The man in the picture above is completely irrelevant. Pay closer attention to the writing on his (admittedly photoshopped) boxers—”Don’t judge a book by its cover”. We know, we know! The phrase is a bit of a cliché. With that said, it’s an important lesson learned by the subject of today’s It Happened On Manhunt post.
While we don’t want to spoil any of the details, we’d be doing you a disservice if we didn’t warn you that this tale ends on a sad note. Even so, we felt it was an important story to share, given the amount of disclaimers and deal-breakers people tend to list in their online profiles.
If you wind up reading this and thinking to yourself, “Hey, I’ve had something crazier or hotter happen to me on Manhunt! Why isn’t my story featured on here?”… Well, you’re in luck! We’re still on the search for the best of the bunch.
Simply write us an e-mail at daily@manhunt.net with the words “Best Manhunt Story” in the subject heading. Remember, the folks behind the top entries will receive a FREE month of unlimited membership to Manhunt. What do you have to lose?
- Dewitt
To read this member’s story, follow the JUMP:
Manhunt has always had one simple purpose for me. To find some cute guy who wants to get down and dirty and not bother me the next day. I never knew that Manhunt could teach me to grow up and accept someone who was different than me.
I admit it. I was a complete jerk in the past. If you weren’t young and hung, I wasn’t interested. Had an STD? No thanks. I am not the most attractive guy in the world but I had youth and confidence on my side, so I usually got lucky. I blew off a lot of guys, being a complete jerk who had to have it his way or no way at all. Apparently, my profile gave the impression that I was extremely shallow.
So, after finals two years ago, I was looking for some celebratory man-on-man action and logged in on Manhunt to get right to business. After breezing through a few profiles and sending a few emails (“Damn, you’re hot. Wanna dump a hot load in me?” – I never said I was particularly poetic in these situations) this guy sent me a message.
His picture was all that. He had this amazing body, beautiful eyes, and a package that told me he had trouble putting on tight jeans. So I jumped at the chance. I sent him a photo, told him my name and age, and told him that I had just finished my junior year exams and wanted to have some fun.
He sent me a message that simply said “Where and when?” I was hard by the time I finished reading that short but oh-so-hot message. But, I knew my roommate would be leaving for a date soon after, so I suggested we meet at a local, quiet bar. This way, I could see him and determine if he was weird (READ: creepy) before I took him back to my place.
I walked in the bar and sat at a table in the back of the room but with a great view of the door. I waited. And waited. Plenty of guys walked in and out, but my tall Adonis never showed up. Feeling like a complete idiot (and having knocked back about four drinks) I decided to leave. I walked through the door and was about to hit the sidewalk when a hand grabbed me on my right forearm.
The hand belonged to this 5’7″ brown haired guy. I thought I had bumped into the guy or something, so I mumbled a “Sorry dude” and turned around. He said my name, which is Garrett. I had never met this guy before so I was getting annoyed. “What man?!”
He said, “I’m Landon.” I was floored. I know that some people lie about their appearance but I was honestly pissed off. Landon wasn’t anything like the guy in the picture. My face must have reflected my own confusion because he said, “Not exactly what you were expecting, huh.”
I wanted to hit the guy. I never lied about myself but he had put on a front. He wasn’t exactly young (he was mid-30s), he wasn’t tall, and he didn’t look hung. So I just started to walk away. That’s when Landon said, “It’d be a waste to walk away after coming all this way down.”
I lost it. He was calm and collected, and I’d been duped. I turned around and said, “What kind of fucking game is this dude? Why waste my time?” He looked me in the eye and said, “You never would have been interested if I hadn’t. And you need to learn how to treat people decently.” I was stunned.
He was right, but that was none of his business. I wanted to say he was wrong, but I’ve never been good at lying. So I just stood there with this, as I later learned, expression on my face that resembled a deer in headlights. But he said, “Let me buy you a beer and we can just talk.” I’m a jerk, but I never turn down a free drink.
It turns out, Landon was a perfect guy. He was hilarious, cunning, and he made me feel like an equal. He challenged me almost the moment we got our first drink by saying “The deal is, in exchange for drinks, you’ll be open-minded and get to know me.” I figured he was trying to get me drunk so he could do whatever, but I can handle my alcohol. So I agreed. And I’m glad I did.
He showed me he was a wonderful guy. We were at the bar until forty minutes before closing. He closed his tab and started to get up. Weirdly, I didn’t want this to end. He turned to me, grabbed a marker from the bar, and wrote something on my hand. He told me that if he wanted to get to get to know me, call him. Then he just left…
He wrote his number and “Infected. Deal with it.” On my MH profile I said No sickies. I guess he knew that. But for some reason I wanted to get to know him – and I didn’t have to sleep with him. I called him and we hung out. He took me to a museum right in DC that I had never even seen. He and I spent a lot of time over the next year together. We even made love. Safe, of course.
Then, right after my college graduation, I got a text from his phone. Gave me an address and told me to come when I could. It was a hospital. Landon’s infection had gotten worse and was complicated by pneumonia. I saw Landon, the first real love of my life, die three weeks later from what the doctor called “AIDS-related pneumonia.”
Manhunt gave me the opportunity to feel what unconditional love was – and the pain of losing the love of your life. I believe I will find someone new, but Landon will always be the man who taught me to look beyond the first glance and look deeper. I miss him everyday, but I am so glad I had the time with him that I did.
