Welcome back! As a reminder, this will be a slow burn Linstead story. I hope to have a few more chapters for you coming soon but there is no set update schedule for this story.

Setting: 2 weeks after Jay joined the Intelligence Unit/p

Chapter 4

On a bright sunny Saturday, the Intelligence team was gathered at the Wilhite's house for the celebration of Emmy Wilhite's birthday. Tables were set up in one area of the yard where Jules's husband Alec was manning the grill for hot dogs and hamburgers. A bounce house was set up on the other side of the yard and children could be heard laughing and playing. Ava and Diego Dawson were running around with several other friends of the Wilhite children.

Erin, Jules, and Laura Dawson were standing in the kitchen, preparing the rest of the food to bring out to the picnic.

"So what do you think of the new guy?" Laura asked the two detectives. It seemed like an innocent question, but almost immediately, Jules cracked a mischievous smile and glanced at Erin, while Erin's face flashed with annoyance.

Surprised by the different reactions, her eyes flitted back and forth between the two women. "Okay, now I really want to know."

"Well, I for one think Jay has a thing for Erin!" Jules answered, her smile growing bigger.

"I think you're wrong," Erin scoffed, glancing up from the salad she was tossing.

"You know he watches you when he thinks no one is paying attention right?" Jules asked with a hint of amusement in her voice. She stopped stirring the pitcher of lemonade and leaned on the counter in Erin's direction, a huge playful smile now over taking her face.

Erin rolled her eyes, "If I'd known you were going to give me a hard time, I wouldn't have offered to come in here and help you with the rest of the food."

Laura's gaze ping-ponged back and forth between the two women in the kitchen, amused by their exchange. This clearly was not the first time this topic had come up in the two weeks since Jay joined Intelligence.

"Oh come on," Jules continued, "you know I love Alec and I wouldn't trade the kids for anything but life as a married woman gets boring sometimes! I want to be able to live vicariously though you. You can't tell me you don't think he's attractive." She made an exaggerated head nod towards the window overlooking the back yard where Jay, Antonio, Hank and Al could all be seen laughing, talking, and enjoying a beer.

Erin did not want to admit out loud that she was very much aware of the fact Jay could often be found looking at her or how hot she thought Jay looked today even though he was dressed casually for the party. The nice pair of jeans and a blue button up with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms was nicer than what she had grown used to seeing him wear at work and managed to show off his muscular frame and highlight the blue of his eyes.

Erin realized the kitchen had grown quiet and glanced up to see both Laura and Jules looking at her expectantly. Erin blushed lightly at getting caught clearly thinking about Jay. With a small shrug she exclaimed, "Okay! I will admit he's attractive! Anyone can see that! But who cares, absolutely nothing can happen there, you both know Voight would have his head and mine if anything "inappropriate" were to happen." Erin made air quotes with her fingers.

"Well, that's a shame," Laura responded, picking up a bowl of pasta salad that was ready to take outside. "You deserve to have a little fun." Jules waggled her eye brows at Erin for a moment before breaking out in laughter as she walked out the door carrying the pitcher of lemonade. Erin stood in the kitchen just a moment longer, trying to shake the image of what having a little bit of fun with Jay Halstead might look like out of her mind before grabbing the salad and joining the rest of the party outside.

Once the food was situated on the serving table, Erin helped herself to a beer from the cooler before heading to the table where Intelligence was sitting. The chair next to Antonio was open and Erin dropped into it, tuning into the conversation. The boys were in the middle of a heated debate over whether the White Sox or the Cubs were going to have a better season this year. Erin preferred football or hockey over baseball so she sat back and enjoyed the spirited debate happening around her. Every once in a while, her eyes would drift over Jay. On more than one occasion, she found him looking at her. Each time, he would offer a small, sheepish smile before turning his attention back to whoever was speaking at the moment.

When the party wrapped up around 4pm, all the members of the Intelligence team headed to their cars. Hank and Al were both parked to the right. They waved goodbye as they headed to their respective cars and drove off. The Dawson family loaded into their minivan a few cars down on the left. Antonio gave Jay and Erin each a quick hug and a "see you later" to Jay.

Erin and Jay continued down past a few more houses until they came to Erin's car. Jay stopped with her. "I know you're not a big baseball fan, but a few of us are getting together at Molly's around 7 to watch the Sox game if you're interested." He stuck his hands in his pockets, his head cocked to the side while he waited for her response.

Erin turned from pulling open her driver's side door and saw the hopeful look on Jay's face.

"Sounds like fun," she heard herself reply. "See you there."

Erin got in her car and began driving home, wondering why she agreed to go. She did not see the large smile that spread over Jay's face as he watched her car drive away.