Chapter 4

“You’re going on leave? For how long?” Ryan questioned him, firing at him those cute puppy eyes with glint sharp glances.

“Hey, hey, I’m coming back,” Mouse explained. He turned and grabbed the guy by the back of his neck. “What’s wrong? You’re like a dog humping his master’s leg.”

Ryan blushed but didn’t deny. Mouse had almost finished packing his bag. He didn’t need much; he expected to be naked most of the time.

“You’re my friend,” Ryan blurted out.

Mouse snickered, looked around to check if there weren’t any eavesdroppers around and kissed Ryan quickly on the lips. “And I’ll be back. Suck Jordan’s cock if you feel lonely.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “That guy’s an asshole. He behaves like he didn’t come in my mouth like last week.”

“Wait until he gets horny again. Then grab him by the balls.”

Ryan made a face. “Like I’m getting anywhere near that ugly dick of his again.”

Mouse had a few ideas about Ryan’s dislike of Jordan and Jordan’s behavior, but he decided to sit back and enjoy the show. No way was he going to push those two toward another, or else they’d just find reasons to say that they really didn’t want it.

“Good. Don’t go suck other dicks, though. I told you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Ryan said quickly. “I know. You don’t have to say it again. And it’s not like I like just any dick. I like yours.”

“Alright, don’t turn all mushy on me.” Mouse ruffled Ryan’s hair. “You know honeymoons today are like a week or something, right? I’ll be back so soon you wouldn’t even know I was gone.”

Ryan nodded. “Go fuck your boyfriend, then. Your married boyfriend.” He snickered, the little fucker.

Mouse pretended to be pissed by feigning a frown and twisted Ryan’s ear. “Asshole,” he said with affection.

He walked out of the barracks with the intention to say goodbye to just one more person. The captain took a full half a minute to invite him to come in. Mouse insisted only because he heard noise from inside.

The captain had various papers spread on his desk and seemed lost in thought. Mouse was about to throw a couple of words in and then leave, but then he noticed something thrown on top of the papers in what looked like a careless manner. He immediately looked at Reynolds’ left hand. The fuck?

“Captain, I just wanted to let you know that I’m leaving,” he said.

Reynolds nodded and threw him a bloodshot look. “Very well, Ahab. Have a nice trip.”

Mouse hesitated. “Something wrong?”

“Just paperwork,” Reynolds pointed at the papers. “Anything else?”

Mouse eyed the wedding ring and allowed Reynolds to notice where he was looking, but he remained silent. “No, sir. Thank you for granting me this leave.”

“You deserve it, soldier.” Reynolds offered him a tired smile.

Mouse saluted and walked out of the captain’s office. What was that all about? Was the captain getting a divorce? That was something he’d need to find out when he got back. Now he had a honeymoon to enjoy with Kekko and Karl.

He plopped himself down on the sand by Karl’s side. “Hey,” he said.

Karl said nothing. He was grabbing fistfuls of sand and throwing them toward the water, watching blankly how the wave washed it away. Mouse felt at odds, seeing Karl like that. He knew him to be a mean, jealous fucker, but, so far, this honeymoon had proven to be different from what he had imagined. He had hoped for some moments with Kekko, at bit of fucking around, when Karl allowed it, not this full-fledged threesome buffet that had happened so far.

Mouse could only assume that Karl was pissed because as much as he wanted not to act jealous, he still was.

“Look, man, if you don’t want me near Francesco so much--” he started.

“That’s not it,” Karl cut him shortly. “I’m used to you.”

Mouse moved closer until their shoulders touched. He risked his next move and cupped Karl’s cheek to make their eyes met. “Okay. You even kissed me. Go figure. What crawled out of your ass?”

Karl snorted but didn’t shake off his touch. That was a good sign. “I kinda get it,” he said, making the words topple like rocks out of his mouth. Karl did that, sometimes. Mouse had learned to read the guy, but right now, he had no idea what went through that head.

Karl was handsome. Not attractive in the sense Francesco was. No, as much as he still looked like a teenage heartthrob when he let his face relax, which happened rarely, he was intimidating. Not that Mouse was the kind to let himself intimidated that easily. With Karl, it was better, always, to keep his ground.

“Get what?” he asked.

“What Cesco sees in you. You’re a slut, but you’re loyal.”

“Geez, thanks,” Mouse threw at Karl.

“My dad forced my hand with this marriage thing,” Karl explained. He was looking intently at Mouse, as if he was expecting something.

“And you have no idea why,” Mouse added what Karl wasn’t saying.

“The official version is that he had seen the gay light or something. For the sake of his campaign.”

“But you don’t buy it,” Mouse said again.

Karl’s shoulders tensed more. “I don’t,” he said through his teeth. “That fucker always has something to hide. It fucking kills me that I don’t know what.”

Mouse sighed in sympathy. “I feel you, man. I’d be edgy as fuck if that happened to me. Only that I don’t have a dad who’s a big shot senator. Lucky me.”

Karl laughed, to his relief. Mouse took him by the shoulders. “Look, man, I know it’s not much, but you can count on me, hell or high water.”

“Yeah, I know. As I told you, you’re loyal.”

“By the way, thanks for inviting me. It feels like a real honeymoon. I was missing the both of you like crazy.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to lie now. I’m not some chick. Just say that you missed Cesco.”

“I’m not lying. You’re a fucking asshole, but, you know, you’re dependable. We survived the island because of you. And I like the taste of your dick.”

Karl snorted. “You like the taste of any dick.”

“I can’t say that I don’t. But you and Kekko, you two are special. Given a choice, I wouldn’t mind only sucking you two off for the rest of my life.”

“Is that your wedding vow or something?” Karl smirked.

“Whatever. You’re a dick.”

Karl let his head down. “My dad’s going to do something. I just know it.”

“Your dad’s an asshole. Wait, maybe I can help.”

“How?”

“I mean, many people know him. Some people have to know him well. It’s how you got me my army stint, right? Through him.”

“So?”

“So, maybe people talk and I can find out what kind of dirty stuff he does. At least, some of it.”

“You’re talking out of your ass. That shit’s dangerous.”

“Hey, I know. But I can’t just sit with my hands idle.”

“Alright, I trust you. Don’t get yourself in trouble, though. Cesco’s going to kill me if anything happened to you.”

“Now that was a dark joke. Especially since Kekko married you, not me.”

“Yeah, yeah, funny, what can I say?” Karl looked down and Mouse moved closer to hold him.

“Come on, there are good things about it. Like this honeymoon. We both get to fuck our fill with him.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever fuck my fill with him. It’s fucking nuts.”

Mouse squeezed Karl’s shoulder. “It is what it is, man. Don’t overthink it.”

“Like I could do that. My dick’s doing all the thinking when he’s around. And when he isn’t.”

“Don’t let Kekko hear you. He might begin to think that you regret marrying him.”

Karl said nothing.

“Do you?” Mouse insisted.

“Not really. It’s like you say. I get to fuck him as much as I want. It’s only that this fucking wedding was my father’s gift. So it’s likely to be poisoned.”

“Then don’t be a fucking stranger. Give me a call whenever you can. Keep in touch.”

Karl looked over his shoulder. “Cesco’s coming. Just don’t let him know we talked. I’d rather he’s kept in the dark.”

“In case of what?”

“In case I need to go against my dad.”

Now, that had been a frigging honeymoon. The fucking had been great. Mouse felt like his bones were all jelly just thinking of how many times they had done it. That feeling went out the window, though, as soon as he recalled what he had talked with Karl and Francesco separately. By learning from the two of them about Karl’s famous daddy, he now had a bigger picture.

Fuck. He shook his head. He’d have to start digging dirt on the fucker in the best way he could. Not that he had any idea where to start. Karl probably thought that he was just talking shit, and therefore didn’t care. Francesco just worried, but that was par for the course, with everything happening to him.

Mouse wasn’t in the habit of being jealous. He had Kekko in the way only Karl had him. That was enough, and he didn’t ask for more. But he had a knot in his stomach whenever thinking of Karl’s daddy fucking Francesco like that.

Well, he’d lived through other tough times before. Now, he only had to take on a bigger enemy. And, to do that, it served best if he had good allies.

He had seen the captain only at training. Too bad Karl’s daddy was a bad daddy. Mouse could totally see himself falling for that kind of thing now, whenever he looked at captain Reynolds. The man had values. Damn, while wrestling Mouse on that mat, not once had he put his hands where they didn’t belong. At the end of it all, it had only been Mouse sweaty and with a pair of blue balls to nurse later. That was too damn bad, but there was nothing he could do, but pine over him from afar.

Now, everyone had the evening free, and that meant some drinking and fooling around in the nearby town. Ryan had insisted he should come, and he was, somehow, part of a larger group. Peewee had a way with people. Although so far, Mouse had kept to his part of the fence when it came to interacting with his mates, now he was sitting at the same table as them. He had sucked some of the dicks around him, not all, since some dudes just didn’t swing that way, but still no one was looking down on him. It was all Ryan’s work. Mouse didn’t know whether to feel touched or not. He wasn’t used to such acts of kindness offered for nothing in return. Okay, sure, so maybe it wasn’t nothing. After all, he had introduced Ryan to the pleasures of sucking cock, and the guy felt indebted or some shit.

His ears perked up at one piece of gossip that began circulating around the table. “The man is pissed, I’m telling you,” someone said.

“Yeah, lucky Ahab,” another said.

“What? Why am I lucky?”

“You were gone last week. The captain put us through the fucking wringer. Drills, drills, training, fucking interviews.” The guy shook his head. “He chilled a bit, but I think only because it was the free day coming up.”

“Why is he pissed?” Mouse asked, trying to sound casual. The memory of that wedding ring, abandoned among the papers, came to mind.

“Some trouble at home.”

“His wife’s cheating on him or something,” another chimed in.

“She’s not,” Ryan intervened. “There’s no way. I heard the other officers talking. They say the captain’s wife is an amazing woman.”

“An amazing woman who cheats on her husband,” the same dude from before said.

Mouse didn’t know if that was true or not. “I’m buying you the next round, but then I’ll go hit the hay.”

“So soon?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah. I’m a bit tired.”

“And he just came from his leave,” someone commented. “The fuck did you do?”

Mouse shrugged. “I just fucked for 7 days straight.” That made the entire table fall silent. “What? Did you think I was going to spend my free days in prayer and silence or something?” he joked.

The guys picked up the cue and began laughing.

“Good for you, man,” one said. “Good for you.”

Mouse turned and went to the bar. He wanted to talk to the captain, see what was eating him. There was some trouble at home, maybe not a cheating wife, but who knew? He wanted to find out.

The unit was silent with most the people gone to spend a fun evening and night out of the place that counted as daily living space and work. Mouse pondered while looking at the building where the captain had his quarters. Of course, as the commanding officer, he had the luxury of private quarters and better overall conditions. Mouse snuck inside, wondering if he didn’t risk too much.

Eh, when had that been a problem for him? The worst that could happen was for the captain to send him packing.

He stopped when he saw someone else walking down the hallway. It was clearly a woman, and by the way she was swinging her hips, there was no doubt about her choice of profession. Mouse walked faster to catch up with her.