Page 43 of The Texas Sterling Collection
Wyl knocked on the chair arm with his knuckles. “Do you think he’ll ever try to find you?”
“I doubt it. I have nothing to give Patrick. If he showed up, I would call the bank in Dallas and tell them. I’m sure he realizes the need to remain in hiding, wherever he is. In some ways, I'm sorry he succumbed to a gambling addiction and let it ruin his life. In other ways, I’m angry about how he left me a mess to clean up. I thought we were a couple for life, but with everything that happened, I hope I never cross paths with him again.”
Wyl stood, came to me, tugged at my chin, and kissed me. “Thank you for sharing your story with me. I now understand why you hesitated to enter another committed relationship. That one cost you.”
I nodded. “Yes, but with one kiss from you, all my reluctance flew out the window.”
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 thatisweird.” 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 aboot, 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…”
