On Thursday, our first full day in Washington, Patrick and I wandered around our temporary neighborhood (Capitol Hill) with the best friend’s girlfriend (whom I love) and went to meet Chris and David (aka”the Other Couple” or “the NC boys”) at their hotel, the Rouge.

Though we tried to act normal, I think we were both a little nervous about seeing them again. We’d spent plenty of time emailing and talking on the phone, and that had been great, but really, we’d only had about three hours of in-person time - and less than an hour of that was fully clothed. I didn’t know what they looked like in daylight or if we’d all get along for more extended periods of time.

The initial meeting in the hotel seemed a little awkward, like none of the four of us knew what to make of the situation, and there was uncertainty about what we all had planned for the weekend. I know Patrick and I had agreed that we had no expectations of re-enacting our very first encounter (you know, the one where we all got naked together) - we sincerely just wanted to spend some time with and get to know these guys. But we were also curious about, and open to, whatever might happen in the nakedness department as well … personal body issues aside.

I did notice that they’d gotten a room with two queen beds, and wondered if that meant anything. I figured there must have been single-king rooms available, even on a big gay HRC National Dinner weekend like this one, but I told myself not to think about it too much.

The four of us met a few hours later for a late lunch, and I noticed that the awkwardness was starting to fade. Given the circumstances, it really happened quickly; by the time David, Chris, my best friend, and her girlfriend met each other at dinner, it was like we’d been hanging out regularly since San Francisco.

Needless to say, the best friend and David and Chris seemed to genuinely like each other (David even kept saying that he, too, wanted a lesbian of his very own to take home to North Carolina) and the next four days were awesome.

On Friday night we four boys went to dinner and Wet. My best friend, avowed lesbian that she is, refused to come, saying that she was still getting over being tea-bagged (on her forehead) the last time she visited Wet with a group of gay boys.

It was a fun night, and just crowded enough. One of the off-stage dancers passed Patrick and me, motioned to us together and said, “Woof!” I know he was just preparing us for friendly tipping when it was his turn on the bar, but we got a kick out of it anyway.

Patrick ended up having an even better time than the rest of us. Shy, innocent little guy that he is, he required some coaxing, but he hesitantly approached the bar and by the end of the night had four different strippers dance for him. It was fun watching my boyfriend blush and get all coy when the naked boys talked to him and rubbed his head.

On Saturday Patrick and I slept-in quite a while, then hung out in Dupont Circle until we met Chris and David for dinner. Then we went back to Rouge to drink up for a night of dancing at Cobalt.

Cobalt was insanely crowded - too crowded for it to be fun. We danced a little, drank a little more, then decided to head somewhere else. Patrick started feeling sick though, so we headed back to David and Chris’ room where he got sick from alcohol for the very first time. It was sad. I was impressed, however, how coherent he remained the entire time. Most people puking up vodka that I’ve taken care of are pretty out of it, nearly passed out. But not my honey! We had completely normal, if a slightly tipsy (from me), conversation in between upchucks.

All evening we’d been joking about visiting Crew Club, a bath house masquerading as a “gay male naturist” fitness club, and I was never too sure how serious anyone was or if it implied an interest in repeating our San Francisco sex club experience.

Soon though, David passed out on their bed and I put Patrick to bed in the other one. Chris and I were tipsy, but not at all tired, so even though it was 3:30 in the morning, we decided to go to Crew Club. I told Patrick we were going and he laughed and said, “You know the rules,” which are essentially look all you want but don’t touch and don’t get touched.

Chris and I were a little worried that Crew Club would be empty or just full of trolls at that hour. Not only was the facility pretty clean (despite exterior appearances), but there were at least half a dozen incredibly hot young men and another 6 or so who were decently attractive.

Since our other halves were passed out around the corner, Chris and I stuck together almost the entire time. It’s really funny and kind of cute to think about it now. We kept an eye on each other, didn’t do anything we shouldn’t and ended up having a really good time. We were each invited, separately, by a hot guy to his private room, and then we were both invited together. We politely declined, of course, but it was nice to get hit on.

I felt like it was a real bonding experience between me and Chris, too, strange as it sounds. On the walk home we talked about expectations, or lack of, as well as how nice it was to have made good friends from an unusual place. I think our minds work similarly, which is a warm, fuzzy feeling.

We also came right out and talked about … re-enacting our first meeting, though it turns out tipsy Patrick had more or less brought it up while he and Chris were alone for a minute earlier in the evening. Regardless, it was nice to hear that they were thinking the exact same things Patrick and I were, namely that they didn’t want us to think they had ulterior motives, sexual or not, and that they really did just like spending time with us, though they were okay with whatever happened.

That said, I asked Chris point blank if they wanted us all to get naked again, since “being okay with it” wasn’t reason enough to do something. He said that he definitely wanted to - as long as we did - and that he was almost positive David wanted to, too. I told him that I was sure we wanted to as well, especially since everything had been so comfortable for the whole trip. As long as we were clear about couple boundaries and we kept communicating about everything.

I don’t know why the four of us hit it off so well, so instantly, but we did, and Patrick and I really like those two boys. It’s so hard to click that strongly with someone one-on-one … I don’t know how we got lucky enough that all four of us did.

More tomorrow …