And don't you just adore the cover? OMG, beautiful!
Mario
Dagosta has just broken up with his high school sweetheart and hasn’t dated
since. Downtrodden and not able to cope, he spends many of his days at home. A
very eclectic young man who prefers Tom Clancy to gay or m/m romances.
Cooper
Delaney is a retired general who watched his forty something lover walk out on
him. Always upbeat and confident, he knows he will find someone suitable to be
his man.
Mario has it bad for the mature man and wants more but will he be
deterred by the mocking from his best friends about his choice for a mate?
After grabbing the quick bite, they
headed to the bookstore. Immediately, he took the quick turn to go to the
military fiction section while Lonny went to the magazines.
He took a quick look at his cell phone
and perused the titles from left to right. Mario loved books the old school
way; print books instead of the digital versions. He liked the feel of a novel
in his hand but he did own a device to read other things like gay fiction and
or erotica on public transportation. People stares weren’t something he wanted
to endure.
“Oh, there it is.” Finally, he found the
book he’d been searching for and picked it up to read the back cover. Mario
took a glance to the right before shifting back to ogle the book when he noticed
a handsome gentleman standing at the end of the aisle.
“Hmm.” He smiled and licked his lips. His
target: a middle aged guy with nicely toned arms and a tight blue polo atop
loose fitting jeans. His hair salt and pepper color was definitely a draw and
from the side view he looked to have a well defined face.
Mario always preferred older men who
were mature and experienced. Because he and Jaz were together for so long, he
never got the chance to date one. Maybe he’d try it out now. He wondered what this
man’s story was.
Could
he be married? Single? They were too far away from each
other to tell if he had a ring on his hand. More importantly, is he gay?
Mario decided to get a closer look.
Casually, he strolled over and pretended
to notice another book. He stole another glance and peered at his facial
features.
Gorgeous.
Blue eyes from what he could tell, a
narrow nose, barely a wrinkle on his face and no ring.
Again, Mario grinned and stared while he
thought about what to say to him. He decided to give it a shot. “Hey, um, is
that the new Clancy in your hand?”
The man looked up and smiled. “Yes, it
is. You read Tom?”
“Yeah, I do. I loved Dead or Alive. Actually, I’ve read all
his books.”
“Really?” The gentleman nodded and
turned completely around to face him. “Forgive me but you don’t look like one
who’d be interested in Clancy.”
“Oh? What do I look like, then?” Mario
folded his arms.
“Not sure but.” He laughed and flashed a
smile that could light up a small community. “Here I go again putting my foot
in my mouth. I’m Cooper.” The gentleman extended his hand.
Mario didn’t really take offense his
statement only raised an eyebrow. At least the guy admitted he might’ve made a
quick assumption. “I’m Mario. I do read other things too but I enjoy books like
this more than others.”
“As you should,” he replied sheepishly.
“I’ve been looking forward to reading this new one for a while. The man writes
great stories. They’re so real it seems like he actually took part in the
situations he creates. I can appreciate that being a former military officer.”
The young man perked up when he heard
Cooper’s last words. “You served in the armed forces?”
“Yep, Major General Cooper Delaney. I’ve
been retired since 1996. I fought in Kuwait during Desert Storm.”
“Wow, seriously?” Mario’s eyes bulged.
He gripped onto the small book a little tighter. A real life war hero right in
front of him. A good looking one too, but
is he? “That’s great. I can’t believe I’m actually standing with a war vet.
I’ve always been interested in the military just never had the balls to join.”
“Eh, you didn’t really miss anything. I
mean, don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade my experience for anything but the
way the armed forces has treated gays and lesbians over the years it hasn’t
been fair.”
Oh
thank God!
Mario licked his lips and said a silent
prayer, thanking the entities above that the man brought up sexual orientation.
“Very true, so you are…”
“Oh yeah. I got out right before they
could kick me out,” he laughed. “It’s funny, overseas a lot of soldiers had no
issues with us, you know? In fact, a lot of the straight ones wanted to join in
just to say they’d done it but once we got back on American soil they turned on
us. Thank goodness a lot of them still had enough respect to keep their mouths
shut or I could’ve lost everything under DADT.”
“So true. Hey um, could we talk
sometime, maybe go out for dinner?” Mario wanted to know more about this man. Surely
Cooper would have plenty of stories to tell. “I don’t mean to rush but I gotta
get back to work.”
“Sure, let’s exchange phone numbers.”
Cooper handed Mario his cell.
Mario punched in his digits. “So, how
about we chat tonight then go out tomorrow evening. Is that cool?”
“I’d love that.” The grey haired man
smiled. “Easy enough number to remember.” He pressed the green button.
Mario’s phone rang. “Perfect. Say around
seven?”
Cooper nodded and shook his free hand.
“Yes, that’s fine. I look forward to talkingg with you.”
“Same here. Well, lemme get outta here.”
Mario looked around and noticed Lonny giving him the strange eye.
“Okay, talk with you later.” Cooper
walked away.
Mario studied the man’s features from
behind and loved what he saw. Seconds later, he jumped when he felt a hand on
his shoulder.
“Seriously?”
He turned to look at his friend.
“Whatd’ya mean? He’s gorgeous, a former vet.”
“Vietnam,” he laughed.
“No, Desert Storm and he’s hot. You know
I’ve always liked older men.”
“Dude, you were surrounded by pretty
young thangs around your age last night. They weren’t old enough to be your
dad.”
“Shaddup!” He smacked Lonnie on the
back. “Let’s get outta here. I gotta get back so Martha can take lunch.”
Lonny turned around and they headed for
the counter.
Mario grinned to himself as he thought
of his new friend. Cooper was such a handsome man and damn, a person he could
talk to about his fascination with the military first hand. Someone who had
lived it and that in itself was quite a turn on.
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