Chapter Text
You can count on me like one, two, three. I’ll be there.
And I know when I need it I can count on you, like four three, two, and you’ll be there.
‘Cause that’s what friends are supposed to do, oh, yeah.
Bruno Mars
The elevator ride to the tenth floor was awkwardly, almost unbearably, quiet.
As quiet and uncomfortable as the minutes since they had been told there was just one room for the two of them to share. A miscommunication somewhere along the lines. A fully booked hotel in a city of fully booked hotels. No option other than to share a room.
“There are two beds,” the desk clerk had said brightly, under an illusion of being helpful.
Athena had leaned into the young woman and asked if she worked with any of the gentlemen present. The clerk had cast her eyes towards the older of three men, and Athena had quietly asked how she would like to spend the night in a hotel room with him. The woman had shaken her head, and Athena had almost felt sorry for making her point.
“Didn’t think so. Not my ideal, either – so if a room comes available, you’ll let me know. Right? Thank you.”
Walking towards the elevator, Bobby being Bobby defended the clerk.
“It isn’t her fault, you know.”
Athena glared at him but said nothing.
Staring straight ahead, Bobby caught a glimpse of Athena on the elevator’s reflective surface. She was standing to his left, a step behind, avoiding his eyes. He had heard part of her interaction with the desk clerk, and he was aware how awkward this could be – especially for her.
They’d been friends for over a year, but Athena had been married for most of that. Now she was a recently divorced fifty-year-old woman trying to find her way in an unfamiliar, sometimes brutal landscape. Last thing she needed was a complication with a colleague.
Not that he would have minded.
No straight man with half a brain would have minded.
But now, here they were, forced to share a hotel room for the better part of a week. People could get ideas. He could get ideas, for all she knew.
Not that he would.
None that he would act on, anyway.
No matter how much –
When the elevator doors opened, Bobby stepped aside to allow Athena to exit first, waiting until she had rolled her luggage into the hallway before following a couple steps behind. Looking at the room numbers, they silently made their way to the shared room. Neither had spoken a single word to the other since making eye contact and agreeing with mutual nods to take the only room on offer, and he wondered how long it would go on for.
Maybe he should say something.
Anything, Nash.
Too late.
Athena opened the door and stepped inside, briefly leaving Bobby alone in the hallway. Quickly scanning the room and trying to figure out how the hell this was supposed to work, she stood hands on hips and shaking her head. They were booked for four nights, and this space was not big enough for two people not intimately acquainted.
Why do rooms this small even bother with two beds?
Placing her bag near the bed closest to the bathroom, Athena looked back at Bobby with raised eyebrows as if to ask if that choice was okay with him. She didn’t want to be a jerk about it, after all. Not like it was his fault. Satisfied with a subtle nod that he was, in fact, happy to let her choose which bed to take, she plopped down on it.
With her back to him, she closed her eyes. It had been one helluva long day already, and if she’d had the luxury of a private room, she would be considering a late afternoon nap right about now – and she would definitely be ditching the shoes and the bra, even if she had to put the damn things on again for dinner.
Then again, room service is a thing.
Bobby knew he needed to navigate carefully. He and Athena were in a good place – had been in a good place for months – and he didn’t want to say or do anything to upset the apple cart. He quite liked being in Athena’s good books. The conversations that came more easily than with anyone else he knew. The shared jokes and the way she seemed to just get him. The long shifts that passed more quickly with the potential of shared calls.
The evenings when she invited him over for a meal and to watch television, when they would lose track of time, and welcome the new day without a wink of sleep between them. Or the nights when exhaustion overtook them and they fell asleep sitting side by side and didn’t awaken until the morning sun greeted them.
Yes. Being in Athena’s good books was a helluva lot more fun than being in her bad books.
And he would know.
“I could, uh – I could sleep in my truck. Just use the shower.”
It would not be the first – or the last – time he had slept in his truck, after all. He wouldn’t even mind, if it made Athena more comfortable. He began to mentally check off the things he would need to carry back down.
Athena looked at him with an expression he couldn’t quite name, but he was pretty damn sure she wasn’t impressed with his offer.
It was almost cute.
“You will not sleep in your truck, Bobby.” She lay back against her pillow, closing her eyes. “We’re both adults. We can figure this out.”
He nodded in silent surrender before offering one final out.
“If you change your mind, let me know. Offer stands till we leave.”
Athena really needed to drag her bones off the bed and into the shower if she wanted to be half-way presentable for dinner. Instead, she turned onto her side and looked across the room to where Bobby lay on the other bed. His eyes were still closed, and he appeared to be sleeping. She watched him for a moment, smiling at how soft he looked when he was relaxed.
“Are you awake?” she asked quietly, not wanting to disturb him if he was, in fact, asleep.
“Yeah,” he mumbled.
“Hungry?”
“Starving.” With that, he cracked one eye open and turned it towards her. “You?”
“Famished.” She thought back to their last meal that day and did a mental calculation. “It’s been seven hours since we had lunch.”
“What time is it?” he asked, quickly propping himself up on an elbow and squinting his eyes to focus on the bedside clock. “Damn.” Looking back at her, he blinked and continued. “Want to go out or get room service?”
“I vote room service.”
He nodded and let out a relieved sigh.
“Me, too.”
Having placed their orders, Athena decided a shower was still a good way to fill the time while waiting on their meals. Besides cleansing her, it might just wake her up, too – and it meant less time making awkward small talk.
Why is it suddenly so weird being in the same room with him?
They trusted each other implicitly - had to, in their line of work. And it wasn’t like they didn’t regularly spend long hours together, sometimes with the 118, but often just the two of them, and she loved how easy things were with him.
And Bobby is a good man.
This was nothing new.
Well, the beds are new.
Intentionally sleeping in the same room – that’s new.
Still, Bobby had never once given her reason to feel unsafe around him.
Had often gone out of his way, in fact, to do exactly the opposite.
It’s all in your head, Athena. Just calm the fuck down.
Bobby had not given it a second thought when Athena stood and announced she was going to have a shower, except to wish he’d thought of it first. It had been a long drive on a hot day, and a cool shower would hit the spot.
Maybe if she hurries –
If she were to hurry, he could perhaps fit in a shower before their dinner arrived, too. Of course, it had been years since he’d shared accommodation with a woman, and he had grossly underestimated just how long Athena would be.
What the hell is she doing in there?
And then his mind wandered – as minds often do – to the situation they had found themselves in.
To Athena, in the shower, just on the other side of that door.
Athena, who would sleep beside him the next four nights.
So to speak.
What is she doing in there?
He closed his hand into a fist and pressed it against his mouth, eyes closed.
He turned on the clock radio to silence the sound of the falling water.
He picked up the TV guide and tried to distract himself.
To think of anything except how close and how naked she was.
Right on the other side of that door.
Athena could have stood beneath the streaming water all evening had her stomach not reminded her how damn hungry she was. Towelling dry and pulling on a pair of panties, fleece shorts, and a tee shirt, she took a good look at herself in the mirror and figured she could get away without the bra. With a sly grin and a glance at her thick backside, she figured that was her best feature, anyway. Always had been.
What the hell, Athena? What’s got you thinking –
She considered changing before remembering she had spent evenings wearing similar in Bobby’s presence, and it had never been a problem. Not once. Of course, she also often wore a police uniform and a gun in his presence – and well, now she wasn’t.
Now she was freshly showered, and she smelled nice, and she looked good, and –
Get out of your head, ‘Thena. You don’t see him that way, and he doesn’t see you that way.
Stop making it so damn weird.
Uncovering their meals, both stared silently down at them for a moment. Bobby finally reached for the menu and compared what they had ordered to what they had received.
“Well, I guess it matches the description.”
“Yeah,” she agreed, creasing her brow. “Were there burgers on that menu?”
Bobby chuckled and lay the menu down.
“Nope.” Chewing his lip for a moment, he lifted his eyes to look at her. “I could go grab a couple, though.”
That time, Athena laughed, and it made him grin. Her laughter had always been infectious, able to drag him into a better mood just for having heard it. One day, he might even tell her –
“God, how long have we been eating food on the go?”
“Way too long. Burgers and hotdogs and tacos – ”
“ – so real food looks alien and unappetizing to us now?” Athena sat at the small table and placed a napkin on her lap. “Let’s, uh – let’s at least give it a go. You game?”
Bobby wasn’t convinced he wanted to give it a go, but he sat dutifully opposite Athena and did exactly that. She was his best friend, after all – not that there was competition for that title. Not outside the 118, anyway. Not that they’d ever put such a label on their relationship.
And if he were asked, he’d first introduce her as his colleague.
Probably.
Nobody’s damn business what else they were to each other.
Still, sometimes he wondered if he would go to the ends of the earth if she asked him to.
Other times, there was no doubt.
Eating this meal?
No problem.
Problem.
What the actual hell had he been thinking?
His attention span was shot to hell and his gaze all over the place, but he kept returning to her eyes. He’d always thought Athena was an attractive woman – he’s not blind, and he’s not stupid – but he’d always kept it professional. Now, sitting across the table from her in a shared hotel room – side-by-side beds clearly visible in his peripheral – he couldn’t stop staring.
And her lips.
Every word she formed on those lips had him captivated, hanging onto every one of them. Every pout, every pucker, every time they twisted into a smile.
And if that wasn’t enough?
She’d come out of that damn bathroom wearing shorts that showed off acres of ebony skin and a tee shirt that should have been harmless and might have been, had she worn a bra beneath it. Instead, he could see the shape of her breasts and the peaks of her nipples against the fabric.
He was pretty sure he’d been caught out a couple times already, but he was only human, and she was a goddess. There was no other way to say it. A goddess, who deserved a whole lot better hand than the one she’d been dealt.
And he was going to burn in hell for the thoughts in his head.
He just hoped she hadn’t noticed the blush creeping up his neck and reddening his ears.
God, where was this coming from?
He didn’t know. Didn’t want to know. Didn’t want anything coming between them.
What he did know was that this was Thursday, and they weren’t leaving until Monday.
Somehow, he would have to focus on something else.
Anything else.
Surely, he could do that.