Confessions of a Wild Heart (2 page)

Ase narrowed his eyes. “Well, I guess it was awkward to do it without asking. Should have known you’d be an American. With that hairstyle and that posture I’d say military of some sort. You probably think I’m a terrorist.”

Jase flailed. “Oh God, I never said that.”

“Lucky I didn’t wear a thobe out; I’d have given you a heart attack.”

“Hey, now,” Jase snapped. “I grew up in Texas. Some of my friends…” He stopped himself as he realized how that sounded.

“You did
not
just go with the ‘some of my best friends are’ cliche.” Ase sighed, hands on his hips, shaking his head. “
Gringos
.”

Jase felt heat suffuse his face. “I didn’t mean that.”

Ase reached at patted one of Jase’s shoulder’s amiably. “Taking the piss, again.”

“Touché,” Jase grumbled, relieved he hadn’t offended the man. He didn’t know why it mattered anyways. “And why are we still using Britishisms?”

“You started it.” Ase’s smile dimmed, expression growing pensive. “I really do apologize for not asking you if it was alright to take your photo. I was going to give you a copy. You just looked so very relaxed, and the sun hit you just right…” He seemed embarrassed to have said as much. “Here,” he said, stepping closer to Jase, lifting his pricey camera, showing Jase the digital display. He flipped through the shots until he found one he liked, then tilted it for Jase to see. And damn, was Ase right. The photo was professional quality, so far as Jase knew about all that, and he looked at peace, with a gentle smile, the sun making his blond hair shine. The castle and the blue in the background made the photo look like something from a travel magazine, like there should be an invitation to come visit Bavaria beneath Jase’s still form.

“Wow.” Jase heard the awe in his own voice. He couldn’t believe Ase had captured him like that. He rarely considered himself attractive, but that photo really made him preen inside. He had to look at Ase, whose eyes crinkled at the corners, as if he were smiling even when he wasn’t. The fondness he saw there was breathtaking. Was that how Ase saw him? If so, Ase would be the only one.

He had to fight the urge to kiss this complete stranger.

Instead, he took a full step back, clearing his throat. “That’s great work. Are you a photographer?” He looked anywhere but at the sexy stranger.

“No. It’s just been a hobby for years.”

Jase was relieved when the tour guide started calling for them to move toward the bus that would take him back to the connection that ultimately would get him back to Munich. He didn’t wait to see if Ase followed or if he was getting on the other bus that was going to the museum and gift shops down the way.

He hated how off balance he’d gotten around Ase. He usually was better at covering up his attraction to other men. Yes, he’d slaked his need a few times. He wasn’t a monk. But he’d done it in the confines of a safe place when he needed the company of another man, not the middle of a tour group in Bumfuck, Bavaria, Germany.

Growing up, knowing he liked men had taught him the art of self-preservation, and serving his first couple of years under DADT had made him even more circumspect. Plus, how was he to know if Ase was interested? Maybe Ase was one of those stereotypically homophobic Latin-American men. He’d prefer not to get his ass beaten and have to explain why when he checked back in for active duty in three days.

The shuttle ride to the depot where he’d catch the bus back to Munich was too brief to do much more than dig his return tickets out of his bag. He felt much more at ease once he’d gotten on the return bus to the city, put his phone on airplane mode, and opened his Kindle app so he could settle in for the two-hour ride.

Chapter 2

WHEN they arrived back in Munich, Jase wandered through the crowd for no more than a few seconds before hearing someone calling his name. At first he thought it was a mistake. He didn’t know anyone in Munich, so it’d be awfully coincidental to run into someone. But the familiar voice made him cringe. He only knew one person whose, “Wait, Jase! Stop for a second,” would come out in that lightly accented English.

He turned around to see Ase pushing through the sea of people trying to get around in
Hauptbahnhof
, hand up to signal where he was. He didn’t have much need for that, though, because he was a head taller than most of the people in the crowd, including Jase’s five feet ten. The guy had to be at least six-foot-two. Not an imposing tall, but tall all the same.

“Stalking me again?” Jase asked, as Ase stumbled up to him.

Ase was flushed and rumpled from shoving his way through the crowd. It was endearing enough to remind Jase why he’d gotten away from Ase. Aside from the whole stalking thing, which he hadn’t truly meant. There seemed to be something too innocent for their interactions to be sinister. Ase was no innocent, but his eyes, seductive as they were, held no guile.

“Sorry,” Ase said, breathlessly. “I am acting like a complete idiot.” Ase looked around uncomfortably, as if finally realizing how his chasing Jase down might look to a stranger—which Jase happened to be.

“And I keep having to apologize,” he said, chagrined.

“Well. You caught me, so you may as well stop apologizing and get to the
why
,” Jase said, with no heat. He was honestly curious.

“You took off earlier before I got your e-mail address.”

“My e-mail address?”

“Yes, of course.” Ase flittered his hand in front of him. “To send you the photo I took. I’m sure your girlfriend would enjoy it.”

Jase grunted at the thought. “I doubt she’d care.” Jase refused to believe the disappointment that briefly flitted through Ase’s eyes was because of the girlfriend, but because he wasn’t accepting the photo. “But I’m sure my mama would love it.”

Ase smiled again, though not as brightly as before, and dug a pen and paper out of his messenger bag. “Here. I’ll give you mine. You can send me yours and I’ll make sure to get it to you. I’ll run it through photo editing first, get the light just right.”

That seemed like a lot of trouble to go through for a virtual stranger. “You’re really into the photography thing, huh?”

Ase shrugged, but there was certain light in his eyes suddenly. “I suppose. Like I said, it’s mostly just a hobby. Something to clear my mind when I’m not focused on my studies. And when I find the perfect shot, I have to share it. You, sir, gave me the perfect shot.”

“I bet you say that to all the boys,” Jase teased. The searching gaze he got from Ase after making that statement made him wish he could kick his own ass. He’d flirted. Fucking flirted with this guy he’d run from only two hours earlier to keep from getting bashed.
So much for being the smart one in the family, Dad.

“No. Not really,” Ase said, slowly. “Are you staying in
München
?”

Jase knew that was the Deutsch word for Munich, so he nodded. He didn’t know why, exactly, he was still talking to this guy. Their entire encounter had been strange—both of them. But wasn’t the point of traveling to see new things and meet new people? Plus, he really didn’t consider Ase a threat so much, but more as not socially graceful. That’d be a pot-meet-kettle observation.

And Jase was a soldier, trained by the government to defend himself. He easily had twenty pounds of muscle on Ase. Granted, he’d be screwed if the guy had a gun, but he’d have to be a master to conceal a piece in his super-skinny jeans. Maybe in the messenger bag, but they’d had to go through metal detectors to come in and out of their last depot.

“Yes. I’m on the West End. At least that’s what the girl at the desk called it. You?”

“I’m actually staying not far from
Hauptbahnhof
. My cousins live here,” he said. “I’ve been staying with them a few months, doing an exchange class in photography.”

“I didn’t know Germany was big on photography.” Jase shrugged. “Or Mexicans, quite frankly.”

Ase laughed. “My
tio
is in the Army.” That explained how Ase’d picked out Jase’s hair style so easily. “They were here, and it was a chance to get away without a million questions from my parents before I start my residency in the fall.”

He pulled his camera from around his neck and stuffed it into a camera bag that hung on the opposite shoulder from his messenger bag. “Would you want to go grab a beer? I know a great pub walking distance from here. I don’t know about you, but after all that riding on the bus, I could use a walk and something to eat.”

Jase’s stomach growled at the thought of food. Other than the trail mix he’d brought with him, he hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast that morning. Now it was pushing seven p.m. and he was starving.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “Sounds good.” What could it hurt, really?

He followed Ase for a while until they came to what looked like a very Irish pub with a very long, very German name. But the smell of french fries was all that mattered to him.

They took a seat at a high-top table by the front windows and Ase ordered from a scantily clad, and cute as hell, waitress. She blushed at the way Jase leered at her, batting her lashes in that flirty way girls tended to do around him. He may not think he was the best-looking guy out there, but he’d rarely wanted for company when he had the itch. But he didn’t even want to think about that right then.

He turned his attention back to Ase, who had that disappointed look in his eye again. He managed to cover it quickly, but not before Jase’d seen it. And damn if he didn’t want to make Ase smile again.

“So. You stalked me into submission. You’ve gotten me on your home turf.”

Ase’s cheeks pinked as much as someone with his complexion could, more like a rouge. “Sorry. I’m not always so socially inept. I’m a bit of a geek.”

Jase flicked his eyes down to the full sleeve tattoos on each of Ase’s arms. Ase followed his line of sight, then rubbed his arms self-consciously. “Geeks can get tattooed as well,
gringo
.”

“Still calling me names? That’s a good way to make friends.”

Ase seemed to relax at Jase’s teasing, letting out a huff of laughter. “Pardon me. I’m used to being defensive around white boys twice my size with redneck accents.”

Jase gave his best scoff in mock offense. “I’ll have you know, I’m the nerd in my family. I only bulked up to shut up the bullies. Also known as my younger brother.”

That earned a chuckle from Ase. “So was I right about military?”

Just then the waitress walked up, leaning slightly on Jase’s arm. He didn’t know why he suddenly felt the urge to pull away from her. But he didn’t want Ase to see him flirting with the woman. Although she seemed to be a much more sure thing than Ase just then.
And you should not even be thinking that way.

“
Danke
,” Ase said, to the waitress, averting his eyes from her obvious flirting with Jase.

“Do you speak German?” Jase asked.

Ase wobbled his hand side to side. “Passable. I took three semesters in college. They like when you speak more than one language in the medical profession and it felt like cheating to take Spanish. That’s what my folks think I’m here studying this semester.” He pointed at his camera bag. “They think that’s a silly hobby.” Shame because Ase was good, so far as Jase could tell.

“Good. What’s good here?” Jase asked, pointing to the menu. “Aside from the waitresses.” Jase gave Ase a playful wink. Ase responded with an aloof wave of his hand. That was more like the Ase he’d met earlier in the day. Too cool for school, a little swagger, less blushing.

“If you wanna hit on these girls, you’ll have better luck at the bar. We can move if you’d like.” He sounded like he’d rather eat nails.

“No,” Jase said, a little too quickly. “I’m good here.”

With a quirk to his lips Ase said, “I’ll admit to taking you to a typical British pub. We could have gone somewhere with more German cuisine, but I was dying for good Fish and Chips after you started the whole ‘taking the piss’ thing.” Ase waved the waitress back over to order. He ordered in German without pausing, so Jase assumed he spoke Deutsch better than just passably. He turned to Jase. “You want the same? Or a burger?”

“I’ll have what you’re having, since you say it’s so good.”

Within minutes their food was out and they were on their third pints. Jase was feeling warm and fuzzy-headed. Ase got a little less “cool-cat” and a little more ebullient, hands becoming animated and smile wider as the alcohol had its effect on him.

They spoke about similar courses they’d taken in college. They shared stories of their very different homes and lives. Jase was raised Baptist, Ase Catholic—and much more strictly religiously than Jase. Ase was from a large city in California, Jase was from a mid-sized college town in Texas, but lived on a ranch far outside that town. In school Jase had played football, Ase had been in drama club. Jase went into the military to see the world, Ase went straight to college with an eye on medical school. Jase learned that Ase was only a year older than him, and still had an obsession with Pokémon, which happened to be one of Jase’s childhood obsessions he still held onto.

Fuck if Jase didn’t want to kiss Ase right there. His goofy smile and his beautiful, flushed face, his fit body, his fun personality all combined to make him a guy Jase could get lost in. If Jase did that sort of thing. Alas, they were from different worlds. Jase would have to return to active duty at the end of the weekend, then in six months he’d be out and on his way home to finish his degree in criminal justice. Ase would be starting his residency in New York City.

Hell, Ase probably wasn’t even into men, though Jase was starting to suspect otherwise. Ase was awfully touchy-feely the more he relaxed.

Jase let himself pretend for just a moment they didn’t live a half a world apart. But the idea of openly being with a man back home was a joke. And being with a “wetback”, as his dad called most anyone with brown skin, would be even more interesting. Not that he was one to much care what anyone thought. He’d been through his share of bullying and shit in high school. But he had worked his ass off to earn the respect he now had as a man. His dad may think him a snob, but he was damn proud of his son the Army man.