Wheels Up (Out of Uniform 4)

“Thank you.” Reaching over, Dustin pulled Wes’s arm tighter around him. “I’m glad it was you.”

Before Wes could ask him what precisely he meant by that, Dustin yawned and his eyes drifted shut. “Me too,” Wes whispered. “I’m glad it was me too.”

What the fuck am I going to do with you now? The question kept him up long after Dustin’s breathing had softened, little huffs that said he was deep asleep. Wes wasn’t sure he could go back to being chat jerk-off buddies after this. Dustin made him want things, things he’d almost given up on, things he had no room for. Over the course of their online friendship, he’d come to acknowledge how much he enjoyed being a dominant, but more than that was also how much he enjoyed Dustin and the way he submitted, the way it wasn’t the entirety of their friendship, but just one part of a multi-layered whole. Once wasn’t nearly enough, but it was all they’d ever have. Not quite asleep, he let himself drift on that knowledge for a long time.

And as if needing to punctuate that realization, his phone went off in the middle of the night, clattering from where he’d left it on the nightstand after shedding his jeans earlier, returning in his boxers to lie next to Dustin, who’d stayed dead to the world. Even now, Wes’s phone vibrating up a storm, Dustin remained asleep.

The message was from the base. He had five hours to report. They did this sometimes, a test of readiness. He had no way of predicting whether it was training or the real deal, no way of knowing whether he’d be kept at the base or gone days or weeks or months. It was just the way it was, but for the first time in a long time, he groaned at the message.

He wanted just another few hours with Dustin. Wanted to wake up with him. Didn’t even want morning sex as much as just more time. Sharing breakfast. Talking. Making sure Dustin wasn’t too freaked out by what had happened. But it wasn’t to be.

He scrambled around, gathering his things, flipping on a low light. He was zipping up his jeans when Dustin finally stirred. “What...where you going?”

Hating the vulnerability in Dustin’s sleepy eyes, Wes went to crouch next to the bed. “I’ve been called back. Nothing about you, I promise. It’s the job.”

“I understand.” Dustin nodded sharply, but his eyes stayed wary.

Fuck. Wes hated this. “I’m going to try to be on chat later, but if I’m not, it’s because I was...called away. The job. Not you. This was amazing.”

“No regrets?” Dustin’s head tilted to the side. His hair was all messed up, adorable bedhead, and Wes wanted nothing more than to crawl back in next to him, mess him up further.

“Absolutely none.” Acting on instinct, Wes pressed a fast kiss to Dustin’s forehead. “You?”

Taking a moment, Dustin finally shook his head. His eyes were shuttered, the distance back between them, instead of the coziness they’d enjoyed post-sex. And it was Wes’s fault, and nothing he could do to fix it. “No regrets. Drive safe.”

“I will.” It was hard to swallow around the lump in his throat. “Message me?”

Dustin nodded, and Wes couldn’t tell whether or not to believe him. Hell, he couldn’t even guarantee he’d be around to get the message anyway. Fuck, this sucked. He gave Dustin another fast forehead kiss, still not trusting himself with more. He was already going to miss Dustin like crazy, so there was no sense in making it worse. The call was just another reminder of what he couldn’t have in his life right now, no matter how much Dustin made him wish otherwise.

No regrets, he reminded himself as he hurried to his jeep, eyes stinging with more than just the chilly early morning air dogging his steps. No regrets.

Chapter Five

“Big day ahead of us.” The LT, Dustin’s commanding officer, was a short man with a huge presence, and he seemed to take up more than his fair share of the small office where the team’s leadership was having their morning briefing.

The senior chief took a long sip of his steaming coffee. “Yup. We’re expecting Lowe any moment, right?”

“Lowe?” Dustin hated that he already felt behind the eight ball that morning. The LT was notorious for not keeping him in the loop on important shit. As XO, Dustin might be second-in-command, but the LT had a way of making him feel like a green ensign again.

“They finally got us a replacement for Tomlin. He’s scheduled to report shortly.” The LT looked at Dustin like he should know this already, when Dustin was one-hundred-percent sure this was the first he’d heard of it. Tomlin had processed out last month due to an injury on a recent mission, along with the retirement of another teammate, and the higher-ups had been taking their sweet time getting them new SEALs for the team.