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.