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Just A Game	By : MoreCharahPlease Category: 1 through F > Chuck Views: 68653 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own CHUCK or its characters. I am not making any money from this or any of my CHUCK stories.

Chapter List
- 16
- 17
- 18
Notes: Hello, again. I've been reading through all of your reviews, and I really want to thank you all so much for having such interesting and varied takes on both Sarah and Chuck, and for taking the time to write about it in your reviews. Some of you are so analytical in your reviews about my characterizations that I'm seriously just floored. This is more than I could even hope for when I first started/posted this story. I can't thank all of you enough!
That being said, even if some of you disagree on my presentation of Sarah, especially, I think it's fantastic that people are reading her in different ways. I love that there are legitimate conversations between reviewers, most of which are completely civil. I'm freaking ecstatic. You're all the greatest!
Now we're moving straight into plot (with some sex)...Some of you will be upset about the plot developments, and that happens. So feel free to tell me about it in a review either way. I'll be reading! Thanks again!
Disclaimer: I do not own CHUCK or its characters. I have not written this story for money, nor will I receive a single cent from its publication.

As warm and cozy as having his arms around me felt, especially since it was kind of chilly in the room, I needed to find a way to pull out of it, break his hold.
   The extra meaning to those words weren’t lost on me. Break his hold.
   He did have a hold on me.
   And this wasn’t what I’d needed or wanted.
   Last night, I’d felt the moment Chuck fell asleep, his lips against the skin of my neck, his breath fanning my hair. Being wrapped up in his arms, having him pressed against my back, surrounding me…It had felt wonderful. So wonderful that I got lost in it for a good hour after he’d fallen asleep.
   I cared so much about him. I wasn’t going to deny it. I wouldn’t deny it to anyone, except maybe Carina. She would pester me until doomsday about it if I told her, and then I had a feeling it would make me bitter at Chuck. I could be immature like that, sometimes. But I wasn’t nearly as immature as Carina.
   I did care. I’d have to be totally heartless not to care about him. He was the warmest person I’d ever met. Sincere and thoughtful. Sweet. Kind. Selfless. But God, he was just so warm. That was where his inherent charm came from—his warmth, his giant heart, and his sense of humor all mixed into one incredibly desirable package.
   He was so different from the men I’d known all my life. Especially those I’d been with intimately. I couldn’t help cycling back to Bryce. Maybe a part of me hadn’t been over him even a year after leaving him and our messy, one-sided relationship behind in D.C. Because he’d been so charming as well. I’d been drawn to him like a moth to a flame. Those piercing blue eyes and his smile, the perfect swoop of his hair. And he’d always known just what to say to put me at ease. I knew now that it had all been lies, manipulation, telling me what I needed to hear to make me shut up or drop an argument. So that he could continue sneaking out and sleeping around.
   His charm had made me stupid. It ended up hurting me badly in the end. And I still hated myself for how easily it still held onto me even after I moved away, after I made a new life here in Los Angeles.
   Even thinking about the way our romance ended now made me ache inside. And it wasn’t because I still loved him. Because I had loved him. At least I thought I had. I guess. I didn’t think I’d really loved anyone before him so I assumed the thudding heart when I was with him meant love.
   No, I didn’t have those feelings about him anymore. But he’d taken a chunk out of me. Out of my confidence. He’d stolen my pride. My dignity. And it had been because I let him get too deep under my skin. When he didn’t fucking deserve to be that deep. He didn’t deserve me. I knew that now.
   But it still hurt that I was so blind and stupid. So easily manipulated. It gave me a stinging sensation all over my body. Embarrassment. Shame. Complete and utter shame.
   As I’d gotten lost in those thoughts last night, I’d turned around in Chuck’s embrace and pressed my face into his chest. I’d sought comfort in him, clung tightly. I didn’t cry. I wasn’t going to cry over Bryce fucking Larkin. My injured pride wasn’t enough for tears—it would just make the stinging worse.
   But the fact that I’d sought comfort in Chuck’s arms last night without even realizing it made something inside of me twinge. It was a twinge of nerves. Maybe even fear. I wasn’t ready to get in that deep again.
   Of course I’d never do Chuck the injustice of thinking he was anything like Bryce. His charm wasn’t a lie. His charm wasn’t a pretty face masking selfishness and deceit. His charm was real. It came straight from his heart.
   But that fear of losing myself, of flying blind straight into the sun the way I’d done with my ex, and how badly I’d gotten burned in the process, was so very real. I didn’t want to hurt that way again. I didn’t want to take the risk just yet. It had only been a year and the wound still smarted when I thought hard enough about it. Chuck deserved better. I needed more time.
   This was so confusing. And it wasn’t helping that we were in such an intimate, meaningful embrace at the moment.
   I couldn’t move back since he had his arms locked, so I tried to slide down. My breasts were pressed so tightly against his chest. God damn it, I couldn’t stop my nipples from hardening as they dragged over the naked planes of his chest.
   Yes, I was afraid of getting in too deep with this man. I was afraid of how comfortable he was, afraid of the way his laugh made bad things seem so trivial. I was afraid of how easy it was for me to forget my troubles when we were locked up in the back of one of our cars after wild, acrobatic sex, laughing about something inane that had happened at his workplace. I was afraid of how much I trusted him and relied on his body, yes, but also his presence in general.
   But I wasn’t afraid of him.
   And as confusing as all of my jumbled up mess of thoughts were, I knew one thing for certain. I was grateful. Not just for the way he put up with my terror of commitment—a terror I couldn’t get rid of—but for how he worked so hard to give me pleasure, to make things good for me. Going so far as to get a room in a fancy hotel to switch things up because he noticed I was feeling like my life was a bit stale. He’d done this for me.
   Yeah, it was something a boyfriend might do for his girlfriend. I wasn’t so stupid as to ignore that part of it.
   I moved lower and lower, as slowly and carefully as I could so as not to jar him.
   By the time I slid out of his arms, I was buried underneath the sheets, my lips pressed against his belly button. It was exactly where I needed to be, and what was more, it was where I wanted to be.
   Chuck deserved this, but besides that he deserved it, I wanted to do it. Deep down inside, I probably knew what that meant. But I was already too busy to pay attention. I was dipping my tongue into his belly button, swirling it around.
   I heard a soft sigh and I wondered if he was awake. The fact that he had an erection didn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t sleeping, I knew.
   I shook away the emotional baggage for now and focused on him. On his pleasure.
   Because I was a horndog now (though not as bad as Carina because nobody would ever be as bad as Carina), I sometimes surfed the internet looking for new ways to pleasure Chuck. Just like he booked this hotel room to give us a new setting, I’d found a few things to drive my partner mad.
   One of those things was the slow-wake-up-blow-job. According to a lot of men, it was the best way to wake up. The sensations they described were exactly what I wanted Chuck to feel.
   I very gently pushed him onto his back. He shifted just a little, still asleep and not entirely cognizant.
   The sheet was over my head so I couldn’t see him. Hoping this would have the effect I wanted it to have, I slowly curled my fingers around his morning erection. I held him for awhile, pressing my thumb against the underside of his cock and rubbing pressured circles into it. I made the circles a little wider and then I switching to stroking it up and down. Then I wrapped my whole fist around him and gave him a few quick, gentle squeezes. I slid my fist a little closer to the head and then reached up with my thumb to lay it over the very tip. I heard another soft sigh as I rocked my thumb back and forth over it, feeling a bit of pre-cum against the pad of my finger. I swirled around the tip then, and slid my fist back down, squeezing a little, before sliding it up again.
   I took my time stroking him, very slowly, applying just a little pressure every time I slid my fist towards the head. He was incredibly hard under my ministrations, but I kept going. And then I finally shifted closer, wanting to taste his cum, wanting to give him more.
   I laid my tongue flat against the underside of his penis, tickling it a little with the very tip of my tongue, and then I licked all the way up to his head, before moving back down to suck a little on each of his balls.
   I felt the moment he woke up, as I licked again up the entire length of his cock. His abs clenched and his hips jolted, and I heard a soft, sleepy whimper. But he didn’t say anything as I kept licking him, up from the base to the very tip, over and over again.
   “God, Sarah…” I finally heard a few minutes later. He sounded like he was in Heaven, and that was exactly what I wanted to hear. Encouraged, I guided his dick closer and closed my mouth around the tip, giving him a gentle suck and flicking my tongue over him. “Shit,” he gasped. I sucked him again—another whimper.
   And then I moved up to brace my elbows on the mattress on either side of his slim hips, shifting so that I was hovering over him, his cock still just barely clenched between me teeth so that he let out a strangled whimper of my name.
   And then I slid my lips down, taking him in my mouth, deeper and deeper, an inch at a time.
   I continued bobbing my head just slowly enough that it drove him crazy. I could see his muscles clenching, the way his chest was rising and falling with deep, fast breaths. And then he breathed a strained, “You’re so good at this. Oh my God.”
   I made sure to use every single part of my mouth, my tongue applying pressure, my lips stroking up and down his girth, my teeth grazing the sensitive skin. And then I’d suck on the tip when I got to it. I let him get used to the slow, excruciating pattern, doing the same exact thing every single time. Just when he got used to it, his body relaxing, his beautiful torso molding into the mattress, content to just lie there and enjoy my rhythmic efforts, I smirked wickedly around his cock and quickly slid him all the way into my mouth. It was one quick movement, and he was buried so deep that I felt him brush against the fleshy bit of my throat. I swallowed a few times, humming so that he felt it acutely, and pulled back. His body jolted and he thrust his hips against me so that he went down my throat again. I blinked away the tears and swallowed again, fighting back the gag reflex to keep doing it. And then I lifted my head and let him pop out of my mouth.
   “Holy shit! Fuck! I’m awake,” he panted. “I’m awake now.”
   I laughed, resting my forehead against his pelvic bone, stimulating him with my fist as I gave myself a bit of a break to breathe. “I’m not done yet,” I muttered, my lips against the side of his cock again.
   He merely groaned in response.
   I rounded the head of his cock with my lips again and formed a ring around the base with my fingers. And then I pumped him as I sucked on the tip, licking over the small swollen part, teasing it with my tongue. I moved my fingers faster, sucking harder. And I felt his muscles against me tightening. I knew he was slowly getting closer to his orgasm.
   So I slowed a little again, easing back, taking him out of my mouth and just stroking him gracefully.
   I let him get used to that again, my name a soft sigh from deep in his chest, and then I pushed myself up to deep throat him again. I grunted at how deep he went when he thrusted, knowing he wasn’t doing it consciously. It probably just felt that good, and I didn’t exactly prepare him for it. I repeated it a few times sliding him almost all the way out, sucking the tip, and then deep throating him, swallowing, and doing it over again. And again.
   “Fuck me,” he gasped in ecstasy. His fists were twisting in the sheet around my head.
   I pulled him out of my mouth and smirked. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do,” I informed him.
   And then I moved back in to suck him some more, pumping him in my fist. I felt how close he was to the edge of climax a few minutes later, so I moved back and decided to pump him fast and hard. My hand was slick as I jerked him off, and I had to concentrate to keep from slipping him out of my grip altogether.
   “Oh. Oh God, baby. Oh God! Sarah! I’m so close. Fuck yes!” His body was so tight, every muscle pronounced and clenched.
   I quickly rounded him with my mouth and gave him one last quick squeeze and I tasted his cum, spilling into my mouth, down my throat.
   “SARAH! Nngggg!!! Shit!” he finished, panting my name over and over. His fist thumped against the mattress and then he opened his hand and dug his fingers into it. I could see the whites of his knuckles from where I was and it was so incredibly hot. My pussy was throbbing for his attention, but I ignored it, sucking and licking until I got every last drop.
   I looked up at him as he threw the sheet off of my head and pushed himself up onto his elbows. He stared down his muscled torso at me, ecstasy still etched on his attractive face, his brown eyes swirling in lust, and God, he was still panting. I was so turned on by his pleasure.
   Even though he’d ejaculated already, I kept him in my mouth. I grazed him with my teeth, pulled him out and licked up the base slowly, meeting his gaze through my eyelashes, purposefully being coy as I did it. If it was at all possible to be coy with a guy while you were licking his dick.
   “What are you doing?” he asked, having to swallow in the middle of the sentence as I gave his tip a teasing suck.
   “Mmm waking you up properly,” I said between teasing his cock with my mouth, trying not to let my amusement show. He was too adorable when he was half-confused and half-aroused.
   “But you—Oh God, that’s really good. Do it again.” I did and he groaned, letting his head fall back. “You already just woke me up.”
   “And did you like it?” I asked, before taking him in my mouth and bobbing my head a few times, holding the bottom between my fingers to keep him in place.
   “Fuck yes I did,” he said, and then he gasped as I sucked. “But you already did it once. Shit right there,” he whimpered. “Right there, baby. Oh yes. Yes yes yes ah!”
   I caught him between my teeth and slowly grazed my way up.
   He hissed as he sucked his breath in. “Oh oh God oh God. OhGodOhGodOhGod.”
   I slurped on the tip and looked up at him, licking my lips, still tasting his cum. “You want me to stop?” I asked, raising an eyebrow, hitting him with an effective little pout.
   “No no. That’s not what I mean. Don’t stop,” he rushed out. And then he chuckled at himself, aware of the game I was playing. And as I giggled softly, wrapping my mouth around him and humming, he groaned. “How does it even feel this good?” he whispered. “Oh, shit! Yes!”
   I’d pushed him deeper into my mouth and squeezed him hard between my lips, my hot wet tongue flattening against the underside of his cock.
   I took him out and pumped him slowly with my fist, feeling him start to harden again.
   “Will you try something with me?” I asked.
   “Anything.” His answer was so quick, it caused me to widen my eyes and smirk a little. He blushed and sent me a flat look. “Look, anytime either of us has tried something new, it’s been mindblowing. So…”
   I giggled. “You’re cute.”
   “I’m logical.” He gave me an emphatic nod.
   “Hold on, let me get you a little harder,” I said, and then I gave him a proper blow job for awhile, turned on by his whimpers of encouragement. Once he was hard enough to my satisfaction—and especially his satisfaction, I was happy to note—I climbed up to my knees and crawled out from between his thighs, lying on my back with my legs dangling over the end of the mattress. I squirmed a little, rubbing my thighs together. I was a little wet from everything I’d been doing to Chuck. And I purposefully continued to focus on his pleasure, resisting the urge to reach down and touch myself, or swing back over and slide his hardness inside of my pussy to ride him until I come.
   I craned my neck a little and looked up at him, crooking my finger for him to join me. He did, but before he could crawl on top of me to fuck me like I could see he meant to do—his eyes were so expressive and hungry—I grabbed his arm. “Wait, wait. Not that. Yet.”
   Then what? His perplexed face seemed to ask. Again with that adorable combination of confused and turned on.
   I reached over and held onto his thigh, giving it a bit of a tug. “Kneel over me. Right here.”
   He followed my instructions as I guided him so that he was on his hands and knees over me, his cock hanging down just above my face. “I want you to fuck my mouth, Chuck.”
   The nerd went bright red, and even so, his face crumbled in awe and arousal. “Wow…uh…”
   “Do it,” I breathed. “Come down here.” I made sure my voice was low, seductive, dripping with longing, aching. And just to emphasize what I wanted, I reached up and massaged my tit, pinching the nipple between my fingers. “Come on, Charles.”
   “Oooh you had to whip that out, didn’t you?” he drawled, his eyes flashing. “God, you’re so hot.”
   “C’mere.”
   I reached up and grabbed him, my fingers clenched in his ass cheeks as I yanked him down, sitting up to meet him halfway and taking him deep in my mouth. I hummed and sucked against him. But he wasn’t moving, so I eased myself down again, letting go of his ass with one hand and stroking him with it.
   “Thrust, Chuck. Thrust into my mouth.” I swallowed thickly and went a step further. “I want you to get yourself off with my mouth.”
   He groaned raggedly and let his head fall forward. “Jesus Christ, Sarah. Just when I think you couldn’t get any sexier, you say something like that.”
   “Are you gonna fucking do it or what?”
   He thrusted down and I opened my mouth, chuckling throatily as he slid between my teeth. And then I held onto his ass, my back hovering a little over the mattress and clinging as he started slow, shallow thrusts into my mouth.
   “Oh my God,” he whimpered. “Oh my God this is so hot.”
   I bobbed my head up to meet his thrusts, squeezing his ass cheeks, enjoying the clenching of his muscles under my fingers. I opened my legs wider, letting the cool air of the room sweep over my wetness. It was oddly stimulating, a shock to my system that I found pleasurable.
   I pulled back to breathe, letting him thrust into my fist as I watched.
   And then I pushed myself up to push his cock into my mouth again and I wrapped my arms around his hips and hugged him tightly, feeling him in my throat. “Mmmmm!!” I moaned, moving my head back and forth, hugging him tighter so that he went even deeper.
   “Ah!!! Ohhh Sarah!”
   He thrust hard against me and I almost choked, but I took a deep breath through my nose and fought back the reflex, swallowing against his penis.
   But then he pulled back and I relinquished my hold on him as he shifted to sit on his haunches, peering down at me. “I want to be inside you,” he said.
   I nodded quickly. And adrenaline coursed through me when he moved my legs so that they were straddling him, scooting up with his torso perpendicular to mine, and pushing his cock inside of me.
   “Ooohhh yeah!” I whined. “Fuck me, Chuck. Fuck me hard.”
   He grabbed my hips and slammed into me repeatedly, our bodies loud as they met, our cries of passion even louder. He moved one hand up to my back and pulled me to sit up more so that I was sitting on his thighs, and I was totally at his mercy.
   I held onto his shoulders and threw myself down into his thrusts roughly, bracing my heels against the mattress behind him. We slowed down for a moment as he thrusted long and hard into me, causing my to cry out, “Chuuuck! Yes!”
   And then I leaned in to kiss him roughly, muttering against his lips, “Let me ride you. Please. I wanna ride you so hard.”
   He moved back to sit on his calves again and I took control. I reached between us and started massaging him at the base of his cock, rubbing my fingers over him as I slowly slid up and down on his shaft, holding onto his bicep with me free hand for leverage.
   “Ohhh Godddd,” he groaned.
   I sat on him all the way, his cock buried to the hilt and he whimpered my name, burying his face in my neck. “What do you want?” I gasped. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
   He licked his lips and it made me want to kiss him again. I let him take his time thinking, but in the meantime, I distracted him, gyrating in little circles in his lap. With his cock so deep inside of me, it felt amazing.
   And then he seemed to finally decide, stilling me with a gentle hand on my hip.
   He dragged that hand slowly up my body, looking straight into my eyes, his brown gaze flashing in heat, and he took the time to massage one of my tits, rubbing his thumb over the nipple so that my eyelids fluttered in pleasure, and then his hand was in my hair. He grabbed a fistful of it and gave it a forceful little yank, holding me where I was and glaring down into my face. It didn’t hurt at all, but I was on fucking fire for him.
   “I want you to fuck me like a wild woman,” he said through a clenched jaw. “Ride me like your life depends on it.”
   I was in such a heat that for a moment, I felt like my life did depend on it.
   I shoved him hard so that his back slammed into the mattress, and then I grabbed his wrists and leaned forward to pin them up by his head.
   Without wasting anymore time, I bucked on him just like he asked, like a fucking wild woman. I even heard a ragged growl escape from between my lips and I clenched my jaw, feeling half crazed as I went to town on him.
   “Yeah! Fuck me!” he commanded, looking down his bouncing body to watch since he was so damn turned on by the sight of it.
   I started to roughly throw my hips down repeatedly, feeling my ass jiggle with each resounding slap. “Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh yeah!” And then I shifted so that my feet were planted on the mattress and I was squatting over him. Holding onto his chest, I slapped my body against his, shoving his cock into me.
   My legs got tired way too easily in this position, so after a minute I shifted again, lying flat against him and grabbing the edge of the mattress above our heads. I ground myself down against him, clenching with each long stroke, arching my back.
   My breasts dragged over his chest as I gyrated. I moved my lips to his jaw and bit him, making him groan and chuckle at the same time. I grinned, moving down to bite his collarbone this time.
   “Oh God, yeah. Bite me again,” he commanded, and I arched my back even more, dragging my tongue down, teasing his hair on his chest with my teeth, and then I found one of his nipples. As I fucked him, I sucked on his nipple, catching it between my lips, flicking it with my tongue, even grinding it gently between my teeth so that he threw his head back and bucked up against me.
   His cock thumped against my g-spot and I whimpered against his peck. And then I lowered my hand to play with his other nipple, rolling it between my fingers, tugging on it, twisting.
   “Shit!” he gasped out in a strangled voice, turning his face into the mattress. “So good. So so good.”
   I rolled my tongue over his nipple, mischievously looking up his body to meet his gaze as he glanced down at me. But then I felt his hand close over my tit and give it a squeeze. “Nnng!” I whimpered against his nipple.
   He dragged his hand down even lower, tilting his torso up. And then his fingers were pressed against my clit. I cried out and shivered, grinding to push his cock even deeper inside of me. “I’m trying to make this about you,” I admonished, amused as I pushed myself up to hover over him, bracing my hands on the mattress next to his shoulders.
   “Oh, I know. And I appreciate it, but…” His fingers slid against my clit, moving a few circles over it to make me whimper. “…I love the sounds you make when I touch you.” He thrusted up against me and rolled my clit again. I yelped and gasped his name. “Like that.”
   “Cheeky jerk,” I whispered, leaning down to kiss him. And then I caught his lip between my teeth to make him whimper.
   He surged forward to sit up and yanked me hard onto his cock.
   “Ah! Chuck!”
   Then he crawled to his knees and moved us up towards the head of the bed, leaning me back so that I had to hold onto the headboard behind me. He held me tightly, his cock shoved deeply inside of me, as deep as it could go. The only part of me that touched the mattress were my feet as he grabbed my hips and started fucking me hard, thrusting against me fast, rough, tugging me against each thrust.
   The sounds coming out of both of us drowned out the wet slapping of our bodies meeting. He slowed down and made his stroked slow and hard, clenching and straining as he supported my weight.
   “Fffuck!” I gasped. “Oh, fuck! Baby, yes!”
   Chuck tilted me back even more and groaned, shifting one hand to press his thumb against my clit and rolling it right as his dick found my g-spot again. I spasmed with ecstasy and let my head fall back. “Right there! Oh right there yes!”
   He fucked my g-spot until I came, my entire body shuddering, tightening.
   “Ohh God, yeah,” he groaned. “Squeeze my cock, Sarah.”
   I pushed myself up to wrap my arms around his shoulders, burying my face in his hair, feeling him pant against my shoulder. And then I slid my hands down to grab his ass, turning my lips to kiss his ear softly.
   “Come inside me,” I whispered.
   He didn’t seem to be able to decide how to proceed, so I climbed off of him, sighing as his still hard cock slid out of me. And then I moved down on all fours and grabbed his cock, sliding my fist over it, pumping him fast.
   “Ahhh! Oh, Sarah. Sarah, yes!” I could see in his face that this was working. So I slid him into my mouth and went in close, pushing him deep into my mouth. I deep throated him again, reaching around to squeeze his ass. He cursed loudly and threw his head back, pushing his hands into my hair to push it back from my face.
   I pulled back and hummed. He was just so delicious.
   And then I turned around and swung my leg over to straddle him, facing his feet, and I reached down to guide his dick back inside of me. I lowered myself to sit in his lap heavily and started gyrating.
   As I got a lot more wild with my strokes, beginning to buck on him hard, I stretched my legs out and laid flat on him, my breasts flattening against his thighs, and I turned my face to kiss the inside of his knee, grinding back and forth, holding onto his legs tightly as I fucked him.
   I clenched my ass, trying to tighten myself around him, get him to come faster. And I knew by the soft whimpering sounds he was making that he was watching my body, and watching his dick slide in and out of my pussy.
   I’d purposefully moved myself to give him the best view of it. And as his fingers tightened against my ass, I groaned, grinning so that my teeth brushed his kneecap.
   My nipples were hard as they rubbed over his thighs.
   And I just wanted to get him off, so I started bouncing myself down against him, over and over, gasping his name as his cock slammed into me.
   “I want you to come,” I whined. “Come in me. Come on, Chuck. Come on. Ah ah ah! Yes! Yes!”
   “I’m almost there,” he gasped.
   And I knew how to push him over the edge. So I waited just a moment, and started gyrating again, digging my knees into the mattress next to his hips. Then I turned my face and bit his leg, a little harder than I meant to because he brushed against my g-spot.
   I immediately felt his hot seed spill into me, over and over, and I also felt my vagina clench with orgasm, throbbing amazingly. I hadn’t even felt it coming, with how focused I’d been on getting Chuck off.
   And it was perfect.
   It was almost too perfect.
—————
   My phone buzzed loudly in my pocket and I ignored it. “Barnard, take Westley with you to the Getty and see if the curator has any more information on the suspicious guy she talked about when we first arrived at the scene.”
   They both nodded.
   “We need to go over the museum’s camera feeds again. Check through the everything from the night of and also the entire week before the painting was stolen. I need at least three sets of eyes on that footage by the end of tomorrow. Anyone suspicious, anything out of place, you log it. You guys know what to do.”
   “And the Vampire?”
   I gave Ruiz a flat look. He knew I hated him calling our potential suspect a vampire. And yet…he still did it.
   “Vlatko Urbinez is still at the top of our suspects list, but we can only bring him in for questioning at this point. Don’t clue him in on the fact that he’s a suspect or we’ll have lawyers swarming the place.”
   Everyone exchanged glances of annoyance at the mention of lawyers. Good thing Carina was a prosecutor, or she’d never be allowed to visit her best friend at work. There was also the fact that she brought donuts when she visited. Smart woman.
   “Let’s go, gents.”
   They dispersed and I pushed off of the board I leaned back against, turning to look at the pictures I’d hung up, including the painting that had been stolen almost a week ago. The one we still hadn’t found. Hell, we didn’t even know how it was taken yet.
   And now that the painting’s owner had been found murdered in his shower, things went from bad to worse. We could handle it. But it was going to be a lot of hard work.
   My phone buzzed again and I frowned a little, taking it out and peering down at it. It was Chuck. But before I could answer it, the call cut off. I checked and saw that he’d called two other times before, a few minutes apart. And I was suddenly a little nervous.
   Why would he call 3 times? Was there something urgent? Had something bad happened?
   I called his phone back and put it to my ear, but his cheerful voice that came up was just his voicemail answering message.
   What was wrong?
   I hated feeling like some sort of worrywart grandmother, but I was just so used to being a cop that my mind automatically went to worst case scenario.
   I called him again and this time he answered. “Hello?”
   “Hey! Chuck, what’s up? You called me a few times but I was leading a meeting so I couldn’t answer. Is everything okay?”   “Oh. Yes. It’s—Well, yes. Thing is, I’m in the parking lot at work and there’s a bit of a situation.”
   I felt a nervous tingle in my fingers and toes as I stood up a little straighter. “What sort of a situation?”
   “Well…It’s hard to explain. And usually I can handle this sort of situation, but I don’t have the sort of authority necessary right now. And I thought maybe your badge might help.”
   My face fell into a confused frown. “Okay, well…first of all, Chuck, are you okay?”
   “Yes. Absolutely. But in two seconds, I might end up getting my ass kicked. Because this guy is big and he is maaaaaa-haaa-haaaaad,” he said in a sing-songy voice. It was then that I heard a loud male voice behind him, and as much as Chuck tried to cover the phone, I could still hear him reply to the voice, “Sir, calm down. I’m not moving the car. …It’s not moving! Yell at me if you want!”
   “Chuck! What is going on?” I asked, and he was back on the phone with me.
   “Okay, it’s a long story. But this guy is close to kicking my ass, so can you come over here and please help me?”
   “He’s going to attack you? Why’d you call me? 911 is there for a reason, Chuck!” I knew I sounded angry, and admittedly most of it was because I still didn’t know what was happening and I was worried about him.
   “I know I…I mean…I probably should. Okay! Sir? Sir, there’s no need to come over—Ma’am, it’s okay. Just stay in your car, okay? Actually, I’ll just go ahead and get in my car, too.”
   “Chuck! I’m going over there, but call 911 immediately.”
   “Yep!” he chirped, and I could hear him breathing hard, as if he was currently scrambling away from whoever this guy was. “I’m calling the cops! Just so you know!” he threatened, trying to make his voice authoritative, but I could hear his voice shaking.
   I was already almost out of the building, however, my car keys in hand. And it would take me five minutes to get there if I used my siren. “Chuck, I’m hanging up. You call the police.”
   “Hey! That’s not—No, that isn’t necessary!” he rushed out, apparently still talking to the guy. “You can’t have my keys!”
   And then the phone went dead.
   Shit.
   Deeming this an emergency, I pulled my car onto the main road and activated my siren, weaving through the other cars on the street until they got the hint and scooted off to the shoulders to make room.
   Within four minutes, I saw the Buy More’s sign looming in the distance and I slammed my foot on the gas pedal, tearing into the parking lot soon after and keeping my eyes peeled for Chuck.
   Instead, I saw one of my police units parked by a cluster of cars three rows away from the storefront, and people were milling around, watching whatever was going on that I currently couldn’t see.
   I switched off my siren and pulled up, forcing a few onlookers to step out of the way quickly to avoid being bumped by my BMW.
   I’d barely stopped the car when I climbed out and grabbed my badge, flashing it to the nearby people. “Okay, people, let’s get back. Get back,” I said. Per usual. There was always somebody who liked a bit of spice in their day, wanted to know what was happening. Like their lives were so full they had to be privy to something that wasn’t their business.
   The first thing I saw was Officer Montana walking towards me, a flat look on his face. “Detective…” he greeted.
   “Montana. Been awhile. What’s going on here?” I subtly glanced over his shoulder, looking for Chuck, but I couldn’t see him. “I heard the radio call. Some sort of disturbance? Thought I’d check it out since I was in the area.”
   “Some steroid-brain douchebag got mad at an old lady for taking his parking space. Another guy pulled out of the parking spot next to her, so d-bag swings around to come back, and instead of just going into the spot, he hits the back of her car on his way into the spot, gets out, and starts yelling at her.”
   I felt anger begin to mount. “What the hell?”
   “Yeah. Real champ, this guy. Anyway, the fella that left the space saw that happening, so he backed up and checked on the situation. D-bag gets nervous when the guy threatens to call the cops, and he gets in his car to flee. Seems our attempted hero blocked the guy’s truck and called the cops anyway.”
   Oh God, Chuck. Of course he did. “Stupid,” I couldn’t help but say. “I mean, smart…”
   “But stupid. Yap. And he paid the price, too.”
   I nearly spun on Montana, my eyes big, my heart racing. I felt a little dizzy. “What do you mean?”
   “Guy kicked his ass.”
   I didn’t hear anything else, trying to show I was taking this in calmly as I nodded and swept past him, walking around the cars and sweeping my eyes over everything. Where was Chuck?
   I saw Montana’s labeled “D-bag” sitting in the back of the cop car, looking about as bad ass as anybody ever did sitting in the back of a cop car—which was to say, not at all bad ass. And Montana’s partner Officer Julia Farrell was off to the side with whom I assumed was the old woman in question. She looked relatively feeble, and certainly upset.
   And there was Chuck, sitting on the hood of his car nearby, watching the officer and the old woman, holding an ice pack one of the officers must’ve cracked for him to his face.
   His eyes swept over and saw me and he looked like he wanted to leap to his feet and run to me. He slid off of the hood of the car, but stopped himself from coming to me, instead leaning back against the hood again. But he didn’t keep his gaze from me for a second, and my heart was still racing.
   “Officer Farrell,” I said, nodding to my colleague. She gave me a small wave and went back to the woman as I swept past and stopped in front of Chuck. “Sir, are you alright?”
   Chuck opened and closed his mouth a few times. “Uh. Yeah. Thanks.”
   “Follow me.” I cocked my head to the side and led him away from everyone, looking like I was going to take a statement as I grabbed a small notebook from my blazer pocket and the accompanying mini pencil.
   “What you need, Detective Walker, is a pocket protector.” I gave him a look. “Just sayin’.”
   I tried not to find that adorable, but it didn’t work. However, I kept him from knowing that, laying into him with a glare. “Chuck, what the hell are you thinking?”
   “D-Did you hear what happened?”
   “Got it from my colleague, but why don’t you fill me in, too?”
   “Well, I was headed out for a repair job. I saw her,” he said, gesturing to the woman, “pull into the spot next to me. Then this guy in a douche truck flipped her off behind me, all angry, and I was like ‘Damn, what an asshole.’ Anyways, he peeled off, so I pulled outta my spot and drove away. That was when I saw the guy drive back into my row in front of me. He went right past me and he looked super pissed off, like he was about to start something. So instead of leaving, I pulled back around like he’d done and I saw him pull into the spot I’d just left. And I couldn’t believe what I saw. Just fucking madness. He swerved his truck so that it bashed into the back of her car! He did it on purpose! Then he backs up, does it again, and then backs up and pulls into the spot. So I raced the rest of the way over there and I heard him screaming at her out of his window. Fucking insane!” he exclaimed, throwing his hand up.
   “So I rolled down my window and yelled at him. Told him to calm the hell down. This poor woman was locked in her car, and I could see she was freaking out. And terrified. So I yelled at him that I was calling the cops, and I took my phone out and shook it like this.” He showed me, holding it up and waving it threateningly. In spite of the situation and the fact that I still didn’t know how bad his face looked under that ice pack, I had to work to keep from smirking at how ridiculous he looked. “So he gets this ‘oh shit!’ look on his face and I knew he was about to reverse out of the parking space. But I wasn’t gonna let him just go, right? So I blocked his truck with my car, and then I got out to check on the woman. I went around to the other side to ask if she was okay and she was in hysterics which, like, isn’t good for someone that old, right?”
   I sighed, trying to keep from rolling my eyes. “Chuck, you can’t just block someone’s car like that. Especially if they’re unbalanced like he obviously is. He could’ve had a knife, or even a gun.”
   That apparently hadn’t occurred to the makeshift hero. And the hand that was holding the ice pack against his face went limp, his arm falling to his side. “That…didn’t occur to me,” he mumbled breathlessly.
   But I was too distracted by the large red welt on his cheekbone and the fact that his eye was already purpling. Another thing I hadn’t seen—he had a split lip.
   “Jesus, Chuck!” I gasped, resisting the urge to step closer, to touch him, as if to make sure he was really okay. I knew he was. It could’ve been worse. He could’ve been shot or stabbed by the guy.
   But then he sighed and slumped a little. “I know it was stupid. I just…I was really mad. I couldn’t leave that lady by herself. I wanted to see the guy get tossed in jail, so I made it so that he couldn’t escape.”
   “You aren’t a police officer, Chuck. You don’t make that decision. Get his license plate number, let him go, and call 911. That’s what it’s for. They would’ve found him easy.” I took a deep breath but didn’t feel any calmer as he frowned at me. “This was seriously stupid and you could’ve saved yourself the pain.” I pointed to his face.
   He quickly covered it up with the ice pack again, looking a little defiant. “I didn’t think I was a police officer. I was just trying to do the right thing.”
   “The right thing is letting the police deal with it. The right thing is not getting yourself hurt. Oh, and there’s also the fact that you kept him here where he could continue terrorizing that poor woman.”
   That apparently hadn’t occurred to him, either. And he looked sheepish about that. “Shit.”
   “Yeah, shit!” I lowered my voice then, not wanting anyone to know this conversation was anything more or less than the typical conversation between a witness and a responding police officer. “You could’ve saved everyone the trouble if you’d just let him go. But instead you had to be the hero.”
   “I wasn’t trying to be a hero,” he whispered through a clenched jaw. “I was mad, okay? I didn’t want him to get away with it.”
   “Is that supposed to make it better? If you’d just gotten his license plate number and let him go, he wouldn’t have gotten away with it, Chu—”
   “Detective Walker.”
   I spun. “Yes, Montana?”
   He walked up to us, none the wiser, and straightened his hat on his head. “Farrell is gonna wait here for an ambulance just to make sure Mrs. Tarpley is okay. I’m taking that joker in. Mr. Bartowski, you’re pressing charges you said, is that right?”
   “Hell yeah I am.”
   I felt a spike of annoyance at the vitriol in his tone.
   “Okay. Detective, can you give him a ride? You probably have other things you gotta do but—”
   “I’ve got it, Montana. Don’t worry. I’ll take Mr. Bartowski in with me.”
   “Right. Thank you. Meet you back at the station.” He nodded once at Chuck, who smiled back weakly, and then he was gone again.
   “Let’s go,” I half-snapped, walking towards my car.
   Chuck hurried to catch up to me, walking at my shoulder. “Wait, are you pissed at me?”
   “I’m not…” I let out a huff and rolled my eyes. “Just…wait ’til we get in the car, okay?”
   He did, thankfully.
   And when we were behind the doors of my BMW, I turned to him.
   “I’m frustrated.”
   “With me?”
   “Yes, Chuck. With you.”
   He looked upset by that and it made my chest ache a little bit. I had to instill in him how stupid all of this was, though. How much of an unnecessary risk he’d taken. It could have ended up so much worse than it had.
   “Look, I—I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have gotten so mad and I shouldn’t have let that dictate how I reacted.”
   I huffed again. “Yeah, Chuck. That was stupid. We’ve already been through that.”
   “But I called the cops! That was smart, right?”
   “No, Chuck! You didn’t call the cops. You called me!” I spun on him after stopping at the red light. “That was not smart.”
   “But you’re the cops.”
   “I’m not the cops. I’m a detective, okay? We have cars patrolling out here day and night. We have officers on duty who would’ve gotten to you a lot sooner than me and maybe would’ve saved you the beating.”
   He scoffed. “It wasn’t exactly a beating—”
   “Stop it, Chuck. I’m serious.” He blinked, looking properly chastised. And I knew my worry was getting the best of me, that I was losing my control a little. But I was upset. “Why did you call me first?”
   “You’ve got a badge and I knew you’d help me out.”
   “For fuck’s sake, Chuck! You call 911! Not me!” He let out a frustrated huff. “Look, I’m not trying to be a bitch, here, but I don’t want you to make me regret telling you what I do for a living.” I kept my eyes on the road because I didn’t want whatever I saw on his face to make me chicken out. I needed him to hear this, whether it hurt his feelings or not. “And you can’t treat me like I’m your personal police service.”
   “I’m not treating you like you’re my own personal police service. There was a situation and the first thing I thought was, ‘Hey, I’m with someone who has a badge and can help me out!’ so I called you. I didn’t think the guy would get violent on me.”
   “Chuck, that’s not what this is.”
   The car was silent for a few seconds.
   “What do you mean?” he asked, and I stared straight ahead.
   “We aren’t—This, Chuck. Us. I’m not your girlfriend, okay?” And now I felt like an asshole. A giant asshole. And I regretted saying that, even though it maybe needed to be said. “When you’re in a situation like this, you call the police. If I’m halfway across the city, I can’t get to you. This is why we have 911. You call 911. Whoever’s closest comes to help. You do not call me.”
   “You said that already. But let’s go back to that first part. You think I don’t know that you’re not my girlfriend?”
   “Maybe you don’t. Because if you were looking at this relationship the same way I am, you would’ve called 911 before you called me.”
   “You’re overreacting. I called you because you’re law enforcement.”
   I gave him a flat look, which he didn’t appear to appreciate. “Don’t tell me how I’m looking at this relationship. And damn, aren’t you a hotshot? You got me, Sarah,” he said with out of character sarcasm. “You’re always on my mind. I can’t stop thinking about you. So I called you before I called the police. Because I forgot myself, and started thinking of you as my girlfriend.”
   The deep sarcasm in his voice was making me see red, but I controlled myself, forcing myself not to be hurt by his mocking.
   “Oh, come off it. That isn’t what I’m saying.”
   “Sounds like that’s exactly what you’re saying. You’re so emotionally bulletproof that all of these months have meant nothing to you outside of the sex, but man, I just got totally lost in my emotions because I’m a sensitive guy.”
   He was still mocking, and I hated it.
   “There’s no need for you to be so mean.” It sounded lame even to my own ears.
   “I’m not trying to be mean, Sarah. But you should listen to yourself. Look, I’m fine. A few bruises and a sore lip. And yeah, I should have called 911 instead of going straight to you. But I didn’t. Because I respect you, because I know how good you are at your job, and because I knew you’d be able to help.” But there was something underneath what he was saying. I could see it clear as day. He was hurt. Because maybe I’d hit the nail on the head.
   “Chuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
   What, exactly?
   There was a long pause. I peeked over at him and saw that he was looking out of his window. “So what you’re saying is…this whole thing with us…you just want it to be sex. And literally nothing else. I can’t call you for any other reason. Nothing outside of getting off.”
   “Chuck, don’t do that. Don’t make me sound like an asshole.” But I was an asshole. I just needed him not to do reckless things like he’d just done. I didn’t want him relying on me when we weren’t in that kind of relationship. “Look, I’m not saying you can’t call me if you—if you’re stuck or something, Chuck. But you can’t get so comfortable that you call me instead of the police when there’s a legitimately dangerous situation.”
   “What’s so wrong about being comfortable?”
   “It’s not that you’re comfortable, it’s…how comfortable you are. There still has to be a line we don’t cross.”
   “Why?”
   “You know why.”
   He was silent for a few minutes, and then he turned to look at me. “Because you’re scared, aren’t you?” I glared at him. “You’re scared,” he continued, undaunted, “that if you don’t set up that line, that you won’t be able to keep this just a physical thing.” I didn’t say anything. “Well, I’m not scared. I know where I stand with you. I know what my feelings are. And I’m perfectly clear about what you want from this relationship.”
   He paused.
   “At least, if I wasn’t before, I am now.”
   Neither of us said another word as I pulled into my parking space at the station. We just sat there silently. I felt like I had to say something. I bit my bottom lip and rubbed my hands over the steering wheel.
   “I didn’t mean to make it about—about us. But you need to know you can’t call me before you call the police. It isn’t smart. It isn’t safe.”
   “I got that. Thanks.” He still didn’t look at me. “But this obviously wasn’t about just that for you.”
   “That’s exactly what this is about. I’m trying to protect you.”
   “That’s bullshit.”
   “But as for the other thing, we need to keep this…” I licked my lips, since they were suddenly so dry. “We made an agreement a few months ago. We were both very clear. You agreed to it. I gave you plenty of openings to walk away. No relationship. Just sex.” He didn’t say anything. “And that doesn’t mean we don’t talk to each other unless it’s about meeting for sex. It just means we keep things non-romantic. If we end up relying on each other for…other things besides sex, it’s less no-strings-attached and more…well, more strings-attached. That’s exactly what I can’t have in my life right now.”
   “Fuck buddies,” he said, and it sounded a little harsh coming from him. He softened a little and nodded. “You’re right. You were honest from the get-go. I agreed to it. I knew exactly what I was getting into with you.” He turned his head a little more towards me, but he was looking down instead of meeting my eyes.
   “Yeah.” I wasn’t foolish enough to ask him if we were okay. I didn’t want to do him the disservice. Because I knew we weren’t. That was a hell of a row we’d just had. And I felt awful.
   “I should get in there and give my statement or whatever.”
   “Right.”
   He got out and shut the door, rounding the front of my car, a line of hurt between his eyebrows even though I knew he was doing his best not to let me see it. As I got out of the car, I watched him go to the front doors of the station and hold it open for someone to walk out, before he disappeared inside.

Notes: Please don't hate Sarah too much. I'm the one who wrote the scene, after all. ;)
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Just A Game