#jereoff

It all started when Geoff had gone outside to grab the paper. The brown tabby had wandered up to him then, appearing from the bushes lining his porch and rubbing against his legs with loud purrs; Geoff had knelt down to scratch its ear then, cooing over the cute animal in a way he would absolutely deny he did if Gavin or Jack were there.

From then on, it seemed the little feline had decided he was it’s new best friend. When he went out back to do yard work, there it was, sitting on his patio table, purring loudly. When he knelt down to weed along the flower beds that he never understood why he kept, the cat was there rubbing up against him.

And now, after a long day in the Austin sun, Geoff had gone in for a bottle of water, only to find this fucking adorable, mysterious cat on his damn counter.

Which is where Geoff found himself now, still holding the water, and starting at the cat in his house. And the cat stared back, as if daring him to do something about it.

Before he could, though, a knock on the door startled him from the contest, internally cursing at the fact that he lost to a fucking freeloading cat.

So he wasn’t entirely in the best of moods when he opened the front door, his face probably contorted in a scowl. Of course, who can scowl for long after being greeted by a man with a bright shock of green hair, and a rather cute worried smile on his lips.

Shit, since when did this neighborhood have so many cute beings living in it?

“Uh, hi. My name’s Jeremy. I moved in next door, like, a week and a half ago,” the man, Jeremy, spoke, reaching up to rub at his neck nervously. Oh, he had very nice arms.

Geoff gave him a lazy grin, leaning against the door in what he hoped was a suave manner, “Well, Jeremy, it’s nice to meet ya. I’m Geoff. What can I do ya for?”

“I’m, uh, looking for my cat, actually,” Jeremy laughed lightly, and Geoff straightened back up. Cat. The fucking cat.

Of course the cute neighbor would have a cute, if slightly annoying, cat.

“Brown tabby, affectionate as fuck, is into breaking and entering?” Geoff asked, watching as Jeremy brightened considerably, smile going wide. Shit, not only did he have nice arms, but his smile was amazing, too. Oh, he was so boned.

“Yeah! So you’ve seen him?”

“Dude, he’s sitting on my kitchen count-,” Geoff was cut off by a loud meow and the feeling of a cat rubbing against his legs, “Or, well, he was.”

“Scooter,” Jeremy took a disappointed tone with the cat, who seemed unbothered by it, choosing to move over and rub against Jeremy’s legs, “What have I told you about freeloading off of other people?”

His only reply was a purr as he bent down and scooped Scooter into his arms, cat happily rubbing against Jeremy’s beard, Jeremy unconcerned as he grinned, a hint of something in his smile, “So, Geoff, what can I do to thank you for dealing with my delinquent pet?”

Oh. Cute neighbor was flirting. Geoff absolutely liked where this was heading. Might as well take a chance, right?

“Oh, I don’t know, man. Maybe dinner? You and me, tomorrow night?” Geoff really hoped his smirk looked more like relaxed confidence than nervous anxiety.

It must have, because Jeremy returned his sly grin, “I think that sounds like a date. I’ll be over around 7.”

“I look forward to it.”

Heists were great adrenaline rushes. The problem with a rush that hard though is the subsequent crash. Jeremy crashed harder than most when he did, and would often sleep for twelve or more hours after a heist. If for whatever reason, counting, security, anything, he didn’t get this sleep, once he had the chance to rest he’d be completely useless for days.

After this latest heist, Jeremy had payments to make. They’d borrowed against their payload from the job to cover equipment costs and Jeremy had a few lenders to go make happy. Normally it was the sort of thing Jack would handle, but Jack insisted on everyone else being about to do all of her jobs at all times. It was a symptom of an acute sense of mortality that the rest of them didn’t properly share. Or at least that’s what he called it when he didn’t feel like accusing the team second in command of being lazy.

He also owed Geoff a blowjob.

His leader and boyfriend got him off in turn, snuggled in behind him and jerking him off. Then they relaxed and settled in for the cuddles. Or at least that was all Jeremy wanted to do. He was just beginning to drift off pleasantly when he realized that Geoff’s hand was gently wandering across his body. Jeremy’s eyes open and he asked gently “...what’re you doing?”

“Learning.” Geoff answered gently, shifting closer and lifting is his head to rest it on Jeremy’s shoulder. “You’re so short I keep forgetting how much of you there is to get to know.” he turned his head, pressing a kiss to Jeremy’s collarbone before nuzzling in and petting Jeremy’s side.

Jeremy snorted and tucked his head down to kiss Geoff’s shoulder in turn. “We’ve been together for almost a year and you’re still learning my body?”

“I was too busy getting to know the rest of you.” Geoff argued, more gently than his usual playful retorts. Jeremy felt his breath catch and Geoff looked at him. “You pushed too hard this week, didn’t you?”

Jeremy wanted to answer honestly. Wanted to tell Geoff yes, that he needed rest. Instead he just answered “If I can’t pull my weight I’m useless to you.” It was obvious from the way Geoff paused that he was hurt. Moreso when he sat up suddenly. Jeremy reached for his boyfriend demanding “What? Geoff, it’s true, what…?”

“I can’t believe you’d even imagine you aren’t pulling your weight.” Geoff scolded. “...and I hate that you think you could ever be useless to me.”

“Geoff.” Jeremy propped himself upon his elbows. “I love you. Really. ...but if I’m ever just your...lover? And I become dead weight to every part of the crew but your penis, I really need you to kick me out.”

“Only way anyone else is leaving this crew is a body bag.” Geoff grumbled, arm winding around Jeremy’s waist as he leaned into his shoulder again.

Jeremy pressed his weight harder onto one elbow and reached to stroke Geoff’s back. “I know.” the answered heavily.

Geoff looked up for just a beat, then leaned up suddenly and kissed him hard. “No.” he answered. “No. Jeremy I’m not letting you go.” he paused, then “I don’t even know why we’re talking about this.  The shit we do is hard. Really intense life-and-death stuff. IT’s okay to shut down afterwards. You pull through when we need you to, but honestly if no one’s gonna die if you don’t jump in, you officially have my permission to delegate. You know we’ve got B-Team for a reason.”

“Fucking heroes the housefull of them.” Jeremy mumbled, dropping back against the bed and wrapping his arms around Geoff.

Geoff laughed.  “No, if they were heroes they’d be fighting us. Damn good gangsters is what they are.”

“Amen.” Jeremy agreed. Then he shifted, stretching the best he could without letting go of the older man. “Thanks for the reminder.  You’re so good to me it’s easy to forget you’re the big bad.”

“Mmm, how am I good to you?” Geoff asked suggestively.

“Like this.” Jeremy grabbed him tight and rolled, flipping them over and leaning over him. He kissed Geoff hard.

Geoff was drunk the entire afternoon. Jeremy did not, could not take that as a good sign.

“What’d you say to him?” Jeremy demanded, pulling Ryan aside just before leaving work.

Ryan looked Jeremy dead in the eye and answered simply “I told him what love is and asked if there was anyone he felt that way toward. He left for drinks, so I’m guessing it’s not me.”

“Ryan!” Jeremy scolded because he didn’t know what else to do. He scolded because he didn’t dare hope.

The next morning when Jeremy got to work, Geoff was the only one there. The greeting “hey Lil J” was carefully neutral enough.

“Hey Geoff.” Jeremy slipped into his desk, put on his headphones, one ear on the other back, and became absorbed in his work without another word. He wasn’t sure how much later it was that he finally became aware Geoff was talking to him. Pulling off his headphones he looked up abruptly. “What was that?”

Geoff’s expression went from...something intent? To frustrated in an instant. “...oh you’re fucking kidding me.”

“What?” Jeremy blinked.

“Nope.” Geoff stood up. “No way, not saying any of that again. Sorry. You try to figure it out yourself, I have a meeting.” and with that Geoff took off. Jeremy tried to call after him, but nothing coherent came out of his mouth.

Seeing Geoff for the rest of the week was frustrating and exhausting and Jeremy never knew what to say to him. Because he had no idea what Geoff said to him. The weekend home alone was even worse, completely disconnected from his life at Achievement Hunter. He streamed just to keep himself occupied, but he wasn’t ready for work on Monday.

He waited in his car a good five minutes before walking into the office, and sure enough, it was just Geoff. “Alright.” he said finally “I can’t do this anymore.” he took a deep breath, then asked “How’d your talk with Ryan go?”

Geoff looked up. “I told you already.”

“I wasn’t listening!” Jeremy half-shouted “I was working! Geoff...Geoff, I love you, but if you wanna have a heart to heart with someone you really need to make sure you have their attention first.” Geoff went strangely quiet. He didn’t respond, he just stared at Jeremy until Jeremy’s heart was racing and he couldn’t breathe. “What?” Jeremy demanded.

“You do, huh?” Geoff asked, voice soft but challenging.

Jeremy was confused for a beat, then he realized what he said and flushed dark red. “Geoff I…”

The next thing he knew, Geoff was kissing him.

Gavin’s birdlike scream echoed through the house and Geoff found himself scrambling to the upstairs bathroom to find out what had happened. The scene when he arrived, bathroom door open, Gavin soaking wet, soap in his hair, wrapped in a towel that’d been hit by the still-running shower spray and the cause of the screaming, Jeremy, standing closer to the doorway covering his eyes with one arm and blindly groping for the doorway to leave with the other.

Geoff took Jeremy’s hand and tugged him from the bathroom. “Jesus Christ, Gavin. We all have the same parts around here, you didn’t need to freak out.”

“But he’s your boyfriend!” Gavin protested

“Ooohhh my god…” Jeremy mumbled, tucking his face up against Geoff’s shoulder “Michael’s gonna kill me…”

Geoff sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “Michael’s not gonna kill anyone, Jeremy. Geez. Gavin, get back in the shower.” and with that he slammed the door closed and put an arm around his boyfriend. “You alright, Lil J?”

Jeremy nodded a bit meekly and Geoff walked him downstairs to the living room. Once out of the scene, Jeremy burst out laughing. “Holy shit, Geoff...Gavin just...lost it. I guess I did too?”

“Yeah you did.” Geoff responded. He considered, then asked “what even happened?”

Jeremy sobered again and looked at Geoff sheepishly. “I thought he was you?” Geoff slowly put the pieces together from that, and a moment later dissolved into laughter. Jeremy rolled his eyes as they settled on the couch. “Okay, it’s not that funny.”

“Yes it is.” Geoff argued, still laughing.

“Okay, it is.” Jeremy agreed, starting to giggle again.

They curled into each other on the couch, cuddled together giggling. Eventually a fully dressed and still very red Gavin with damp hair came and joined them. Sitting on the far end of the couch and going for the remote. “Netflix?” he suggested, so innocently it set the other two off again.