Over the next couple of weeks Gus spent time with Aaron and Mark on multiple occasions. Joining them for dinner and even sleeping over with the marines a few times, enjoying the pleasures of their company. The three men had become comfortable together in a short amount of time, and Gus was also happy to see the solid reconnection that was building between Mark and Aaron, their conversations, their actions - they were in love again.
His love for Aaron hadn't faded either, and he was growing fond of Mark as well, but he was quickly growing bored of the routine of being homebound with the Marines and away from the water and his favorite hobby.
Gus started thinking about some of his favorite spots for the early summer, and ran through the details of each place to see what would be most accessible for all three of them to get out on the water. He landed on renting a bay house with a boat and wide dock, that would allow the three of them to be able to easily access the water, and tool around to find fish together in the boat. Coordinating their three schedules was a relative breeze and Gus put in for his first week-long vacation of the year. While getting things in order, Gus kept the location of their trip a secret from Aaron and Mark, letting them know they'd like the surprise.
Gus got off work Friday afternoon and headed over to the Marines' house to pick them up. He'd loaded down the back of his truck with all his gear, a couple coolers of food and beer, and emptied out his back seat and folded up the bench section so that Mark could sit in the single seat on the passenger side and his chair would fit in next to him. With both Aaron and Gus around, Mark didn't need a chair lift to get in and out of the truck.
The marines met Gus in the driveway and they all three exchanged greetings and smiles. Gus helped Aaron load their gear into the bed of the truck and tie down a tarp over it all. Mark made sure the house was locked up and then Aaron and Gus lifted him into the back seat and helped him get buckled in, Gus stealing a lingering kiss from him and rubbing his crotch as he reached across him to click the belt. Gus was stunned at how beautiful Mark's smile was, now that he wore it often, it always caused both him and Aaron to beam back. The three men were excited, they were taking their first adventure together and to Aaron and Mark the destination was still a surprise.
Gus pulled out of town onto the interstate heading south. As the city skyline shrank in the rearview mirror he reached over and grasped Aaron's left thigh and looked over his shoulder at Mark, "I love you guys, and I'm excited we're taking some time away together."
"I love you too, Gus," Aaron replied immediately. "Me too, Gus, I love you," Mark said smiling, "Now where are you taking us?"
"Still a secret, but if you guess right I'll tell you," Gus replied with a smirk. Aaron and Mark began listing places south of town that matched the types of gear Gus said they should pack.
"The Outer Banks?" Aaron queried.
"Nope."
"Myrtle Beach?" chimed Mark.
"Nope."
"Charleston?"
"No."
"Savannah."
"Sorry, no."
"Are you taking us to Florida?" Aaron asked, seriously.
"Nah, that's too far. We'll only be in the car for five or so hours. You guys should just give up."
"Well, you like random small town secluded places, so we're probably not going to guess," Mark replied. "The last time I remember being on the beach is a weekend that Aaron and I took away from Lejeune over to Surf City. Remember that Aaron?"
"Of course I do, we got that cheap dirty motel room, drank too much, and fucked each others brains out for two straight days of leave, we maybe got out on the the beach once or twice, haha." Aaron replied.
Gus smiled "Sounds hot, we'll see if the fucking we can do over a full week can stand up to that memory. And, it's not Surf City where we're headed, but it is on the same island."
"We're going to Topsail?" Aaron grinned. "Yep," Gus replied. "We have a house on the bayside down in Topsail Beach near the very end of the island, easy access to the inlet, our own boat, dock, at the end of a dead end road." Aaron leaned across the console and kissed Gus on the neck, "That's awesome fisherman!"
"Badass," Mark replied, "I'm even more excited now. I love it down there. Hey Aaron, you think Ray and Max still live down that way?"
"Idono, let me check," Aaron replied, pulling out his phone to commence a facebook stalk.
"Who are Ray and Max?" Gus chimed in.
"Ray and Max are a couple of our brothers who also fell in love at Lejeune and ended up married after their third deployment. They're both retired and set up their home base outside of Wilmington on the coast. We haven't seen or talked to them in years, but we had some fun times together whenever we had corresponding leave," Mark responded.
"Yep, they're in Kure Beach," Aaron said holding up a picture of their two brothers for Gus to see. From the phone image Gus saw two smiling furry bearded men on the beach wearing sunglasses and short shorts; they looked like they could be brothers, they looked familiar too. Gus Grinned.
"Let me see," Mark requested and took Aaron's phone from him to look through their pictures. "Damn, they're both still in pretty good shape, they look happy."
"Why don't you send them a message, let them know we'll be down on Topsail," Gus encouraged.
"Here you go, Aaron," Mark said, passing the phone back to the front seat, "I don't really have the tools to type out a message," Mark said waving the nub of his right arm in the air. The three men laughed, Aaron typed out a facebook message, and the miles to the bay house counted down.
"What made you pick Topsail, Gus? I'm assuming you've been here before," Mark asked.
"I have, a few times. I love how rural the island is, one traffic light, not a ton of tourists, affordable rentals, even in the summer. The people are nice, and there's a whole slew of hot Marines from Lejeune who love to strut around on leave," Gus grinned. "There's also excellent fishing- we'll have a good shot at catching speckled trout, redfish, black drum, stripers, flounder, croaker, blue fish and Spanish mackerel, and maybe even get lucky with a cobia or two."
"Nice," Mark replied, "I'm excited to get some lines back in the water. I haven't been fishing since before the attack. This is going to be so much fun. Oh, and out of curiosity, did you ever bed any hot marines on your adventures down here?"
"I might have, Mark - It's been a few years since I've been down here. Although, your brothers do look familiar," Gus chuckled.
"NO SHIT!" Mark exclaimed. "You've met Max and Ray before?" Mark and Aaron both looked at Gus' grinning face.
"I can't say that I know them by their names. But their faces and bodies do offer a recall of a 2004 trip I took down here. I was camping and fishing from a state park and we might have crossed paths. So, did you tell them to come see us in Topsail, Aaron?"
"I sent them a message, waiting on a reply, are you serious Gus? Of all the guys, haha." Aaron laughed, "I'll send them a picture of the three of us once we get settled in to the house. Will likely offer them some recall and curiosity as well."
The men arrived at their bayside house as the sun was nearing its dip below the horizon. Before unpacking anything the three men got out of the truck and headed out to the dock behind the house. Gus had picked well, the dock was wide and didn't have any steps to access it from the shore, making it a breeze for all three of them to experience their first sunset of the vacation together over the sound. Gus, standing between Mark and Aaron, stretched and took a deep breath, pulling the salt air into his lungs, and put his arms around his Marines' shoulders. "I'm glad we're here boys, together."
The three men watched the pinks and purples dance through the clouds and after the magic of the sunset passed, made their way back to unload the truck. The house was up on stilts, but had an elevator you accessed through the under structure garage that made getting all the gear up onto the main floor easy. It also meant Mark would have no trouble being as independent as he wanted to be around the property.
After unpacking all their food in the kitchen. Aaron and Gus made the king bed in the master and loaded it up with the extra pillows and props they'd been experimenting with over the past couple weeks. They also positioned a few pulleys and bars in different rooms so that Mark could get himself around easier. Within half an hour the house was all set up. Gus was itching to get a line in the water, so he let the Marines know he was headed out to the dock.
"Hold on Gus," Aaron said. "Why don't we have a quick good luck fuck first?" winking at the fisherman. "Yeah, we need to break in the house and start our week off right, Gus, plus, you had this surprise for us, and we have a surprise for you" Mark said, wheeling up to Gus, his head at Gus' crotch level.