A Couchsurfing Seduction

Throughout college, I lived on a tight budget and therefore utilized the concept of “couchsurfing” whenever I traveled. Years later, I convinced my partner Luke to give it a try with me in order to save money on a trip to NYC. It worked brilliantly and we decided that in order to properly participate, we should also open our own home to travelers from the couchsurfing website.

Most of our travelers were gay men who were happy to get a real bed and bathroom to themselves. In January of 2014, we hosted a young gay couple named Bryan and Tyler. Bryan was about 27, made money as a professional poker player, and had a sexy “pre-bear” kind of look. Tyler was only 22 and aspired to be the first successful, openly gay rap artist. His many tattoos helped counteract the twink-factor of his lean hairlessness.

Upon settling into our home, Bryan noticed a book on our shelves on learning how to create and sustain open relationships. He brought it up as the four of us hung out. Luke and I talked openly about our difficult journey to figuring out an open relationship but how it served us incredibly well.

“I think that is something I would like to try one day,” Bryan said.

“Umm, not me,” Tyler interjected. “I would never have an open relationship. If you love someone, that should be enough!” Tyler continued to rant on why open relationships were awful while I internally I rolled my eyes.

By the third night of their stay, we noticed an odd pattern. Once bedtime hit and Bryan passed out, Tyler would come hang out with us… wearing nothing but his boxers. In fact, he kept adjusting his boxers to sit even lower on his hips.

With Luke needing to go to bed early too, Tyler and I hung out one-on-one and his near nakedness had me fully hooked and intrigued. Since we had an earlier conversation about a couple of us experimenting with nudism, I suggested that we strip down and hang out in our birthday suits. This way I could enjoy the views without the touch. Tyler seemed more than excited by this idea.

So at one o’clock in the morning, there we sat: totally naked and drinking tea while Tyler laid down some of his hardcore raps for me. Out of all the obscure naked things I have done, this was probably the strangest. But he actually was quite a talented rapper.

“The difference between me and other rappers,” Tyler said, “is that I sing about stuff that really happened to me. Like … I really was addicted to painkillers once.” To me, that didn’t sound like an authentic thug life, but who was I to judge?

After a while, I called it a night, but while getting ready for bed, Tyler sent a text. He apologized for being such a tease. “I would just like to do something with the both of you is all,” he wrote.

I tried brushing it off as no big deal. And it turned out that even after our platonically naked hang out, his sights weren’t so set on me. Rather the man he really wanted was Luke, which ironically turned me on even more. Thus Luke and I had to band together to resist all temptation.

But the more we resisted, the more aggressive Tyler got. For the remainder of their trip, he made seduction his couchsurfing mission. Tyler would text us late at night asking if he could come join us in our bed. He would snap naked selfies in our guest bathroom and send them to Luke daily. Meanwhile his boyfriend, Bryan, remained clueless that any of this was happening.

By the end of their trip, we were glad to see them go. Luke and I didn’t want to be caught in the crossfire of whatever relationship disjuncture these guys were experiencing. And we were proud of the fact that we properly maintained sexual integrity in the face of some tempting bad behavior. Nonetheless I found it fascinating that the guy who seemed most appalled by our open status was quicker to break his own monogamous beliefs. And all I could think of was that Shakespeare quote: “The lady doth protest too much.”

Interested in surfing some couches? Check out https://www.couchsurfing.org/