“Don’t care. Tastes good.” He flicked his tongue over Rick’s nipple, then mouthed lower. He stuck his fingers in the front of Rick’s jeans. “Can I?”
“Mmm…yes, please.”
Exactly what Coop wanted to hear. He unbuttoned and unzipped and yanked denim down Rick’s hips, snagging his briefs with them, exposing Rick’s cock. And what a beautiful sight. Coop dropped to his knees, not giving one damn about the concrete floor, and licked the head before sucking it into his mouth like a lollipop.
Rick moaned and plunged his fingers through Coop’s hair, grabbing and massaging. The connection went right through Coop’s nervous system, practically making him vibrate. Rick’s sounds joined Coop’s slurping, creating their own soundtrack. It didn’t take long before Rick was panting, “Now, now…Coop!” When he exploded down Coop’s throat, everything felt right in the world. Coop could do this forever. He sat back on his heels and looked up at Rick.
“I missed you, Rick.”
“Me too…”
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Cooper was going to be late. He couldn’t get the damn tie adjusted correctly. It was bad enough he had to wear a jacket and dress slacks, but the tie? Fuck.
“Here, dip shit.” Vick stepped up and fixed it. They were in his bedroom. “There. Now you need to go.” Vick looked at his watch. “Also, you look fantastic. Rick’s gonna drool all over you.”
Coop flipped him off and started down the hall, then stopped and turned back. He ran in and grabbed Vick. “Thanks, man.”
“Anytime, bro. Now get.”
Get he did. He pulled into the parking lot and made his way into the auditorium, finding Rick was a bit of a challenge. A lot was going on as family and friends of all the students got ready. Coop complained to Rick that he didn’t know what he was doing. “You sure about this?”
Rick nodded, his big brown eyes sparkling. “Can’t think of anyone better.”
“Okay. Since I like you so much. By the way…” Coop leaned close and whispered in Rick’s ear, “You are so hot in that uniform.”
“You are not so bad yourself.” He ran his hand down Coop’s tie. “Now let’s walk through what you have to do.”
Finally, a few minutes later, Coop sat in the audience with the other guests while Rick was on stage with his classmates—fellow graduates? Coop wasn’t sure what to call them. So many uniforms. Rick looked fantastic in his. The best looking one, if Coop did say so, and that included the silver foxes in uniform in the audience, who were mostly related to Drew. Go figure. But Coop was a bit biased, and he also didn’t care.
One of the older uniforms stepped up to the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, cadets, please stand for the presentation of the colors and the singing of our national anthem.” Cooper stoodalong with everyone else and watched as four young men, also in uniform, walked toward the stage holding the flags. The young lady sang the national anthem, and Coop couldn’t help humming along a little. All of this felt very regal and patriotic, warming Coop’s chest. He was so proud of Rick.
Afterward, someone said a prayer. Before he thought much about it, someone introduced the speaker, who was apparently related to Drew. He mentioned the whole family with an impressive two hundred years of service between them. Coop’s eyes nearly popped out of his head at that number. When the guy put it that way, it was a heavy accomplishment. Wow. Drew had a lot to live up to. Coop couldn’t help but respect the guy and where he came from. And he was Rick’s best friend. Coop felt honored to know him. Then, the actual speaker was announced. Major Tristan Nolan-Luna. His bio was in the program, and Coop took a second to glance over it. His awards and decorations made a significant list on the paper. The major started speaking, giving Coop a better idea of what Rick and Drew’s life had been like with marches, drills, and skills challenges. Coop wondered how Rick had done with all of that, since he hadn’t known him that long. He only saw the finished product, not what went into it.
The speaker talked about other things that were over Coop’s head, but then he mentioned leadership and NCOs and had to pause when a chorus of “hooahs” echoed through the auditorium. And what was that about? Then he mentioned career, family and bringing a partner into their military world. Was Rick bringing Coop into his military world? And what did Coop actually think about that? Could he be a military husband? Racing was never going to last. Most racers retired at thirty, the rest by thirty-five, if they didn’t crash out earlier and end their career short. That was what Coop had in store for him.Arenacross was not a long career. And what the hell was he going to do after that? Follow Rick around the world? Oddly, his answer was yes. He never thought that kind of thing would be appealing, but if it was with Rick. He could do it.
He missed the rest of the speech, caught up in his head, until the speaker walked over to Drew and hugged him tight. Family. That hadn’t been a priority for Coop. He tended to distance himself from his and maybe took Vick’s for granted. Sometimes. His priorities may need realignment.
“Cadets, please stand and raise your right hand to swear your officer oath,” someone announced, and all of them stood. The man led them through an oath, stating their names and pledging to defend the Constitution and some other stuff. It felt serious, poignant. “Please be seated until your name is called for your family to pin your lieutenant’s bars on.” That would be his cue. Some of Drew’s family helped Rick walk Coop through what to do before the ceremony started, but he was entirely too nervous and afraid he’d drop the pin. Then a bunch of Drew’s family did the salute thing. It was more formal than Coop was used to, but he would have to get used to this kind of thing if he stayed with Rick.
It was a bit scary when Drew’s people walked up to the stage like they owned it and everyone on it. They were covered with military decorations that Coop couldn’t even guess at what any of them meant. Then they started calling cadets. Coop only knew Drew and Rick. A pretty girl who looked a lot like Drew did his pin, and Coop guessed it was his sister or a close cousin. He had entirely too much family. Since his grandfather passed, Coop only had his mom and dad until he met Vick. Vick had an older brother who was too much older than them to count. It had only been Vick and him. He didn’t know any of his aunts and uncles, not that he had many, but they weren’t a close family. Drew, onthe other hand, had a big and close family. It made him wonder more about Rick and his background. And more importantly, what he wanted for the future.
Finally, they got to the S’s, and the name “Cadet Richard Stanton.” Time to do his thing. He took a deep breath and walked to the stage. He pinned the rank like he had been shown. “I’m so proud of you,” he said quietly. Rick smiled like Coop had given him a million dollars rather than a pin he had earned. But it was everything. Coop stepped to the side as the others before him had done, and one of the Drew-squad stepped and saluted Rick.
The rest of the cadets were called one by one, and then the craziest thing happened. A pregnant woman who looked like she was about to pop walked up on stage to pin someone and as the Drew-squad did their salute, her water broke. Coop’s jaw dropped. Chaos broke loose. He quickly guessed the woman was one of Drew’s family. Unbelievable. That guy’s life had to be insane.
Chapter Eleven – Rick
For the love of all that is holy, he needed more water. Fort Benning in the summer was no joke. Rick was in shape, and he’d worked hard enough to prepare—Master Sergeant Coffey would have had nothing less—but damn. He might have the chops for the road marches and the OPORDs, take him to the firing range. But the heat was nasty.
“Attack Company, you are dismissed until zero-six hundred on Monday. Be in PT formation on the dot,” Captain Lewis instructed from the front of the group. “I’d highly suggest you get some rest over the next forty-eight. Maybe check in with family and friends because as of zero-six…well, I don’t want to give away the surprises in store for you.” Captain Lewis looked over his shoulder to the lieutenant colonel who nodded. “Dismissed.”
Controlled chaos ensued. Everyone was scrambling to get away and do so fast. They’d learned that those who lingered ended up with extra duty assignments. Rick wasn’t chancing it and hot-footed toward the barracks. He’d left his cell phone in his room this morning. The only person he wanted to hear from was Coop and Rick knew that he was on the track today. Coop had tried to explain the modifications they were making to his bike for the next season, but it all went over Rick’s head. Something about changing the pistons or inlets so they get more fuel performance. Give Rick an M-16 to disassemble and reassemble and he had you. Anything other than getting an oil change and routine maintenance on his car was beyond his knowledge. Hopefully, he hadn’t sounded as clueless as he was. Why would Coop want to stay with him if he couldn’t share his career without having to explain every sentence? Of course, theywere both going to be explaining acronyms left and right to each other. Rick still had no idea what LCQ was.
“Yo, Stanton. Hold up,” Penston called from behind Rick. He swore to Saint Maurice that if Penston got Rick additional duty, he was taking it out on his ass the next time they did combatives.
Holding in his irritation as best he could, Rick turned and waited for Penston to catch up. “What’s up?”
“A bunch of us are going to drive into Columbus and hit Uptown for some drinks. Might end up grabbing hotel rooms to crash. You in?” Penston asked as he tried to catch his breath. Rick thought that it might be better for Penston to get some more physical training in than to hit up some bars, but to each his own.
