On Point (Out of Uniform 3)

Maddox cut him off with a deep laugh. “Right. Not positive.”

“Look. I’m not you. I don’t want to meet someone, do the whole do-you-like-me-like-I-like-you dance. But you’re different.”

“Because you can get laid without romance?” Maddox raised an eyebrow. “Skip the whole getting to know you phase since you already know I snore and I know you hate mushrooms? Get right to the regular sex and video games on the couch in our boxers?”

Ben had to laugh because that wasn’t an unappealing image. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Come on, level with me. Is this you wanting a repeat threesome? Because there’s probably a waiting list on your hookup app for guys who’d get kinky with you. But I’m not really up for that—”

“I’m more than kinky sex. A lot of that was Trey’s influence.” Ben wasn’t lying but Maddox still snorted. “I’m not opposed to monogamy of sorts—”

“Of sorts.” Maddox raised an eyebrow. “So monogamous-ish sex on the regular, not needing to go through the hassle of meeting someone new... What else am I missing here? What’s in this for you?”

“You.” Ben was honest for once, and it seemed to work, making Maddox stop mid-laugh and wiping the smart-ass expression off his face. “You’re in it for me. I don’t do relationships, you’re right. But I do you. And I want to try this with you.”

“Try.” Maddox sounded like he was chewing on the word. “And when it goes south? That’s what I keep coming back to. You’re my best friend. You’re the most...” He drew in a harsh breath. “I don’t want to lose that. Look, I won’t deny that there’s been a weird energy between us, but we’re going to work through it.”

“And what if that’s what this is? A way to work through the weirdness to something better?” Ben pressed. He’d done nothing but think on this for days. And he was convinced this was the answer. He didn’t want Maddox dating. Maddox wanted to date. This was the only possible solution, the one that saved everything. Hopefully.

“So what are you saying? We get this out of our systems? I gotta tell you, I tried that, got the ‘my first threesome’ T-shirt, and it didn’t work worth a crap. You’re still under my skin.”

“Exactly. Something’s going on between us. And maybe it’s time to stop denying that.”

“Hmm.” Maddox still didn’t sound convinced, but his tone was more...thoughtful now, less defensive, which told Ben that he was succeeding in wearing him down.

“I think we owe it to us to try. And here’s what I’m thinking. Let’s give this dating thing a try. Through my dad and Camilla’s wedding at least.” Ben wasn’t going to deny that he was motivated at least in part by not having to watch Maddox dance with some stranger at the wedding. “And if after that, it’s not working, then we say no hard feelings, we tried, gave it a shot, and we go back to being best friends, knowing that it wouldn’t work between us.”

“That simple, huh?” Maddox gave up shredding the bread and rubbed his jaw. “Either it works or it doesn’t?”

“Exactly. At least we’ll know.” He was sure it wasn’t the most romantic proposition Maddox had ever heard, but it was the best he had. “I’m talking about giving it a real try, not just knocking boots a few times for kicks. I want us to go together to the wedding.”

Maddox laughed. “I like how your ‘real try’ involves us going together to something you’d give up your Charger to avoid. And is this just because you think I wouldn’t go for the friends-with-benefits option?”

“You wouldn’t.” Again, Ben went for honesty. “It’s not what you want. And it’s not what I want for you. We tried the you fitting into my way of doing things. And that got us months of awkward. I say let’s try it your way.”

Maddox sighed. “I can’t help but feel like this is me dragging you kicking and screaming into exactly the sort of thing you’ve vowed to avoid. But...”

Ben could find a world of hope in that but. “Yeah? But...?”

“I’m not going to deny that your idea has certain appeal. And hey, if nothing else, maybe I can show you that dating’s not so bad. Knock a few layers of that cynicism off.” Maddox laughed, but Ben didn’t. He wasn’t doing this for some remedial course in dating, but if that’s what it took for Maddox to agree, he’d keep his mouth shut. “Like you said, if it doesn’t work, we’ll know, right? And we can go back to carping at each other, no harm, no foul.”

“Exactly.” Ben exhaled and finally started filling his plate with food.

“And we wouldn’t have to be public with our little...experiment?” Maddox accepted the chicken Ben passed him. “I mean, we can go together to the wedding, but maybe hold off on telling the team or our friends—I’m not ready for Apollo or Pike’s reaction.”