We walked up to the bar, and I ordered us two lagers?—
“Fuck, there you are. My countrymen!”
I cocked a brow at the guy sandwiched between the twinks as he slid off his stool.
“Sorry, boys. My buddies are here now. Go fish somewhere else.” The guy grabbed his beer and made his way over to Nate and me, much to the disappointment of said twinks. “I’ll buy youse all the beer you want if you play along,” he told us quietly. “They can’t fuckin’ take a hint.”
Say no more. I’d been there. I clapped him on the back. “Sorry we’re late, man.”
Relief flashed in his eyes, and he turned to the bartender. “Please put their beer on my tab.”
“That’s unnecessary,” Nate protested.
The guy waved it off. “Trust, you’re doin’ me a favor. And it really is nice to see some fellow Americans here. I need fuckin’ subtitles to understand some of their accents here.”
I laughed, liking the guy already. He felt like home. He was clearly a New Yorker, and if I were to venture a guess, he was military too.
“I’m Ash. Good to meet you.”
“Kyle Finlay,” he replied.
“Nathan.” Nate smiled politely and nodded toward the tables. “Let’s have a seat.”
It shouldn’t be too long before the boys left. They had no one else to chase in this place.
We grabbed our beers and headed over to a small table in the back, and Kyle was…a presence. I didn’t meet men every day who were my height at six-four, but he was one of them. He was easy on the eyes too, with very dark hair, clear blue-green eyes, and pale skin. All contrasts.
“They’ll give up in five, ten minutes,” he said and sat down.
“No problem.” I sat down too, and I took a sip of my beer. “What brings you to the UK, Kyle? Something tells me it’s more of an R&R situation than a Pride vacation.”
He smirked crookedly. “Am I that obvious?”
I smiled back.
“You’re close,” he said. “I had some flight training over here, and now I have two days off before I ship out.”
“You’re a pilot?” Nathan asked.
Kyle nodded. “Helicopter. I fly Cobras in the Marines.”
“Ah. That’s nothing at all like my dad,” Nate chuckled. “He’s a pilot too, but just for fun. I find aircraft and aviation very fascinating.”
Uh, since when?
I eyed him.
“What kinds of aircraft fascinate you, baby?” I asked curiously. Because Keith and I had suggested we all go to Oshkosh a couple of years ago, and Nathan had groaned like a kindergartener forced to clean his room.
He shot me a dirty little look. “I didn’t say I know a lot about it. I called it fascinating.” He glanced back at an amused Kyle. “I’ll admit my knowledge is limited to a flight-sim game I play occasionally on my computer.”
That was closer to the truth. He’d played it twice.
I grinned and chugged my beer.
For some reason, I only found it entertaining to see Nate flustered over finding someone hot. And my embarrassing him, obviously.
Kyle was entertained too. “I think I have a question for you two. Is anyone interested in a shot first?”
