🔔BARBELL(E)🔔

“You’re no fun Bradley,” Coyote mumbled.

“I’ll drink to that,” Jake agreed with his friend, making a mock cheers motion towards him with a beer he — somehow —already had open.

You rolled your eyes at his words, Hangman’s childish behavior was only fueling the irritation and oncoming exasperation you were already feeling bubbling up inside you, from merely standing on the burning sand.

“I don’t even know why I keep coming to these things,” you continued complaining to Natasha, needing to lament yourself at the prospect of the hellish afternoon you were about to willingly — only God knows why — put yourself through.

Natasha only chuckled and before she was able to retort anything, Jake’s voice resonated in your ears first.

“I have my theory Lightning, wanna hear it ?”

“No.”

“I think that the temptation of seeing my hot, sweaty and shirtless body absolutely destroy Bradshaw at volleyball is just too much for you to resist.” He laid out his explanation, cocky smirk firmly in place, shirt already nowhere to be seen as he took a sip of his beer.

Natasha’s eyes slightly widened at Jake’s bold choice of words. Her eyes flicked from him to you, awaiting your answer and not missing the way your nostrils slightly flared in irritation… or was it fluster ?

You scoffed, hoping it came across as indignation, rather than a pathetic attempt to hide how rather truthful his observation had been.

“Just shut the fuck up Hangman,” you hissed, “go splash around and leave us alone, will you ?”

He stayed silent for a beat, pride radiating from his features as a victorious grin stretched his lips. No doubt that your reaction gave him the answer he was looking for, he’d been bulls eye, as always.

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” he winked at you before making his way towards Reuben and Mickey who had started a swimming race.

Bradley, who was still busy unloading his Bronco — waist deep into the trunk, suddenly got out upon hearing Jake’s words.

“Hey no— come back here Hangman !” He yelled after the blond. He turned to you then, lifting his arms in incomprehension, “what the fuck Lightning ?”

You didn’t even dignify him with a response, too busy watching Jake’s back as he walked towards the ocean. Your eyes raked over his form. From the short hair at the top of his nape, giving way to his neck, meeting the muscles of his shoulders — expanding into his whole back. His waist, which narrowed a bit from the rest of his body — his hips, on which his bathing suit was sitting lowly, the curve of his ass—

The sound of Bradley clearing his throat next to you made you jump out of your trance. When you — regretfully — tore your eyes away from Jake to glare at Bradley, he was looking at you in a deadpan expression, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m not bothering, am I ?”

You heard Natasha snicker as she was now the one waist deep with Bob into the Bronco’s trunk, and you felt heat rising to your cheeks at being so blatantly caught ogling at your so called ‘arch nemesis’.

You cleared your throat, making your voice sound as normal as possible, “No, you’re not.” You smiled tightly at him, resuming the unloading of the car. “How many stuff did you bring anyway, Bradley ? Feels like you have enough things to camp here for a week.”

He placed a hand over his heart, feigning hurt.

“I’m sorry, Lightning, I like to anticipate. You never know when you might need something.” He explained, “besides, someone’s gotta think about it. And we can’t count on you for that.” He muttered out his next words, “you’re way too busy staring at Hangman’s ass…”

“I’m sorry what was that, Bradshaw ?”

He smiled sweetly at you, “Nothing, Lightning, it was nothing.”

“Alright let’s just finish unpacking this damn car.” Natasha called out to both of you, “I wanna go in the water already.”

You four finally finished getting everything out and setting up a small space with parasols, the cooler and all of your towels. When you had finished setting the last towel down, Natasha was already halfway out of her t-shirt and shorts and already in her bathing suit, Bradley was doing the exact same thing as he ceremonially took off his t-shirt.

“You guys coming ?” Natasha asked Bob and you, as you were both sitting comfortably on your towels under one of the parasols.

“Not for now, maybe I’ll come in later.” Bob replied with a sweet smile, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“And I’m not going in at all, now or later.” You answered, aiming to smile as sweetly as your friend.

“Oh come on, you do this every time,” Natasha complained, “just come in ! Just for a quick swim, please !” She begged, joining her hands in a pleading motion as Bradley snickered next to her.

“Ain’t no way you are getting her near the water, Nat,” he said putting on his aviators.

“He’s right, I’m sorry Phee but you know it, there’s too many weird ass creatures in there for me to ever step foot near it.”

Natasha let out a defeated sigh, “it’s alright, I’ll just have to have tons of fun without you then.”

“Yeah you do that,” you chuckled, “please try to drown Hangman on my behalf.”

She saluted you before she started jogging towards where the rest of the group was with Bradley.

“Hey don’t forget to put on sunscreen !” Bob yelled after them as he was holding a tub of said sunscreen in his hand.

“Yes mom !” Bradley yelled back, even though they made absolutely no move to come back to get some.

You enjoyed the peace that came with their departure for the waves, only hearing the distant sounds of their voices and laughs as you could only make out the outline of their bodies as they were already so far out in the water.

“Since you don’t like going in the water, have you got any other plans for today ?” Bob asked you sweetly, as he was getting out a book from his backpack.

“Actually Bobby, yes I do,” you smiled back at him as you were getting out your own book from your bag.

Bob — as the sweet, curious and engaging man he was — looked at the cover of your book with interest. The cover was pretty simple, it was actually a pretty drawn picture of a beach, and it didn’t let anything on about what was happening inside the pages.

“Ohh what is it about ?”

You smirked, opening the book where your bookmark was, eyes skimming over the page before deciding to hand it to him.

“Just read this page, it pretty much sums up what the story is about, tell me what you think.”

You carefully eyed him as he was reading through the words. Gradually, you could see his eyes widen and his cheeks taking on an adorable pink hue. When he had read through the page entirely, he gave it back to you.

“Well,” he began, chuckling but obviously flustered, “that’s certainly something.”

“I know,” you grinned at him, delighted to see him so sheepish, “what is your book about Bobby ? Are there any naked men in yours ?”

He laughed as the pink on his cheeks deepened in a slightly darker shade of red, “There are not, it’s just a regular thriller.”

“Okay, enjoy your murder mystery.”

“And enjoy your orgy.” He winked at you, settling himself properly to read.

You laughed, surprised to hear the word coming out of his mouth, as you settled down yourself comfortably for a good read.

Two hours passed during which Bob and you cozily read your respective books next to one another. By now, the other squad members were out of the water, tired out by their endless races and splashing around. They had gone back to the sand and Reuben and Mickey had ran back to where you and Bob were laid out to grab the volleyball net. Even exhausted from swimming, a single “I could still beat you all right now” from Jake was enough for everyone to regain their energy instantly.

It was Mickey, Bradley and Phoenix against Jake, Reuben and Javy.

They were not too far from where you and Bob were settled, close enough that you could clearly see the game. And close enough so that you could ogle away at the — unfortunate, truly you hated having to admit it to yourself — object of your desires.

You looked up just a tiny bit from your book, just enough to gawk at Jake without making it obvious from his perspective.

He was still wet from his hours of swimming, drops of water cascading down his naked torso, disappearing beneath his swimming trunks. The way his muscles moved as he hit the ball, his thighs flexing as he ran up to the net to spike. And God that ass—

“You found someone more interesting than the naked men in your book ?” Bob mischievously asked, still laying next to you.

Must someone always interrupt you whenever you laid eyes on the best part of Jake’s body ?

Nonetheless, you were enjoying seeing this more playful side of Bob, even if it was at your expense.

“Well Bobby, sometimes I like myself a little reality instead of fiction,” you shot back, feeling comfortable enough to keep your eyes on Jake, even after Bob’s remark.

He just laughed, shaking his head fondly, “and you dare say that you hate him,” he sighed out with a smile.

“I do hate him, just not his God given attributes.” You countered, “I know when to admit Mother Nature did a good job.”

“Yeah, you tell yourself that.”

You just playfully smacked his arm before sliding your bookmark into your book, carefully setting it down on your towel.

“I’m going to dip my feet on the shore, it’s hot as hell here.” You announced as you were getting up.

“Mmmh,” Bob hummed, “is it really the sun or Jake’s half naked body getting you hot and bothered ?”

You looked back at him in slight, delighted shock at seeing him so openly teasing and playful. Your only response was to jokingly flip him off before walking towards the water. You were totally unable to do anything more than dipping your feet in the small waves that crashed on the sand. Everything that had to do with the ocean — while it was fascinating — freaked you out.

You walked past your squad mates, who were deeply immersed into their volleyball match, and didn’t see you walk up to shore.

Instant relief washed over you as soon as the wave hit your feet. While it was true that the heat of the blazing sun was getting unbearable, Bob was partially right. Your body temperature had significantly risen as you had taken the time to ogle at Jake — and the book you were reading before laying your eyes on him definitely did not help. So you welcomed the cooling sensation that came as the wave hit your feet, walking for a bit and taking the time to enjoy this moment. You hated the beach. But today hadn’t been so bad, you were able to get ahead in your book and gawk away at Jake in a way you weren’t able to do on base. So yeah, pretty good day so far.

And right as you were about to indulge yourself in some more Jake watching—

“OW FUCK !!”

Your scream of agony echoed on the beach as scorching, white-hot pain speared into your left foot. The pain was mind numbing and nearly made you fall over. A moment of clarity shined through the burning sensation and you looked down to where your foot had began to throb, and the sight made you jump back. You saw the stingray’s barb move in the water before the flat fish left and began to swim back towards the ocean. Blood had begun mixing with water where the barb had punctured the side of your foot.

Panic was seeping its way into your veins, mingling with the pain. Breath heavy with fright and excruciating suffering, you felt yourself start to fall backwards, unable to keep upright any longer. You prepared for the added hurt of the fall—

But instead of the blazing and hard sand, you felt two strong arms around your back.

You turned to see Jake’s face close to yours, green emerald eyes injected with worry and fear.

“Y/N what the fuck happened ?! Are you alright ??”

His voice was strained and breathy, like he had sprinted all the way over here. His eyes roamed over your body quickly, assessing if you were hurt, and finally his gaze found your left foot, that had already begun to swell and bruise, and which continued leaking blood.

Jake winced, cursing lowly under his breath as he gently set your head down on his lap. He took a beat to examine your foot from where he was.

By now the squad had gathered around you two.

“Bradley, call 911, Y/N was stung by a stingray.” Jake instructed, voice calm but firm.

You only heard Bradley running back to the towels to get his phone, you could also hear the others’ quiet and worried whispers, having shut your eyes to avoid looking at any of them. Even with the agonizing pain throbbing — not only in your foot now — but in your entire body, this felt humiliating.

“Shh, it’s okay sweetheart, I know it hurts,” Jake’s soothing voice came into your ears.

It’s only then that you realized that tears were freely running down your cheeks, your breathing was ragged, heavy with pain and you were letting out small, strained whimpers that were a testimony of the hell you were going through.

“Oh fuck,” you cursed in a mix of pain and embarrassment, still refusing to look at any of your squad mates, while furiously wiping away the tears on your cheeks.

Jake shushed you soothingly, one of his hand coming up to tenderly brush your hair back from your sweaty forehead.

“It’s okay Y/N, you’re okay I promise. I know it hurts right now but 911 will be here soon.” His voice was so gentle, and for a minute it pulled your mind away from the throbbing pain in your left foot.

You finally opened your eyes and turned back to him, squinting a bit to look up at him, and Jake immediately moved a few centimeters so his head was now shielding yours from the blinding light of the sun. His eyes were staring straight into yours, worry still swimming in them, along with a tenderness you were not used to see.

“Are you okay ?” He asked, voice impossibly soft and gentle.

It made your heart skip a beat, and the realization that he was still lovingly brushing your hair back did not help. To avoid blurting out anything stupid — though if you did, you’d at least be able to blame it on the pain later — you did what you were so used to do.

“Of course I’m not okay, what does it fucking look like Seresin ?!” You hissed at him.

But despite your unjustified anger towards him, Jake just smiled down at you. Not his usual cocky smirk, or his smug grin — a genuine one.

“The fuck are you smiling for ?”

His smile only widened, “you’re still angry at me, it must not be as bad as I thought it was.”

You scoffed, outraged, but just as you were about to retort something with the same amount of venom that was probably spreading in your body right now—

Another wave of pain flared up. Intense and excruciating, you cried out and instinctively, one of your hand shot out to grip Jake’s forearm, squeezing it as hard as you could to try and focus on anything else except the agonizing pain flaring up in your entire body.

And even though your nails were anchored in his arm, probably drawing a tiny bit of blood, Jake did not waver. He stayed with you, his other hand still lightly brushing your hair.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he said again, voice reassuring. “That’s it, just hold onto me.”

He then turned towards the rest of the squad — who was still anxiously waiting behind him.

“Where is Bradley ? Does he have an ETA on 911 ?” He asked, not a trace of panic in his tone. Even when he wasn’t talking to you, his calm and lulling voice was soothing your system.

You could feel your blood pump in your ears and for a moment the intense pain calmed down, leaving just a permanent ache in your foot. You released your death hold on Jake’s forearm but kept your hand on his skin, the warmth of it grounding you.

“I don’t know, he’s still on the phone,” Natasha said, voice shaking a bit and trying to get a look at you from behind Jake.

“Should we do something while waiting for them ?” Mickey asked, panic in his voice at seeing you in such a state, “elevate her foot or something ?”

“Absolutely not.” Jake’s response was instant, “the venom is already spreading in her body and moving her could accelerate the process, it would do more harm than good. We just have to wait for 911 to come.”

You could feel your friends beginning to approach, in a desire to do anything that might help you while awaiting for the ambulance to arrive. But while the pain should have relieved you of your inhibitions, in this instant there was nothing worse for the tough fighter pilot that you were than your squad mates seeing you down and writhing in pain because of a stupid flat fish.

You squeezed Jake’s arm once to get his attention. He turned to you, eyes softening once again.

“Yeah, sweetheart ? You need anything ?”

The next words were hard to get out, not only because of the pain but because of how humiliating they were to pronounce out loud. Especially to someone like Jake — your rival, your arch nemesis, the one person you claimed to hate more than anything on this earth.

But right now — with your head on his lap, his hand caressing the top of your hair and him calling you sweetheart like you were the love of his life, you couldn’t find it in you to keep fighting him.

“Jake, I don’t want them to see me like that…” you whispered, voice strained by the pain that was still clinging to you.

Quick understanding flashed through his eyes, he didn’t say anything, didn’t question you, he just turned back to the squad — firm and authoritative.

“Could you please go load back the cars ? So that when the ambulance arrive we are all ready to go.”

Mickey, Reuben, Javy and Natasha all nodded diligently, happy to be of service given the situation. They all ran back to the towels and parasols, where Bradley and Bob already had started to pack up.

You squeezed Jake’s forearm again.

“Thank you— Oh fuck !”

Another wave hit you then, fuck, when was this going to stop ??

This one was especially bad, it felt like your entire body was burning alive. You cried out, reaching for Jake, trying to anchor yourself to him. Your eyes welled up with tears that were flowing endlessly down your cheeks, breath quick and heavy with panic.

“Jake, Jake Jake Jake—“ your voice was rushed, filled with fright and pain.

“I’m here, baby, right here. Try to take deep breaths for me okay ? Breathe in…” He made a show of taking an exaggerated inhale.

You just followed his instructions, breathing in deeply.

“That’s good, that’s perfect. Now breathe out…”

You copied his theatrical exhale, still holding on tightly to him. He gave you a proud smile, the one hand that wasn’t still busy brushing your hair, came up to cup your cheek — thumb tenderly caressing your skin.

“That’s good, you’re doing so good.”

You placed your right hand — the one that wasn’t holding on for dear life to his forearm — on top of his hand that was cupping your cheek, still breathing deeply with him.

Your next words would probably make you want to kill yourself when the pain stops numbing your mind, but right now there was only one thing you wanted. And it resided in the very man above you, who was looking at you and touching you with an affection that would have you shedding tears if you weren’t already doing so because of the pain.

“Please, Jake, don’t stop. Keep talking to me.” You pleaded, voice shaking with tears and a few sniffles.

Something shifted in Jake’s expression then, a reflection of how his heart broke for you right at this moment. His beautiful features took on a raw display of emotion, he inhaled sharply — forcing his voice to come out as calm and unwavering as possible.

“I will, baby, don’t worry. I’m right here with you, I’m not leaving you.” He soothed you, green eyes boring into yours and desperately trying to convey everything he felt in this moment and couldn’t possibly express with words. “Not ever.”

You let out a relieved sigh, not only at his words, but at the feeling of the spike of pain calming down, leaving — once again — only the static pain in your foot. You closed your eyes, still taking deep breaths like Jake told you and trying to slow your heart beat down. If it weren’t for this stupid stingray who had your foot feeling like it would burn and fall off your body at any moment, you would consider this moment peaceful. Jake holding you, touching your skin like you were the most precious thing in this world, voice soft and gentle like you’ve never heard before….

“The pain will continue to come and go in spikes,” Jake explained, voice low, as if to not disturb the moment, “it’s the venom spreading in your body.”

You kept your eyes closed, only nodding slightly to tell him you understood.

“You scared the hell out of me,” Jake admitted after a beat of silence, in a small, almost sad laugh.

You nuzzled closer to his hand that was cupping your cheek, “are you saying you care about me, Hangman ?” You inquired, a teasing smile pulling at your lips, your voice coming out a little strained and tired from all the pain.

“I don’t know, I might just do,” You only heard the fond smile in his voice.

Only moments after, you felt his lips press with an infinite amount of tenderness on your forehead. You sucked in a breath, opening your eyes in surprise. The kiss lasted a few seconds, and when he pulled away, the look in his eyes almost took your breath away.

“What ? You surprised ?” He probed, mimicking your teasing tone.

You felt yourself flush. Fluster temporarily replacing the pain in your body, filling you with a warmth that was making you forget about your punctured foot that was still leaking blood and painting the water crimson red.

You just snuggled further into his hand, tearing your eyes away from him to escape his prying gaze, “shut up,” you mumbled.

He just laughed, keeping his affectionate administrations to your skin.

And that’s when you heard the loud wail of the ambulance siren coming closer to the beach. Just seconds after, the whole squad was running at full speed towards you two.

“They are here !” Bradley yelled, “they are here Y/N !”

“It’s almost over, sweetheart,” Jake whispered, placing one more quick kiss to your forehead before the whole squad, along with the medics, reached you.

Jake immediately took the initiative to explain the situation, “she was stung by a stingray, approximately 10 minutes ago. The barb punctured the side of her left foot, it’s been bleeding ever since the sting. Venom has already started spreading.”

“Okay, thank you sir,” one of the medic addressed Jake before turning to you, “ma’am, my name is Martin. What’s yours ?”

“Y/N.”

“Okay Y/N. Listen we’re gonna need to put you on a stretcher to get you in the ambulance. Just know that it will probably hurt.”

You just nodded, taking a deep breath.

They hoisted you up onto the stretcher, you muffled a cry behind your hand and squeezed Jake’s hand which had slipped into yours. Once you were installed in the ambulance, the medics looked at you and then at the squad.

Martin spoke up, “one of you can climb with Y/N in the back of the ambulance. The rest can follow behind by car to get to the hospital. Who do you want coming with ?” He asked.

Lying in the stretcher that was inclined so you were sitting up a bit, your eyes immediately found Jake, who gave you a hopeful smile. You so desperately wanted to say his name, have him climb in with you and hold you like he had been doing on the beach. But sitting here, the whole squad in front of you, you felt the words get stuck in your throat. Jake seemed to see it in your eyes, the hesitation, seemed to feel that for some reason, you would not be able to express wanting him by your side. And witnessing the sadness and disappointment flash in his emerald eyes after having been so bright, made your heart fall into your stomach.

A beat passed before Natasha slightly raised her hand.

“I’ll come with—“

But Bob, of all people, was the one who interrupted her.

“Nat, I actually got a call from Cyclone there’s a meeting we have to attend, all of us.”

Phoenix, along with the rest of the squad looked confused, sharing interrogating glances.

“What ? A briefing ? Right now ?” Bradley questioned, incredulous.

Bob gave him a pointed look, “yes, Bradley, right now.” He then turned to Jake, a characteristic sweet smile on his face, “Jake, you’ll stay with Y/N, right ?”

Jake seemed surprised for a moment, his eyes flicking rapidly between Bob and you.

“I— Yeah, yeah of course,” he nodded quickly, he then turned to you, hopefulness returning to his gaze, “if you’ll have me.”

“Yes,” you answered, way too quickly — which Bob, along with the medics, quietly snickered at — “yes of course, come in.”

After the squad bid you goodbye and promised to come see you at the hospital, Bob mischievously winked at you and hurried them back to the cars.

Jake climbed into the ambulance, sitting on a seat next to your stretcher, fingers intertwining with yours instantly, like instinct. And almost as soon as his skin made contact with yours, a wave of pain hit you again, hard.

Cursing, you wiggled around on the stretcher, the burning sensation was stronger than before and was taking your whole body hostage, eyes almost rolling back from how painful it all was.

“It’s almost over, sweetheart, I promise.” Jake reassured, voice strained from seeing you hurt like that.

“Y/N,” Martin caught your attention, “the venom is progressing quickly and we need to act fast. We’re gonna give you something for the pain, it might make you a little loopy and you might fall asleep. You’ve been through a lot and the pain has definitely taken a toll on you, so totally normal if you want to crash for a moment, alright ?”

You nodded, feeling Jake squeezing your hand, you heard him take a deep breath next to you and you could feel the relief radiating off him. One of the other medics went to slap his shoulder.

“You did a good job, boyfriend.”

Jake just chuckled and you caught the faintest shade of red color his cheeks. Neither of you bothered to correct him on the term ‘boyfriend’. You all but smiled through the pain, looking at Jake with something that people might call love.

“Yeah, he really did.”

Martin turned back to you with a syringe, “okay Y/N, you need to be brave for one more minute, you might feel a slight pinch.”

And while the needle punctured your skin, similar to how the stingray’s barb had — only minutes prior to this, your eyes never wavered from Jake’s.

It only took a few moments for the painkillers to start acting, you let out a sigh of relief at feeling the pain peak progressively go away. Along with the disappearing agony, you felt your eyelids grow heavy.

“Jake…” you called out softly, already halfway into Morpheus’ arms.

“Yeah, sweetheart ? I’m right here.” He squeezed your hand again.

A smile pulled at your lips.

“I think— I think I’m gonna take a quick nap.”

“Yeah, looks like it,” he chuckled affectionately.

“Will you still be here when I wake up ?”

A beat of silence passed before he leaned forward, leaving a sweet kiss on your forehead that widened your smile.

“Yes I will, you rest, baby. You’ve been so strong today.” Another kiss. “I’ll see you when you wake up.”

And with that confirmation, your eyes finally closed, body finally at ease after all the events of the day. Before sleep took your mind away to a far away place, you registered Jake leaving one last kiss on your forehead, like he just couldn’t help himself. The warmth that filled you would have been able to alleviate any pain better than any of the medics’ painkillers. You fell asleep the heart light, knowing that when you would open your eyes, the first thing they would land on would be Jake’s green ones, full of something that could only be called love.

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Author’s note : thank you for reading "Saltwater Monster" I hope you liked it !!! Also I hope everyone spent lovely holidays !!

Laying in your bed on Sunday night, you struggled to find sleep. Turning in your bed nonstop, you were trying to silence the whirlwind of thoughts going through your head. Heart beating like you had ran a marathon, you were hyper aware of every single thing going on in your body. The sensation of your covers on your skin, the way you could feel your — still — hard nipples poking through your pajama shirt, the phantom pulsing in your clit like it was still reeling from every sensation from the afternoon…

Feeling yourself get wet at the memory of the last few hours, you cursed yourself.

Truth be told, you hadn’t really expected Jake to still be on the phone when you woke up from your nap. But he had patiently waited for you, just like you’d asked.

“Shit, how long have I been out ?” You groggily asked, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

“Not too long, don’t worry,” came Jake’s voice, calm as ever, “thirty minutes, something like that.”

A silence stretched out. And it seemed as if your earlier words were still hanging in the air ‘I’d like to go again after, if you want that as well’, waiting to be acted upon, and there was nothing you wanted more in this moment than that. Would you be able to express it as clearly, though ? You wondered if Jake would—

“So,” he began, and really you should’ve guessed he would be the first one to bring it up, “do you still want to ‘go again’ ?” You could hear the smirk in his voice as he used your earlier words.

He took your second of silence for hesitation, and he took on a more serious tone when he added, “That’s totally okay if you don’t want to anymore, say the word and I’ll hang up.”

“No not at all !” You reassured immediately, cursing yourself for still struggling to get the words out, even after what you had just done with him. “Yes, I want to, sorry this is— I’m akward sorry, I’m not really used to this.” Cringing at your own words you wished there was a for you to feel even an ounce of Jake’s shamelessness and demonstrate his easy going attitude.

“It’s okay, don’t worry, sweetheart. I’ll teach you.”

You refrained the urge to muffle a scream in your pillow at his words, you never knew it was possible for a man to have this effect over you. And yet here you were. Heart thumping violently in your chest to the sound of his breathing, blood already traveling south to the sound of his voice, and brain conjuring the wildest and filthiest fantasy, all including him teaching you various things in various but oh so delicious scenarios.

Slipping a hand between your thighs, which were slightly sticky from your earlier release, you let out shaky breath that expressed, louder than any words could, the excitement pumping in your veins. “Teach me then.”

You swore you could have heard his smile through the phone.

That evening had passed in a blur of moans, mind numbing pleasure, gasped breaths, shaky limbs and so much talking.

From Jake, who had instructed your every movement, from the slightest run of your fingertips down the thin skin on your neck, to the swift passes of your hand on the most sensitive part of you. Had soothed every once of nervousness you had felt linger at some moments. Had expressed every filthy fantasy he’s had about you, worshiped your body verbally, his words had painted you as a goddess you never thought someone could picture you as.

To you who had spilled every thought going through your head, without any barrier left. To his every command, you had responded between strings of pleasured gasps how good he was making you feel, how hot he sounded, how you wished he could be there with you, how you wished you could see him. It’d been like your thoughts were slippery, slipping right from the unreal and unspoken part of your mind to express themselves out loud in the open.

You usually were quiet during sex, never having any reason to voice your pleasure because you didn’t feel any. But it was like Jake had awaken something in you, cracked your soul open and you were begging for more.

By the time the sun had set, hiding behind the western sky to give place to the half lit moon and the stars, you had came three times, and after your third orgasm, the endorphins and adrenaline had completely drained the energy out of your satiated body. Leaving you a floaty mess.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart.” Jake’s fond — and slightly hoarse from moaning your name — voice came through to your ears, “we have to get up early tomorrow.”

That had been it, you’d hanged up after that.

Being left with your own thoughts after having Jake’s voice in your ears for so long felt strange, like a melody you felt nostalgic of.

After long minutes of debating it, you opted for taking a shower, deciding that the evidence of your pleasure sticking to your thighs wouldn’t be a pleasurable sensation throughout the night. The hot water felt nice cascading on your still sensitive skin, a small smile stretching your lips at the reminiscence of everything you had just done.

Getting out of the shower, you caught your reflection in the body length mirror in the corner of your bathroom. For the first time in a long time, you took the time to look at yourself, really look. And warmth filled your stomach as you remembered everything Jake had said. He hadn’t left a single part of your body un-praised, a body he only ever saw covered, but it hadn’t stopped him from worshipping it from the other end of the line. A wave of self-confidence hit you then, you felt good in your body, in your skin, you felt good being you.

Slipping underneath your covers after putting on your pajamas, you would have thought that sleep would have came easy, muscles and mind relaxed from your three releases, but you wouldn’t be yourself if everything was so easy.

That’s how you ended up lying wide awake in your bed on Sunday night, with one persisting thought taking your brain hostage.

Monday morning was bound to be awkward.

The thought was eating you alive. You had spent the entirety of your Sunday evening and half of the night masturbating with the man you called your arch-nemesis guiding you over the phone, how were you supposed to act ? Were you supposed to just pretend nothing happened, insult him like usual ? Or did everything you did implicitly and inevitably changed the course of your relationship ?

All those questions were enough to make you dizzy. And before you realised it, you heard the graving sound of your alarm clock ringing.

Fuck.

You had barely gotten any sleep, and when you had successfully managed to close your eyes for a few moments, your dreams were filled with Jake, plaguing your mind. Inserting himself in every crevice of your brain, settling with no intention of ever leaving.

The drive over to base was the closest thing you could imagine to hell. Your palms were sweaty against the wheel which you were gripping like a vice. Heart beating so hard against your rib cage you felt like it was trying to get out of your chest. Never had you been this stressed ever since your first solo flight in a F/A-18.

Parking on the base’s lot, you waited a few minutes to get out. Mentally giving yourself a pep talk, and it gave you this weird déjà-vu impression, reminded you of when you had stood in front of the sex shop only a few days before, not knowing that you had probably changed the course of your life when passing the threshold.

Taking a deep breath, you finally opened your car door. Deciding that if you didn’t get out now, there was a high chance you’d never do it. Swigging your bag over one shoulder, you made your way to the base entrance.

After flashing your military I.D to the personnel out front, you made a beeline for the locker room, hoping you could be quick and then make a run for the briefing room where you’d pretend to have a hundred questions for Maverick. Surely, that would avoid any awkward interactions, wouldn’t it ?

As you pushed open the locker room’s door, you couldn’t contained the relived sigh that left your lips when you noticed it was empty.

Going for your locker, which was hiding in the left corner of the room, you hastily began to put all your stuff away when the creaking of the door made you jump—

“Y/N !” An excited squeal came behind you, and before you even had time to understand what was happening, Natasha had slung an arm over your shoulder, bringing you close to her. “How was your weekend ?”

The smirk stretching her lips and the mischievous twinkle in her eyes made you freeze, did she know something…? Had Jake told her something ?!

“I- I mean yeah it was good, like a normal week end, you know,” you tried to keep your voice steady while avoiding her gaze by rummaging through your locker, “why do you ask ?”

“Did you not go to the sex shop ?” She asked in a too loud voice right as the door swung open, revealing Reuben and Mickey who could not contain a snicker at Natasha’s words.

“Well good morning to you too, ladies.” Reuben grinned.

You merely flipped him off, thinking that they would make their way over to their lockers on the opposite side of the room, which were hidden from your view by a row of lockers, but they stayed right there, staring at the two of you.

“Well, Lightning, are you not gonna tell us if you went to the sex shop ?” Mickey inquired with a raised brow and the start of a smirk pulling at his lips.

“Fuck you.”

“Alright, get going now, this a private conversation,” Natasha shooed them away with a movement of her hand.

They just giggled like middle school boys before making their way to their lockers, leaving the two of you a semblance of privacy. Natasha lowered her voice when she spoke again.

“Well ? Did you go ?”

Finally looking into her eyes, you were torn between confessing everything, or telling her only part of the truth. It only took you a few seconds to decide that you did not want to deal with the interrogation that would follow if you did tell her everything, especially not on a Monday morning minutes before pre-flight briefing. And you desperately tried to silence the voice in your head telling you the true reason you were so reluctant to tell her was that you liked knowing this was something you only shared with Jake, liked the privacy of it. Those moments you shared this week end were well and entirely yours.

“Yeah, I did.” You simply answered, hoping that she wouldn’t catch your half lie like she usually so easily does.

Natasha just stared at you, visibly waiting.

“Okay ? Why are you withholding crucial information ?” She jokingly complained, slightly shaking your arm, “come on tell me, what did you buy ? Vibe ? Clit sucker ? Oh my god—!” She suddenly gasped, “did you buy a dildo ??”

You swore you heard Reuben and Mickey giggle from the other side of the room.

“Nat, what the hell ? Lower your voice, oh my god.” You mumbled, cheeks flushed.

Natasha all but snickered, raising her hands in mock defense.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But you need to tell me, you owe it to me.”

Raising a playful, inquiring brow at her, you refrained from asking her in what way exactly you owed it to her to tell her what kind of sex toy you’d bought.

“I… I bought a vibrator.”

“And…? Oh my god, Y/N why are you so secretive ?”

“What do you even want to know ?” You chuckled, still pretending to look for something non-existent in your locker, just to keep your hands busy.

“Was it good ? Did you cum ? Did you squ—“

You slapped a hand over Natasha’s mouth to keep her from saying any more as you let out an incredulous laugh.

“What the actual fuck, Nat ?” You laughed, “I didn’t know you were so interested in how I touch myself.”

She just stared you, putting on a mock empathetic face as she removed your hand from her face.

“I’m worried about you that’s all, ever since you told me you couldn’t feel any pleasure at all I’ve been thinking of ways to help you. I’m just a good friend, looking out for my girl, you know—“

But as Natasha continued to ramble, your blood suddenly ran cold. Coming from the corridor, and inevitably approaching the locker room door, you heard three booming voices.

Bradley, unmistakably. Deep and raspy voice, probably complaining about a problem on his Bronco.

Javy, then. Joyous laugh echoing down the hallway.

And… fuck.

Jake.

His smooth and rich tone reached your ears, the sound of a smirk evident in his voice, and you weren’t sure if the butterflies who had took off like Super Hornets in your stomach were from arousal, excitement or sheer stress. Maybe it was all three at the same time.

Physically feeling the heat rush to your cheeks at the impending knowledge that he would open the door in a few seconds, you prayed, pleaded to any gods above who would deigned to hear you that Jake would be too engrossed in whatever conversation he was having to notice you standing at your locker in the far left corner.

The voices kept creeping closer, your heart was beating sporadically to the sounds of their footsteps approaching.

“Your car is a piece of junk.” Javy’s voice boomed as the door swung open so violently it hit the row of lockers on its side.

Bradley scoffed, “excuse me, have you seen your car ? You couldn’t pay me to set foot in that piece of shit. Probably would start falling apart the second more than one people sits down.”

Unable to resist the urge to turn around despite the knot in your stomach, you saw Javy and Bradley walk through the door, the latter only being wide enough for them two. Jake followed behind them, and you could only guess that all your prayers had fallen into deaf ears. Jake’s eyes were already staring right at you when he walked in. Like before he even walked through the door, his gaze had been directed into your locker’s direction, prepared to check if you’d be there.

Your eyes locked, and you felt a surge of longing take your heart hostage. A weird and unfamiliar feeling of wanting to go up to him, greet him with an embrace like what you had both done this week end meant something.

The look on his face didn’t help the sudden yearning you got hit with. A small, almost bashful smile lifted the corner of his lips, and where you had expected a teasing twinkle in his eyes, you only found a burning that seemed like a reflection of the fire setting ablaze under your skin.

“Hellooo ? Y/N, are you even listening to me ?” Natasha’s whiny voice yanked you out of your trance, and you reluctantly tore your eyes away from Jake’s green ones as he was walking towards his locker, a few rows away from yours.

Looking at her, you offered her a small, apologetic smile, “sorry, got lost in thought for a second.” At least, you could console yourself in saying that this one wasn’t totally a lie.

All of a sudden, Natasha seemed to be hit with a dawning realization.

“Wait, fuck, what time is it ?” She asked urgently, looking for her phone in her flight suit pockets.

You looked down at your watch, “six forty five, why ? Is everything okay ?”

Her eyes widened before she started to hastily put all her stuff in her locker. Quickly grabbing her helmet bag, flying boots and glove, “I had a meeting with Cyclone at six forty, shit he’s gonna kill me.” She made a run for the door while calling back to you. “I’ll see you in the air ! And this conversation is not over !”

And as you laughed at her urgency and the screaming she’d probably get from Cyclone, you suddenly realised that everyone was following behind her. Not as panicked as her, but they all had their gear in hand and were heading to the briefing room.

Realizing that in your attempts at deflecting Natasha’s interrogation, you hadn’t prepared anything, you were now the one being late. Gathering everything as quickly as possible, you tried not to think about how you’d laughed at Natasha only seconds before only to end up in the same position as her. The gods didn’t listen to your desperate pleads about Jake but they sure as hell made sure you got your karma back.

Cursing, you tried to pick up everything and pile it up in your arms, your helmet bag, your g-suit, your harness… and you refrained from letting a scream of frustration when you saw your pair of gloves slide from the top of your helmet bag to fall pathetically in the ground.

“For fuck’s sake,” you whispered angrily, “this shit only ever happens when I’m late.” You hissed, trying to find a way to bend down without having to let go of everything you were holding.

Your helmet almost went crashing on the ground but you caught it at the last minute, you closed your eyes for a moment then, taking a deep breath to calm the sheer frustration bubbling in your throat.

“Yeah, that tends to happen unfortunately.”

Jake’s voice startled you out of your thoughts, opening your eyes you saw him standing only a meter away from you, holding your pair of gloves.

“Jesus Christ, Hangman ! You scared the shit out of me !”

“Hangman ? Have I already lost my first name privileges ?” He smirked, quickly eyeing you up and down.

Pausing for a moment, you didn’t even register his words, your attention focused on the fact that despite the little plan you had made up in your head, you still ended up alone with him.

“What ?” Was all you were able to get out as you felt your palms sweat where they were holding your g-suit and helmet bag.

Fuck, you couldn’t believe you had actually ended up in this situation. Had your prayers been heard by demons instead of the intended gods ?

“You were calling me ‘Jake’ just a few hours ago, what changed ?”

It was only when the initial shock and panic wore off a bit that you were able to truly register what he had said. The implication behind his words made heat rush to your face, and you internally cursed yourself for reacting in such an obvious way. You knew he would make references to Sunday night, he wouldn’t be Hangman if he didn’t, and it infuriated you to still feel your whole body and nervous system react even though you were prepared for his remarks.

“We have to go, we’re already late for briefing.” You simply said, hoping that the idea of being late, which Jake always referred to as ‘slacking off’, would deter him from teasing you.

“Oh please, ever since he started sleeping at Penny’s everyday, Maverick is always late. He still probably hasn’t left her place yet. I’d say we still have about,” he checked his watch before looking back up to you with a grin, “a good fifteen minutes, plenty of time to talk.”

Your breath caught on an inhale, eyes darting down on your helmet bag and catching on a loose string, anything to avoid looking in his emerald gaze, “what do you want to talk about ?” You asked slowly, knowing there was no way out of this conversation, but still trying to delay it as much as possible.

You wished you were able to understand what made you like that. It was like, with every breakthrough you had made with Jake, at the sex shop, and then on the phone, you eventually had to take three steps back, every time. Why were you putting up such a fight ?

Jake paused, looking at you with a raised brow.

“Really, Y/N ? I honestly can’t say I’m surprised, I was actually expecting it but still, I had some faith in you.”

A silence stretched out, not knowing what to respond, you simply continued to look at the unstitched string on your helmet bag. The whirlwind of emotion inside of you had touched down in your chest like a tornado and was rummaging through your entire body. Torn between keeping up with the denial facade, pushing him away with a harsh remark like you were so used to do, or face the truth that had been simmering for a long time, long before the sex shop, long before you allowed yourself to acknowledge this weird feeling you got whenever you looked at Jake. A feeling you had always classified as loathing, but the events of the last few days had totally turned your perspective upside down and you didn’t even know which way was up anymore. The only constant remained him.

“Just tell me one thing, do you regret it ?” Jake’s sudden serious tone made you look up to him.

His jade green eyes suddenly held a grave air to them as he looked at you. Before you could say anything, he added, “if you do, tell me, and I’ll never talk about this again. Promise.”

You didn’t like the look on his face. Didn’t like him saying that if you gave him the word, you’d both just pretend nothing ever happened. Didn’t like the way his eyes held uncertainty as they gazed at you, when only days ago they had been full of something fond you still couldn’t quite name.

Perhaps the desire of seeing that look again was what prompted you to speak up.

“No !” The volume of your voice startled the both of you, cringing you brought your voice down. “Sorry, I— No I don’t regret it.”

Relief washed over you when you noticed the grave look leave his face as he let out a chuckle at your reaction.

“Is there something you want to do about it ?”

Your heart leaped at the question.

“What do you mean ?”

“Do you want what happened this week end to change something between us, or would you like for this,” he gestured between the two of you, “to stay the way it’s always been.”

The care in his voice and the fact that he was voicing the concern, letting you choose, made your heart clench.

“What do you want ?” You asked, bracing for whatever his answer would be.

“Doesn’t matter what I want.” He lightly smiled at you.

You frowned, of all the responses you had anticipated, this for sure wasn’t one of them, “the hell does that mean ? Yes it does matter.”

A flash of something you couldn’t decipher passed in his emerald irises, and your heart skipped a beat when he took one slow step towards you.

“Alright, You really wanna know ?”

Throat too tied up to speak, you simply nodded, body buzzing with anticipation at his next words.

“There is nothing I want more right now than to ditch the morning flight to bring you back to my place and make love to you like I have been fucking dreaming of for months.”

You could only imagine the look on your face, perhaps Jake would have laughed at it if he wasn’t so busy pouring out his undying and uncontrollable desire for you. Your brain was stuck on a specific way he expressed himself, ‘make love’. You only had ever heard guys talk about ‘fucking’, which was usually followed by descriptions of what they wanted to do to a girl and it has always repulsed you. You guessed you could qualify your rare hook ups as ‘fucks’, very, very lame fucks. But Jake, he had said ‘make love’. Like he’d take his time, discover every single inch of your body, take care of you like you had silently been pleading for so long… ‘make love’. It was rising your body temperature to levels you hadn’t thought possible. Eyes trained on him, he looked ethereal. The white, clinical light of the locker room you absolutely despised and made sure every one knew it whenever you could complain about it, was somehow drawing a halo around him as he was standing directly under it. You didn’t know anyone could look this good under this shitty excuse of a light. And suddenly you got hit with a dizzying realisation.

You had always beheld much disdain for all the women fawning over Jake, even more when they had the audacity to compare him with a Greek god. But right now, in this light, you wondered how you could have ever seen a devil sent to lure in him. Jake looked ready to worship the very ground you stood on, even if that ground was the dirty floor of the locker room on a Monday morning.

“For months, God maybe even longer than that, I have been fantasying about what you’d sound like, look like, taste like,” he inhaled sharply, “yesterday I got a glimpse of all of it, and it wasn’t enough. Truly I don’t think anything will ever be enough when it comes to you, but I— I want you. All of you, in every and any way you’ll let me.”

Knees almost buckling with the tsunami of desire and overwhelming feeling that crashed into you, you did your best to show nothing of it, only taking a shaky breath. His words felt like everything you had been dying to hear from him.

“Now question is, what do you want ?” He asked, eyes boring into yours, caging you in this moment, needing your response like a breath of oxygen after being stuck under water for a too long.

Looking at him, words were stuck in your throat and a whirlwind of emotion passed through you at being unable to express yourself. Why was it that it was so hard for you to simply say your feelings out loud ? What was stopping you ? What was this vice wrapped around your heart, extending out its vines to squeeze around your throat ? Why was it only when your mind was drowning into the waves of pleasure that you were finally able to let the words pour out of your mouth ? Why were you like this ?

Facing your silence, Jake stood before you, waiting, and for a moment you were terrified that he would leave, tired of seeing you unable to just get over your silly inhibitions and that you would be incapable of even telling him not to go.

But Jake did none of that. Instead, he took one more step towards you.

“Y/N,” he began, voice gentle but somehow laced with a firm tone, like he wanted his next words to imprint into your mind, “I know I have already told you this, but I feel like this is something you can’t hear enough.” Gently, he took your g-suit from your arms, “Pleasure is not a shame, wanting to feel pleasure is not shameful, in any way.” He lifted your harness and lightly threw it right above his own on his shoulder, “It’s human, it’s normal to feel that way. Normal to feel desire for someone, it’s not shameful if you want someone.”

He paused and took your helmet bag, leaving your arms empty.

“It’s not shameful if you want me.”

And suddenly, It was like the world shifted on its axis. With every word he had said, it was like he’d given you a breath of fresh air from the box you caged yourself in. And with every gear he had taken from you, it was like he had freed you from every burden, every inhibition, every fear you ever had.

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding.

“I—“

Jake’s eyes filled with hope as he looked expectantly at you.

“I want everything you said, Jake. I want— I want you. All of you.”

It felt like the world had been lifted of your shoulders, your heart was beating frenetically against your rib cage but it didn’t hurt like before. It felt new, exciting, good.

Jake broke out into the most genuine small you had ever been given to see, small crinkles forming around his emerald eyes.

“Yeah ?” He asked, breathless.

“Yeah, sorry it took me so long.”

He let out a chuckle that sounded just a tiny bit choked up.

“It’s okay, baby. We’re here now.”

Trying not to swoon over the nickname, and how different it was hearing it on the phone and having him say it to your face, you offered him a small smile.

“Alright, so” you cleared your throat, “where do we go from here ?”

Jake looked at you, genuine smile morphing into a mischievous one. He was still holding all of his gears in addition to yours and you thought funny how on you it looked like you were about to fall from holding everything but he looked steady. Like the combination of both your equipments was as light as a feather for him.

He took another step towards you, crowding your space in the best way possible, bending down lightly, his voice came out as a low whisper.

“Well, first, how about we—“

“Hey what the fuck are you guys— Wow.” Bradley’s voice came booming and then abruptly stopped.

He stood there, eyes bulging out of their sockets, jaw hanging open as he looked at Jake and you being so impossibly close.

His eyes comically went from you to Jake. And then to you again. His mouth opened, then closed, looking like a fish out of water.

Jake just straightened back up, a smirk pulling at his rosy lips.

“Are you alright, Bradshaw ?”

Bradley turned to you once again and noticed your crimson cheeks and how you had took a step back from Jake. He broke out in a small laugh, passing a hand through his hair.

“Well I guess it was only a matter of time. Alright you two will get a room later, get your asses back there, we’ve been waiting on you, and Mav is not happy.”

Jake and Bradley shared a laugh, while you looked at your mustached friend, deeply confused.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘it was only a matter of time’ ??”

Bradley stared at you with a raised brow, a grin dancing on his lips.

“Come on, Y/N. Everyone knew you’d jump his bones eventually, we just didn’t know when.”

Had everyone been aware of your feelings this whole time, while you were completely unable to acknowledge them, not even daring to admit it in thoughts ?

But today marked the start of a new era you thought, and it felt great.

“So yeah congratulations and all that, now fucking hurry up lovebirds or Mav will have us run laps.” Bradley declared, clapping in his hands twice before disappearing out the door.

Jake looked back at you, and bent down to leave a sweet kiss on your cheek. You felt your whole body ignite at the feeling of his lightly wet lips — from him licking them only seconds prior — settling briefly and gently on your cheek. You found yourself disappointed when his mouth left your skin, craving more of him. But he didn’t pull back immediately, he stopped right at your ear where you could his hot breath fanning over you.

“Let’s get today over with, and tonight ? I’ll get you home and eat your pussy like I’ve been fucking dying to. And after that I’ll have you crying on my cock, how does that sound, sweet girl ?”

You let out an involuntary whimper, not ready for the contrast between the gentle kiss on your cheek and the dirtiness of his words. But what sweet words they were though. Jake pulled back, searching your eyes and smiled even wider when he saw your expression. Half lidded eyes which conveyed a far away look, pupils dilated, mouth slightly open.

“What do you say, mmh ?” He prompted again.

“Yes, I’d like that very much.” You agreed, voice breathless, and already wondering how the hell were you supposed to hold out for ten hours.

Jake seemed just fine as he straightened up, “alright, let’s go then.”

And with that he started to walk towards the briefing room, still carrying all your gear.

The day had been close to what you imagined hell was like. It turned out that piloting a Super Hornet was not as easy when anticipation and permanent arousal was sizzling under your skin. Thankfully, you made it back in the ground alive. But Jake ? He had no intention of making this easy for you.

He kept whispering teasing words to you in passing.

“You did good up there, sweetheart. It was hot hearing you command me like that,” when you got out of your jet after the morning flight where Jake had acted as your wingman.

“Fuck, you smell good.” A groan when you passed him on your way to your debrief with Maverick. You hadn’t even found the words to tell him you probably stank after all the G’s you had pulled in the air.

At lunch, he sat across from you as Bradley threw you a knowing and amused glance.

You thought that maybe, considering the fact that you were surrounded by the squad, Jake wouldn’t dare to do anything. But now you realized that was pretty stupid of you to think.

Talking to Natasha who was seating on your right, you felt Jake’s foot nudge yours under the table. You only spared him a glance, thinking it might had been an accident. Returning to your conversation with Nat, you almost choked on your bite of broccoli when you felt his foot oh so slowly go up your calf.

“You good ?” Natasha asked you, lightly clapping on your back.

Coughing behind your fist, you prayed to God, though at this point you thought he wasn’t really on your team, that you could pretend the redness on your cheeks came from almost choking to death.

“Yeah, yeah I’m good.”

After making sure you were indeed alright, Natasha continued to go on about how disappointing dating apps were, but your mind had already gone to the moment where you’d finally be alone with Jake again. His foot was still rubbing your leg under the table, going just a tiny bit higher everytime. You had to fight back any embarrassing sounds when his boot reached the top of your knee, brushing your thigh.

The worst part ?

When your eyes quickly flashed towards him, he looked absolutely unaffected, talking to Javy as though he wasn’t subjecting you to sexual torture right under the table.

You didn’t think that during all your time spent on planet Earth, you had ever been so turned on. You thought that being on the phone yesterday would be the sexual highlight of your life, a pinnacle you resigned yourself to never feel again. But you were apparently reaching new heights, and you were counting down the minutes, hell even the seconds until you could finally go home, and let Jake take care of your body and mind like you had silently, and unknowingly been begging for.

Reviewing your flight routes and preparing a simulation for the next morning was impossible. Everyone was spread out in the mission planning room, focused on their own monitor, but your mind was plagued with Jake. Bouncing your knee up and down, you willed yourself to focus. But it was hard when Jake was only two monitors away from you and kept sparing heated glances at you, a small smirk always dancing on his lips like he was revealing in the effect he was having on you.

The squad kept quietly working all the while you were slowly losing your mind. You had managed to draw out a flight route for your sim, though it was half assed and you were sure to get a remark from Maverick, but it was the last of your problems at the moment.

You looked at the clock displayed on your monitor, four fifty seven.

Oh my god.

Mindlessly moving your mouse around and pretending to work, your knee continued to bounce rather loudly in the quiet room. You turned to discreetly look at Jake, only to discover he was already looking at you. He threw you a wink that sent your entire nervous system reeling as you desperately tried to hold back a sound.

Four fifty nine.

You took a deep breath, eyes locked on the clock.

Four fifty nine.

Four fifty nine..

Four fifty nine…

Five !

You got up abruptly, chair scraping on the floor and startling everyone.

“Jesus Christ, Lightning !” Mickey exclaimed, “what’s happening, you have a flight to catch ?” He joked when you made your way to the door to leave.

“I have things to do !” You exclaimed, throwing what you hoped was a pointed and discreet look at Jake, which he bit his lower lip at.

Everyone seemed confused by your behavior, even more so when Jake got up as well, waving everyone off.

Bradley let out a chuckle, “be safe kids !” he called out after him, which only got him a raised middle finger from Jake.

But you heard none of the banter, your ears only picking up the sound of Jake’s heavy boots following behind you in the hallway. Walking comically fast, you burst through the door of the locker room, Jake opening it only seconds after you.

“Are you alright, sweetheart ? Fanboy was right, you do seem to be in a bit of a hurry.” He gave you a false confused look.

The arousal pumping in your veins seemed to give you a surge of courage as you stepped closer to him, almost coming chest to chest with him. You had to tilt your head up to look at him.

“Kiss me,” you breathed out, entire body burning at the idea of finally feeling his lips on yours after only ever imagining the sensation for so long.

“No.”

“Wait, what ?”

“There is absolutely no way our first kiss is happening in this disgusting locker room that smells like Bradshaw’s awful Axe deodorant.”

You let out a chuckle, Jake smiled down fondly at you as he bent down to leave a kiss on your jaw, just beneath your ear. His lips lingered there, and you felt the tip of his tongue lightly brush your skin. Your knees almost buckled, the sensation of it all almost felt overwhelming after a grueling day of anticipation. Your hand shot out to grip his arm as you let out a little pleasured sigh.

When Jake pulled back, his eyes were half lidded and glazed over, a look that made your core physically throb.

“Your place or mine ?” He questioned.

“My place,” you immediately said, feeling like you’d be more comfortable in your own home for this very special moment.

He nodded.

“Get your stuff, baby.”

You both got your bags from your lockers. Jake immediately took your hand in his and you walked down the long hallways on base to make it out in record time.

You both quickly passed your car on the parking lot to get to Jake’s truck, he opened the door for you and somehow this awfully gentlemanly behavior sent more heat down your core. You were so doomed. You grabbed your seatbelt with slightly shaky hands from sheer desire as Jake was settling in the driver’s seat. He spared you a glance, his pupils dilated so much it was almost hiding the beautiful green of his eyes. Jake gently grabbed your wrist and brought it to his lips, leaving a heated kiss right on top of your pulse.

“Jake…” your voice came out in breathless exhale, almost turning into a moan.

But Jake didn’t stop at one kiss. His lips kept moving all around the inside of your wrist, and this rather innocent touch made you squeeze your thighs in a desperate attempt to relieve the unbearable tension between your legs. He made a sound in the back of his throat resembling a groan.

“Fuck, Y/N…” he heaved, sniffing lightly the inside of your wrist. “Okay, we really need to go, otherwise I’m taking you in the backseat.”

You only nodded, not trusting anything that could come out of your mouth right now to be anything other than an embarrassing moan. Starting the car, Jake made his way out of the parking lot and started driving towards your apartment. When he merged onto the freeway, one of his hand left the wheel to rest on your thigh, and you almost jolted at the unexpected contact. His thumb was lovingly rubbing your clothed skin as he squeezed your thigh every once in a while. You were avoiding to look at him at all costs, staring out of the window and praying for this ride to go by fast so that he could properly put his hands on you. When Jake parked in your building parking lot, you both almost ran out of the car, not even bothering to get your stuff out. The elevator ride up to your floor was torture, and thank god it was empty. Jake was heavy breathing behind you, his hands on your shoulders, desperate to have some sort of physical contact with you. And you were not doing much better.

Opening your door proved to be a challenge, your hands were shaking as you tried to put the key inside the keyhole.

“Sorry, I— oh shit—“ you mumbled when the keys fell from your hand to clatter on the floor with a sharp noise.

“It’s okay.” Jake’s familiar reassuring voice hit your ears, but it was laced with lust, “you nervous, baby ?”

“A little.” You whispered truthfully as you bent down to get your keys.

Right as you bent down, your ass bumped into Jake as he was standing impossibly close to you. You were about to apologize, when you felt something hard against your backside that immediately made you straightened back up and turn around to face him. He let out a small chuckle at the expression on your face.

“Surprised ?” He asked, voice having dropped an octave since he last spoke.

You just looked at him, unable to say anything even if you wanted to. His face was only centimeters away from yours, the height difference had him slightly look down at you. His gaze felt like a burning touch, pupils so dilated you could barely see the beautiful emerald of his eyes. Gently, and without ever breaking eye contact, he took the keys from your hand, his arm went behind you and fumbled with the door for a second before opening it.

The sound of the door opening sounded like freeing bells. With, somehow, a controlled hurriedness, Jake put his hands on your hips to push you inside, and slammed the door shut behind him with his foot. After that, it all happened so fast it almost made you dizzy.

Still holding your hips to maneuver you, he — with a gentleness and a carefulness that alone made you throb — spun you around to pin you against the door, watching out for your head. And before you could even think about saying anything, or uttering a sound that would had probably been one of pure delight—

Jake’s lips collided with yours. A surprised noise left you before it turned into a moan.

His lips moved against yours with an hunger that made your stomach churn in the best way possible. He faintly tasted like those sour candies he sometimes bought from the ready room dispenser machine, and something so undeniably him that you wouldn’t be able to describe even with all the words and the will in the world. You never knew kissing could feel this good. He felt perfect.

His hands gripped your hips a bit tighter as he let out a low moan into your mouth, having you immediately moan in return. starting to feel a bit dizzy from the whirlwind of sensation running in your veins, you reluctantly broke the kiss to breathe.

Jake’s eyes were trained on your lips as he licked his own, like was trying to catch every little taste of you. If you had been throbbing all day, you could practically feel yourself leaking into your panties now. You wanted him, needed him to touch you. And just as you were about to voice that burning need, Jake reclaimed your lips. His tongue lightly brushed your bottom one, and your heart raced when you understood what he was silently asking, you opened your mouth a bit more to let him in. His tongue was almost shy at first as it brushed yours, but he quickly became eager and started licking into your mouth, tangling his tongue with yours, almost desperate to not let a drop of your taste go to waste.

Your hands, which had been helplessly and awkwardly staying still on each side of your body, suddenly had the urge to grip him. Tentatively, you slid your hands on his hips, giving them a gentle, experimental squeeze. The groan Jake let out into your mouth reverberated in your entire body. Feeling empowered by his reaction, with a bit more force, you made his hips buck up into yours, the weight of his cock standing at full attention in his flight suit met your burning, aching core through the fabric of yours. The friction felt delicious.

“Fuck, baby,” Jake moaned, pulling away from the kiss, a thin string of spit connecting your mouths “Where is your room ?”

You whined as he broke the kiss, trying to chase his lips, his question having not even registered in your mind as you were trying to grind against him and feel fore of his cock on you. Jake let out a husky chuckle, cupping your face so you’d look him in the eyes.

“Sweet girl, where is your room ?”

The nickname brought you right back, and the implication of his words and what was to come almost had your knees bucking.

“It’s—“ you inhaled sharply, finding yourself comically out of breath, “Down the hall on the— the left.”

Your hands were still gripping his hips, his lustful emerald eyes looking down at you and the small, pleased smile dancing on his swollen lips from your kisses were not helping the situation. Moving away from where your back was up against the wall, Jake began to walk you backwards towards your room, lips claiming yours again, like he couldn’t bear to to not taste you for too long. But the tension in your core was radiating in your entire body, and your legs were genuinely starting to get weak, so much so that while Jake was backing you up, you almost tripped on your own feet, but he immediately caught you.

“Aww, you weak in the knees, sweetheart ?” He asked in a cooing, husky voice. His accent had gotten thicker.

Unable to maintain his gaze any longer, you buried your head in his neck, letting out a pathetic little whimper.

“It’s alright, baby, ‘m gonna take such good care of you.”

Suddenly you felt his hands travel to the back of your thighs, and without any warning, you found yourself up in the air. Instinctively wrapping your legs around his waist, you pulled back from his neck to look at him, absolutely stunned from the way he seemed to be holding you up so effortlessly.

Jake let out a husky chuckle at the look on your face and his hands — which had traveled from the back of your thighs to your ass — gave your plump flesh an affectionate squeeze.

“Jake. My room. Right now.” You urged, feeling like your body would catch fire any second now.

“It’s so hot having you command me like that,” he rasped, half lidded eyes fixed on you as he began walking with ease, despite holding you, towards your room.

No longer able to hold back in front of his unfair and frankly erotic display of strength, you buried your head in his neck once again, inhaling his scent, he smelled like jet fuel, the dirty fabric of his flight suit and sweat, and yet you didn’t think you had ever smelled anything better. Your tongue poked out on its own, licking the side of his neck up to his jaw, which made Jake inhale sharply.

Finally he pushed the door of your room open, and with a gentleness you didn’t think was possible he set you up on the bed, while his eyes quickly took in your room. And you physically saw his green irises darken.

“So that’s where you touched yourself to the sound of my voice, hmm ?” He questioned, teasing and smug while his mouth went straight for your neck, nibbling on the sensitive flesh there. “Begged me to talk you through it, rubbed your little clit like a good girl and soaked your sheets while I told you how I fuck my fist to the thought of eating you out ?”

His hands had also started to wander, feeling your waits through your flight suit, cupping and squeezing your breast through the thick fabric while you could only moan helplessly.

“Jake, please, take my suit off.”

“Patience, sweet girl. I thought we had already established that your problem was that you didn’t take your time. Always rushing into things…” he tsked into your neck, “but I’m gonna take my time with you. I’ve been waiting for this moment too damn long to rush anything.”

He pulled out to look at you, smiling and biting his bottom lip at the look on your face. Red in the face, lips still slightly swollen and glossy from your earlier make out session, chest rising fast with the rhythm of your frenetic breathing, pupils completely drowning out your irises as you looked at him like a woman dying of thirst in the desert would look at an oasis.

“Should I tell you what I have in mind for you ?”

You nodded vigorously.

“First I’m going to kiss all over your gorgeous fucking body, I can’t fucking wait to see you bare and get my mouth on your tits.” His hands illustrated his words by giving a squeeze to your chest that you felt travel down all the way to your clit, which was painfully swollen in the confines of your panties.

“Then,” he continued, “I’m going to eat you out, baby, bury my tongue in your pussy and you’re gonna feel so, so good. I’ll make you cum once or twice, haven’t really made up my mind yet.”

Absorbed by the imagery he was painting you, you tried to squeeze your legs together but you only squeezed Jake who was between them, and he hummed, seemingly satisfied with the effect he was having on you.

“And after that, how about you ride me, pretty girl, hmm ? Bounce on my cock, you choose the pace, you choose everything… you can even grind your pretty little clit on me….” He almost moaned at his own description. “What do you say ?”

The way he checked for your approval had you almost as weak as his words.

“Yes yes, just do it, please, Jake.” Your inhibitions were completely gone, the only thing on your mind being him, and the promise of everything he was about to do to you.

He completely laid you down on the bed, climbing over you between your legs, his nose tracing into your neck, taking the time to take your smell in.

“You are so eager, baby, I fucking love it.” he whispered, sending chills in your entire body and making you squeeze your thighs around him.

Jake let his lips wander around your neck, mouthing and nibbling on the sensitive flesh, tongue darting out to lick at certain areas. One of your hand shot out to bury itself in his hair, mindlessly tugging on it.

“Ngh— Ah, Jake…” you let out a breathy moan.

He groaned in delight, “yeah keep tugging on my hair, darlin’.”

Jake continued his exploration of your neck while his hands were squeezing your waits through your fluid suit. He took the lobe of your ear in his mouth and sucked on it lightly.

“Fuck…” you whined, eyes closed in pure bliss, while you had started to grind lightly into Jake, desperate to get just a tiny bit of relief.

“So sensitive.” He marveled and you could feel his smirk on your skin.

When his kisses met the top of your flight suit, he finally began to unzip it, and your heart got wild at the sound of the zipper being tugged down. Carefully, he took it off you and was met with your white t-shirt and leggings. He playfully raised a brow at you.

“I can understand the t-shirt, but leggings ? How are you not burning alive, aren’t you hot with all this ?” He inquired.

You shrugged, finding it hard to explain yourself when you were in fact burning alive, but because of his gaze and touch, not your flight suit. “I don’t like the feeling of the suit rubbing on my skin.”

He hummed, “of course you don’t, with such a sensitive skin…” he played with the hem of your t-shirt, “can I, darlin’ ?”

“Yes please.”

Jake took off your t-shirt off with a smile, smiling even bigger at the sight of your flushed chest and breasts squeezed into your sports bra. He could see the faint outline of your nipples where they had already began to pebble. His thumbs lightly traced around them, the light touch already had your back arching. With your approval, he took off your bra, and he let out a moan at finally seeing your breasts bare.

“Sweetheart, you are gorgeous.” He almost whimpered, eyes raking over the swell of your tits hungrily.

His hands cupped them, squeezed, massaged, not letting an inch of your boobs go unattended. Your hips were bucking up into his as you began to cry out.

“That feels— so good.” You whined, pushing out your chest onto him.

His hands on your chest combined with the feeling of your cunt rubbing against his cock was making you delirious. The barrier between his core and yours was getting thinner and thinner and it was sending you crazy.

“Yeah I can see that.” He smirked huskily as his fingers began targeting your hard nipples.

His thumbs swirled them as his hips started to meet your movements, grinding himself into your clothed pussy.

“Jake, you feel so good— ah fuck !” You got interrupted by the feeling of his hot, wet mouth around one of your nipples.

He hummed around it, sending vibrations throughout your entire body. Your other nipple was swelling under the attention of his hand, it felt divine. His mouth was sucking on your nipple, tongue swirling around it, teeth grazing it just lightly.

He let go of it with a loud pop, staring at his spit coating your red and swollen bud, he let his thumb brush over it.

“So pretty…”

He gave the same treatment to your other nipple. Jake would have been fine staying hours worshipping your breasts, but eventually you cupped his face, forcing him to look at you. The wetness pooling in your panties was beginning to feel uncomfortable.

“Jake,” you hesitated for a moment, not even believing the words that were about to come out of your mouth, but his adoration of you and you body was fueling your new found confidence, “eat me out— please.”

“Loot at you, asking for what you want, ‘m proud of you,” he praised, giving a lick to your nipple, “I will, baby, I will. Just give me a second to appreciate you, yeah ?”

Jake trailed kisses in the valley between your breasts, tongue darting out to taste your skin every now and then, and when his lips met the top of your legging, he, oh so slowly, took them off you. Your thighs fell open on their own.

“Baby, you are fucking leaking.” He rasped, eyes marveling at seeing how your grey underwear was soaked through, taking on a darker shade and clinging to your hot and slippery core.

“Yeah well, what were you expecting ?” You tried to scowl, heat rising to your cheeks out of embarrassment at his remark.

He didn’t dignify your brattiness with a response, only taking on a cooing voice to ask you, “could you back up a bit for me, sweetheart ?” You nodded, letting him get completely on the bed with you, “that’s it, get comfortable.”

Jake’s eyes returned to your clothed pussy, gaze laced with an hunger that felt too much to handle. His face got closer to you then, and you couldn’t contain the shaky breath that left you. Much to your surprise, Jake didn’t take off your panties, but his nose met your clit through the wet fabric as he took a sharp inhale. The contact sent a surge of electricity through you.

“Jake what are you— Ah !”

Your question ended in a moan when Jake’s tongue darted out to lick you over the fabric, gathering some of the wetness that was desperately leaking through, an irrefutable proof of the lust you felt for him. Before closing in bliss, your eyes caught Jake’s one almost rolling to the back of his head, from the mere taste of you on your panties.

“Taste better than I imagined,” he moaned into your panties, continuing to lick the fabric, letting his spit mix with your slick.

One thing you had noticed about Jake was that he was vocal, more than anyone you had been with. Vocal in his words, the way he talked to you, the way he expressed his pleasure… he wasn’t shy, wasn’t embarrassed about letting you know how good you looked, how good you felt. Wasn’t embarrassed about his pleasure being loud. And god did you love it.

At the feeling of him sliding your panties off, your eyes snapped open again, meeting his.

“Is this okay ?” He asked, a gentleness mixing with the huskiness in his voice that made your heart clench.

“Yes, thank you.” You smiled, gratitude taking over you at him being so careful, so respectful with you.

He returned your smile, leaving a kiss on your inner thigh and nosing at it, “no need to thank me, sweetheart.”

You grabbed at his flight suit, tugging him so he would come back up to you, he let himself get tugged while raising an inquiring brow, but his questioning expression quickly morphed into a melting one when you placed a tender kiss on his cheek, hoping the touch would convey every bit of the whirlwind of feelings taking your body hostage. You let your lips linger on his skin, and you heard him hum in delight. Cupping his cheek, you let your thumb rub his cheekbone adoringly. When you pulled away, you found nothing short of fondness and pure adoration in his eyes. Jake got close to you again, affectionately rubbing his nose with yours. In this moment, no words needed to be exchanged, only the quiet understanding of what this moment meant to you both.

Trailing kisses on his way down, he settled back between your thighs and finished taking off your panties, a string of your slick momentarily kept you connected to the fabric. Had Jake been any other man, you would have closed your legs, too embarrassed to have anyone that close to the most intimate part of you, but it was Jake. Jake who made it clear how much he wanted you, how he thought you were beautiful, Jake, who had promised to worship every inch of your body if you’d let him. So you kept your thighs open wide, baring yourself completely to him.

Jake fell silent as he took in your naked, weeping core for the first time, and you swore you could physically see his pupils dilate even more, if it was still possible at this point.

“You’re beautiful, Y/N.” He finally said, after a few seconds of contemplation.

“Thank you…” you mumbled out, feeling dizzy under the weight of his heavy stare.

“You’re so sweet, baby.”

His hands came up to your pussy and your whole body clenched in anticipation of his touch, but it never really came. Instead, he used his thumbs to open you up, getting a better look of your glistening pussy that was burning alive for him. Stretching out your outer lips, his gaze lingered on your hole, and all this attention involuntarily made you clench, the movement of the muscles getting out another string of slick. Jake let out an appreciative hum.

“Oh yeah, I can’t wait to feel that around my cock.”

Whining, You tried to close your legs, if only to get the tiniest bit of friction but he kept them open.

“Shh, shh baby it’s alright, be patient. I’ll take care of you in a sec.”

He returned to his investigation, this time moving up to your clit. Very gently, he pulled your hood back with careful fingers, looking at the swollen, red bud that was begging for his attention.

And just as you were about to cry out, maybe even beg him to do something, anything, because the tension in your core was becoming unbearable and truly uncomfortable, you saw a string of spit left his mouth and slowly land on your clit, and you physically felt the little sensitive flesh twitch. Your eyes left his face to take a peek at the obscene visual your pussy was showing. Jake’s spit had began sliding down your folds, mixing with your arousal, cascading slowly towards your clenching hole.

Your hips bucked involuntarily towards his face, this whole situation felt too much to handle “fuck, I’m sorry I’m just— oh my god !” Your apology morphed into a surprised moan when you felt Jake’s tongue lick a long stripe from your hole to the very top of your clit.

It was unlike anything you had felt before, Jake’s mouth felt wet and hot on your already burning core. It was slippery, sticky, messy… but perfect. He kept going like that a few times, tongue flattened, licking long stripes, covering every inch of your cunt, from the base to the top.

“How does that feel, baby ? You like that ?” He asked, smug smirk firmly in place while he looked up to you.

“Feels— so so good, Jake, fuck, can— can you keep going please ?” You asked breathless, already desperate to feel him on you again.

“‘Course, sweet girl,” the pet name alone made you moan, which Jake chuckled at, “can’t believe no one has eaten this sweet pussy out before.” He mumbled to himself, before going back to work.

Next thing you felt was his lips wrapping around your clit, trapping the sensitive bundle of nerves in his mouth and sucking on it, sending white, sharp surges of pleasure through your body. Needing to grab onto something, your hands were frantically fisting at your bed sheets. Jake then let his tongue circle your clit, which had your back arching, and he didn’t even let you get accustomed to the feeling before he immediately changed the stimulation by gently flicking the sensitive flesh. The room was quickly filling up with the sounds of your choked up moans and whimpers, you couldn’t find it in you to care anymore at that point, the only thing on your mind being Jake between your legs, making you see stars. Your cries were joined by the obscene sound of Jake’s mouth meeting your cunt. The wet and slurping noises should have embarrassed you, disgusted you even, but it only fueled the fire in your stomach, heightening the pleasure already burning in your veins. Your knuckles were turning white from how hard you were clenching the sheets.

Gently, and without ever interrupting the filthy attention he was giving your clit, one of Jake’s hand came up to yours, covering it entirely. The touch took a few seconds to register in your mind and when it did, you let go of the fabric to hold his hand. But the intertwining of your fingers that you were expecting never came, instead, Jake guided your hand down on the top of his head, making you grab a handful of his golden hair.

“Hold on to me, sweetheart,” he spoke against your folds, emerald eyes flicking up to you, “that’s what I’m here for.”

Shivering at the sensation of his voice against you, you tried to reason, “but I grip really hard, I don’t want to hurt you.” You explained, voice strained and out of breath from all your moaning, but sincere.

“You won’t, baby, I can take it. And even if you do hurt me, don’t worry, I promise I’ll like it.”

Experimenting, you slightly tugged his hair and The sound he let out went straight to your clit.

After letting out an involuntary pathetic whimper, you conceded, “okay, I’ll hold on to you.”

Jake gave your clit an appreciative kiss, “what a sweet little thing you are, baby.”

His words seeped into your mind, adding a soothing warmth on top of the burning sensation running under your skin as Jake went back to his administrations.

Licking up every drop of the arousal that was profusely leaking out of you, he was letting out humming noises, as if your essence was the best thing that he’d been given to taste. The vibrations were deliciously reverberating against your core, sending you to new highs and causing you to tug on his hair, hard. Perhaps harder than what he had imagined. But the apologies you had loaded and ready on the top of your tongue died when he let out a moan that was unmistakably one of pleasure, not at all pain. And seeing him get pleasure out of this only heightened yours.

His hands were maintaining your thighs open this whole time when you were desperately trying to close them, and it got worse when his tongue left your swollen clit to trail down and meet your aching hole. Jake only teased your entrance, slurping more of the sweet nectar dripping out of you.

“You taste so fucking sweet, baby.”

“You— oh god ! You feel so good,” you cried out, head thrown back in pleasure while you had unknowingly and instinctively started to rock back against his face.

Jake’s tongue circled your entrance once more before dipping in slightly, licking the inside of your walls with a ferver that had your back arching, more so when his nose started bucking against your clit. You were babbling, saying anything and everything that came to your mind, mainly praises about how good he was to you while he hummed appreciatively against you. You almost screamed when his mouth returned to your clit, sucking on it, letting his teeth slightly graze it. You didn’t think it was possible for you to feel anymore pleasure than the one locking your whole body up at the moment, but then Jake’s hands, which had been comfortably settled on your thighs, squeezing them, went up your body, gave your waist an affectionate squeeze and continued their way up to reach your breasts. His warm palms cupped your boobs and his fingers toyed with your nipples, which were still tender from his earlier administrations.

The added stimulation forced a guttural moan out of your throat, a noise you probably would have cringed at if your brain wasn’t so clearly seeping out through your core and straight into Jake’s relentless mouth.

The string was beginning to coil tighter and tighter in your stomach, one of your hand was still gripping into his hair for dear life while the other was on top of one of his that was squeezing your breast.

“Jake, Jake Jake—“

“Yeah, baby ? You getting close ?” He cooed, lips brushing your clit with every word.

“Yes— Oh fuck,” you moaned, back arching, “you’re so good, Jake, keep going please, don’t stop, don’t stop, don’t stop—“ you pleaded, delirious with the feeling of your impending orgasm.

“‘M not, sweetheart, promise. Just relax for me.”

His tongue never stopped, neither did his fingers — twisting, rubbing, pinching your nipples. Your whole body started to lock up in anticipation of your release, thighs tensing and desperately trying to close around Jake’s head, breathing erratic… you were on the precipice, so so close… The string was coiled so tight in your lower stomach it was almost starting to hurt.

“Baby, just let go for me, you’re doing so good.” Jake whispered against your slippery folds, sensing your internal panic. “Relax and let it come to you, you’ve been such a good girl,” His hands adoringly cupped your breasts, letting go of the rough treatment on your nipples for a moment.

And before he could even return to sucking on your clit, his words had already pushed you over the edge. White, hot pleasure crashed into your body, making you arch your back so hard you’d probably still feel it tomorrow. Moans and cries got stuck in your throat, mouth silently hanging open, eyes rolling back to the back of your head though you wished you had been able to keep them on Jake.

Jake, who was loudly moaning against you, continued to lick and mouth at you while your pussy was frenetically clenching, rewarding him with your cum. He was enthusiastically prolonging your orgasm, he was making waves after waves of pleasure continuing to pass through you and you swore it felt dizzying for two seconds.

“Thaaaat’s it, baby,” he coaxed, hands running all over your body, “fuck, you look so beautiful.”

When you found your voice again, it was barely whimpers which made it past the threshold of your mouth. After what felt like blissful forever, you slowly started to come back down, you opened your eyes again at the feeling of Jake leaving small kisses all over your trembling thighs. He caught your eyes and smiled.

“There you are, how do you feel ?”

“Good,” you slurred, “so good, like my brain is gone.”

“Perfect,” he chuckled, “that was the plan.”

He continued to pamper your thighs and lower body in kisses, contact that was only reinforcing the floaty state you were in. His hands left your chest to rub your stomach, your thighs, but when he affectionately squeezed the high side of your left thigh, you hissed.

Immediately, Jake looked alert.

“Did I hurt you ?”

“No it’s okay, it’s just a bruise.”

He moved a bit to get a look at the place he had touched and he grimaced when he saw the deep purple bruise stretching on your thigh and stopping just shy of your ass.

“That’s a nasty bruise, what the hell did you do ?”

“Do you promise not to laugh ?”

He quirked an eyebrow at that.

“Well I’m definitely intrigued now. I promise, baby.”

“On Wednesday, you know it was raining really hard and I had that solo training flight. And… When I got out of my jet I slipped right off the ladder. Literally smashed so hard on the concrete.”

You saw the end of Jake’s lips quirk up slightly, he was so evidently holding in a laugh.

“God,” he exhaled a faint chuckle passing through, “I wish i’d been there to see that.”

“You fucking jerk,” you snarled with a teasing grin, giving his hair a tug that was meant to be reprimanding but felt more affectionate than anything. “actually, you know what’s funny ? My first reflex after I fell was to check that you weren’t fucking lurking nearby to make fun of me.”

Jake couldn’t hold back anymore and burst out laughing.

“Damn, how much of an asshole do you think I am ?”

You only deadpanned at him, no words needed to be said.

“Yeah, okay but I would have helped you, not laughed at you.”

“Really, Jake ? Is that the first thing you would have done ? Run to help me in my distress ?”

He took a minute to jokingly think it over.

“Okay I definitely would have laughed first,” he conceded, “But,” he held up a finger to stop you from saying anything before he could finish, “then, like the true gentleman I am, I would have ran by your side, baby.”

He placed a tender kiss on the inside of your thighs while being careful to not touch your bruise anymore. And suddenly, you were reminded of the context, which the banter had quietly taken you out of. You were sprawled out in front of Jake in all your naked glory, thighs open wide and trembling around his head while he laid on your bed, the end of his legs dangling off it and still entirely clothed with his flight suit.

Feeling a bit of shyness come back running as well as the need for his touch, you squirmed a little.

“You— you would have ?” You asked, already having lost the course of the conversation.

“Mmmh, do you not believe me, sweet girl ?”

You gulped, “not really, no.”

“I wonder what I could do to fix that…” Jake placed a kiss on your pubis, just above your little patch of hair.

Inhaling sharply, you refrained your hips from bucking into his face, “you don’t have to, Jake, you already— you know, you already made me… cum.” You whispered that last word out.

He looked up to you then, and the look in his eyes almost made you shy away “don’t even think about that, I want to.” He assured you, “question is, do you want to as well ?”

Was there any universe where you would have said no to having Jake Seresin stay longer between your thighs ? No, you didn’t think so.

You nodded.

“Words, sweetheart.”

“Ugh, I hate you.”

“No you don’t. Come on, you were doing so good earlier, telling me what you wanted...”

The sheer idea of being good for him again gave you back some of the courage you needed.

“Please eat me out again.”

A huge grin stretched his lips, glossy from your arousal, “that’s my girl.”

And he didn’t waste a second, immediately diving back into your cunt, munching on your puffy lips. Sensitive from your first orgasm, the pleasure felt so much more intense. It took him no time to have you writhing and squirming again as he focused all his attention on your swollen clit. Your moans were echoing off the walls of your room and you were so loud you were sure to receive some mean looks from your neighbors in the morning.

Silently, Jake’s hand gravitated towards your entrance, and the feeling of his fingertips on your hole startled you a little.

“Can I, sweetheart ? Need to get you ready for me.”

The prospect alone made you clench, “yes, yes, just— um, be gentle please ? It’s been a long time since, um,” you cleared your throat, “well, you know.”

“Of course, baby, I’ll be so gentle, don’t worry.”

His tongue returned to your sensitive bundle of nerves while his index finger circled your entrance, teasing you a bit before slowly inserting it. The stretch felt a bit uncomfortable at first, touching your own clit barely felt like anything so fingering yourself was always kind of out of the question for you, and it’d been a long time since your last miserable hook up. But the uncomfortable sensation quickly left place to pleasure as Jake gently curled his finger, and for a moment he only rubbed your inner walls, not even fully taking his finger out, only slowly dragging it along your walls. Somehow, how gentle he was with it all made it hotter for you.

“You’re so tight, sweetheart, just relax for me.”

You gasped when he gave your clit a particularly hard suck, “fuck— I’m trying, but you’re not exactly making it easy, ohmygod !”

His finger suddenly hit a spot that made you see stars and had your thighs trembling even more.

“Oh yeah, that’s the spot,” Jake spoke low in his throat, finger rubbing on the cluster of nerves.

Slowly, his middle finger joined his index, making come hither motions and hitting that sensitive spot every time.

“Jake, Jake yes right there, please— oh god that feels so good !” You cried out, pushing out your hips onto him, an unconscious attempt to feel more of his mouth on you.

Your walls were desperately fluttering around his fingers, a sign of your impending orgasm that you could feel building stronger than ever in your lower stomach. Hands feeling frantic again, you grabbed at Jake’s hair, arms, shoulders — any part of him that you could reach. It didn’t feel like enough, you needed more of him, the desire felt irrational, delirious and you must have looked crazy frenetically trying to hold onto him.

Wordlessly, since his mouth was occupied worshipping your twitching clit, his free hand gently took one of yours that was desperately grabbing at his shoulder, and he intertwined your fingers, thumb soothingly rubbing on your skin. The gentle touch amidst the hot and sharp pleasure was what you needed and your orgasm felt closer than ever.

“Can feel you clenching so hard, baby, you close, aren’t you ? Cum for me, sweet girl, make a mess, I’m right here.”

It seemed to be a pattern now, but his words immediately made the coil snapped as you came with a cry of his name, walls clenching so hard around his fingers it was almost impossible for him to keep fucking you through your orgasm. He made up for it by giving little licks to your overstimulated clit.

“Jake fuck !”

“Just like that, sweetheart, yeah must feel so good, huh ?” Jake coaxed, fingers inside still rubbing your inner walls.

The orgasm felt never ending, cunt frenetically pulsing and clit twitching under his tongue, the pleasure pulsing in your body felt like too much. And not long after, Jake’s mouth on your clit felt more uncomfortable than pleasurable and you gently tried to push his head off you with a whine, which he immediately did.

“Sorry, baby, you sensitive ?”

You nodded, not feeling like you could talk. Very slowly, Jake took his fingers out of you and immediately put them in his mouth, sucking them clean, not wasting a drop of your taste. And somehow, even though he just had been munching on you for the past twenty minutes, the visual made you blush. He took a look at your puffy pussy from his work and hummed low in his throat, seeming proud of his work. He soothingly rubbed his hands all over your body, being careful of avoiding where you were the most sensitive.

“You did so good, sweetheart, you were such a good girl for me.”

You let out an involuntary whimper at the praise and pulled him back up to you by the neck of his flight suit.

“That was so fucking good, Jake, I never— I never came like that.”

He smiled and leaned in to capture your lips in a sweet kiss, and you could taste yourself on his lips. It only sparked a new flame of desire inside of you. Sighing softly into his mouth you almost whined in protest when he pulled back. He was still entirely clothed in his flight suit and suddenly every repressed thoughts you had ever had about him came running back. The urge to act upon them pushed the words out of your mouth before you could stop them.

“Jake, could you lay down, please ?”

He seemed surprised, and intrigued, but definitely pleased, judging by the familiar smirk pulling at his pink and swollen lips.

“You wanna take care of me, baby ?” He cooed while doing what you asked.

“Yes,” you simply said in a breath, switching position with him.

Your honesty took him back for a second but he happily complied, and he began unzipping his flight suit but your hand shot out to stop him.

“No, let me.”

His breath hitched almost imperceptibly, but you noticed. You always did when it came to him.

Jake got comfortable against your pillows, opening his legs slightly so you could get between them, and you took a moment to admire him. He was completely laid out on your bed, jade eyes looking up at your naked form hovering over him.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve imagined this exact situation,” he confessed in a breath.

His endless praise and confessions of how long he’s wanted this were only fueling your confidence.

“I think I might…” you trailed off, eyes pointedly looking at the prominent bulge in his flight suit.

Leaning down, your mouth landed on his neck and the first thing you did was take a whiff of his scent, of him. And you only thought of yourself as disgusting for half a second for finding the smell of his sweat arousing. Breathing into his neck flipped a switch into your brain.

You trailed kisses all over the thin skin of his neck, and you licked a long stripe from the base of it up until his jawline, just beneath his ear. Jake let out a pleasured sigh, hands shooting out to grip your hips, desperate to feel you. Trailing your way down with kisses, you met the top of his flight suit and the sheer idea of taking it off him sent your heart reeling.

“Can I take it off ?”

“Hell yes, baby.”

You began unzipping it and helped him out of it, he was left only in a white t-shirt and his boxers. Without waiting a second, both your pair of hands made quick work of disregarding his top. The sight before you was nothing short of heavenly and you barely noticed the whimper that left your throat.

Splayed out on your bed sheets, Jake looked like every single repressed and unconscious fantasy you ever had. His cheeks were visibly getting redder under your scrutinizing gaze, it made his eyes stand out more as he looked up at you, anticipation burning in the two emeralds throning at the top of his face.

Your eyes hungrily followed the course of his deepening blush. His neck was beautifully blooming in a gentle pink, and you could see his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. The blush continued its way down, painting his collarbone and tanned chest. And God his chest. It looked firm and soft at the same time, his nipples were hard, and stupidly you didn’t think men’s nipples could do that but you suddenly got an urge to take them in your mouth.

Your eyes continued their way down, passing over the hair adorning his chest, his well defined abs, his happy trail disappearing beneath his boxers — taunting you. And finally, your gaze settled between his legs. His black boxers were very obviously strained with the weight of his erection, and you could even see a tiny dark patch of fabric where he’d been leaking precum. The entire sight of him was so erotic you practically could feel the blood drain from your brain to make a one way race over to your pulsing clit.

“Are you just gonna look at me all night ?” He prompted in a teasing tone laced with something strained.

“You’re so hot, Jake.”

You would have thought that someone like Jake would be used to this kind of praise, but the blush only darkened on his already tanned skin, and that turned you on more than you could have imagined. Leaning down, your mouth started licking at his collarbone, tasting his skin. And quickly you navigated towards his nipples, circling one with your tongue while you toyed with the other with your fingers, mirroring the sweet torture he had inflicted you only minutes prior.

“Oh fuck…” he let out a guttural groan mixed with a small chuckle, “not gonna lie, nipple play was not something I expected from you.”

“Me neither,” you admitted, lips brushing his bud with every word. “But your nipples are very pretty— I mean you’re very pretty— fuck I’m sorry I’m not good at this.”

“You’re all good, baby, don’t worry, you’re good.”

Giving one of his nipple a small lick of appreciation, his whole body shivered and you felt his cock twitch beneath you when you resumed your administrations.

“Y/N, please just touch my cock.”

“Patience, Jake, let me appreciate you.” You cooed with a smirk, mimicking the tone he’d used with you.

Jake let out a strained laugh, “asshole.”

Winking at him, you resumed your path down his body, licking his abs, nibbling on them, letting your teeth ever so slightly graze them… And every single one of Jake’s reaction, every low moan, groan, gasp, buck of his hips, every whine — because yes Jake Seresin was not a man who was afraid to whine — was driving you insane. Replacing every single rational thoughts in your mind by him, only and purely him.

Getting to the level of his Adonis belt, one thought got through the thick fog of want and desire clouding your mind.

“I’ve never— um,” and then you just stated rambling, “listen I know you ate me out and that felt so so good but I— fuck I never went down on a guy before and trust me I want to go down on you but, it’s just that I’m nervous I won’t do good and—“

“Hey, hey hey hey, baby, it’s alright, you’re good” he sat up a bit to face you, “no obligation at all, ‘m not expecting anything from you, okay ? We can stop right now.”

“No no, I don’t want to stop,” you expressed a bit too eagerly, “I— I want to jack you off, if that’s alright.”

Jake thought right there and then that your politeness in such a context would end up killing him.

“Yeah, that’s more than alright, sweetheart. Just do what you’re comfortable with, we can try other things next time.”

‘Next time’. The possibility made your head spin.

After locking your lips with his briefly in a grateful gesture, you started, with his help, to take off his boxer. His cock finally sprung free, and the sight was almost too much. You were wondering if perhaps your arousal hadn’t started to leak on your sheets by now.

He was big, but that was to be expected of Jake. He had veins running all along his shaft, leading to his tip which looked swollen and red and had precum profusely leaking from it. You never would have thought that you’d say that about a dick, but he looked pretty. Or perhaps it was the fact that it was Jake’s that made it look so appealing to you.

You were about to spit in your day to get it wet when you thought of a better idea. Locking eyes with Jake, your hand went between your legs, gathering some of the slickness glossing your folds. His eyes widened at the sight.

“Shit, Y/N…”

Your hand now wet with your arousal, you carefully wrapped it around Jake, who let out a hiss at the contact. Your hand went up and down his length, swirling slightly on his tip, gathering his precum and mixing it with your own juices.

Placing a hand on his chest — his skin felt burning under your palm — you gently pushed him back so he could lay on your pillows again. You were in no way near as talented as Jake was for dirty talk, but you were determined to make him know just how much he was turning you on. So you simply decided to let your mouth run free, translating out in the open every thought going through your mind.

“Your moans are so pretty,” you told him, hand still on his chest while the other was slowly stroking him up and down.

This only prompted him to let out a louder one, “fuck, sweetheart, you’re killing me….”

Your thumb gently wipes his slit and he bucked up in your hand, “does that feel good ?”

“Yes— Hmm shit, yes, you’re doing so good.”

“Your cock feels amazing in my hand.”

His head was thrown back, eyes tightly closed, he looked perfect. Leaning down, you began to tease his nipples with your mouth. A string of moans and groans were leaving his mouth, as you continued to stroke him, alternating between rubbing his sensitive tip and his length.

You could hear his moans getting breathier and heavier, his cock was constantly twitching in your hand as your mouth was occupied switching between his buds, which had gotten all swollen from your attention. His abs were contracting and from your limited experience, it was a sign of his impending orgasm. Eager to see him completely lose himself in the waves of pleasure only by your hand, you sped up, just slightly, before his hand suddenly shot out to stop you.

“Wait, I want to feel you around me when I cum.”

Only capable of nodding feverishly, you took your hand off him.

“Do you have a condom ?” He asked you.

“Um— fuck let me check.”

Rummaging through the drawers of your bedside table, you were praying to find at least one condom, you didn’t think you’d be able to survive not feeling him inside you any longer. When you found one, you quickly checked that it wasn’t expired before handing it to Jake. He made quick work of unwrapping it before rolling it down his cock, an action you watched intensely with noticeable hunger.

“C’mere, sweetheart.” Jake lightly patted his lap.

With slightly shaky limbs from anticipation, you swinged one leg across his lap, straddling him.

“You ready ?” He asked you, gently rubbing your thighs up and down.

“Yeah,” you answered in a breath.

Rubbing his cock a few times, he lined it up with your pussy, rubbing your clit with his tip. Your thighs trembled slightly.

“Can I…?” You trailed off, voice shaky.

“Yeah, come on down, baby.”

With Jake’s help, you started to lower yourself down on him. His tip breached past your folds and you both gasped at the feeling.

“F-Fuck sweetheart, you’re so warm…”

The stretch was heavenly as you continued to slowly go down, taking more of him inside you.

“Jake, ngh— oh my god.”

Feeling him run against your sensitive walls was making your legs weak.

“Baby, ah— relax a bit for me, yeah ? You’re squeezing me so fucking hard—“

“‘M sorry, you just feel so good.” You whimpered.

When you fully sat down on him, you were practically shaking, pussy desperately fluttering around him. Taking the time to adjust to his size, you tried to breathe through it. You felt so completely full, in the best way.

Jake seemed as overwhelmed as you, his hands gripping your thighs.

“You feel perfect, sweetheart…” he praised, his thumb moving to trace languid circles on your clit which made you jolt slightly.

You wish you would have been able to warn Jake, but you weren’t even aware of it yourself. It only took one more pass of his thumb over your clit for your body to entirely lock up upon the pleasure washing over you.

Your orgasm took you by surprise as you hunched over him, shaking with the force of it and pussy helplessly clenching around him.

“Oh God— Ah fuck !”

Jake’s eyes widened out for a second before letting his hands run all over your thighs, ass and chest, coaxing you through it.

“Let it all out, sweetheart. Shit— you’re doing so good for me sweet girl, such a good girl, God you’re creaming all over me…”

Hunched over him, violent tremors passed through you as you were completely helpless to the pleasure holding you hostage. The knowledge that you were that close to him and that there was no physically possible way for you two to be closer than the position you were in right now was making your fall over the edge that much powerful.

“You’re inside me,” you finally said looking down at where you two were connected when the peak of your pleasure let place to static white noise.

Jake looked up at you so reverently you genuinely thought this moment would be the death of you, and you caught yourself thinking it wouldn’t be such a bad way to leave this world.

“Yes I am,” he agreed, voice strained but so worshipful, “and you feel so perfect, sweet girl, you’re perfect. Feels like you were fucking made for me.” He breathed out, palm going to rest against your stomach, pressing down lightly to feel himself inside of you.

You let out a small moan as you placed a hand on top of his, “I think I was.”

In one swift movement, Jake sat up to bring his lips to yours, pouring every single one of his feelings for you into it, and God did you feel it. When you both pulled back to get air, he rested his forehead against yours, your breaths mingling together.

“Do you feel like you can move, or are you a bit tired ?” Jake asked you gently after a minute.

Slowly testing your strength, you tried lifting yourself a bit and were immediately met with the reality of your quivering thighs. Your sensitivity was through the roof and your stamina had been taken out by your three prior orgasms.

“Yeah, sorry I don’t think this position is gonna do it…”

“It’s okay, baby. I’m gonna take good care of you,” he said, voice low and husky.

With all the care in the world, and all the while staying seated inside your warmth, he flipped you so that you were now comfortably resting against the pillows while he was hovering above you.

“You comfy ?” He asked, his nose fondly nudging yours.

“Yes,” you breathed out, “so comfortable, thank you.”

Jake let out a small chuckle while his hips slowly began to grind into yours, “love how polite you are, such a sweet little thing, aren’t you ?”

Your response was only a drawn moan at the feeling of his cock rubbing inside your walls. A slow grind that had his neat patch of pubic air perfectly rub on your clit, it was divine.

“Ah— Oh Jake you feel so— Ngh fuck…”

“Yeah tell me baby, how do I feel ?” he prompted.

“Good, so good, so fucking good..” you rambled, already lost in the pleasure he was providing you.

“Yeah that’s it,” he praised, putting back one of his hand on your stomach and pressing down, “you feel me ? I’m right here, right here baby, so fucking deep inside you…”

A cried left your throat as his hips gained a bit more strength in their movement. You were desperate to keep holding his gaze but you were unable to refrain your eyes from rolling to the back of your head. Your nails were digging into his skin, raking all over his shoulders and back which Jake let out a blissful hiss at. Your hands kept going lower and lower, almost making his back arch. Eventually, you reached his ass and cupped his cheeks, and Jake let out a chuckle through his string of moans of your name.

“That’s right, I forgot you had a thing about my ass.”

“You looked very good today,” you huffed out in a whimper.

Jake let out a groan.

“Yeah ? You were checking me out, darlin’ ?” He asked, Texan drawl dripping from his tongue like hot honey, brain too focused on you to try and conceal it anymore, “I knew you were, that’s why I walked up in front you on the tarmac this morning…”

Squeezing his ass in response, you hid your face in the crook of his neck.

“Don’t be embarrassed now, I’m flattered, baby, really.”

He angled his hips slightly, and his tip hit a spot you didn’t even know existed in you, sending white, hot pleasure in your veins.

“Jake— ohmygod, right there, right there, fuck—“

“Look at me, sweetheart.”

Without thinking twice about it, you looked up from his neck, your eyes diving into his jade ones, half lidded with pupils dilated, he was looking so intensely at you. Jake picked up the pace a bit, cock hitting right on that spot with every single thrust and you were fighting yourself to keep your eyes on him.

“Where is your vibrator ?” He asked, a bit breathless but hips keeping steady.

The question took a minute to register in your mind, “what for ?”

Jake grinned, the front of his golden hair sticking to his forehead from the sweat, “what do you think, baby ? I wanna use it on your pretty little clit.”

The perspective of having anything other than Jake’s skin touch you felt wrong. He was warm above you, loud, alive, him. The idea of having the cold silicone on you repulsed you.

“I don’t want the vibrator,” you said quickly, “I want you, just you.”

His languid rhythm faltered for a second as he let out a long, guttural moan, before resuming his pace.

“Jesus, darlin’, you can’t just say shit like that…”

Two of his fingers moved down your body and reached up your swollen and puffy clit, tracing slow circles on it.

“I’m right here, right here, baby, just me.”

Crying out, you held on tighter to him, the added stimulation was bringing you closer to your fourth high of the night.

Jake’s face was so close to yours both of your breaths were mingling together, strings of curses and moans leaving both of you. The sensation of his length inside of you, hitting that sensitive spot inside of you combined with the pressure on your clit was driving you crazy, your legs went to wrap around his waist, squeezing him without meaning to.

“You feel amazing, pussy sucking in me so fucking good,” he moaned against your lips, “you’re so perfect, sweet girl…”

You clenched so hard at his words it was impossible for him to move for a few seconds.

“Ohhh baby, you like that huh, ? Like when I tell you how perfect you are for me ? My sweet, sweet girl…” his lips left a tender kiss on your forehead.

The pet name alone was making you see stars, and you could feel your orgasm starting to build from very deep within your guts.

“I like when you call me that,” you whimpered.

“Call you what ? Sweet girl ? Is that what has you clenching your tight little pussy ‘round me ?”

“Yes— fuck, ‘m so close Jake, please don’t stop, ‘m so so close…”

“‘M not stopping, sweet girl, ‘m gonna make you feel so fucking good, wanna feel you cum around me so bad…” he moaned.

“Are— are you close too ? Wanna cum with you.”

“Fuck,” he groaned as you felt his cock twitch inside you, “yeah, I am, shit—“

With every thrust, his chest was rubbing against your sensitive nipples. Your pussy was throbbing, leaking down Jake’s cock and onto your sheets. The room was filled with the obscene noises of your slick getting pushed in and out of you by Jake, and with both of your breathless moans. It all felt too much, in the best way possible. Your toes curled and you could feel in your bones that the waves of pleasure would submerge you miore violently than ever before.

“Jake,” you caught his attention, desperate to let him know, “Jake— fuck, I’m gonna cum, cum with me please, please, Jake—“ you were practically incoherent, but he understood every word, he never once changed his pace, keeping that delicious rhythm that was seconds away from tipping you over the edge.

“‘M right here with you, go ahead, cum for me sweet girl, ‘m right behind you, promise, cum for me, you’ve been so good…”

That was it.

With a noise that you didn’t know you were capable of making, you came apart beneath Jake. The force of your orgasm crashing onto you almost took your breath away. The pleasure locked all your muscles in place, rendering you completely helpless, you couldn’t do anything but cry out Jake’s name on repeat as you felt your body elevate to another dimension.

“That’s it, sweet girl, yeah— Ngh fuck !”

It didn’t take look for Jake to follow behind you. Your pussy was clenching sporadically around him, locking him in place and leaking all over his cock.

Right as you felt him twitch inside of you, your hands went up to cup his face, forcing him to look at you while he came. You wanted — no, needed to see him. As soon as his eyes met yours and with a few weakened out thrusts, he emptied himself in the condom with a long, drawn out moan. You could see that his eyes desperately wanted to fall closed to focus on the sensation of his release but he forced himself to keep them on you.

Mouth opened, eyes at the limit of rolling to the back of his head and eyebrows scrunched up…

He looked beautiful.

Seeing him like that only prolonged your own high.

It felt never ending. But eventually, after what had felt like eternity, Jake dropped carefully on top of you, completely spent.

“Jesus… I never came like that,” he exhaled in a small, amazed and tired chuckle.

His head was buried in the crook of your neck, breathing heavily on your skin. One of your hands automatically moved to his hair, tenderly passing your fingers through his golden locks, which he let out a blissful sigh at.

Your release left you with a sense of floating that felt like lying on a cloud. As you were trying to catch your breath and get it back to normal, you suddenly felt your heart clench. Without understanding why, your throat started to close up and your eyes to tear up. Feeling a sense of panic at your sudden and inexplicable distress, you tried to keep the tears from running down your cheeks. But it was useless. God, what was happening to you ? You felt good, great, perfect even, so what the fuck had gotten into you ?

Trying to understand where this was coming from and why the tears were now falling freely down your flushed cheeks, you let out an involuntary sob. Jake immediately looked up from where he was nudged against your neck, and his tired eyes immediately widened when they saw your face. Very gently, he pulled out of you.

“Hey, hey Y/N are you okay ? Did I hurt you ?” He sat up, giving you space from him.

“No I’m alright, I’m fine, I swear,” you tried to explain through the sobs that you couldn’t contain, “I— I don’t know what’s happening—“

Jake’s face melted right then and there and he seemed to understand in seconds what you couldn’t, he wasted no time to take you into his arms, holding you close.

“Shh, shh, You’re okay, Y/N, it’s alright. It’s just the hormones crashing down, you’re okay.”

Chocking up on a cry, you held onto him tighter than what was probably comfortable for him, but he said nothing of it. He only rocked you gently, continuing to shush you softly.

“I’m sorry—“ you hiccuped into his shoulder, “I don’t know what’s happening—“

“You’re all good, sweet girl, shh shh, you’re okay I promise.”

When the sobs calmed down, he slowly pulled away from you, if only to take a good look at your reddened eyes and tear stained cheeks.

“‘M sorry…” you said in a low voice, ashamed of having ruined such a blissful moment.

“You have nothing to apologize for, sweetheart,” he assured in a gentle voice while brushing a sweaty strand of her behind your ear, “you’re all good. Crying after sex is completely normal, it can happen after big orgasms. It’s all your hormones crashing down at once, it can cause some people to get emotional. Nothing embarrassing.”

Sniffling a bit and wiping your eyes, you almost broke down again at his gentle explanation. You wrapped your arms around him again, needing the comfort and safety of his arms in your fragile emotional state.

“Thank you.” You exhaled, leaving a tender and grateful kiss in the crook of his neck.

One of his hand was cupping your head while the other was adoringly rubbing your back.

“No need to thank me, baby, it’s normal.”

Both of you stayed like that for what felt like forever. Embraced by each other, in a comfortable silence that was only disturbed by the sound of your relaxed breaths. Naked both in body and in feelings, you thought that this might be what heaven felt like.

Jake’s voice eventually broke the peace, “you need to go pee, sweetheart.”

“Jake, what the fuck ?” You pulled back in a stunned laugh to look at him.

“Don’t look so offended, I don’t want you to get a UTI, I’m thoughtful,” he said in a mock, overly sweet voice.

“Yeah, right,” you scoffed, playfully slapping his chest.

Jake laughed and quickly stole a kiss that had you giggling.

“Instead of worrying about my genital hygiene, why don’t you worry about yourself first ?” You teasingly asked, pointing to his softening cock, still trapped in the used condom.

He’d been so focused on calming and reassuring you that he’d forgot to throw out the condom.

“Ah fuck, that’s disgusting,” he grimaced before taking it off and tying it up, “where’s your bathroom ?”

“Right outside on the left.”

You watched him get up in all his naked glory, eyes inevitably trailing down…

“Did you leave scratch marks on my ass ?” He asked without even turning around.

“A little,” you giggled, hearing him laugh as he disappeared inside the bathroom.

He quickly came back after getting rid of the condom, he stopped a minute by the door, eyes raking over your naked form.

Letting a yawn, you met his gaze with a fond smile.

“I’m gonna take a shower before bed, do…” you cleared your throat, “do you wanna join me ?”

The smile that broke out on Jake’s face was nothing short of dazzling, “that’d be my greatest pleasure.”

In three big and quick strides, he reached you and without warning he lifted you up bridal style. You let out a squeal in surprise.

“I can walk you know,” you said in a laugh.

“With how hard you just came on my dick ? I don’t think so, sweetheart, sorry.”

You made a mock undignified noise, “I’ll let it slide, just this once, Seresin.”

“And i’m back to last name basis.”

“I can think of a few ways to get back to first name, if you’re interested.” You said, your voice instinctively dropping to a sultry tone you didn’t think you were capable of.

“Oh yeah ?” Jake inquired, voice matching yours as he started to walk towards the bathroom, “I’m more than interested, sweet girl.” He said, head dropping down to leave kisses all over your neck.

Letting another squeal, it was impossible for you to conceal your fit of pleased giggles.

You didn’t think you had ever felt anymore at peace than in this very moment. And watching Jake turn on the shower, that’s when you really understood.

Pleasure is no shame. It never should have been. And you knew that with Jake by your side, it never would be again.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Author’s note : OMG guys I felt like this fic was never ending😭 but I am so happy and so proud to finally present you the final part of Pleasure Is No Shame. The support on this series has been insane and I’m so grateful.

This fic started as the most self indulgent premise ever, and I’m so glad so many of you took pleasure in reading it ! I put my blood, sweat and tears into it and I sincerely hope you enjoyed that last part ! Thank you to everyone who liked, commented, reblogged or even just read this series, it means a lot and I think it will always have a special place in my heart !

Also I never planned for it to actually be that long so I’m sorry if it ended up being boring, don’t hesitate to tell me if it was too long !

When Monday finally came around, all three of them felt the weight of it. Nick disappeared into her lab the moment she stepped onto base, grateful for the sanctuary of humming machines and predictable data. Numbers didn’t stare. Equations didn’t whisper. Circuits didn’t judge.

Jake didn’t have that luxury.

After finishing his morning tasks, he headed straight for the gym. He needed the burn — the ache of overworked muscles, the grounding rhythm of reps and breath. Something physical to drown out the weekend’s tension.

An hour later, sweat clung to him like a second skin. He pushed open the gym door, rolling his shoulders, already planning a shower and maybe a protein shake—

And stopped dead.

Phoenix was walking toward him.

She was mid‑stride, dressed in PT gear, her expression unreadable — but her eyes sharpened the moment they landed on him. Jake’s jaw tightened. He didn’t break pace. He didn’t look at her. He just brushed past, gaze fixed forward.

“What's the matter, Hangman?” Her voice sliced through the air, sharp and precise. “Can’t even look at me now?”

Jake kept walking.

“Typical,” she continued, stepping closer. “Jake Seresin wrecks something, walks away, pretends nothing happened. You think no one’s going to call you out for the mess you made?”

Jake’s shoulders stiffened, but he didn’t stop. He was two steps from the locker room door. Two steps from escape.

“Oh, I get it,” Phoenix said, her tone turning mocking. “Just ignore me. Ignore the problem. Ignore anything that doesn’t fit your perfect little world. Classic Hangman.”

He still didn’t turn.

But she wasn’t done.

“That’s all she is to you, isn’t she?” Phoenix’s voice rose, brittle and cracking at the edges. “Just another situation you can charm your way into. And somehow you dragged Bradley into it too.”

Jake stopped.

His hand hovered over the door handle.

He didn’t turn, not yet — but the air around him shifted.

Phoenix took that as permission to keep going.

“You know what?” she said, her voice tightening. “Maybe the problem isn’t you. Maybe it’s her. Maybe she’s exactly the kind of woman who—”

Jake turned.

Slowly.

Deliberately.

His green eyes were ice.

“Don’t,” he said quietly.

Phoenix blinked, thrown for half a second by the calm in his voice.

Jake stepped toward her, closing the distance with controlled precision. “You don’t get to talk about her. Not like that.”

Phoenix lifted her chin, but her voice wavered. “I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking.”

“No,” Jake said. “You’re saying what you’re thinking. And you don’t even know why you’re thinking it.”

Her jaw clenched. “I know exactly why. I know what I saw on Bradley’s computer.”

Jake’s expression hardened. “You saw something that wasn’t meant for you. Something private. And instead of walking away, you twisted it into whatever story made you feel justified.”

Phoenix’s breath hitched — barely, but enough for Jake to notice.

He stepped closer, voice low. “You don’t know Nick. You don’t know what she means to us. You don’t know what we’ve built. And you sure as hell don’t get to stand here and act like you’re protecting Bradley by tearing down the people he loves.”

Phoenix’s eyes flashed — not just with anger, but something sharper. Something wounded. Something she shoved down so fast it almost disappeared.

“Protecting him?” she repeated, her voice tight. “I’m trying to keep him from getting hurt — and you know damn well he will be.”

Jake’s jaw flexed. “I think you’re doing this because something else is going on with you — something that has nothing to do with us. And instead of dealing with that, you’re aiming it at the easiest target.”

Her face tightened, the muscles in her jaw working overtime.

Jake didn’t soften. “Whatever this is? It’s not about Nick. And it’s sure as hell is not about me.”

Phoenix swallowed hard, her voice dropping to a whisper edged with steel. “I want him protected. From people who could break him.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “We’re not the ones breaking him.”

Phoenix flinched — again — and this time she couldn’t hide it.

“You don't think it breaks him when she has to divide her time between the two of you? You don't think he doesn't feel second best?”

Jake took another step forward, his voice dropping to a dangerous register.

“You don’t know a damn thing about our relationship,” Jake said, each word precise, controlled, and sharper than steel. “Nick doesn’t divide anything. She gives everything — her heart, her trust, her loyalty — to both of us. And Bradley isn’t some backup plan or afterthought. He’s essential. To her. To us.”

Phoenix’s eyes widened slightly. Not at the words — but at the emotion behind them. Jake Seresin didn’t talk like that. Not openly. Not vulnerably. Not unless something mattered.

“So that’s how it is,” she said after a beat, her voice quieter but still hard. “You’re actually serious about this.”

“Dead serious,” Jake confirmed. He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t posture. He didn’t need to. “And if you were really Bradley’s friend, you’d at least try to understand instead of judging something you know nothing about.”

Phoenix exhaled sharply through her nose — not a laugh this time, but a frustrated, disbelieving sound, like she was trying to steady herself and failing. “Understand? Jake, I’ve known Bradley for years. I know when he’s being himself and when he’s being… influenced.”

Jake’s jaw tightened. “Influenced?”

“Don’t play dumb,” she snapped. “Nick’s good. I’ll give her that. She’s charming, she’s sweet, she knows exactly how to get people to trust her. She got Bradley wrapped around her finger, and now she’s got you too.”

Jake blinked once, slowly. “You really believe that.”

“I believe what I saw,” Phoenix shot back, her voice rising. “I saw enough to know something’s off. Something’s wrong. And you can pretend it’s all sunshine and rainbows, but I know manipulation when I see it.”

Jake’s expression hardened. “You saw a private video you had no business looking at. And instead of taking accountability for what you did, you twisted it into whatever story made you feel justified.”

Something moved across Phoenix’s face — and then it was gone.“Don’t turn this around on me. I wasn’t snooping. His laptop was open when I went to check on him after he blew off the double date I organized. I was trying to be a good friend.”

Jake let out a humorless breath. “Right. And the file just opened itself?”

Phoenix’s jaw clenched. “That’s not the point.”

“That’s exactly the point,” Jake said, closing the distance between them. His voice didn’t rise. “You violated Bradley’s privacy. You saw something you weren’t meant to see. And now you’re using it to attack someone who’s done nothing but care about him.”

Phoenix’s eyes flashed. “Care? Is that what you call it? Because from where I’m standing, it looks like she’s playing both of you. And Bradley’s too blinded to see it.”

Jake’s voice dropped. “You don’t know her.”

“I know enough,” Phoenix said, folding her arms tightly across her chest — a shield more than a stance. “I know she’s got you both wrapped up in something that’s going to blow up in your faces. And when it does? Bradley’s the one who’s going to get hurt the most.”

Jake’s breath left him in a slow, controlled exhale. “This isn’t about Bradley getting hurt. This is about you not being able to handle something that doesn’t fit your idea of normal.”

Phoenix’s face tightened. “Normal? Jake, this isn’t about normal. This is about common sense. This is about loyalty. This is about not letting someone walk all over the people you care about.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “You think Nick is walking all over us?”

“I think she’s taking advantage,” Phoenix said, voice cracking just slightly before she forced it steady again. “I think she’s got you both so wrapped up in whatever this is that you can’t see straight.”

Jake shook his head. “You’re wrong.”

“Am I?” Phoenix shot back. “Because from where I’m standing, it looks like she’s got you both exactly where she wants you — dependent, distracted, and blind.”

Jake’s jaw clenched. “You don’t get to talk about her like that.”

Phoenix cleared her throat, her voice low and sharp. “I’m talking about what I saw. What I heard. What I know. And if you think I’m going to sit back and watch Bradley get dragged into something that’s going to break him, you’re out of your mind.”

Jake’s eyes flashed — not with anger, but with a cold, focused clarity. “You’re not protecting him. You’re projecting something that has nothing to do with us.”

Phoenix froze.

Just for a second.

A flicker of something — fear, memory, pain — crossed her face before she shoved it down so hard it almost looked like it hadn’t happened.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said, voice tight.

“I know enough to see this isn’t about Nick,” Jake replied. “And it sure as hell isn’t about me.”

Phoenix swallowed hard. “I want him protected. From people who could break him.” She repeated.

Jake shook head, voice low. “I told you already we’re not the ones breaking him.”

She muttered under her breath, sharp and disbelieving, “Yeah. Keep telling yourself that.”

Jake’s head snapped up, eyes narrowing. “What did you just say?”

Phoenix straightened, voice firmer now, louder. “I said I’m not going to let Bradley get hurt because you two can’t see what’s right in front of you.”

Jake’s vision tunneled — not with rage, but with a cold, focused clarity. His hand found the equipment rack behind her, gripping it hard enough to whiten his knuckles.

“Jake! Hey — what’s going on?”

Coyote’s voice cut through the tension like a shockwave. His hand clamped down on Jake’s shoulder, firm and grounding, pulling him back just enough to break the forward momentum Jake hadn’t even realized he’d built with his free hand.

Jake blinked hard, breath coming in tight, controlled bursts. Phoenix stood rigid in front of him, arms locked across her chest, chin lifted in a brittle defiance that didn’t match the flicker of something raw in her eyes.

Coyote stepped fully between them, planting himself like a wall. “Okay,” he said, scanning both faces. “Somebody start talking.”

Neither of them did.

Jake’s jaw was clenched so tight a muscle ticked near his temple. Phoenix’s breathing was shallow, her shoulders stiff, her gaze darting anywhere but at Coyote.

He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Alright, let me guess. This is about Nick.”

Phoenix’s eyes snapped to him, sharp and defensive. “This is about Bradley.”

Jake scoffed under his breath. “Of course it is.”

Coyote shot him a look. “Hangman. Not helping.”

Jake bit back whatever he was about to say, but the tension radiating off him was unmistakable.

Coyote turned to Phoenix. “Nat… what are you doing?”

Her jaw tightened. “Looking out for my friend.”

Coyote raised his brows, voice steady but pointed.“Really? Because what I’m seeing is someone picking a fight in the middle of the gym.”

Phoenix’s nostrils flared. “You didn’t see what I saw.”

“No,” Coyote said calmly, “I didn’t. But I’ve seen enough to know this isn’t you.”

Phoenix’s eyes flickered — a flash of something like panic before she masked it again.

Coyote softened his voice. “You’re better than this.”

Phoenix swallowed hard, but her voice stayed sharp. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me,” Coyote said. “Because right now? It looks like you’re hurting people who haven’t done a damn thing to deserve it.”

Jake shifted behind him, but Coyote held up a hand without looking back. “Not yet.”

Jake exhaled sharply but stayed quiet.

Coyote turned back to Phoenix. “Look… I get that this is a lot. I get that it’s different. I get that it’s not what you expected from them. But you can’t pretend Nick hasn’t been good to you.”

Phoenix’s face tightened. “That doesn't matter.”

“It does,” Coyote said gently. “Because she’s been nothing but kind. She’s been nothing but supportive. She’s been nothing but a friend.”

Phoenix’s eyes glistened — not with tears, but with the kind of pressure that builds behind them.

“And Jake?” Coyote continued. “He’s your squadmate. Whether you want to admit it or not, you two have come a long way. You trust him in the air. You trust him with your life.”

Phoenix’s jaw trembled for half a second before she forced it still.

“And Bradley?” Coyote said softly. “He loves you like family. You know that.”

Phoenix’s breath stuttered.

Coyote stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Don’t throw all of that away because you don’t understand what they have. It’s different, yeah — but different doesn’t mean wrong.”

Phoenix’s eyes snapped up, sharp and wounded. “I’m not throwing away anything.”

Coyote didn’t argue. He didn’t need to.

He just held her gaze with a quiet, steady patience that made her look away first.

Jake finally spoke, voice low but no longer sharp. “Nat… whatever you think is happening? You’re wrong. And you’re hurting people who care about you.”

Phoenix’s shoulders curled inward, just slightly — the smallest crack in her armor.

Coyote looked between them. “You don’t have to like their relationship. You don’t have to understand it. But you don’t get to tear them apart over it.”

Phoenix’s voice came out small, almost strangled. “I’m not trying to tear anyone apart.”

Jake exhaled, some of the tension leaving his frame. “Then stop acting like you are.”

Phoenix’s eyes flashed with something like guilt — or fear — or both.

Coyote stepped back just enough to give them space, but not enough to let them close the distance again. “Look… take a breath. Both of you. This isn’t the place. And it’s not worth losing each other over.”

Phoenix’s lips parted like she wanted to argue — but nothing came out.

Jake looked away, jaw tight but no longer ready to snap.

Coyote nodded slowly. “Good. Now let’s all walk away before this turns into something none of us can take back.”

Phoenix didn’t move.

Jake didn’t either.

But the air — the dangerous, crackling air — finally loosened.

The low hum of machinery and the rhythmic whirl of cooling fans filled the propulsion lab, a familiar backdrop that usually settled Nick’s nerves. Today, it barely made a dent. She leaned over a table cluttered with blueprints, engine schematics, and half‑finished notes, the fluorescent lights casting sharp reflections off the disassembled fuel injector resting in its test rig. She adjusted a valve with practiced precision, but her hands felt heavier than usual — like her worry had seeped into her bones.

She typed a command into the computer, watching as the injector’s latest test data streamed across the screen. Numbers blinked, graphs shifted, airflow metrics updated in real time… and still refused to hit her targets. She tapped her pen against the desk, the rhythm uneven, her focus slipping every few seconds.

Jake and Bradley could handle themselves — she knew that. But Phoenix? Phoenix was unpredictable when she was upset. And the tension Nick had felt radiating off Jake that morning had been impossible to ignore.

Her pen tapped faster.

“Did you hear about the fight?” Emily’s voice cut through the lab noise, bright and unfiltered.

Nick froze mid‑tap.

Emily wasn’t just a coworker — she’d become a friend, and more than that, she’d slowly become part of the Dagger Squad’s orbit. Between late-night lab shifts, Hard Deck nights with Bob, and the Fourth of July cookout where she’d refereed dogfight football while the rest of the squad tackled each other in the sand — then sat around afterward eating burgers and ribs like she’d always belonged — Emily had woven herself into the edges of their group. Not inner circle, but familiar. Someone who knew their callsigns, their dynamics, their personalities.

Nick forced her voice steady. “What fight?”

Emily didn’t answer right away. She’d swiveled her chair toward another tech, already halfway into retelling whatever she’d heard. “Two pilots got into it earlier,” she said, gesturing animatedly. “Like, full-on shouting match. Someone said it almost got physical. And apparently it was over some woman.”

Nick’s stomach dropped.

Emily continued, oblivious to the way Nick’s grip tightened on her pen. “Figures, right? Drama on base is better than cable.”

Nick pretended to adjust the injector settings, though her eyes barely registered the numbers. “Do you know who it was?” she asked, aiming for casual but hearing the thinness in her own voice.

Emily spun back toward her, legs crossed under her chair. “No clue. The person who told me didn’t know either. Said another pilot stepped in to break it up — what was his name? Wolf? Lion? Something like that.”

Nick’s heart thudded painfully. “Coyote,” she murmured.

Emily’s eyes widened, and she let out a soft, self‑mocking laugh. “Coyote — oh my god, yes. Why didn’t I think of him?” She shook her head, amused at herself. “Javy, right. Apparently he got between them before it got ugly.”

She paused, then added, “I texted Bob to see if he heard anything, but he hasn’t answered yet.”

Nick swallowed hard. If Coyote had stepped in… that meant it wasn’t just a heated conversation. It meant whoever it was had been close to losing it. Her guess was Jake, meaning he had to have been arguing with Phoenix. And if it was over a woman — if Phoenix had said something — then this wasn’t just gossip.

This was about them.

“Did they say anything else?” Nick asked, her voice thin. “About who it was or what happened?”

Emily shrugged, spinning back to her workstation. “Not really. Just that it was intense. But hey — could’ve been about anyone. You know how rumors get.”

Nick nodded, but her mind was already racing. The injector data blurred into meaningless lines. She set her pen down, pressing her palms flat against the desk as she tried to steady her breathing.

She needed answers.

She locked her computer screen and reached for her phone. Her thumb hovered over Jake’s contact before she pressed call.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Voicemail.

Jake’s recorded greeting — light, confident, teasing — hit her like a punch. She hung up before the beep.

“Come on, Jake,” she whispered. “Why didn’t you answer?”

She paced the length of her workstation, chewing at her lip. She could call Bradley. She shouldn’t call Bradley. She should trust them. She couldn’t trust this situation.

Finally, she hit Bradley’s name.

He answered on the second ring. “Hey, Nick.” His voice was steady, but clipped — like he wasn't alone. “Everything okay?”

“Bradley,” she said, trying to keep her voice level. “I heard something about a fight. Two pilots. Someone said it was over a woman. And Coyote broke it up. Please tell me it wasn’t you or Jake.”

There was a pause — not long, but long enough.

Nick heard him exhale sharply. “I don’t know anything about a fight,” he said, but tension threaded through every word. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Emily mentioned it,” Nick said. “She didn’t know much. Just that it almost got physical.”

Another pause.

Then, low and frustrated: “Damn it, Jake.”

Nick’s pulse spiked. “So it was Jake? And Phoenix?”

“I’m going to find out,” Bradley said, voice firm and final. “I’ll call you back, Nick.”

The line went dead.

Nick stared at her phone, her heart pounding. Bradley only used that tone when he was about to confront something or someone head-on.

And if Phoenix had pushed Jake far enough to start a fight?

This was far from over.

Bradley found her in one of the training hangars, clipboard in hand, reviewing flight plans with the same rigid focus she always had before a sortie. She didn’t look surprised when she saw him storming toward her — if anything, she looked like she’d been waiting for this.

“Phoenix,” he said, voice low but vibrating with tension. “What the hell did you say to Jake?”

She didn’t flinch. Didn’t even blink. She just crossed her arms and lifted her chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t,” Bradley snapped, stepping closer. “Don’t play that game with me. I heard about the argument. I heard Coyote had to step in. So I’m going to ask you one more time — what did you say?”

A flicker of guilt crossed her face — quick, but unmistakable. Then she buried it under steel. “He deserved it,” she said flatly. “And honestly? So do you. Someone had to say something.”

Bradley’s jaw flexed. “Say something about what?”

“This,” she said, gesturing vaguely, like the word itself disgusted her. “Whatever you three think you’re doing. It’s reckless. It’s irresponsible. And it’s going to blow up in your faces.”

Bradley stared at her, stunned by the sheer audacity. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve been my friend for years. And this is how you react? By attacking Jake? By attacking Nick? By attacking me?”

“You’re not listening,” Phoenix shot back, her voice rising. “I’m trying to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Bradley barked out a humorless laugh. “By insulting the people I care about? By going after Jake? By going after Nick? That’s your idea of protection?”

“You’re blind,” she snapped. “You’re letting her pull you into something that’s going to ruin your life. And Jake’s too wrapped up in it to see straight. Someone had to say it.”

Bradley stepped closer, his voice dropping to a dangerous calm. “You don’t get to talk about her like that.”

Phoenix’s eyes flashed. “Why not? Because you’re in love with her?”

Bradley didn’t rise to the bait. “You already knew that.”

Phoenix scoffed, but there was a tremor under it. “Yeah, well, knowing it and watching you throw your entire life into this mess for it are two different things.”

Bradley’s expression hardened. “Don’t twist this.”

“I’m not twisting anything,” she said. “I’m pointing out reality. You’re both acting like this is some fairytale. Like it’s all going to magically work out. But it won’t. It never does.”

Bradley’s patience snapped. “You don’t know a damn thing about what we have.”

“I know enough,” Phoenix shot back. “I know you’re risking your career. I know you’re risking your reputation. I know you’re risking everything for something that isn’t sustainable.”

Bradley’s voice dropped to a razor’s edge. “You don’t get to decide what’s sustainable for me.”

Phoenix’s jaw clenched. “Fine. Then answer this — what happens when it falls apart? When she chooses him? Or when he chooses her? What happens when you’re the one left out?”

Bradley stepped forward, and for the first time, Phoenix took a step back.

“Nick doesn’t have to choose,” he said, voice low and controlled. “That’s the whole point. And we’ve talked about everything — the risks, the complications, the future. We’re not stumbling into this blind.”

“You’re delusional,” Phoenix whispered, but the conviction in her voice wavered.

“No,” Bradley said, “I’m honest. Something you might want to try.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You think this is honesty? You think this is love? You’re playing house with two people and pretending it’s normal.”

Bradley’s voice sharpened. “You don’t get to define normal for me.”

Phoenix’s breath hitched — not with fear, but with something like desperation. “And what about Maverick? Does he still not know his daughter is wrapped up in this twisted little ménage à trois you’ve built?”

Bradley went still.

Completely, utterly still.

When he spoke, his voice was quiet — too quiet.

“You crossed a line.”

Phoenix swallowed, but didn’t back down. “Someone had to say it.”

“No,” Bradley said, stepping closer, “no one had to say that. And especially not you.”

Her voice cracked. “I’m trying to make you see—”

“You’re not trying to make me see anything,” Bradley cut in. “You’re trying to tear us apart because you can’t handle something you don’t understand.”

“That’s not true,” she whispered.

“It is,” Bradley said. “And you know it.”

Phoenix’s shoulders sagged, just slightly. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Well you failed. Because guess what?” What you're doing here is hurting me.”

“That isn't my intent you have to believe that. I just know how Maverick can be and-.”

Bradley’s eyes narrowed. “Maverick is none of your business.”

“So you haven't told him?”

He didn't respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Phoenix said, a cold smile tugging at her mouth. “I can only imagine what he’d think about his daughter being passed back and forth between his two star pilots like a hot potato.”

Bradley felt something inside him snap — not loudly, but cleanly, like a wire pulled too tight. He stepped forward, closing the distance in a single stride, his voice low and dangerous.

“You listen to me,” he said, each word sharp enough to cut. “Nick isn’t being shared like some object you can hand off. She’s not being passed around. She’s a grown woman making her own choices about her own life. And if you think I’m going to stand here and let you talk about her like that—”

“Like what?” Phoenix challenged, though she instinctively stepped back. “Like the truth?”

“That’s not truth,” Bradley said, his voice vibrating with controlled fury. “That’s you twisting something you don’t understand into something ugly. Nick isn’t being ‘passed back and forth.’ She’s choosing the people she loves and how she loves them.”

Phoenix’s eyes flashed. “Oh, please. Spare me the poetic speech. I saw the video, Bradley. The three of you. Don’t pretend it was some wholesome moment. It was—”

“Stop.” Bradley’s voice cracked through the air like a whip.

Phoenix blinked, startled by the force of it.

“You watched something that wasn’t meant for you,” Bradley said, his tone cold enough to frost glass. “Something private. Something intimate. And instead of having the decency to look away, you decided to weaponize it.”

“I didn’t weaponize anything,” Phoenix snapped, though her voice wavered. “I reacted like any sane person would. What I saw was—wrong. It was disturbing. And if Nick thinks that kind of behavior is normal, then she needs help, not two men encouraging her.”

Bradley clenched fist, his expression hardening. “You don’t get to decide what’s normal for her. You don’t get to judge her for something she chose, something she consented to, something she trusted us with.”

Phoenix crossed her arms, defensive and brittle. “So you’re just going to stand there and pretend that what I saw was healthy? That it wasn’t twisted? That it wasn’t dangerous?”

“What’s twisted,” Bradley cut in, his voice deadly calm, “is you thinking you have the right to judge her for something she chose. Something she wanted. Something she felt safe enough to explore.”

Phoenix’s breath hitched, but she didn’t back down.

Bradley continued, his voice low and sharp. “Nick feels safe with us. She feels supported. She feels free to explore her desires without fear, without shame, without judgment. That’s what you saw — not degradation. Not control. Not whatever nightmare you’ve built in your head. You saw a woman who trusts us enough to be vulnerable. And you turned it into something ugly because you can’t handle the idea that she’s happy in a way you don’t understand.”

Phoenix’s lips pressed into a thin line. “So what, this whole arrangement is just… fine? You expect everyone to smile and nod and pretend it’s normal?”

“I don’t expect anything from you,” Bradley said. “Least of all approval. What we have works for us. We’re not hurting anyone. We’re not asking for permission.”

“And that video?” Phoenix pressed, her voice sharp and cruel. “That’s just part of your perfect little setup?”

Bradley’s jaw tightened. He was sick and tired of her bringing up that video. “That was a private recording. And the fact that you’re dragging it into this conversation again tells me everything I need to know about where your head is.”

“Private or not, it was disgusting,” Phoenix snapped. “Seeing her like that—like she had no self-respect—”

Bradley’s control broke.

His hand shot out, grabbing Phoenix’s arm with enough pressure to make her gasp.

“Don’t you dare,” he growled, voice so low it barely carried. “Don’t you ever talk about Nick like that again.”

Phoenix’s eyes widened, genuine fear flickering across her face. She’d never seen Bradley like this — not in training, not in combat, not ever. His fury wasn’t loud. It wasn’t explosive. It was cold. Focused. Terrifying.

“Bradley—” she whispered.

He leaned in, his voice a razor’s edge. “You crossed a line the second you opened your mouth about that video. And you crossed another when you dragged her character into it. You don’t get to judge her. You don’t get to shame her. You don’t get to make something she trusted us with into ammunition.”

Phoenix swallowed hard, her bravado cracking.

Bradley released her arm, but the intensity in his eyes didn’t fade.

“You want to be angry?” he said. “Fine. Be angry. But don’t you ever — ever — speak about her like that again.”

She never saw Bradley that angry before and it almost terrified her.

He could tell.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, his voice steadier but still tight with anger. "I shouldn't have grabbed you. But Phoenix, I swear to God, friend or not, you say one more word about Nick like that and we're done. Forever."

“Bradley…”

Phoenix's words hung in the air like poison. Bradley stared at her, his entire body taut with barely contained fury.

"This conversation is over," he said, voice dangerously quiet. "You've made your position clear. Now let me make mine clear: stay away from Nick. Stay away from Jake. And stay away from me."

Phoenix's expression faltered, something like regret flickering across her features. "Bradley, I'm just trying to—"

"No." He cut her off with a sharp gesture. "You don't get to do this. You don't get to insult someone I love and then act like you're doing me a favor." He took a step back, putting distance between them. "We're done here."

Bradley turned and walked away, his steps measured and deliberate. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see Nick's name on the screen. Taking a second, he waited to look at her text.

Nick: It's been awhile and I haven't heard from you. I'm worried. Did you find Jake?

Bradley decided after what just happened with Phoenix it'd be easier to call her than text.

But instead he stared at the text message for awhile, his hand still trembling with residual anger. He took a deep breath, stepping further away from Phoenix as he hit the call button.

Nick answered on the first ring. "Bradley? What happened? Did you find Jake?"

Just hearing her voice seemed to center him, the knots of tension loosening in his chest. "No, I haven't found Jake yet," he replied, his voice steadier than he expected. "But I did find Phoenix."

There was a pause on the other end. "Oh," Nick said softly. "How did that go?"

Bradley ran a hand through his short hair, glancing back to make sure Phoenix wasn't following him. "Not good," he admitted. "It got… intense. She said some things I can't repeat."

"About me?" Nick asked, her voice smaller than he'd ever heard it.

Bradley's jaw clenched at the vulnerability in Nick's voice. He stepped around the corner of the hangar, ensuring he was truly alone before speaking again.

"Yeah," he admitted, keeping his voice low. "About you. About us. About Jake. She crossed every line, Nick."

He heard Nick's sharp intake of breath on the other end of the line. "How bad?"

Bradley hesitated, unwilling to repeat the vile words Phoenix had hurled at him. "Bad enough that I'm done with her. Completely done."

"Bradley," Nick's voice was gentle but insistent. "What did she say?"

He closed his eyes, leaning against the hangar wall. "She… she brought up the video again. Of us. The three of us."

The silence that followed was deafening. When Nick finally spoke, her voice filled with anger. “Are you fucking serious? I have half a mind to go down there a beat her ass into the ground.”

Bradley couldn't help but smile at the fire in Nick's voice. It was one of the things he loved most about her—that fierce protectiveness that mirrored his own.

"As much as I'd love to see that," he said, his voice softening, "maybe hold off on the ass-kicking for now. The base is already buzzing with rumors about the fight between Jake and Phoenix."

"So it was them," Nick said, her voice tight. "I knew it. What happened?"

Bradley sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I don't know the details. Just what you told me. But knowing Phoenix and what she just said to me, I can guess what set Jake off."

"I need to find him," Nick said, determination creeping into her voice. "He's not answering his phone."

"I'll keep looking for him don't worry.”

Bradley’s boots scuffed against the concrete as he strode through the corridor, his phone pressed to his ear. Nick’s voice on the other end was steady but tinged with concern, the kind that made his stomach tighten. He’d already told her he was looking for Jake, but she clearly wasn’t reassured yet.

“You think he’s okay?” she asked softly, a hint of hesitation in her tone.

“He will be,” Bradley replied, though there was a note of uncertainty in his voice. “You know how he is. When Jake’s fired up, he doesn’t cool off quickly. He just needs space to work through it.”

As he rounded the corner, Bradley’s pace slowed. There, coming toward him, was Jake. His shoulders were slightly hunched, his face tight with the weight of his thoughts. He didn’t look angry, exactly—more like he was bracing himself for whatever came next.

“I’ve got him,” Bradley said into the phone, his voice lightening just a touch. “Hang on.”

Jake noticed him, his steps slowing as their eyes met. “Bradshaw,” he greeted, his tone clipped but not harsh. It was clear he was still carrying the tension from earlier, though it wasn’t directed at Bradley.

Bradley raised an eyebrow. “Nick’s on the line,” he said, tilting the phone slightly so Jake could hear her muffled voice. “She’s worried about you. Says she tried calling.”

Jake sighed, his jaw tightening before he ran a hand through his hair. “I know,” he admitted. “I needed time to cool down. I didn’t want to come to either of you in the headspace I was in after that thing with Phoenix. It wouldn’t have helped anyone.”

Bradley studied him for a moment, then nodded in quiet understanding. He tapped the speakerphone button and held the phone between them. “You can tell her yourself.”

Nick’s voice came through, a mix of relief and lingering worry. “Jake? I tried calling you. Are you okay? What’s going on?”

“I’m fine,” Jake said, his tone softer now but still carrying the weight of the day. “I was just… angry. Upset. And I didn’t want to bring that to you or Bradley. I needed time to process, get my head on straight, and figure out how to handle this.”

There was a beat of silence before Nick spoke again, her voice firmer this time. “I think we need to meet. The three of us. Whatever Phoenix said, whatever rumors are already going around—we need to get ahead of it. If she decides to spin something, or if it gets far enough that my dad hears about it…” She trailed off, letting the weight of her words settle.

Bradley exchanged a glance with Jake, their silent agreement immediate. “She’s right,” Bradley said. “We need to have our story straight before this gets any worse.”

“Alright,” Jake said with a nod, his shoulders relaxing just slightly. “Where?”

“Our usual spot,” Nick suggested. “The back hangar. It’s quiet and out of the way.”

“Works for me,” Bradley said, and Jake gave a small grunt of agreement.

“I’ll meet you both there,” Nick said, her tone resolute. There was a pause, a softness creeping into her voice. “And, Jake… I love you.”

Jake’s breath caught for the briefest moment, the weight of the day easing just slightly. His tone softened as he replied, “I love you too, Nick.”

Bradley glanced at Jake, the corner of his mouth twitching in a faint smile before he slipped the phone into his pocket, the conversation settled.

They started toward the other side of the base the tension in the air wasn’t completely gone, but there was a shared understanding between them now—a readiness to face whatever was coming, together.

As they continued walking Bradley cleared his throat. “I think I should tell you that you're not the only one who got into it with Phoenix.”

“What?”

He nodded. “Nick called me saying there was a rumor going around the base about a fight over a woman and Coyote had to break it up. She tried to call you but you didn't answer so naturally she started to worry. She called me to see if I knew where you were. I didn't but obviously I said I would find you.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck. “But I was so angry I decided to confront Phoenix myself.”

Jake stopped mid-stride, turning to face Bradley fully. "You confronted Phoenix? What happened?"

Bradley's jaw tightened, his eyes darkening as he recalled the encounter. "Let's just say it didn't go well. She said some things…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Things about Nick that I won't repeat."

Jake's expression hardened. "Let me guess—more of the same shit she was spewing at me earlier?"

"Probably," Bradley confirmed with a grim nod."She brought up the video again.Trying to make what we have sound dirty. Used it all to try and shame Nick." He ran a hand over his face. "God, I could've killed her, Jake."

Jake's laugh was hollow. "Join the club. If Coyote hadn't stepped in when he did…" He shook his head.

"Hell, I grabbed her arm," Bradley confessed, his voice dropping low. "When she kept at it I… snapped."

Jake's eyebrows shot up, genuine surprise crossing his features. "You? Mr. Cool-Under-Pressure Bradshaw put hands on someone?"

"I know," Bradley sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Not proud of it. But the things she said about Nick…" His voice trailed off, the muscles in his jaw working. "I've never wanted to hurt someone like that before."

Jake nodded, understanding darkening his features. "When she threatened to tell Maverick… man, I lost it. If Coyote hadn't been there…"

"She threatened what?" Bradley stopped dead in his tracks, his face going pale. "She's going to tell Maverick about us?" She didn't say that when we talked. Just kept saying what do you think he'd say if he knew.”

"She said she'd tell him what his daughter has been up to, with both of us." Jake's hands clenched into fists at the memory.

Bradley stopped walking, his face draining of color. "Fuck, Jake. If she tells Maverick…"

"I know." Jake ran a hand through his hair, the strain evident in every line of his body. "That's why we need to talk to Nick. Figure out our next move before Phoenix does something we can't undo."

He nodded in agreement. “What exactly did she say to you to make you snap?”

Bradley's face darkened. "She just made a mockery of our sex life

And that it was disgusting what she does with us."

Jake's face hardened into stone, his jaw clenching so tight a muscle twitched visibly. For a moment, he was completely silent, the fury building behind his eyes like a gathering storm.

"She said that?" His voice came out barely above a whisper, each word sharp enough to cut. "To your face?"

"Yeah," Bradley confirmed, running a hand over his face. "She was on a roll."

Jake let out a harsh laugh, devoid of any humor. "Unbelievable. She's so concerned about Nick's agency, but she's the one treating her like she doesn't have a brain in her head. Like Nick hasn't thought all this through."

"That's exactly what I told her," Bradley said, shaking his head in disgust. "She doesn't get it. She doesn't want to get it. She just wants to tear this down because it doesn't fit into her narrow little worldview."

Jake's expression darkened further. "You know what this means, right? We can't trust her. Not anymore."

"I know," Bradley agreed, his voice heavy with resignation. "I told her to stay away from all of us. Made it clear we were done."

They walked in silence for a moment, the weight of the situation settling between them. The back hangar was just ahead, and through the small side entrance, they could see Nick already waiting, pacing back and forth with nervous energy.

As soon as she spotted them, Nick rushed forward, her eyes scanning both their faces with concern. "Hey," she said, her voice softer than usual. "Are you both okay?"

Jake reached her first, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. His lips brushed her forehead, his touch gentler than his tense posture would suggest. "We're fine," he murmured against her skin. "Just been a hell of a day."

Bradley joined them, his hand finding the small of Nick's back, completing their circle. "That's an understatement," he added, his voice rough with emotion.

Nick looked between them, her green eyes sharp with worry. "Tell me everything. No sugar-coating it."

Jake leaned against the workbench, his arms crossed over his chest, a storm still brewing behind his eyes. "Phoenix isn't backing down on how she feels about us," he started, his voice tight. "She confronted me at the gym," Jake continued. "Said some things I won't repeat. About you, about us. It got heated."

"Heated enough that Coyote had to step in as you know," Bradley added quietly. "And then later, she and I had our own… discussion."

Nick looked between them, her expression hardening. "I know you both had words with her but I need to know exactly what she said. All of it. No protecting me."

Jake and Bradley exchanged a glance, a silent debate passing between them. Finally, Jake sighed.

"She brought up the video again," He admitted, his voice tight. "She was pretty fixated on it."

Nick's face paled, her fingers digging into her palms. "What?"

"She used it against us," Bradley said quietly. "Called it ‘disgusting' and… used it to shame you. To shame all of us."

"She called you things I won't repeat," Jake added, his jaw clenching. "Degrading things. Because of what she saw in the video."

"Because I like to call you both 'Sir' during sex?" Nick's voice rose slightly, her cheeks flushing with anger. "Because I enjoy submission with two men I trust completely? That's what she's judging me for?"

"That, and the fact that you're with both of us," Bradley confirmed, his voice tight with restrained anger. "She kept saying we were 'sharing' you, like you're some object being passed back and forth."

Nick's face flushed deeper, her green eyes flashing with fury. "Of course she did. God forbid a woman actually choose what she wants instead of following some outdated script."

Jake pushed off from the workbench, his movements restless. "That's not the worst of it, Nick," he said, his voice dropping lower. "She threatened to tell your father about us."

The color drained from Nick's face, her eyes widening in shock. "She what?"

“When I confronted her,” Jake continued, “things got heated. She insinuated she’d go to Maverick and tell him…”

Nick’s face went completely white, her body suddenly rigid. “She wouldn’t,” she whispered, though the fear in her eyes said she believed Phoenix absolutely would.

“She would,” Bradley confirmed grimly. “She feels strongly that we’re making a big mistake and thinks she’s protecting us. If she believes going to Maverick is the way to do that, then yeah… she absolutely would.”

Nick sank down onto a nearby crate, her hands trembling slightly. “My dad would…” She couldn’t even finish the sentence, her eyes growing distant as she contemplated the fallout.

“I know,” Jake said softly, moving to kneel in front of her. He took her hands in his, his thumbs tracing gentle circles on her skin. “That’s why we need to figure out what to do before she makes good on her threat.”

Nick swallowed hard, her gaze flicking between them. “I just… I can’t believe she’d go that far.”

Bradley exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I didn’t think she would either. But after today? I’m not sure we know her as well as we thought.”

Silence settled over them — not empty, but heavy. The kind of silence that comes after a blow you didn’t see coming.

Nick leaned forward slightly, elbows on her knees, staring at the floor as if it might offer answers. “I just need a second,” she murmured, grounding herself with a slow breath.

Jake didn't rush her. He simply nodded once, steady. “Take as long as you need.”

Bradley shifted a little closer, voice low but certain. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Nick nodded, though her eyes were still distant. She stayed on the crate for a while — long enough for her breathing to even out, long enough for her pulse to slow, long enough for the initial shock to fade into something steadier.

When she finally lifted her head, she let out a slow breath. “About earlier… when you were telling me everything,” she said, easing into it naturally. “I know you two were trying to be honest with me. And I appreciate that. But… I could still feel you holding back a little.”

Jake and Bradley exchanged a look — not guilty, just acknowledging she wasn’t wrong.

Bradley spoke first. “We weren’t trying to shield you. We just didn’t want to stack more on you when you were already hit hard.”

Nick pushed a hand through her hair, then stood slowly, the movement deliberate. “I meant what I said — I don’t want you tiptoeing around me. Whatever happens, I can handle it.”

Bradley hesitated — a beat, just enough to show he heard her — then nodded. “…Alright.”

Jake’s mouth twitched, not quite a smile but close. “Noted, darlin’.”

Without thinking, Nick stepped between them — the most natural place in the world for her to be.

She let out a breath that wasn’t quite a laugh. “Well… between the three of us, we’ll sort it out.”

Jake opened his mouth to answer—

And then—

Something under the floor shifted.

Small.

Quick.

Strong.

Nick’s head snapped up.

A second jolt followed — sharper, enough to make a loose bolt on the workbench tip, wobble, and roll off the edge, clattering to the ground.

Bradley’s eyes flicked toward the far end of the hangar.

A third, heavier thump traveled through the concrete—and the sound echoed up right through the metal walls.

Taglist:

@meg626 @lunatygerqueen @og-baby-ob14 @khouse712 @football1921

Two months. Sixty days. Two full months back in the great state of Texas surrounded by his family and just in time for Longhorn football season. Maverick let him off easy to get this much time, but most of the Dagger Team was getting time off after the uranium mission.

Jake was just picking up his bag from the luggage pickup when he heard a familiar shrill and a set of arms around his legs.

"You're home!" The soft voice cried out from a three-foot-tall blonde cutie. 

Jake quickly turned and scooped up his niece, giving her a tight hug. Shrieks of laughter poured from her as she wrapped her arms around her uncle.

"How's my favorite niece doin'?" Jake asked resting her in one arm on his hip as he rolled his suitcase towards his younger sister and mother who were running to catch up to Elizabeth, his niece.

"I made you this. We drew cows in class today!" She exclaimed, her blonde pigtails bouncing as Jake continued to stride towards his mother.

"Looks like Bevo! Hi Mama. Hi Mary." Jake pointed out, as his mother came around to hug him. 

"Hi. I swear every time I see you, you're taller somehow." Mary teased reaching out to help get Elizabeth back on her own two feet. 

"It's cause he never stops eating. I have to stock up like I'm feeding a small army whenever he comes home." His mother complained as Jake shrugged and followed his family out to his mother's SUV. It was covered in mud and hadn't seen a car wash in days.

"Mama... how did you let Bessy get this filthy?" Jake whined as he helped strap Liz into her car seat, shrugging off his sister when she offered to take over. "I got her." 

"You know how it is during the summer. I can barely find time to get my hair done, let alone run through a car wash." She sighed as Jake moved to sit in the driver's seat. Happy to let his mother and sister relax while he drove.

"I'll take her out and get her all shiny again," Jake promised as he started up the white tank-like vehicle and started the trip back to the family ranch. 

"I see you got tanner since last I saw you." His mother teased patting his cheek as she watched out the window. 

"And thinner..." Mary added poking his side. Jake swatted her hand away with a grin as they pulled up to a stop light.

"It's what all the ladies like out there ma," Jake explained as he pulled on his beloved sunglasses.

"Speaking of ladies...." Mary started, leaning into the armrest between Jake and their mother.

"No. No speaking of ladies. Ma you try this every time I'm home." Jake sighed knowing where this speech was going. 

"And eventually my plan will work." She smiled. Jake just shook his head and turned onto the highway to head to the ranch.

Jake smiled seeing the metal arch with his family's name spanning across it, signaling the start of the long driveway up to the main house. He pressed the gas pedal down more, wanting to get to it sooner. 

Up ahead, he could see a black chevy truck rolling toward him. 

"Who's that?" Jake asked, knowing his dad always had a red truck and Mama had Bessy.

"Oh, that's Miss Armstrong. She's Liz's riding instructor. Dad likes to have her find horses for him." Mama answered shrugging as she was getting her stuff together to get out of the car.

"Dad lets someone find horses for him?" Jake asked, surprised his father would let that job fall on anyone but himself.

"Yeah. They got into a bidding war over a mare. Ended up letting her win but only if she let him breed to it. The damn thing went on to win at the reining comp last year. Ever since Dad likes to call her to find horses. She's a sweetheart. I think he just likes to talk horses with someone." Mama explained as Jake parked the SUV up by the house and got out.

"It's good to be home..." Jake sighed as he grabbed his bags from the back and headed in.

~~~~~

"Mama... enough." Jake sighed leaning back into his seat in the packed stadium. They had just found their seats when his mother started pointing out all the daughters from other well-known families around them. Running down the list of their achievements to Jake. 

For the better part of the first few days Jake had been home, his mother was trying to play matchmaker. Inviting a new family over each night with a pretty girl trying to get Jake's attention. While he could easily find his way into their bed, he wasn't about to add more fuel to the fire his mother had. He wasn't sure what he was looking for, or if he would ever be able to look for someone to settle down with. The idea of giving up his career just seemed improbable to him. 

"Jake.... you are almost thirty-five. Don't you think it's time to settle down? You were just complainin' last week about all of your friends not wanting to go out anymore." His mother huffed as a family moved into the row next to them, settling quickly. "and I need more grandbabies."

"I know Mama. But all the girls you've shown me can't handle this..." Jake gestured to himself, causing his mother's eyes to roll.

"The right one will." Richard, his father, commented as he sipped on his first beer of the game. 

"Speaking of which... is that you, Ms. Armstrong?!" His mother called, leaning past Jake to speak to the family in the row just across the aisle.

Jake followed his mother's line of sight, his eyes landing on a true southern beauty. The faded Longhorn ball cap kept the hot Texas sun out of your face, and the orange college shirt gave your skin a sunset-colored glow to it. Burnt orange was your color. The blue jeans tight enough to be painted on were giving Jake a hard time keeping his eyes from lingering too much. How had he never seen you before? Where had you been hiding?

"Hi, Mrs. Seresin. Did you guys finally nab some season tickets?!" You asked with a bright smile that was putting the stadium lights to shame.

"Yes! Mr. Seresin was fighting tooth-n-nail for those suckers! Have you met my son, Jake?" She asked pointing to Jake as if it wasn't clear enough.

"Ah... the infamous military son... nice to meet you, Jake." You reached a hand out after giving you his name, and he quickly reached over and shook it. Winking as he let it go.

"Infamous? What has Mama been tellin' you?" Jake asked shifting in his seat to face you more. You turned as well to face him, somewhat peaked by the living Ken doll that had been hiding across state lines.

"Oh, only the good things..." You smirked tucking a piece of hair that had fallen up into your ballcap. 

"Mama... why haven't you told me about Miss Texas over here?" Jake asked turning to face his mother, whose face gave away everything.

"I have been. She's the one who's been helping Dad pick out some new horses. And she's Elizabeth's riding instructor." Mama pointed out and Jake suddenly remembered the conversation from earlier. 

Though she was one name amongst a mile-long list of ladies that his mother thought he would be interested in. A needle hidden in a haystack.

"If dad trusts you to pick horses... you must be somethin' " Jake praised and you rolled your eyes. Tossing off the suggestion as the blush crept up over your features.

"I think your dad just likes having someone around to help with the horses. He knows better than I sometimes." You sighed as a few whistles blows from down on the turf caught your attention. 

"Sweetheart, why don't you come sit here? I need to bother your mama for some cooking advice." Mama Seresin asked and you glanced back at your mother, who was already pushing you toward the handsome stranger.

"He's cute." She whispered and you nodded before getting up and switching places with Jake's mom.

Jake's knuckles gripped white onto his armrests, watching you slide right in front of him. Winking up at you as you sat beside him, crossing your legs like a true southern lady.

"Didn't realize how tall you were from all the way over there." You teased raising a brow as you eyed up Jake before the starting whistle blew.

"Do you like football?" Jake asked, already trying to form his game plan to put his arm over the back of your seat. 

He gathered that you were quick enough to catch on to his plan if he wasn't too careful.

"I love football. Been counting down the days on the whiteboard in the barn til the season started. Doesn't hurt that it's also my Alma mater." You added with a bright smile on your face.

"Your qualifications are starting to look better than mine, darlin'" Jake teased, his eyes briefly looking at your lips before back to your eyes.

Your eyes narrowed, smirking as you turned back to the field as kick-off started.

Back across the aisle, two southern mamas shared some popcorn as they eyed their grown children.

"It's going quite well, doncha think?" Mama Seresin commented and Mama Armstrong nodded in full agreement.

"We are having a cookout this weekend... maybe you should stop by with those deviled eggs that my boys love so much..." Mama Armstrong offered, sipping the tumbler in her hand with a look that said everything else.

"What a wonderful idea... Jake mentioned he wanted to get back into the saddle. Isn't your girl working as a riding instructor this summer? For the state fair?" Mama Seresin asked glancing over to see her son smiling brightly, only occasionally glancing at the field. 

You must be capturing his attention if he didn't celebrate the first down the Longhorns just scored.

"She is. Already has a long list of students, but I am sure she would appreciate the extra help... or extra student..." Mama Armstrong offered and bumped shoulders with Mama Seresin.

"They are grown-ups... you two..." Mr. Armstrong commented as he watched both ladies turn and furrow their brows at him. "this isn't the 1800s."

"Nothing wrong with giving a firm push to help them out of the nest..." Mama Armstrong offered with Mama Seresin nodding in agreement beside her.

Back across the aisle, you were holding your cheeks from laughing too hard. Fanning yourself to cool off as your giggling continued. Jake was more experienced in the flirting department than you were. He was just finishing up a story about the Naval Academy and a loose goat when the announcer on the field announced that the longhorns were in the red zone.

"Get it in boys!" You called out, scooting to the edge of your seat, eager to watch the Longhorns get the first points in the game.

"And now a throw to the endzone... TOUCHDOWN!!!" The announcer's voice was downed out as the crowd erupted, both you and Jake jumping up in excitement high fiving as the fight song started to play.

"Good start to the game!" You smiled sitting back down in your seat.

"Now that the Longhorns are off to a great start... time to get a start learnin about you, Miss America..." Jake teased, his arm casually falling over the back of your seat.

"I'm afraid the story about me is rather quite short." You answered, side-eyeing him before leaning back, letting his arm cushion against the hard plastic seat of the stadium.

"Well, I'm a slow reader..." Jake winked and you smirked, looking everywhere but at him. 

In truth, you were trying to calm your trotting heart. You, suspected, that he just wanted to enjoy flirting with you and at the end of the game he would disappear like all the other men who ever demonstrated interest in you. 

"I grew up around here. Graduated from UT. I work mostly as a riding instructor. Sometimes I help acquire horses for ranches when they need an expert eye." You rattled off before showing interest in the play down on the turf. It was a solid run for another ten yards for the opposing team. 

Just as Jake opened his mouth to ask a question, the stadium erupted in chaos again and both of you were instantly drawn to the field, there had been an interception by the other team.

"Shit..." You mumbled leaning back into the seat deflated. 

"They'll make it work for them," Jake commented with a shrug before he let his finger brush over your shoulder. 

"Just don't want them gettin rattled from it." You explained grabbing the bill of your ball cap.

"Was that you leavin the other day from our ranch? In the black truck? We passed by it and Mama said it was Dad's new friend." Jake asked and you turned your eyes off the field and back at him.

"Yeah. He wants me to go to an auction tomorrow to look for some new cow horses. He wants to find an extra to have while you're around." You answered, talking towards him but your eyes were clearly on the game.

"Can I go with you?" Jake asked, jumping at the chance to see what you were like when a football game wasn't distracting you.

You glanced at him with a curious expression. Before furrowing your brows and turning towards him.

"It's going to be hot and smelly and boring for a prestigious sailor like yourself." You commented, wanting him to understand what he was getting into. 

"But if it's a horse for me, I should get a chance to look it over," Jake explained and you seemed to mull it over.

"Alright. I was gonna stop by in the morning anyway just to check in with your dad beforehand. You can ride with me then." You answered.

"I look forward to it, Missy." Jake teased as you smiled and turned back to the game.

~~~~~~

"And it's intercepted! Anderson..... the other way! The ten! The five! Touchdown!!!Anderson!!!! Seals the deal with a pick-six!" Even the announcer couldn't hide his excitement for the final play of the game. 

An interception returned for a touchdown, allowing the Longhorns to secure the win in the last few seconds of the game.

"Wooooo!" You cheered jumping up and down in excitement. Jake loved seeing you light up the area with your bright smile and burst of energy.

"Hell yeah!" Jake shouted high-fiving his dad and you afterward before whistling in excitement.

"Our lucky charm here helped us get the first win." Mama Seresin commented coming over to pat Jake lovingly on the cheek.

"He should come to more games then... Help us be undefeated this season." Your father praised as he came over to greet the other paternal figure of this little group.

"Only if you keep bringing this cheerleader here." Jake teased nudging his shoulder into yours. 

You just rolled your eyes with a smile before glancing at the mothers who shared a look that told you that you would wind up in this stadium more often.

~~~~~

"Morning sunshine..." Jake's father, Richard called out as Jake walked out into the dining room. 

"Morning, pops. Whatcha reading at this hour?" Jake asked making himself some coffee from the pot already brewed, he assumed, by his father.

"The auction catalog. Gotta give Y/N the list of picks." He responded, sipping his coffee as he circled something on the catalog.

"You let her bid on horses for you? You wouldn't even let me do that." Jake asked sitting down as he looked over the catalog.

"None of ya took up the horse sense. Mary left to go be a nurse and you took to the military. No one is around to help me out. I've bred to her family's horses several times, so I know she gets it. And I think she's a bit lonely." Richard sighed as he underlined something. 

"Lonely?" Jake asked as he was trying to read the catalog, honestly struggling a little. It was like a foreign NATOPs manual. He could understand some things.

"Dad's an engineer. Mom's a principal. Both brothers are off somewhere else. She also doesn't have anyone to talk to about this stuff. Plus Elizabeth loves her. I don't mind having another at my table. Speaking of which..." Richard leaned back in his chair out the front door to see your truck pulling up into the driveway. 

"Just help her out, alright? I don't always trust those old cowboys with her." Richard warned and Jake nodded, not sure what he had gotten himself into.

"I will. Am I dressed alright for it?" Jake asked and Richard gave him a once over.

"Yeah. Take one of my hats." He ordered pointing to the rack of cowboy hats. 

"Morning!" Your voice filled the room and both men turned to greet you. Dressed in jeans and a black tee, your ball cap came off just as you entered the room.

"Morning. Right on time." Richard teased looking at his watch before you sat down in the chair across from Jake. 

"What's on the list today, boss?" You asked taking the catalog from his father.

"Founda few colts that could be interesting. Check their cannon bones. One mare has some solid lines, but she might be snapped up quickly. Need to start looking for a horse for Liz for her birthday. You know what she likes. And I need a new cow horse, gelding or mare works. Stay away from the creams, don't like 'em." Richard explained and Jake watched you pull out a notebook from your pocket and start writing down a list of notes as his father spoke.

If he didn't know any better, he would assume you were his long-lost sister from his dad. You two settled into easy conversation and here was Jake lost on what was being said.

"Any cattle?" You asked as your eyes met Jake's who just flashed you his Hollywood smile. 

"If you see some longhorn steers, I'd be interested. Be good to have some around for practicing." Richard answered as he dug out his wallet and pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to you. 

"What's this for?" You asked knowing usually it was a check for horses. 

"Find him something to ride. Let him pick it." Richard answered and you smirked as you handed Jake the cash.

"Don't lose it. And listen to her." Richard patted Jake's shoulder as he got up to refill his coffee. 

"Alright, I'll call you if I find something off the list. Is it okay to take the big trailer?" You asked as you walked over to the row of hats and handed Jake a black stetson.

"Take it, you might need it. Make Jake help you hook it up." Richard answered as Jake felt like he was the odd man out there.

"Anything else, pops?" Jake asked as he put the hat on and looked at his dad. 

"Make sure she eats. And you too. Just tell me how much it is and I'll get it back to you." Richard answered as he grabbed his work gloves and a hat off the rack. 

Jake followed him out of the house and over to where you were with the trailer. 

~~~~~

After a short drive and helping you park the large trailer in the huge gravel lot, it was time to start hunting for horses.

"I'll be honest with you, darlin'... I am out at sea here. Can you toss me a life ring? What's going on?" Jake asked finally feeling like he was alone with you. 

"I'm sorry. You just got home and now you're here helping me. I bet you weren't planning on this. You can hang out in the truck if you want to. I'll tell your dad you helped." You offered, kicking in the wooden blocks underneath the trailer tires to keep it from rolling should something happen.

"Darlin, you aren't hearing me... I can handle anything. But give me a briefing on what's going on." Jake asked and you nodded, taking a big breath.

"This is an auction, lots of people bring horses and cattle for people to bid on. Your dad and I have an agreement to help him find horses. This is a catalog, that shows all the animals for sale. Your dad gave me notes on what he wants in exchange for breeding rights and training. We go and look at a few then we can bid. You are here to keep me company and be an extra set of eyes. Think you can handle that?" You asked smiling.

"So I'm just your arm candy today?" Jake teased and you rolled your eyes. 

"You may be the best-lookin' cowboy here, but I am putting you to work, today." You teased handing him the catalog and a pen. "Find the numbers as we look, and write down the notes beside their names. Got it?" You asked and Jake nodded. 

"Yes, ma'am" He responded saluting you before following you towards the first pen of horses. If anything else, he at least got to enjoy your backside as you looked.

"Let's start here. Find the section for yearlings." You ordered over your shoulder as you started to look over several horses in a pen. 

"So you do think I am handsome?" Jake asked as he flipped to the section a little quicker thanks to the table of contents. He could already see his father's handwriting in the margins along with, what he assumed, was your writing. 

"I think every woman this side of the Mississippi thinks that. Mark out number seventeen." You ordered. "though you are so cute..." You baby talked to the little colt who was sniffing your hand. 

"I know I am." Jake's pen scratched out the name and he saw you roll your eyes as you moved on to the horse. "what do you look for?" Jake asked leaning up against the metal bars.

"In a man or a horse?" You asked running your hand over the ears of a dark brown horse. 

"Both." Jake watched your face, smiling as your eyes were scanned over the horse in front of you, your brows furrowed in concentration. "though I have more interest in the first."

"Intelligence. Dependability. A good ride." You answered kneeling to look at the hooves of the brown colt.

Jake couldn't help but smile as you were subtly flirting back with him. 

"Well, I check all those boxes... what about this little guy here?" Jake asked as you were still looking over the colt.

"He's very good lookin. Solid legs. Big chest. Little butt high, but I'm willing to overlook it for now." You answered and turned to look at Jake. "Circle number nineteen." You ordered taking another look over the horse before walking away. 

"Darlin we aren't going to make any progress in this catalog if you just keep talking about me..." Jake teased and you gently smacked his shoulder before giggling. 

"I'll give you your report at the end of the day." You answered turning a corner and heading to the next section.

"And I'll give you mine." Jake offered and you agreed before stopping and looking at him.

"When's the last time you rode?" You asked glancing around, wanting to find a horse for Jake as his father had ordered.

"I could ask you the same question...." Jake leaned up against the metal divider and you gave him a deadpanned look.

"There are children around here, Seresin." You added gesturing your head to the small children running around just a few yards away.

"It's been years. I imagine it will be like riding a bike but a horse is a lot different than an aircraft." Jake explained and you nodded coming beside him and flipping through to the next section of older geldings. 

"Wait... you're a pilot?" You asked looking up at him with a shocked look.

"Yeah. Apart of the 1% of pilots." Jake answered you seemed surprised.

"Your parents did not mention that. Feel like I should be addressing you formally. What rank?" You asked leading him over to some horses.

"Lieutenant," Jake answered before leaning in close to you to speak so only you could hear. "But you can address me however you want, sweetheart." He whispered.

Your side eye accompanied by a blush let Jake know he landed a direct hit on you. You didn't have a snide to toss back at him and you just stared ahead at the horses. 

"What color of horse do you like?" You asked finally, clearing your throat. Seeming to come out of whatever headspace Jake had put you in. 

"I'm only going to be here for two months, find me something you like. That way I know it's in good hands." Jake offered and you nodded. "we'll tell dad I picked it." Jake offered and you walked over to a different section, clearly now on a mission.

"He's handsome." You commented, eyes landing on a black horse with a white spot on his head and white on his feet. 

"Tell me what you like about him, so I can tell dad," Jake asked leaning on the metal bars as you walked around the makeshift stall.

"He's tall. Which would make sense for someone of your height. Good chest and legs. Already broken so you can ride him, though I'll be the true test of that." You bent down and looked underneath. "Intact... interesting..." You sat back in thought.

"Intact? What does that mean?" Jake asked and you smirked, making a scissoring motion with your fingers. 

"He's not snipped. He can make babies. And probably pretty ones..." You explained and Jake smiled.

"We'd make pretty babies... according to our mamas," Jake added and you rolled your eyes again. 

"Also up for debate. We'll have to see what he goes for. Circle eighty-six." You finished before coming over and taking the pen from him and the catalog.

"Come on now... don't take my only job..." Jake whined and you giggled as you flipped the page for the colt and jotted some notes down. 

"Here, you can have your job back." You smiled and handed it back to him.

"We've got about half an hour until it starts, anything else you want to look at?" Jake asked and you paused, looking around. Jake stood by your side, creating a little bubble for you to think in while people passed by.

"I wouldn't mind looking at the foals... though I'm sure your father wouldn't like to see one in the trailer..." You sighed looking through the catalog. 

Jake grabbed the belt loops of your jeans, pulling you out of the way of a passing rider while you were thinking. 

"How have you survived these things before, Darlin? You're going to get run over..." Jake warned as he gently maneuvered you to a safe location. 

"Sorry... Got a little lost in thought" You mumbled giving him a look before focusing back on the catalog. Jake just stood by, your unwavering protector as people and horses passed by, unaware of the young pair hiding out. 

"Let's go look at the foals... I'm sure you'd survive dad's wrath." Jake took the catalog from your hands and let you lead him. 

This time he stayed a little closer to you. It was clear it was getting close to the start time, and more and more people started to show up. Where once you were able to freely walk between the rows, now he had to hold onto your belt to not lose you in the sea of bodies.

"Oh look at that cutie..." You cooned, finding a chestnut foal hiding in the tail of her mother. You held a hand out to the dam to pet her while you sweet-talked the foal. 

"What number is the mama?" Jake asked looking in the catalog to find the horse and foal. 

"Twenty-four." You answered as the little foal came over to sniff your hand curiously. 

"Do you want to see the book?" Jake asked holding it out to you. 

"Yeah, bring it here." You asked petting the nose as he leaned down and held out so you could read it. He watched your eyes scan the page and nod.

"Should I circle the number?" Jake asked and you sighed before nodding. 

"Yeah... she's too cute to pass up... though your dad will scorn me. I have a soft spot for foals." You explained and Jake smiled as he circled the number.

"Just blame me." Jake offered and you shook your head.

"No, trust me, your dad knows I usually end up looking at the foals. Let's go find a seat before I steal this cutie." You cooed smiling as you stood up. 

"Only if I can hold your hand, I lost you like twice in the crowd on the way here." Jake offered his hand out, you hesitated for a moment before taking it and leading him towards the seating. 

You both settled in and you explained to Jake how the auction worked. You opened up the catalog so it laid across your legs pressed together. He rested his arm over the back of your chair as you waited for it to start.

"Is that Seresin's boy? When did you roll into town?" An older gentleman asked as he was scooting down the bleachers to find a seat. 

"Just flew in a few days ago. How are you, Mr. Loyd?" Jake asked leaning forward to shake his hand as the older farmer sat down. 

"Can't complain. Are you keeping this one in line?" He asked gesturing to you. You scoffed and swatted your hand at him. 

"It was one time... Mr. Loyd..." You added causing you both to chuckle.

"I feel like I'm missin some history here..." Jake questioned and Loyd turned to face Jake.

"This one here made drove up the price of a mare I was looking at. Barely beat her out. But I tell ya what... that is the best-behaved mare I have in my stable. She was worth every penny." Loyd praised looking at you with a knowing smirk.

"I just knew if I spent any more than that, Mr. Seresin might have my hide." You giggled and Loyd nodded knowingly. 

"You keep ahold of your pocketbook, she'll burn through it if you aren't careful," Loyd warned, waggling a finger at you before patting your knee gently. 

"If she gets all the horses she's looked at today, dad's pocket is gonna be empty..." Jake teased earning a glare from you before he leaned back, smirking at his words.

Before you could get the scornful words out, the announcer came on and started his spiel to get the auction started.

"7... 12... 19... 24... 86." You muttered under your breath as you glanced around, seeming to count the number of buyers here.

"Which one is my horse?" Jake asked whispering to you.

"86. Hopefully, everyone leaves by then and no one will bid him up high." You answered bouncing your leg in nerves.

"We got this..." Jake assured you his fingers gently stroked your back as the auction started.

The number seven horse was a chestnut colt, you attempted to bid on the horse but it ended up going way up in price. Even Loyd backed out once you backed out. Jake shrugged it off, assuring you that you made the right call.

The number twelve horse you didn't even try, you noticed he was acting lame as he walked around. 

Two down. Three to go. 

"Here is number nineteen. A good-looking bay colt. We are going to start this at $1,000" Your hand shot up to start the bidding. 

Jake watched you seeing your brows determined to get the colt. Another man across the bleachers was biding against you, but you knew Jake's dad would love this colt. 

"Going once... going twice.... sold for $3,000 to the lady in the back..." The gavel hit down and you smiled wide. Even Loyd turned around to congratulate you.

"Your dad will be happy with that one. It's all the things he likes in a colt. He can geld it if he wants to." You explained leaning back. 

"Next is your special little foal.." Jake mentioned flipping to the page circled with the little chestnut filly.

"I won't go above fifteen on her. I rather save it for your horse." You explained and Jake nodded, not sure how you landed on that number but he trusted you.

Loyd leaned back and looked at you, taking his catalog with him and flipping to a page.

"Thoughts on this little filly?" He asked and Jake watched as you looked over the page. 

"She's got great lines. Be a good reining horse. How did she look?" You asked and Loyd pulled out his phone and flipped to a picture of the filly. 

"She needs to be shoed but she's smart, you can tell," Loyd explained and you nodded. 

"I would go after her. If anything, she's going to be a good trail horse and broodmare prospect." You offered and Loyd nodded before turning back around.

You turned and noticed Jake watching you with a bright smile. 

"What?" You asked and he shook his head, patting your knee. 

"I'll tell you later. Your baby is coming up next." Jake explained and looked around, having felt eyes on him.

A few bleachers down, he spotted a few young high-school girls looking at him and whispering. He smiled at them before turning back, making sure to rest his arm behind you.

"Here is number twenty-four. A quarter-horse mare with a month-old filly. Start at $700." Once again your hand shot up, just not able to stop yourself from pursuing the foal.

Jake watched a few hands go up, bringing the price up to a thousand easily. He watched as your hand raises became less quick and less confident. 

"Sixteen hundred, do we have Sixteen-hundred?" You shook your head, leaning back and sighing, biting your lip. 

Just as the auctioneer was about to close the sale, Jake held up two fingers.

"Two thousand... do I have twenty-one hundred?" The announcer called out, and your head snapped to face Jake. 

"What are you doing? Your father will have both of our asses for a mare and foal." You asked as the announcer gaveled on Jake's two thousand. 

"Not if I pay for it." Jake offered, shrugging as you shook your head.

"Jake... No... I... look if you are just trying to ge-"

"I'm not after anything. I am sure if you saw something in that little one, it's worth the money." Jake explained and even Loyd glanced back with a smile.

"Told ya she'd burn through it." He joked and you leaned back in defeat.

"I was going to give at fifteen. Now I'm in debt to a Navy Pilot" You sighed and Jake laughed a bit.

"I would consider a date tomorrow as fair payment..." Jake offered and you looked up at him with hesitation.

"That's a huge payoff for buying me two horses. That doesn't seem fair." You pointed out. Jake leaned back so only you two could hear, rather than the nosey Loyd.

"And how about free riding lessons? I'll come with Liz and see how good of a teacher you are." He offered and you nodded. 

"Oh, the girls will love that. Deal." You reached your hand to shake it, Jake shook it before you two started to talk about something else. Waiting for his colt to come up.

"How much do you think my horse is worth?" Jake asked after about an hour of waiting with you. 

You had been right, most of the buyers had left beside a few that had been consistently bidding throughout the sale.

"He's not a flashy color so that works in our favor. And he's mixed lineage so also in our favor. Probably four thousand, though obviously if we can get him for less the better." You explained and Jake nodded.

"We'll get him. I'm sure Dad can put him to work when I'm not around." Jake mentioned and you nodded. 

"Now we are into the stallions. This first one is here number eighty-six. A black stallion. We are starting at one thousand." 

Jake's hand shot up, holding yours down with his other hand. You tried hard to lift your hand, but he reached across to pin your hands down. Loyd was chuckling as he raised his hand as well. 

"Loyd don't encourage him..." You scorned and Loyd chuckled as Jake kept biding as if someone else would try to outbid him.

"You said four right?" Jake asked leaning over, he currently had the bid at two thousand. 

"Yes... don't be crazy with it." You warned as Jake bid again as another bidder dipped out. 

"Don't worry Darlin.." Jake cooed as the auctioneer was trying to get a last bid in. 

"Three thousand.... going once.... going twice..."

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Bradley wasn’t used to being in relationships. He’d never been in a real one before he met you. He’d rather sleep around or date around before you came into his life and he fell head over heels, and you’d managed to change his whole perspective. 

With that being said, he sometimes slipped back into his past way of life and old habits, and it sometimes put a strain on your relationship. 

It was a Friday night and you and Bradley were out at a restaurant, but you’d been quiet for most of the evening. The waitress, who was pretty and had a seductive tinge to her voice, had been eye-fucking Bradley all night, seemingly ignoring the fact that you were sitting right across the table from him. 

And, probably without meaning to, Bradley ate it up. He didn’t turn down her advances or shoo her away when she hovered for too long. He smiled when she complimented him, instead of telling her that he was flattered but taken. 

It pissed you off. 

And Bradley was oblivious to all of it. 

So when you were sitting next to him in his Bronco on the drive back to his place, he broke the tense silence. “Are you okay? You’ve been quiet all night,” he mumbled, his eyes on the dark road ahead of him as he tried reaching for your hand. “What’s wrong, baby?”

You scoffed quietly, wanting to push his hand away, but unable to. So you loosely laced your fingers with his as you replied to him with a high level of sarcasm, “What’s wrong?” you repeated the question, your voice one of disbelief. “I can’t believe you even have to ask me that.”

While you usually stayed calm during these kinds of arguments, you’d grown tired of being the level-headed one. You grew sick of the same thing happening every time you went out with him. 

Turning to Bradley, you glared at him in the dark truck. “That fucking waitress was flirting with you all night, and you didn’t say anything. You let her compliment you, touch your fucking shoulder when she walked by, and don’t think I didn’t see her write her number on the fucking receipt, Bradley,” you vented, dropping your gaze to the pocket of his jeans where you knew the receipt was after he shoved it in there. 

Bradley raised his brows as he pulled over onto the side of the road and put the truck in park. “Woah, hold up,” he said when he turned to face you. “First off, I’m sorry, alright? I shouldn’t have let that slide, especially since you were right there.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand before running his fingers through his hair. Bradley hated confrontation, you knew this, but how else were you supposed to go about this? Pretend like he wasn’t hurting you all the time? Act like him openly accepting winks and subtle touches from other girls was okay?

“I’m still figuring this shit out, okay? Relationships and boundaries and all that stuff, it’s all new for me. Yeah, I fucked up tonight, but I’m trying, Y/n. I really am,” he mumbled, tightening his hold on your hand. “I care about you more than anyone else, and I don’t want to lose you over some dumb waitress.”

You narrow your eyes, pulling your hand away from his quickly as you cross your arms. “Some dumb waitress? Well, you must be forgetting about the fact that you have that dumb waitresses phone number in your pocket right fucking now, Bradley,” you mutter, “You should’ve said something, literally anything would’ve been better than nothing, which is exactly what you did.”

Bradley sighed heavily, shaking his head as a look of frustration formed on his face. “Look, I told you already, I know I fucked up, but you’re acting like I cheated on you or something,” he muttered, his voice harsher than he intended it to be. With a huff, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the receipt, crumpling it in his fist before he threw it somewhere in the back of the truck. “I wasn’t even paying attention to the fact that she wrote her stupid number on it, okay? You know I wouldn’t knowingly do something like that to you.”

You scoffed, narrowing your eyes at him even more as a fresh wave of anger washes over your body. “I’m not acting like anything,” you mutter, shifting on the seat in an attempt to put more space between you and him. “Invalidating my feelings and trying to guilt trip me isn’t going to work or get you anywhere.”

Your voice dropped in pitch as you looked down at your lap, a shaky sigh leaving your lips as you felt the normal fatigue that came with arguing with him weigh down on you. 

“I’m telling you that you fucked up and made me feel upset. I’m not asking for your excuses,” you murmured, looking back over at him with guarded eyes. “Especially since they’re the same every time.”

Bradley was the one glaring at you now, his brows drawn together in frustration. “Excuses? I’m not making excuses, I’m trying to explain this shit to you. You act like I’m always doing this, but it’s not like that,” he said back, his voice rising slightly. “Yeah, I sometimes give you excuses, but I don’t know how to apologize properly or show you that I hold you higher than anyone else in my life.”

You shut up at that, your gaze softening as you shifted again, uncomfortable as the tension grew thicker and thicker. You felt suffocated, and Bradley looked like he was feeling the exact same way. 

“I’m trying. I really am trying. But sometimes I feel like, no matter what I do, it’s never enough for you. That maybe you’re just waiting for me to fuck up again so you can use it as an excuse to get mad at me, or as proof that I don’t deserve to be with you,” he said quietly, his previous angry tone fading into a much softer, almost sadder one. “And maybe you’re right.” 

You raise a brow, a look of confusion crossing your features as you turn to face him fully. “Right about what? What are you talking about?” you asked, tensing up a bit as you felt your face start to heat up. “What are you saying here, Bradley? Are you…do you want to break up? Is that it?” 

Bradley stayed quiet for a few seconds before he met your gaze. “I’m saying…that I feel like I’m constantly walking on eggshells around you, always worried about saying the wrong thing or doing the wrong thing. Like, no matter how hard I try, I can’t ever meet your expectations,” he confessed, his voice steady despite the way his jaw trembled a bit. “Living like that, it’s exhausting, baby. It’s fucking draining.” 

Your lips parted in an attempt to form a response, but you weren’t sure what to say. It was clear that both you and Bradley had been put through the wringer trying to make this work between you. It was honestly heartbreaking to see that things had gotten this bad. 

“I can’t keep pretending to be someone I’m not just to keep you happy,” he whispered, reaching over to lace his fingers with yours. “I don’t want to lose you, but if this is how it’s always going to be - me constantly apologizing and you waiting for me to screw up again - then maybe we should just…stop.” 

Your anger washed away instantly, your lips quivering as tears stung your eyes. “Wow,” you whispered back, nodding slowly. “That’s…fine. Okay.”

Pulling your hand away from his, you subtly wiped at your eyes as you sat up straight, sniffling quietly as the weight of what was happening crashed down on you and made your throat feel tight with sobs you refused to let out. 

“Take me home?” you asked, your voice shaky as you clear your throat. “Please?”

Bradley closed his eyes as he pressed his lips together, a look of regret flashing across his face as he nodded and sat back in the seat. “Of course I’ll take you home,” he murmured, putting the truck in drive and pulling away from the side of the road. 

The drive to your place was miserable, filled with your quiet sniffles and his heavy exhales. Ten minutes went by before he pulled up in front of your house, and it felt like you were going to pass out if you weren’t away from him in the next few minutes. 

But then he got out and rounded the front of the truck as he walked to the passenger side door, opening it for you. “Come on, I’ll walk you inside,” he said, his voice rough with unshed tears, and he offered his hand to you. You wanted to sob right then and there, because he was so sweet when he wanted to be, and this was the version of him you fell in love with. The whole reason you switched bases, so you could be closer to him and see him everyday. 

So you allowed yourself to indulge in him one last time as you took his hand and let him walk you to the door, where he kissed you on your forehead, apologized again, and then he was gone. 

And you were alone.

-

The Hard Deck was rowdy as usual tonight, and an old song from the 80’s was playing on the jukebox as Jake leaned down to line up his shot at the pool table. He was currently kicking Nat’s ass, but his focus wasn’t 100% on the game like it normally was. 

Probably because you were here tonight, and Jake is really, really into you. 

He always had been, ever since the night Bradley introduced you to his coworkers in this exact bar, a whopping two years ago. You were stunning, the most beautiful girl Jake had ever seen, and he was still trying to accept the fact that he is jealous of Bradley fucking Bradshaw. 

Well, he was jealous of him, but you two were broken up. Jake supposed he was still kind of jealous of the bird man, simply because he got to experience a whole two years with you by his side, but the idiot let you go, so how jealous could he really be?

You were sitting across the bar, a frown on your face as you looked down at your untouched drink and ran your finger along the rim of the glass. Jake knew you were going through a rough time right now since yours and Bradley’s break up was still pretty recent, and he couldn’t imagine how hard it was for you right now since your ex was also here, he was just on the opposite side of the room from you. 

Jake felt for you, he really did. He wanted to go over to you, strike up a conversation and maybe cheer you up a bit, but he didn’t know where to start. All he knew was that he hated the sad look on your face, and he wanted to be the reason you smile tonight. 

When you lifted your head and met his gaze, the faintest, tiniest smile formed on your lips as you raised your hand in a lazy wave, and his heart faltered a bit. 

He quickly finished his shot, ignoring the annoyed groan from Nat as he set the cue stick aside. Jake walked over to you, his boots thudding against the worn floors as he tried to think of what he was going to say to you that may lighten the mood. “Hey,” he said quietly, sliding onto the stool beside yours. “Mind some company?”

You gave him another weak smile, one that wasn’t even close to reaching your sad eyes as you shrugged, looking back down at your drink. “I don’t mind,” you answered, your voice quiet as you studied the amber liquid in the glass. “Though I’m not sure how good of company I am right now.” 

Jake nudged your elbow with his own, not one at all for giving comfort since he never really cared to, but he cared about you. A lot. “Hey, don’t say that, Y/n/n. You’re always good company, no matter what,” he said back, then looked over his shoulder at Bradley, who was currently engrossed in a conversation with Bob and Fanboy. “So, how’ve you been holding up?”

You shrug again, tracing random shapes onto the surface of the wooden table you were sitting at. “I haven’t been. Not really, anyway,” you confessed, your voice a bit monotone. “It’s just…not a good time for me right now. I don’t even know what happened. I just…I can’t believe it’s over, just like that. But it was for the best. I know that.” 

Jake nodded slowly, unsure of what exactly went down between you and Bradley, but unwilling to push for answers, because you clearly weren’t in the right headspace right now. The last thing he wanted to do was upset you further. “You’re strong, Y/n/n, you’ll get through this,” he said, “Sometimes relationships just…run their course, you know? But that might not be a bad thing, because let’s be honest here, you were way out of that guy’s league.”

He quickly regretted what he thought were a poor choice of words, but you let out a quiet laugh, and Jake suddenly didn’t regret a thing. “Thanks, Jake,” you murmured, “Hopefully one day I can believe that.” 

A comfortable silence falls upon the two of you, and it’s only broken when you turned your head and looked over at your ex again, and an embarrassed blush took over your face as you shook your head. 

“I don’t even know why I’m here tonight. I thought maybe alcohol would help me, but I can’t even bring myself to drink that,” you mumbled, pushing your untouched drink away from you as you stood up. “I’m gonna go home. But thank you, Jake. I…I kinda needed that.” 

When you placed a gentle, albeit awkward, hand on his shoulder, Jake looked up at you and nodded. “Of course, that’s what friends are for, right?” he said back, his voice equally low. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

You pressed your lips together in a tight smile as you nodded, then he watched as you turned around and headed for the exit, your head bowed as you pulled your jacket on. 

-

A few weeks go by and you’re still upset about the breakup, but you’ve been a lot less mopey and depressed. And a lot of it had to do with Jake. He’d been so nice and sweet and so…there for you, and you appreciated it more than he probably knew. 

It was less busy at the Hard Deck, and Bradley was nowhere to be found, but you weren’t even looking for him that much. It was still a little hard not to, but you were working on it. 

“I still don’t know how you’re so good at this,” you laughed, bending down over the pool table to line up your shot. “You’re, like, freakishly good at everything.” you added, then groaned when you failed to hit any of the solid colored balls. 

Jake laughed, his eyes lingering on the curve of your back as you leaned over the table, then he quickly snapped out of it. Get it together, Seresin. Jesus.

“Or maybe,” he started, moving to take his own shot, and a few seconds later, an array of striped balls sunk into different pockets of the table. Jake straightened up, a smug smile on his face as he leaned on the pool cue. “I’m just naturally gifted.”

You raised a brow, shaking your head as a small smile formed on your lips. “Naturally gifted, huh?” you echoed, lining up another shot. “Well, your natural gifts are becoming a natural pain in my ass.”

Your tone was light and playful, making it known that you weren’t at all being hostile or mean towards him. He was really the only person who had been able to get you out of that negative headspace you’d gone into after Bradley walked you to your door for the last time, and you really weren’t sure what you’d do without him right now.

Another groan left your lips as you aimed carefully, only to end up hitting nothing at all again. “I give up,” you mumbled, leaning against your pool cue as you reached for your beer. “I fucking suck at this.”

Jake laughed again as he circled the table and walked towards you. He set his own cue aside and stepped closer, his frame towering over yours as he placed his hands on your hips and guided you back to the edge of the table. “Here, let me help you,” he offered, sliding your hand down the cue stick so you were holding it at the correct angle. 

His chest pressed against your back, his body completely covering yours as you tried not to comment on how fucking good he smelled, or how nice he felt against you, because that would be too much right? Way too much to be something a friend would say, right? 

“It’s about control,” he said, his breath tickling your ear and making you suppress a shiver as he helped you line up the shot. With a nudge of his hand, the cue ball rolled smoothly across the table, knocking several solid colored balls into the pockets. “There. See? You did good.”

You pressed your lips together in an attempt to fight off your growing smile. “Wow, that was so cool,” you teased, turning your head to look at him as you subtly leaned further back against his body. “But you’re wrong. I didn’t do good, because that was all you. All I did was stand there.” 

Jake’s arms stayed wrapped securely around your waist, his fingers gently digging into your hips as he looked down at you. “Well, someone has to teach you how to play properly,” he said back, his eyes flickering towards the table as he observed the remnants of the game. 

The door to the Hard Deck opened, and Jake glanced over and almost instantly met Bradley’s gaze. He saw the mix of emotions in his brown eyes as he took in the sight of you in Jake’s arms, but instead of getting mad or coming over here, Bradley just swallowed hard, shared a look with the blond aviator, and headed towards the bar. 

You didn’t notice your ex at all, and when Jake looked back down at you, he saw that your face was a cute shade of pink, and he felt his feelings for you grow even stronger. Then he leaned in again and dropped his voice into a deeper tone, “And maybe I just like having an excuse to touch you,” 

His words hung in the air, and you felt your heart jump a bit in a way it hadn’t in so long. You bite down on your lip as you feel a warmth take over your body. “Well,” you whispered, looking back at him again, and when your gaze dropped down to his lips, you moved away and leaned against the table that held your drinks. You grabbed your beer and took a sip of it, hoping the cold liquid would cool your body down. “Since you’re so confident, maybe I’ll just watch you for the rest of the game.” 

Jake gave you a small grin, a knowing look in his eyes as you hid behind the rim of your glass. “That’s fine with me,” he said back, leaning down to line up his next shot as the tension between the two of you grew more and more. 

There was no denying the attraction you both had for each other or the undeniable chemistry, but Jake had learned to be a patient guy, and he would wait for you to make that final move when you were ready to. Or if you wanted to, and he hoped like hell that you did. 

-

It had been just under six months since yours and Bradley’s breakup, and you hadn’t thought about him much at all. It was so hard at first, but as the months went on, you really saw how better off you were without each other. Or at least how better off you were without being together. 

You still cared for him, and you always would, but you were just finally able to see that it would’ve never worked in the long run, no matter how much you loved each other. 

You weren’t sad anymore, and a big reason why was because of Jake. You and he had been hanging out so much, you almost forgot what it felt like to really and truly connect with someone, and you really connected with him. 

He didn’t crowd you, didn’t force you or pressure you into talking about things you weren’t ready to talk about, and he gave you the time to heal yourself while providing a shoulder for you to cry on if you needed it, and you weren’t sure if he knew just how much that meant to you. 

You and Jake were way past the point of not being totally and completely comfortable with each other and sharing things; like sipping each other’s beers, or having him finish your food when you’re too full, or just sharing a blanket. 

It was a lazy night at your place, and you and he were having a horror movie marathon - Jake’s choice since you had made him sit through five romance movies the previous weekend. “Ew,” you cringed as you watched a rather gruesome scene in the newest installment of the Halloween series, and you shifted closer to him under the blanket you were sharing. “How do you enjoy watching this gory stuff? It’s so…unsettling.” 

Jake laughed, his arm instinctively wrapping around your shoulders. “Hey, some of us appreciate the art of graphic violence,” he said back, pulling you closer as his fingers played with your hair. “Besides, it’s all fake blood and prosthetics. No real harm done.” he added, his thumb brushing idly over your collarbone as he looked up at the screen, but his attention was almost completely on you. 

You laughed quietly, shaking your head as you leaned into his touch subconsciously. When the scene faded into another round of pure bloodshed, you winced again. “But it’s so cheesy,” you pointed out, watching as a helpless victim gets stabbed to death by an overpowered killer. “I mean, why is she just laying there and not trying to, I don’t know, get up and run for her life?”

Jake snorted. “Because horror movies need their characters to be dumb as rocks for the plot to work,” he said, then looked down at you as his expression softened. “But, you know, if anything like that ever happened to you, I’d protect you and make sure you don’t suffer a cheesy death.”

You hummed, shifting so you’re fully facing him, your front pressed to his side as you lifted your arm and propped your elbow on the back of the couch. “Really? You would? You’d protect me from the usually seven foot tall, machete or knife wielding psycho?” you question, a teasing smile on your lips as your fingers brush against his shoulder. “How sweet of you. Maybe a little stupid, but sweet.”

Jake’s eyes flickered down to your hand, his focus completely on you instead of the movie that was quickly beginning to sound like background noise. “I’d die trying to, at least,” he said back, and his fingers wrapped around your wrist as he guided your other hand to rest against his chest. 

You pressed your lips together as your gaze wandered all over his face. “That’s a pretty big promise,” you murmur, your fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt, and you could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath your palm. “Are you sure you’re…ready for that?”

Your words felt like they held a double meaning in them, and he searched your eyes for any hesitation or doubt. “Ready? Y/n/n, I’ve been ready for…a lot longer than you probably think,” he answered and watched the way your eyes widened a bit at his confession. His thumb stroked along the inside of your wrist as he leaned in a bit closer. “I want everything with you.”

Your breath hitched a bit as you let your gaze drop down to his lips. A million thoughts ran through your head, the what ifs and doubts hitting you like a freight train, and multiple voices told you that this was a bad idea and that you needed to stop before you got your heart broken again. 

But the other thoughts, the happier ones, the hopeful ones, were overpowering the negative ones. Jake wasn’t Bradley, and that was good, because you and Bradley simply weren’t compatible. You knew that. But you and Jake had a connection, and you also knew that connection ran deep.

So you leaned in and pressed your forehead to his, gently bumping his nose with yours as you looked into his eyes. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted this,” Jake breathed, his heart now racing against your palm, and his words made you smile. “Wanted you.” he added, and your smile only grew before he leaned in and tilted his head until his lips met yours. 

The kiss started off soft and sweet, a gentle first taste of each other as you both reveled in the unfamiliar feeling of one another. As the seconds went by, Jake’s head became fuzzy as he pictured all the times he imagined this very kiss with you, but none of them lived up to the real thing. 

One of his hands came up to cup your cheek, angling your head as he deepened the kiss while his other arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you flush against his body. 

A quiet moan left your mouth as you kissed him back, your eyes squeezing shut as you fisted the fabric of his shirt. Your other hand came up to caress his face for a few seconds before it moved further up to tangle in his hair, and you gave it a gentle tug. 

Jake groaned, his arms circling around your waist as he broke the kiss to look at you. The intense look in your eyes matched his own, and your lips were slightly wet and puffy from his, and he never wanted to let you go. He never wanted you to feel the hurt you did nearly half a year ago ever again, and with him, he knew you never would. 

And when you leaned in and kissed him again, Jake let you pull him down on you as you moved to lay back on the couch, and the rest of the night was spent exactly like that.