Andy is Trying - Chapter 02

ANDY IS TRYING

Chapter 2: Andy meets Cody

I walked in and a naked man was standing in front of me, a knife in his right hand and a large slab of meat in his left hand.

Just to be clear, I am talking about an actual piece of raw beef meat here, not his sizable dangling uncut cock.

“Fuck! Who… Who are you!?” I stammered.

I freaked out.

Obviously.

“Get the hell out of my place, you maniac!”

The stranger threw away the food he was holding and ran towards me with his butcher’s knife.

His cock was bouncing from one thigh to the other but I suppose this is not the point.

He was properly terrifying. A beast coming at me!

“Man, no! Stop! What the hell!?”

I spontaneously lifted my arms in the air to show that I was not threatening, I took some steps back, and I almost tripped in the door frame.

“Get out! Who do you think you are?! GET OUT OF MY PLACE!”

His place?!

How could I show this guy I did not want to cause any harm? Was he a homeless squatting or something?

My parents were right, big cities were too dangerous for a nice boy from Arkansas.

I stepped back until I was in the hallway and I kept my hands up.

“I swear, this is a misunderstanding!”

It was tough to explain the situation since I had myself no idea of what was happening.

My reaction did calm my assailant a little but the bulky man remained threatening. I mean, he was still carrying a large deadly weapon!

And here again, I am referring to his knife, not his massive junks!

Although, that cock looked like it could hurt as well… And the thick black bush surrounding the base, dang… So raw and masculine.

“Get the hell out of my apartment, man! Seriously! I’ll cut you!”

“I… I don’t understand. That’s MY place. I mean, I’ve just rented it. I got the keys in…”

“… in a mail box down the street?”

“Yes!”

Finally, the dude lowered his knife. 

“Oh… Come on! I knew that I was getting screwed over!”

I was very confused about the whole thing and the fact that this guy was stark naked (and incidentally very hot) did not help me focus.

My eyes were probably budging everywhere between his large and bouncy pecs, his veiny biceps, his hairy muscular thighs and, of course, his massive limp cock and low-hanging balls.

And there again, that bush of pubic hair! I was like mesmerized by it.

“Maybe I got in the wrong apartment, but I… I don’t get it, my keys worked just fine in the lock so…”

He sighed.

“Just come on in.”

“Really?”

Was it a trap or something? I had every right to be worried.

The stranger puffed and then he said:

“Let me just get a pair of shorts though, unless you want to stare at my dick all evening?”

Was I supposed to answer honestly? Because I would have certainly not minded.

Either way, he did not let me answer; he was already walking to another room (juicy hairy ass by the way), and he got back a few seconds later with a pair of grey shorts on.

I did notice he was still rocking commando. Good for him!

I know, why did I have to be such a pervert, even in moments like this?

I walked inside the apartment for good.

“Dude, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to barge on you like that. I’m Andy White, I’m renting this place from Mr. Mars.”

“You got this on the RentAPlace app?”

“Yes. I needed an apartment asap and it was the…”

“…the cheapest one listed.”

The stud sighed again and he sat on a stool next to the kitchen’s counter.

He seemed about my age but he looked quite older; He was very beefy and rather hairy everywhere.

As I would find out later, he was born in 2000, just like me.

His hair, very dark, was quite a mess and he had a well-trimmed beard.

Honestly, although he had scared the shit out of me, he was very, very good looking.

The hunk was giving me “cave-man who would still use moisturizer and would know that he looked smoking hot” kind of vibes.

“I guess there has been a mix-up.” I said tentatively.

“Oh, you think?”

He rolled his eyes.

I understand that he had been interrupted while he was cooking dinner in the buff in his own home, but now, he was being a little rude.

Clearly, this was not my own fault.

Not really anyway.

“Look man, I’m all for clearing this thing up but you have to help me out here. This is apartment 201, I’m at the right address, I did pay for the first couple of months of rent… Maybe we should call Mars?”

Gregory Mars was the landlord.

“I think it’s pretty clear what happened, that asshole rented the place to the both of us. No wonder it was so cheap. Dang… Lucy had warned me about this.”

“Lucy?”

“My girlfriend, well, my ex…”

“And you are?”

He put his face in his own hands, seemed to be taking a moment to think and then, finally, he stood up and extended me his hand.

“I’m Cody. Sorry about trying to kill you. I reacted impulsively.”

“In all fairness, I did walk on you as you were completely naked.”

He smiled faintly.

“I’m just pissed. I knew that there had been a misunderstanding with the apartment but I buried my head in the sand, not wanting to see it.”

After that, we sat down together, we went through the listing once again, and we called Mars.

Unfortunately, there had been indeed a mix-up but the fault was shared between us and the landlord.

For Mars, it was obvious that the place was meant to welcome two roommates. He even referred to a mention about that on the renting website, hidden in the general conditions.

In any case, it was half the price anyone would pay for a similar apartment in that area and therefore, to quote the landlord “it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that the apartment would be shared!”

However, the wording of the listing was confusing mentioning one bedroom, one bathroom, a spacious living room and a modern kitchen… not specifying it was the description for each tenant.

“When I got in yesterday, I was surprised that the place had two bedrooms since the website only mentioned one.” Cody recognized. “But I thought, good for me, I got upgraded.”

“I didn’t look too much into it either. I needed a place quickly and I thought that if, for some reason, this was not a good match, I could just move out and find something else.”

We discussed it for a while and decided it was not worth the trouble to try to go after Mars or the website.

I could not really see myself explaining to a lawyer or a judge that I was an idiot. Besides, suing anyone was way too pricey.

“Look, as long as you keep the smaller room, I’m fine with you staying here until you find a place.”

I was getting annoyed with Cody’s entitled attitude.

“Wait, why should I be the one leaving?”

“Because I was here first!”

“Sure. Why not?” I replied sarcastically. “So, you’re telling me that you could pay the entire rent of this place by yourself?”

Cody seemed about to say something and then, he realized how stupid he was being.

“Fuck no… Damn.”

“I couldn’t pay the whole rent myself either… And I certainly don’t need two bedrooms.”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“Okay, well, I guess we’ll both have to find a solution and an actual one-room apartment somewhere else. In the meantime, we both have a roof over our heads, right?”

“Right.”

He chuckled and looking at me, he seemed to relax.

“I suppose we’re roomies!”

“I suppose…”

“Look, sorry if I’ve overreacted earlier. I was kind of expecting something like that when I moved in but I did not anticipate having you barging in tonight, unannounced.”

He shook my hand again in a sign of good faith.

“I get that and trust me; this is not how I wanted things to go either.” I told him.

In light of the promises that I had made to myself, I decided that I would not let this incident ruin my enthusiasm.

I was not expecting to have a roommate and neither was Cody but it was not that big of a deal… At the very least, it meant that I would not be able to hide in the apartment for the entire year by myself.

Another concern did cross my mind though.

It was quite sad that it was still an issue in 2024 but I had to say it.

“Before we agree on living together temporarily, I should mention that…”

I guess I was not as comfortable with myself as I thought because even then, I had trouble saying it out loud.

“What is it, man? You’re scaring me.”

“I… I’m gay.”

Cody burst out laughing.

“Christ’s sake, I thought you were about to tell me you were a serial killer or something. You realize that we’re in Philly, right?”

“I don’t know, dude, some people still have a problem with it and I’d rather be upfront if we’re gonna be roommates for some time.”

“I vote Democrat, dude. I can have big pecs and not be a total jerk.” He grinned at me.

To be fair, his athletic body and general demeanor may have gotten me to assume he might be homophobic.

The fact that he had attacked me with a knife had not helped.

My bad.

“Okay then, cool. I just wanted to make sure.”

“Let me show you to your room. You’re still keeping the smaller one, I’m not budging on that.”

“Whatever.”

The introduction had been a bit rough but when talking a bit more with Cody, he seemed to be a decent guy.

And I promise, I am not telling that (only) because he was incredibly good-looking!

I quickly understood that my new roommate was straight as one could be and I immediately built a wall in my head where he was just a no-go.

I admit, I could peek through the imaginary wall from times to times to gaze at his incredible manly physique but I would not allow myself to hope anything or to be flirtatious with him.

Not that I was ever flirtatious with anyone…

Cody was very cool with me being gay though.

He had gay people in his entourage, - at the very least, this one gay friend he worked with he told me about -, and he was not all bothered with wandering shirtless or even in underwear around me.

I did wonder if nudity would also be quite common since he seemed to be very into cooking naked.

Maybe the walls I had built up in my mind were not so rigid after all.

“I’ve just been through a tough couple of weeks myself and I sort of had to take this place in a hurry.” He explained.

“What happened? I mean, if it’s not too personal to share.”

“Nothing extraordinary. I’ve just broken up with my girlfriend and I had to move.”

“Why were you the one who had to leave? Did you cheat on her or something?”

He looked outraged.

“Man, you have to stop making assumptions about me! Why would I have cheated? I’m not like that!”

I felt like a proper idiot.

“My bad, really. I simply assumed because you were the one to move out, but point taken.”

“That’s fine… And I swear, I’m usually not that moody. Anyway, things had not been going well with Lucy for a while, she wanted a more long-term commitment but I was not ready and… Well, this might get a bit too personal.”

“You did the gentleman thing then, letting her the apartment.”

I was trying to show that I could have good preconceived ideas about him too.

“Wrong again. I’m a good guy but I’m not that generous. The thing is, we were sub-renting the place to her uncle so practically, I was the one who had to move.”

“That makes sense.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve been living in Fort Smith, Arkansas, for about a year, but the company I was working for shut down and I was laid off last week. I am in deep student’s debt so I came here as soon as an opportunity came up. Besides, I needed a change.”

Sharing it like this, my decision did not seem so terrible.

“Bold move, I like that. Don’t talk to me about student’s debt though, this is my personal nightmare at the moment. I had to give up, well postpone, my architecture degree because the bank would not grant me yet another loan and I missed on a scholarship because of ridiculous paperwork.”

“What do you mean?”

“I could have qualified with the grades I had last semester but I needed someone to refer me, like an endorsement letter. When I submitted the paper from one of my old professors, they told me that they could not accept an endorsement from anyone who was part of the University, but it was too late to find someone else and I missed the deadline.”

“Shit, sorry about that. I understand the tough couple of weeks then.”

He faintly smiled.

“More like a rough year if I’m being honest. I’m currently working two jobs and I still have to deal with a new roommate.” He winked at me.

I ignored his zinger.

“What do you do?”

“You see that bag there; I deliver food to the people in the city who are more fortunate than I am. I do that a few hours a day. It’s not that thrilling but at the very least, I get to ride my bike and I can choose whenever I want to work. And four times a week, I am a waiter at a bar-restaurant downtown.”

“I used to work in a fast-food chain restaurant during my senior year in college, I was terrible at this job.”

“McDonald’s?”

“Wendy’s.”

“Been there as well. But the Impero has nothing to do with that. It’s a cool Italian place; the owner is a decent man and the other guys are chill.”

“Nice tips?”

“I’m doing pretty well. I need to make and save some money somehow, without the scholarship, I’m gonna have to pay from my own pocket just to take the final exam in May. That’s so frustrating because I’m almost there.”

“Is there still hope for the scholarship?”

“The University grants a few every trimester. I’ll try to re-candidate but honestly, maybe my best hope is just to save enough money and do it all in 2026 instead of 2025…”

“If that can make you feel any better, the last couple of years have not been so great for me either. I broke my ankle when I started my new job so I spent months barely able to walk around, and then, the issues piled up at work, my boss got arrested, until I was fired with no compensation. I feel like I’ve just missed an entire year of my life. And don’t get me started on the year before that…”

“And what is the job that you do exactly?”

“That’s complicated.”

“Again, I look good but I’m not that dumb!”

“Okay, first of all, chill, you don’t look thaaat good.”

That was not true, but he laughed which was sort of reassuring.

We could tease each other, we were fine.

“What do you do, Andy? You’re a spy or something?”

“I’m a data analyst and I guess you could say a pollster, mainly for politicians in campaign. I came here to work for David Crown, or rather for his wife managing his campaign, for next Governor.”

“Damn! That sounds serious.”

“I don’t think you’ll vote for him though, he’s a Republican. You told me earlier you were voting democrat, right?”

“Don’t tell me you’re one of these “Gays for Trump” cuckoos? My buddy Darius would kill you.”

“I’m not gay for Trump! I’m not anything at all actually. I come from a somewhat conservative family and there are some values there, but the Republicans have become such a cult that I cannot root for them. Last election, I voted democrat just to avoid the lunatics.”

“And how is Crown?”

“I’m not really sure, I looked into it and he seems rather moderate.”

Cody started scrolling on his phone to see for himself.

“Wow. I get why you travelled this far for a job now.”

“Why is that?”

“That man is hot as fuck, like, he’s fit! He looks like a dude you’d see in a fancy perfume commercial. He really has that old Hollywood actor’s face.”

“I didn’t really pay attention to that…”

That was a big fat lie and I do not think that I was fooling Cody one bit.

The truth was, before my interview with Rebecca Crown, I had done my due diligence and looked through the guy’s credentials.

He was coming from the business sector and at 46, failing to be elected as the new mayor, he had become the main opposition in the Philadelphia democrat city council.

He was in charge of urban planning but thanks to his family’s fortune, he had recently shown much bigger ambitions.

David Crown, was quote-on-quote a “rising star in the conservative party” but admittedly, I had been more impressed by his looks than I had been by his policies.

It was one of the top stories about Crown actually, he would use his charm (and killer smile) to compensate for his lack of strong convictions.

One local news article had even head-lined:

“Crown in the race to get the Republican nomination in Pennsylvania, is it beauty over policy?”

“They’re not wrong though, most people would vote for someone just because they find him attractive.” Cody wisely pointed out.

“I agree, and from what I read, most of his conservative opponents for the nomination are old boring guys. I do hope Crown does not turn all MAGA in a desperate attempt to get the votes from the Republican base in the primary though.”

“He did hire a gay dude, that’s encouraging. They must not be so extreme… Unless you’re their gay token employee.”

It was a harmless comment but it gave me a sick feeling in the spit of my stomach.

“You got me scared here. I don’t think they even know I’m gay.”

“They have probably vetted your social media.”

“I don’t share that I’m gay on social media. I mean, I don’t think that I do. Shit, now I’m worried for tomorrow.”

“Relax! You’ll just have to do exactly what you did with me, come out as gay as soon as you start talking with anyone.”

He burst out laughing, proud of his joke.

I smiled too.

I could let him have that one.

“Honestly, that would not be such a bad idea. Experience has shown me that the longer you wait to share this kind of information, the more difficult it gets to come out.”

“I’m just messing with you. I’m sure you’ll be fine; you’re not in Arkansas anymore!”

“Arkansas is not that bad…”

“Sure, if you say so.”

There was a short moment of silence.

I looked around, sort of surprising myself to actually be there. This was my new apartment but it did not feel like home yet.

“It feels very weird to be here, like, with someone else. I was not expecting that three days ago.” I spoke.

“It’s a bit of a mind-fuck for me too.”

Cody straightened up his arms as he yawned, mindlessly flexing his biceps and displaying his armpits.

Those bushy pits were very tempting but I remembered that I had to maintain a strong firewall.

The eye-candy did help dealing with the feeling of being home-sick though.

“I guess I should let you settle in, you’ll need the rest for tomorrow.” He eventually said.

“Yes, I’ll enjoy the small bedroom then.”

“Dude, how else do you want to decide who will take it? I already have all my stuff in the other room and I slept there last night. The sheets are covered with my scent and bro, I sweat and therefore, I stink when I sleep.”

Cody sniffed his own armpits to make his point.

I tried to ignore the way this was making me feel.

Thankfully, I was too tired and stressed out to get hard.

“That’s fine, I’ve already accepted that I’ll take the smaller one. We’ll just try to be mindful of each other and if, worst case scenario, we cannot get along, we’ll just find a place somewhere else.”

“That sounds like a deal. You know, Andy, we don’t even have to be friends, as long as we don’t get on each other’s nerves, we should be fine.”

I chuckled.

“That’s optimistic. Anyway, I really have to unpack and go to bed.”

He gave me a short hug to say good night.

“Nice to meet you. Sorry again for the knife.”

“That’s fine. Nice to meet you too Cody.”

Once again, I ignored the short contact with his warm (and indeed, somewhat sweaty) body and I went to my room.

My new life was starting now.