Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Michelle was shocked when she woke up to find three missed calls from Carlos.

And twelve unanswered texts.

What in the hell did he want anyway?

Did you and Captain Strand have sex? Michelle stared down at the phone, her eyes going wide at the words Carlos had just sent her.

Excuse me?! She didn't know where he could have gotten such a wild idea from.

You two looked mighty cozy. How in the hell did he know what they looked like right now?! Did you have sex with him?!

You're delusional Carlos. She rolled her eyes before slamming the phone back onto the nightstand, a sigh of epic proportions leaving her lips.

"Everything okay?" She had almost forgotten about her companion until his soft voice filled the room and his fingers moved to trace along her hip bone.

Maybe they did have sex.

To be honest, she couldn't really remember much about last night.

“Uh yeah…” Except things weren't that okay.

Were they?

“You sure?” Owen's fingers danced along the skin above her underwear and she felt shiver run down her spine.

“Did we… you know…?” She swallowed as she tried to wrap her head around what had happened last night.

“No.” He presses his lips against her shoulder and she blinked a few times. “You don't remember?”

“Nope.” She shook her head as she buried her face against the pillow.

This was so embarrassing.

“Well tequila tends to do that to you.” She rolled her eyes.

Goddamn tequila.

“Fuck.” She rolled over onto her back, her eyes searching Owen’s face for any sign that he was lying to her.

Not that she had any reason to believe that he was.

But men in general tended to treat her like an object.

Owen was probably the first man who didn't.

“We did a few shots at the bar?” She raised an eyebrow at his question. “You had a rough day yesterday and Carlos told me you could use some company.”

“So this is Carlos’ fault?” And yet he seemed to be rather upset at the thought of the two of them hooking up.

“Well… I don't think he intended for us to get drunk.” She shook her head as she let out a growl.

“Or to wind up in bed together?” She watched as he smiled down at her softly and she wondered what he was hiding from her. “What exactly did we do after those shots?”

“We danced some. I think we might have shared a plate of cheese fries, I vaguely recall that being a thing.” She couldn't help but chuckle at his words.

“You don't eat cheese fries Owen.” He chuckled back and she felt her heart swim at the look on his face.

“Apparently I did last night.” He shrugged a little and she couldn't stop herself from reaching up and running her fingers across his cheek. “Totally worth it.”

“Did we have sex?” There, straight to the point, no beating around that bush anymore.

“No.” Well okay then.

Owen's quickness to respond probably wasn't meant to upset her, but she was shocked at how easily the word left his mouth.

“We got an Uber back here and you collapsed on the couch and started crying.” She had done no such thing!

“Crying? What? Why?” She certainly didn't remember that part of the night.

“I'm not really sure.” He looked so concerned and she wanted to treasure that look for as long as she lived. “You wouldn't talk to me.”

“Something had to have happened!” She wasn't one to just fall into bed with any man.

Not that Owen Strand was just ‘any man’.

“We just sat for a while. I turned the TV on for a bit, I don't remember what we watched though.” He reached out and ran his finger down her face, tracing it along her bottom lip softly. “The next thing I remember you were in my lap and your lips were on mine.”

She couldn't believe she had made such a fool of herself.

“I'm so sorry Owen.” She closed her eyes as she shook her head back and forth. “That's not really my thing…”

“I know. It's okay.” He leaned down then, his lips pressing against hers softy. “We made out for a while. A long while actually. I do remember that part very clearly.”

Lucky him.

How was it that she didn't get to remember making out with the man she'd been nothing but heart eyes for for the past six months?

It wasn't fair.

“Oh. Okay.” She tried to act like it was no big deal.

But dammit, it kind of was.

“You really don't remember anything?” He raised an eyebrow as he smiled down at her softly.

“No.” She huffed our.

“I promise we didn't have sex.” He whispered before moving to straddle her waist. “We did kiss, a lot.”

His lips were hovering above hers and she felt a surge of electricity shoot through her body.

“Did we… ya know… do anything else?” He let out a soft chuckle as he leaned down and nipped at her lip.

“Nope. Just kissing.” He pressed his lips lightly against hers and she couldn't stop from whimpering into the kiss.

“How disappointing?” He must have been upset that they hadn't gone any further.

“Hardly.” He kissed her again, his fingers moving to tangle in her hair softly. “You were clearly drunk. I'm not the kind to take advantage of a woman.”

“How chivalrous of you.” She whispered as she let her hands move to his back, running them under his shirt slowly.

“It was an extremely nice little make out session we had though.” He winked down her as he pressed his lips to her cheek.

“On the couch? Like teenagers?” She was so embarrassed at her inability to control herself around this man.

But there was just something about him that turned her inside out and drove her crazy.

“It was pretty hot.” There was a twinkle in his eyes that told her that he didn't much care that they had acted like they were back in high school. “Actually, it was really hot.”

She let out a huff but smiled nonetheless.

“How did we wind up in bed?” She watched as his mouth twisted into a smile and then he chuckled. “What? What's so funny?”

“You told me to take you to bed.” He had to be joking.

“No.” She would never do such a thing.

“If I recall correctly, you told me to ‘take you to bed and make sweet love to you’, but I didn't.” His right hand had somehow found it's way to her waist and she inhaled sharply at the feeling of his fingers against her skin. “Make love to you that is.”

He leaned down and kissed her with a fiery passion that made her insides tingle and she could practically feel her body relax into the kiss.

“But you did other things…?” She waggled her eyebrows at him and he chuckled before kissing her softly.

“Just a lot of this.” He whispered against her lips as he ran a finger along her stomach again. “I would be totally okay with doing more though.”

“Well what’s stopping you?” She could feel the blush creep up her cheeks as she watched him swallow, his eyes going wide.

She expected him to respond but he didn’t say anything and instead he crashed his lips against hers roughly, his left hand tangling in her hair as he dragged her as close to him as he could.

Maybe she didn’t hate tequila so much after all.

Chapter Text

Owen had been perfectly content to sit in his office and work on his paperwork in silent.

Yep, he was perfectly happy with the rare chance at silence, his body needing the time to unwind after the events of the past 48 hours.

But his silence and his peace didn’t last long at all.

Because before he knew what was happening Michelle was throwing his office door open and plopping into the chair across from him with a huff.

“I need to rant.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she fixed him with a startling stare.

“Now’s not the time Michelle…” He really wanted to finish this paperwork soon so that he could go home and enjoy a much deserved weekend off.

“But my mom…” He could hear the pain in her voice and he instantly knew that she was going to go to a very dark place if she didn’t get her thoughts off of her chest.

“Alright. Talk.” He kept writing though, hoping that he could concentrate enough to finish this nonsense before much longer.

She let out a huff and he lifted his head so that he could lock his eyes with hers.

“What’s wrong Michelle?” He asked softly, setting his pen done and giving her a small smile.

“She basically said I have no life.” She pouted, her eyes crinkling as she slouched down in her chair. “She wasn’t very nice about it.”

“I’m sorry.” He really was sorry that her mom had said some nasty things to her, but without any more details to go off of he didn’t know how he was really supposed to help.

"She said I have no friends!" She practically yelled the statement at him and he jumped a little as he let out a sigh.

"I’m sorry.” He wasn’t sure how to respond to that but he definitely knew it wasn’t true.

Michelle had friends.

In fact, she had lots of friends.

Her mom should see her at the bar on Friday and Saturday nights.

"I have friends!" It wasn’t cute how angry she was, but it was kind of cute that she was making that little pouty face that made her look like a child.

"I know." He tried to speak calmly and quietly, reminded of not wanting to disturb a wild animal in it’s natural habitat.

"I mean. I have Carlos.” She huffed out, her body moving from the chair so that she could pace the small room. “And Grace and Judd. Right? They're my friends."

"Are you asking me or telling me?" He didn’t know what use he was to this conversation right now but he was going to try and help her out.

Although, considering that she didn’t list him as one of her friends, he wasn’t so sure.

"Telling!" She stopped dead in her tracks and shot him a dirty look.

"Okay..." He held his hands up in defense, his body relaxing back against his chair as he took a deep breath.

"And I have hobbies!" She had resumed her pacing and he couldn’t help but sigh.

She really reminded him of a lioness in a cage.

"You do?" That was such a stupid question and he regretted it immediately.

She had had to have hobbies.

Right?

"Shut up Owen." The look she shot him surely could have killed and he sighed as he closed his eyes.

He could hear her pacing back and forth again and he cracked an eye open just as she shouted at him once more.

"And I date!” He didn’t know what that had to do with anything, but okay. “I date plenty."

"Really? Who have you been dating these days?" The last time he had checked, she wasn’t dating anyone.

In fact, all she would do with him was make out.

He guessed that didn’t count as dating, but that had to count as something.

"Well... I mean..." She stopped in her tracks, her shoulders slumping in defeat as she sighed.

"So she's right?" Not that he wanted to be a part of this fight.

"Shut up Owen." That must have meant he was on to something.

"Hey you're the one who came into MY office while I was working on paperwork and started this ridiculous conversation." He had been the fool who had let her in, but he hadn’t realized this was going to happen.

"I needed someone to rant too." Isn’t that what she had Carlos for?

Especially since the only thing he was apparently good for was making out with.

"And I'm that lucky individual?" He didn’t know how he had drawn the short straw for being the one that got yelled at, but he didn’t like it one bit.

"Yes." She crossed her arms over her chest again and stood up straight, fixing him with another scary glare.

"Woohoo.” He rolled his eyes as he shook his head. “Do I get a prize for listening to you rant?"

The least she could would be to agree to dinner with him.

"No." Or not.

"Then can you leave?" It’s not that he didn’t like her company.

But he really didn’t like her attitude right now.

Nor did he like that she was using him.

"But..." She looked so sad and defeated and he suddenly felt bad for telling her to leave.

There had to be a way to make this up to her.

"How about this? I get off in an hour, I will gladly cook you dinner and you can rant to me all you want.” Maybe that would finally give her the incentive she needed in order to let him in some more “In the comfort of my house. When my head isn't about to explode from information overload."

"Fine." She huffed out.

But he didn’t miss the small smile that graced her lips as sank back into the chair and stared him down.

"Okay.” He turned back to his paperwork, lifting his pen and beginning to read the first line for what was probably the tenth time this hour.

That was when he noticed that she hadn’t left.

So he dared to lift his head and figure out why.

“You’re still here?” He didn’t know if maybe she thought he wouldn’t notice, but he definitely did.

"Can I just sit here?" He sighed as he reached up and rubbed at his eyes.

"And stare at me? No.” He could practically hear her pout from across the small space. “You're creeping me out."

“Please?” And there were puppy dog eyes that she knew he couldn’t say ‘no’ too.

“Fine.” He was a sucker for this woman and he knew it. “But stay quiet so I can finish this. Please.”

She nodded her head before curling up into the chair and pulling her phone out.

And that was where she stayed until he was done.

--

Michelle had reluctantly sat in silence and watched Owen finish his paperwork.

She had wanted to keep ranting about her mom, she had so much to get off her chest, but she knew he needed to finish if he was going to make her dinner.

And boy was she looking forward to that.

After he had finished he had walked her to her car and told her to be careful before heading to his Jeep without another word.

She has been hoping for a hug at least, maybe even a kiss, but nothing.

It was like they were nothing.

And it hurt.

But she had pushed it aside and swallowed her pride and drove to his house with the music blaring.

And when she pulled into his driveway he stared at her for a good five minutes before she finally turned the song off and got out of the car.

He escorted her inside without a word and while part of her wanted to push him up against the door and have her way with him, another part of her wanted to scream at him for being so ridiculous.

Instead she settled herself on a bar stool at the island and watched him start to prepare dinner.

"So earlier..." Owen finally broke the silence after fifteen minutes or so and when she snapped her head up from the coloring app on her phone she was shocked to see him staring at her from across the kitchen.

"Yeah sorry about that.” She hopped down off the stool and made her way toward him, stopping beside him as she offered him a soft smile. “My mom really got to me yesterday."

"It's okay.” She could tell that it wasn't okay and something was clearly bothering him. “I uh... you said you weren't dating anyone?"

And there it was.

She knew this was coming and yet, she wasn't at all prepared for it.

"Well I'm not.” I mean, it was the truth. “Am I...?"

"Well, we're something aren't we?" She thought they were, but he hadn't made any moves to take this any further.

And while she really enjoyed making out with him, she was ready for a little more.

“My mom, she's old school.” She had never liked the way her mom had looked at her relationships and she knew that she was always disappointed in her choices.

Owen stared her down for a minute, his body slowly inching forward as he stopped right in front of her, his breath soft and warm against her face.

"Old school enough that you can't explain a friend with benefits?" He asked as he let his finger trail up her arm, stopping it at her shoulder, just before he reached the strap of her tank top.

She knew she should've covered up more.

"Is that what we are?" She choked her question out as he backed her up to the counter behind her, his hands setting on her hips as his eyes darkened.

"I don't know Michelle..." There was a passion in his voice that made her tingle in places she shouldn't. "Are we friends? You didn't mention me earlier in your list..."

"Well I figured that was a given." She was using every once of restraint she had to keep from reaching out for him.

“But you also said you weren't dating anyone…” He dared to dip his fingers below the waistline of her jeans and she sunk back against the counter with a moan.

“Well we aren't… dating…” She swallowed as she tried to get herself together, her head spinning at the thought of what those fingers of his could do if they made it any lower. “Are we?”

“I don't know…” He dropped his head to her shoulder, his lips pressing against the skin of her neck as he dared to push at the material of her underwear slowly. “Are we?”

She wanted to answer but she couldn't bring herself to speak, not when his fingers had just brushed over the top of her curls and his teeth had found that spot right above her collarbone that he knew drove her wild.

“Cat got your tongue?” He pulled back and offered her a soft smile as he moved his hands to the counter, trapping her in front of him.

“I…” She didn't know what to say.

She obviously wanted to be something with him.

But was dating him what she wanted?

“I'll let you think on that one then.” And with that he pressed a quick kiss to her lips before pulling back, turning his attention back to the counter where he had been cutting up vegetables for dinner.

Fuck.

He couldn't just leave her hanging like that could he?

It totally wasn't fair.

But she guessed that maybe not mentioning him to her mother hadn't been fair either.

She was in for a long night and she both loved it, and hated it.