Wait. Not his type. Dustin wasn’t supposed to have a type of guy, at least not so far as anyone in his life knew. This was crazy. Absolutely crazy.
Still there? Did I scare you off?
Oops. The guy was probably waiting for a return picture of Dustin or for him to say something to break the endless minutes of silence while he tried not to freak the fuck out. He was a Navy SEAL, for fuck’s sake. He could handle a little picture.
No. Just thinking. You look good. Was that the right compliment? With a girl, Dustin would know better what to say, how to compliment her hair or her eyes or her choice of tops, but he was still feeling out his way around guys, especially beyond the trite comments on dick pics that passed for foreplay online.
And how will **I**recognize **you** ;) Saucer-Man didn’t give up easy, which was one of the things Dustin really enjoyed about him, how the guy could be take-charge and assertive without being overbearing.
Dustin had to think fast. He didn’t have many solo selfies on his phone—all the pictures that showed his face also had his brother or his friends in them, and he sure wasn’t going to try to take a passable shot in the middle of a packed flight. Plus, his military training made him reluctant to share a face pic—one never knew when something would wind up in the wrong hands. Finally, he typed, I packed my Oregon Ducks T-shirt, but I’m not sure this is the best idea... I don’t even know your name.
The woman in the seat next to Dustin shifted about uncomfortably, glaring at him. Hey, it wasn’t Dustin’s fault that God had chosen to make him six four and built like a soccer forward with big shoulders and big thighs. This was one of the rare times that he wouldn’t mind being more normal-sized like his younger brother, Dylan. He tried to give the woman his best smile while waiting for a reply.
You can call me Wes. And I’m not going to ravish you in the middle of the museum, even if you ask nice, okay? We’ll look at some stuff, maybe grab a beer after. It’ll be fine. Are you afraid someone will see you out with a guy? I can promise no PDA if that helps.
God, this would be so much easier if Saucer-Man—Wes—wasn’t so freaking nice. He was always like this in chat too, sensing when Dustin was nervous or reluctant, and knowing exactly what to say to calm him down. And just like how Dustin knew him, he knew Dustin too, knew that his bisexuality was something he usually kept on the serious down low.
I’m not afraid of PDA. That was a lie, a bit of bravado he felt obligated to make. Truth was that the thought of PDA made him both itchy and jumpy—like his skin wasn’t quite up to the task of holding in all his nerves. He’d never gone further than cyber with another guy, and the risk of discovery was a big reason why. He was dying to get Wes’s hands all over him, find out if his fantasies did the reality any justice, but the chance—however small—of someone seeing him on a date with Wes made his heart pound.
Well, then let’s do this. Aren’t you at least a little curious?
Oh there was that word again. Dustin was more than curious. He wanted to know if this incredible chemistry could be duplicated in person. Wanted to know if Wes could make his pulse race from across the room, wanted to know what Wes smelled and tasted like. Yes, he was more than a little curious.
But curiosity could be a dangerous thing, as he well knew. Cautious prudence was the better tactic. Meeting someone he knew online, even someone he liked as much as Saucer—Wes—was a bad idea. He’d never told him he was a SEAL, of course. He knew better than that. All the guys on Joe4Joe went nuts for SEALs, and every third dude there claimed to be one. No, it was easier to be Godzilla, the guy who let people assume he was a marine and who let his faceless pics do the talking for him. Up until he met Saucer-Man, he’d mainly used the app for pic swapping and the occasional no-faces cyber with guys he never heard from again.
But Wes was different—he wasn’t just an avatar of a 1950s movie poster, he was someone who made Dustin laugh, who was fun to talk to even about stupid stuff like band names and food aversions, and who knew how to turn his crank like no one else ever had. And he’d kept coming back. Even when Dustin had been gone for a while on a mission, Saucer-Man had been there to take things back up again. Funny how this online connection had become almost like a real friendship, one Dustin valued far more than he usually let himself admit.