At Attention (Out of Uniform 2)

“Sure.” Dylan took a small bite. His nose said the bread must be heavenly, but it felt like charcoal dust in his mouth, and he had to struggle to swallow.

A laugh came from the other room, and Dylan peeked his head around the kitchen wall to check out the living and dining room, which was a good size open space with a fireplace and sliding glass doors to a covered patio. Ben was sitting on the couch with some guy Dylan had never met before. The guy was the one who had laughed, dark eyes crinkling and full mouth curving into a smirk. Ben meanwhile looked like he was sitting on a stack of tumbleweeds, frowning and shifting about.

“Who’s the guy?” Dylan asked, trying again with the bread. His body was going to need to start working again at some point, right?

Maddox looked up from arranging slices of bread on platter shaped like a leaf. He dropped his voice. “Him? He’s why you’re here.”

“It is?” The bread turned to gravel in his stomach.

“Oh, don’t worry. Nothing nefarious.” Maddox’s words failed to reassure Dylan. “Ben picked him up last night at the Brass Rail. Guess he was looking to blow off some steam after the week we’ve all had. The crash and all, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” Dylan didn’t mention how Apollo had come home in a temper. Seemed disloyal somehow to share that, but he knew that the long hours and little sleep and stress had to play a role in why Apollo had gone off. “But how does Ben’s hook-up involve me?”

“See, he turned out to be the one thing Ben can’t stand.”

“What’s that?”

“A nice guy. Made us breakfast and everything. But he doesn’t seem to be getting Ben’s message that he doesn’t make friends.” Maddox’s voice was resigned as he scooped spinach dip out of a plastic container.

“And how exactly do I fit into this?” No way was Dylan pretending to be Ben’s irate boyfriend or something.

“He’s a nice guy. You’re a nice guy. He’s apparently single. You’re single, right?”

Dylan’s eyes opened almost painfully wide. He was starting to get the picture, and man, what a dicey pile of onions this was. Was he single? Had he ever been not single this whole summer? Who the fuck knew. But he knew how Apollo would want him to answer, which fucking stung like a new patch of sunburn. “Yeah.”

Maddox raised an eyebrow as if he didn’t quite believe it but wasn’t going to press the point. “And this guy is around your age and seems a little lonely. I think Ben figured that—”

“He could dump him on me?” Dylan was so not liking this idea. “Why not, you know, actually try and make friends himself? Especially if this guy seems so nice?”

Maddox gave a long-suffering sigh. “Ben doesn’t do that. He’s not mean and not the type to kick the guy out without his shoes or anything, hence calling you, but Ben’s strictly a one-night kind of man.”

“I see.” Dylan put the dip container back in the fridge for Maddox, who was cutting up some carrot sticks now. “And you guys...you’re not a thing? Never?”

“Nope.” Maddox’s slow smile was definitely wistful.

“But you’d like it?” Dylan whispered. “That’s why you’re not out there claiming Mr. Nice Guy yourself, isn’t it?”

“It’s complicated.” Maddox whacked at the carrots, making Dylan fear for his fingers.

“Yeah.” Complicated couldn’t be worse than trying, but Dylan wasn’t in a place to be offering advice. He was still smarting from Apollo’s outright refusal to even try something with him. Just try. Why was that so hard for stubborn SEALs?

Maddox’s eyes were hooded and distant. “Sometimes the only thing worse than not having something is getting it. Now, can you put this tray on the table for me, and I’ll make introductions?”

Effectively dismissed, Dylan considered Maddox’s words. The only thing worse than not having something is getting it. Was that the case here? Was he so concerned about not having Apollo, about losing him before they even tried to make this work, that he hadn’t stopped to think about what he would be getting? Had he considered how much it would hurt to get something and have it still not be enough because maybe, like Ben and Maddox, Apollo simply wasn’t capable of giving him what he needed. Had he really thought about what was best for Apollo?

His chest squeezed. That was all he wanted. What was best for Apollo. Now just to figure what exactly that was.

Chapter Twenty-One

Apollo sensed the moment Dylan entered the kitchen, smelling his citrus shampoo and feeling the tension that surrounded him even before he turned around.

“I’ll be out with Allie and some people.” Dylan didn’t even look at him as he headed for the door. “I’ve got the phone on, so text if you have to head back.”