Free Treasure of Love by Scotty Cade

sleep?”
    “Yep, let’s go.”
    “Dona, are you coming?” Mac asked as they turned to leave.
    “I’m right behind you,” she said. “Just need a second to finish going over these sonar images with Dax before I turn in.”
    “Okay, see you in four hours,” Brad said.
    Dax and Dona reviewed the final images and decided a few of them were worth second looks, so they earmarked them for later that day. When they were finished, Dona folded up the charts and looked at Dax with a questioning look and took a deep breath.
    “Do you know what you’re doing?” she asked.
    “Why, baby sister, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    “We’re twins, remember,” she said. “Don’t baby sister me.”
    “Yeah, but I was born first,” Dax said with a smirk. “A full minute and a half before you, which makes me your older brother.”
    “Seriously, Dax, I hope you’re not making a mistake. This expedition is too important to screw up over a straight man with bi-curious urges.”
    Dax looked down at the table and thought for a minute. “I really don’t think it’s a bi-curious thing. I think there could be something there, at least for me, and I hope for Jack too. You know me, Dona. When was the last time I just slept with someone, fully clothed, holding hands?”
    “You’ve got me there, but just be careful, Dax. You really are playing with fire, and your heart and our expedition just might go up in flames.”
    “I guess I’m willing to take that chance, for something real,” Dax said as he looked into Dona’s eyes. “For the first time in a long time,” he added.
    As she stood, she reached over and squeezed his hand and smiled. “If you need me, you know where to find me,” was the last thing she said as she stepped out of the little cabin.
    She left Dax staring at the small computer screen, wondering what he’d just admitted to. Jack and me , he thought. Is there really something there or am I just imagining it?
    He made up his mind in that second that he was going to find out. He wanted to call Jack and just ask him, but he didn’t dare. He needed to play it cool. For me to be sure, Jack has to come to me , he thought. He’d give Jack a few minutes to get settled on the bridge before he radioed him with coordinates he wanted to revisit. He wouldn’t mention anything about their night together.

Chapter 6

     
     
    J ACK was sitting at the helm, his attention split between the horizon and the autopilot. His mind wandered back to last night. The more he thought about it, the more comfortable he felt. Maybe Brad and Mac were right, maybe I am gay, or at least bisexual. Let’s face it. I’ve never had a successful relationship with a woman, ever. Could I have been so deep in the closet that even I didn’t know I was gay? Maybe subconsciously I was just burying my attraction to guys because I didn’t want to be gay. I’ve never really been around gay people, until Brad and now Mac, and they seem happy. People don’t seem to care that they are together, not that they go screaming it from the rooftops. Oh my God, I’ve got to stop this, it’s rapid-fire thinking, I’m gonna short-circuit. But Dax is an awfully hot guy, and I liked sleeping in his arms.
    Jack was startled from his thoughts by Dax’s voice. “Base to bridge. Jack, are you there?”
    Jack smiled and removed the handheld radio from the hook. He didn’t want to seem too anxious, so he paused and took a deep breath before he pressed the button to speak.
    “Bridge here, hey, Dax,” he responded.
    “Hey, Jack, do you have something handy to write with?”
    “Uh, yeah,” Jack said as he leaned over the helm and grabbed a pen and pad.
    “I have some coordinates I’d like to revisit from last night. You ready?”
    “Shoot.”
    “Okay, Latitude, 58.9748 north and longitude, 135.227 west,” Dax said.
    “Got it. You want to change course now?”
    “Can we?”
    “Sure, give me a couple minutes to plug these numbers into the