Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
WYL
We moved from our chairs to the cushioned loveseat, sitting pressed against each other.
We rested our feet on the coffee table. “My turn.” I took another sip.
“You already learned I had very few friends in the Marines. In fact, my last real friend was back in high school. Stewart Snowdon. He wanted to be called Stewy because he thought Stewart sounded like a last name.”
“Whatever happened to Stewy?” Rod asked.
“It’s kind of like your Patrick story. Stewy disappeared, and nobody had a clue where he went.
He sends birthday and Christmas gifts to his parents.
He remembers their anniversary, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Valentine’s Day.
But gifts don't include a return address or any other contact information.”
“Now that is weird.” Rod set his coffee mug on the side table, took my hand, and threaded our fingers. “Maybe someday he’ll show up as if nothing happened.”
I set my mug down. “I doubt it, but I sure would like to know what happened to Stewy. I can’t understand why he thought he should vanish. I hope he’s okay.”
“Any others?” Rod asked.
I squeezed Rod’s fingers. “I provided logistical support, so I didn’t travel with a single platoon.
I went where my transfer orders took me.
One evening, I nursed a beer at the local watering hole where military types hung out, and in walked a young Marine.
He looked lost, so I motioned him to my empty table and asked if he wanted a beer. He nodded and sat.”
“So, he was the new guy, and you were the seasoned military man?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we called new guys a boot, meaning a guy fresh out of boot camp. He served as a technology guy, so we talked the same lingo. His name was Dusty, and he worked with a specific platoon as an equipment expert. Different from what I did.”
Rod squeezed my hand. “I don’t have a clue what you did in the Marines, except on the first day of class, you said something about cryptology.”
“I’ll fill you in, but let’s move Dusty out of the way first.” I needed to share a story I would rather forget, which still haunts me.
“We started hanging out together some. I helped him come out of his shell, and he became a confident, driven Marine. And we spoke the same technology lingo. I couldn’t be specific about my job, but he understood.
At some point later, the conversation turned to our sex lives.
He liked watching porn, so sometimes I would join him.
I never got into porn, much less straight porn.
But his porn included naked guys, so I ignored the gals.
We started masturbating together and soon progressed to giving each other hand jobs. ”
Rod squeezed my hand. “So far, it doesn’t sound too weird.”
“I never explored my gay side and had no clue about how gay relationships work, but touching another man’s dick felt gay to me. In the heat of passion one evening, I leaned over to kiss him.”
“Like this?” Rod leaned over and planted a quick kiss on my lips.
I grinned. “Kind of, except your kisses light me on fire.” I gave him a quick return kiss.
“You'd better continue with the story, or we’ll end up in the bedroom,” Rod said.
“Yeah…well…Dusty reacted like I shot him. I thought handling each other’s dicks made us more than friends, but he jumped up, cussing a blue streak at me. He yanked up his pants and fled.”
“I take it he didn’t go quietly.”
I shook my head. “He blabbed to anyone who would listen about how I came on to him and tried to seduce him.” I sighed at a memory I wished would go away. “I suppose in some ways he was right, but it still hurt. I developed feelings for him. But those feelings were one-sided.”
“What happened to Dusty?”
“I don’t have any idea. The Corps shipped him to Germany. When the shit hit the fan, I was transferred to Italy. My superiors never said a word about the situation. They wanted to protect me and move me out of it. My skills are unique, so relocating me removed me from the situation.”
“Dusty's not from around here, is he?”
I shook my head. “East Texas, I think. Tyler, maybe? If he returned home after serving his stint, he’d likely end up in Dallas/Fort Worth or Shreveport. I didn’t hear from him after he outed me, and I don’t want to. His actions left me sour on relationships.”
With a smirk on his face, Rod nudged me. “I guess not all relationships…”
“Yeah…well…along came this old professor…” I chuckled.
Rod chimed in, “And this ancient student…”
We laughed and headed back inside.
* * *
We cleaned up the breakfast dishes.
“Why don’t we eat lunch in Kerrville today?” Rod said. “The city boasts several outstanding restaurants. Afterward, we can come back here and relax.”
“Lunch in town sounds wonderful.”
“I understand your uneasiness with being together in public. But you can be yourself around here,” Rod said. “Nobody knows us except my friends, and they are people I worked with at the college who retired down here. We won't bump into them. But if we did, they already know about you and me.”
“About me? I hope you didn’t tell them what an idiot I was for walking away from you.”
Rod chuckled. “No. I didn’t tell them about you until after you got down on your knees and, tears streaming down your cheeks, begged me to come back to you.”
My turn to chuckle. “Was I there?”
We laughed. One thing we learned early on in our relationship, starting the first day, was that we enjoyed kidding with each other. I hoped that it would never end. “Will I meet them someday?”
“Sure,” Rod said. “I almost arranged a party for this weekend, but I wanted the time to be ours. I hope you don’t mind.”
I kissed his ear. “Of course, I don’t mind.” Knowing Rod mentioned me to his friends overjoyed me. He made me part of his life. I turned Rod to face me. By now, I had tears. Tears of happiness. “You are so understanding and accommodating. I don’t deserve you and am so lucky you put up with me.”
“I’m the lucky one, babe.” Rod stroked a tear from my cheek before he leaned in for a quick kiss. “Now, let’s finish these breakfast dishes.”