What is the importance of the Grey-Eyed-Man in the story Inventory from the collection, Her Body and Other Parties?

In the story, Inventory, the narrator pays particular attention to the man who took her virginity known as the Gray-Eyed Man. She remembers him primarily because of the pleasure she found through him. He becomes a reference for the narrator, a point of convergence which she can compare other male-lovers to. Furthermore, he is the only character that the narrator lists twice in her inventory of sexual encounters.