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Poker night at Rossi’s was always a treat. That time, you’d offered to help Dave with dinner, arriving a couple hours ahead of the rest of your family. Hotch had swept the last game of Texas Hold ‘Em on the jet, and the team wanted retribution.
It was Morgan’s idea to bring a date. You knew he was looking for a convenient excuse to bring Savannah and properly introduce her to the team. It just so happened you were looking for a similar excuse to come clean about your relationship with one particularly handsome unit chief.
Rossi was an excellent teammate, and you two moved as a unit in the kitchen, making twice the usual amount of food while sharing a bottle of wine. You skirted questions about your love life, turning them back around as often as you could. He was good enough at his job that he knew you were hiding something, but let it go for now.
“I can’t wait to meet him. He must be incredible if he brings that smile to your face,” Dave had said, after your third or fourth dodge and second glass of wine.
You only blushed and raised your glass. “I’ll drink to that.”
Spencer and his boyfriend arrived first, walking out onto the back patio to enjoy the remaining dregs of sunshine – not before Spence planted a kiss on your cheek. Garcia followed suit after a few minutes, dessert in her arms.
Derek and Savannah followed with JJ, Will, and Emily. Rossi left you alone for a while, making sure everyone was taken care of and settled. Emily didn’t need a poker partner, preferring to act as an attaché to JJ and Will’s team.
The big kitchen window overlooking the backyard provided you the best view of your little family. The girls had started dancing, and even Savannah joined the fun – encouraged by JJ’s sweet disposition and Emily’s good humor.
You were dicing vegetables when you heard familiar footsteps approach behind you, keys still in his hand.
“Hello, my love,” you said, not looking up from your task. You usually had command of tactical weapons, but you’d cut yourself more than once in the kitchen and couldn’t afford to tear your eyes from your work.
Aaron reached you and pressed a kiss to your temple, resting his hands on your waist with his chest flush against your back. “Hello yourself. Missed you.”
You resisted the urge to duck away from the window, checking to make sure the team was still occupied outside.
“It’s been three hours, Aaron,” you said, a smile on your face. You all had wrapped up the case in the early afternoon, and you didn’t have any party clothes at his place, so you had to go back to yours.
“Still too long, by my count.” He squeezed your waist playfully and moved, leaning against the counter beside you, his arms crossed and a small dry smile on his face.
You rolled your eyes. “It’s a wonder you let me out of your sight at all.”
He huffed a laugh, and you knew if he had his way, he never would.
When you’d finished throwing the veggies in with the chicken stock, you turned and tipped your forehead into his chest, your hands slipping under his coat. He kissed the top of your head and left his lips there for a moment, and you could feel his breath in your hair.
“Ready?” He asked.
You nodded, straightening. You swallowed your nerves and covered your fidgeting by fixing the collar of his polo shirt, smoothing nonexistent wrinkles.
“Let’s go get ‘em,” you said as you brushed his cheek with your fingers. He leaned into your palm, kissing it and breaking away from you.
You let Aaron walk out onto the backyard in front of you, and he snagged a beer when Rossi offered. You took up residence in the arch of the sliding glass door, crossing your arms and wondering how the hell he was going to tell the team.
“Damn it, Hotch. You were supposed to come with a partner. It’s not fair if you don’t have a decision-making handicap!” Emily’s voice rang out across the yard, accompanied by a rude gesture, and it took everything you had not to laugh out loud.
“Who says I didn’t?” Aaron called over the music and held his arm out, looking over his shoulder and smiling broadly at you. You grinned and jogged up to him, ducking under his arm. He tucked you into his side and pressed a kiss to your temple, looking altogether self-satisfied and smug.
You two had played hot and cold in the office for nearly seven months since you’d started dating, taking advantage of the team’s skillset and always keeping tabs on who was picking up on what. It was a bit of a game, really. He’d snap at you in the bullpen, you’d snap back, get called into his office, and share a laugh.
“It’s about damn time!” Will called, raising his beer bottle. Hotch mirrored his toast and took a long draught.
Money exchanged hands, and it seemed Spencer and JJ made off with more than the others. Morgan looked betrayed. Serves him right. Rossi hid a smile behind his wine glass, and you could swear he shot Aaron an approving nod.
You escaped Aaron’s embrace after everything had settled down. Everyone was still staring as you sat down at once of the corner seats, your arm stretched over the back of what would become Hotch’s chair.
“Are we going to play,” you said over your shoulder with a cheeky grin, “or would you all rather keep your money tonight?”
It was a low blow – Aaron was the strongest poker player in the BAU (maybe even the entire bureau), and you the best strategist of the lot. The team was decidedly doomed.
“This,” Rossi stated, taking a seat, “is exactly why we don’t play with money.”
That broke the ice, and you breathed a sigh of relief as you laughed with the rest of the team. Your arm dropped to your side as Aaron took his seat beside you, draping his arm across your shoulders.
Three rounds in, you decided you loved Savannah. She was a shrewd player, and you both spent a good amount of time rolling your eyes at the antics of your men.
Will and JJ put forth a good showing, with four of a kind in the second round, but you and Aaron were sweeping with high margins most of the time.
The real game lay between Hotch and Spencer. Hotch didn’t have a tell, as far as anyone knew, and Spencer had too many to count and was therefore impossible to track. In fairness, Hotch’s tell never showed above the table. A bad hand found his fingers tapping arrhythmically on your inner thigh, where his hand had been planted since the second round.
“All in.” Spencer pushed the chips into the center of the table, letting them fall into a pile. His boyfriend looked on in shock, smacking Spencer’s shoulder lightly with the back of his hand. Spencer simply held up a finger, with the smallest of smiles.
You looked up at Hotch, both narrowing your eyes for a moment. You tipped your head the tiniest bit to the right.
“All in.” Hotch carefully pushed the stacks of chips forward.
You looked around, and the team was riveted. JJ, with her legs slung over Will’s lap, had both elbows on the table and her thumbnail in her mouth. Garcia was wide-eyed, her gaze shifting from Reid to Hotch and back again. Emily was leaning on the back of JJ’s chair, a smirk on her face.
Both Rossi and Derek’s chips were in your pile or Spencers at that point, and they effectively retired - consenting to enjoy the company, food, and drink without playing. Savannah was all but asleep, Morgan’s jacket draped over her, her head resting on his arm. You saw the way he traced her skin absentmindedly, a beer in his other hand.
Spencer flipped his hand first, revealing a flush.
You followed suit, revealing a royal flush.
The table erupted, and Savannah woke with a start. You laughed as Aaron caught your chin in his fingers and pulled your face to his for a fearless and victorious kiss. You were winning tonight in more ways than one, it seemed.