Page 6 of Leave

I’d been out on patrol when my partner and I were summoned to the hospital on Camp Foster. Turned out a patient had been the victim of some serious domestic violence, and shewas terrified. She wanted to leave her husband, but it would take time for her to recover from her injuries and arrange travel back to the States.

In the meantime, she had nowhere to go, and no one could find him. He controlled all the money, he’d taken her passport, and he knew where all of her (very few) friends lived. She was scared to stay anywhere on any of the bases because she was convinced he’d find her. Even staying at the hospital felt too risky for her. No matter how much we assured her that he’d be apprehended the moment he showed his ID at any base’s gate, she was terrified. With as many domestics as we responded to, neither of us blamed her.

That was when my partner had come up with an idea, and he’d stepped out to make a call. Not two minutes later, he’d returned and declared that he’d found a place off-base where the husband would never find her. Even if he did, he’d have to contend with a Marine who was built like a brick shithouse and didn’t have any patience for abusive partners. Bonus, he was gay as the day was long, and every one of his friends’ wives felt completely safe around him.

That Marine had said yes without hesitation. He didn’t want any money. He didn’t even need anyone to buy him a beer or something to make up for it. She could have the spare bedroom in his apartment, free of charge, for as long as she needed. His only requirements were that she was nice to his cats and that there was someone else in the apartment at all times while she was there, whether he was at work or not.

“I know she might not be comfortable with a guy with her all the time,”Nolan had said.“Given what happened. But I’m not comfortable with just me and her in the apartment. Either a cop stays here too, or I’ll pitch in to get her a hotel room off-base.”

I’d been one of the cops who’d volunteered to stay in rotating shifts, trading off with some of the other MAs from mycommand whenever one of us had to be at work. Not that we had any jurisdiction off base, and our security officer hadn’t been thrilled about it, but we’d made it work and both Nolan and the woman had been happy with the arrangement.

After the asshole husband had finally been arrested and she’d safely left the island, I’d gone back to let Nolan know everything was resolved, to thank him for helping us out, and to pick up a few items some of us had forgotten. As I was leaving, I’d commented that his place was nice; it was going to be tough transitioning back to the barracks after this.

He’d casually offered to let me rent the spare bedroom for a song. Sounded like a sweet deal to me, so here I was, crashing in this sick apartment with the quiet, impossible-to-read Marine who’d opened his home to a battered spouse.

Not long after that, we’d commiserated one night about how hard it was to date or even hook up in a small, isolated place like Okinawa. One thing led to another, and my dick ended up down his throat, and we’d been getting each other off ever since.

For a long time I’d felt weird about how we did things. Only handjobs and blowjobs? Clothes on? No kissing? No fucking? Sleeping separately? It was always hot, but it always felt like something was missing. Like I was barely an upgrade from his own hand.

Turned out, all along, he’d been hiding one of those dark, ugly secrets that could ruin someone’s life and cleave a family apart. Someone had hurt him, and that someone would be at the wedding he couldn’t avoid.

Fuck. Knowing what little I did, it was a genuine miracle he was willing to do as much as we did.

And I’d thought going back tomyhometown was complicated and messy. My family loved me, and there wasn’t anything dark or horrible that I knew of. There was just the issue of them being painfully weird about my sexuality. They didn’treject me per se, but they didn’t accept me as a gay man. I still had a seat at the table. I was still invited to everything. They still hugged me and said they were proud of me.

They just… refused to get their heads around the fact that I was also gay. They’d never thrown me out or torn into me about it. It wasn’t something they could—or would—understand. It was almost like they were waiting for me to say,“Never mind, it really was just a phase.”They’d even asked me straight-up the last time I saw them if I was still in this “gay phase.”

I was thirty-two. Pretty sure most “phases” didn’t last this long.

I closed my eyes and sighed. One of these days, I needed to just bring home a boyfriend and tell them,“Look! A real boyfriend!Nowdo you believe me?”

My own thought made me jump.

I’d had it a million times, but tonight it hit different.

I let my gaze slide toward my bedroom door.

What if…

My heart sped up. No, that was crazy. Nolan would never go for it, and it would never work.

But…

What if hedidgo for it? And what if itdidwork?

Without another thought, I got up and headed into the living room.

Chapter 4

Nolan

An hour or so after we came back from dinner, I stared blankly at the TV. Velcro was in my lap and Arrow was draped across the back of the couch behind my neck. God only know where ShiShi was, and I’d long since lost track of whatever was on the screen.

I did feel better after earlier. A couple of quick blowjobs, a walk down the street, and some good food and a beer had helped. I wondered if Riley knew taco rice had become comfort food for me, or if he’d just tossed it out there as a suggestion. Plus he knew I sometimes needed to go walk when I was frustrated or upset.

Suggesting a blowjob, a walk, and taco rice? Maybe he knew me better than I thought. I didn’t think he or anyone else paid that close attention, but whatever. I’d take it.

I was also relieved that he’d taken my cue to drop the subject. He’d skirted dangerously close to it, but he hadn’t pushed. I liked that about Riley; I was a closed book about most things, and he never tried to pry. Though he was a cop trained to get information out of people, the instant I gave the slightest hint that I didn’t want to talk about something, he moved on without missing a beat.

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