1. Shot of Whiskey


    Date: 10/10/2023, Categories: Gay Male, Author: bydanXdemedici

    ... and we'll do what we can," he stood at the door as a Private, Private First Class Redding by his tags, delivered my luggage into my room, an unpainted cinderblock space about twenty by twenty feet with a corrugated steel roof, insulated and protected from above by nearly ten inches of sand and rocks, meant to help protect against the stray mortar. The rooms were all joined by a single hallway down the middle with a mirror setup on the other side of the hall. In all, each barracks building had about forty rooms.
    
    "Thanks again, Lieutenant," I held out my hand. He shook it, nodded and walked away.
    
    "Where can I put this?" the young Private asked, still holding both of my large bags in his hands and a heavy rucksack on his back.
    
    "Oh shit, I'm sorry!" I said and went to help him. "There is fine, I will unpack into the wardrobe later."
    
    "No problem, that's what I'm here for," the Private spoke cheerfully and smiled. "I'm Ryan, by the way."
    
    He looked young, maybe 19 or 20, he was thin, handsome and his eyes were open and sincere in a classic midwestern way. "Nick, nice to meet you," I replied, shaking his hand and gently squeezing his arm. "Where you from? Minnesota?"
    
    He grinned, his smile was broad, well cared for, and it lit up his face. "Close, I'm from South Dakota, most of us are from there, this unit was tagged to support the PRT and we came as a cluster."
    
    "So, you're all National Guard?" I asked.
    
    He nodded and looked around, "Shit, Nick, you're lucky. ...
    ... Only the Commander and the three civilian leads for the PRT have a room to themselves, they're over in Barracks A. It sucks having no privacy. You have to sneak around..."
    
    He stopped himself and looked sheepishly at the floor. I smiled, "You don't have to edit on my account, you were going to say something about beating off, I imagine?"
    
    He laughed heartily, he seemed both nervous and relieved to have been found out. "Yeah, the showers have stalls but all they have are curtains and if you take too long people just pull the curtain back and stare at you until you finish showering, and in my barracks, well, there's four of us sleeping a few feet apart. Between the smell of boot rot and sweat, it's not great."
    
    "You're always welcome to come here for a little you time, I really don't mind," I said, winking at him.
    
    Ryan smiled and sat down on top of the small desk near the single clerestory window, too high up to see in or out, but it was great to get a bit of natural light. He looked like a recruitment poster bathed in that mid-morning glow. He took off his head cover and set it next to him as he ran his hand through the most beautiful blond hair I had seen, other than Chris Hemsworth. I imagined he was due for a trim but hoped he would hold out for as long as possible as it suited him to keep it long. I turned around and laid my bags on the floor, opened them and began to organize where I would store my things.
    
    "That's a nice offer, are you sure? You have to be ...
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