The next morning, I woke up and felt bad about what I said the night before. I texted N, “Sorry I blew up.” He quickly responded, “Yea.” I didn’t want to just leave it at that, however. I wanted to explain where it came from in hopes of avoiding the situation in the future. “You were kissing all over me last night. I’m still trying to figure this out. Regardless, I was out of line…” I said.

Immediately, he got defensive. “I kissed your cheek n shoulder? I was wrong? Lest you forget you invited me to your bedroom two nights prior.” I didn’t want this to escalate into an argument, so I tried to calm him down. “I didn’t say you were wrong. I just said I’m still trying to figure this out.”

Then he hit me with a blindside I wasn’t expecting. “Don’t take me the wrong way when I say this because you know how I feel about you… But maybe it’s too soon for us to be friends?” I didn’t want to hear this. “No. I don’t want to take a step back that far. I get it. We’re not a fit. I can control myself…” I responded. He tried explaining himself as well by noting, “I don’t know if we are a fit or not, it’s just not the right time.”

The conversation had come full circle. I stated, “We’ll do our own thing and we’ll still be friends. It’s cool.” He apologized, “I’m very sorry if I led you on last night.” I replied, “It’s cool. No apologies necessary. We’re cool… At least on my end…” To which he said, “We’re cool here too big guy! Always.”

When I wrapped up my conversation with N, I turned my attention back to the man I was chatting with on Grindr the night prior, a hot construction worker from Queens, NY. He was awake and responding. I talked to him about the possibilities for the day. I wanted to find some way to meet him, and I wanted sex. He was hot, and I was horny. I had the hotel room until 10:00. My sister and K had already gone home. I knew D and his girlfriend and I would be heading to the beach for the day. I could double back to the room if I could get this guy to meet me before 10:00.

No dice. He was still with his friends and he couldn’t get them moving. In the meantime, I started getting hit on by another guy on Grindr. He was younger and good looking, so I started to respond. I was holding a conversation simultaneously with both of them. I managed to convince the hot construction worker to gather his buddies and come to the beach in Belmar. They were going to grab breakfast and head over. He told me the other two guys he was with didn’t know he was gay, so he would have to sneak away at some point.

As I made my way to the beach for our final day at the shore, the younger guy told me he and his friends were coming to Belmar to go to the beach as well. I responded with our street number and told him I’d meet up when he arrived.

I sat on the beach laughing out loud. D and his girlfriend asked what was up. I told them all about N from the night before, but also how two different guys were coming to the beach to meet up. Just then, N started responding to my text messages and told me he and his roommate would come to Belmar from Manasquan to go to the beach. He just had to wait for his roommate to come home. At his point, I was laughing my ass off. I had two guys from Grindr coming to meet me, and the guy I just broke up with would probably be there to witness the whole thing.

After some time passed, I got a text from the younger guy telling me he was on the beach. I texted the construction worker to see if he arrived yet. He was the main target. The younger guy was a fallback. The construction worker texted back. He was just stepping onto the beach. I turned around to the entrance to see him. I paid attention to where he set up camp.

Later in the day, I noticed the younger guy walking around. He walked right in front of me. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to meet him just yet. I thought I would wait for the construction worker first since he was much sexier. After he went to the back end of the beach, he called me. I picked up and turned around to notify him of my location. D and his girlfriend both left to grab food, so at least I didn’t have an audience when I met him. He came up next to me, and we formally introduced ourselves.

He was a really nice guy. He is from near where I grew up. I asked him what he was doing at the shore. He told me he was staying with his two friends. He told me they went to Paradise, a gay bar in Asbury Park the night before. He also told me he felt like a bit of a third wheel because the other two guys he was with kinda had a thing for each other. After we chatted for a bit, D came back and the guy decided to head back to his friends. He said he’d swing by again later before he left.

I watched as he walked back to his towel. I thought to myself, “What a coincidence! He’s sitting right near the construction worker.” The irony.

I couldn’t have expected what was coming next. The construction worker, the younger guy and the other random dude all walked down to the water together. They were talking and periodically glancing in my direction. I tried not to make eye contact. I went through all the logistics in my head and stories were not lining up. The construction worker told me his friends didn’t know he was gay. The younger guy told me he had a thing for the random dude.  I was willing to bet the construction worker was the one fabricating the story. Nonetheless, they were all together.

When they all went back to their towels, I texted the construction worker and asked him if he was going to meet me. He agreed to go for a walk, and I would follow right behind. When I caught up to him, I introduced myself. We talked a bit. He apologized for not being able to meet up earlier. It was very awkward and slightly forced. Then I told him, “Grindr is a small world.” I brought up meeting his friend, the younger guy. He played dumb and acted like he didn’t know he was gay, only suspected it. I wasn’t buying his BS, but he was hot! I wanted a piece of that action, even if I had to wait until we were both back up north. We chatted about a few bars in the city. I was very turned off when he made the comment, “I hate the faggot bars. They’re not my scene, but when you go to the straight bars, the drinks are so weak.” I agreed with him and we discussed a few good place in the New York City to go to. He was trying to be someone he wasn’t, and I wasn’t impressed. As we got closer to our beach, we walked our separate ways. We talked about when we were leaving and left meeting up later open for discussion.

When I got back to my towel I texted N and his roommate. I assumed at that point he and his roommate were not going to show, but I thought I’d offer him a ride home with D and I. N didn’t respond, but his roommate told me N already gone home on the train. She was going to stay in Manasquan. I found it a little disrespectful after talking to N all day about hanging out on the beach he never told me he was going home. This was becoming standard protocol for him though. It would be something I needed to get used to.

On the ride home, I texted the construction worker. I wanted to see if he wanted to swing by my place on his way back to Queens. I got a few messages back at first, but then he went completely dark. When I arrived home, I texted him one last time. “Hey man. If you’re not interested, let me know. I have thick skin and don’t want to bother you if you’re not interested.” He responded back telling me I just wasn’t his type. I could respect that, and we each texted each other, “Ok. Good luck…”