Page 14 of Absent Without Leave
Jake nuzzles Aiden’s hairline. “Another five days.”
“Yeah? Cool. What are you planning on doing while you’re here?” Jake’s getting cozy and Aiden’s getting ideas, but he’s not going to assume.
“Unless you have any objections, messing up your bed suits me just fine.”
Aiden’s heart gurgles and bubbles like a brook over a bed of large rocks, and he chuckles. “To the general thought of spending them in bed with you, I have zero objections, but I’d rather not stay here. Why don’t we drive over to Big Spring and rent a suite at The Oil Rigger?”
Jake kisses his neck and Aiden shivers in pleasure. “Sounds like a plan.”
He lies there and dozes in the cocoon of Jake’s arms.
Aiden stirs sometime later, feeling warm and cozy, and floating on a haze of arousal. There’s a warm body at his back, a hard cock nestled in his ass, and a hand stroking his dick. And isn’t that a fine way to wake up. “Mmm…”
Jake’s breath ghosts across his shoulder and he shivers. Aiden rubs his ass against Jake’s erection, and with a murmur and a hand to Jake’s hip, encourages him to rut into him. Then he covers Jake’s hand with his own and together they bring Aiden to orgasm, and Jake follows him over the edge shortly thereafter.
“A shower’s definitely in order,” says Aiden, rising from the bed, “and then we’ll have to go down and face the music while I make arrangements for my mini-vacation.”
Jake sits up, cross-legged and admires Aiden’s naked form. “Before we do that…let’s talk.”
“Okay, what’s up?” He looks up from digging in his dresser drawer.
***
Jake drags his gaze from Aiden’s back, waist, and ass to look at him. “I want to date you, I guess. For lack of a better term. How would you feel about that?”
“Are you kidding?” Auburn eyebrows rise and small red splotches color his cheeks.
“I know long distance isn’t ideal, but my enlistment is up in eight or nine months, and we can negotiate between now and then. In the meantime, I like the idea of having someone to call mine.”
Aiden crosses the room and pins him to the mattress. “You’re not kidding.” He still looks serious and Jake’s not sure where his hesitation is coming from.
Jake shakes his head and looks into eyes the color of rich brown velvet. He cups Aiden’s face and kisses him gently. “No. Why would I kid about this?”
“I just… You wouldn’t.” Aiden drops his forehead to Jake’s chest. Jake feels the pounding of Aiden’s heart against his stomach, and worry pinches the muscles of his shoulders.
Jake runs a hand through the soft strands of the strawberry blond hair and down Aiden’s back. “Aiden, long distance is going to work much better if we communicate. We’ve already gone through a mostly avoidable hitch. Talk to me.”
Aiden meets Jake’s eyes, resting his chin on his clenched fist. “Joe accused me of flirting with my customers, which led to him accusing me of cheating. And maybe I do. Flirt, that is. It’s just the give and take of the bar. It doesn’t mean anything, and Inevercheated. But…I can try to dial it back.”
Jake caresses the side of Aiden’s face and Aiden leans into the touch. It’s way too soon to be falling in love, but Jake’s liked Aiden for an awful long time, and it’s not going to take much. He sighs. “Maybe your actions could be construed as flirting in the most general sense of the word, but I think it falls under the umbrella of customer service. I’ve watched you work the floor, Aiden. You’re friendly and good at your job. You treat your customers like close friends or family. That’s why they love O’Leary’s. Not because you—Fuck—I could throttle the shithead for how he treated you.
“You be you, Aiden,” Jake says. “Be your sweet self and let me come home to you. That’s all I ask.”
Aiden’s face is a lot red and his eyes are a little shiny, but he blinks the moisture away, and Jake doesn’t call him on it. He presses a kiss to Jake’s chest, right over his heart.
“What can I do to reassure you that I’m not out fucking around behind your back?” Jake asks.
“Is calling me every day if possible too needy? It’s so high-school-girlish, but maybe for a while? And some of those code phrases?”
“If that’s what it takes, I don’t care. We can think up code phrases while we’re in Big Spring. Anything else?”
Aiden’s eyes close for a few moments and then he shakes his head.
“If that changes, speak up.”
“I will,” he murmurs.
It’s another thirty minutes before they hit the showers.
