Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 6

was not the most gay-friendly state to be living in. But the bar turned out to be perfect; it had all the necessities— men, alcohol, and a back room.
    By the time I got back to the base that night, my ass was sore, my dick was soft and I got a very good night's sleep.
    As well as the first experience had gone, I still limited my "trips" to as few times as possible, only going when I really needed to relieve some tension. The third time I went, I was into my second drink and starting to get a good buzz started when I turned around to find myself staring right into the face of one of the corporals from the base. My blood turned ice cold and I almost spilled my drink on the bar from my hand shaking so bad. He reached out and steadied my hand and smiled at me, before leaning in to speak in my ear.
    "Relax, Private. Now, would I be here if I weren't looking for the same thing you were?" His eyebrow rose to punctuate his words, and I let out a large breath as I realized what he was saying. We chatted for a bit, he gave me some tips about how to handle the subterfuge involved in being a gay Marine, and then we ended the evening in the back room.
    After that night we got together a few more times, meeting other places off base. It was just convenient sex for both of us, taking advantage of being with someone neither of us had to worry would tell on the other, since we both had the same things to lose.
    And it didn't last very long, as I was soon off to another base for more training. Six months later I was sent to Iraq.
    Now that I was back in the states, I was home for a couple weeks of R & R, staying at Mom's before heading to my next base assignment, which was thankfully at Camp Pendleton. Mom was thrilled that not only was I home again, safe and sound, but that I was going to get to stay in California. I didn't tell her that I had already been warned I would be deployed again, I just didn't know when. It was generally required a soldier be given at least a year between deployments but with my specialty and the wars still going on in the Middle East, I was looking at probably less than a year before getting called back. Which sucked and was against the rules, but if I was needed, I was needed.
    Bobby and Kate were over for dinner the night before I was heading back to Pendleton. He and I were hanging out in the living room, relaxing with a beer and watching a baseball game while Kate and Mom finished up in the kitchen.
    "I gotta say man, you're looking good for only being back two weeks from a war. Are you really doing as good as you look?"
    I chuckled. "Yeah, I'm really okay. Although PT is gonna be hell this week, after all the food Mom has forced on me. I must have gained ten pounds."
    Bobby snorted and threw a couch pillow at me. "Oh yes, I'm sure Mom forced you to eat her cooking."
    We both laughed and turned back to the TV.
    "Oh hey, I almost forgot, Chase is living in San Diego now, you need to hook up with him. I think he just bought a house."
    "Chase? In San Diego? Did he get traded to the Chargers?"
    Bobby gave me a funny look over his beer as he took a big swig of it. "The Chargers? Aw no, shit, I forgot. You probably didn't hear cause it was right after you left for Iraq. No, he quit football. He's working with some non-profit thing, working with underprivileged kids or something. Seriously, what happened with you two? You used to be so close when we all were kids. Hell, I couldn't get rid of you half the time cause he'd let you hang out with us."
    I didn't say anything, because I really didn't have a good answer. I could blame it on time and distance, but there was more to it than that. Both of us being gay and being in fear of anyone finding out— emails could be hacked and phone calls could be overheard— left a wall between us when we communicated. We had to be ultra careful and it was like the elephant in the room we couldn't talk about, which was just uncomfortable for me. So I had pulled back and our relationship had suffered for it.
    ****
    Two weeks later I had just got back to the barracks, happy, but tired that the week was over when my cell phone number rang with a number I didn't recognize. I was completely shocked when I heard the voice at the other end.
    "Little A, what's up, man?"
    "Chase? Shit. I'm good, man. Or at least, as good as I can be after ten hours of field and classroom training. I'm ready to find a shower, some food and a pillow and maybe not in that order."
    He laughed and the