Gabriel Bradshaw
Bio
I've been dating for twenty years, and I have some insane stories to share. Join me on my quest of love: romantic love and the love of labels. The dating world is savage, but I won't give up until I get what I want.
Stories (25)
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The Longest Night. Content Warning.
About a month after Max and I called it quits he visited me in a dream. We had not had any contact since that last day in the gas station, and I tried my best to focus on other things, but as more time went by, I found myself missing him. I didn't miss jumping through hoops to get a response from him, but I did miss how it felt when we cuddled, the way his face would light up when he spotted me, how he'd grin when I choked him during intimate moments. This was most likely the reason for his appearance in my dream rather than anything more cosmic or romantic, but in the dream he came into my work and surprised me with lunch. He told me he really wanted to see me when I got out; intuitively I knew that he wanted to win me back. When I awoke to reality, I was disappointed that it had just been a dream.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 3 months ago in Filthy
Bon App(s)etit. Content Warning.
As someone who has been on the journey to find a partner for over twenty years -- with no luck -- I often wonder how different my life would be if I'd been born in a different era. Being thirty-five in the age of social media, it feels like an already miniscule pond is even smaller. It doesn't help that the area I live in far from a gay metropolis. Sure, the surrounding areas -- Saginaw, Midland, Flint -- have a bigger gay community, but since I'm pretty much a hermit, it doesn't benefit me much. Two years ago, I went to Pride in Bay City hoping that I'd meet some guys, if not get a few phone numbers, but was disappointed when no one really batted an eye at me.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 3 months ago in Humans
Late Night Rendezvous. Content Warning.
A month or two BC (before Covid) I started talking to a guy on Grindr. His name was Santiago; I learned that he had a young son and that he was straight but curious. He told me that he had fallen asleep on his brother's couch one day, when his brother's friend had started touching his dick. Santiago had woken up but pretended to still be asleep; surprisingly he had kind of liked it, making him curious about being with a guy.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 3 months ago in Filthy
The Aftermath: Labels of Love. Content Warning.
The end of a relationship -- no matter how early -- is always disappointing. While I had managed to maintain my own sense of self separate from being with Max, I had started to grow accustomed to his presence in my life. I had looked forward to getting to know his boys better, meeting his sister -- officially -- and getting to tell his mom that she reminded me of a slightly thick, gothic Laura Prepon, at least in the pictures I'd seen of her. I had even gone so far as to gear myself up to battle the baby mamas if need be. As soon as I'd processed that Kimber -- Vaughn's mom -- had not seen him in three years and yet had the audacity to accuse Max of influencing him to cross dress, I decided that should Max and I work out, I would not put up with her ignorance.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 4 months ago in Humans
How Did It End?. Content Warning.
They say that the key to real estate is location, location, location. For relationships, it all comes down to timing, timing, timing. If you meet someone at the right time, things can be amazing; you can get everything that you've ever wanted. If you meet someone at the wrong time, it can shatter the illusion and destroy everything. But how do you know when the time is right? What happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time? In a world of 8.2 billion people, how do you know if you've ever met the perfect person for you?
By Gabriel Bradshaw 4 months ago in Humans
Kiss of Death. Content Warning.
The week of my birthday, Max had once again drifted into silence. We hadn't made any concrete plans for my birthday, but he had said that he would be more than happy to give me boyfriend treatment on my special day. As the days ticked by, I started to get a little annoyed. Why was it so hard for him to respond to a text? It wasn't like I was asking for 100% of his attention 24/7; I just wanted to be a priority in his life. Had I become so desperate to have a man care about me that I was willing to romanticize breadcrumbing?
By Gabriel Bradshaw 4 months ago in Humans
Fathers and Sons. Content Warning.
When you are in the beginning stages of dating a man with kids, a good guy will try to keep his love life separate from his home life. Not to say that a guy who introduces a love interest to his progeny right away is a bad guy per se, but I personally don't think it's appropriate to introduce your kids to a new lover in the very beginning. It's one thing if it's not a common occurrence, but some people have multiple relationships a year, which has to be confusing for young kids. In my opinion, a good guy will wait until he's sure the relationship is solid first. When the time does come for you to meet the kids, it should be a sign that the relationship is becoming less casual and moving into more serious territory. While not usually as stressful as meeting the parents, meeting the kids isn't always a walk in the park either. After all, these are the people that will always come before you, who will always be his top priority. In my opinion, the better the father, the longer before he introduces you. If I had kids, especially young kids, I wouldn't want to introduce a prospective partner until I was sure that that person was someone that I wanted in my life potentially for the long-term.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 4 months ago in Humans
Heart to Heart, Face to Face. Content Warning.
Two weeks after my amazing first date with Max, he had vanished into the ether. I was more than aware that he has primary custody of his sons, but still, it only takes a few seconds to respond to a text, especially when you claim to care for the other person. After a few days without hearing from him, I started to fear that he was going to be the next Terrence in my life.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 4 months ago in Humans
2020: A Ghost Story
I am very much someone who wants to be loved. I try to be realistic about it. I don't want the fairytale; I just want someone I can love who will love me in return. I don't expect a love without fights or flaws; I know that perfection doesn't exist, especially when two different lives converge. Growing up, I didn't have many good examples of a healthy relationship. My mom and dad divorced when I was two and a half; my mom eventually remarried, but their relationship was far from perfect. Some of my earliest memories are of them fighting and my mom packing me into the car in the middle of the night. Things really turned sour for them once my brother was diagnosed with autism. Whatever love had once existed between them was replaced with anger and bitterness. Their fighting became more frequent and intensified. Even though they hate each other, they still live together for my brother's sake. I always knew that that was not the kind of love that I wanted for myself.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 5 months ago in Humans
If Your Friends Won't Go Down on You, Who Will?. Content Warning.
Since the dawn of time, gay men have been fascinated with straight men. It seems like every gay guy goes through a phase where he pursues at least one. For me, it's been a lifetime endeavor -- sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. My personal opinion is that we as gay men like the challenge. Our whole lives we're told how wonderful vagina is, how disgusting gay sex is...so when we are able to land a straight guy it's the ultimate rush. Knowing that he could be getting pussy, but instead he's letting me suck his dick, it's like a drug to me. In my years of playing the field, I have managed to land more than half a dozen straight guys -- of varying attractiveness. They'd all wanted head, which I'd gladly given them, leading a few of them to become obsessed with me.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 5 months ago in Filthy
Blue Collar Blowjob. Content Warning.
One of the greatest things about being in the dating world in the present day is that people are so much freer in their sexuality than in previous decades. In the twenty years that I have been playing the field, I have watched as bisexuality has become less taboo. It seems like more and more people are coming out as bisexual, when really, it's just that society has become more tolerant toward things that are deemed as "other," so more people feel comfortable embracing their sexuality. In my opinion, being bisexual is like having your cake and eating it, too; limited yourself to one gender can be restricting. I wish that I was into women as well, as my experiences with men tend to end badly.
By Gabriel Bradshaw 5 months ago in Filthy
Sex and the Small City. Content Warning.
For the majority of my life, I have been 100% confident in my sexuality. While I can admit that a woman is beautiful and I can acknowledge that she has nice breasts, etc., I have never had an inclination to experiment sexually with a female, although in my very limited experience, women do have softer, more kissable lips. I always get annoyed when straight guys say, "if you've never tried pussy, how do you know you're gay?" I always want to ask them if they've never tried dick, how do they know they're straight?
By Gabriel Bradshaw 5 months ago in Filthy
