Savage
Sure, he could sit around and complain about his past and waking up every day in pain, but where would that get him?
It was his choice to join the Air Force, and it was his choice to re-up when he could have gotten out.
He saw active combat for the third time, and that was when his copter went down, and most of his buddies died.
There was nothing he could have done differently that day, but God, it was just about all he could think about every night when he lay down and tried to sleep.
Their faces would flicker through his memories, and he knew that he was going to have another restless night ahead.
It was who he had become since he was honorably discharged.
Of course, the Army was quick to jump on his specific skill set and make him the best fucking job offer he’d ever gotten.
How could he refuse, and why would he? He got to stay in Huntsville, Alabama, where his kid could stay in the same school with the only friends she had ever known.
Uprooting Chloe wasn’t part of his plan—the poor kid hadn’t had much stability in her life.
Chloe wasn’t really his kid, but that wasn’t something he liked to think about too often.
It brought up too many bad memories, and he tried to only look forward, never back.
“Yeah,” he breathed. “My mother was a huge fan, and well, I got stuck with the name.”
Bowie groaned and laughed. “Yeah, now you just sound like my mother,” he teased.
“Thanks for that,” Savage grumbled. He knew just by looking at the guy that he had a few years on him. Hell, he had more than a few years, but that usually didn’t bother him. Savage liked his guys young and feisty.
“Sorry, man. Um, I didn’t catch your name,” Bowie said.
“Savage,” he offered.
“Wow—you gave me shit about my name, but yours is pretty epic too. How did you get a name like Savage?” Bowie crossed his arms over his massive chest and waited him out.
It wasn’t something Savage liked to talk about, but the determination on the guy’s face told him he really had no choice in the matter.
“Savage is actually my last name. My first name is Logan, but my club gave me the nickname after I told them about my helicopter going down. Lost a lot of good guys that day, and my buddies said I’m still alive because I’m too savage to die.”
“You served?” Bowie asked.
“Yeah—career Air Force until the accident and then honorably discharged,” Savage admitted. “How about you?” Bowie held his arms wide as if showing Savage his fatigues to prove his point.
“I enlisted in the Army right from high school and haven’t left yet. I’ve been in for twelve years now, and I hope to make this my career, but we’ll see.” Savage did the math in his head and whistled.
“So, you’re what—about thirty?” he questioned.
“I’ll be thirty-one in a few months,” Bowie admitted.
“You’re just a kid,” Savage teased.
“Yeah—okay, old man,” Bowie said. Savage knew the guy was teasing, but at forty-five, he was really beginning to feel his age. “And how old are you?” Savage winced at the mention of his age. It was something he usually didn’t share because it wasn’t anyone’s damn business.
Savage smiled at Bowie, trying to deflect his question with one of his own.
“Want to have a couple of beers with me?” Savage knew he was pushing his luck with the younger guy, but he didn’t give a shit.
He was hot, tired, and Bowie turned him the fuck on.
It was time to knock off, and if Savage could convince him to have a couple of beers, then he might be able to talk Bowie into coming home with him for the night.
If he was reading the signals correctly, his new friend was interested, but he had been wrong in the past—so who knew.
“You asking me out, Savage?” Bowie questioned. Now it was Savage’s turn to waver in his answer, and he suddenly worried that he had misread the chemistry that hummed through the air between the two of them.
Savage shrugged, “Maybe I am,” he said, not really answering Bowie’s question. The guy was as stoic as they came, and Savage was trying to read him, but he wasn’t having any luck.
“Listen, if I misread the situation, then just forget I asked,” Savage grumbled.
He picked up the last part of his rocket that landed a few hundred feet away from where he had parked, and by the time he turned around and headed back to his pick-up truck, he found Bowie leaning up against the passenger side door, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.
“I’m in,” Bowie said, flashing him a wolfish grin.
“Sounds good,” Savage said. He was trying for nonchalant, but his tone sounded anything but.
It had been a damn long time since he met a man who made his cock pay attention, but Bowie did that for him.
Savage needed to get himself under control, or he’d blow his whole cool guy routine.
Hell, he was far from being cool, but Bowie seemed interested, and he wasn’t about to do anything to fuck that up.
“You have someplace in mind?” Bowie asked, helping Savage shove the last of his equipment into the back of his pickup. “I mean, do you have a place you usually go to, you know, for a few beers?”
Savage liked the way Bowie seemed just as flustered about their situation as he was. He found it kind of cute the way the guy was floundering for words. He could have helped him out, but giving him a hard time felt like the better option and would be a lot more fun.
“You mean, like a gay bar?” Savage asked. He knew he was adding fuel to the fire, but he didn’t care. Bowie turned an adorable shade of red that ran down his sexy neck and had Savage wanting to see just how far down his blush went.
“Well, I mean—sure. Or any bar, for that matter. It doesn’t matter to me,” Bowie stuttered.
Savage reached out and put his hand on Bowie’s arm.
“I’m just messing with you,” he said. “I don’t know of too many gay bars in Huntsville.
I usually just go to my own bar, but I don’t really advertise that I’m gay, and I don’t feel like answering questions tonight.
You mind just going to the Voodoo Lounge?
It’s a bit yuppie, but I think we can blend in with the regular crowd.
Plus, they’ve got great live music a few nights of the week. ”
“Wait—you have a bar?” Bowie asked.
Savage smiled and nodded, “Yep—the bar’s called Savage Hell. It’s also where my motorcycle club meets. We’re a part of the Royal Bastards, which is a nationwide MC, but my little chapter calls themselves Savage Hell, after the bar. I try to keep my personal and private lives separate.”
“Meaning you haven’t shared that you’re gay with your club,” Bowie guessed.
Savage wasn’t sure what to say to Bowie’s assessment.
On the one hand, he felt the need to set him straight, and on the other, he wanted to tell him it wasn’t anyone’s business who he was having sex with.
From the way his body was responding to Bowie, he hoped to have sex with him before the end of the night.
“Listen,” Savage said. “I learned a long time ago that who I’m fucking is no one’s business. I like you, Bowie, but if you’re not interested, tell me now if I’m wasting my time.”
“I was just talking, man,” Bowie said.
Savage sighed, “Yeah—I’m just on edge lately with these damn tests needing to be done yesterday, and I’m being an ass.
Sorry,” he offered. “And to answer your question—I haven’t told my club that I’m bi.
” Hell, he hadn’t told many people about that part of his life.
Savage was careful not to bring any of the men or women he slept with home to meet Chloe.
He didn’t want to expose his daughter to his unstable dating life, and that was exactly what it was—chaotic.
He hadn’t been much of a serial dater, usually not making it past one night with a person.
It was easier that way. He didn’t have to make any promises to anyone, and he didn’t expect anything in return.
The one time he broke his no-dating rule, he ended up running away like a fucking coward when messy feelings got in the way.
“So we're doing this?” Savage asked. He started for the driver’s side of his pick-up, not waiting to see if Bowie was going to join him or not.
“I get it,” Bowie said. “I don’t share that part of my life easily. I haven’t even come out to my family yet.” Bowie slipped into the passenger side of the cab of the truck and pulled his seatbelt on, clicking it in place.
“What about your truck?” Savage asked, nodding to where Bowie’s vehicle sat, just down the road.
“I’ll get it tomorrow when I’m back on duty.
That is, if you don’t mind giving me a lift back to my place later.
” Bowie seemed to assume Savage would just agree, and honestly, he didn’t mind.
If he was Bowie’s ride for the night, there was a better chance they’d end up in Bowie’s bed for a little while.
Savage never left Chloe overnight, but he had a sitter with her, and he knew that she’d agree to a few extra hours if he paid double.
“Sure,” Savage said. “No problem.”
“Thanks,” Bowie said. “I have to admit, I could use a night out. It’s been a shit show around base, and I could use the break.”
“Yeah, I heard about the cut-backs, and I guess being down so many people makes for more work for the ones who are left.” Savage knew some other guys on base from his club, and they were all complaining about the changes to the budget and having to take on more hours for the same pay.
His MC was made up of mostly military guys, both active and retired.
But his guys came from all walks of life—he even had a few one-percenters who he was happy to help get their lives straightened out.
He liked helping his guys and even took a few of them under his wing, as a sort of personal project.
“Yep, it sucks. But what am I gonna do? Uncle Sam owns me, and I go where he tells me,” Bowie said.
“Where are you originally from?” Savage asked. He usually didn’t get too chatty with his “dates,” but there was something about Bowie that made him want to know more about the guy.
“Texas,” Bowie said.
“You get homesick?” Savage questioned.
“Naw,” Bowie admitted. “Like I said, I still haven’t come out to my family, and keeping a secret like that weighs on a person. It’s easier being away from home and not having to worry about watching my back or saying the wrong thing.”
“I get that,” Savage said. “I haven’t exactly been forthcoming about my sexuality with my friends or family either.” He had a few close buddies in his club that knew the truth, and he trusted them not only with his secret but with his life.
“I’d like to blame my military background for all the secrecy, but that really isn’t an issue anymore,” Bowie said.
“Yeah, that wasn’t the case when I enlisted.” Savage had served under the “Don’t ask, don’t tell” era, and he had to admit, it had its pros and cons. Not having people dive too deep into his personal life was always a plus. He valued his privacy over everything else.
“You originally from Huntsville?” Bowie asked.
“Yeah,” Savage said. “My family was from here, but they’re all gone now.
Well, everyone except Chloe and me.” Savage mentally kicked himself for talking about his daughter.
It wasn’t something he did with complete strangers, and he was starting to worry that asking Bowie out might have been a bad choice.
Sure, the guy was the sexiest man he had seen in a damn long time, but he was completely blowing his rules out the fucking window with Bowie, and that usually didn’t end well for him.
“Who’s Chloe?” Bowie asked as if he were able to read Savage’s mind.
“My kid,” Savage admitted.
“You have a daughter?” Bowie asked.
“She’s six, and I adopted her when she was a baby. Chloe is my sister’s kid, and when she and her husband died in a car accident, I took Chloe in.”
“Wow,” Bowie breathed. “I’m sorry about your sister and brother-in-law. But Chloe is lucky to have you, man.”
Savage shrugged, “Thanks. And, I’m the lucky one. She came into my life when I was in a dark place, and she gave me a purpose. She’s a great kid.”
“That makes sense,” Bowie said. “She seems to have a pretty awesome dad.”