Off Base (Out of Uniform 1)

Which was totally true even if the past few Sundays had included rubbing off together before any real work happened.

“So what are we playing?” Zack’s voice was way too eager.

“Not poker,” Pike said without thinking.

“You’re funny. I haven’t played that since college, and even then, I sucked.” Josiah made a face, then patted his bag. “I brought new expansion pack codes for Space Villager if you want to cash in on our latest upgrades.”

“He’s just a bit proud of them,” Ryan added drily, reaching over to ruffle Josiah’s hair. Pike had spent a lot of time in the past year or so jealous over Ryan and Josiah, but never more so than that easy touch. Never getting that.

“Sure. Hit me with your free stuff, o mighty one,” Pike cracked as he opened his own laptop and hit the power button, only to be greeted by the sounds of the Peppy Boys video he and Zack had been watching last night before Zack had closed the laptop and they had...

Oh fuck.

“Jesus, Pike,” Ryan barked. “You’re scaring Zack.”

Pike very, very carefully did not look over at Zack, because he knew Zack was over there dying and even a glance between them was going blow up everything. Either he was going to crack up or Zack was going to kill him in one of the umpteen ways a SEAL knew how to off a guy or both. Yeah. Totally not looking at Zack.

Instead, he drew upon two decades of being everyone’s favorite comedian to keep his voice light. “Dude. We’ve lived together couple of months now. I permanently scarred him weeks ago.”

“Hey, do you have a subscription account?” Josiah leaned forward. “And is that Tate and Aaron?”

“I’m not even asking how you know their names,” Ryan groaned, shoving Josiah’s shoulder. “How about you hand them the swag with the codes on it while Zack can still breathe?”

Pike finally let himself look at Zack, who sure enough did seem in the midst of some sort of oxygen crisis, skin having gone pale and his lips pressed together.

I’m not about to sell you out. Pike tried to send him some calming vibes while Josiah passed him a little postcard with a new ship logo on it for Space Villager, the game Josiah worked for. Attached to the postcard was a credit-card-sized piece of metal with a redemption code on it.

“Fancy,” Pike cracked.

“It’s for our top-level backers and our regular beta testers.”

“And us.” Pike forced a grin.

Behind him, Zack let out a sigh. “Fuck.”

“What’s the matter?” Josiah beat Pike to the asking.

“I can’t remember my Space Villager account info. I think I stored it in the password app on my phone, but my I don’t know where my phone is. Let me go check my room.” He dashed away, down the hall.

“Here. I’ll just call it for you,” Josiah said, following after him.

Oh fuck. Oh fuck. Oh fuck. His breakfast burned in Pike’s throat as he realized exactly where Zack’s phone was—under Pike’s bed, still in Zack’s pants from last night.

“Wait, I think I know—” He tried to head Josiah off, but it was too late. He and Josiah were both in the hallway when Zack’s ringtone chirped and chimed, the sound very clearly coming from Pike’s room.

“Maybe I got confused and grabbed it by mistake instead of mine.” Pike tried to think fast. “I’ll just go check.” He darted into the room, but Josiah, who was a great guy with a piss-poor sense of boundaries, followed.

“It’s not...” Zack appeared in the doorway, and Pike could see the exact instant that he realized where the phone was, all color leaching from his face. Fuck. Without Mr. No-Poker-Face, Pike might have been able to pull off a story, but Josiah’s shrewd gaze darted between the two of them.

Fuck. Pike bent down, fished around under the bed and came up with the still-ringing phone. He shut off the ringer and tossed it to Zack, who caught it with wooden hands.

“One of the cats must have knocked it down there.” Pike shrugged. He used his foot to make sure that Zack’s pants or shoes weren’t poking out. “No clue.”

“No clue,” Zack echoed.

“Zack—” Josiah started, all earnest.

“Josiah.” Pike put a decade’s worth of friendship into the warning. Lord only knew what was about to spring out of Josiah’s mouth but any sort of well-meaning sentiment or, worse, a “welcome to the gay-borhood” hug was going to send Zack running.

“I’m just saying—”

“Don’t.” Face still the color of ashes, Zack turned and fled from the room.

“Hell.” Josiah’s shoulders deflated as he stared at Pike. “I just fucked something up for you, didn’t I?”

Pike’s laugh was a bitter, bitter thing. “Oh, it was fucked long before now.”

* * *

What Zack wanted to do was flee the house, maybe go to the beach and run on the wet sand until he forgot what had just happened, until his legs and lungs burned and his only decision was whether to push on. He grabbed his truck keys from his room and headed to the entryway where his shoes were.