Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I wish I owned Pete, though. And Addie. For completely different reasons.


2. Games and coffee

Addison was already dressed for work when she went downstairs to the living room. She had to stiffle a laugh when she saw Violet hadn't moved a single muscle since she'd left her asleep on the couch last night. She'd always been a restless sleeper, and she couldn't help but wonder what it felt like to sleep like a log, all night in the same position. She made coffee and walked over to the living room, carrying a mug on each hand. Placing one of the mugs under Violet's nose, she waited until she opened her eyes and shoot her a cheerful smile "Hello, Sunshine!". Violet wasn't very pleased about being woken up, and she let Addison know by giving her a death glare.

"Well, aren't we a little bit grumpy. At least I wake my couch guests with coffee, you could learn from my mad hostess skills." Groaning, Violet sat up and drank her coffee, willing the hangover to go away. "Is Naomi here?" Addison sat down next to her and took a sip from her coffee, feeling her morning mood improve with the warm liquid. "Are you saying I'm not enough company? I'm hurt. Really, truly hurt." She emphasized the last word with an over dramatic expression on her face. "I like you better when you're miserable." Addison smiled sweetly at her friend. "I like you better when you're drunk." The reason Violet wanted to know if Naomi was there was, as she later told Addison, that she'd drove her to her place the night before, so she'd be needing a ride home before work.

Addison pulled over on Violet's driveway and, just as she walked towards the front door and the redhead was about to drive to the practice, she saw a familiar face smiling at her from the other side of the window. "Pete, hey!" she rolled down the window and returned his smile with one of her own. "What are you doing here? I hope you're not cheating on me with a real shrink." She chuckled at his cocky smirk, and answered with a hint of playfulness in her voice. "I am, actually. I just drove her home after our night of passion." It was his turn to laugh now, and she couldn't help but notice how close he was getting, and how incredibly attractive his laugh was. "What about you? Cheating on me with my own shrink mistress?"

She was sporting one of those beaming smiles, the ones that made it very hard for him to concentrate. But this time, since he was already thinking about her, it didn't bother him nearly as much. "Exactly. I needed to talk to someone without an Y chromosome." Pete smirked at the fake indignant look on her face, and didn't give her time to make a sarcastic remark. "And, before you tell me how lousy a friend I am, I should tell you you would have been my first choice if you weren't what I wanted to talk about." He wanted to talk about her? What are you supposed to say after someone tells you something like that? "I see leaving Addison Montgomery speechless wasn't impossible, after all."

His smirk grew wider, and if she hadn't had an amazing amount of self-control, she probably would have blushed. "Holistic quacks aren't supposed to be this cocky." He smiled at the teasing tone of her voice. "Hotshot surgeons aren't supposed to be this flirty." He knew he was winning, and he was enjoying the feeling. "I'm not being flirty." Okay, so maybe she was. But she definitely wasn't the only one. "It sure looks like you are." He already had his best cocky grin in place, waiting for her to sigh exasperated as she'd done more than once before when he won at one of their little banters. "Believe me, Pete, you'll notice when I get flirty." He didn't have to admit his defeat, because his face had probably spoken for him. If he'd been able to find his voice, he would have told her she'd cheated. He was pretty sure using that sexy almost-whispering voice and shooting him an inviting look was against the rules. And, if it wasn't, it should be. With the innocent smile back on her face, Addison brought him back from his thoughts. "Good luck with the talking. See you at the meeting." And, with that, she drove away.

He was still smiling when he walked into Violet's house. "She won." Violet looked amused. "Again? You need to work on your self-control." She knew about the little game her co-workers had going on. The shameless flirting mixed with just the exact amount of friendship that made it seem like an innocent game if you didn't know what was going on. But Violet knew. In fact, she was the only one who knew exactly what was going on. And when she said the only one, she really meant the only one. She was the only one who knew both sides of the story. "It's hard to win when she does that thing with the eyes and the voice." He poured himself a glass of juice as she got changed in her bedroom. "Please, don't tell me she got you again with the sultry voice. I thought you'd be used to it by now."

He was pretty sure he'd never get used to it. "Well, I'm apparently not used to it yet." In her room, Violet shook her head. Sometimes he wondered if Pete had any self-control at all. "So, girls' night in last night?" He tried to sound as nonchalant as possible. "Yep. It was fun, lots of wine." He spoke again as she stepped outside of her room, ready for work. "How was the date with Officer Pretty?" Grabbing an apple, she followed him outside. "It's HotCop, Pete. And you know I'm not telling you." He knew she wouldn't tell, but it was worth a shot. "I'll win the next round." Violet chuckled as she got in her car. "It'd be a first." Laughing, he got in his own car and rolled down the window to answer. "I have absolutely nothing against firsts." And then he drove to the clinic, thinking about the moment when he'd handed her the picture. It might have been an unofficial match, but he'd definitely won that time. And he intended to win again.

The smile still hadn't disappeared from Addison's face when she sat at the table, ready to start the morning meeting. She was good at the game, and it was always good for her ego to win. She was finding this flirting thing surprisingly enjoyable. Not that she didn't wonder if they were going anywhere, though. She'd like to know if it was more than just a game. But she wasn't about to ruin it, at least not yet. She was having too much fun for that. The rest of the doctors started taking their seats, and the meeting started. Pete caught her looking at him a few times, but since she'd caught him doing the same, they agreed to let it go as a tie.

It had been an uneventful day at the clinic. Only a handful of patients, and none of them had been hard to deal with. Addison and Pete worked together on one of her patients, and she'd effortlessly won that match, this time with the help of her (and his) favorite innocent look and a sweet "Don't worry, next time I have a sleep over I'll make sure you're invited". The third round, however, went to Pete, who was beginning to think her office was the only place where he could keep his impulses under control. It all started when he saw Officer Pretty walking into her office. He'd decided he was fine with her dating him, because he wanted to give her the chance to choose for herself. He didn't want to think she'd chosen him for lack of other options. The cristal walls of her office let him see they were laughing and having a good time, and he decided it was time for one of his "little things".

Thinking back to the brainstormin session, and quickly putting the shoes and the green stuff off the table, he decided to go with the coffee. He knew what her favorite was, and he certainly didn't mind driving for 15 minutes to get to the very special coffee shop where her very special coffee was sold. She was such a snob when it came to coffee. And he liked that about her, he enjoyed seeing her be so passionate about the silliest things. He was back to the practice 40 minutes later, and he was glad to see Officer Pretty was out of the picture. He walked into her office, coffee in hand, and smiled at her. She was already smiling when she saw him, but her grin broadened when she saw the coffee in his hand. "I didn't know you liked that coffee."

"I don't. But you do." He shoot him one of his charming smiles, and handed it to her. After taking a sip, she smiled at him and spoke again. "How did you know? There are a million different kinds. How did you know this was my favorite?" It was working. He was going to win this time. "I listen to you. All the time. Even when you think I'm not paying attention. I can't not pay attention to you." She was surprised to see there was no cocky smirk in sight. Not a single hint of him being joking. "Oh." There it was. He'd won. "And that's how it's done." There he was, cocky arrogant Pete in all his glory. She smiled, thankful for him setting a lighter mood. "Do you always have to ruin the moment with your holistic cockiness?"

He was already walking out of her office when he turned around to answer. "It's part of my charm." She closed her eyes as she took another sip of her favorite coffee, courtesy of her favorite quack, with a smile playing on her lips. It really was part of his charm.


Thank you so much Carolina 1986, raes, AddielovesMen, agentaddek, jb916 and Chloe for your nice words! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic, you guys really make me keep writing :)

A/N: Please read and review! Constructive criticism is love, and good reviews don't hurt either :P