Aly

“Yeah, well, where exactly is it you want me to go?” he sassed in a whisper, narrowing his eyes at her. “Can’t get out,” he punctuated with a gentle shove to the closet doors. “Can’t back up,” he leaned back against the wall behind him, barely moving at all since he had already been practically pushed up against it before. “And you can’t back up either. So we’re stuck too close.”

She didn’t reply at first, only looked at him in a way that made tingles rise up his spine. She was surveying him, practically analyzing his every movement. It made him unease, made him feel like she knew every thought that passed through his – currently very one track – mind. The more his eyes got used to the darkness, the more he saw of her. The curve of her cheek, the way her eyelashes kissed her skin every time she blinked, her heaving chest that she was trying to conceal from him – probably to keep the stoic and confident front she’d built up just for him – her soft breaths hitting his chin with every exhale…

It was all a little too much for Joe. He was just a man after all. A man stuck in a closet at a fancy dinner organized by the Bengals, practically pressed against a beautiful woman who wouldn’t take her eyes off of him. 

“You’re blushing,” she said matter-of-factly, and it only had him flushing a deeper shade of red. He forgot that her vision was improving with each passing second too, and that his shaky breath, shifting eyes and blown pupils would give him away far sooner than he would’ve liked. 

“I’m not.”

“You are,” she grinned, reaching up to pinch his cheek yesterday, to which he swatted her hand away half-heartedly. “Your cheeks are all warm and pink. It’s adorable.”

“It’s not,” he argued back, but even he could hear the hesitation and fault in his voice, teetering on breaking. 

“Is it cause of me?” she tilted her head, red lips stretching out into a wide smile. God, she was beautiful. “It is, isn’t it? You think I’m pretty, Burrow?” she teased, voice almost sing-songy as she did. 

She bit her lip, and Joe wanted nothing more than to pull it from between her teeth with his thumb. But that would be unprofessional, he reminded himself. Not that he really needed to be that professional around her, they didn’t work together. But it was close enough, given the fact that she was only there because her father worked for the organization. She was off limits by association, even if he didn’t think he could pick her old man out of a lineup with a gun to his head – but in his defense, the Bengals employed hundreds of people, both directly and indirectly. There was no way he could be expected to remember them all. 

Joe couldn’t bring himself to answer her question. He couldn’t lie and say he didn’t, but on the other hand, there was no way he was going to tell her straight to her face that she was gorgeous either. Not right now and not this way. Maybe at a candlelit dinner, or on a walk around the pond by his house, or assembling Legos in his living room – all ideal dates in his mind, though he didn’t really know why he was thinking of her and dates in the same breath when he’d only just met her a few hours ago – not in a cramped closet with itchy coats scratching their arms and teasing glances he felt belonged anywhere but where they were. 

“I’m gonna take your silence as a yes, then,” she giggled, reaching up to loosen the tie around his neck. His breath hitched as her knuckles brushed against his throat, and it bobbed as he swallowed harshly, but he let her continue all the same. Tugging it loose, she let it hang around his neck before undoing the top buttons on his pressed dress-shirt. 

“Why are you… undressing me?”

She shrugged, like the whole thing was casual. Joe’s beating pulse begged to differ, but he stayed quiet, waiting for her reply that he assumed would be just as theatrical and flirty as her previous ones had been. Though he couldn’t say he minded too much.

“You look kinda nervous, honestly,” she told him, more genuine than he had been expecting from her. His eyebrows rose and he wanted nothing more than to press her for more, for once, but he let her gather her thoughts and continue at her own pace, seeing she still had something left to say. It was his fault for assuming she’d stay as heartfelt. “And hot. You look hot. Literally and figuratively.”

He rolled his eyes by reflex, but a smile still graced his blushed face. “You’re a flirt.”

“Only with hot athletes who could probably break us out of here with ease if they really wanted to, but I think they kinda wanna stay locked in here with me for a bit longer,” she bit her lip and this time she noticed when his eyes caught onto the movement and lingered. “Oh you wanna do a lot more than stay in here with me,” she teased with a laugh.

She wasn’t wrong, no matter how much he wanted her to be. He wasn’t a brute by any means, but if he wanted to he could break the door down without breaking a sweat. Or if he wanted to choose an even easier option, he could just call out to someone to open the door for them. He would’ve already been out of there if he wanted to, but he didn’t. 

And the second part… she wasn’t completely wrong on that account either. But Joe wanted to be a gentleman. He wasn’t one as often as he would’ve liked, not much at all really in the traditional sense at least, but he still wouldn’t messily make out with just anyone in a coat closet at a charity dinner he had been trying to ditch just ten minutes ago. 

 Joe’s jaw tensed, molars grinding together as he pursed his lips. His hands flexed by his sides, itching to reach out, but even that slight movement had the tips of his fingers brushing against her side. He pulled away like she’d burned him, but she only followed. She took half a step forward, barely anything really, but with how close they’d been to begin with, it erased whatever space there had been between them. 

Her chest was pressed to his, her hands splayed over his pecs, head tilted up to look him in the eye, her lips only inches from his. Then, she reached up on her tiptoes, like she hadn’t already been helped upward by her heels, and he felt her lips brush against his jaw. His breath caught in his throat and he could’ve sworn he felt her smirk against him, like it was some game. He hated that he didn’t mind the thought all that much. 

“You gonna kiss me?” she whispered and he stilled. 

For a fraction of a second, he leaned down, nearly closing the distance, before clearing his throat and straightening his back. She would’ve pulled away, taking his rejection for what it was had his hands not splayed over her hips while he did, keeping her body pressed against his.

“No,” he sighed. “Not today.”

With how strong she’d been coming off, he half expected her to take offense. At the very least to deflate a little. But instead she smiled, real, toothy and nothing like the overconfident persona she’d projected before. Almost like she was proud and maybe even a little giddy at the thought of him actually showing some agency of his own, finally getting a counterweight to all her endless pulling. 

“Well – at the risk of sounding desperate – when?”

He sighed, not heavy or annoyed, just the way he always did when he thought. His eyes flicked up to the ceiling, where a turned off light stared back at him. “Umm, depends on when we get out of here, I guess. But maybe next week. After an actual date, hopefully. I don’t really do closet hookups, it’s a little too middle school for me.”

He was surprised by his own words, but he didn’t feel the need to backtrack in the slightest. Something about her was just so intoxicating. He wanted to see more of her, find out everything about her. And definitely feel his cheeks heat up in her presence again, no matter how juvenile it made him feel.

“You wanna go on a date with me?” she tried to tease, but her genuine excitement betrayed her, shining through an exterior he couldn’t wait to pick apart. Hopefully only temporarily, though. He liked her overconfidence; the flirty touches and bedroom eyes, the way she looked at him like he was the only man in the universe, the way she made blood rush to his cheeks at a frankly alarming pace. “I should accidentally lock myself in closets more often if this is the outcome.”

“Please don’t,” he grinned. “Let’s let that be our thing.”

“Oh so we have a thing now?”

“Don’t start,” he sighed, lip twitching like he wanted to smile. 

“Seriously though, if you’re not gonna break the door down and get us out of here, we’re gonna have to come up with something to keep us entertained while we wait for someone to stumble by.”

Joe stayed silent, thinking of something, anything, that seemed at least comparably enticing to what she was not-so-subtly suggesting. He’d already said no once, but twice? That was a tall order.

“I’ve got offline solitaire on my phone?”

She stared blankly at him for a second and he was sure he’d blown all his chances to hell, up until her mouth quirked up into a smirk like his words had been exactly what she’d been expecting. Nerdy and hot and slightly awkward but still somehow confident; just her type.