Isolation & Grindr Don't Mix

Chapter 1

Bailey had been on Grindr for all of a week and his inbox was full. Not that anyone knew they were messaging Bailey Smith, the 19 year old Western Bulldogs stud, rising star of the AFL, and social media sensation, known competition-wide for his flowing blonde mane-slash-mullet, piercing blue eyes, rosey red cheeks, chiselled body and talented footballing ability.

As far as the folks on Grindr knew, they were messaging 'B', a 19 year old uni student doing a commerce degree while working part-time at a South Yarra café. According to his bio, Bailey liked sports, because, well, duh; was into fitness, a gimme after just one look at him; and was straight but curious, "lowkey wanna experiment."

Although, his early experiences on Grindr had him seriously second-guessing that desire. They involved getting hit on by chubby "bears" and literally countless uninvited dick pics popping up in his inbox. And hey, he was an open-minded guy, so to each his own was his view, but neither men old enough to be his dad and massive, horse-sized images of cocks were not something he was after.

There was one guy, who simply went by Max, who Bailey thought there was potential with. They talked a bit, were both in the same area, both were at home on a Friday night while their mates were out. But it all unravelled when Max persisted with asking Bailey to send photos of himself.

"Just one selfie, pls x" read Max's messages. But it was the one thing Bailey couldn't do. Not over the internet. Not on a gay dating app.

And so that went down the drain, too.

Bailey had nearly given up. He wasn't gay, but he could now understand why any gay footballer would have such a hard time coming out. Even just finding another guy given his identity was proving to be nearly impossible. But he was bored. Mind-numbingly bored. Isolation was driving him crazy. He hadn't left his townhouse in weeks, save for a few last-minute trips to 7/11 and Coles. So he was sprawled on his couch in his sweatpants and an over-sized tank top, the same position and the same clothes he'd been in all day. It was all very un-Bailey-like, as he took such pride in his appearance.

He'd scrolled through the entire Instagram, checked his House Party app to see if his team-mates were up to anything, and replied to all the unopened messages on Snapchat. Still bored.

So he brought up Grindr. The same handful of guys who had dominated his page were still there, but in the corner was a picture of a torso and a pair of swimming shorts. That was it. No neck, no legs, and no face. Which was unfortunate given the body was seriously impressive. Just the right balance between toned and muscular, slender but built. An athlete's body. Bailey recognised one from a mile away given he saw 40 of them every single day at training and in the changerooms and showers.

What made the body stand out wasn't the attractiveness of it. The abs, the pecs, the light dusting of pale hair scattered across the chest and down his treasure trail did not overly appeal to Bailey, though it did make him question whether it was a better sight than his own body. No, what stood out to him was that it was how normal the picture was. It seemed like the type of picture any of his mates, or he himself would put up.

It wasn't a corny mirror photo, or a guy clearly tensing to show his muscles so hard he nearly shits himself. It was just compelling enough to catch the eye, but modest enough to make you want to find out more. That modesty is exactly what Bailey needed if he was to dive deeper down this curious, experimental rabbit hole.

Bailey saw the name under the picture simply said, 'J', and he was 21, and Bailey felt relief that he wasn't the only person with enough trust issues to not put even his full first name on his profile. When Bailey clicked on that profile, he was slightly disappointed to find there were no other pictures. Just a larger version of that torso shot. And his bio was even more enigmatic: no words, no description, just three simple emojis: a basketball, a plate of spaghetti, and a surfing guy.