Disclaimer: See earlier chapters
Tears rolled down Andy's cheeks, which were aching from laughing so much. There had definitely not been any awkwardness after the initial introductions were through. Oliver, Zoe, Sam, and herself were seated in the Shaw's living room having some post-dinner drinks. The girls had been sent upstairs after dinner was over and Oliver had promptly launched into story after story of Sam's, Jerry's, and his own rookie days. It was beginning to sound like they had caused about as much trouble as her and the rest of her rookie class did. She had figured these stories were locked up somewhere, but she didn't think she would ever actually get them out of any of the senior officers.
Her eyes shot over to Sam to see his reaction to the most recent story which Oliver had told with the sole purpose of embarrassing Sam. Sam had accidentally left his radio going while having a very in depth conversation with Frank, also a rookie, about his surefire way to pick up girls. Apparently all it took was a flash of the dimples, a hint about being a cop, and girls were putty in his hands. Their conversation had been privy to the entirety of 15 division. They had gotten crap about it for months following, but in Sam's defense his techniques were quite effective and nobody could argue that he had trouble with the ladies.
Andy suspected to see Sam glaring at Ollie for bringing these stories up, but instead she found his eyes trained on her hysterics. He was grinning at her happiness and maybe even enjoying reliving the glory days. It was incredible to see him let his guard down and let loose. His arm was casually draped over Andy's from their perch on the couch and she couldn't resist the urge to gently poke him in the side and tease him, "You had me thinking you were some kind of super-cop. Turns out you were just as bad as the rest of us to start off."
"I don't think I much enjoy being lumped into 'the rest of us.' Please don't tell me you just compared me to Epstein. You might need to find another ride home tonight," Sam retorted immediately.
Andy laughed even more at this and simply responded, "I'm not so sure anymore Swarek. I mean Dov left his radio going once- that was how we all found out about one-hit-wonder Chris Diaz."
"You saying the dimples don't work on you?" Sam accused her, pulling out his most charming smile. He was hoping to distract her from that fact that he really had made the exact same mistake as Epstein.
Andy giggled at his attempt at a defending his honor. "Nope," she lied, placing emphasis on the 'p.' They both knew the dimples worked very, very well on her but she wasn't going to give in that easily.
Sam was determined not to let her get away with that though. He gave her a mischievous look and before she could react, his hands were all over her sides, mercilessly tickling her. "Take it back, McNally." Sam instructed her as he tortured her.
Sam had a huge smile on his own face as Andy tried to wriggle away from him. She couldn't contain her giggles and conceded after a few feeble attempts to push him away, "Fine, fine. Just stop that."
When he returned his hands to his own space he looked at her expectantly.
"Nobody can resist the dimples," she stated dramatically, "and you are nothing like Dov Epstein. Happy now?"
"Very," Sam said with a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face. Through the course of the tickling, Andy had made her way to the opposite side of the couch and Sam was none too happy about the extra space so he added, "Now get back over here. I promise I'll behave if you do."
Oliver and Zoe, who were sitting in chairs opposite the lovebirds, weren't so sure about that. They were certainly enjoying the show though. It was as if they had just disappeared into their own little world. Oliver had never seen his friend so happy or so relaxed. Never. And he couldn't be happier for his brother. His eyes met Zoe's and the look that he was met with conveyed that she was thinking exactly the same thing.
Andy McNally was undoubtedly the best thing that had ever happened to Sam Swarek. Just spending one night with the two of them and he could see how much they loved each other. And the craziest part was that neither of them was scared to show it. Knowing Sam and Andy they wouldn't admit their feelings for a long time, but it was clear to anyone that they were about as in love as it gets. The blissful smiles constantly plastered on both of their faces were just a hint at the happiness they shared together.
"I'll believe that when I see it," Oliver teased his friend, breaking Sam and Andy out of their temporary reverie. Both flushed with color as they finally realized that they had an audience.
Sam just smirked when Andy scooted back over to him and he returned his arm to its rightful place around her shoulders. "Well maybe you shouldn't be spilling all of these stories Ollie. Don't you forget brother I have some very good ammunition on you too."
It was Oliver's time to look embarrassed so he conceded and said, "You get a pass for tonight brother, but only because it's your birthday. But no mercy next time-I'm telling her about the Roker case."
"You wouldn't," Sam dared him.
"Oh I definitely would," Oliver returned confidently with a big grin on his face.
"Fine. If you tell Roker I'm telling Townsend," Sam again dared him.
The grin immediately dropped from Oliver's face. "Right then, I think we should just keep all of these gems to ourselves."
"Agreed," Sam responded.
"What? No. Not agreed," Andy interjected. "I'm loving this."
"Sorry McNally," both men said.
She just shook her head and started forming plans as to how she could work the stories out of Sam. She could certainly think of a few creative ways to put Sam at her mercy and she planned to test some of them out in the very near future.
"I think it's time we had some birthday cake," Zoe offered and soon they were all up and in the kitchen. They wolfed down some delicious cake and both Sam and Oliver were back for seconds before long. Zoe and Andy sat back and chuckled at their men. Andy was definitely looking forward to having more dinners at the Shaw household after the spectacle she had experienced tonight. However, as much as she enjoyed their company she was ready for some alone time with Sam.
They were headed out before long because Sam, Oliver, and Andy all had to work early tomorrow. Andy had to stop in the bathroom before they left, so Oliver took that as an opportunity to talk to his buddy.
"She's got you wrapped around her finger," Oliver stated knowingly.
Sam shook his head at Oliver but didn't deny it because it was glaringly obvious that his words were true.
Zoe, wanting to throw her two cents in added, "Now I understand why Ollie was always going on about Sammy and his rookie. Even if you want to deny it, you're perfect together."
"Who's denying it?" Sam responded promptly.
Zoe smiled huge at Sam. She had never seen or heard him admit to strong feelings for any woman. It was like Andy had transformed him into a whole new person. She couldn't help but be happy for Sam. "I get the feeling we're going to be seeing a lot more of Miss McNally, although I'm not sure how much longer she'll be a McNally," she noted with a pointed look at Sam.
Sam chuckled and simply responded, "Yeah I'm working on that."
Oliver pulled Sam into a man hug as Andy returned from the bathroom. "Don't screw this one up," Oliver said in Sam's ear.
"I don't intend to," Sam reassured him.
Zoe hugged Sam as well and wished him a very happy birthday. Then both Shaws gave Andy a hug as well, wishing her the best of luck keeping Sam in line.
Oliver and Zoe stood on their front porch watching Sam and Andy walk out to the truck, holding hands and laughing. "He's finally found the one," Zoe remarked to her husband.
"For sure."
"She's so good for him. I've never seen that man so happy before."
"Me neither, Zo," Oliver said wrapping his arm around her shoulders. As they drove away Oliver leaned down and whispered in Zoe's ear, "I love you so much."
"I love you too," she reciprocated.
Sam pulled up to Andy's apartment to drop her off and, ever the gentleman, he walked her up to her door. Okay well maybe it wasn't just chivalry that drove Sam to walk Andy all the way up to her apartment…he'd do just about anything to get a little more time with her. Sam found it crazy how just a few days ago, he was nothing more than Andy's partner at work and now he could barely stand to spend any of his free time off-duty without her. Just a little taste of what his life could be with Andy McNally in it was enough to have Sam hooked. Sam grinned to himself as he turned these thoughts around in his head, all the while admiring his McNally.
Andy caught him staring at her and blushed, quickly averting her eyes. She reluctantly twisted her hand out of Sam's in order to fish her key out of her pocket so she could open the door. She shyly ventured, "Do you want to come in?"
"I thought you'd never ask, McNally," Sam smirked at her.
She bit her lip to hold back a smile. That's definitely a good look for her Sam thought. Unable to resist any longer, he pulled her in for a kiss, pulling the door shut behind them. No matter how innocent Sam's intentions were when he kissed Andy, somehow their kisses always turned steamy. It was the damn chemistry. Neither of them could deny it. Hell they could barely contain themselves, but both had their reservations about moving too quickly. Although those reservations were dissipating. And dissipating very quickly.
They wandered over to the couch and plopped down, Andy reassuming her position folded at Sam's side. She rested her head and one hand on his chest and Sam's arm immediately fit down over her and drew lazy circles along her side.
Both started to say something at the same time, ending up with both laughing and nothing being said. Eventually, Andy was able to get her thoughts out, "You know what, Sam? I don't care who knows about us. I mean spending time with Oliver and Zoe just showed me how silly it was for me to be nervous about people knowing about us."
Sam tried to mask some of his excitement at this admission, deciding upon a very content smile (dimples and all). "I think I could live with that," Sam said.
"I mean, I'm happy. Like really happy. Are you happy?"
Sam shot her a look that said 'do you really need to ask?' and replied earnestly, "You have no idea."
"Good," she said simply. "I don't see any reason that we should hide our happiness from our friends. Besides it's a lot of work trying to hide my feelings for you."
This just made Sam even happier. He dipped his face down to hers for a quick peck.
"So what were you going to say?" Andy asked.
"I just wanted to thank you," Sam started. "My birthday is usually a non-event. I'm a private person and Ollie and Jerry are the only ones who even know when my birthday is, so they buy me a few drinks and we have a good time at the Penny just like any other night." Sam paused, trying to come up with the words he needed to convey his thoughts. "I guess I just never realized what it's like to have a real birthday celebration. My childhood was unconventional to say the least so I guess what I'm trying to say is thanks for making this special for me. Thanks for not heeding my warnings and for making my birthday a big deal for the first time. It turns out I actually quite like your idea of a birthday."
Andy smiled up at him from under her lashes and said, "It was my pleasure." And she meant it too. Making Sam happy made Andy happy. Andy was practically elated that Sam had enjoyed today as much as she did. "Happy Birthday," she said again.
"Today meant a lot to me and I'm so lucky that I got to share it with the most incredible girl I know," Sam admitted.
"Well you mean a lot to me so I guess that makes me the lucky one," Andy responded.
Andy rearranged herself so she had better access to Sam's lips. She seated herself on top of Sam's lap and proceeded to latch her lips on to his. While they were still dancing around how much each meant to the other, this conversation was about as close as they had ever gotten to revealing the true depth of their mutual love.
Soon both were breathing heavily and both were more than a little hot and bothered. Sam was finding it more and more difficult to restrain himself. He pushed Andy back a little so he could look in her eyes. But the even the brief disconnection was unacceptable to Andy and she was immediately back on him. Both their hands were roaming the other's body and soon Andy's shirt was ditched over her head and Sam beheld her again. Even though he'd seen her like this before on the night of the blackout, this was almost more than Sam could take. The night of the blackout had been so rushed and frantic and before he knew it she was gone. But right now, Andy was right in front of him and she didn't appear to be going anywhere. Sam couldn't think of ever seeing anything so perfect as Andy was right now, her hair all mussed up from his hands, her lips swollen from his kisses, her toned stomach, and just a black lace bra separating him from what he really wanted to see.
But at this moment, Sam finally snapped his mind out of its lustful stupor enough to remember that he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that he didn't screw this relationship up. He refused to accept that he might scare Andy away by moving too quickly so he paused and said in a husky voice, "Wait, wait a second Andy. I didn't come here tonight expecting anything. We- we don't have to—"
She stopped him before he could finish the sentence though, "Sam, I want to do this. Just as much as you do."
"Are you sure?" he breathed out as her hands tugged at the bottom of his shirt, trying to pull it off over his head.
Once she succeeded in this endeavor and feasted her eyes on his toned chest and abs she responded, "More sure than I've ever been."
With that, all of Sam's restraints gave and he eagerly started to explore the newly exposed skin. With Andy still sitting on his lap, Sam stood up. He held Andy close to his body as he maneuvered his way back into the bedroom.
To say that this was his best birthday ever would have been the understatement of the year. This was pure bliss like Sam had never before experienced and he could only hope that he'd be lucky enough to spend the rest of his life with this girl.
A/N: I told you guys I was going to be better about updating (two chapters in one week!). Anyways I'm still working hard on the next chapter so any words of encouragement would be and are very much appreciated. Thanks so much for reading my story and for leaving reviews. You guys are the best! :)