by L. A. Witt
After a while, Lucas turned to him. “Hey, while I’m thinking about it—my boss’s boyfriend is coming back early from his deployment. He’s going to be flying back ahead of the ship. Like a week before the ship actually gets in, I think.” He paused. “This is completely on the down-low, though. Daniel wants to surprise Colin.”
Nate laughed. “He’s going to blow the poor guy’s mind.”
“Probably. I didn’t know you could do that—come home early.”
“Sometimes. They also let dependents stay on the ship sometimes, for the last leg.”
“Seriously?”
Nate nodded. “One of the guys in my squadron brought his son on the last stretch of our cruise once. I don’t know what’s so exciting about spending a week on an aircraft carrier, but I think the novelty’s just worn off for me. So is he flying back commercially or on a military flight?”
“Military,” Lucas said. “He’s trying to get on a flight to Norfolk, but he said it might be the one going into Dover. He won’t know until that day, I guess?”
“Sounds about right for military flights. I’ve been on my fair share, and that shit is all pretty much at the last minute.”
“Exactly. And it just so happens that he’s coming in on a weekend when I’m only scheduled at Skin Deep, so Pete’s going to take me off the schedule and send me to go get him. We’ll just tell Colin I got called into one of the other jobs.” He shrugged. “Happens often enough, he’ll buy it.”
“Nice.”
“And, um, if you want, you can come with me. Might be nice to have some company for the drive.”
“Sure.” Nate shrugged. “Actually, it might not be a bad idea anyway—I can get us on base so we can pick him up right at the terminal.”
Lucas’s eyes lit up. “Oh, that’d be great. He’s probably going to be tired as hell when he gets there, so that would make it way easier for him.”
“Exactly. Just let me know. And if he comes into Norfolk, I can get you on that base, too.”
“Awesome.” Lucas smiled. “I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it. And hey, it would give us another excuse for a trip out of town.”
“True.”
The thought of blowing town with Lucas again made Nate’s pulse race. Their jaunt to North Carolina had been amazing, and coming back, he’d felt like he’d been gone for months instead of a long weekend. “How do your bosses feel about that, though?”
“It’s on a weekend when I’m scheduled at Skin Deep. Pete and Matt are covering for me, and like I said, they just have to tell Colin I got called into the call center.” Lucas smiled. “So I’m good.”
“Perfect.” Nate chuckled self-consciously. “Is it bad that I’m hoping Daniel comes into Dover just so we can go for a long drive?”
Lucas’s smile made his heart somersault. “No, because I’m hoping he does, too.”
They held each other’s gazes for a moment, and one of them might’ve come up with something cute or witty or hot to say right then, but Nate’s phone vibrated and startled him. When he looked, he had a text from Donna:
Leaving now. They’re very interested. Will be in touch.
“Well, that’s promising.” He showed the screen to Lucas. “Guess we didn’t scare the buyers off after all.”
Lucas read the text and laughed. “Nice.”
As Nate put his phone away, he grinned. “And now we have the place to ourselves again.”
“Yeah. We do.” Lucas ran the tip of his tongue across the inside of his lip. “Think we should go take advantage of it?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely.”
Chapter 18
The plan was in motion. Matt had gotten confirmation last night that Daniel would be on the military flight leaving Spain. Lucas and Nate would head out today, and as far as anyone knew, Colin had no idea anything was going on.
Of course, getting away from his jobs turned out to be, as always, easier said than done. Lucas had been scheduled to have that weekend off, but that hadn’t stopped one of his bosses from guilting him into filling in for someone who’d quit at the last second. Considering how much Lucas had been covering for people who barely showed up and almost never worked, he didn’t feel the least bit guilty about saying no, and for, yes, taking another weekend off.
Except he really couldn’t afford to lose that job, so did eventually cave and agree to work a half shift. After four hours at the call center, he walked out with a clear conscience, texted Matt to let him know he and Nate were on the road, and they were off.
Awesome, Matt wrote back. This is going to be great!
As the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel came into view up ahead, Lucas’s heart sped up. They were doing this. Not just bringing Daniel home early to Colin, but he and Nate were heading out on another road trip together. Why that excited him so much, he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going to argue with it.
“You sure you don’t mind driving?” he asked.
Nate flashed him a grin as he pulled up to the tollbooth. “Do I mind?” He patted the steering wheel. “I’m never going to say no to taking this baby out on the open road.”
Lucas just laughed. It was kind of cute how much Nate loved his car. Sometimes he thought it was an extension of his jet—something he could fly around in when he was on the ground.
He handed Nate fifteen bucks to cover the toll, and when the red-and-white striped arm lifted, Nate gunned the engine. Lucas laughed. The Charger felt like it was flying even when it was puttering through a school zone. Out here on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, with no one in front of or behind them, Lucas wouldn’t have been surprised if the speedometer were creeping into the triple digits.
Or maybe it was less about the car and more about being out on the open road with Nate. Taking off into the great wide open, blazing down a narrow stretch of pavement on top of sparkling water and under a clear blue sky. There was nothing to stress about today. All they had to do was drive up Route 13, check into their hotel, and wait for confirmation from Daniel that he was on the plane. Easy day.
The whole trip was even easier thanks to Nate’s military ID. Lucas would still have to get a guest pass, but he wouldn’t have been able to get on base at all without someone on active duty.
Except that made him feel a bit guilty. Would Nate have wanted to tag along if he didn’t have an ID?
“You really don’t mind coming along?” Lucas asked.
Nate put a hand on Lucas’s thigh. “Are you kidding? I love road trips, and I like being with you.” He shrugged. “Why would I mind?”
“Besides the fact that I kind of feel like I’m using you for your base pass?”
Nate laughed and gave Lucas’s leg a little squeeze. “I offered, remember? After you asked me to come along?”
“I know, but . . .”
“Relax. This is nice. And besides.” He winked at Lucas. “I get you all to myself in a hotel room tonight.”
Lucas shivered.
And Nate was right—it was nice. The drive to Delaware was actually quite similar to the one they’d taken down to the Outer Banks. The Eastern Shore was dotted with small towns and huge farms with stretches of forest in between. He’d come up here a few times just to drive aimlessly—well, when he had money for gas and the bridge toll—because it was so peaceful and relaxing. Being with Nate? Even better.
“So have you been up here before?”
“A few times,” Nate said. “A year or two ago, the whole squadron came up to Chincoteague for a buddy’s wedding.” He paused. “I really liked that island—I’ve been meaning to go back someday just to check out the rest of it. Especially since we were kind of hammered for a good portion of the wedding.”
Lucas snickered. “A bunch of Navy guys? Drunk at a wedding?” He put a hand over his heart. “I am shocked, Nate. Shocked.”
“Right? That’s what my mom said when the pictures wound up on Facebook.”
“Oh my God. Are you serious?”
“
Yep. Another jackass posted them and tagged us.” Nate rolled his eyes. “Fucker. And of course Jon thought it would be hilarious to tag my mom in the picture of me doing a keg stand at the reception.”
Lucas burst out laughing. “He wanted to make sure she saw it?”
“Yep. And she did. And I will never hear the end of it.” He grinned wickedly. “I got him back, though.”
“Yeah?”
Nate nodded. “I sent some really, really racy sexts from his phone to our wing commander.”
Lucas’s jaw dropped. “You didn’t.”
“The CO was in on it, don’t worry.” Nate grinned. “But we didn’t tell Jon that. The CO came up to him on Monday and said ‘we need to talk about your text messages.’ Told him to come into his office at the end of the day. So Jon got confused and checked his phone, and realized ‘he’d’ sent . . . like, really graphic stuff. Telling him he wanted to drill him bareback and come all over his face. That kind of thing.”
“Holy shit!” Lucas was nearly howling with laughter now. “That’s messed up.”
“I know.” Nate grinned. “And we all let him stew and panic over it the whole day. Dude was practically pissing himself over it before the CO finally told him.”
“Wow.” Lucas shook his head. “You guys don’t mess around when it comes to pranks, do you?”
“Nope. We’re like a couple of frat boys, but he’s pretty much my brother from another mother. If he hadn’t been around when I caught Caleb . . .” Humor fading, Nate trailed off and shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about that.”
“I can imagine,” Lucas said softly.
Nate was quiet for a moment before, slowly, the tension in his features eased. “You know, it’s kind of funny how it worked out. Jon lost a bet, so he had to get a tattoo on his ass. Which is how he met Matt.” Nate reached across the console and laced his fingers Lucas’s. “And Matt’s the one who told us you did cover-ups.” He glanced at Lucas, and they both smiled.
“Wow. That really did work out. And that story is actually true? Jon really did get a tattoo on his ass because he lost a bet?”
“Yep.” Nate snickered. “We’d all been trying to get him to get some ink for the longest time, and he was so full of himself with that damn football game, so—”
“It was over a football game?”
“Yep.”
“Was it at least the Super Bowl or something?”
“Nope. Just a regular-season game.”
Lucas whistled. “Wow. That’s some dedication.”
“Or just being full of himself. But hey.” Nate flashed a devilish grin. “I finally got the boy to put on some ink.”
“So is he hooked like everyone else after their first tattoo?”
“Nah. He’s terrified of needles, and he wasn’t thrilled about getting even that one. I figure if Matt hasn’t talked him into getting more, it’s not going to happen.”
“Probably not.” Lucas paused. “So you guys have been friends a long time? Long enough to try to get each other in trouble or stupid tattoos?”
“Oh yeah. We’ve been flying together since forever.”
“Do pilots and copilots—”
“RIOs.” Nate smiled. “I’m his RIO.”
“Right. Which is . . . ?”
“Radar intercept officer.” He paused. “Okay, I do some of the shit a copilot does, but mostly, I’m manning the weapons systems and watching all the sensors and crap.”
“So you shoot and scan shit while he flies.”
“Basically,” Nate said with a nod.
Lucas smirked. “No wonder you like to drive when we go out.”
“Hey!” Nate laughed. “Okay, guilty. It is kind of nice to be in the driver seat once in a while.”
“I bet. So, do pilots and RIOs ever not get along?”
“I’m sure it happens, but everyone in my squadron is in pretty tight with whoever they’re flying with. And, I mean, I can’t imagine flying with someone I butted heads with. Every time we leave the ground, we’re literally trusting each other with our lives.”
“Wow. And you guys never . . .” Lucas hesitated.
Nate glanced at him again, eyebrows up. “Never hooked up?”
“Yeah. I mean, not that two gay guys are obligated to, but he’s hot, and you two are close, so . . .”
“Eh.” Nate shrugged. “In another time and place, it might’ve happened. He’s certainly attractive, and I’d like to think he thinks the same about me. But he’s always been one of those guys who’s allergic to relationships, and I was never one for sex with anyone I wasn’t seriously dating. So even if we were attracted to each other, it wouldn’t have worked.”
Lucas studied him for a moment. “But he’s in a relationship now.”
“Yeah. And I’m . . .” Nate’s eyes flicked toward Lucas. He ran his thumb back and forth along the seam of Lucas’s shorts. “I don’t know what I am now, to be honest. I just know I like this.”
“Me too.” Lucas squeezed Nate’s hand.
They made eye contact again, holding it for a few fleeting seconds before Nate had to watch the road again.
Neither of them dug any further into the topic, and Lucas was okay with that. He really did like what they were doing, and it was still new enough that analyzing it too deeply might fuck it up. It didn’t need a name. Not yet.
So he shifted the conversation to a lighter topic, and they let this—whatever this was they were doing—go on. They could figure out what it was later.
* * *
Route 13 took them up the Eastern Shore and into Maryland. They stopped for a late lunch in Salisbury, and shortly after that—about three hours after they’d hit the road—they crossed the state line into Delaware.
Not far into the state, a huge and brightly lit sign caught Lucas’s eye, and he did a double take as they passed it. “Since when do they have casinos in Delaware?”
“They have casinos everywhere now.” Nate glanced at him. “Why? You gamble?”
“I’ve never tried it.”
“Really? No cards? Slots? Anything?”
“Nope.”
“Hmm.” Nate looked in the rearview. “You want to?”
“Do you?”
They exchanged grins.
And at the next intersection, Nate made a U-turn and drove them back to the casino.
The parking lot had plenty of spaces, but he went right up to the front where a couple of valets in bowties and vests were waiting.
“Valet?” Lucas grinned. “Fancy.”
Nate chuckled, patting his thigh. “It’s like five bucks, and that’s just a tip for the valet. Why not?”
“Fair point.”
They got out of the car, and Nate took a claim ticket from the valet. Then they headed inside.
The second they walked in the door, it was sensory overload. Bright, colorful lights. People everywhere. Voices and music and slot machines beeping, clanging, and making all kinds of weird sounds.
A waitress walked past with a tray. “Cocktails. Coffee. Cocktails. Coffee.”
“Oh yeah, rule number one.” Nate nodded after her. “Don’t drink in a casino.”
“Really?”
“Yep. The trick is to either drink or gamble. Not both.”
“So you don’t get drunk and do stupid shit?”
“Exactly.” Nate shook his head. “Jon and I were in Nevada for some training at Nellis and decided to go be idiots for the weekend. We were actually doing really well on the blackjack tables, but . . .” He shook his fist at the sky. “Curse you, cocktail waitresses and your bottomless free drinks!”
Lucas laughed. “Okay, so if you of all people are telling me not to get drunk . . .”
“Hey!” Nate rolled his eyes and playfully shoved Lucas with his shoulder. “You make me sound like I drink like that all the time.”
“I’m not the one whose mom got tagged in a picture of me doing a keg stand at a wedding.”
“I didn’t tag the pho
to!”
“No, but you did the keg stand.”
Nate’s lips quirked. “Okay. I did.”
“At a wedding.”
“Hey. Hey.” Nate wagged a finger at him. “I will have you know the bride started it.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep. And the photographer got a ton of pictures. I still wonder if those wound up in the wedding album or not.”
Lucas laughed. As they continued walking, they passed a block of slot machines with most of the chairs occupied. “So you don’t play the slots?”
Nate wrinkled his nose. “Fuck no. You might as well just light your money on fire.”
“But my grandma won like a grand in Reno. On penny slots.”
“Uh-huh. And that happens so rarely—”
As if on cue, a slot machine a few feet away burst into action with flashing lights and ringing bells. The woman sitting in front of it high-fived the man next to her.
Lucas turned to Nate, eyebrows up. “You were saying?”
“Okay, it’s usually a money pit. I mean, she’s probably been sitting there for hours.” Nate paused. “I have to admit, though, my mom’s a ninja with slots. She’ll walk into a casino, wander around for a few minutes, then sit down at a slot machine and empty it like it’s an ATM.” Shaking his head, he chuckled. “She says she’s got a sixth sense for them. Obviously it’s not hereditary, though.”
Lucas laughed. “For a guy who spends all day on billion-dollar government computer systems, I’d think you could figure out how to crack a slot machine.”
Nate snorted. “Yeah, I can fire missiles at targets I can’t physically see, but none of my training ever told me how to get four cartoon hippos to line up on a screen.” He motioned toward a machine near them with that theme.
“Well damn. What are my tax dollars paying you to do?”
“I know, right?” Nate rolled his eyes. “Anyway, you want to try playing cards?”
“Cards? Like poker?”
“Eh, too high stakes.” Nate nodded past him. “I was thinking blackjack.”
“I don’t really know how to play, though.”
“I can teach you.”
