Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 89598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89598 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
It would be easy to blow him off, say yes and march ahead, but Bacon was just over dancing around the issue. He was probably one more good argument from just saying fuck it and broadcasting it to the whole team anyway. And try as he might, he wasn’t sure he could turn off the pseudo-flirting with Spencer, which would just make him look like that much more obvious of a liar soon enough.
“I’m not out. Curly and Wizard know. Senior Chief ran into me with a date once and he pretty much knows too.”
“So you’re gay?” Bryant sounded more inquisitive than surprised.
“I’m pan.”
“Pan?” Next to him, Spencer blinked.
“Yeah, it’s a thing.” Bacon was more than a little defensive about this because he’d run into plenty of people who wanted to put him in other boxes, tell him how he wasn’t quite queer enough to claim a spot under the umbrella or how he was in some sort of denial.
“I know it’s a thing. You just don’t meet many people who identify that way, that’s all. Wasn’t expecting it here.”
“Well, congrats. You landed a unicorn.” Bacon did speed up then because he didn’t really want to dwell on this.
“I’m curious about why you haven’t told your team.” Spencer easily matched his strides, even when the terrain started shifting uphill with more boulders and vegetation. “Not judging. Just curious.”
“Because I don’t want to answer stupid or invasive questions.” Bacon sent him a sharp look. “Took me long enough to figure out where I belonged, you know? Don’t really need a ton of pushy opinions. And honestly, it hasn’t really been an issue because I haven’t dated anyone seriously in years. If I was seeing someone long-term, I wouldn’t ask them to stay hidden. I just haven’t wanted to put up with the trouble of telling everyone when it’s kind of a non-issue at this point.”
“Fair enough.” Spencer picked his way between three large rocks as they started the more challenging part of their hike. They didn’t talk for several minutes, their breathing and the birds swooping the only sounds. And fuck. That wasn’t supposed to be the case. He’d been so caught up in the conversation with Spencer that he hadn’t noticed that his comm set had gone dead silent. They were supposed to be wired into the XO. He stopped to pull off his helmet, mess with the settings. Nothing.
“You got any chatter?” he asked Spencer as he pulled out the backup radio their comm guy had given him while they were eating. Spencer being able to listen in was the whole damn point of bringing him along.
“Nope.” Spencer pulled his helmet off too. His short silver hair stood up in spikes, somehow making him look even hotter than usual.
“Fuck. Okay. Let me try to rouse Riddles.” He used the radio, trying the channel Riddles had said he’d be on.
“Riddles, you there? Our comm sets seem to be down. Over.”
“I’ve got you, Bacon.” Riddles’s heavy Maine accent crackled in his ear. “Be advised we’re dealing with...outages. I’ll try to have you back up and working shortly. Your orders are to continue to your coordinates and wait until the rendezvous. Over.”
“I read you. Continuing. Over.” Fuck. He’d heard that pause in Riddles’s voice before. Either something big was up or LT didn’t want an open channel or both. And he hated not knowing. LT might have a good reason for not wanting Spencer listening in to whatever was going down, but waiting with nothing to do sucked.
“Think everything’s okay?” Spencer asked as Bacon continued to the sheltered spot on the bluffs where they were supposed to wait.
“Yeah. Feeling a bit like a kid sent snipe hunting, though,” he grumbled.
“Snipe hunting?” Spencer took a long drink from his canteen as Bacon lounged against one of the rocks. They were well hidden behind the rocks, and an outcropping above them provided shade, but the ever-present humidity still had both of them sweaty.
“Guess it’s a Midwestern thing. Older kids would trick younger ones into hunting for a creature that doesn’t exist. Run us in circles all night long.”
“Where in the Midwest are you from anyway?”
“Little town in Western Kansas. Barely more than a truck stop, grain mill, and trailer park.”
“Ah. You go back often?”
“Never.” His vehemence must have surprised Spencer because he took a step back. “My dad was a lot older than my mom. She was wife number three. I’ve got half-brothers old enough to be my parents but they’re just as bad as he was. After I’d been in the navy a few years, I got together enough money to move my mom out here. No reason to go back now.”
“I see. That was nice of you, moving her to be closer.”
Bacon grunted his agreement. “Least I could do.”
“Run and hide, Junior. You go hide now.” Her voice, low and urgent, echoed back over the years.