Chapter 3: How long has this been going on?
A week later.
'What are we doing?' Danny asked. Steve grinned.
'We're having coffee.'
'Why are you grinning?' Danny insisted. Steve's grin broadened.
'Because you're having coffee with me.'
They were due at work in about an hour. They were in a Starbucks. They were having coffee. It was obvious what they were doing, but Danny couldn't shake a feeling of bewilderment. Was this... a date?
Steve had asked Danny to meet him before work and now they were having coffee. Technically, because they were colleagues, this could be interpreted as bonding or something. Like a sort of private exercise in team building without the physical exertion. Or just two guys hanging out. But it wasn't.
Of course, they were not only colleagues anymore, because things between them had been getting hot and heavy. So far not we-need-a-bed heavy yet, but pretty hands on. Danny was slowly trying to become accustomed to the reality of being attracted to another man. It wasn't something he had any experience with and he didn't know whether the fact that Steve did have that experience helped or hurt the situation. Yet, there must be some special reason Steve was grinning like that.
Vaguely, Danny remembered a prior conversation between Steve and himself. Steve had been his usual annoying self. Something about coffee and relationships. Frowning at the grinning man opposite him, Danny took a sip. As the exact words and meaning of their talk came back to him, Danny practically choked on his coffee.
Steve jumped up and slapped his back before Danny waved him away. He mumbled that he was fine, which was a lie. Concerned, Steve sat back down.
'Is this because of the thing I said about coffee?' Danny asked.
There was an innocent expression on Steve's face that didn't fool Danny for a second, but that he desperately wanted to believe. Danny focused on Steve's hands. They were wrapped around his cup. They looked worn and strong. They did all sorts of things to Danny's body that were amazing. Even just looking at them like Danny was doing now gave him a tingly feeling in his stomach that felt fucking fantastic.
'We talked about coffee? What did you say?' Steve inquired. Every relationship has started with a cup of coffee; that was what Danny had said. So, if Steve knew that, this was a date. That in turn would mean that Steve thought that they were at the beginning of a relationship. Danny's frown deepened and he eyed Steve suspiciously. Realising that he had been asked a question, he thought up a quick reply.
'That it's a beverage,' he lamely attempted.
Now Steve was sporting aneurysm face and Danny could feel his own irritation grow.
'Well, it's not a relationship,' Steve snapped. They stared at each other for an uncomfortable moment, until Danny pretended to remember something he needed to do. He threw some bills on the table and fled.
Fuck, how could he not have seen this coming? Whenever they kissed it was always pretty clear that Steve wanted him. Danny wanted him too, though he now realised that they might want each other in different ways. Danny wanted to explore the physical aspect of this new and scary attraction, while Steve seemed to want something steady. Like an actual relationship. That was not what Danny was looking for.
(***)
Half an hour later.
'I'd tread carefully. He's brooding,' Chin warned as Danny entered their headquarters' main room. Lori - apparently intrigued by the idea of a brooding Steve - covertly tried to sneak a glance at the man, the myth, the idiot, but the blinds of his office were closed.
Reluctantly, Danny approached Steve's office and paused outside the door. With his hand on the door handle, he steeled himself before going in. Steve was staring hard at his desk. Not at any of the files on it or anything, but at the desk itself. He didn't look up, but grimaced when Danny closed the door.
'Hi.'
'Hi.'
'By now I should say aloha, shouldn't I?'
His partner shifted in his chair, considering the question. He looked at Danny. Balancing on the heels of his feet, Danny wobbled and Steve appeared to take pity on him.
'Depends; what are you trying to say?' he asked.
'Hi. And sorry,' Danny said. For some reason, Steve crossed his arms and blinked at that answer. Normal people blink, of course. It's like breathing; you hardly realise you are doing it. Nonetheless, Steve wasn't normal by any standards and Danny suspected that he blinked at that moment for some other reason than just to counteract the dryness of his eyes. It was an almost painful fluttering of his eyelids. Danny didn't quite know what to make of it.
'Aloha covers a lot of things, but not an apology,' Steve answered.
'Steve, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to... you know. It's just that I'm not there yet,' Danny stammered. There was something about Steve, sitting there, gloomy but calm, that got him all tongue tied. Part of it was the tattoos peeking out from under his short sleeves and covering the surface of his upper arms. Another part of it was simply his arms. Rippling muscles. Tanned skin. Danny swallowed.
His partner got to his feet. With his right hand, he rubbed his neck. This afforded Danny a nice look at his biceps. Eventually, Steve shrugged.
'It doesn't have to be serious.'
Promptly, Danny turned round and locked the door. As if he didn't understand what Danny meant to do, Steve raised an eyebrow. However, there was a faint smile on his face that indicated he knew all too well what was going to happen.
'You're gonna reward me now?' Steve quipped. Within seconds, Danny had rounded the desk and was shoving the taller man towards it. Danny pushed Steve down onto the desk, which meant they were now of approximately the same height. Danny could tell that Steve was going to draw this out. Sometimes he'd be tender and slow, just to bug Danny.
Up until now, they had refrained from intimacies at work or while working and this wasn't really an ideal situation, but Danny completely forgot about Lori and Chin. Especially when Steve spread his legs. Eagerly, Danny moved into the open space and Steve drew him near. Soon the little office was filled with a lot of heavy breathing and hoarse murmurs.
Steve's hands were on the back of Danny's neck and in Danny's hair. Judging by the force Steve was exerting, Danny guessed that he was trying to bring their lips even closer together. Their mouths were already one, but Danny appreciated the hunger. His own hands were roaming around on Steve's back, making a mental map of every muscle.
They were both straining against their pants, but Danny certainly wasn't going to have his first time with a man on a desk, so he tried to pull away. Steve responded by sucking harder on his bottom lip. Despite how incredible that sensation was, Danny managed to extricate himself from Steve's grasp.
Trying to regulate his breathing, Danny slicked his hair back. Steve adjusted his shirt. Danny unlocked the door. They stayed in the office for another minute. Slowly, they stopped panting and their swollen lips returned to their normal state. To Danny's frustration, a certain problem in their pants took longer to disappear.
A perfunctory knock on the door startled them both. Steve smirked as he sat down behind the desk. Cursing, Danny quickly grabbed a file of the desk. When Chin entered, he used it to cover his obvious arousal.
'It's a matter of taste, I guess,' Chin said over his shoulder to Lori. She followed him in. Flushing, Danny was going for casual with the file, but he reckoned that he looked like a fool. Luckily, Steve's effect on him was fading.
'I don't know; I think it looked hot,' Lori responded. She leaned against the file cabinet. Steve was trying to mask his gleeful smile, assuming a pensive position with his hand in front of his mouth. Meanwhile, Chin and Lori were grinning too. Why the hell was everyone grinning today?
'What are you talking about?' Danny asked. Relieved, he deposited the unnecessary file on Steve's desk. He was fine now. Nothing to see. Chin deferred to Lori, who with a sweet voice uttered something that almost gave Danny a heart attack.
'Man-on-man action.'
Steve and Danny looked at each other, checking to see whether one of them had his hair mussed or maybe Danny's tie was askew. They detected no visible clues to their earlier activity. I'm losing it, Danny thought; either I heard it wrong or it has nothing to do with us.
'Yes, we caught some of it. Right through there, in fact,' Lori explained and she pointed. They followed the direction of her finger and arrived at a gap in the blinds. A gap caused by not lowering the blinds properly, which Steve had a tendency to do because he didn't have enough patience to learn how to do it the right way. A gap that Danny had somehow missed. Shit.
'You're a cute couple,' she added. Agitated, Danny coughed and curbed the urge to articulate his distress with a rant accompanied by wild gestures. Now it was out. The whole world was going to know. This was fucking perfect. The others were laughing and he managed to join in. His inner turmoil was disguised by a light chuckle.
Danny continued to quietly freak out, until Steve perceived his mounting panic and quickly interrupted the merriment. Expertly, Danny's partner segued into their new case. Sighing, Danny nodded at him. There were no words to express how grateful he was to Steve for changing the subject. He'd just have to reward Mr. Tall, dark and handsome in another manner.
(***)
Later that day.
'So, you don't care?'
'Brah, there are plenty of people out there who are not going to be okay with whatever you and Steve have got going, but I'm not one of them,' Chin assured Danny. That was good. Well, it was something at least. Chin paused for a second, staring at the suspect's driver's license up on the screen, before adding, 'I'm not so sure about Lori, though.'
Immediately, Danny's head snapped up.
'What? Why? She seemed fine with it.'
Chin glanced at him. His finger was hovering above the screen. He seemed to be thinking it over. Danny wanted to shake him.
'I think she's also interested in Steve,' Chin finally explained.
They really were in high school, weren't they? With the experimentation and the secrets and the crushes. Not that Danny had all that much experience with experimentation in high school. His brother had used to say that at twelve Danny already behaved like a cranky, middle aged Conservative. So, no experimentation for Danny then. He couldn't for the life of him remember what the fuck he had been doing instead, but he was definitely making up for his lack of exploration now.
Anyway, Lori and Steve would make sense. They were very similar. Unlike Steve and me, Danny thought; we're almost exact opposites. On the other hand, opposites attract and Lori would just have to suck it up.
'Tough shit,' Danny mumbled. He didn't see Chin's amused reaction, because Steve came in. Lori trailed after him. It looked an awful lot like she was checking him out. Danny narrowed his eyes at her.
'That's enough for today, I think,' Steve said. He was wearing cargo pants and a wide shirt, so there wasn't a whole lot of actual body to behold, but still.
Danny was going to have to postpone the reward, because Steve's sister Mary Ann was arriving today and staying for a week. That meant less time for further exploration.
Exploration of Steve's house; his supply of cargo pants was almost literally endless. Exploration of strange feelings; why did Danny forget other people's presence whenever Steve was around? Exploration of Steve's body; this was Danny's favourite kind of exploration.
As Steve walked out, Danny observed his walk. It was loose. Not New Jersey loose, which was exaggerated and used by street kids who thought it made them look cool. It was an effortless, relaxed walk, a bit on the reckless side and it was sexy as hell.
Maybe Danny was also looking at his ass. Hey, if the opportunity presents itself... Steve turned around and smirked. He made the universal 'eyes up here' gesture, which, come to think of it, probably also doubled as some scary Navy Seal signal.
'Remember, Danno. Last Saturday of the month: you, me, Grace and Kono. We're gonna teach you how to catch a wave. '
'Don't call me Danno.'
'Okay, babe.'
'Danno's fine.'
