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Even Saga is a bit put off by this holiday, which isn’t a holiday at all. Casey reminds her every year, “If it was, we’d get the fucking day off.” It always hurts her eyes, the same three colors, ones she loves, but it’s forced on them, it’s over-saturated. They’re not colors chosen out of favor, just picked to sell.
The only thing she ever does for Valentine’s Day is get a large box of chocolates that she can share with Logan and Casey. She doesn’t miss the hectic scramble and worry from when Logan was in middle school. Who exactly deserves a card and candy? What if she slights somebody? She doesn’t have enough for everyone in her classes.
Saga shakes her head at the memory of her child stressed over paper and chocolate. Now she gets to choose who deserves her time and affection for more than just a few hours of the day. It’s given Logan a confidence she didn’t have before. So she doesn’t hate Valentine’s Day if it makes her daughter happy.
What this Valentine’s Day makes her feel is nervous in a way she’s never been before, simply because this is her first with Casey. Not the first they’ve spent together, oh no, they’ve spent plenty of those in each other’s back pockets, but together as a couple. And this makes a world of difference.
Should they go out on a date? The idea makes her grimace a little, she’s not opposed to it, but there’s the minor hiccup of having to leave the city because no doubt they’d run into colleagues. She can’t count the number of times Casey has raised his eyebrow at her during their day, inside and outside of the office. He hasn’t been the least bit convinced by her reassuring smiles, not even her daily habit of kissing his dimples had hidden her nervous air.
Even Logan had picked up on it when she came home from work, and of course, had accurately gotten most of the truth out of her mother. “That’s why I told you to start on your gift last month, then you’d have one less thing to worry about!”
“It’s finished, but what if he doesn’t like it? What if it’s too much?”
“Mom, you could give Uncle Casey one of my shitty-”
“Logan!”
“SORRY. One of my CRAPPY drawings from middle school, add hearts to it and he’d be happy because it would be from you.”
“I think you’re a little biased, honey.”
“I just know Uncle Casey, and he loves you. Which is exactly why I’m not going to be anywhere in the vicinity of this house tonight.”
“Logan, you never have to feel inconvenienced in your own home, Casey and I can just go to-”
“Nope, I already have plans anyway, and no, they’re nothing like yours, don’t make that face. You don’t have to be so nervous about it, is my point. Just be yourself.”
“How did my little girl get so wise?”
“Because I don’t have the world’s worst mom, and I’m almost sixteen, hardly a little girl anymore!”
“You’ll always be my little girl.”
“Mom, stop smothering me with kisses. MOM, I’M CALLING UNCLE CASEY.”
Being comforted by her teenage daughter wasn’t on her bingo card for the year, but she certainly appreciates it. She truly has the best daughter in the world, and it makes her smile, as she shoves her hands into the pockets of her coat, hunching her shoulders up to ward off the cold. Of course she had last-minute tasks she had forgotten about until after work.
Saga can’t help but blink in surprise when her partner sidles up to her and drapes an arm over her shoulders, tucking a loose curl behind her ear, lingering like always when it comes to her hair. She didn’t expect to see him until later in the night, but here he is, at her side, just where he belongs. She turns further into his body, grateful for the body heat, a shiver of a different kind runs down her spine when he curves his hand against the back of her head.
She closes her eyes at the kiss he presses to her forehead, smiles at the way he doesn’t pull back, but drops another kiss to the tip of her nose instead, the affectionate gesture warms her heart. “You’re such a softie, Casey.”
“You Anderson women infected me.” He mutters with no heat in his voice before he kisses her properly.
Her eyes flutter shut, and she sneaks a hand inside his coat and curls her fingers into his shirt. She loves the feel of his lips on hers, the tickle of his facial hair, the way he strokes her hair. If they weren’t in public, she’d kiss him the way they both wanted.
She reluctantly breaks the kiss with a sigh, reaching up with her free hand to thumb one of his dimples. It always makes his eyes darken without fail, and he runs his thumb down her jawline before squeezing her shoulder gently. “I thought we were gonna meet up later?” Not that she’s complaining by any means.
He just shrugs. “Needed to see you again before this fucking day drove me insane.”
“Aw, Casey, I’m your link to sanity.”
“Don’t let it go to your head, Anderson.”
She smiles softly, happiness fizzing in her veins, and she wonders why she was so worried at all. Logan was right, this is Alex Casey, a man she’s known for over a decade, at various points in her life. From the minute they met, when she was a rookie with a young child, and he became her instructor. It was only years later that she confessed with a laugh that she had a crush on him. “Hot for teacher, huh Anderson? When said teacher was married? Scandalous.”
“Casey! I was married too, it’s not like I acted on it anyway, lucky for you.”
“Lucky for me? Why not lucky for you?"
“I’ll show you why."
“A-Anderson, you can’t just...f-fuck.”
Whenever she gets him stuttering like a teenager, it floods her with pride, to be able to make him lose his cool and collected composure. It’s only when he takes her other hand in his and flinches does she lose her smile. “What’s wrong?”
“Feels like you’ve been juggling ice cubes, are you done out here?”
“Just had a few things I needed to mail, other than that, I’m good.”
Her heart skips a beat when he rubs her hand with his own, bringing it up to brush his lips to her knuckles. “Let me take you home.”
She closes her eyes, thankful every day that they had confessed their feelings for each other. She can’t imagine this with anyone else, she’s never had a love like this. It makes her insides burn, and makes her feel so grateful and happy. She just nods and feels him brush his lips against hers again, soft and chaste, like he just needs one last taste of her. She keeps her eyes closed as he walks, leading her to his car, and she trusts him enough to watch over her, to take her anywhere.
It’s only when they’re settled in the car that she opens her eyes, turning her head to the side to take in his profile. He looks so good framed by the setting sun; the rays falling on him and making him glow. Who can blame her when she leans over the center console to kiss his jaw, nipping just a little. When he lets out an exhale of surprise and pleasure, her mouth lowers to his neck, where she bites down, pressing her tongue to the mark to soothe any pain. “I’m driving, Anderson. You really want us to crash?” He’s trying to admonish her, but it fails miserably when his actions betray him, taking a hand off of the steering wheel to slide his hot palm against the denim encasing her thighs.
She just hums, trapping his hand underneath her own, moving it closer to her inner thigh. “We can always pull over.”
He scoffs lightly at that, even as he squeezes her. “Even we’re not above the law, I’m not trying to get hit with indecent exposure. Besides, I said I was taking you home. I’m not making love to you in the backseat.”
His words make her squirm more than his touch. Anybody would think he’d refer to the act as fucking, never making love. But that’s what it’s always been with them, just love, and she has to kiss him when they stop at a red light, his groan gets swallowed up by her, and she gets the warm touch of his tongue against hers before somebody behind them honks their horn angrily. They both pull away with muttered curses, even though she knows it’s for the best, they’re not that far away now anyway.
When they pull up into the driveway, he’s quick to kill the ignition, all but running out of the car to open her door and ease her out. The very second they’re inside and she locks the door, she’s pressing him against it, pushing her body up against his, wraps her arms around his neck, fingers tugging at the hair against his nape. He makes the prettiest noises, it always makes her entire body light up, makes her want to never stop kissing him, and she gives her own whine when he tugs the hair tie out of her curls, just to run his hand through them, scratching along her scalp.
She pushes at the lapels of his coat and he quickly shrugs it off, lets it fall to the floor and her coat is quick to follow. Their boots get kicked off as she walks them backward until they reach the couch. She sits down and he all but tumbles down onto her, catches himself with his hand on the armrest, making sure she doesn’t bear his entire weight. She breaks for air, glancing into his darkened blue eyes, the faint red flush that spans his cheeks, and she can’t stop herself from leaning up to catch another kiss. He frustratingly doesn’t give it to her, and she makes an angry noise in the back of her throat. “Saga, wait, I need to get your gift now before you make me forget it until tomorrow.”
Huh. She’s completely forgotten about gifts, which almost makes her laugh, considering she had been so consumed by it all day. “Let me go get yours, then.”
It’s a quick walk from the living room to their shared bedroom, and she stoops down to reach behind the bed where she’s hidden the gift. Casey’s just as bad about presents as Logan is, always determined to find out where it is before she can give it to him. Despite realizing how silly it is now, she takes a deep breath to calm her nerves. She keeps an air of calm, as she tries not to jog back to his side, she’s not trying to look overeager. She finds him on the couch, hunched over, arms hiding the gift he clearly didn’t wrap.
She shakes her head fondly and kisses his forehead, sweeping back the errant strands of hair that’s fallen in his eyes, holding out the red box, tied with a long pink ribbon. He gives a sheepish grin that turns his face into a boy who wasn’t quite ready. He takes the box but doesn’t open it yet, holding out what he purchased for her instead. Her eyes widen in surprise at the leather, black lined with red, and she happily takes the gloves, putting them on, and she shivers at the feel of the faux fur that lines the insides. “How did you know I wanted these?”
“I remembered you eyeballing them a few days ago, and your old ones just weren’t getting the job done.” His still dark eyes crinkle with his smile.
She bites her bottom lip and takes a deep breath, inhaling her emotions before she tears up, and teases him instead. “Always so observant. You never take the day off.”
“Not when it comes to you.” He finally looks down at his own gift, undoing the bow with nimble fingers, and opening the box.
She tenses up at his sharp inhale as he removes the item nestled in the tissue paper. It’s been a long time since she’s knitted something so long, but he hardly ever wears a scarf during winter and it drives her crazy. She knows what colors look good on him and it was easy to follow the pattern she liked best. Deep red gets lighter and lighter until it’s a pale pink, the ombre clean and soft. He looks up at her, his eyes now shining with emotion, and she swallows at the appreciation in his gaze. “Thank you, Saga. I don’t know how long you’ve been working on this, but I’ll wear it every day.”
“Even during the summer?” Her voice drips with amusement, giddy at the way he sets the box aside, and begins looping the fabric around his neck.
“Challenging me, Saga? You think I won’t?” He raises an eyebrow at her.
“I know you will. Can’t wait to hear the teasing you’ll get tomorrow.” She reaches out to tug at the scarf, settling in his lap.
“What else is new? I’ll strangle them with it the second they start.” He grumbles, sweeping her curls off her shoulders.
“No workplace violence, Alex, even if they deserve it.” She feels his entire body shudder under her as she strokes his cheeks with the cool leather covering her hands.
He all but pouts, settling his hands on her hips. “You don’t let me have any fun.”
“Oh, I don’t, huh?” She can’t stop herself from giggling at the groan he gives when she rolls her hips.
“Fucking tease.” He shakes his head, eyes glinting as he tightens his grip.
She tugs him to her mouth by his scarf, not an inch of space between their bodies as she bites his lower lip, drawing back just enough to whisper. “Hey, Alex?”
“Saga, don’t fucking do it.” He’s already on the precipice of whining.
Not that it ever stops her. “Thanks for never playing heart to get.”
She squeals when he pushes her onto the couch. “Fucking hate this day.” He grumbles before he slants his mouth over hers.
She knows better now.