Here's chapter 4! I'm glad you are all enjoying this little break from the Roads series that my muse decided to take. Thanks for all of the lovely reviews, the favoriting, and the alerts :D You all never cease to surprise or amaze me.
Sadly the rumor is true. I don't own Criminal Minds... I wish I could report that it was a vicious nasty lie, but I can't.
And now, on with our story... Happy reading and enjoy :D
"JJ, I don't understand why you wouldn't tell me where we were going. I would have given you my credit card to put my plane tickets on." Spence said as they walked through Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to the baggage claim.
JJ turned to look at Spence and smiled at him. "Tell you what, you pay for our hotel room in Las Vegas for the week and we'll call it even."
Spence stopped dead in his tracks at JJ's use of the words 'hotel room' in the singular. "You… you… mean umm… hotel rooms… right?" he called out to JJ who was now a few feet ahead of him.
JJ stopped and turned back to look at Spence, her sneakers squeaking on the polished floor of the airport as she spun to look at him. "No, I meant hotel room. It's silly to pay for two rooms that we're only going to sleep in. We can share, as long as you're okay with it?" she asked shyly, suddenly realizing that maybe Spence wasn't interested in her the same way that she was interested in him and would want his privacy.
"Oh… um… sure. I mean Las Vegas has 133,835 hotel and motel rooms. This time of year in May occupancy rates will be over 90 percent, so logically it makes sense for us to share a room." Spence replied taking a deep breath to quell his nerves at the thought of sharing a hotel room for a week with JJ, who he'd been falling for since they first started working together.
"Not to mention that it frees up some extra money to play with while we are in sin city." JJ replied playfully as she walked backwards to be able to face Spence and winked at him.
"Um… yeah" Spence replied as he caught up with JJ and they entered the baggage claim area. "Did you know that the best odds in Vegas are on video poker?" he asked as they continued to discuss his home town.
"Well, here we are." Will said as he led JJ and Spencer into the house. "How about we get your stuff tucked away and y'all get comfortable." He said as he headed for the stairs.
Spence was very confused as he followed Will and JJ up the stairs. He'd thought for sure with as often as JJ had been had been going out of town on the weekends that she'd been seeing someone; however, while she and Will had greeted each other in a friendly manner, but didn't act like they were together as a couple. They hadn't kissed hello. They hadn't held hands in the car; in fact, JJ had sat in the back seat and let him sit in front 'because he had longer legs'.
"So here you are." Will said with a grin as he led JJ and Spencer into the guest bedroom and sat JJ's bags on the bed and then turned to face them.
"I… what?" Spence asked in confusion.
JJ blushed at the implication Will was making, especially since, while she'd worked up the nerve to invite Spence along on the trip and invited herself to Vegas, she hadn't managed to tell him how she felt yet. She hoped she'd have an opportunity to do that sometime in the next two weeks.
Spence stood looking between JJ and the sole queen bed in the room. JJ glared at Will's back as he walked out of the room chuckling to himself as he walked down the stairs to get started on grilling dinner for his guests.
A few minutes later Spence walked down the stairs and into the kitchen where Will stood prepping the food for the grill. "I… uh… can I help with anything?" he asked awkwardly, unsure of himself in the presence of the man that he barely knew other than their meeting during the case a few months ago.
"Naw, I've got this under control, but would you like somethin' to drink?" Will asked as he looked up at Spencer.
"I, uh sure." Spencer replied.
"Alright, I've got beer, rum, and Jim, Jack, or John… or cola" Will said as he looked in the fridge. "What's your poison?"
"Jim, Jack, and John?" Spencer asked in confusion.
"The three wise men." Will replied as he stood up to look at Spencer.
Spence tipped his head as he tried to figure out just what that meant.
"Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, and Johnnie Walker." Will replied. "bourbon, whiskey, and scotch."
"Oh" Spence said nodding in understanding. "Did you know that all three are actually just different variations of whiskey? There are stringent controls on the production and labeling of whiskeys. For example only whisky made in Scotland is allowed to be called scotch. They also spell whisky without the 'e'. Bourbon is made from mash that contains at least 51 percent corn. Technically, Jack Daniels is bourbon as it is made with the specified amount of corn mash, but is considered a Tennessee Whiskey due to being filtered through charcoal prior to being barreled and aged." He rambled nervously.
Will stood looking at Spencer for a moment in sheer awe. JJ's beau, or soon to be beau was a piece of work. He grinned. "I didn't know the specifics." He said with a shrug, "but, what would you like?"
"Uh…" Spencer replied, his mind whirring rapidly as he tried to decide. He had a couple months of sobriety under his belt. Did he want to drink? Could he handle it, or would he run the risk of trading one addiction for another? Would he seem the social outcast for turning down alcohol on a Saturday afternoon in New Orleans where alcohol was everywhere, while they were on vacation? Better not to risk it. "I'll have coke."
"And?" Will asked inquiring as to what he would be mixing the coke with.
"Just Coke." Spencer replied.
"How about you JJ, what would you like to drink?" Will asked as JJ entered the room. "I have beer, rum, bourbon, whiskey, scotch, or cola."
JJ glanced at Spence and noticed that he appeared to be drinking straight coke. She wondered if that was because it was what he wanted, or if he was now wary of drinking alcohol due to his issue. She knew he'd avoided going out for drinks the handful of times it had come up since Georgia. "I'll just have Coke." she replied deciding for solidarity with Spence. If he wasn't going to drink, then she wasn't either as a show of support, at least until they'd had a chance to discuss it and everything else.
Will raised his eyebrows wondering what it was that he was missing and then turned and reached into the fridge and grabbed JJ a cola. "Here you go." he said as he set the can of Coke down in front of JJ. "So I'm not sure what y'all want to do this week, but I have a key for you." he said as he laid the key down in front of JJ. "It was too short notice for me to be able to take the week off, but go ahead and make yourselves at home. We can all do dinner or whatever in the evenings."
JJ nodded. "Okay. I'm sure we'll manage to fend for ourselves just fine during the day. Right Spence?" JJ asked as she turned to look at Spence.
Spence however was lost in thought. If JJ and Will's relationship had reached the point of him giving her a key to his house, why on earth had she invited him to tag along? Wouldn't she have preferred to have spent a week, or even their whole two weeks off alone with the man she wanted to be her boyfriend?
JJ grew concerned as she watched Spence bite his lip and he appeared to be concentrating… staring at something. She followed his line of sight and frowned when she noticed that it was Will's house key on the counter. "Will, can you give us a few minutes?" JJ asked as she glanced up at Will.
Will nodded, understanding that they needed to talk. "I tell you what, why don't I go get everything started on the grill. Y'all come out back when you're ready." he said nodding at them and then heading for the deck door.
JJ turned back from watching Will leave and looked at Spence. She reached out and wrapped her hands around his where they were clasped and fidgeting in his lap. "Spence, what's wrong? Talk to me."
"I... JJ why did you ask me to come with you? Will gave you his key, and you want him to be your boyfriend…" Spence replied with a nod at the key that was lying on the counter. "I… well I guess I just don't understand."
JJ turned and looked at the key as Spence nodded at it, and then she hopped down off of her stool and stepped into the 'V' of Spence's legs where he sat on his barstool. "Spence" she said freeing one of her hands from his and reaching up to cup his cheek and turn his face away from the key to look at her. "Will and I aren't together and he didn't just give me his key. He gave us a key to use while we're staying with him this week." JJ said as she rubbed her thumb across his cheek bone.
Spence squirmed awkwardly in his seat at JJ's closeness.
"And I don't want to be with Will. He wasn't who I was talking about when I said that." JJ said looking pointedly at Spence.
Confusion clouded Spence's eyes. "JJ, I… I don't… then who?"
"You, Spence… you." JJ said as she continued to caress his face and look up into his soulful brown eyes.
"M… m… m… me?" Spence sputtered.
JJ nodded. "Yes, you. I kept hoping that you'd ask me out again after we went to the Redskins game, but you never did."
Spence winced. "I didn't think you had a good time. I didn't even know what was going on."
"Spence anybody can learn the rules and how the game of football is played. Nobody else can be you." JJ explained. "I've been going crazy for the last year trying to figure out if the flirting I thought we were doing and how close we've gotten meant what I thought it meant. I spent so much time watching, waiting, and wondering." JJ said biting her lip as she realized the moment of truth was upon them. "Spence I feel a connection between us… I want for us to explore that, but I need to know if you feel the same way."
Spence swallowed and then cleared his throat, causing his Adam's apple to bob. "I… JJ, I've liked you for so long… pretty much since we first started working together. I didn't ask you out again, because what would someone who's as outgoing, friendly, popular, and beautiful as you see in me?" he replied.
JJ tipped her head to the side and studied Spence for a moment and then shook her head. "How can you not see what everyone else sees? Spence, you're gorgeous; you're a genius; you're caring; you're kind; you're generous; you're chivalrous; you have so much to offer. You had a famous TV star throw herself at you last year. What else do I need to do to prove it to you?" she asked.
Spence shrugged as he looked down, studying their intertwined hands in his lap.
"Hey, Spence, look at me." JJ murmured softly as she lifted his chin for him to look at her. Then she leaned up against him and softly brushed her lips against his.
They both gasped as they felt the spark shoot between them at their warm, soft, moist lips brushing against each other's and deepened the kiss for a brief moment before they pulled apart.
JJ squeezed Spence's hand that she was still holding as she buried her face in his chest. "So will you?" she murmured into his chest.
"Will I what?" he responded as he replied as he looked down at her with a still slightly dazed expression on his face.
JJ grinned as leaned back and looked up at Spence. "Be my boyfriend?"
A wide smile lit up Spence's face, just like the smile that had lit up his face a couple of days ago when he caught the baseball Morgan tossed to him in the bullpen. He nodded. "Yes"
JJ smiled back at him. "Good, then I can do this." JJ whispered as she ran her hand through Spence's hair and carded it into the hair at the nape of his neck. She pulled his head down to her and kissed him again. This time her tongue traced the seam of his lips and she moaned as the gateway of his lips parted to grant her access.
Spence pulled his hand away from JJ's and then lifted his hands to cup her face, his thumbs stroking just in front of her ears as their kiss deepened.
Will closed the lid of the grill and turned around to open the deck door. He forgotten his drink inside and was going to go get it. He paused with his hand on the deck door and a smile on his face. It would appear that JJ had told Spencer how she felt, since they were currently necking in his kitchen. He chuckled and turned back around to give them their privacy. He walked over and leaned on the rail of the deck and stood thinking.
That was where JJ and Spence found him a few minutes later when they stepped out onto the deck. "Hey, I thought you might want this." JJ called out to Will as she held out his bottle of beer.
"Thanks" Will grinned as he turned from his thoughts and took the beer from JJ. "So are y'all official now?" he teased, already knowing that was the case.
Spence glanced back and forth between JJ and Will, unsure if this was going to be an issue.
JJ grinned and reached out for Spence's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Yes."
"Good" Will said with a smile and then proceeded to give them pointers and list of things for them to do and ways to spend their days throughout the week while he worked.
The group laughed and talked with each other well into the evening hours, but eventually it was time to turn in.
"Spence are you sure you're okay sleeping on the couch? You don't have to, you know. The bed is big enough for both of us." JJ whispered as she glanced at the bed beside them.
"I know, but I just… it's just…" Spence said as he attempted to find the words to explain himself.
"Too soon?" JJ asked.
"Yeah." Spence replied nodding. "If we were at home I wouldn't be spending the night with you if it was our first date. I'd kiss you goodnight at the door and then go home."
JJ nodded. "Such a gentleman." And then leaned up to kiss him softly. "Goodnight" she murmured as their lips separated.
"Goodnight" Spence replied and then reached down and grabbed one of the pillows off of the bed and then turned and heded downstairs to sleep on the couch.