by AJ Rose
“Don’t do it. You’ll never find a snipe. They’ll blindfold you, take you out to a field, and leave you there to make you walk back home. But you’ll be looking for a nonexistent bird. If you’re lucky, they won’t make you take off your clothes.”
“You’re no fun.”
Chris shrugged. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about making friends with these guys, so ruining the joke was no skin off his nose.
“You’re an asshole, Jaden,” LeAnne said, pouting. Until she turned the full wattage of her smile on Chris again. “And that’s the second time you’ve come to my rescue.”
To hide the roll of his eyes, he drained his second beer, the cool liquid rippling in his belly like a tranquil lake reaching his frazzled nerves. His buzz would ratchet up any minute.
Jaden only laughed. “It’s the uniform, isn’t it, LeAnne?”
“Damn right,” she agreed, sticking her tongue between her teeth and winking at Chris.
Jaden tossed Chris another beer, which he deftly caught with his right hand when LeAnne leaned on him from the left. He inclined away from her under the guise of leaning back on his hand comfortably, which put him in contact with Donnie. Donnie didn’t notice with Cami draping herself practically across his lap.
“So what are the rumors about lost people in the tunnels?”
Chris wasn’t actually a fan of caves, considering Shockwave had almost died in one on a training exercise, but for Sergeant Middler’s quick reactions and preparedness. Insurgents had gotten wind they’d used the caves to practice controlled detonations with smoke bombs, and when the cave was deserted, they’d planted their own smoke bombs, complete with a suffocating mixture of chlorine and ammonia, which had created a gas designed to sear the lungs. The bombs had been planted far enough back in the cave system, they’d have suffered permanent retinal and membrane damage if Ness hadn’t immediately recognized the smoke was different than what they expected. However, because it was a training op, Ness was the only one with a fully equipped pack, and they’d shared around her gas mask to reach safety and fresh air. They hadn’t been able to prevent the chemical burns on their eyes and in their noses and throats, but those had healed over time.
Beside him, Donnie shuddered.
“Oh, the stories aren’t real,” the third guy—Bruce, Chris thought his name was—assured. “They’re just to scare people from coming into the caves and making fiction become reality. But they do say this one is haunted.”
Donnie rolled his eyes. “Every cave is supposedly haunted.”
Chris, whose veins carried the beginnings of a nice buzz, lay across Donnie’s lap, wedging Cami farther off.
“Save me!” he said in a falsetto, batting his eyelashes at Donnie, who laughed and pushed him away. Chris was well aware of the glare Cami shot him, but he was so beyond giving a shit, he didn’t even acknowledge her.
“Then who’s going to save me?” LeAnne asked with a pout.
Chris studied her. “Why can’t you save yourself? You look capable.”
LeAnne studied him, trying to decide if he was being an asshole or if he’d just complimented her. Slowly, she nodded. “Yeah, I could save myself. I don’t need someone else to do it.”
“I totally do.” Chris dramatically flung himself over Donnie’s legs again. The rest of the group laughed, which was probably the only thing that saved him from Donnie when Cami sat up glowering. She, however, wasn’t fooled, because when she used his arm to right herself, she dug her nails in below the sleeve of his t-shirt. He stared at her lazily.
Donnie wasn’t amused either. He pushed Chris off him and gave him a quizzical look and a minute shake of his head.
“Where are you originally from?” Cami asked.
“San Diego,” Donnie said. No one else heard the caution in his tone except Chris. San Diego wasn’t a great subject.
“Do you miss it?” Cami wanted to know as she trailed a finger down Donnie’s biceps.
Chris brushed the side of Donnie’s leg with his knuckles in silent support. Was it his imagination, or did Donnie’s breath have a little hitch in it? And was it because of Chris’s caress or Cami’s? Or because she’d brought up San Diego?
“Not really.”
“You miss the power, right?” Jaden asked, passing out yet more beers.
“Is that fridge magic or something? Like you take one out and it’s instantly replenished?” As far as deflections, it was a decent one, even if Chris was beginning to slip into dangerous drinking territory. That was the bad part of being small in stature—it didn’t take much to impair him.
Jaden pointed behind him to what looked like a solid wall. When Chris leaned toward Donnie again—earning a pissed off snort from Cami when he displaced her a third time—he could see an opening big enough for an adult to slip through sideways into the darkness beyond. It made him wonder how many openings were in the room and maybe he was at the wrong angle to see them.
“Seam in the rock right there,” Jaden explained. “We stashed more beer in a small pool of water to keep it cold. We’ve been stockpiling for the end-of-the-year party but now, if we don’t drink it quickly enough, it’ll go bad.”
“Can’t have that,” Chris said, motioning for another one even though he’d just cracked his third.
“Should you be hitting it that hard?” Donnie asked under his breath. “If you make me carry you back to barracks because you’re too drunk to walk, I will beat your cock-blocking ass.”
“You’d enjoy it,” he flirted with an impish grin.
Donnie straightened and stared at him as though he could unlock this new puzzle Chris presented. There was unmistakable curiosity in his expression, but Chris couldn’t be sure if he detected fear or heat, or if he was just tipsy enough for his hopes to color reality. He leaned forward and whispered in Donnie’s ear, making sure his breath ghosted over sensitive skin.
“I might enjoy it, too.”
At that, Donnie reeled back, staring at him incredulously. He opened and shut his mouth a few times, but Cami physically turned his face away from Chris.
“What’s San Diego like?”
Donnie blinked at her, then drained his beer and motioned for another one.
“In the past,” he answered, and even someone as self-absorbed as Donnie’s conquest could take the hint. Why she scowled at Chris after that, though, he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t his fault Donnie’s home life had sucked as badly as his own.
“Okay, what about your future?” she tried again.
Donnie shrugged and sneaked a look at Chris. “Wherever the army sends us.”
“Hey, is there somewhere you all use to drain the lizard?” Chris looked to the guys. Clearly the girls didn’t drain lizards. Unless they were fledgling serial killers, as LeAnne’s grip on his arm might have suggested. He shrugged her off and stood, surprised when the floor tilted a little. Throwing his arms out helped him find balance, but he sloshed his beer and a splash landed on LeAnne’s chest just above her low-cut neckline. She gasped at the shock of cold and jumped to her feet.
“Brrr.” She shook her hands and shivered, the skin above her cleavage catching the light as foam slid between her breasts. Grabbing Chris’s hand, she pulled him left toward the tunnel through which they’d entered. “C’mon, I’ll show you. You can help me clean your mess off my boobs.”
He stumbled after her with a glance over his shoulder at Donnie, whose attention was being demanded by Cami leaning forward and thrusting her breasts in his face. It lit Chris up when Donnie darted a look after him despite the promise of naked breasts. Was his plan working?
Just as LeAnne pulled him into the dark, he saw Cami plant her lips on Donnie’s.
He groaned.
“You okay?” LeAnne asked, closer than he expected her to be. She backed him up to the wall they’d just rounded, smashing against his front. He felt her hot, beery breath against his lips.
“I, uh, really do need to empty the plumbing,” he said, trying to extricate hims
elf.
She rubbed against his dick and when nothing happened, stepped away. He couldn’t see her, but her silence spoke volumes.
“Sorry.” Was that suspicion in her tone? He couldn’t tell. “I’ll show you where it is.”
He followed her in the dark, dragged along by her hand until he realized the dark wasn’t so complete anymore. They emerged from the tunnel onto the hillside. He staggered a few trees away and did his business, returning to her side as she gazed up at the stars.
“I never realized there were so many,” she said, her face full of wonder. “You know, out there is another planet, maybe several, just like ours. Or similar enough we could colonize it and survive. Makes me wonder if it would be as fragile as this planet.”
He turned his face up to follow her gaze. “No light pollution,” he marveled. “Makes the stars so amazingly bright.”
“So, Chris,” she said, taking his hand and guiding it to her chest as she maneuvered in front of him. “Want to help me with a little problem? Somehow, I managed to get beer down my shirt. There obviously aren’t paper towels out here, so I thought you might like to give me a hand.” Her eyes glinted in the moonlight, and there was something predatory in them. When he moved his hand away without groping or in any way trying to remove clothing, she nodded and let her hands fall away. “I thought so.”
“What?” he asked, fear fighting defiance for the upper hand.
“Does he know?” She pointed a finger over his shoulder toward the cave. “Or are you two playing some kind of game with Cami? Because if he knows, he either cheated on you this afternoon with her, or he’s stringing both of you along. Or you two are raging assholes who like to fuck with girls’ heads, and I need to warn her right now.”
Chris looked at the sky. “Not that my relationship status is your business, but no, he doesn’t know. So your friend isn’t being played, even if I want to push her in the reservoir.”
LeAnne laughed instead of smacking him like he’d expected. “Does he swing that way?”
Chris shook his head. To his surprise, when he opened his mouth, the truth came out despite not knowing this girl. But dammit, he’d been sitting on this for the better part of three weeks, consumed by it, desperate for some kind of answer as to why now, all of a sudden, he was attracted to a guy, especially when they had so many other problems to face. The handful of beers, the stars in all their twinkling glory, and LeAnne’s candor might have contributed to his decision to be honest, but frankly, it was a relief to do so.
“I don’t think he does. He’s been my best friend for seven years and hasn’t once mentioned anyone but girls. I know I’m not supposed to answer your question because it’s not my answer to give, but really, what does it matter if there’s no evidence he has something to hide?”
“Why hide? They repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
Chris took a deep breath. “Doesn’t mean there aren’t unforgiving dicks in uniform. Plus, this is kind of a new thing for me. I don’t know what to do with it, exactly.”
“How new?” she asked, turning to him with eyes narrowed.
“A few weeks. Before then, I’d have said I was straight.”
She leveled him with a disappointed look. “You mean I missed out by a couple fucking weeks?”
He chuckled. “Sucks, I know. I’m sorry. You’d have totally been my type, too.”
“Doesn’t that make you bi?”
He shrugged. “It makes me confused, and since all I can think about is him, that wouldn’t really be nice to you, would it?”
“Okay,” she said. “You just went up a couple notches in my book. We should go back.”
“Okay,” he agreed, stumbling a little.
“I’m supposed to distract you until Cami can have her wicked way with Donnie,” she said, steadying him. The tenor of her touch had changed from promising caresses to friendly. “But if you’ve been best friends with him seven years, she’s the intruder here, not you. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I’m kind of rooting for you now.”
She led him into the tunnel once more but stopped before they reached the mouth of the cavern.
“What?” he asked, anxious to return to Donnie. Out of sight was definitely not out of mind, and he was afraid too long away would ruin his cock-blocking strategy.
“You should tell him,” LeAnne whispered. “I mean, we’re in deep shit with the blackout, aren’t we?”
“I would say so,” he agreed.
“Then you don’t know when your chances to say something are used up. I’d do it tonight. With a little liquid courage.”
“You would, huh?” he asked, amused.
“Yeah, especially if you don’t want her sinking her teeth any further into him.” For being Cami’s friend, she was kind of brutal about her.
“Okay. I’m gonna need a couple more beers, though.”
“I’ll get them,” she said generously, then pulled him into the cavern.
His eyes tracked straight to Donnie, who had Cami on his lap, leaning back on his shoulder with half-glazed her eyes. Good, they were still there. If they’d been missing, Chris would have stolen the golf cart and returned to the barracks, not giving a damn if he stranded seven other people. Hey, there was only so far being a good person went. He already served his country. What more did they expect, his dignity, too?
LeAnne plopped two more cold cans into his hands, and when she sat beside him again, it was at a greater distance but not so far away she couldn’t lean over and whisper encouragement in his ear.
“Why do you care so much?” he rasped. A couple of the others giggled at him, so he figured he wasn’t actually as quiet as he tried to be.
“I like an underdog.”
Buoyed by LeAnne’s backing, Chris flirted, touched, and otherwise made himself known to Donnie as much as he would have a girl, without coming out with the words themselves, and as the night wore on, Cami got more hostile, and Donnie got more confused.
“What are you doing?” he leaned over and whispered at one point when Cami had excused herself to go outside for bladder relief with LeAnne and the other girl. “You’re totally blocking me here. Worst wingman ever.”
Chris took advantage of Donnie’s closeness to breathe hotly in his ear. “I’m about ready to go, but I’m not leaving without you.”
“Are you that drunk? What happened with Cami’s friend?”
Chris waved dismissively. “Not interested, and now, neither is she.” It was true. LeAnne had moved from Chris’s side to flirt with Bruce, the quietest of the other guys. From the look on Bruce’s face, he was stunned to have potentially pulled for the night. Especially up against two soldiers in uniform.
“Chris, you’re fucking up my mojo here. What’s wrong with you?”
It was now or never.
“I have something to tell you, and I’m a little freaked out. Well, that’s not true. A lot freaked out.”
“Is this the thing?”
“Huh?” Chris asked, his inebriated brain trying to connect Donnie’s dots. The thought had him imagining licking from one of Donnie’s nipples to the other, and down to his belly button. Now his dick got happy and perky.
“Whatever it is you’ve been keeping quiet?” Donnie’s face was intent, and sudden clarity washed over Chris. This was his guaranteed ticket to get Donnie to go back with him. Donnie wouldn’t leave him hanging over some tail he’d known for a day—even if he was guaranteed to get laid—if Chris spilled his guts.
“Yes. But I’m not comfortable telling you here. Let’s get them to take us back.”
Donnie studied him for a long moment, finally slumping his shoulders in defeat at the realization there would be no repeat with Cami, at least not that night.
“Your timing fucking sucks, dude.”
Chris raised his empty can and rattled it, the drops inside giving a tinny shimmy. “Liquid courage.” He stood unsteadily and offered Donnie a hand up as well. It wasn’t pretense when he lost his balance and had
to lean on the man to keep from falling.
“Gentlemen,” Chris addressed the remainder of the group as though he were a king pontificating to his loyal subjects. “If you would be so kind as to return us to our quarters, we’d be pleased. Such gratitude for the beer given its recent rarity has made me partake more than I should, I daresay, and I must retire. Tomorrow will suck bad enough without me getting puking drunk.”
Maybe tomorrow will suck in a good way, he thought hopefully.
“We probably should be getting back,” Bruce agreed. “It’s almost three in the morning.”
Those who weren’t quite as tipsy as Chris darted around the cave to pick up discarded cans and put them in a plastic bag to be strapped to the golf cart. Taking the lantern with them, they filed out, the three guys in front, and Chris and Donnie following. Frankly, the caves and tunnels were romantic if you were with the right person in them, Chris thought.
They encountered the girls on the way out, and it was Cami’s whine that grated most. “Sure you don’t want to stay?” she needled Donnie, taking his arm. She leaned up to whisper in his ear, but her state of drunkenness didn’t make her subtle either, and Chris heard her. “I’ll make it worth your while.” Her fingers skated toward Donnie’s pants button, but he grabbed her hand.
“You’re a sweetheart,” he said. “But we gotta get back. Chris is right, we’ve got an early morning, and we both kind of overdid it since the beer was so good.”
She glared at Chris, and he was so beyond caring he nearly flipped her off. He would have if he could have figured out how to work his fingers. Hopefully the ride back to camp would sober him up a bit.
The same riding configuration as the journey to the cave took them back down, but this time, LeAnne on his lap was nice. She was warm and the temperature had really dropped. He leaned his head on Donnie’s shoulder and dozed for the ten minutes it took them to return to the shed. They exchanged pleasantries with the group, and LeAnne gave Chris a kiss on the cheek while Cami tried to shove her tongue down Donnie’s throat and lick his liver.
“I hope it goes well,” LeAnne whispered, then called to her friend. “Oh my god, roll your tongue back in, Cam. They have to go.” It earned her a dirty look, but behind the girl’s back, LeAnne gave him an exaggerated thumbs-up, making him chuckle.
