Andre, 28

What do you do for a living?
I'm a freelance stylist assistant and I work with Housing Works at the distribution center.

Has anyone ever offended you in the bedroom?
I can't really say so, because I pretty much go with the flow with almost anything. I'm not really offended easily — maybe surprised.

What surprised you?
The request she made. She wanted to know if she could, you know, fuck me. I thought that was a strange request, man, coming from a female — she basically wanted to strap it on with me. I knew her pretty well, but it was a side of her I had never explored. I always thought of her as being conservative, but I guessed wrong.

Do you have a favorite hook-up story to tell?
I was standing in line with a girl who I just met not too long ago. We were at Mickey D's over on West Fifth Street, and she had to use the restroom. I did, too. And she said, "Hey, let's go in together." She basically did me inside the restroom. I thought that was pretty insane. I was like, oh snap, I didn't expect that. Then we both come out together, all messed up, and everyone's looking. I think it was our first date, actually — though I had a feeling she was kind of wild.

Was there a second date?
Yeah, we went out a few times after that. It was cool. There's also this other chick I met recently, actually. She invited me to her place, I go back for drinks, we're hanging out. I sit at her bar in the kitchen, and my friend's freakin' business card is on her bar. And I'm like, oh man, don't tell me this dude is actually hooking up with her, too! I didn't mention anything to her, because I didn't want to mess my action up. I wait, and we kind of get it on or whatever. Then one of her girlfriends from Europe comes in, who was staying with her. As soon as I leave her place, I call my best friend: "Dude, do you know this girl named so-and-so?" And he said no, and I'm like, "Have you met any girls from France or Italy recently?" He says, "Oh yeah, I met a girl from France." I ask, "What'd she look like?" He described her, and I'm like, "Oh cool, that's the roommate." He was like, "Yo, hook it up." So I'm texting them now, inviting them to his potluck over the weekend.

You're a good friend.
I try. Gotta share the wealth, you know.

Meaghan, 22

What do you do for a living?
I'm a philanthropic-services consultant. We help nonprofits get the money to do the work that they need to do.

Do you think that's a sexy job?
Not so much. Nonprofits aren't sexy, but it's doing good.

Are you from around here?
I just moved from Boston, actually.

How is dating different around here?
Boston is a college town, so it's a lot easier to meet people your own age. You also need to be twenty-one to get into bars in Boston, unlike here, where you can be like sixteen. So I feel like thirty-year-old men have more access to sixteen-year-old girls here than they do in Boston. It's different here because it's so big — if you don't go to the East Village, you're never going to see anyone in the East Village. Boston is a lot smaller, so it's more contained. There's only a certain number of bars you're going to go to.

What's the hottest thing someone's done for you?
Well, my boyfriend for Valentine's Day gave me a massage. He had candles set up, and brownies — he knows I like chocolate — and I got a massage, no strings attached. I didn't have to reciprocate, didn't have to get my hands all tired. That was pretty hot, because I could relax and not worry about what I had to do afterwards.

What about the opposite sex always gets you going?
The smell. Definitely if they smell good — not overpowering, just natural, and you can tell that they're comfortable with their smell — that really gets me going. And the little touches: touching on the arms, the small of your back, the subtle cues that guys have a hard time mastering, but once they do, it's all over.

What's your favorite hook-up story?
Not that I want anyone from my college reading, but we hooked up in the silent library.

Were you silent?
Yeah, it wasn't that exciting. I definitely didn't have a problem being silent that time. But I felt very proud of myself for doing that on my college campus. It had to be done, I felt. It was during the night. There's a special room that nobody goes to, but people walk by it when they go to the bathroom, so there was that element of being caught. But I'm not that much of an exhibitionist.

What section was this?
It was like the Art Lounge or something. We wanted to do it on the football field, but I was worried about security cameras. They put millions of dollars into the football field, so I figure they have good security.

Richard, 25

What do you do for a living?
I'm a chef and musician.

Which profession is sexier?
Musician. Sex and food and wine are commonly associated with each other these days, but at the end of a rock-and-roll show — in terms of the sweat and the alcohol and everything — there's a slightly sexier atmosphere.

You ever get laid because you're a musician?
Absolutely.

Ever because you're a chef?
Absolutely.

Got any good stories?
What's this rated?

Triple X.
A couple years ago I played in this Philadelphia rock band called The Union Dead. We just finished playing this show at the M Room. I met this girl and we're hanging out, drinking, she had some blow, so we did some blow, and we ended up going to this warehouse party afterwards. We're in this warehouse party, we're hanging out and all these rooms were taken, and we're basically just looking for a place to go and fuck or whatever.

There were really no doors or anything in the warehouse. The bathroom was too public. But across from the bathroom there was this empty room, and the light switch worked and there was this door that kind of did work. I sort of took the door and leaned it up against where the door area would be — and there was a ladder, so I leaned it up against the door, hoping that someone who pushed on the door would feel the weight and be like, "Oh, I guess I shouldn't go in there." So I sit in this La-Z-Boy in the middle of the room, and she'd going down on me, and at one point I open my eyes and I see this little beam of light and it starts to get wider and wider and wider. I realize that the door's open. At the same point I realize that what was holding the door open was the ladder, so I watch in slight horror and much glee as the ladder starts to fall towards the center of the room, onto the girl, and it hits her on the head as she's giving me head. Luckily nothing got bitten off and no stitches were needed. That's probably the best story I have.

Did that hurt?
Didn't hurt me!

Cool. Has anyone ever offended you in the bedroom?
No. But I hope so, one of these days.

Have you ever offended anyone in the bedroom?
Probably.

Interviews by Meghan Pleticha. Photography by Sean McGurn

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