amop-series #49
/LIVING PROOF 2/
“You are kidding me!”
Andrew Flynn arched one eyebrow and his upper lip curled in semi repulsion when his gaze landed on the butt-ugly gnome that rested in Sharon Raydor’s arms as she came through the door into the corridor. They were on their way home from the Christmas dinner, the corridor eerily silent compared to the noise that echoed from the major crimes squad room, the party still going.
“Since when do you stoop to the level of kidnapping god-awful Christmas ornaments, huh?”
It was the last thing Andy had expected to find tugged against her chest when she showed up for the lift home he had offered to give her, her suitcase following her trail. He had felt in a chivalrous mood and had as such offered his passenger seat to her, the notion that if he prolonged the time he spent with her then surely he would think less of the plans for Christmas with his kids that lay in long ruin.
Sharon quirked back an eyebrow at him and her mouth twitched, “It was given to me, so no kidnapping or thievery is involved, lieutenant.”
“Oh yeah?” Andy prodded, still not able to understand why the atrocious thing deserved such a comfortable place to rest or why she seemed intent on hugging it like a fond teddy-bear from her childhood, “Because I’m pretty sure that ugly thing belongs to the Johnsons’.”
“Lieutenant,” Sharon intoned with a drawl, her voice tinted by a low pleasant timbre that was always a bit more pronounced when she was tipsy, “It was given to me. A present if you like.”
Andy angled his head and smiled at her, thinking she looked beautiful tonight. His eyes went over the rosy flush that had started creeping over her cheeks when she had finished the first glass of red wine. It had only blossomed into a sparkle since. There was something alluring about her, something that drew him close - something that made him want to be even closer.
Andy felt submerged in her presence in a way he had not felt in a long time, enclosed into a little sphere where he felt giddy and tingly. It had been brought on by her close proximity throughout the entire Christmas dinner. She had landed her hand on his forearm a couple of times, merry tones as she joined in on Provenza’s story from the good old days, filling the holes that Provenza purposely neglected to tell. Andy knew from the self-aware smile she tried to hide that she had not meant to touch him, and yet it happened again, her shoulder against his and her fingers gingerly on his wrist.
“You say that and yet I wouldn’t put it past you to take the liberty of actually stealing that thing.”
Sharon tilted her head, “I think you are once again confusing your own traits with mine.”
Andy shrugged with an encouraging smile, “I just have a hard time seeing Chief Johnson giving away Christmas ornaments and to you nonetheless.”
Sharon smiled, “I see your point. It was Willie Ray who gave it to me on account of being Brenda’s friend,” she smiled in a strange sort of way and Andy agreed those words sounded alien coming from her lips.
Her mouth curled with amusement, “So I am merely taking home what is rightfully mine. Do you have a problem with that, lieutenant Flynn?”
Andy shook his head, his eyes once again on the ugly gnome, “Well, if you want something to scare away your neighbors, you’ve got it. That thing is hideous beyond reason and frankly it would serve better as a scarecrow.”
Sharon pursed her lips, “I happen to like it.”
Andy gave her a look full of disbelief, “I don’t believe you.”
Sharon made a mocking grimace in return.
“On the other hand,” Andy started as they entered the elevator to the garage level, “it’s something your friend Brenda would adore.” His tone was dry and he shook his head once again, “Really, that must have been the most awkward exchange I’ve ever witnessed, the Chief introducing you. Provenza nearly had a heart attack and I was ready to laugh coffee up.”
Sharon shrugged and took a step closer to him, her eyes crinkled as she confessed in a low voice, “I do like Brenda, if I have to tell the truth.”
“Since when?”
“She sorta grows on you, doesn’t she?” the way she intoned the words at the end clearly included Andy into the statement. Sharon had after all been privy to his less than stellar acknowledgement of Chief Johnson when she had first joined the LAPD, why, he had been an ass back then. A self-righteous bastard.
He grinned in agreement, “Yeah.”
Sharon patted his arm, “We’ve both come a long way, hmm.”
“Yeah,” Andy agreed again, feeling goofy.
“You are extraordinarily eloquent in your vocabulary tonight, lieutenant,” Sharon teased him as she leaned even closer, her eyes on him, “why, I’m starting to think your default function is to utter rough ‘yeah’s at me.”
Andy leaned sideways, his shoulder bumping against hers, “I use big words when the need arises, Captain.”
She rolled her eyes but her lips parted in a broad smile.
Andy smiled and then fired back in a light tone, “Apropos behavior and tonight, you seem to be in a flirty mood, huh. How much did you have to drink? I was sure you only had a couple of glasses but who knows, maybe you and your friend Brenda snuck out and shared a friendly toast?”
The light-hearted atmosphere was ruined almost instantaneously, a flicker of unrest to read in her expression before she averted her eyes to the ugly gnome in her arms as if it was extremely interesting.
Damn.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Andy tried to backpedal because apparently making any sort of vague reference to the fact that they used to be more than merely friendly was off limits. One of those invisible rules that she had forgotten to tell him about but took for granted he knew about.
“I mean, you just seem to be in a happy mood - well, you know, happy despite the circumstances.”
Sharon gave a noncommittal hum in response.
The rest of the ride in the elevator felt stuffed and awkward, Andy alternating between looking at the numbers and then at Sharon who still avoided his gaze, clearing his throat but not knowing what to fill the silence with.
Maybe he should just have let her take a cab home.
It would have been easier.
“Are you certain no one else will need a ride home?” Sharon asked when they exited the elevator into the garage level. Her voice was back to normal and her expression impassive when she looked sideways at him, the noise from her suitcase being wheeled across the concrete ground drawing his attention for a second.
Andy shrugged as he walked next to her, “They can fend for themselves.”
She raised an enquiring eyebrow at his tone.
Andy huffed and then explained, “Buzz drove Mike home an hour ago and Sanchez well, I’m sure he will get home without a problem. Last I checked Provenza thought I had already left and only seemed miffed I was correcting his story about what he considers the glory days,” Andy paused and then added, “He is not missing me and he can take a cab if he doesn’t carpool with the Chief and her family.”
Sharon smiled again, “Are you feeling a bit put out, lieutenant?”
Andy arched an eyebrow, “Put out?”
“Neglected by your partner,” she explained with pursed lips, her expression too innocent, “I think he took offence to my presence and that I chose to sit next to you tonight.”
Andy rolled his eyes, “I thought he was rather well-behaved, taking everything into consideration.”
Sharon nodded, “We did have a somewhat civil conversation at one point.”
“And now you are lying straight through your teeth,” Andy shook his head and quickly took a two-step in front of Sharon and then walked backwards, his eyes on her with mirth.
Sharon smiled in a wicked fashion, “Oh no, we quite civilly agreed on your exceptional dismal skill for wrapping presents. A blind toddler could do a better job of it.”
Andy narrowed his eyes, “You are awful.”
“Your wrapping is awful,” she delivered back, her teeth showing as she beamed.
Andy shook his head, “Sometimes I am mighty glad you two do not get along more.”
“Why?” she drawled, her smile once again flirtatious. It was the only word that fitted her tone and the only word that fitted the way she regarded him however much she wanted to pretend they were not flirting.
“Well, for one thing if the two of you were all friendly and in cahoots, I would have absolutely no one to complain to about Provenza.”
“What’s the other thing?”
“You would annoy me to an early grave,” Andy deadpanned.
Andy’s old Crown Vic came within view, the walk along the garage level seeming to take no time at all - or at least it felt like less time with Sharon by his side.
“There’s no need to worry, lieutenant,” Sharon smirked at him as she turned around to regard him with her back to the passenger side door, letting go of the handle on her suitcase, “I will refrain from cavorting with your grumpy partner.”
Andy lifted one eyebrow and took a step towards her, “That’s mighty admirable of you, Captain.”
“I’m a very admirable person,” she smiled back in retort, her eyes crinkled with mischief.
Andy was only focused on the way her lips begged to be kissed, colorful and slightly pursed.
In hindsight this was why he should have let her take a cab home.
It was Christmas, however, and he was lonely.
It only took a step forward and then his mouth fitted so nicely against hers, tentative at first but he met nothing but pliant and soft lips, so he took another step and pressed her up against the car door and let his lips fully covers hers.
His hands immediately found a purpose on her hips but not for long, and then he changed his mind and let them travel up along the sides of her stomach instead. He grabbed her shoulders as he deepened the kiss, and moved his fingers to hold her head when he sought more skin contact.
Sharon made a noise at the contact, a continuous little hum that curled through his body like electricity with its familiar timbre. She opened her mouth more and drew him closer with one hand at the back of his neck, fingers seeking a hard grip in his hair.
That idiot gnome was still tugged against her chest, one arm clutching it in a death grip he noticed, the offending ornament not seeming that offending anymore. As long as he could kiss her nothing else really mattered.
It was pent-up frustration coming out in a torrent, his approach less than soft. He just wanted to devour her in some fashion, and when it came to this it meant kissing her as if his life depended on their lips being fastened together with glue.
“Andy,” Sharon breathed when they took a short break, their lips tingling as they both took a steadying inhalation before the kiss continued.
Andy pulled her closer in reply, his hands splayed on the back of her spine before he slid them down and grabbed her ass and brought her pelvis into contact with his groin.
“I want you,” he growled because shit that was the only thing he was aware of. The bulge in his pants ever so pressing and uncomfortable, the nearness of her body only riling him further up.
Sharon made another noise then, strangled and yet excited.
“I want to fuck you,” he whispered into the skin before her ear, teeth scraping across her earlobe before his mouth slid down her neck, kisses along the way.
“Lieu -,” Sharon started to say, throaty sound.
Andy covered her mouth once again with his own, drowning out her obvious attempt at putting this into some sort of order.
In response she curled her fingers through the small hairs at the back of his neck and then leaned her head back from his seeking mouth, the fingers tightening in his hair and making him groan in pain when she stopped him from leaning down and capturing her lips again.
“We are not having sex,” Sharon said as she tried to control her voice, the words seeming absurd, “not here and not now.”
Andy raised his eyebrow, “I only kissed you, Sharon,” he then paused and with a crooked smile he drawled, “We are at least a couple of minutes away from having sex.”
She shook her head, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Andy pursed his lips, trying to comprehend why she looked devastated.
“You were only supposed to take me home, nothing else.”
“You kissed me back?”
She shrugged and let go of his hair, “I know, I know. But I am not ready - not for all of this,” she looked down, eyes on his chest.
“It doesn’t have to mean a thing,” Andy said, his fingers going in circles around her hip in a caress.
She looked up with a jerk, her expression decidedly sardonic, “I’m thrilled to know sex with me means so little to you.”
Andy rolled his eyes, sighing when she pushed him away with a huff.
He obliged and gave her a soft look, “That’s not what I meant. Don’t spoil for a fight, okay? It was just a thought,” he shrugged before he turned and then started around the backend of his car, “I’ll take you home, okay. No funny stuff, I promise.”
Sharon pursed her mouth in reply, her eyes narrowed.
Andy quickly grabbed her suitcase and made room for it in the trunk of his car, a sigh escaping when he heard the car door opening and closing. He got in, trying to think of a topic that would bring back levity.
After a ten minute drive in silence Sharon spoke, “Just this once.”
She shifted the gnome in her arms and then gave him a hesitant look out of the corner of her eyes, quickly looking away when he turned his head.
Andy hummed, not sure what to tell her, excitement mixing with apprehension in a strange concoction.
“It doesn’t mean that we are getting back together,” Sharon told him in a no-nonsense tone, this time catching his eyes, “okay?”
Andy agreed with a nod, “I know,” he paused, eyes on the road as he swerved into a different lane, “A one-time thing on account of the shitty Christmas we are both having without our respective families.”
She grimaced, “That sounds so impassive and dull.”
Andy chuckled, “Oh don’t worry, it won’t be dull.”
She made a sound that sounded like a repressed snort.
“Heck, Sharon, it makes sense. You’re lonely - I’m lonely. It’s Christmas and neither of us can be with our loved ones. So it’s just one of those things that happen. It won’t change our friendship. I mean, I’m not about to start behaving like an idiot again, or expect anything you are not ready for.”
She gave him a sideways look, “You are one of my loved ones.”
Andy smiled back, “Yeah, well, you know what I mean.”
She rolled her eyes.
Andy smirked, “I love you too.”
She rolled her eyes but he caught the way her mouth trembled into a happy smile.
…
=)
“You are kidding me!”
Andrew Flynn arched one eyebrow and his upper lip curled in semi repulsion when his gaze landed on the butt-ugly gnome that rested in Sharon Raydor’s arms as she came through the door into the corridor. They were on their way home from the Christmas dinner, the corridor eerily silent compared to the noise that echoed from the major crimes squad room, the party still going.
“Since when do you stoop to the level of kidnapping god-awful Christmas ornaments, huh?”
It was the last thing Andy had expected to find tugged against her chest when she showed up for the lift home he had offered to give her, her suitcase following her trail. He had felt in a chivalrous mood and had as such offered his passenger seat to her, the notion that if he prolonged the time he spent with her then surely he would think less of the plans for Christmas with his kids that lay in long ruin.
Sharon quirked back an eyebrow at him and her mouth twitched, “It was given to me, so no kidnapping or thievery is involved, lieutenant.”
“Oh yeah?” Andy prodded, still not able to understand why the atrocious thing deserved such a comfortable place to rest or why she seemed intent on hugging it like a fond teddy-bear from her childhood, “Because I’m pretty sure that ugly thing belongs to the Johnsons’.”
“Lieutenant,” Sharon intoned with a drawl, her voice tinted by a low pleasant timbre that was always a bit more pronounced when she was tipsy, “It was given to me. A present if you like.”
Andy angled his head and smiled at her, thinking she looked beautiful tonight. His eyes went over the rosy flush that had started creeping over her cheeks when she had finished the first glass of red wine. It had only blossomed into a sparkle since. There was something alluring about her, something that drew him close - something that made him want to be even closer.
Andy felt submerged in her presence in a way he had not felt in a long time, enclosed into a little sphere where he felt giddy and tingly. It had been brought on by her close proximity throughout the entire Christmas dinner. She had landed her hand on his forearm a couple of times, merry tones as she joined in on Provenza’s story from the good old days, filling the holes that Provenza purposely neglected to tell. Andy knew from the self-aware smile she tried to hide that she had not meant to touch him, and yet it happened again, her shoulder against his and her fingers gingerly on his wrist.
“You say that and yet I wouldn’t put it past you to take the liberty of actually stealing that thing.”
Sharon tilted her head, “I think you are once again confusing your own traits with mine.”
Andy shrugged with an encouraging smile, “I just have a hard time seeing Chief Johnson giving away Christmas ornaments and to you nonetheless.”
Sharon smiled, “I see your point. It was Willie Ray who gave it to me on account of being Brenda’s friend,” she smiled in a strange sort of way and Andy agreed those words sounded alien coming from her lips.
Her mouth curled with amusement, “So I am merely taking home what is rightfully mine. Do you have a problem with that, lieutenant Flynn?”
Andy shook his head, his eyes once again on the ugly gnome, “Well, if you want something to scare away your neighbors, you’ve got it. That thing is hideous beyond reason and frankly it would serve better as a scarecrow.”
Sharon pursed her lips, “I happen to like it.”
Andy gave her a look full of disbelief, “I don’t believe you.”
Sharon made a mocking grimace in return.
“On the other hand,” Andy started as they entered the elevator to the garage level, “it’s something your friend Brenda would adore.” His tone was dry and he shook his head once again, “Really, that must have been the most awkward exchange I’ve ever witnessed, the Chief introducing you. Provenza nearly had a heart attack and I was ready to laugh coffee up.”
Sharon shrugged and took a step closer to him, her eyes crinkled as she confessed in a low voice, “I do like Brenda, if I have to tell the truth.”
“Since when?”
“She sorta grows on you, doesn’t she?” the way she intoned the words at the end clearly included Andy into the statement. Sharon had after all been privy to his less than stellar acknowledgement of Chief Johnson when she had first joined the LAPD, why, he had been an ass back then. A self-righteous bastard.
He grinned in agreement, “Yeah.”
Sharon patted his arm, “We’ve both come a long way, hmm.”
“Yeah,” Andy agreed again, feeling goofy.
“You are extraordinarily eloquent in your vocabulary tonight, lieutenant,” Sharon teased him as she leaned even closer, her eyes on him, “why, I’m starting to think your default function is to utter rough ‘yeah’s at me.”
Andy leaned sideways, his shoulder bumping against hers, “I use big words when the need arises, Captain.”
She rolled her eyes but her lips parted in a broad smile.
Andy smiled and then fired back in a light tone, “Apropos behavior and tonight, you seem to be in a flirty mood, huh. How much did you have to drink? I was sure you only had a couple of glasses but who knows, maybe you and your friend Brenda snuck out and shared a friendly toast?”
The light-hearted atmosphere was ruined almost instantaneously, a flicker of unrest to read in her expression before she averted her eyes to the ugly gnome in her arms as if it was extremely interesting.
Damn.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Andy tried to backpedal because apparently making any sort of vague reference to the fact that they used to be more than merely friendly was off limits. One of those invisible rules that she had forgotten to tell him about but took for granted he knew about.
“I mean, you just seem to be in a happy mood - well, you know, happy despite the circumstances.”
Sharon gave a noncommittal hum in response.
The rest of the ride in the elevator felt stuffed and awkward, Andy alternating between looking at the numbers and then at Sharon who still avoided his gaze, clearing his throat but not knowing what to fill the silence with.
Maybe he should just have let her take a cab home.
It would have been easier.
“Are you certain no one else will need a ride home?” Sharon asked when they exited the elevator into the garage level. Her voice was back to normal and her expression impassive when she looked sideways at him, the noise from her suitcase being wheeled across the concrete ground drawing his attention for a second.
Andy shrugged as he walked next to her, “They can fend for themselves.”
She raised an enquiring eyebrow at his tone.
Andy huffed and then explained, “Buzz drove Mike home an hour ago and Sanchez well, I’m sure he will get home without a problem. Last I checked Provenza thought I had already left and only seemed miffed I was correcting his story about what he considers the glory days,” Andy paused and then added, “He is not missing me and he can take a cab if he doesn’t carpool with the Chief and her family.”
Sharon smiled again, “Are you feeling a bit put out, lieutenant?”
Andy arched an eyebrow, “Put out?”
“Neglected by your partner,” she explained with pursed lips, her expression too innocent, “I think he took offence to my presence and that I chose to sit next to you tonight.”
Andy rolled his eyes, “I thought he was rather well-behaved, taking everything into consideration.”
Sharon nodded, “We did have a somewhat civil conversation at one point.”
“And now you are lying straight through your teeth,” Andy shook his head and quickly took a two-step in front of Sharon and then walked backwards, his eyes on her with mirth.
Sharon smiled in a wicked fashion, “Oh no, we quite civilly agreed on your exceptional dismal skill for wrapping presents. A blind toddler could do a better job of it.”
Andy narrowed his eyes, “You are awful.”
“Your wrapping is awful,” she delivered back, her teeth showing as she beamed.
Andy shook his head, “Sometimes I am mighty glad you two do not get along more.”
“Why?” she drawled, her smile once again flirtatious. It was the only word that fitted her tone and the only word that fitted the way she regarded him however much she wanted to pretend they were not flirting.
“Well, for one thing if the two of you were all friendly and in cahoots, I would have absolutely no one to complain to about Provenza.”
“What’s the other thing?”
“You would annoy me to an early grave,” Andy deadpanned.
Andy’s old Crown Vic came within view, the walk along the garage level seeming to take no time at all - or at least it felt like less time with Sharon by his side.
“There’s no need to worry, lieutenant,” Sharon smirked at him as she turned around to regard him with her back to the passenger side door, letting go of the handle on her suitcase, “I will refrain from cavorting with your grumpy partner.”
Andy lifted one eyebrow and took a step towards her, “That’s mighty admirable of you, Captain.”
“I’m a very admirable person,” she smiled back in retort, her eyes crinkled with mischief.
Andy was only focused on the way her lips begged to be kissed, colorful and slightly pursed.
In hindsight this was why he should have let her take a cab home.
It was Christmas, however, and he was lonely.
It only took a step forward and then his mouth fitted so nicely against hers, tentative at first but he met nothing but pliant and soft lips, so he took another step and pressed her up against the car door and let his lips fully covers hers.
His hands immediately found a purpose on her hips but not for long, and then he changed his mind and let them travel up along the sides of her stomach instead. He grabbed her shoulders as he deepened the kiss, and moved his fingers to hold her head when he sought more skin contact.
Sharon made a noise at the contact, a continuous little hum that curled through his body like electricity with its familiar timbre. She opened her mouth more and drew him closer with one hand at the back of his neck, fingers seeking a hard grip in his hair.
That idiot gnome was still tugged against her chest, one arm clutching it in a death grip he noticed, the offending ornament not seeming that offending anymore. As long as he could kiss her nothing else really mattered.
It was pent-up frustration coming out in a torrent, his approach less than soft. He just wanted to devour her in some fashion, and when it came to this it meant kissing her as if his life depended on their lips being fastened together with glue.
“Andy,” Sharon breathed when they took a short break, their lips tingling as they both took a steadying inhalation before the kiss continued.
Andy pulled her closer in reply, his hands splayed on the back of her spine before he slid them down and grabbed her ass and brought her pelvis into contact with his groin.
“I want you,” he growled because shit that was the only thing he was aware of. The bulge in his pants ever so pressing and uncomfortable, the nearness of her body only riling him further up.
Sharon made another noise then, strangled and yet excited.
“I want to fuck you,” he whispered into the skin before her ear, teeth scraping across her earlobe before his mouth slid down her neck, kisses along the way.
“Lieu -,” Sharon started to say, throaty sound.
Andy covered her mouth once again with his own, drowning out her obvious attempt at putting this into some sort of order.
In response she curled her fingers through the small hairs at the back of his neck and then leaned her head back from his seeking mouth, the fingers tightening in his hair and making him groan in pain when she stopped him from leaning down and capturing her lips again.
“We are not having sex,” Sharon said as she tried to control her voice, the words seeming absurd, “not here and not now.”
Andy raised his eyebrow, “I only kissed you, Sharon,” he then paused and with a crooked smile he drawled, “We are at least a couple of minutes away from having sex.”
She shook her head, “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?” Andy pursed his lips, trying to comprehend why she looked devastated.
“You were only supposed to take me home, nothing else.”
“You kissed me back?”
She shrugged and let go of his hair, “I know, I know. But I am not ready - not for all of this,” she looked down, eyes on his chest.
“It doesn’t have to mean a thing,” Andy said, his fingers going in circles around her hip in a caress.
She looked up with a jerk, her expression decidedly sardonic, “I’m thrilled to know sex with me means so little to you.”
Andy rolled his eyes, sighing when she pushed him away with a huff.
He obliged and gave her a soft look, “That’s not what I meant. Don’t spoil for a fight, okay? It was just a thought,” he shrugged before he turned and then started around the backend of his car, “I’ll take you home, okay. No funny stuff, I promise.”
Sharon pursed her mouth in reply, her eyes narrowed.
Andy quickly grabbed her suitcase and made room for it in the trunk of his car, a sigh escaping when he heard the car door opening and closing. He got in, trying to think of a topic that would bring back levity.
After a ten minute drive in silence Sharon spoke, “Just this once.”
She shifted the gnome in her arms and then gave him a hesitant look out of the corner of her eyes, quickly looking away when he turned his head.
Andy hummed, not sure what to tell her, excitement mixing with apprehension in a strange concoction.
“It doesn’t mean that we are getting back together,” Sharon told him in a no-nonsense tone, this time catching his eyes, “okay?”
Andy agreed with a nod, “I know,” he paused, eyes on the road as he swerved into a different lane, “A one-time thing on account of the shitty Christmas we are both having without our respective families.”
She grimaced, “That sounds so impassive and dull.”
Andy chuckled, “Oh don’t worry, it won’t be dull.”
She made a sound that sounded like a repressed snort.
“Heck, Sharon, it makes sense. You’re lonely - I’m lonely. It’s Christmas and neither of us can be with our loved ones. So it’s just one of those things that happen. It won’t change our friendship. I mean, I’m not about to start behaving like an idiot again, or expect anything you are not ready for.”
She gave him a sideways look, “You are one of my loved ones.”
Andy smiled back, “Yeah, well, you know what I mean.”
She rolled her eyes.
Andy smirked, “I love you too.”
She rolled her eyes but he caught the way her mouth trembled into a happy smile.
…
=)