Springs on it."

"Yeah," laughed another. "That's how I came to be here. I met a guy who called himself "SucksIt" on that site."

"And he turned out to be Mike Armstrong, right?"

"You got it. He invited me out one time, and afterward he brought me over here." He laughed. "I think it was to watch him work. Anyway, I met some really neat guys here, and when a place became available, I bought it."

A man named Jose lifted his glass in a toast. "To OlderAndBetter," he said. "I met Pete Addison there-oh, and Martin, too. You know, Martin Shields?"

Toby, who had been listening, said, "That's the guy Sam found. The one who killed himself.

"Yeah, it is." Sam put his hand on Jose's shoulder. "You met him on the Internet?"

"Oh, hi, Sam. Yeah, Martin was very big on OlderAndBetter. Had lots of pictures of himself there, mainly of his dick and his butt. His profile said he was very versatile and available." He laughed. "His screen name was WhatUWant. He pretty much lived up to it, too."

"And guys hook up there?"

"Sam, don't you even have a computer?"

"Not yet," Toby spoke up, "but we'll get him into the twenty-first century yet. I think."

"Well, when you get there, be sure to check out OlderAndBetter. It's a pretty cool place."

The conversation turned to cars, and Sam and Toby drifted away. "Are we really going to get a computer?" Sam asked as they settled on one of the wide lounge chairs in the shade. "Do you know anything about them?"

Toby stretched. "Some. I have one at work, of course, and I had a pretty nice laptop for a while. But I never knew there was a something called OlderAndBetter."

"What happened to the laptop?"

Toby was silent for a moment and then gave a little shrug. "I hit it. With a sledge hammer my dad has."

Sam took Toby's hand in his. "Present from Jack?"

Toby nodded. "It was a stupid thing to do. I mean, just because he gave it..." He stopped and looked into the air. Then, very softly, he said, "I threw away everything Jack ever bought me. It was like throwing him away."

They lay there in silence for a long time, each lost in his own thoughts. Then Toby sat up and smiled. "I'm glad I did. It's part of what brought me here, to you. You want another drink?"

Sam smiled and pulled him into his arms. "I told you, everything you've ever done just served to bring you to me." He kissed Toby lightly. "As to the drink, maybe just a little wine. What's for dinner?"

"It's Sunday. Fish."

"We always have fish on Sunday?"

Toby grinned. "No."

Sam decided not to go there. "White. Maybe some of that Orvieto."

They found themselves becoming more and more used to each other and to living together. They spent one evening moving some things from Toby's place to the condo and then another evening figuring out where to put it all. Toby decided to keep his place until they could figure out what to do with the furniture, some of which Toby liked very much. Of course he told Sam he was keeping the place as an ace in the hole, just in case Sam got tired of him. The thing that made Sam happiest about himself was that he knew Toby was kidding.

On Thursday evening Toby told Sam he was going to be a little late getting home the next afternoon. When Sam asked him why, Toby said they were having a little party at work and he couldn't miss it.

"Why?" Sam asked. "Because it's your birthday or something?"

"How the hell..."

Sam laughed. "Lucky guess. But why didn't you tell me it's your birthday?" He took Toby into his arms. "Oh, Toby, there's so much I don't know about you."

Toby kissed him. "You know all the important stuff, Sam. Like who I am and how much I love you."

Sam smiled. "But not... Hell, I don't even know your Social Security Number."

Toby burst out laughing. "Sam!"

"Well, I don't. What if you disappeared and I had to call the police?

"Sam," Toby was still laughing, "I don't think the police would need my Social Security Number to find me."

Now Sam was laughing. "Don't they put it on dogs? If they run away or something?"

"Okay, okay. Remind me tonight when we go to bed and I'll show you my Social Security Card. That make you happy?"

Sam kissed him. "Won't do any good. If we're going to bed I won't care about your Social Security Number." He kissed him again and ran his hand over Toby's crotch. "There's more important things to know, like who's going to do what to whom and how quick can we start."

They waited until after dinner.

In the morning, standing at the toilet watching each other pee, Sam asked if that day was really the day.

"Actually, no. It's tomorrow but nobody works tomorrow."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Nobody works on Saturday? In a hotel?"

Toby laughed. "It's the Accounting Department, Sam. Who needs an accountant on Saturday?"

"Well then, if tomorrow is really the day, can we go out to dinner? Someplace nice?"

Toby kissed him. "Yeah, we can."

Sam spent much of the morning on the phone, first to the travel agent he and Harry had always used and then to Spencer's. Then he went shopping.

Toby was late getting home, but not as late as Sam had thought he'd be. Toby said that it was a nice party but he'd rather be at home with Sam. It was a good thing he'd had some finger food at the party, because they never did get any dinner that night.

The next night, Saturday, when they were in the shower Toby said, "It's Spencer's, isn't it. For dinner."

Sam, who was pretending to wash Toby's back, but was really using that as an excuse to press against him and touch him everywhere he could, said it was and asked if that was okay.

Toby twisted around and Sam saw-or rather felt-that Toby was in the same state of excitement as he was. "Will we be late if we do what you're wanting to do?"

They did it in the shower-a perilous act at best-and, yes, they were late for dinner.

Their table was on the patio, Henry was their waiter, and they had martinis to start. It was a good evening. Over dessert Sam handed Toby a small bag from Wal-Mart.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't have time to get it wrapped," Sam said, indicating the Wal-Mart bag. Toby opened it, and inside, in a plastic display box, he found a wrist watch.

"Well," Sam said, "I didn't want to get you anything too extravagant, but I did notice that you could use a new watch. Oh, and you'll need these, I think." He handed Toby a nail clipper. "To cut the plastic strips and get it out."

Toby took the clippers and began cutting the plastic wires that held the watch prisoner in it's plastic display box. While doing that he noticed that the Wal-Mart price sticker-$6.93-was still on it. He got it out of the box and slipped it on his wrist.

"Oh, Sam, it's wonderful. And you're right, I do need a new watch. This is perfect." He stood, leaned over the table and kissed him. No one in the restaurant seemed to notice.

Later, in bed and satiated, Toby was spooned against Sam's back. When he knew Sam was beginning to fall asleep he leaned up and kissed him on the earlobe. "Thank you for the watch, Sam. I didn't know Wal-Mart carried Pater Philippe."