AN: Happy Sunday. Appreciate the follows, favorites and the reviews so much. See you all Wednesday.

It took Tris several days after that encounter to reach out to Eric, and when she did it was a short apology for "freaking out." When he'd tried to find out what exactly made her feel that way, she was as evasive as ever, and he decided not to push. In the time that they've been sleeping together, he's grown to enjoy their encounters so much that he'd rather just swallow his pride and give her the space she needs to deal with whatever she needed to for them to let their arrangement continue. They'd talked briefly in the days that followed her apology, but during that time she'd been "too busy" for any of their appointments at the shop, and would take hours to reply to simple texts.

He thought maybe she had found someone else.

Eric tried to just let it go, and in an attempt to just forget Tris he'd been out on the prowl for several nights as Peter's wing man, but he couldn't bring himself to actually sleep with anyone else. He didn't even want to look, instead just half ass distracting the friends of whoever Peter was trying to hook up with enough conversation just long enough for Peter to have a quickie in whatever bar bathroom they happened to be at. Peter couldn't believe his normally adventurous friend was not only turning down sex, but he also spent all of his time buried in his phone while pretending to listen to one sided conversations from the idiots he was left with.

Eric always looked for Tris while he was out, and if he managed to see her he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Peter had finally noticed, and gave him shit for it but Eric didn't care. He would watch her to see if she actually would get close to any of the men who'd shoot their shot with her and ultimately crashed and burned when she turned them down. He wanted to make sure this thing with her was actually done before he did something to fuck it all up for good.

He just couldn't completely wrap his head around why he cared as much as he did.

"It's not going to happen, my friend." Peter says as he drops next to Eric on a rather slow night at The Pit.

"Crash and burn?" Eric asks, while continuing to watch Tris from across the room.

"Nah, I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about her." Peter nudges his arm then gestures down to where Tris is laughing with several of her friends in the lower level of the bar.

"All I see down there is the big idiot Al is back from the fence, and still oblivious to Tris's obvious disinterest in anything more than friendship with him." Eric remarks and Peter laughs at him.

"Yup, and it looks like he's still pining for her anyway. Guess you'll never have your shot." Peter smirks at him.

"Oh look, his equally annoying friend Will is back too, looks like he and Christina might just pick up where they left off," Eric replies and the smile falls from Peter's face as he looks back down at the table.

"He and Christina broke up." He complains, "I'd heard he was dating Shauna."

"Looks like Shauna isn't here and he wants another chance with the one who got away." Eric quips and Peter scowls at him.

"Oh shit, Al looks like he might cry. Who's that dude with Tris?" Peter asks.

Eric looks down and recognizes the man who's handing her a beer. It's the same guy he saw at the tattoo shop giving her his phone number, Adam. Eric scowls when he sees them together and he feels Peter's hand clasping his shoulder.

"It's fucking Adam." Eric seethes.

Peter glances over at his friend and sees the anger on his face. Eric's scowl was deep, and his grip on his glass was almost painful as he watched Tris smile at the other man.

"I can't understand why you're up here staring at Tris when you could be getting guaranteed sex from anyone else." He replies, "Why do you watch her like you're up here moping over an ex?"

"Haven't you been lusting after her roommate, you know the same roommate who refuses to do anything more than make out with you, for weeks now?" Eric retorts.

"I have, but I can also acknowledge that I'm not sure that I'm ready to be someone's boyfriend, and Christina deserves someone who is." He shrugs, "So, until I can figure my shit out, I'm just keeping it chill with her."

"As it stands right now you're up here figuring your shit out and her ex is down there trying to win her back. You may want to rethink your strategy." Eric replies and he gestures down to where Christina is laughing at something Will said.

"You're only trying to turn this around on me because I'm onto the fact that you're into Tris." Peter replies.

"No I'm not," Eric scoffs, "She's my tattoo artist."

"Well, then let's go talk to those two over there." Peter calls his bluff and nods towards the bar, where two women are checking them out.

"Not interested." Eric replies.

"Make a move dude."

"I just told you that I'm not interested." Eric snaps.

"And you're assuming I'm talking about those chicks at the bar. I'm talking about Tris. Make a move, she's been single for awhile now, she's ripe for the picking, and maybe I'm wrong about her, maybe Four fucked up enough that she'd like to use you to get even."

Eric looks back at him sharply, "Don't talk about her like that."

Peter realizes he's crossed a line. He may have been ribbing Eric for his obvious attraction, not that anyone would blame him because the skinny girl from Abnegation has turned into quite a beautiful Dauntless, but she's way out of Eric's league since he normally just does hookups or one night stands and she seems to be a relationship woman. Based on Eric's response, he realizes that his friend, at minimum, has a crush.

"You know I'm just kidding, I like her, she's one of the good ones. If I hadn't had a crush on Christina since grade school, I would have definitely made a move on Tris. No one would be surprised at all if you tried with her, like really tried and not your normal hit and run."

"She's my tattoo artist, give it a rest and focus on figuring your own shit out. Here's some free advice - start by keeping your dick in your pants when there's a good woman you're interested in. I'll see you around." Eric says right before draining his glass.

Peter shakes his head at his friend as he watches him walk away. He glances back at the two women at the bar, then decides to take Eric's advice and keep it in his pants, at least until he can figure this thing out with Christina. Peter sighs as he takes one more glance down to Christina and Will, and then he heads out towards the exit.

Eric heads towards the bar and one of the regular bartenders scrambles down his way, "Hey Eric, another beer? Or are you ready for the whisky this time?"

"Neither, closing out but can you do me a favor, Jake?"

"Sure." The bartender says as he nods at him.

"Keep my tab open for Tris Prior." Eric gestures to where Tris is still sitting with her friends.

"Oh, the girl you always pay for, yeah." The bartender replies.

"When she's done for the night, you can close it out, if that's good with you."

He nods at Eric, "I know you're good for it. You got it, boss. Have a good one."

He walks back towards his apartment, and he continues to think about her. This isn't supposed to be anything serious, he damn sure doesn't need her in his life, he can get sex from plenty of willing people.

So why is he so fucked up from seeing her there tonight with that guy Adam?

His text alert sounds and he scrambles to pull his phone out of his pocket, hoping that it's Tris. He's disappointed when he checks it and finds out it's the automated message showing the final balance from his closed out tab at the bar. He notices it doesn't include Tris's drinks.

He sends a text to the bartender, and Jake replies almost immediately, letting Eric know that Adam King had opened a tab for him and Tris, so he went ahead and cashed Eric out.

He sighs as he walks into his apartment, locks the door behind him and heads straight for his room, deciding to call it an early night.

The next morning he's working through the stack of invoices on his desk when there's a soft knock on his door and he sees Tris standing in the doorway.

"Sorry to interrupt, Tori realized our invoices hadn't been brought up here so she sent me." Tris says quietly.

"Come in and close the door please." He says and she nods and shuts the door behind her. She hands him the invoices and he gestures towards the chair across from his desk.

"I shouldn't stay-"

"Is it someone else? Is it Adam? You can just tell me, I'd rather just have you rip the bandaid off instead of avoiding me." Eric says and she narrows her eyes at him.

"Excuse me?" She asks.

"Is he why you're avoiding me? Did you two decide to maybe start seeing each other? I'm not trying to be a dick, sorry if it's coming across like that again, but if you want to be with someone else just tell me."

"You were watching me last night." She replies, as a statement, not a question.

"You make it sound like I was stalking you." He sighs.

"Well if that was stalking then you're not very good at it, because if you were you would have seen that Adam joined us briefly for a few drinks, and then he was on his way. We weren't there together." She replies.

"He started a tab for you." Eric retorts and her eyes widen.

"But you're not trying to stalk me." Tris replies angrily, "You just have the bartender doing it for you."

"I'm not, and the bartender isn't stalking you either. I only know because I asked Jake to keep my tab open for you, and he cashed me out less than fifteen minutes later saying that Adam had started a tab for you both."

"Are you the one who's been paying for me when I go out?" She asks and he nods, "Why?"

"You won't let me tip you for the tattoos, and I know with as much time as we spend together that's a lot of your extra income, so I do what I can to show my appreciation." He shrugs.

"Eric, wow, that's incredibly thoughtful. Thank you." She replies and he nods, "There's nothing going on between Adam and me. He saw me, I invited him to join us, and we had a few drinks. He literally left with someone else, and never made a move on me because I've made it clear to him that I'm not interested, unlike the women I watch drape themselves over you every night we're not together."

Eric's focus snaps to her, and he doesn't miss the jealousy lacing her voice at all, "So, you're angry at me for watching you, but you're doing it yourself?"

"You and Peter always have the same perch, where everyone can see you and you can watch for women. You're not subtle at all. Every night this week, it's been the same, you and Peter and whatever flavors of the night you can score." She accuses.

"Did I touch any of them, Tris? Outside of moving them away from me did I pay any fucking attention to them at all? Because if you saw me up there with someone else, you also saw me watching you the entire time and you still chose to fucking ignore me. You've not spent any time with me in almost a week, and now you're in here chastising me for who you saw me with? Is this some fucking game to you?"

"No. I freaked out, Eric. I know it hasn't been fair to you, but I didn't know how to explain it when it happened so I panicked." She replies, and even though she's tense he realizes she's finally opening up.

"You saw me with other women, literally not paying them any attention at all, and that freaked you out?" He asks and she shakes her head, "Then what is it?"

"I need to get back to work-"

"Wait, was it day on the roof?" He asks and she nods, "Did I do something wrong? Was it too much pressure from me? Did the role play make you uncomfortable?"

She shakes her head, "No, I thoroughly enjoyed what we did. It was after, the conversation, the way you were almost holding me, it felt too intimate. I just... I just lost myself for a moment."

"Lost yourself how?"

"It felt too real." She offers and he gapes at her.

"It was real. Why is that an issue, why is it that when I enjoy a first with you I can't express it?"

She looks down, "It felt wrong."

"Tris, there is nothing that we do together that's wrong. We're enjoying sex with each other, setting boundaries, learning new things, how would any of that be wrong?" He presses.

"I promise you that I do know that, but in that moment everything just was too much. I was overwhelmed, and it felt too intimate. This whole thing was about you helping me find myself sexually, not the other way around."

"This is about both of us. You're not just some sex doll to me, you're a person, one I do care about because this isn't some throw away hookup shit between us." He returns and she finally meets his eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asks. She tries not to get her hopes up, but this is as close as Eric has gotten to possibly showing his true feelings.

"We have a friendship, at least I think we do, and it's something that I want to maintain no matter when we decide the sexual part of this is over."

"I don't want to risk losing our friendship because we've crossed lines." She offers quietly.

His eyes jerk to hers, "Are you beginning to feel something?"

"No." Tris replies a little too quickly, "Are you?" She counters.

"No." He replies without any hesitation.

She should feel relieved, but all she can feel is disappointment.

"I guess I freaked out for nothing then. I'm sorry." She replies evenly.

"There's nothing to apologize for. Just talk to me about what you're feeling, preferably when you're feeling it and not after you've let it eat at you." He replies.

"Okay." She replies and he knows she wants to say more. He waits patiently for her to continue, and she finally does, "Do you think we should end things? Maybe just be friends and no more benefits?" She asks.

"Have you found someone else?" He asks.

"No." She shakes her head.

"If there's no one else, and there are no feelings involved, there shouldn't be any issues with us continuing." Eric replies, "Those were our rules, right?"

Tris hesitates, because she's truly not sure if there are feelings or not on her side. When Eric was almost holding her, for a brief moment she saw them in a different light. They weren't carrying on a secret sexual affair, they were actually starting something more. She can't have these feelings for him. He told her when they started this that he wasn't boyfriend material. He warned her that if one sided feelings were to crop up that they'd need to end it. He just flat out told her he had no feelings for her other than friendship, and she needs to focus on that. She needs to end this, but she just can't walk away from whatever it is that they do have now.

"You're right, those were our rules, there's no one else and no feelings here." She replies.

"Same." He replies. "But I've missed having you around." He smirks at her.

Tris knows she shouldn't take the bait, but even this conversation with him has her turned on. This is the longest they've gone without sex since starting this thing, and she wants him.

"You've missed me?" She asks and he shrugs a shoulder at her.

"I bet you've missed me too." He smirks at her.

"Maybe a little." She teases and he just smiles wider.

"What are you doing tonight?" He asks.

"Not sure, why?"

"I was hoping I could see you." He replies.

"You're seeing me right now." She replies and he catches the tone of her voice.

"There's more of you I'd like to see. Maybe I'd like to show you how much I've missed you."

"If we weren't in your office I'd show you right now just how much I missed you." She licks her lips and she knows she has his undivided attention.

"I can lock the door. Why don't you go ahead and show me?" He asks quietly.

She moves to the other side of the desk, where she rubs the obvious bulge in his pants, "Are you enjoying our conversation?"

"I am."

"Tell me how much." She says as she trails her fingers up and down where his cock strains against his pants.

"I've not been able to get you out of my mind." He admits.

"I've been thinking about you too. I can't stop reminiscing about sitting on your face." She says quietly.

"I loved that. You have no idea how fucking sexy that was. I've not been able to stop thinking about what you did the last time we were together." He admits.

"Which part?"

"When you swallowed me." He replies.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. I enjoyed it too." She says as she unbuckles and unzips him just enough to free him from his confines, "Maybe I can do it again."

"Do what?" He asks breathily.

"Make you come in my mouth."

When she takes him deep into her throat, he lets out a muffled moan. She keeps working him, using her hands just like she knows he likes and when there's a knock on his door followed by the creak of it opening, she only has mere seconds to scoot under the desk completely, and Eric pushes his chair as close to his desk as he can get without crushing her.

He forgot to lock the fucking door. He's never been as thankful for the large ornate desk he inherited with the office as he is right now.

"Did I invite you in Number Boy?" Eric barks as Four enters the room.

"Max told me where to find you, I've sent you at least ten emails that you've yet to answer." He drops into a chair across from Eric, and Tris gets another idea.

Eric isn't expecting her to finish what they started, so when her hand moves up his still hard length it's everything he has to not make any noise.

"You need to go." Eric says evenly.

Four shakes his head, "Max told me not to leave this office until I got my answers."

"What answers do you fucking need?" He growls.

"Initiation starts in less than two weeks and I've yet to get any itinerary from you." Four replies.

"I've been busy. I'm busy now." His breath hitches slightly as he feels Tris's lips wrap around his cock.

"You don't look very busy. Are you planning on actually helping this year or just showing up whenever the fuck you feel like it?"

Eric closes his eyes and exhales and when he opens them Four is frowning at him.

"I don't answer to you." Eric replies.

"You seem to think you don't answer to anyone. Just read my fucking email and reply, I'd really like to have this nailed down in the next couple of days and get Max off my ass. I don't want to be in here any more than you want me to, Max is forcing my hand." Four replies, and he notices how red Eric's face is, "Are you okay, man?"

"Get out, now. Get the fuck out." Eric growls and Four throws his hands up in defeat.

"Fine, you deal with Max. I'm heading back to the control room if you change your mind."

"Out." Eric shouts and as soon as the door is shut behind Four he bucks his hips into Tris's mouth.

"Tris, I'm about to come, you've gotta move."

He feels her shake her head. She's not going to stop. She's going to let him come in her mouth, again.

He's about to lose his mind.

"Tris..." He drawls.

She doesn't pull away, she moves her mouth and hands faster and when he can't hold back anymore he feels her swallowing around him as he spurts into her throat.

"Fuck... fuck... baby yeah do that..." He says as he rides out his orgasm.

He finally backs his chair out so Tris can crawl out from under his desk, and when he sees her swollen lips and satisfied look he pulls her back onto his lap.

"I can't believe you just did that." He breathes out with his face buried in her neck. He presses open mouth kisses there, moving slowly up to her ear, "You are absolutely insane."

"It turned me on to have him here." She replies, "Not because of him, but because of you. The thought of him knowing about us was just somehow erotic to me."

"I could have just fucked you on the desk while he was here and watching if that's what you wanted." He nips at her neck and she giggles.

"I like the idea of that, but not him watching. He'd like it too much." She smiles at him.

"Let me take care of you." Eric says when he feels her shift on his lap.

"I'm not going to last long enough for you to try, I'm so horny," She grinds against him again.

"Let me watch you then." He says and she pulls her lip into her mouth, letting him pull it back out with his thumb.

"What if someone else walks in?" She asks and he reaches under his desk and presses a button, engaging the door lock, "Next time maybe start with that." She smirks at him.

"You caught me off guard." He defends.

"Good." She leans back on his lap, and then he helps her to sit on his desk. She's wearing a casual dress, but it's perfect for him to be able to slide her underwear down her legs.

She drags one finger through her soaked folds, then offers her finger to him. He licks it greedily and she moves it from his mouth back down to her center. He watches her fingers, circling around her clit, then entering her tight heat, and he can tell she's already close.

"I want to fuck you so bad." Eric growls as she continues to pump her fingers in and out.

"Tonight. I'll be in The Pit." She breathes out.

"I can't wait. Wear this dress. Skip the underwear." He says as he moves closer to her and kisses the inside of her long legs.

"Eric..."

"That's right baby. Every time you do this I want you to think of me. Every time. No one can fuck you like I can. No one fits inside of you like me."

"Eric..."

"Just think about tonight, when I have you bent over the railing of the chasm, fucking you where Number Boy's little camera can see. You like being watched, don't you?"

"Yes..."

"We'll let them all watch."

Her back arches and he knows exactly when she comes. He watches as her body writhes and he continues kissing her legs until they stop trembling against him. When she pulls her fingers out of herself, he greedily takes them into his mouth, savoring the sweetness that is uniquely hers. She lets him help her get presentable, and she finds herself leaning towards him, placing a kiss on his forehead while he sighs against her. Before he can try to pull her lips down to his there's a knock on his door, and Austyn's voice comes through asking if Tris is in there.

"Five minutes." Eric calls out and Austyn replies with "Heard" before leaving the door.

"You'd tell me if this has changed for you, right?" He asks her and he pulls her to sit down on his lap.

"Would you?" She asks, but once again Eric evades the question.

"I don't want you to be stuck in your own thoughts instead of just telling me what's bothering you." He replies.

She looks at him and he doesn't break eye contact. She could call him on his refusal to answer the question, but that will expose her to the same scrutiny. His had moves up to her cheek, cupping it gently, while his thumb rubs against her skin.

"You can talk to me, Tris. You can tell me anything that's on your mind." He says in barely a whisper. He's leaning in towards her, and for a moment she thinks about breaking her own rules.

She needs space, at least for right now.

"I should go, Austyn is waiting for me." She says as she pulls away from him. He nods at her, and she leaves without another word. When the door closes, he engages the lock this time and he leans back in his chair and shakes his head.

"I'm so fucked." He whispers and drops his head against the back of the chair.