UST – Unresolved Sexual Tension
A/N: A little something I came up after seeing the phrase the other day.
Chapter One
"Parker came up to me this morning while I was shaving and asked me if I could take him to Disneyland," Booth said, taking a bite of his hamburger, thoroughly enjoying the extra pickles and tomatoes.
"It is nice there this time of year," Brennan replied as she tossed the garden salad around on her plate.
"I told him that Mickey Mouse doesn't live there, and he was okay with that because all he really wants to do is learn to surf."
"Booth, that makes absolutely no sense."
"Tell me about it. I then had to explain to him that five-thousand miles was a long distance to go to learn to surf."
Brennan raised her head and pointed her fork at him with a lonely tomato hanging off the end, "Actually the distance between Washington, DC and the direct parallel city in California is only four thousand—"
Booth cut her off.
"He's five, Bones. Four thousand or five thousand miles; he is only five and doesn't know the difference."
"Like Peru being in Africa?"
"Yeah, like that."
"I'm sure you will both have a great time at Disneyland," she said, still staring at but not eating her salad.
"Bones, are you even listening to what I have said? Light is on but nobody is home." He shook his head at his increasingly frustrating partner that afternoon.
She glared up at him, "I am a very good listener."
Booth put down his burger, took a chug of his beer then with his napkin, carefully wiped his mouth, all the while not taking his eyes off her.
"Okay, you are a good listener, despite the fact that I said I told Parker that it was too far to go to learn how to surf."
"That was sarcasm I heard in your voice."
Realizing he now had her attention he leaned over the table and softened his voice knowing that would get him emotionally closer than more sarcasm would, "What's going on Bones? Something has you distracted."
With her fork now rolling the single tomato from one side of her plate to the other, Brennan raised her head, looked around, and then leaned closer to her partner so they were now mere inches apart, "Angela said something today that has me perplexed."
She leaned back and went back to the monotonous task of moving the tomato from one side of her plate to the other.
"Are you going to share this perplexing thing Angela said, with me?" Booth asked as his eyebrows rose slightly. Now he was perplexed and she hasn't even told him anything worth being perplexed about.
"She said we, you and me," Brennan started as she gestured between her and Booth with her salad fork laden with the lonely tomato, "have UST."
His mouth widened with uncertainty. Does he really want to know what UST means. Of course he does.
But before any words could form and exit his mouth she finished, "Unresolved Sexual Tension."
He released the beer glass from his lips and, instantaneously decided that swallowing the mouthful of ale would be more gentlemanly like than spewing it across the table at his partner and the elderly man sitting behind her. He felt his face heat up, imagining it was similar in color to the tomato still hanging on for dear life at the end of her fork.
All parts of his body froze as his mind accelerated to overdrive.
What should I say? Do I use a clever comeback? Do I blatantly agree with Angela? Do I feverishly deny it telling Bones that Angela says the most preposterous things sometimes?
None of that happened. "Oh." It was the only safe word he could think of at the moment.
In only Temperance Brennan candor, she continued recalling her conversation with Angela.
"Angela said once we admit there is UST, then we need to decide how to make it RST."
Booth concentrated on the way her mouth curved slightly as she talked. RST?
"She also said UST can turn into LUST if two people are not proactive in making it RST."
"Listen Bones, I am quite capable of determining whether or not I have UST, or whatever with you." His stern tone alerted Tempe to back off for a bit - this conversation was clearly making him uncomfortable.
He finished the last two bites of his burger in silence. Genuine frustration was building rapidly throughout his body. He was not going to have discussion of the possibility of sexual tension between him and his partner in the diner. He took one last sip of his beer, pulled out his wallet out, not even taking into consideration that Brennan still hadn't eaten any of her salad, and placed some bills on the table. After he slid his wallet into his back pocket, he reached towards Brennan gesturing for her to take his hand.
Raising her eyes briefly from her salad tossing, she eyed his hand, and then dropped her gaze back to the now tormented roughage.
Seeing she was not going to willing take his hand so they could go somewhere and talk in private, he decided it was time to push aside all niceties, "Bones, let's go."
She remained seated, and silent.
Leaning down to the point where his hot breath coated her ear, he made it clear that she will leave with him, now.
"You can take my hand and let me help you up, or I can bend down a little farther, scoop you up and carry you out slung over my shoulders." He left his mouth poised over her ear, while both hands prepped for Operation: Remove Bones.
Her ear now overheating and causing some disillusionment to other body parts, decided to challenge her overly confident partner.
"I dare you," she whispered into his left ear that obviously he hadn't realized was left in the open. "Two can play at that game."
A sharp intake of breath jolted his upper body, moving his mouth to her cheek. Temptation was presenting itself in an unexpected way. He had started this and was determined to finish it, however, he hadn't anticipated Temperance Brennan to be such a worthy opponent.
Standing tall, rolling his shoulders back, he took a different approach, "Temperance, I would like to leave now and would greatly appreciate it if you would accompany me."
Smiling with satisfaction, Brennan scooted to the end of the seat and stood to face her partner.
"Be assertive without being cocky and you shall be rewarded," she announced in a low, sexy voice.
Squeezing his eyes shut to help control a surge of raging arousal at the thought of being rewarded by his partner, he exhaled the breath he was holding. After he opened his eyes, he walked to the door his partner was standing in front of, pulled it open and gestured for her to go first. Tossing him a know-it-all smile over he shoulder as she passed by him, his face scrunched slightly at the uneasy feeling of being outwitted by Bones.