Machine by Normandie Alleman
11
Dynassy
In many waysthings with Bridger had been going really well. We’d been on half a dozen dates, and I couldn’t have been more attracted to him. Our sense of humors matched up perfectly, and no matter what we did we had a great time hanging out together.
Last week we’d gone swimming at Lucinda’s when she wasn’t home, and I’d had the chance to see him in only his swimming trunks. Talk about getting a girl all hot and bothered. I’d traced his skin with my finger and had him explain each one of his tattoos to me.
“This one’s a SEAL thing.” He pointed at an American flag entwined with a trident.
“What’s this—an eagle?” I asked indicating a large bird on his shoulder.
“No, that’s a Phoenix. See the PHX underneath it?”
I nodded. “You mean like how you rose from the ashes of your injury?”
“Pretty much.”
“I like this one,” I touched the one on his chest that said “Battle Ready,” the words intersecting into a cross. The man had depth, I had to give him that, and I found it wildly appealing. It was also a complete turn-around from the men I was used to going out with.
We’d had a nice time swimming, but just when things between us started heating up in the pool, he said he had to go.
And that was the end of that date.
At first I’d interpreted Bridger’s not putting the moves on me as a lack of interest. But he kept texting me, kept asking me out, and so I started to think he wanted to take things slow for whatever reason. I was so crazy about him that I decided to give him however much time he needed, even if it did make me feel like I’d time traveled back to the 1950’s or like I was dating Tim Tebow.
But a few days later when we were fooling around in his car like teenagers, I felt his dick go limp in my hand.
Red flag.
The only other time I’d had a guy go soft on me, I found out later he was gay. I prayed this wouldn’t turn out to be the case with Bridger.
If he was the kind of guy who felt the need to hide his gayness behind a “for show” relationship with a woman, I would be a perfect choice. Then again, it didn’t seem like he was acting when he looked into my eyes, or when he kissed me.
Either way, I needed to know. I was already falling for the guy and I didn’t want to have my heart completely broken. Bridger had asked me to meet him for lunch at the beach for our next date, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it.
