Gideon’s head pounded, his body heavy, and his eyes burned as he opened them. The desire to rub his face strong and yet he found himself unable to move his hands to do so. With a moan, Gideon swore off ever drinking too much wine again. Another attempt to move his arms brought the realisation there was reason he couldn’t. Through strained eyes, Gideon stared up towards the bedhead and notice one of his arms tied firmly with a fine yellow-straw rope. Gideon squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again and still his arm fixed to the bedhead confused him. A glance to his right showed both hands were tied back.

Head raised, Gideon glanced at his legs, pleased to see they were not bound. But it still did not explain how he came to be this way, in his bedroom. Gideon’s head dropped back onto the pillow, as he delved deep into his memories, attempting to recall the night before. He’d been home alone, drank the bottle of wine, and at some point had cried about the unfairness of his existence. But how he’d come to be tied to his bed remained a mystery. Another glance down relieved Gideon when he saw he still wore his jeans, minus his shirt and shoes. Yet how he would get out of his bounds concerned him the most.

Several yanks on the robe produced no results. Gideon was tightly confined to the bed.

“Good morning,” came the voice from across the room and Gideon blinked as he focused on the silhouette of the man standing in the doorframe of his bedroom.

“You,” Gideon growled. A pain ripped through his head and he groaned and dropped his head back against the pillow. His mouth dry, tasted foul and licking his dry lips, Gideon wondered how the hell he had gotten himself into his predicament.

“Were you expecting someone else?”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone. Why the hell are you here and why am I like this.”

“Now, now, if you’re going to keep using language like that I’m going to have to teach you some manners.”

Gideon’s head shot up to glare at Brett as he came to the end of the bed smirking at him. He was only a foot away from Gideon’s feet and if the pervert came a little closer Gideon was sure he could get a good shot in with his foot.

"Untie me. I have to go to the toilet," Gideon spat.

"Untie me, Sir."

Gideon growled. Why or how Brett got into his apartment, he didn’t understand but if his friends were involved, he would never forgive them.

"Don't you remember anything about last night princess?" he asked.

"I remember you molesting me in the bathroom of your restaurant."

"But you know you wanted it."

Gideon pulled at the ties, yielding nothing from the result.

"So why the hell are you here?" Gideon asked.

"You rang me early this morning. Yelled at me for not finishing what I started, told me to come over and do you properly."

"I did not say that. I would never say anything like that to an old man like you."

"Oh really but aren't you like me?" The pervert smiled as he stepped around the bed and came to sit next to Gideon. As the bed dipped Gideon tried to lunge but his arms prevented him from getting near him.

"Screw you," Gideon growled, lying back down on the bed looking in the opposite direction.

"Really princess you’re making this harder than it needs to be."

Gideon ignored him. He wasn’t going to play his game.

Brett sighed. “Nothing happened. You called me around three this morning completely off your face. Then you started crying about getting old and I asked if you wanted company. I came over; you cried some more and then passed out. Couldn’t help but have some fun with you.”

"Thank you very much," Gideon spat back, still refusing to glance his way. The tugged on his left wrist, indicated the rope being undone. With no attempt to untie the other, Brett stood and walked to the doorway.

"Getting older is nothing to be bothered by when you're sharing it with someone else." He said over his shoulder.

Gideon worked on his right hand and said, "Yeah, that's great advice. But as you can see I’m not so lucky to be sharing it with someone."

Brett watched Gideon struggle with the rope before coming over and doing it for him. With his arms free, Gideon laid them beside him as he waited for blood to circulate sensations to his hands once more.

"Go out on a date with me?" Brett asked, surprising Gideon.

Gideon refused to look at Brett standing beside the bed. When he didn’t reply, Brett moved away back towards the door.

"You're a perverted old man, why would I want to go on a date with you." Gideon replied, his voice raised in irritation.

Brett stopped at the door once more, stared back at Gideon and replied, "Because I'm probably one of the few men who will treat you how you want to be treated."

"Oh is that right, Sir, with your other bondage perverted things you like doing."

Gideon rolled over, attempting to get up. When Brett remained where he stood, Gideon growled, “Don’t stand there; help me up. I need the bathroom.”

Brett assisted Gideon to stand. Once up, Gideon leaned heavily on Brett before making any attempt to move.

"I do like to hear the odd Sir while engaging in sexual gratification,” Brett said as he waited, “But I don't force my partners. I'm not all that much into bondage. It's fun occasionally but I really would prefer someone who shares the same interests as me."

When Gideon found strength to move, he pushed Brett away and staggered to the bathroom. At the door, Brett said, “You have my number, call me if you want that date, Gideon.”

Gideon didn’t wait to see if Brett left the room or the apartment as he slammed the bathroom door behind him.

“How was the wine last night?” Merrick asked as he sat across from Gideon later that afternoon. He’d finished work early and called past to see Gideon, having discovered he’d not gone to work at all.

Gideon huffed as he wrapped his hands around his warm cup of coffee and leaned over to sip it. Merrick had seen the empty wine bottle on the kitchen sink when he arrived and put the kettle on for them.

“So, about Brett, the owner of the restaurant last night. Are you still angry?” Merrick asked, waiting almost thirty minutes after his arrival to broach the subject.

Francis had done as she said the night before and asked for Brett’s number again for Gideon. Merrick wanted to see his friend happy and often thought Gideon’s stance on older men unfounded. They all believed Gideon would do well with someone who could control his temper and take care of him. Not that Gideon couldn’t take care of himself, but he’d being doing it for so long. None of the relationships Gideon found himself in ever lasted long. Not that they were through any fault of Gideon’s. Jealousy of the attention Gideon got often the reason for the breakups.

As they matured, they hoped Gideon would mature and settle down but that was yet to happen.

When Gideon didn’t reply, Merrick wasn’t sure how he was going to bring up the question about calling him. They talked to Brett as they paid their meal and he seemed genuinely nice. He’d been extremely apologetic about upsetting Gideon after learning more about him. But it didn’t help that Gideon had that effect on men. Even Brett had been stunned by his behaviour and hoped he might be able to make it up to Gideon. They hoped so. It would be nice if Gideon started dating someone who owned a restaurant.

“Are you going to call him?” Merrick came straight out and asked.

Gideon huffed and murmured into his cup.

“What was that?” Merrick asked and Gideon said a little louder, “I already called him.”

Merrick stared at Gideon, noting his downcast eyes and stooped position. He’d assumed it was due to the wine, yet now Merrick questioned otherwise. The need to know more spurred Merrick to ask further, but he paused. When Gideon remained silent, Merrick could wait no longer. “So how did that go?”

Merrick hoped his tone remained casual. Inside, his thoughts raced; did the phone call go well, what did they talk about, and what would Francis think when he told her.

“I don’t remember calling him but he was here this morning when I woke up.”

Merrick continued to stared and found it difficult to remain calm.

“So, what happened?”

“Nothing. I think.” Gideon murmured as he took another sip of his coffee.

“Nothing, you think.”

“I was still dressed when I woke up.”

“Oh, were you disappointed that nothing happened?”

Gideon raised his coffee to his lips refusing to reply and all the while Merrick’s inner voice was screaming for more details.

“Another coffee,” Merrick asked as Gideon finished his cup.

Gideon pushed the empty cup towards Merrick as he stood and made him another. The longer Gideon remained silent, the more Merrick was sure something had happened. Anxious to learn more, Merrick passed Gideon his cup and sat back down at the table. He considered a different tactic to get Gideon to talk.

“It was a good meal we had last night. Joel was really impressed and wants to go back. I think I’d like that, we don’t get the opportunity to go out on dates much.”

Gideon didn’t respond and Merrick found his patience pushed past waiting.

“Ok, out with it, you called him. What happened?”

Gideon sighed and put his mug onto the table.

“Nothing happened. He was here when I woke up, told me I’d called him while I was smashed. He came over to make sure I was alright,” Gideon paused then said, “Asked me out on a date.”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything; I wasn’t exactly feeling peaches and cream this morning when I woke up.”

Merrick recalled the number of times he’d witnessed Gideon with a hangover. No doubt plenty of swear words, he might have gotten a little violent to if Brett was involved.

“Did you hit him?” Merrick asked.

Gideon scowled at him and replied, “No I didn’t hit him. But I would have it I could.”

“You would have if you could, what where you tied up or something.”

Gideon rolled his eyes and looked back down at his coffee without replying.

“Of this is priceless, tell me exactly what happened?” Merrick couldn’t contain himself any longer, as he leaned over the table, staring at Gideon with large eyes.

Gideon swore under his breath. “I told you nothing happened. I might have woken up, fully dressed; well I still had my jeans on from last night, tied to the bed.”

“Seriously, and you have no idea how you came to be like that.”

“None, but it was definitely that perverts doing.”

Merrick grinned before he burst out laughing. He wasn’t even going to apologise because the entire conversation was hilarious.

“Shut up,” Gideon growled at him.

“So are you going on a date with him?”

“Not likely. He’s too old.”

“He’s thirty nine,” Merrick told him.

“How do you know that?” Gideon questioned him.

“Because after you stormed out of the restaurant we hung around for a while longer and got to know Brett a little better.”

“Fantastic. And I suppose you all sat around talking about how stupid I am because I’m so upset with turning thirty.”

“No actually we talked about the restaurant and work. He did apologise for his behaviour and admitted he was taking by you immediately.”

“Wonderful. Never apologised to me in person.”

“Then maybe you need to go on that date with him. His way of making it up to you.”

“More like his way of getting into my pants.”

Merrick sighed.

“You’re too good looking for your own good.”

“When why didn’t you ever fall in love with me?”

“Maybe I did but I value our friendship more.”

A tired smile touched Gideon’s face. “Thank you.”

“Gideon, there’s nothing you can do about your age but you can certainly do something about your love life. Brett seems like a good guy, honest, hardworking, single, it wouldn’t hurt you to get to know him better. When you look at your history, the men you have dated have been younger that you and never wanted to stick around for very long. Don’t be like them, give Brett a chance.”

Gideon glared at Merrick and replied, “The only reason you want to set me up with Brett is because of the discount you might get from the restaurant if I do go out with him.”

“That’s not true,” Merrick replied, “We’d get to eat there for free.”

Gideon rolled his eyes, wondering how they ever remained friends.