Jensen
the apple cider clinked into the sink, Jensen raised the chilled bottle into the air to a round of cheers from his family. Gathered around the dinner table of his townhouse, the smiling faces of his parents and sisters filled the space with more warmth than the heater running.
“Here you go!” Jensen poured cider into the crystal champagne flute in Piper’s hand, grinning when he topped her glass off. “First drink for the birthday girl.”
The cheesy paper crown constructed with a glitter glue gun and bright pink construction paper slipped down Piper’s forehead. She fixed it with a gentle push. “Thank you.”
“Chug, chug, chug,” Hayley chanted from her seat at the table, pumping her fist in the air while she hollered.
Piper rolled her eyes while flouncing back to her seat. She nursed her drink like it was aged whiskey and prodded at her chicken parmesan on top of a bed of marinara and penne.
Jensen filled the rest of the glasses for him and the others. Many years ago, on a cold December night, Piper Delilah Ramsey brightened the world with her presence. So, it was Piper’s night to do whatever her heart desired.
Every year, without fail, she demanded board games, Italian food, and family time. This year, however, marked Jensen’s turn to host. He considered the "turns" a friendly competition between him, the parents, and Hayley.
“Drinks for everyone else.” Jensen handed off the cider while staring at the empty table. “Have we decided on the game of choice?”
“Hayley and I suggest Monopoly,” his mom started, but matching groans from him and his dad interrupted.
“No way. I’d like to leave property acquisition at work, please.” His dad shook his head, talking between bites of his plate. A small flake of parmesan sat on his lower lip until his mom’s hand gently thumbed it away.
“I agree.” Jensen cleared his throat. “I’m avoiding discussing work after five o’clock for the next few weeks. That’s a rule.”
That month marked the impending annual shareholder meeting, better known as when a group of businessmen would decide his and Daisy’s futures at Hidden Oasis. Despite his self-imposed limits on thinking about work, the prospect haunted him, lurking in every corner of his life.
Late at night, he stared at the dark ceiling while his phone sat on the end table, begging him to call her. There was only one person in the world who knew how he felt, yet no matter how close he was to picking up her number, Jensen held himself back.
So close to the end, he and Daisy sat in the dark with a mile of space between them.
“Oh, come on! It’s Piper’s birthday!” Hayley jumped out of her chair. She pointed at Piper, caught mid-bite of her chicken parm with cheeks puffed. “We need to pick something fun.”
“So, ask her what she wants to play,” Jensen retorted dryly.
Piper swallowed. "Whatever the majority picks. When I picked last year, Mom and Dad almost divorced over Uno," she said, albeit heavy with the teasing in her voice. The infamous Uno debacle of Piper's eighteenth birthday still inspired a thousand jokes and a collection of memes Hayley curated for the family group chat.
"We're split down the middle, it seems," his mom mused between sips of her cider, but a second call for a vote never came. A loud knock at the door ceased all conversation, not urgent yet bold.
"Stay here. I'll see who it is," said Jensen, leaving his cider at the table. He jogged from the table and left the quiet whispering in the other room. He tossed open the door to the sight of a tan trench coat.
“Hi.” Daisy shouldered the oversized purse higher on her shoulder. When she opened one of the straps, the plastic-wrapped head of a champagne bottle poked from the rim of the purse. “You look surprised to see me.”
“I am.” Jensen’s arms posted against the top of the door, leaning against the frame with a smirk. “But I’m not upset.”
"Mmm, you won't be when I show you the surprise I've brought."
“Surprise? I can see the champagne in your purse.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Daisy’s eyes pinned him under her seductive stare while her hand tugged at the belt of her trench coat. The coat fell open, revealing the red lace of the teddy clinging to her body.
Jensen stood there, sucker-punched by the sight of Daisy in nothing more than an oversized coat and lingerie on his doorstep. Oh yeah, he liked his surprise.
His hands abandoned the door frame for a more comfortable position, holding her hips. Jensen dragged Daisy closer, one heeled foot in the door and the other lifted off the doorstep.
His mouth hovered over hers while his fingers traced the distinct line between the red lace and Daisy's skin, letting Jensen admire her under the distant light of the street lamps.
Easing her close, Jensen murmured into her mouth, “Red? Fuck, you know exactly how to push all my buttons.”
“That’s what you tolerate about me, isn’t it?” Daisy replied softly. Her voice rose over the rapid thrum of his pulse in his throat. “Now, are you going to invite me in?”
“Definitely.”
As Jensen’s thumbs dipped underneath the lace bordering Daisy’s hips, a sharp clang from the dining room sliced through the tension. Daisy staggered backward, dodging around Jensen's hands to be two feet firmly on the doorstep.
“You have people over?” Daisy hissed, fumbling around her purse as she grabbed her coat. Jensen moved his body in front of hers to block the view from the kitchen doorway.
"Yeah, my family," Jensen swallowed hard. His eyes dropped to his pants, and he inhaled shakily. "It's Piper's birthday. That's why I'm surprised—"
Daisy's face darkened. "I wouldn't have shown up if I knew that! You made it seem like you had a free evening and wanted me to come over."
“When? I don’t remember that.”
“When we ditched the fire safety seminar that hasn’t been changed in twenty years and made out in one of the empty conference rooms. You said you'll think about it and how you needed me all night."
A vague memory of that statement flashed across Jensen's mind, lost in the haze of his hands hiking Daisy's dress higher on her thighs and his mouth leaving a little mark beneath her neckline. Right. Shit.
“I’m still thinking about it,” Jensen mumbled, earning a sharp and swift raise of Daisy’s brow. “Sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” he croaked, but Daisy shook her head.
"I didn't mind the make-out instead of listening to the fire marshal drone about his arson horror stories. I am disappointed, however, that I exfoliated and opened my brand-new lipstick for this," said Daisy, sighing while she tied the belt closed.
“Jensen, who’s at the door?” his mom’s voice called, accompanied by the shuffle of several pairs of feet quickly approaching.
"It's um—" he started, stranded between Daisy in the doorway and seeing his family peering around the wall. No excuse came to Jensen's rescue. His mouth flapped—much like a fish out of water—while he gestured toward Daisy. "Daisy."
“I promise not to interrupt any longer.” Daisy reached into her purse, producing a folder. Jensen blinked twice when Daisy pushed the folder into his hands. “Jensen needed some numbers before tomorrow. The clients in question aren’t fond of going paperless.”
“She really goes above and beyond, doesn’t she?” His dad grinned with the same prideful smile reserved for one of the kids.
"It was no trouble. I was passing by," Daisy replied, smiling big despite the lie passing through those pretty red lips. Jensen knew her apartment building was on the other side of town from the office and his place. "Anyways, I should go."
But as Daisy stepped back, his mom flitted forward. “No! Please stay for dinner! We have chicken parmesan or plain pasta if you have dietary restrictions.”
“I agree. I’m not going to pass up an opportunity where you’re not busy or have other plans,” his dad added. “After years of trying, Eileen and I finally got you to join us for dinner.”
Jensen nearly gave himself whiplash from how fast his head snapped around, eyeing the matching smiles on his parents' faces. His dad's eyes crinkled in the corners while his mom's shoulders shook with barely suppressed laughter.
He glanced at Daisy, who cleared her throat. “I really shouldn’t. I didn’t plan to stay long. Besides, I hear it’s someone’s birthday-”
"It's mine." Piper raised her hand shyly. "We have extra pasta, apple cider, and cake. If Jensen says it's okay, would you stay?"
Daisy's voice faltered, looking at Jensen silently for help. But he didn't feel like much help, not when trapped under Piper's puppy dog eyes. So, he stepped out of the doorway with nothing left to lose.
“Come on,” Jensen grasped Daisy’s hands and guided her into the townhouse. “We’re not going to win. You might as well grab a slice of cake and watch how fast we descend into Lord of the Flies over cards.”
"Well, it'll be more interesting than doing chores like I planned." Daisy shut the door behind her. Her smile warmed when Piper cheered, bouncing with her pink paper crown. As his family headed back for the kitchen, Daisy stopped him.
Jensen raked his eyes over the coat she wore, swearing he felt his dad’s eyes through the wall. “If you go to my bedroom, I should have something you can borrow.”
“Thanks,” Daisy whispered, striding for the staircase to his bedroom. She moved through his home, a little too confidently for her 'first time' there.
Jensen returned to the dining room to find Hayley adding an extra place setting to the table. One last plate completed the table, but someone had a sense of humor to sit Daisy next to him instead of trading places.
Jensen eyed his family while taking his seat, searching for the culprit. No one moved an inch or strayed from the grins on their faces, endlessly amused. Yeah, laugh at his suffering.
A stab of his chicken parm kept the mood light until Daisy’s head popped into the kitchen, sans trench coat. Instead, a dark dress with long sleeves covered any trace of the lingerie she brought to his doorstep. Her sandy hair curtained around her face, free from the loose hair tie hanging on her wrist.
"Dinner looks lovely," Daisy remarked, picking up her dish. When his mom and Piper protested, she made them stay seated with a silent yet firm gesture. “So, what are we playing?”
“What are your thoughts on Monopoly?” asked Piper, leaning on her folded hands. Her quizzical stare followed Daisy around the kitchen as she loaded her plate.
“I love Monopoly.” A laugh sweeter than summer fruit escaped Daisy while she joined the table. She slid her plate to the side and reached for the cider bottle. "Is that what we're playing?"
“Yes. It’s a 4 to 2 vote,” Piper hummed. Her eyes flitted toward Jensen and their dad, daring them to appeal the decision of the women gathered around the table.
Jensen held up his hands in surrender. His dad shrugged, taking another bite of his chicken parm. With no disagreements, the box for Monopoly was dropped into the center of the table.
A flurry of hands pried open the box in a crash of brightly colored 'money,' the board, and the little player pieces. Hayley snatched up the cash to hold over her head. "Dibs on being the banker!"
“I will allow it.” Piper pursed her lips while Hayley rifled through the cash. She sorted everything into piles while smirking at Jensen. His sisters were weird.
When Piper uncovered the silver player pieces, he reached immediately for the battleship—his favorite piece since childhood. However, his fingers brushed against Daisy’s, forcing them to recoil away from the battleship.
“I always play as the battleship.” Jensen’s nose scrunched up while his fingers inched toward the silver battleship again. But as he curled a finger around it, Daisy’s hand knocked it from his reach.
“And? I’ll be playing as the battleship tonight,” Daisy hummed.
Jensen plucked the piece up and set it to the side, watching Daisy's brows furrow. He held his hands out with a fist on a flat hand. "Rock, paper, scissors?"
“What are we? Children?”
“Is that a no, then?”
Daisy matched his hands for rock, paper, scissors, and their eyes met halfway. They did the silent countdown until they flashed their hands. Jensen pulled out scissors. . . and Daisy chose rock.
“Hah! Suck it!” Daisy cheered, taking back the battleship piece.
"I'm still going to take you down," Jensen replied, scoffing while he grabbed the wheelbarrow. He maneuvered the piece through his fingers and set it at GO.
“In your dreams.”
“You say that now, but you won’t be so smug when I’m rolling in Monopoly money.”
Jensen smirked at Daisy, who rolled her eyes. Although her face turned from him, Daisy pushed him back with a feather-light flick to his chest. Jensen leaned away, eyes landing on his family observing the exchange.
His gaze jumped from the curiosity of his parents to Piper and Hayley’s quiet giggling behind their hands. Right, they had company.
Everyone got tired of Monopoly around the two-hour mark, with the pasta long gone and the cake half-eaten.
Within the first hour, Jensen’s parents folded and became spectators to the fierce competition. Daisy might not have been a Ramsey by blood, but she played with the competitive spirit of one.
She fit right in at their table.
"Alright, the birthday girl is falling asleep," Jensen murmured while he raked his fingers over Piper's hair. His baby sister still had some viable properties but was fighting for third place. "Time to call it a night."
“Agreed.” Hayley yawned. She gathered the money scattered in her pot as the rest of the table shuffled to clean up the table.
Piper’s head stirred with everyone moving around her, blinking all bleary-eyed when she looked up. “Is Monopoly over?”
"Yeah, we're cleaning up now," said Jensen.
"Mmm, did I win?"
Jensen paused for a second but heard a quiet hum from Daisy beside him. She folded the board into the box. “You did. Congrats, birthday girl.”
"Yay." Piper yawned, climbing out of her chair. She collided with Hayley's side, gripping onto her like a koala. "Are we going home now?"
“Yes,” the rest of the table chorused—in one way or another—while they cleaned the table. Between five hands, fixing Jensen's table went smoothly and quickly.
As his mom packed up the last few slices of birthday cake, Jensen rounded the table and pulled Piper from around Hayley’s waist. Her arms curled around his shoulders, and her face squished into his chest, smiling wide.
"Thanks for making my birthday the best night of the year," Piper whispered, peering up at him.
“Of course. Happy birthday, Pipes. I love you.” Jensen squeezed her tighter, knowing the years with his sisters would start slipping by. Right then, they were twenty-five, twenty-two, and nineteen, but life changed quicker than anyone could stop.
“Love you, too.”
“Okay, let’s get you in the car and back to the apartment. You’ve got classes tomorrow morning,” Hayley remarked from the sidelines, already shouldering her purse.
“Mmm. . .” Piper let him go, stretching with a yawn. She started toward the door, stopping herself to race around the table. Jensen stilled when Piper threw her arms around Daisy’s shoulders, burying herself into Daisy’s arms for a hug. “Thank you for staying!”
Daisy froze in the embrace. Her hands hovered at her side, fingers flexed wide. Jensen couldn’t miss the roughness of her swallow, even if he tried to turn a blind eye, but he witnessed the softening of her features as Daisy hugged Piper back.
"Thanks for having me. I know I don't always see eye-to-eye with your brother, but I think you're pretty awesome. Maybe we can be friends," Daisy murmured, loud enough for Jensen to hear, whether intentional or incidental.
"I'd like that," Piper agreed with a giggle. Jensen had never felt so breathless in his life. "See you, Daisy."
“Keep your chin up, kid. A princess never lets her crown fall.” Daisy relinquished her hold on Piper, turning to watch her skip toward her and Jensen’s parents.
The lump in Jensen’s throat burned warm as he tucked in his chair. “Let me walk you all out. Come on.”
Jensen's family headed for the door, exchanging quiet hugs and sweet goodnight messages whispered to one another. His hug with his mom lasted the longest, and he was almost reluctant to let go.
He watched his family file through the front door, lingering in the doorway until their cars drove away from the curb. In the late hour, silence settled over the neighborhood. Somehow, this dazzling and perfect place existed in the heart of Los Angeles, busy at all hours of the day.
Jensen closed the door behind him, locking up in the dark. Silently, he returned to the kitchen, where Daisy stood by the counter with her bottle of champagne smuggled in.
“I like your family a lot. They’re nice, and they like me, even though you hate my guts,” Daisy remarked, but the soft lilt of teasing lightened her words. She held up the champagne.
Jensen sidled to her, hands tracing the counter as he approached. "Piper likes you. Hayley likes you. My mom likes you, and we know how my dad feels about you. I guess I'm the hold-out."
"Maybe I could change your mind with champagne?" asked Daisy.
But she backed against the counter when Jensen’s hand dipped underneath the hem of her dress. He fisted the fabric and raised it over her hips, revealing the red lace from before. Perfect.
“Forget the champagne,” Jensen murmured. His hands lifted her off the ground to a shocked gasp, squeezing hard while sliding his fingers down the back of her thighs. “I want you instead.”
“I like the sound of that.” Daisy licked her lips before she pulled Jensen to her with a fistful of his dark henley. Their mouths moved in a clash of heat, interrupted by the occasional tug of Daisy's lower lip between Jensen's teeth and her pretty moans. “Bedroom?”
“Bedroom,” Jensen agreed, breaking the kiss long enough to rush out of his kitchen. Daisy clung to him with a flex of her thighs around his hips, ankles locked together. Daisy didn’t need instructions anymore.
Crashing into the bedroom, neither stopped to do anything beyond running their lips over one another. And fuck if Jensen didn't love it.
He brought Daisy to the edge of his bed, tossing her onto the mattress. She gasped, losing the sound somewhere among the rumpling of the duvet. Jensen leaned forward, pushing his knuckles into the bed as Daisy sat up.
“Let’s get this off,” Jensen remarked, hands halfway tucked into the hemline of his shirt and pulling it from his body. “Need help with your dress, Your Highness?”
"I've got it." Daisy's hands reached back to pull for her zipper, arching her back and twisting to grab it. By the time Daisy got the zipper halfway down, Jensen's hands slid his boxers off
Jensen snagged the zipper between two fingers with a chuckle, tilting Daisy’s chin to meet his eyes with his other hand. “You know you can ask for help, right? After how good you were at dinner, I’d give you any you wanted.”
“Good? We were playing footsie under the table half the time while your parents debated the greatest Shakespeare rom-com adaptation,” Daisy panted while Jensen’s eager hands removed her dress, running rogue fingers over the sight of red lace splayed across her body.
“I meant about how you interacted with them and what you said to Piper before she left,” Jensen murmured while his hands continued their delicate trace along the lingerie. “Don’t think I didn’t notice.”
“Well, I know how to be polite.”
“When you want to be.”
“Getting mouthy, are we?” Daisy replied dryly. Her deadpan stare made the tiny glint of arousal streaking in those whiskey-colored eyes when Jensen dipped his hand right between her parted thighs even better.
Her lips quivered, pushing through a shaky exhale as Jensen ran his fingers along the seam of her panties. Jensen slowed while circling her clit through the already damp fabric of her lingerie. He smirked when Daisy’s hips ground against his hand, seeking more friction.
“You love it when I give you a hard time,” Jensen tsked, applying more pressure with his fingers against her clit. Daisy’s hips rocked roughly, riding his fingers despite the clothes in the way. Jensen grinned, encouraging the response, “Look at you. You’re a soaking mess. I’ve barely touched you.”
"Are you going to do what you promised, or will I need to do the heavy lifting myself?" Daisy whined, grasping his wrist when he tried to pull his hand back. She clamped her thighs around him hard, trapping his hand so she could grind.
Jensen rubbed harder and faster over the fabric, feeling the wet patch grow with the dull throb of Daisy’s clit. He pressed their foreheads together, whispering, “How attached are you to this cute little outfit?”
“Not at all. I bought it to be torn.”
“You know just what I like.”
Jensen retracted his hand and grasped two fistfuls of the red lace between his fingers. Starting around her breasts, he tore outward to the rips of fabric. He panted while he tore apart Daisy’s lingerie in three tugs.
Writhing in his sheets, Daisy’s back arched off the bed. She stretched out for him but squealed when Jensen yanked her toward the edge of the bed. His hands gripped her thighs wide, keeping them spread open.
Jensen sank onto one knee at the edge of his bed, running his mouth around the red lace as he marked her skin. His lips did all the talking, sucking hickeys into her smooth skin. The bittersweet aroma of her cherry liquor perfume submerged him when he swiped his tongue over the marks, drowning him in his own need.
Daisy’s moans filled his bedroom while her hands clawed at his sheets, too lost in the pleasure of his mouth on her. Those sweet noises became more desperate the closer his mouth came to her pussy, hovering around her navel to protests and impatient huffing.
“Look at me,” Jensen commanded from the comfortable spot between her spread legs. He stopped his ministrations until Daisy's head lifted off the sheets to smirk up and pushed a thick bead of spit off his tongue. The spit slid down her clit, and he waited for it to drip into her entrance, thrusting it into her with two fingers. "You take orders so well.”
“Jensen,” Daisy’s voice quivered harder than Jensen had ever heard before, stalling his fingers for a second. His eyes met hers, but she gasped. “Don’t stop!”
“Just checking. Now, be a good girl, and don't look away.”
Jensen’s mouth wrapped around her, swirling his tongue against Daisy’s clit while his fingers pumped in and out of her pussy. He pushed them in as far as they could go, finding his digits coated with her slick arousal.
Daisy's thighs clamped around his head while Jensen's mouth and fingers turned her into a soaking wet mess. She chewed hard on her lower lip, crying his name loud enough for him to hear through her thighs.
He didn’t stop, not when she rode his face or fingers and squeezed her thighs tighter. Jensen wanted to get lost in Daisy, finding himself utterly helpless when the aroma of her perfume and the salty tinge of sweat mixed together.
But when Daisy’s head slumped back into the pillows, Jensen’s mouth leaned away from her clit, stopping his fingers. Daisy’s head snapped up, swallowing hard with shocked eyes. “Why’d you stop?”
"You stopped watching. Keep those beautiful eyes open for me and watch the show," Jensen remarked, waiting for Daisy to nod before he resumed. His fingers adopted a new frenzy while his tongue lapped at her clit, all while Daisy kept her eyes on him.
Fuck, she had no idea how sexy she looked.
Daisy, with those slightly swollen red lips, heavy-lidded eyes, and her legs spread nice and wide, would be the death of him.
Jensen’s fingers curled while buried inside Daisy, prompting a rushed buck of her hips from the motion. She cried out, “I’m close!”
He lifted his head and pushed her thighs back, panting, “I hear you. Stay here and get comfortable.”
Daisy didn’t argue while she shifted in the duvet, giving Jensen enough time to snag a condom from his nearby drawer. He tore the wrapper open, watching as Daisy hesitated at the edge of his bed.
Jensen cocked his head. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah, it’s good. I want to watch you while you’re on top,” Daisy coughed out. Jensen’s hand almost fumbled the condom, snagging it between two fingers with a vice grip. “Is that okay?”
“Yeah, whatever you want.”
Jensen slid the foil along his length before approaching the bed, almost shy. Daisy laid back down for him to climb over her. Jensen joined her on the bed, gently angling her legs to hook around his hips while lining his cock to her entrance.
Their eyes met momentarily, holding a breath together until Daisy nodded.
Jensen pushed into her pussy with a quiet groan, feeling how Daisy took every inch of him. As he bottomed out, Jensen’s eyes dropped to Daisy beneath him, causing warmth to blossom hard in his stomach.
Shaking his head, Jensen pinned her wrists to the bed, short of the pillows. He took the first thrust extra slow, giving Daisy ample time to change her mind. Yet, she didn’t.
Jensen’s eyes examined the sight of Daisy sprawled beneath him. Even through the darkened bedroom, moonlight painted her in a silvery glow that took his breath away. Her hair fanned out like a halo while she softly panted with each gentle thrust of Jensen’s hips.
Her hands twitched until Jensen slid his fingers and laced them with Daisy’s, abandoning the domineering pin of her wrists. Daisy gasped, but her grip tightened. Jensen became her anchor while his thrusts sped a little, still focused on depth rather than roughness.
“You’re beautiful,” Jensen remarked. “I know this probably sounds so sappy, so feel free to ignore me, but fuck, you’re so gorgeous.”
He braced for Daisy to roll her eyes or say something back with snark laced in between each word. However, a quiet hiccup escaped her, “Say it again.”
“That you’re beautiful?” A nod from Daisy. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Daisy. You literally are the most breath-taking woman I know, even when you’re a pain in my ass.”
Jensen swallowed the rest of the ramble before he let himself go too far, focusing on the thrusting of his hips. Daisy’s legs tightened around him, but her eyes stared up at him with such vulnerability.
Daisy’s body tensed when Jensen’s hips started to speed up more, face scrunching up with a quiet whimper, “I’m almost there. . . please.”
“I’ve got you,” Jensen promised between soft panting, holding Daisy’s gaze. Her eyes raked over him while he slowly fucked her to the finish line, shuddering and clenching around his cock. “I’ve got you, Daisy.”
Jensen went to pull out, but Daisy's legs locked around his hips, shaking her head. Her body jolted with small aftershocks, but she met his eyes. “Finish.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jensen breathed out. Caution left the room as he pulled her to his chest, fucking into her tightness until his climax hit him hard. Jensen groaned into Daisy’s neck, greeted by her perfume and sweat as he came. “Fuck.”
"Thank you," Daisy murmured when their bodies slumped into Jensen's duvet, sinking into the cold sheets with their bodies.
Jensen’s felt her arms slide up his spine, breathing hard. “For what.”
“I don’t know. . . everything, I guess.” Daisy’s eyes averted to the window, but her fingers traced absentminded shapes over his skin. Their bodies stayed pressed together as the silence ticked by, too comfortable to move.