Connor - Brothers Best Friend

I was on the football team in high school, I know, “how cliche.” I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I’m 6’6” and 220 pounds of straight muscle. I'm 5’10” and in high school, I hovered between 165 and 180 depending on if I was training or not, but now that I’m a senior in college, and not playing sports (still hit the gym) I’m a lean 160.

I knew I was gay when puberty struck and all of my friends were talking about the girls they were “having wet dreams about” and not only had I not had a wet dream, I didn’t understand the fascination with the girls they talked about. Sure, they were pretty, but not so pretty that I would spontaneously have an orgasm at the thought of touching them. However, Jesse Bradford in the 2002 film “Swimfan” wearing a skimpy swim brief, that image made it into my favorite pastime of jerking off three times a day. When me and my friends all saw it in theaters freshmen year of high school and they all talked about how hot Erika Christensen was in the film, I realized I was the only one of us looking at Jesse and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I waited to come out until I was out of high school, it was a surprise to my family, and most of my friends, but everyone was cool with it. 

My parents were older, you could say I am an “oops baby,” but they love me nonetheless. They were quite busy with their careers while I was growing up, so I was often pawned off on other parents on weekends or for sports, or the nanny would watch after me for days while they were on work trips. It wasn’t until High School that they started letting me stay home alone, and as long as I didn’t burn the house down, I could do whatever I wanted. I have an older brother, Thomas, who is eight years older than me, and he has always been their little prince. He went away to college when I was nine years old, but it wasn’t until he got a job working at a law firm in NYC that he stopped coming around.

Having the house to myself throughout high school was great. Especially since the only thing I wanted to do at that time was sex, gay sex to be more specific, or at the very least masturbate…often. I didn’t though, I pretended to be into girls, and I lost my virginity to a beautiful cheerleader named Bethany (I know cliche, but I’m a walking cliche). What I really wanted was to be in the locker room perving out on my friends. My ex was fun in bed, for a girl, but what she didn’t know was that I liked to fuck her doggy-style because then I could pretend I was fucking the quarterback, the runningback, the sexy nerd whose name I can’t remember in the marching band (you know who you are). I would be as performative as needed to keep my secret from her, which looking back is an asshole move, but I didn’t know any better so my apologies to Bethany.

College has been a great experience for me. I’m fortunate enough that my family does well financially so I don’t have to worry about that. I was nervous about being gay in school until, as it would turn out, when you are in great physical condition and are packing 7.5” thick inches, you can fuck just about any guy you want, even the “straight guys.” Don’t worry though, I am a “Condom Nazi” and I am a strict top. I had tried bottoming my freshmen year with a gym buddy who was “straight” and “just wanted to try it,” and I took it like a man, but I was not a fan.

During spring break of 2010, I was a senior in college, my parents insisted I come home because they were celebrating their 30th Wedding Anniversary and were throwing themselves a massive party at our home in Charleston, South Carolina. They went all out, it was black tie, and to no surprise, there was a good turnout. My mom loved to play the host, where she would do this humble brag about having to pay someone to put the party together because she was so busy with work and would casually pivot the conversation to whatever project she was working on. My dad would walk around holding a tumbler of expensive scotch and never take a sip as he gave every guest quality one-on-one conversation time.

When I was younger and my parents would have a party like this, I would invite my friends, we would all put in about thirty minutes of face time with the adults, and then sneak off with a bottle of alcohol and get shit-faced. Being the pervert that I am, I would always try to manufacture a situation where one or more of my friends would have to strip down either completely nude or to their underwear, and then I’d mentally store that image away for personal use later. I’m actually surprised no one ever caught on.

Now I’m 22 and technically an adult at this party even though I still feel like the baby of the family. My brother Thomas is in town with his wife, and my parents are going to be in town two days before the party and then leaving Sunday morning. Which is annoying, because that leaves me alone for the entire week of spring break once my brother and his wife head back up to NYC where they live. 

The party was nice. It was good to catch up with people I had seen often growing up. I spent most of the party laughing with my brother's wife Cindy about stupid things my brother does that he would do when we were growing up…I guess some things never change.

“Wait, no, little Connor is graduating college? Holy shit do I feel old,” a voice nearly yelled from the other side of the patio.

I turned to look, “Oh man, Mikey?” To say there was surprise in my voice would be an understatement.

He gave me a handshake that turned into a bro-hug. “Dude, I can’t believe you’re a full-fledged adult now,” he laughed, looking me up and down like I was a completely new person to him.

“Well, yeah, and you got old,” I joked, grinning like I did as a kid when I’d get a good zing in on one of my brother's friends.

“Woah, unlike Thomas here” he hitched a thumb towards my brother, “I don’t turn thirty until next fall, I’m practically a baby still,” he shrugged with a laugh.

“Bro, what? I thought you were already thirty?” Thomas interrupted.

“What? No, I was always the youngest back in school, remember how I was always smaller than everyone else?”

I just watched as they went back and forth on what was possibly the dumbest conversation I had seen in a while, it was just like old times. I couldn’t help but notice how fit Mikey looked in his suit. He was always fit back in high school, he and my brother were on the basketball team, they sucked, but they were good enough to be on the varsity team at our school. Still, I noticed his suit was tailored perfectly to show off the shape of his torso, his pants showing off his tight ass and I was definitely detecting some brief lines when he would shift his weight. I also really liked the small silver and black gauged ear piercings he had, it was subtle but added a flare that Mikey’s personality could pull off.

I was dragged back into the conversation when Mikey threw one of his massive arms around me, pulling me in like he did when I was a kid, “...and this little fucker would whip out his little dick and try to do the helicopter,” he laughed, gyrating his hips like I would as a kid. My cheeks flushed red instantly. I wasn’t sure exactly which story he was telling, but when I was a kid I was always showing my dick to people. It wasn’t a sexual thing, I just got a kick out of the way people would react and my brother's male friends would always react the most.

I just smiled and shrugged, “ah, man, what can I say, that helicopter move has done me some favors in college,” I joked.

“If you’re sharing the same gene pool as Tommy here, I’m sure it works out real well,” he laughed and winked at Thomas.

That’s when Cindy, bless her, jumped in and changed the subject away from my and my brother's penises.

After the party, everyone had gone home, I went up to my room, showered, and pulled out my laptop to find some porn so I could jerk off and go to sleep. I was slowly stroking myself to some guy pounding a twink with the volume down, edging myself from one video to the next. Grindr was fairly new and still promoting itself as a dating app, but I decided to check out what was happening in Charleston…just in case. There were a bunch of filters available, but I was annoyed by some of the guys hitting me up. Blank profiles from people who “didn’t have a camera” or my favorite was the single terrible photo and a message of, “Oh that’s the only picture I have on this phone,” as if the new phone was somehow a downgrade from the previous phone.

I didn’t see anything I was interested in, so I went back to the porn. The video I was on now was a muscle stud fucking another gym rat, the quality sucked but the guys were pretty hot. Then I heard that familiar sound, the Grindr message alert. Dang, I was close to blowing my load, I could just finish myself off, but I also wasn’t so tired that I wouldn’t let some “straight boy” come ride my dick “for the first time.”

I opened the app, the new message just said, “Connor?”

Mind you, I had come out to my family and some friends when I turned 18 and moved away, but, while I was technically out here, I didn’t broadcast it either so I was surprised to have someone know me by name from the pictures of my torso, me in underwear, and half my face.

I looked at the guy's photos. Abs, meaty ass, tree trunks for legs, then the full body mirror pic of him in his Calvin Klien tighty whities that showed the bulge in the front and the curve of his ass,  where his phone was conveniently, but obviously, blocking his face. When I zoomed into the mirror I noticed one ear had a gauge with what looked like a black ring, but it was pixelated that far zoomed in and I couldn’t be sure…

My heart started racing, “Mikey?” I responded, taking a shot in the dark.

Almost instantly, well instantly for 2010 Grindr anyway, he responded, “Oh shit, you’re gay?”

“Bro, you’re gay?” I fired back.

“I’m bi, but I don’t date guys. I only come here for sex,” he quickly corrected my assumption.

“Oh ok, I get that,” I rolled my eyes.

“So, what’s up man, what are you doing?” He said as if we both didn’t know what he was asking.

Feeling bold, “I was jerking off and almost ready to cum when you messaged me ;).”

There was a longer pause. I was feeling like maybe I freaked him out.

“You want some help? I’d love to see your new helicopter moves ;)” He finally responded.

I laughed to myself, “I don’t think you could handle it, lol.”

“Only one way to find out,” he sent his address. “I just got home, give me a few minutes to take a shower.”

Holy shit, was this for real? I sat up in my bed. Was I about to fuck Mikey? At the very least I was going to trade blow jobs for sure. I quickly found a sexy pair of black and white striped briefs, pulled them on and my black athletic shorts, with a white loose-fit tank top, cut low on the sides offering a flash of my abs, slipped into some sneakers, and was heading out the door. 

I drove for about fifteen minutes into the city, keeping it under the speed limit because I was not trying to pass a breathalyzer should I get pulled. The address he gave was one of those luxury condos where most of the tenants are middle-aged men working on their second marriages. 

Up on the second floor, he opened the door wearing only a towel, his short wavy brown hair still damp from his shower. Damn, his body was even more toned than I thought. He was about two inches shorter than me just the way I like. I had two choices here, either be aggressive right out of the gate or try to play it cool. I went with the former.

I grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him in for a kiss. He slammed the door and pulled me tight as we stumbled to the bedroom. He pulled off my top, then I pushed him back onto the bed, his towel falling open where his diamond-hard dick sprang free. I grinned down at him and slowly dropped my shorts, my dick snaking up the side of my briefs straining to be free.

He leaned forward as I stepped up to the edge of the bed. He reached out and slowly pulled down my briefs, my manhood sticking straight out at his face. He didn’t hesitate to engulf it, this was clearly not his first time, holy shit. He moaned and groaned as he sucked and bobbed, with no struggle at all to take all of my thick 7.5 inches into his horny mouth.

“Holy fuck, Mikey, that’s good,” I ran my fingers through his damp hair, gripping tight as I rocked my hips into his mouth to meet his bobs up and down. I decided to see how much he could handle and I slowly fucked his throat, not letting up at all and just rocking in and out an inch to see if he would tap out. To my surprise, he seemed to love it and moaned on my dick. I pulled out slowly.

“Fuck you have a good mouth,” I huffed, trying not to blow my load too soon.

He recognized the delay tactic and pulled me onto the bed with him, his mouth wet with spit and my precum he pulled me in for a sloppy kiss. We both moaned.

He slipped out from under me, leaving me face down on the mattress and he quickly dove into my hole with his mouth. I’ve had my ass eaten a few times, but Mikey was something else. I moaned into the mattress.

“Oh fuck dude, that feels amazing,” I groaned and humped the mattress, letting his tongue deeper into my hole. “Holy fuck.”

He spit and slobbered getting my hole wet enough to push a finger in, “mmm,” I heard him moan.

I groaned, “Unh, I don’t really like getting fingered,” I said as neutral as possible, trying not to kill the mood.

“No problem,” he gently pulled it out and then straddled my ass, massaging it with his man hands for a second before taking his meaty 6.5” cut rock-hard cock and tapping the head on my hole. He added some spit and then used the head to smear it around until he found the center, with one hand pushing on my lower back and the other guiding his dick he tried to push the head in.

I popped up nearly bucking him across the room, “Woah, what are you doing?”

He sat up on his haunches, slowly stroking his dick, “Sorry, did you want me to wear a condom?” He looked confused.

“Dude you can eat my ass all day, but I don’t bottom…certainly not bareback,” I told him, trying to force a smile. Flipping onto my back now, my dick going soft between my legs as I scoot up to the headboard, my knees bent giving us the maximum distance between us without him having to move backward.

“Wait, what?” He shook his head, chuckling in disbelief. With one eyebrow raised high, “You’re a top?”

“Yeah man, didn’t you read my profile?” I laughed. “Wait, you’re a top?”

He smiled and shook his head, “Fuuuuck, this has literally never happened to me before.”

“I mean, me neither, that’s why my profile says TOP,” I emphasized the word.

“Dude, I saw your sexy pictures and didn’t really think to read it after I realized it was you. I swear my dick twitched hard at the thought I might get to fuck you if it was you and…well…it is you,” he gestured toward me with a grin, his dick still rock hard and pointing at me. 

He slowly stroked his dick, “ok,” was all he said and then he reached for the lube on his nightstand. Rubbing it onto his dick and stroking himself, then putting some on my dick and stroking me until I was fully hard again. I relaxed a little, spreading my legs so he could jerk us both off easily. He took his time to massage us both, playing with my balls, occasionally letting a thumb drop down and rub my hole. While I didn’t like to bottom, I did enjoy having my hole played with and let out a gentle moan.

After a few minutes of stroking both of us, he leaned forward to grab my legs, hooking his arms under my knees and pulling me back down to the middle of the bed. He rocked forward, his cock sliding between my cheeks as he pushed my knees up by my face, stretching my legs further than they’ve ever been before, and then kissed me passionately.

We kissed for a few minutes and the world sort of faded away and I took in how great he taste, how great he smelled, how good it felt having the weight of his sexy body on mine, enjoying the tip of his dick sliding up and down my crack and across my hole as he rocked his body and mine together, frotting and letting his precum smear all over my crack. 

I had fantasized about this moment many times back in high school, and now here it was, here he was. Mikey was naked and kissing me, wanting me, hard for me, turned on by me, it was so hot. We both moan him leading me, he would moan and I would moan, our mouths exploring each other, my hands exploring his muscular V-shaped back down to his tight glutes, the tip of his dick trying, again and again, to push into my hole, teasing me just enough to make it feel so good. I moaned at the sensation but fuck I was not trying to bottom, I haven’t bottomed in more than two years, and I was crazy drunk that night, it’s just not for me. Though the idea of bottoming for Mikey was alluring in its own right, and his head popping into my hole just a little felt good, but I would clamp my ass and squeeze him back out and we would continue frotting until he did it again, and again, and again.

I was getting used to the head popping in and out until he poked his cock head into my hole with a bit more intention this time and sunk more than an inch inside me, pushing until he met too much resistance from my ass. I broke our kiss with a groan, “Wait, wait, I’m…ugh, I can’t bottom,” I shook my head looking at his sexy mouth that I wanted to kiss again, and I squeezed my hole to force him back out.

“Yes you can,” he said softly, then kissed me. We both moaned.

He squirt some lube into his hand and rubbed it all over his dick, then used his dick to smear it on my hole. We both moan again at the sensation of his cock head rubbing my flowering hole. His hand smeared the extra lube onto my hole and he pushed his finger back into me, I let out a groan.

“Fuuuck dude, I’m really not a bottom,” I said, out of breath with my knees up by my head, my hole completely exposed to Mikey’s dick.

“Try it for me, Connor?” He said, then kissed my neck, then nibbled my earlobe, and then quickly stuck his tongue into my ear setting off a reaction inside my body that felt amazing.

“Oh man…ugh…I don’t know,” I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, pulling him into me to continue kissing my neck and ears.

“I’ll pull out if you don’t like it, but I really want to feel this ass on my dick. Let me push all the way in, just for a minute,” he said with honesty and desperation in his voice, then let the tip of his dick catch on my hole, shifting his body so his weight naturally pushed his cock in, and to my surprise, the head popped in along with the first inch or two with some ease.

“Oh fuck, ssssshhhit…ah…dude,” I groaned in pleasurable pain as he hit resistance and kept gently pushing.

“I know, I know, just relax and let my dick inside you Connor, I just want to know what it feels like to be balls deep in you.” The way he used my name, the familiarity of his voice, the feeling of his hot body, the need and lust he had in his eyes, I couldn’t deny him this moment. I couldn’t deny myself the fulfillment of the high school fantasy of this exact moment I wanted so badly a few years ago. I tried to relax, feeling every inch slowly push balls deep until his pelvis was resting on my ass cheeks and he let out a groan of pleasure and fulfillment.

“Jesus, Connor, you feel so good, Oh wow,” he mumbled, leaning in to kiss me, holding himself deep inside my ass.

I moaned, his lips sliding, pressing against mine, his dick twitching inside me. In past experiences of bottoming, it was nothing but pain, this time, for some reason, the pain quickly dissipated and was replaced by a fulfilling pleasure, a pleasure I hadn’t experienced before and I found myself wrapping my legs around him as we continued to makeout. As our kiss continued he started to rock and grind his hips into me, gently moving his cock inside me and stretching my hole and I snapped into reality. Mikey, Thomas’ friend Mikey was about to fuck me. Hell…he was fucking me.

“Wait, are you wearing a condom?” I broke our kiss and pushed him up.

He groaned and looked me in the eye, “No but…”

“But nothing,” I shook my head.

“Come on man, it’s me…and you, you know I don’t have anything, do you have anything I should worry about?” He asked.

“No, but…” I started to say.

“See,” he rocked his hips and his dick pushed an inch deeper into me, “let me feel your tight ass on my dick Connor, it's so much better this way,” he said, not letting up.

I groaned, fuck if it didn’t feel better than the last time I tried to bottom with a condom, and this was Mikey, not some stranger, but still…”I don’t know Mikey, I’ve never…”

He arched his ass, pulling a couple of inches out of me, and then firmly curled his hips up into me to get as much of his cock into me as he could, “Connor, your ass feels so good, let me have it,” he cut me off, then kissed me and pushed and pulled another inch, and another, and then fuck he was slowly fucking me.

My brain didn’t know what to do, I was breaking so many new boundaries right now, bottoming, bareback, my brother’s friend. Fuck I had never even topped a guy bareback and I was letting Mikey dick me down without a condom?

He rocked his hips inside me, sliding his arms under my back and pulling me tight to him as he kissed me and rocked his cock in and out of my hole gently, snapping me back into the moment, he moaned at the pleasure my tight hole was giving him. He kissed my neck again, rocking his hips some more, “Fuck Connor, you’re so tight, you feel so good,” he almost whimpered from the pleasure. It made me feel so good to be able to please him like this.

My heart was pounding with the excitement, “Oh fuck Mikey, fuck, I’ve never…” I couldn’t find the words.

“Me too man, fuck you feel so good, you like it, you like my dick in you?” he pleaded.

“Yeah,” I kissed him, holding onto him as he started to long stroke my hole, I groaned into his mouth. “Ungh, oh God Mikey, your dick…ungh,” I don’t know how it happened but my hole was feeling only pleasure from his cock, I didn’t know it could feel this good to bottom. “Holy shit, ungh,” I kissed him again.

“Yeah, Connor, yeah, that’s it, open that hole for me, fuck this is the best ass I’ve ever had,” he rocked his hips into me a little harder and deeper than before, clearly trying to make sure he focused on pleasuring my hole and not just using me for his own pleasure.

“Fuck that feels good,” I finally admitted as he hit my prostate with his raw dick, my legs tightening around his waist.

“Yeah?” He made eye contact again, the grin on his face reminded me of when he would smile at me when I did the helicopter as a kid.

“Yeah, fuck me, Mikey,” I heard myself say, the words adding to my pleasure as his name rolled off my tongue.

He didn’t need any more encouragement and leaned in and kissed me, then sat up straight, scooping my legs in his muscular arms as he started to really fuck me. I was able to reach down now and stroke my dick back to full hardness. Curling my toes, and flexing my muscles I was able to very quickly get myself close. He could tell from the way my ass flexed around his cock that I was already close and he pulled my hand away and smiled down at me.

“I’m not ready for you to cum yet,” he winked at me, “I want you to enjoy being my bottom a little longer,” he picked up the pace and his fucking started to make that slapping sound as his thick thighs crashed against my ass with each thrust.

“Oh fuck dude, take it easy,” I groaned, but he kept pounding, “AaaahhhhAaaah,” I tried to breathe it out and relax. I know how good this feels for him right now and I certainly want to keep giving him pleasure, fuck if it doesn’t feel good for me too though. I was lost in the lust, my hands roaming all over his body, up and down his abs and pecs, feeling his muscles contract with every thrust into my hole. Feeling his cock slide in and out of me was fucking amazing. Looking into his eyes, watching Mikey fuck me, knowing the pleasure on his face was from feeling my ass on his cock…it was too much, I was going to blow my load soon.

“Damn Connor, your ass is so tight, I’m not going to last long,” he was no longer speaking softly as his thrusting got faster and harder.

I grabbed my dick and started pounding again, rocking my hips to really share in his pleasure as he stroked inside me, hitting that spot that felt so damn good. Oh my god, I actually felt my hole stretching with each stroke of his dick, every ridge of his cock giving me more pleasure than I’ve ever experienced. I stroked harder and faster, my body straining to retain every ounce of pleasure and hold off my orgasm as long as possible before I blew my load.

“Fuck…me…feels so good,” I gasped out. “I’m close,” I warned.

He spread my legs a little wider, and he fucked into me with shorter harder thrusts, making my toes curl, “fuck yeah, cum for me Connor,” he looked me in the eyes and varied his fucking so every inch of his cock put pleasure on my prostate and then the ridge of his swelling head would push it like a button that was long overdue to be pushed.

“Oh fuck,” I felt my abs flex and tighten, he thrust harder, I felt my body twitch, “I’m cumming,” I jerked, my legs shook from the pleasure, he thrust harder into me, and cum exploded from my balls hitting my chin, hitting my neck, hitting my chest, “ungh, mmmm,” I groaned in pleasure as his cock pummeled my swelling prostate all the way through the most intense orgasm of my life.

“I’m about to cum,” he thrust harder through my tightening ring as my body continued to twitch and my orgasm was starting to subside. The sight of me cumming must have pushed him over the edge as my hole got even tighter, “Can I cum in you?” 

My eyes shot open in my cum filled haze to see his eyes glazing over with lust, “um…” I had no time to think, I knew how unsafe this was already and that I should tell him to pull out.

“Please let me cum in you,” he gave one, two more thrusts, and then I saw his eyes roll back and I felt it. His cock swelled and twitched inside me, I felt his hot cum coating my prostate, soothing that fire inside me, his body twitched and his dick swelled some more and spasmed harder inside me, every erratic thrust feeling better than the last as his cum coated my anal walls. “Oh fuck, fuuuck, ungh, mmmmmm,” he threw his head back and moaned as he slammed his hips into my ass and let those last couple shots fill my hole until he gave one last full body shudder and then collapsed on top of me with a huff.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, wrapping my arms tight around his sweaty body, holding him to me as his orgasm sucked the life out of his body and he barely hung on, trying to catch his breath.

“Fuck, oh my God Connor,” he gasped. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t pull out,” he whispered, I could feel him smile as his face pressed into my neck.

I chuckled, “It’s ok,” and wrapped my legs tighter around his hips, pulling him tighter into me.

We both lay there in silence, catching our breath as I used one hand to hold his head as he nuzzled into my neck, the other hand drawing large circles up and down his muscled back.

I can’t believe I just bottomed and liked it. I breathed. I can’t believe Mikey just fucked me, Mikey…fucked me. Mikey fucked me bareback. I have Mikey’s cum inside me…and holy shit that felt amazing! I breathed. Then I felt his dick slide out of my hole, definitely felt the strange new feeling of his cum leaking out of my hole with his soft dick and he let out a groan and twitched a little as the head popped out.

“Shit Connor,” he kissed my neck, “best ass ever,” he kissed my neck again then my cheek, and finally my lips, “I don’t think I’ve ever cum that much,” he smiled and kissed me again.

I just moaned and enjoyed it, feeling the air hit my wet, cum covered hole.

We lay there a few minutes before he rolled off me. I hadn’t felt the weight and warmth of his body until it was pulled from mine. I slowly sat up, rubbing my eyes and looking for a clock. It was 3 am.

I stood slowly and wobbly, “Mind if I take a shower?” I asked, trying to stand straight and still.

He rolled onto his back, his glistening dick flopping into view. “Fuck that,” he smirked. “If you’re going home, you’re going home covered in cum, inside and out,” his grin widened.

I shook my head and my grin got wide too. He was serious and it did something inside me, a whore switch flipped and I loved the idea of basking in our sex for the rest of the night. I slowly nodded my head and picked up my striped briefs from the pile of clothes on the floor, “Ok,” I tilted my head as the waistband snapped on my lean tight waist, “I’ll wait to shower, but next time you have to let me fuck you.”

He smirked, “We’ll see.”

With that, I got dressed and went home. I didn’t shower when I got there, I stripped to my underwear and passed out.

When I woke in the morning I felt weird. I had dried cum in patches on my body, definitely between my ass cheeks. The thought of another man's cum being still inside my hole both grossed me out and turned me on, I didn’t know how to feel, especially since I really enjoyed getting fucked by Mikey last night.

I checked my phone, one new message on Grindr. It was Mikey:

“I didn’t have your number. Don’t feel weird about last night, your ass was amazing and I want to get in there again before you leave.”

The message made me blush, and without hesitation I responded with my number.