I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS
"Damn, it's hot in here, Pretty Boy! How can you keep that sweater vest on? Aren't you hot?" I exclaimed.
"Did you know that the more body fat or muscle that you have the more you retain heat?" Reid replied. "There have been studies that show…."
"No, no, no, no, Reid, it is too hot. Please don't tell me what I weigh will make me hotter?" Emily interrupted. "I'm only telling you this for your own protection. I'm hot and I have a gun."
Reid wisely stayed quiet and I couldn't help but grin at the look on his face. The air was out in the whole building and it was the middle of July. Hotch had even lost his jacket and was rolling his shirt sleeves to his elbows as he made his way to Rossi's office.
Maintenance was working on the problem to no avail and tempers were flaring from the heat. I was almost to the point I was wishing for a case just to take us out of the steamy building. I couldn't bring myself to seriously hope for a case since it would mean bad news or tragedy for someone else but some, non-harmful case would be nice.
"Hey Morgan," Reid turned to me and said, "I was wondering if you had any plans for Saturday night?"
"Reid, it's Saturday night, of course I have plans. I plan to find me a cool club and a hot babe. Why do you ask?" I replied.
"Nothing," Reid said with a slight frown.
"Now, Pretty Boy, I know you wouldn't have asked if it was nothing. What are you planning?" I asked.
I watched as Reid's cheeks took on a pink tint and after clearing his throat, in a low voice he said, "I was invited to a club opening and I was thinking of going but you know that's not really my thing."
"Then why are you going, Reid?" Emily asked.
"I wouldn't but someone from high school is opening the place so I thought I would go and he told me to bring a guest." Reid answered.
I knew that Reid didn't have many friends from school so the friend had to mean something to him to brave a club, especially with me. I tend to lose myself in the music and the ladies as soon as I arrive and by closing time I usually find Reid in some corner hiding. I was rather surprised that he didn't want to ask Emily, JJ or Garcia since I knew they would be more apt to stay with him.
"Are you sure you wanna go with me and not one of the ladies?" I asked.
"Yeah, but if you don't want to, it's okay," Reid said, "I don't know why I even want to go. I'll probably be miserable."
"No, Pretty Boy, one club is as good as another. Unless you're gonna tell me I have to dance to classical music?" I asked with a raised brow.
"I really don't know what they play," Reid responded, "all I know is it is on Baker Street and it's called 'Game'. I honestly don't even know if they have music but the invitation said it was a club so I assumed it would, wouldn't it?"
"I haven't heard of it, have you Prentiss?" I asked.
"No, I haven't but you could ask Garcia, if anyone would know or could find out it would be her," Emily replied.
"Hey Reid, what's the name of the friend that opened it?" I asked.
"Well, he wasn't really a friend, per se; he was just someone I went to high school with. His name is Tucker Smith and I didn't actually know him. He was in drama and I didn't exactly run in the same circles. I just remember seeing him in a few of my classes," Reid said.
I didn't know what I would get myself into by going to this club but I couldn't bring myself to let him go alone or with someone who might not be able to defend him if needed. I know he is a grown man and he has been taking care of himself since he was a child. I know the ladies would defend Reid to the death but protecting him was something I took to heart. No one would hurt Reid if I was around or they would suffer. Nobody hurt Pretty Boy.
I smiled my flirtiest smile and said, "I would love to be your date, Pretty Boy."
My smile only grew bigger as I watched Reid's cheeks turn pink and his mouth drop open in shock.
"No, Morgan, I didn't mean...you don't have…to…..you can still hook up with your 'babe'. It's not a date. I…" Reid stuttered.
"I'm only teasing Reid," I said, "what time Saturday?"
"The invitation said the opening started at 8:00. Do you want me to pick you up?" Reid asked.
"Well, Pretty Boy, all good dates are suppose to pick you up," I grinned, watching his face flush even more. I loved to tease Reid. It had taken a while for him to realize when we met that my teasing was not done in meanness. He had dealt with cruel teasing most of his life. To see him blush and hear him stutter without the hurt look in his eyes had been a wonderful feeling. Knowing that he accepted my playful jesting in the spirit of fun had made me feel good and I think he had come to expect it over time. He had started to tease back recently, which always made me smile. Unfortunately for him he still couldn't control the blushes and it was always my goal to cause one.
"Hello my pretties," Garcia called as she walked into the room.
"Hey Mama," I answered. "Have you heard anything about a new club on Baker Street called 'Game'?"
"Game? Hmmm. Can't say that I have but give me a couple of minutes on my babies and I can find out everything you ever wanted or needed to know about it. Why do you ask? Are we gonna check it out this weekend?" Garcia said.
"Well Reid was invited for this Saturday and can bring a guest so I'm gonna go with him.
Maybe you can find out what kind of club it is for us?" I asked.
"Consider it done, my chocolate Adonis, I will let you know as soon I have the Intel," she stated as she clutched her freshly filled coffee cup and headed back to her lair.
Work went quietly for another hour before she was making her way back to my desk where I was waiting for Reid and Prentiss to return with lunch for the team.
"What's up, baby girl?" I asked.
"Well, my love, I was able to find out the owner of the new club is Tucker Smith, who it turns out graduated with our own junior g-man. He has clubs in a couple of other cities that seem to do very well judging by the articles in their local papers. He is unmarried, just moved here in town and is very successful at taking run-down businesses and turning them into hot, rocking clubs. I couldn't find any bad press about either him or his clubs," Garcia finished.
"That's great, baby, I have to admit that I was a little concerned since Reid said they were never friends in school that he might be up to no good inviting the kid. Glad to know there were no red flags. Maybe he just wants his old schoolmates to see his success," I said.
"Well I hope you keep an eye on my baby just in case. I would hate to be the cause of all his success going down the drain if he laid a finger on my baby genius," she said as we turned to watch Reid and Emily coming off the elevators with bags of food.
"Hey, you two let's grab Hotch, Rossi and JJ and head up the to conference room for lunch," Emily said as she passed by heading for the staircase with Reid on her heels.
I smiled at Garcia and put an arm across her shoulder as we followed them.
The rest of the week went by without much fanfare. We had a case that was local that we had been able to solve fairly quickly, leaving the remainder of the week for paperwork.
It was Friday and we were all ready to go. Hotch paused long enough to say good night and headed out to pick up Jack for his soccer game, Rossi grinned and waved, saying he had a hot date and told us not to call him. JJ stopped by long enough to ruffle Reid's hair on her way out followed by Emily and Garcia, they had decided to have a girl's night and go see the latest rom-com. Reid and I finished packing up and were walking to the elevators.
"I'll come by to pick you up at 7:00 if you want to eat before we head to the club tomorrow," Reid said as we stepped into the elevator.
"Sounds good. Kid, can I ask you a favor?" I asked.
"Sure, what is it?" Reid questioned.
"Promise me you won't wear a sweater vest to the club," I stated with a slight grin.
"Morgan it's our first date and you're already picking out my clothes?" he asked with a grin back at me. His grin got bigger as he stepped off the elevator leaving me with my mouth open. I shook my head, grinned back and followed him to the parking lot. With a final wave we went our separate ways.
I spent Saturday morning running errands and putting my house to rights. Clooney and I played in the park most of the afternoon and he was lying on the foot of my bed when I came out of the bathroom after my shower. He barely opened an eye to look at me as I was getting dressed for my 'date'. I dressed in a favorite pair of jeans and a blue, silk button down and couldn't help but wonder what Reid would be wearing and if he would heed my advice and leave the sweater vest at home.
The doorbell rang at 6:45 and Clooney beat me to the door. I opened it and felt my eyes grow round and my mouth drop open once again. He definitely did not wear a sweater vest. Reid was dressed in black jeans and a dark purple button down, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the top button was undone. I was staring and I could tell he was getting uncomfortable. Pretty Boy looked hot! Luckily, Clooney took that moment to let his presence be known. I took a minute to get myself under control while Reid was leaning down to pet Clooney. I cleared my throat and stood back to let him in the room. He straightened from petting Clooney and walked into my living room.
"Wow, kid, you look….really great," I said.
"Thanks Morgan, you look really nice too," Reid said with a smile that caused me to lose my train of thought once again. What the hell was wrong with me, this is Reid, my friend, my very male friend, my very hot, male friend. I cleared my throat once again.
"Are you ready to go?" Reid asked.
"Yeah, Pretty Boy, I'm all set, any idea where you want to grab some dinner?" I asked
"There is a really nice Italian restaurant just up from the club if that's okay?" Reid said.
"Sounds good to me," I answered, "come on Clooney stop drooling on Reid." Lucky dog I thought and then had to shake my head to clear it. What is wrong with me? Okay, when you get to the club and see all those hot ladies everything will be back to normal. You will not be thinking about kissing that spot on Pretty Boy's neck or running your hands through his curls. STOP! Get a grip, man, it's Reid. Deep breath.
We walked to his car, drove in silence to the restaurant and made our way inside. The place was nice and quiet. We talked about work for a while, wondering if the ladies were behaving themselves tonight, if Rossi was behaving himself and hoped Hotch and Jack were having a good time. The food was delicious and I found that I was having a really good time with Reid.
I insisted that we split the bill down the middle but Reid just laughed.
"I thought you said it was a date, Morgan?" Reid said. "I picked you up; you're my guest so dinner is on me."
"Alright, Pretty Boy, but don't think just because you bought me dinner you'll be getting any action tonight," I answered.
As I was expecting, he blushed.
The club was a few blocks from the restaurant and the night was warm so we decided to walk. We could see people gathered on the sidewalk already and without really thinking about it we both slowed down our walk. A part of me hated the idea of going into the noisy club since I was having a good time just being with the kid. I love dancing so I felt a bit shocked that the club wasn't as appealing as just hanging out and talking with Reid.
By the time we made it to the door everyone was starting to go inside so we followed them in. The place looked great giving off an atmosphere of excitement and fun. I noticed Reid didn't seem as impressed as I was but I knew he wasn't that comfortable dancing and being in a crowd unless he was spouting statistics and solving puzzles.
There was an attractive man just outside the dance floor that everyone seemed to hover around and after pointing him out to Reid he nodded that this was his old classmate. We made our way over to say hello and congratulate him on an impressive establishment. The crowd was thick around him and the music loud so we didn't stay by his side for long, choosing to head toward the bar lining the back wall. We had barely made it in our seats when a voluptuous red head appeared at my side asking for a dance. Glancing at Reid and seeing his nod okay I agreed.
It seemed as soon as I would finish one dance another woman would appear and ask for the next so I was on the floor for a while before I noticed Reid and another man at the bar having what looked to be a heated discussion. At least heated on the other man's part, Reid just looked uncomfortable. I excused myself from my dance partner and made my way through the crowd and moving behind Reid, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey Reid, what seems to be the problem?" I asked with a look to the man across from him.
"Morgan, this is Taylor Manning, he and I went to high school together. He was the captain of the football team," Reid said with a glance to me. My eyebrows rose as I turned back to glance at the angry man in front of Reid.
"Taylor is rather upset that his wife, Alexa, was flirting with me," Reid said pointing at the blonde sitting on his other side.
Again I felt my eyebrows rise with the name. "Alexa…Lisbon?" I questioned.
"Why yes," Alexa answered, "that was my maiden name. How did you know that?"
"Well, well, well," I spoke, "Reid has mentioned you, but truthfully I thought you would be prettier."
"Why you….," Taylor sputtered as he stepped forward, hand clutched tight and drawing back. "The kid was a freak in school and he's a freak now, she would never want anything to do with him." His raised his arm and I moved my hand from Reid's shoulder to my side.
"I think you might want to rethink hitting either Spencer or myself if I were you, Mr. Manning. Or did you realize I could arrest you for attacking a federal officer?" I spoke through my teeth. "I would like nothing better than for you to throw that punch."
I took a step closer and Manning took two steps backwards.
"You know I can understand why she would rather be here with Spencer," I began. After the way you and your friends behaved in school, the way you treated him, she must have realized it doesn't make you much of a man to bully a child. Seeing how great Spencer is, how successful he is, how gorgeous, she must realize what a mistake she made in not grabbing hold of him while she could. But don't you worry, your little receding hairline covered head over it, there is no way he would ever go for your over-made up bimbo of a wife. She wasn't good enough for him then and she damn sure ain't good enough for him now."
I heard a gasp from Alexa and another from Reid as I stood glaring at the man in front of me. He swallowed loudly and motioned for his wife to follow him. They both walked away, red-faced, heading for the door. I glanced around the remaining crowd around us and waited for them to turn back to their previous entertainment. I paused before turning back to Reid. I was expecting to see an angry face. I knew he would be upset at me for causing a scene but even more upset that I had come to his defense. I didn't want him to think I doubted his ability to take care of the jerk himself but it was impossible for me to not protect him. With a sigh I turned around only to be surprised by a grinning Reid.
"Well that was worth coming to the club," Reid said grin growing into a full fledged smile.
"You're not mad, Pretty Boy?" I asked.
"No, I'm not mad. Thanks, Morgan, you know, for what you said to them," he softly said.
Putting my arm around his shoulder I smiled. "How about we get out of here? We could go back to my house and watch a DVD or find something on TV."
"That sounds really great," Reid answered.
We left the club and walked back to the restaurant to get the car. The ride back to my house was quiet but pleasant. I couldn't get my reaction to Manning's treatment of Reid out of my head. I'm always protective of him but I had never been as furious as I was, knowing that I had come face to face with two of the people that had made Reid's childhood so miserable. It had taken all my self-control not to punch Manning in the face.
This bastard helped tie a child to a goal-post, naked and humiliated in front of other students. The more I thought about it the more I was seething. We pulled into my driveway and I felt a soft touch to my arm. I turned to look at Reid and he had a sweet, sad smile on his face.
"Morgan," Reid began, "what they did to me is in the past. They can't hurt me anymore. Please don't let them ruin the night."
I smiled back and patted his hand on my arm.
"Come on, kid, let's go find us some mindless movie to watch," I said.
We went inside and after placating Clooney with some attention Reid looked through my DVD collection while I went to get us some coffee.
We settled on the couch with Clooney at my feet, drinking coffee and watching 'Spaceballs'. Mindless and silly the movie was able to drain the remainder of my anger over the poor treatment of Reid at the club. Reid and I kept glancing at each other, he would smile and my heart would flutter. Why had I never noticed the way his eyes are the color of honey? Why do I find myself wanting to kiss the corner of his mouth when he quirks it up in a half grin? Why does it seem like my body is moving closer to him without my brain noticing?
Reid wasn't trying to pretend to watch TV anymore but instead was watching my face as I raised my hand to touch the soft skin of his cheek. My eyes scanned his face for any signs of fear or anxiety but all I see is curiosity and what looks like desire. I lean over until our lips are a breath apart; slowly we touch in a kiss. A sweet, chaste, coffee-flavored kiss. It only lasted a few seconds and we pulled apart pressing our foreheads together, I opened my eyes and waited until he opened his and looked back at me.
My hand was still on his cheek and I slowly moved my thumb across until it was on his bottom lip. I took a moment to gain my breath, amazed that such a gentle kiss could steal it away from me. Then I moved my lips to his once again, and again, and again.
The kisses started off sweet and soft but in moments I couldn't get enough of his
mouth. I kept coming back for more and I wasn't the only one. With each kiss we moved closer together until there was nothing between us. His hands were around me, one on my neck pulling me closer still and one running up the back of my shirt burning a trail across my skin. I tangled my hands in his hair loving the silky feel of it and the way the curls felt in my fingers.
We pulled apart to breath and I buried my face in the curve of his neck holding him to me. I loved the smell of him, the taste of him and the warmth of his skin against mine.
"Pretty Boy," I breathed unable to find the words to say more.
Reid pulled away enough to look into my face but his hands never left my body, flitting across my neck, my shoulders and chest. He lifted his eyes to mine and I could see the emotions racing across his face.
"Stay with me?" I asked.
"Always," Reid answered as he leaned back in and kissed me again.
We kissed and touched and I wanted more. I stood up from the couch and offered him my hand. He looked at it and then to my face then placed his own hand in mine. We walked to the bedroom and stood beside the bed. I raised my hands to his face and kissed him softly before lowering them to his shirt. Our eyes stayed locked as I undressed him and he undressed me. We climbed onto my bed gently touching, memorizing, and tracing every inch of each other. The passion and heat would be felt the next time we made love, this time I only wanted to feel the love, the sweetness of our first time together.
The night was perfect, the weekend was perfect. We stayed inside all day Sunday making love, talking, watching TV, and reading. We left only when Clooney needed a walk coming back to start all over again. I spent Sunday night missing Spencer. He had went home knowing he would need to have his own things for work the next day. I couldn't wait to get to work to see him again. I knew we would have to rein in our feelings or risk exposing them to team or other co-workers and I only hoped that I would be able to do so. Just looking at Spencer made me smile and I was afraid I would spend the day with a goofy look on my face that would reveal everything the first glance the team got of me.
I walked into the bullpen and felt my breath catch as I saw Spencer sitting at his desk. He was drinking a cup of coffee and was surrounded by JJ, Emily and Garcia. I walked up and heard they were asking him about the club.
"Hey my chocolate thunder how was the club?" Garcia asked.
"Reid said it was 'fine' but that you guys didn't stay long, what gives?" Prentiss asked.
"You didn't leave poor Spence to fend for himself while you hooked up, did you Morgan?" JJ stated with a glare.
"Now calm down ladies, the club was fine, good music, nice atmosphere. However there was a lady that kept hitting on Pretty Boy and her husband didn't seem to like it much so we only stayed about an hour. I made sure the guy knew he did not mess with Reid and we left. End of story," I answered.
"Aww Morgan I guess that means you didn't get to leave with your hot babe," Emily smiled.
"Well now I wouldn't say that," I grinned. "I actually spent the weekend with a very hot babe but I am a gentleman and you ladies will get no details."
"But how did you end up with a hot babe if you left with Reid?" Garcia questioned.
"Never doubt me, baby girl, never doubt me," I laughed.
She patted me on the arm as she walked past me to head back to her office. JJ rolled her eyes and smiled at Spencer before turning to head upstairs. Emily laughed and headed to the break room to fill her coffee mug.
I winked at Spencer and grinned which caused him to blush a very becoming shade of pink.
"Definitely a hot babe," I whispered to him as I grabbed my coffee mug and followed Emily into the break room.
I couldn't wait for 5:00.
