It took longer than two hours to get home. Skip had to stop to throw up too many times, and his GPS had decided to get Chad lost for nearly an hour before Skip realized they were off course. It was nearly noon when they pulled up in front of his cabin. The sun was shining through the trees despite the chill in the air, making the big south-facing picture window shimmer in welcome.

“This is… absolutely, not what I was expecting.” Chad parked and turned off the engine.

“You were expecting a shack in the woods.” Skip smiled as he watched the man seated beside him. He’d done too much of that on the drive. Both yesterday and today.

“The word cabin does conjure images of a shack in the woods.” Chad leaned forward to look up at the second story. “This isn’t a cabin; it’s a damned log palace.”

“Mmm, hmm. I built it myself.” Skip popped his belt, but didn’t look out. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from Chad. “Okay, not with my own two hands; I’m not that skilled. I can wield a paintbrush and a chainsaw when pressed. I had this built not quite ten years ago. I spend about six months a year here.”

“What about the other six months?” Chad stopped looking at the house, and pulled his sunglasses off to focus those baby blues on Skip. His stomach did a heavy flip-flop, and Skip grabbed his door and almost fell out in his rush not to throw up in his Jeep.

Chad grabbed some of their gear and followed him up to the porch. He was at the door before he remembered that Chad had his keys. Chad dropped the bags at Skip’s feet, and handed him the keys before heading down for more.

Skip made it to the downstairs half-bath and leaned over the toilet… the fluttering in his stomach subsided, as he leaned there, praying for this to stop. He heard a car horn, and dragged himself off the floor. He needed to crash, but there were things to do first.

Chad stood on the porch, as a woman with pink hair and purple bell-bottom jeans bounded up the steps. “You must be Brian,” Cat shouted, catching sight of Chad. “It’s about time Skip brought you with him.”

“I’m… not Brian.” Chad stood there holding one of his slightly crushed boxes, his eyes wide as he took in the newcomer. Cat wasn’t much younger than Skip, though she thought she was still nineteen most of the time.

“Catriona, this is Chad. He’s Colten Mayes’ son. You remember Colt, right?” Skip wondered why Chad flinched at the mention of his son and not Chad’s father.

“Oh, yeah. I see the resemblance. I didn’t know he had a son. And such a pretty one at that. Must take after his mother,” Cat said, laughing at what she thought was a flirty compliment.

“Colt passed away. Chad is going to stay with me for a little while. It’s… a difficult time for him right now.”

Cat’s smile diminished, but not her spark. She grabbed Chad and wrapped him in a hug before he could escape inside. “I’m so sorry for your loss. Colt was a good man. And a good friend. You poor baby.”

“Uh,” Chad uttered, looking to Skip for help. “Thank you.”

Cat let him go and patted his cheeks. Skip was sure she was trying to decide if she could get away with pinching his dimples. Something Skip wanted to do, every time the man even attempted to smile. “I’ve got your groceries and your mail, and I’ve been holding a couple of packages for you while you were away. Manny sent a care package. And there was a reporter in town not long ago looking for you. Just wanted to warn you. Something about doing an interview for Rolling Stone. But that’s not my business.”

“Thanks for the forewarning, Cat. Just… not interested right now. If he comes back to town, tell him I’m out of the country. Might not be back until Christmas.” Skip cut his eyes toward Chad, and Cat followed looking amused.

“Oh, yeah. Right. Okay, out of the country. Where are you going this time?” She leaned against one of the huge stone columns that flanked his front steps, looking like she had every intention of staying.

“I’m heading to Ireland next month,” he replied truthfully. “I plan to be gone most of the summer. I promised Brian I’d be back to help close the seasonal section of the park right after Labor Day. We’re going to tear that out, and remodel with some new water rides. He’s going to keep the Adventures side open this fall. Then, this winter we’re talking about taking tours, up through…” his stomach roiled again, and he doubled over. Chad dropped his box, and caught his arm. “Sorry. I picked up a bug somewhere. Don’t mind me.”

He rushed back to the bathroom where his stomach didn’t flutter, it churned leaving him weak, but not as bad as last night when he was finished dry heaving.

When he came back out, Chad and Cat had the groceries inside. The canvas bags lined the counter beside his fridge. Chad hefted two huge coolers at once over to the freezer. They chatted quietly, while Skip pulled out a bar stool, and hefting his ancient ass up, he sprawled across the bar.

He looked up when a bottle of pink ooze landed right in front of his nose. “Ugh. Thanks, Mom.”

“Don’t mention it, but you owe me six bucks for that. It wasn’t part of your order, that’s for my next stop. And I’ll have to drive back into town to get more.” Cat called out from the inside of a large shopping bag.

He looked up in time to see Chad pull a bill from his wallet and hand it to her. He’d have to reimburse the kid for the motel, and the gas, and the food, and everything he’d paid for while Skip was a zombie.

“This is a lot of food,” Chad commented as the bags kept coming. “For one person.”

Most of it was precooked foods Skip could pop into the oven when he was hungry. The rest was whatever Cat thought he’d need, for four weeks spent in front of his computer.

Sometimes he found exactly what he was craving; other times, he left more than he’d eaten. “Please tell me there are no new-wave hippie monstrosities in there waiting to give me flashbacks?”

“You didn’t know a good thing when you had it,” Cat called back with a wink and a smirk.

“Sorry. Not sorry. Once this boy escaped the commune and discovered McDonald’s, it was all over. Not going back. Though, if you remembered to get some of that Fage yogurt that I like, then close enough.” He opened the bottle of stomach medicine and drank half of it. “Gag… that shit’s still terrible.”

Cat gathered up her bags and walked over to Skip; She wrapped him in her arms and lightly kissed his cheek. “I gotta run now. Give me a call if you need anything,” she said, then leaned in to whisper. “This one’s going to be a heartbreaker.”

Skip nodded and hugged her back. There was nothing to say to that. Not one goddamned thing. “Thanks for taking care of me. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Starve, is what.” She patted him again, and waved to Chad. “Nice to meet you, Chad. I’m sorry about your dad. Really. He was a good man.”

And she flitted out of his kitchen without a backward glance. Skip leaned against the bar because the room started spinning. “The guest room is up the stairs to the right. You can’t miss it. It has a private bathroom.”

Chad stood on the other side of the island, looking at him with wide, blank eyes. He wasn’t standing in the rigid military stance he’d used the past couple of days. He looked as if he was seriously reconsidering his current predicament. Skip didn’t blame him.

“Do you have a washing machine?” Wasn’t exactly the question Skip had anticipated.

“Uh, yeah.” He pointed down the hallway behind Chad. “It’s in the mudroom off the back deck. There’s a hot tub outside if you need it, and there are hiking trails. I’ve marked most of them as I blazed my trail. You should have phone service everywhere. There’s a tower not far from here. It’s decent, unless it storms. Then it’s spotty, same with the satellite cable and internet.”

“I don’t have a computer,” Chad said after a moment, his eyes still blank. “You slept with her.”

Skip sighed, and rubbed his eyes. Chad didn’t seem the jealous type. “A long time ago, when I first came to town. Yeah, we had a thing. It didn’t last. She moved on. I moved on. I’ve been with more women than men. My last lover was male, and that one ended badly. He wanted more than I could give.”

“I am not the jealous, clingy type. I don’t need anything from you.” Chad’s gaze lost the blank look, but Skip couldn’t tell what he saw there. He looked around the cabin at the soaring beams and the leaded glass. “I don’t need a sugar daddy. I’m not a gold digger.”

“Because your dad left you a million-dollar life insurance policy. I know, Chad. I didn’t think you were. And…” Skip hauled himself off the stool, and went around to stand beside the man. “Thank you for taking care of me. I don’t get sick often. I didn’t mean to saddle you with any of this. If you want to book a flight anywhere, I’ll take you to the airport. Stay if you want. I’m going to be here until the end of April. That’s the plan at least.”

“And then, you’re off to Ireland for the summer,” Chad repeated, and Skip tried not to think he sounded like a petulant child. He didn’t, but for a moment Skip wanted to believe.

Skip slunk closer, skimming his cheek over Chad’s scruff. He trembled at Skip’s touch. “Stay until then, if we work… come with me.”

The slight moan was low enough that Skip wondered if he’d imagined the sound. Chad didn’t move. He didn’t say a word. He just stood there, in that rigid stance that was relaxed for him. The tremble and moan the only indication he’d heard. Skip skimmed his hand down the man’s arm, and left him standing in the kitchen to gather his wits.

“Help yourself to anything. Mi house es tu house.” He grabbed his bags, and tried not to wince at the weight of them. He wasn’t going to have anyone carrying him up the stairs. Not again. Not ever again.

* * * * *

The man reeked of vomit and sweat, and Chad had a stiffy. He watched as Skip struggled up the stairs in the open front room, trying to prove he was fine, and hadn’t just spent the last several hours sick as a dog. Chad let him go. He had his own problems. Like, how to get over this attraction to a man who didn’t want him.

He ignored the problem in his shorts… and speaking of shorts, he went to find his pack. He was down to his last pair of clean shorts, and had one blouse that was even halfway clean. He walked to the mudroom, and dumped his pack on the counter beside the beast of all washing machines. He’d have to have a manual to operate the damned thing. He threw his BDUs in, and found a bin of gel pods and tossed one in. He repacked his non-clothing items, and went back to gather up the three boxes of things he’d rescued from his car. It was all that he’d kept of his father. The rest, he’d donated or stored. He had nothing of his own. He hadn’t bothered accumulating much in the last four years, just what he needed to get through from deployment to deployment. He’d left most of that life behind when he’d left base-housing with his personal effects.

He climbed the stairs, and paused at the landing. Skip had said the guest room was to the right. So, the master would be to the left. He walked down the landing to the room at the far end, and stopped cold. The guest room in this place was bigger than any bedroom he’d ever had. Heck, it was bigger than his parent’s room had been with the bathroom included. He set the box, and his lightened pack on the floor just inside the door. The problem in his shorts hadn’t subsided. It was Skip’s fault there was a problem.

He took off his jacket and his cover, and sat down on the bench at the foot of the bed to unlace his boots. Blouse, undershirt, and trousers hit the floor in a pile. He sat hoping the stiffness would go away. It didn’t. He needed a shower. Last shower he’d had, he’d jerked himself until he was shaking on the floor, and he still needed.

He found the bathroom. The room wasn’t huge, just large enough for a separate tub and shower and a toilet and sink. It wasn’t so large as to inspire awe. He heard water running, and realized the two bathrooms were connected. He heard a muffled groan. His dick responded. Chad pushed it down until it brushed his thigh. He could feel the warm, slick fluid leaking down his leg. Skip moaned again, this time louder, and Chad fled the bathroom to pace the bedroom.

His dick had done the thinking for him last night. He’d gotten a taste of cock. Taking it when it was offered, instead of pretending the opportunity wasn’t there. He didn’t knock on the door at the other end of the landing. He didn’t knock on the bathroom door. He didn’t stop walking until he stood in the shower in his shorts, chest to chest with the man he’d fantasized about most of his adult life. Skip didn’t look surprised. He released his cock, and slid his soapy hands over Chad’s chest, rubbing him in places that Chad didn’t know could feel pleasure. He smiled, and angled his face up to Chad’s. His green eyes turned dark, as he pushed Chad’s soaked shorts over his hips.

“I was hoping you’d come,” he whispered, just before he pulled Chad under the water with him. “I brushed my teeth. I want to kiss you. I would have in the kitchen, but I could still taste vomit. Not a good way to seduce a person, you know.”

Chad shook his head. He didn’t know what seduction looked or felt like. “I’ve never tried to seduce anyone.”

Skip smiled and reached for the soap. He lathered his hands, and pushed Chad against the shower wall. “You did fine last night on the side of the road. I haven’t forgotten that. Or, that you didn’t get off after. I was going to punch your V card for you last night, and send you on your way.”

“Why didn’t you?” Chad lifted his arms for Skip to slick the bar of soap under his pits. He pulled at the hair there, and Chad had to fight a moan. “You didn’t get sick until later.”

Skip closed his eyes and leaned in. His mouth so close to Chad’s, he could taste the toothpaste that still lingered on his breath. “A long time ago, I fell in love, with a guy. I was a virgin. Naïve as hell, if you want to know the truth. He was older. Not much older, only six years, and he was married. They had two beautiful daughters. He used me. He used my innocence, and he used me for my money, and anything else he could get from me. I did things for that man I’ve never done with another lover. I let him hurt me. I let him damage me. When he left me, he ripped out my heart. I don’t want to be that man for you. I want you, so fucking much, but… you scare the hell out of me, Chad.”

Chad took the soap from him, and slicked it down his back and under his arms, dragging his hands over every inch of hard body, and into every crevice. “I’m a virgin, but I’m no innocent.”

Skip grabbed a handful of his hair, and glared at him. “That’s what I’m afraid of.” He slammed his mouth to Chad’s. Hard. The force of the kiss, sucking the breath from his lungs. Chad turned them in the shower, and pushed Skip against the wall, as he opened his mouth for Skip to lick inside, and suck his tongue back into his mouth. With soapy hands, he slicked between Skip’s legs palming his balls, just to taste his groan. Skip released his hair, and slid his hands down Chad’s back to grip his ass cheeks. His feet parted, and Chad took advantage, and pressed his body to Skip’s, pinning him to the wall. Mouth to mouth, chest to chest, erect cock to erect cock.

“That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.” He moaned into Chad’s mouth and rocked his hips, forcing the soap-slicked heat of his erection to glide along Chad’s groin, and belly, and over his cock, until Chad lost control, mimicking the movement. “That’s it, Chad, fuck me. Feels so good, baby,” Skip whispered, his eyes gone heavy-lidded as they rutted against each other. “Make me feel good, Chad. Harder.”

Chad growled in the man’s face, and slid his hands down to the backs of his thighs. He pulled them apart, and lifted the man up, until Chad and the wall supported his weight. He slammed into him, grinding his dick into the slick heat, feeling every slide of Skip’s cock against his own, all the way down to his toes. “Fuck me, Chad. God. Yes.” Skip cupped his face in his hands and held on, his breath coming in ragged bursts. His eyes rolled into the back of his head; his mouth hanging open as the moans stopped. His body shaking so hard Chad thought he’d killed him. The sharp sting of nails raking his shoulders and down his back, the only sign the man lived, and Chad died in his arms, pouring his heart and soul and life out onto the man’s stomach in the steaming hot water.

When he could think again, he was on his knees. Skip wrapped around him, stroking his back, and mumbling soft words that Chad didn’t understand. The bar of soap touched his knee, and Chad picked it up. There were places he’d missed. Skip laughed softly, his lips hovering over Chad’s mouth. He took the soap, and washed away round one. When round two shattered him into a thousand pieces, Skip picked him up off the floor, and dried his body… slowly, and put him to bed.

With the sun still high in the sky, and the weight of his lover hot against him, Chad slept.