Disclaimer: I own nothing! If I did, Dyson would be shirtless, changing the oil in my car right now.
Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait. I hope you enjoy.
P.S. I updated this chapter because I felt that certain parts were a little out of character so I hope you approve of the changes.
"So what do you think it will be this time? Ogre? Banshee? Snot fae?"
"Kenz?"
"Kenzi!"
"Yes!" Kenzi startled in her seat before her mind focused on the present. "Huh? What did you say about snot? I am not dressed for snot!"
"Are you okay?" She asked, reaching across the booth to grasp Kenzi's hand, worried frown on her face.
Kenzi had been acting off for the past few days. Which wasn't completely abnormal. Kenzi was always a little off. But she hadn't been herself since 'shadow jumping'…'shadow stealing'? Whatever it was, Kenzi had been quieter than usual, on edge, jumpy.
Bo had been keeping a closer eye on her since that night just in case of another fae possession, but so far she didn't think that was the case. She made a mental note to ask Dyson about that night again. The first time she asked Dyson about Kenzi's weird mood he had just shrugged it off as fatigue from their training. Though, he did insist that he was keeping a very close watch on her, so Bo did feel a little bit better.
"I'm fine Bo-Bo." Kenzi laughed. "Just like the past two times you asked, promise. Wolf-man has just been wearing me out with all of this mental training. I mean, who knew that the physical workout would be easier than the mind stuff?"
She flipped her hair over her shoulder and straightened the tank under her studded leather jacket, before her eyes caught on something over Bo's shoulder.
"Client's here," Kenzi said softly, moving over as Bo scooted into her side of the booth with her to make room.
A frazzled young women headed their way. Her blond hair was pulled up into a messy bun and her large sweater and wrinkled jeans didn't do much for her either. Despite all of that, Kenzi could see that she was a very pretty woman.
"Miss Dennis?" The woman looked uncertainly between Kenzi and Bo.
"That's me," Bo smiled and gestured towards the empty booth. "Please sit Mrs. Callaway." She gestured towards Kenzi. "This is my associate Kenzi, I believe you two spoke on the phone? Can we get you something to drink? Coffee or tea?" Bo waved down the waitress as the client sat.
"No," she said firmly, wringing her hands together. "Thank you though."
"What is it we can do for you?" Bo asked. "Kenzi mentioned your husband is missing?"
"Yes," she said quickly, opening the manila file and sliding a glossy photo across the table. "This is him, this is Derek."
"Derek isn't too hard on the eyes, huh Bo?" Kenzi mumbled under her breath.
Bo shot her a look and took a closer look at the photo. Derek Callaway was attractive indeed. With that All-American male look about him, he would have been a prime target if she were out on a succu-hunt.
Blonde hair combed back messily, he wore a polo, a nice watch and held an imported beer in his hand. He was laughing at someone to the right of the photographer.
"When was this taken?" Kenzi asked.
"Last weekend," Mrs. Callaway responded shakily. "We had a barbeque at our lake house. The whole neighborhood came."
"And when was the last time you saw him?" Asked Bo.
"Tuesday morning. Six days ago." She grabbed a napkin and began dabbing at her eyes. "He was supposed to get on a flight to Los Angeles that morning. But when I came home from work that night, his bags were all still sitting by the bed, half packed. And the airport said Derek never got on that flight."
Bo looked over at Kenzi for brief moment for support before turning back to the client. "Mrs. Callaway, I have to ask, is there any chance your husband left you? Have the two of you been having trouble lately?"
"No!" She said angrily. "I mean, all marriages have rough patches but we were doing fine."
"So why come to us?" Kenzi asked. "Why not go to the police and file a missing person's report?"
"I have!" She insisted. "They made me wait 24 hours and then I filed. But they don't have any leads. They're all convinced he left me but it's not true."
"What would make them think that?" Bo questioned.
Mrs. Callaway sighed and looked away. "A few months ago, I got pregnant. Derek was so excited." She began tearing the napkin in her hand into pieces. "We had been trying for a while, but I had some health issues when I was a teen that made it difficult to conceive. I miscarried a few weeks later."
"I'm so sorry." Bo said quietly.
"I didn't deal with it well. I was depressed, lashed out at anyone close to me. Derek, Kylie…"
"Kylie?" Kenzi asked.
"My best friend. She's also my assistant." She looked up from the napkin. "She got me some treatment for the depression and after a few rough weeks, I came through it. She's actually the one who suggested that I call you guys when the police told us that they had no leads."
"The police think that he left on his own?" Bo asked.
"Yes but there's been no activity on his credit cards, or his cell phone since Monday morning."
"Okay, but he could have taken cash out and be using a burner phone." Bo insisted. "There are a lot of P.I.'s out there you could have gone to. Why us?"
"Because Kylie said you guys deal with weird stuff. Like supernatural stuff?" She asked skeptically.
"We put the 'super' in supernatural, yes." Kenzi said excitedly. "What's the weird part?"
"Derek works for a big security software firm. We have a state of the art security system. Basically impenetrable."
"Sounds fancy." Bo said.
"It is." Mrs. Callaway insisted. "Cameras every five feet outside and in every room of the house except for the bedroom and bathroom. Motion detectors, safe room, window sensors, everything you could imagine."
"Okay…" Kenzi drawled.
"Tuesday morning, after I kissed Derek goodbye and was leaving for work, I turned off the alarm and reset it as I left so that Derek could sleep for another hour or two before leaving for his trip. The security footage never shows Derek as having left that bedroom. Not through any doors, windows, nothing. As if he just disappeared into thin air."
"Is there any chance he could have looped the feed somehow and just walked out the door?" Bo asked.
"No, the system logs every time the system is altered in any way. There's nothing."
"Okay, that is weird." Bo looked over at Kenzi. "We should see if Dyson can get us that police file to follow up on their leads."
Kenzi swallowed. "Mrs. Callaway,"
"Bonnie, please." She interrupted.
"Bonnie," Kenzi tried again. "Does Derek have any enemies? Anyone who might have wanted to hurt him? Especially anyone supernatural?"
"No," she said strongly. "Everyone loves Derek. He's the leader of our Neighborhood Watch, he hosts football Sundays, is involved with the youth at our church… He's one of the good guys."
Bo reached across and out her hand on top of Bonnie's. "We're going to do everything we can to find Derek, okay?"
She nodded silently, tears filling her eyes.
"Were you the last person Derek spoke to on Monday?"
"No," Bonnie shook her head. "He called Kylie, they spoke for two or three minutes in the morning. No one's heard from him since."
"We're going to need to speak with Kylie." Bo informed her.
"Of course," Bonnie said. "She wants him found almost as much as I do."
"Okay, well we'll be in touch shortly. We're going to follow up with the police reports to see if there's anything they missed."
Bonnie stood from the booth and collected her bag. "Please, find my husband." She said before turning and walking back towards the diner door.
"Well I don't think it's a snot fae." Kenzi said.
Bo turned to Kenzi. "We need to get a copy of that police report."
Kenzi took a big gulp of her coffee. "Oh, the assistant did it, for sure! That's always how it is on those crime shows."
"Well either way," Bo grinned, "we're going to have to go see Dyson and Hale." She paused, smile fading. "Is that going to be weird for you?"
Kenzi coughed, choking on her coffee. "Weird?" Her eyes grew wide. "Why would that be weird for me? Weird how? No weirdness!"
Bo's eyebrows drew together, "Because of you and Hale breaking up?" She said slowly. She reached out and put a hand to Kenzi's forehead. "Are you sure you're okay? You two just broke up. You haven't forgotten already have you?"
"Oh," Kenzi squeaked. "Hale. No, no, it'll be fine. I can handle it. Plus, it's been a few weeks."
"You sure?" Bo asked, waving down their waitress again. "You two haven't spoken since you ended it?"
"No," Kenzi frowned. She actually hadn't even really thought of him much since then. Which made her feel even guiltier than her messed up attraction to Dyson…whom she'd been avoiding for the past few days.
"Well I've got your back, Kenz." Bo said, leaving a few dollars on the table to cover the coffees and stood up. "Right now, we've got a vanished husband to find."
Dyson was not having a good morning. The district attorney informed him that the case he just wrapped up today was probably never going to see court, and the asshole that had burglarized twelve family homes in the past two weeks would probably get a plea deal because of some family connections. He had a Mt. Everest sized headache building that aspirin hadn't touched. And Kenzi still wouldn't answer any of his calls or texts. It had been three days since he had seen her and his wolf was practically howling at this point.
It had surprised him; his wolf's reaction to Kenzi's absence from his life. He had always considered her 'pack', their past circumstances basically demanded it. But now, it was clearer than ever that something had changed for his wolf. He couldn't quite explain the sensation, it was a hunger, an ache, a compulsion that had him driving absentmindedly towards the crack-shack after work, and seeking out her long, dark hair at the Dal.
So when she trailed into the precinct behind Bo just before lunchtime, his wolf started clawing at the walls.
"Bo, Kenzi," he called. "This is a surprise."
Bo walked towards him with that purposeful way that a lioness stalked her pray. Kenzi just shuffled behind her, looking at her nails, feet, anything but him it seemed.
"We need some information for a case," Bo announced, sitting on his desk facing him. "Is Hale here?" She asked looking around.
"Picking up some lunch." He said leaning back in his chair. He looked directly at Kenzi who had eased down into the chair on the side of his desk, and was now flipping through a confidential file. "You need him for something?" He all but growled.
Bo looked back at Kenzi frowning. "I don't think Kenzi was too excited to see him."
"The Kenz is right here, dudes." She said distractedly. "Is this a dead reindeer?" She asked pulling a photo from the file. She finally looked up, eyes wide. "Did someone kill Fae Santa's reindeer?!"
Dyson reached over and snatched the photo and file from her. "Keep it down," he growled.
"So they did?!" She mock whispered, leaning forward towards him.
"You know I can't say, Kenz."
"Just blink once if it's true."
He blinked.
"Okay, was that a blink because you had to blink or was that a blink because someone killed Rudolf?" She looked at Bo. "A little help here Bo-Bo!"
"Our case involves a missing husband." Bo said. "Security system shows no one entering or leaving the premises so it looks like he disappeared into thin air. He's been missing for a little less than a week. Derek Callaway?" She asked. "Sound familiar?"
Dyson forced his gaze away from Kenzi to meet Bo's eyes. "Yeah, the wife was in a few days ago to file a missing person's but there's no case. They had undergone marriage counselling last year, the wife is on heavy duty prescription medication… It looks like he might have left willingly."
"But no hits on his phone or credit cards? Just stops showing up to work. That doesn't sound a little off to you?"
"Of course it does, but if we investigated every missing husband, we'd never sleep."
"Can you check if there's been any recent withdrawals from his accounts or calls to his phone?" Kenzi butted in. "Maybe he's got a hot mistress on the side."
"We have access to incoming and outgoing calls and messages. Let me see if there's anything new."
Dyson rolled up the cuffs on his collared shirt and began quickly typing away.
"No chance of accessing his photos? Maybe he's got pictures of his dirty mistress." Bo said.
"Not unless they were backed up on cloud storage—"
"Cousin Vladimir can hack in and snoop around. He owes me for the duck incident."
"I'm not even going to ask," Bo said. "Just have Cousin Vladimir be quiet about it alright?"
"Yes sir," Kenzi saluted.
Dyson's typing faltered as he looked up from the screen at Kenzi, eyes darkening. He could imagine her saying that under much different circumstances. And now that he thought about it, the desk might be able to factor into this particular fantasy as well.
He found that his mind was on a constant loop of fantasies about his raven-haired thief. Ever since their morning together, he knew that it was just a matter of time before Kenzi caved to her desires. And now he knew the scent of said desire intimately.
Three Days Earlier
The first thing Dyson noticed was her scent. Kenzi always smelled like flowers after a hard rain, with just hint of spice from Bo's incense she was always lighting. He wondered if she tasted the same, like a dewy flower with a little kick. He swallowed the sudden excess moisture in his mouth and tried shifting to a more comfortable position. The warmth along his left side was the next thing he became aware of. Opening his eyes slowly, he realized why. In their sleep, he and Kenzi had shifted positions. Kenzi was draped across his left side, her head and left hand resting on his bare chest as well as her left leg thrown casually over the one he had tucked between hers. And his hands…
His wolf began to awaken as well.
One of his hands were tucked behind her bare thigh partially under the boxers he had lent her, holding the leg over his hip. The other hand was curled into her long locks, holding her head against his upper chest, directly over his steadily increasing heartbeat.
Dyson lifted his head from the pillow to nuzzle his face against the top of Kenzi's head, memorizing her addicting scent. He felt, more than heard, Kenzi's heartrate pick up just as she began to unfurl like a kitten, stretching her arm out further around him as well as rubbing her face into his warm skin. He knew the moment she became aware of their arrangement because she suddenly froze mid-stretch.
Her sleepy eyes blinked up at him.
"Dyson?" Her voice scratched out.
"Hmm," he hummed an acknowledgement, a question, he wasn't quite sure. "How are you feeling?"
His fingers sank further into her hair as he began a gentle massage against the back of her scalp.
"Unghh."
Her eyes fell back shut, pressing her forehead against his chest, forgetting what she had planned on saying. She made another one of those humming, moaning sounds from the night before and the reaction was the same.
Like an electric current ran up his spine, Dyson felt every part of himself stiffen at the sound. Something between a growl and purr started in his throat. He squeezed Kenzi's bare thigh, giving her a second to lift her face, for her eyes to widen up at him as she realized where her leg rested. Dyson smoothed it down to the soft skin of her knee and quickly pulled it up along his body until her leg was hiked over his hip.
This brought Kenzi's center pressed intimately against Dyson's hip. And her leg was pressed intimately against little Dyson. Okay, not so little Dyson. Her body flushed with heat and she found that breathing was much more difficult.
Dyson's nose flared as his nose caught a new scent, and his body moved before his mind caught up. Keeping his grasp on her leg and nape of her neck firm, he rolled her onto her back, his hips sliding effortlessly between her hers, keeping her tucked securely beneath him.
Her gasp was preceded by a wave of her sweet arousal, causing Dyson's head to fall in the space between her shoulder and neck.
"You are making this very hard for me, Kenzi." Dyson growled and felt the shiver run through her.
"I can tell," she whispered resisting the urge to move her hips along his where he was pressed against her lower stomach.
Dyson lifted his head and brought his face close to hers, forcing her eyes to meet his.
"I can't help it." He glanced at her lips, "Especially when I can smell how ready your body is for me."
Her eyes widened. "I—you, you… I was having a good dream."
"Oh?" He purred, rubbing his nose along hers, his breath fanning her lips. "Was I in this dream?"
"Maybe."
She couldn't take her eyes off of his lips. She had been dreaming of that mouth for weeks. Those drugging kisses they had shared a few weeks ago when Bo was gone made her only want more. To feel those kisses all over.
"Tell me Kenzi," he moved his head back down to her neck and whispered against her. "Did I do this in your dream?"
His lips placed a gentle kiss on her pounding pulse. Her gasp was exactly the answer he needed. He placed another kiss, this time taking the time to taste her skin with a little suck that had her pressing her head back into the pillow under her head. He felt her nipples harden against his chest, little points that dragged against him as her chest heaved.
His mouth followed the smooth line of her neck to her collar bone where he pressed a biting kiss, his teeth imprinting her skin, causing her fingers to grip the skin of his back. She arched her back for him, encouraging him to continue. He lowered his body along hers slightly, which aligned their lower bodies perfectly. He looked into her eyes, pupils blown wide, eyes dark like a stormy sea and pulled her knee further up his hip, opening her to his body further.
"Dyson" she gasped, hips arching up against his.
He trailed his kisses up her neck and over her chin, pressing biting kisses against her. He finally pulled away by merely an inch and meeting her eyes.
"Tell me what you want Kenzi."
She ran her hands down the skin of his back, muscles shifting as she went. She bit her lip and stared into his eyes.
'What didn't she want?' Kenzi thought. His mouth on hers, his naked chest pressed against her naked chest, hands gripping her thighs tightly, hips rolling on top of hers, that hard length spreading her tight inner muscles, making it hurt in the best way. A pounding rhythm that would make her beg. 'To wake up like this every morning, for starters' she thought.
"Dyson," she began.
"Tell me," he bit down on her ear lobe, sucking softly.
"Ah—"
A loud ringing cut through the haze surrounding them and pulled Kenzi's attention to her bag laying by the kitchen. Her body sank back into the bed, hands falling off of his warm back to the cool sheets of the bed. She turned her head from him towards where her bag lay. Dyson, sensing her pulling away, propped himself on his elbows by her head, caging her in.
"You didn't give me an answer," he growled.
"That's probably Bo," she said instead, looking somewhere around his collarbones.
"Kenzi," Dyson growled at her. "You can't keep avoiding this. It's happening, no matter how much you want to deny it."
"You think I don't know that?"
Looking him directly in the eyes, Kenzi pushed firmly against his chest this time, and Dyson rose off of her allowing her to slide out from under him and off the bed. She tugged the hem of her borrowed boxers down further towards her knees before running her hands through her dark locks, further mussing up the already sexy bed hair she was sporting.
"I'm perfectly aware of how messed up this is, thank you Wolfy."
She turned her back to him and began gathering her clothing quickly. She heard the bed shift behind her and knew that Dyson was approaching her. She knew she was correct when she felt his arms wrap around her from behind, stopping her frantic movements.
"There's nothing messed up about two people who care about each other giving it their best shot." He lowered his head along hers to whisper in her ear. "And honestly, I don't think I can keep my hands to myself anymore. I've been fighting it since before we kissed."
"I can't think about this right now, Dys." Kenzi sighed. "Please."
Dyson turned her body towards his to look in her eyes and opened his mouth to speak.
"You asked me what I want," Kenzi reminded him. She grasped him by the face, hands along those amazing cheekbones. "But what I need is more time."
He nodded and let his hands drop back to his sides. He stood there silently as she ran around his loft collecting her things and stuffing them into her gym bag, not bothering to change. His wolf was howling at the knowledge that Kenzi was leaving them. The man wasn't happy either.
"Kenzi," he called when she pulled open his door. Her eyes met his. "Next time I have you in my bed, I'm not letting you back out."
And although he could tell she fought it, a small grin escaped her as she walked out.
Present Day
"Earth to wolf-man," Kenzi called, hand waving in front of his face, bringing Dyson's attention back to the present.
He grasped her hand and brought it back down to the desk with his, still firmly in his grasp.
"Sorry, it's just that I, uh—I had a really good dream the other day." He smirked at Kenzi. "It was… intense."
"Woah, wolfy… No one wants to hear about your sex life."
Blushing, Kenzi kept trying to pull her hand out of his grasp, while he held tight. Rubbing his thumb along her knuckles. 'He wasn't even trying to be subtle,' she thought.
"I second that," Bo said with a sour face. "So did Derek make any big cash withdrawals before he disappeared?" Bo asked.
"Hm?" He grunted, eyes not leaving Kenzi. "No, no recent withdrawals. Doesn't mean that he didn't go to a friend for help. The Jones' have a lot of rich friends."
"Where do I find friends like that?" Kenzi mumbled.
"We're not enough for you?" Dyson batted his eyelashes prettily. "I'm wounded."
"I'll show you wounded," she said, finally tugging her hand free and swatting his chest.
He laughed at Kenzi, and with a start Bo realized how long it had been since she had heard him laugh. Guilt flooded her as she realized she hadn't been the best of friends to him lately. She was glad he and Kenzi had grown even closer while she was gone.
"Can I see the credit card statements from the last three months?" Bo asked.
Dyson swiveled around in his chair. "Rodriguez!" He called. "Can you show Bo the credit card statements from the open Derek Callaway missing persons case?"
"Sure," he nodded in the direction of the case file room and Bo hopped off the desk to follow without a word.
Kenzi moved to follow but Dyson stood quickly and grasped Kenzi by the wrist.
"Follow me."
"Not like you're giving me much of a choice," she said, stumbling behind him.
Dyson pulled her into an empty interrogation room, he walked around the room once, checking corners and sniffing god knows what. He peeked up at the camera to make sure it was off before crossing his arms and nodding at one of the chairs.
"Sit." It wasn't a question.
"Dyson—"
"Sit, Kenzi." He moved towards her until he was invading her space. "Or I'll make you."
Kenzi huffed, sliding onto the metal table top in front of him and mimicked his stance, arms crossed.
"We need to talk."
"Look at us," she chirped. "We're talking right now. Okay, conversation over."
She pushed off the table, trying to slide around him. He took her by the shoulders and effortlessly moved her back to her previous seat moving a step closer to her.
"I meant what I said the other day," he told her. "You can't keep ignoring that things between us are changing."
"It's not like I'm trying to be Spacy Stacey, Dys." She said. "But it's not just us that gets affected by this whole thing."
"You mean Bo? Not everything is about her." He growled. "We get to come first too. The last few years it's been all about her. Don't you think it's time for your wants, your desires to take some precedence?"
"It's not just Bo. Although she is my best friend and the supposed love of your life, your mate." She reminded him, voice rising. He made a move to speak, but she rushed on. "And then there's Hale. Your best friend. My ex-whatever."
"It's Hale, he'll find himself a set of twins and he'll get over it."
Her eyes narrowed and she lid off the table towards him. "First of all," she sashayed to him, hips swinging. "You don't just get over The Kenz." She poked him in the chest. "Second on all," poke. "Hale told me that he was going to do whatever it took to win me back." Poke.
Dyson flattened her poking hand against his chest and spun her, crowding her against the wall, the other hand caging her by her head. He knew the moment her heartrate picked up, the moment she grew aroused by his proximity.
"And you, Kenzi?" His voice was the equivalent of warm, dripping honey. "Do you want him to do everything he can to win you back?"
"You know I don't," she murmured. "That doesn't mean I can just move in on his best friend." She dropped her eyes to her fingers pressed against his heart, and dug her fingers into his skin lightly. "You're my best friend too Dyson," she said it softly, like it was a secret.
His body relaxed slightly as his wolf began a soft inner purr, the baby. He rubbed his hand on top of hers and crouched slightly so that his eyes were level with her. "You're my best friend too, Kenzi."
"So you get what I'm laying down?" She asked. "There's complicated and then there's complicated."
"Aren't the best lovers always friends first?" He asked, smiling.
"I wouldn't know," she sniffed. "Not all of us grew up chasing dinosaur tail like you did."
He laughed loudly, making Kenzi's heart leap. She loved that sound.
"If it makes you feel any better, I'm only fifteen hundred and twelve." He offered.
Her smile fell. "And there's problemo numero two-hundred."
"I didn't know a little age difference bothered you."
"A little age difference?" She laughed. "Try again, Fido."
"Is it the age difference, or the non-aging difference?"
"Ding ding ding, give the dog a biscuit." She frowned. "I'm just a human, Dys. You're going to keep being a specimen of male perfection, and I'm going to be a bag of saggy skin and bones in a few decades."
"One thing at a time Kenzi. But for your information, there are ways around that issue," Dyson told her quietly. "If you want to hear about them one day."
Her eyes widened, "Okay…"
"But as far as our other best friends also being our exes," he said, tugging her hips against his own. "I guess I'll just have to prove to you that being with me is worth a little complicated."
"Oh," her lips curled up in a flirtatious smile. "And how do you plan on doing that exactly?"
Her smile was contagious as he leaned into her, nose brushing along hers. Heat flushed along her body instantly, and her lips began to tingle.
The door creaking caused him to jerk his head back just as Bo came barging in.
"Here you guys…are?" Her words trailed off as she took in the two of them pressed against the wall. "What's going on?"
"Uh—"Kenzi looked at Dyson for help.
Bo narrowed her eyes, "Dyson, are you picking on Kenzi again?" She marched towards them. "What have I said about picking on the human?"
Dyson reluctantly pulled away from Kenzi. "We were just uh—working on some shadow thief stuff."
Bo raised her eyebrows in disbelief, arms crossing.
"Right, um. Self-defense stuff for when I'm realm hopping."
"Okay…" Bo drawled suspiciously. "Well the credit card statement showed zilch. So I guess we should head over to the Jones house and see if there's any clues." Bo said. "We can have the assistant meet us there."
"Lead the way, Bo-Bo."
With one more suspicious glance between the two of them, Bo spun on her heel and strolled out. Dyson caught Kenzi's arm as she glided past him.
"No more skipping training," Dyson scolded. "You've missed three days. You won't miss any more."
"Yes sir!" She saluted.
One moment she was grinning up at him and the next, his mouth was on hers. He pulled her against him and fitted himself against her body. His kissed like he was going into battle. His strong mouth caressed hers, his tongue teased along her own. His hands fell to her leather cupped bottom, squeezing her firmly before pulling her up so that she could wrap her legs around his hips, aligning her mouth with his perfectly. Her back hit the wall again, and Dyson started a slow grind against her.
She dug her hands into his curls and slid her tongue into his mouth, tasting deep into his mouth, sucking firmly on his tongue.
"Dyson!" Hale called from down the hall. "Food's here."
"Shit," Dyson pulled away with a curse, gasping.
"Romantic." Kenzi parroted, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah," Bo called to them. "Places to be, Kenz."
"Shit balls," Kenzi held a hand to her mouth, chest heaving. "Down dog, put me down! Hurry."
He dropped her back to her feet and took several steps back until he bumped up against the table, grasping it until his knuckles turned white.
"You should go," he growled, eyes flashing yellow. "Now!"
"Good idea," she said, watching his chest heave, eyes blown wide. Until her eyes caught her reflection behind him which spurred her into action. "Oh no, no, no, no." She gasped. "Coming Bo!" She called out to her as she adjusted her mussed hair.
Her lipstick was smudged all around her mouth. She hastily rubbed at her lips until it she got as much of the stain off as could.
"You look beautiful," Dyson said quietly, eyes locked on her reflection. "Now, go."
She whirled around and met his eyes.
"So should we talk about before?" She teased.
"Yeah, definitely." His lips turned up. "Go, I mean it. I'll be out in a minute."
He looked pointedly down at his lap where his jeans sported a noticeable bulge. She felt her body temperature rack up another few degrees and she bit her lip trying to contain a smile as she walked towards the open doorway.
"Like I said," she walked backwards, smiling. "Down boy."
Her smile faded as soon as she turned the corner of the hallway and saw Hale and Bo talking animatedly, and they guilt flooded her once again. She hadn't seen Hale since the whole breakup fiasco since she spent all of her time taking cases with Bo or training with Dyson. She hadn't even had time to stop by the Dal and see Trick lately.
"Okay people," she said. "I'm ready to roll."
"Hi Kenzi," Hale said bashfully. "You look beautiful today. Not that you don't always look beautiful, you just, uh loo—look even more beautiful than usual."
Bo and Kenzi fought their smiles as they had a moment of mental telepathy with each other.
"Oh-kay," Bo drawled. "Well, Kenz and I have to check out our missing person's house." She patted Hale's chest. "See you later, Hale."
"Kenzi, can I—can I borrow you for a minute?"
He looked at her imploringly and Kenzi met Bo's eyes for help. After another bout of mental telepathy Bo started backing away.
"I'll just wait in the car for you."
"Bo—" Kenzi called.
"Don't be long," she called. "The assistant is meeting us there."
"Uh…kay?" She mumbled after.
"Kenzi, can we…" He sat at his desk chair and angled it towards the one at the end of his desk and gestured for her to sit.
"I guess," she mumbled still. Clearing her throat, she asked louder, "what do you want to talk about?"
He gave her a glace that said 'really?'
"I was hoping we could have a drink at The Dal tonight. Catch up? Talk about…things?"
"Hale," she started, looking down at her hands. "I haven't changed my mind what I said to you," she said softly.
"But you were feeling it too." He argued. "We've been bantering for years, dancing around each other."
"I know." She agreed. "But it just didn't feel right. It felt forced, Hale. That's not the way it should feel."
"You barely gave it a chance." He said. "I'm not asking for much. Let's just have a drink, like old times."
"As friends," she said.
"But with an open mind," he reached out and grasped one of her hands. "I still want to give us a shot."
"I don't know, dude, I don't want to lead you on."
"You won't be," Hale said. "Just friends, promise." She made a face. "Dal, tonight? 8 o'clock?"
She opened her mouth to answer, just as Dyson came strolling behind her.
"She can't," Dyson told Hale. "She'll be at my place tonight."
"Wha—" Kenzi huffed.
"We've got to catch up on training, since you missed so many days," he smiled as he sat down at his desk.
Hale's smile soured as he looked between the two, brows furrowed.
"She's already got plans tonight, brother." Hale said.
"Does she?" His smile widened as he glanced at Kenzi, brows raised.
"She is right here, fae-holes." She glanced between the two cops, having a good 'ol standoff. "And she has a missing person to find." She stood quickly and walked out, throwing a peace sign up as she strutted out. "Laters."
"What took you so long?" Bo asked as Kenzi climbed into the car.
"A pissing contest, apparently."
"Huh?" She asked as she pulled out of the station.
"Don't ask." She mumbled rubbing her temples as a headache set in. She sunk further into the seat as Bo steered them towards the Callaway house. "Let's just find Derek."
Author's Note: Thank you to my loyal followers! I'll be updating this a lot more often through December, so stay tuned. Chapter 4 Pt II will be up in a few hours. Be sure to leave a review, follow/favorite!
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