explosion (jay halstead / one chicago)

chapter 28

liz's pov

"Remind me again what we're doing here?" I asked as I laid down in the grass next to Erin, breathing heavily. I closed my eyes at the bright sunlight and felt my face burn from heat and sweat. Erin chuckled, then sat up and readjusted her ponytail. "You needed a reliable partner to practice with, so you'll meet the fitness requirements and get accepted into academy." She shrugged. "Believe me, you're lucky I saved you from practicing with Jay. That guy doesn't know what it means to be exhausted. Plus, he didn't even have to practice for the test, he just did it." We both laughed.

"Honestly, thanks for doing this," I said, smiling at Erin. She smiled back at me. "Soon, you'll be in top form. You won't only be accepted; you'll beat everyone at the academy." I chuckled. "We'll see about that." I turned on my stomach and rested my head on my arms, watching some kids play football on the pitch next to the park's running tracks. Then suddenly, I was hit by a wave of cold water in my neck and upper back. Letting out a surprised squeak, I turned around to be faced with Jay and Adam, laughing their asses off while splashing the rest of the water from two buckets they were carrying right in my face.

"Are you guys absolutely insane?" I exclaimed as I squinted my eyes and shook my head quickly, trying to get rid of the water. The boys were completely losing it, leading me to laugh as well. After all, a cold shower wasn't too bad after running for an hour in the burning heat of Chicago today. Still grinning like idiots, Jay and Adam sat down cross-legged in front of us and threw water bottles at Erin and me. I caught mine, grinning at my boyfriend. "Thanks."

"What are you even doing here?" Erin questioned. Adam and Jay exchanged glances. "Did you two really think we would miss out on Liz's first day of practice?" Jay then replied. Adam winked at me. "What he's trying to say is he wouldn't miss out on that sexy running outfit." I threw him an angry look at the same time Erin slapped his arm, leading us both to laugh. "What? I'm just saying," Adam tried to defend himself. "Besides, both of you would be dying by now if we didn't bring you water." I had to admit, he was right about that. I shrugged anyway. "We didn't need a whole ass cold shower though," I argued. Jay chuckled. "Just consider that a free extra."

After Erin and I cooled down for a few more minutes, we decided to head home so we could shower, change and meet everyone at Molly's later. Since I knew Sylvie was out with Casey anyway, I didn't bother going to our place and agreed to go with Jay instead, considering that he could take me to Molly's once I was ready.

"You know Adam was right about one thing," Jay noted when we were at his apartment. He looked me up and down with a smirk. "That running outfit is damn sexy." I raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on my lips as I walked towards him. "Is that so?" I asked. I could tell by the way he was biting his lip that Jay was trying really hard to control himself. Closing the last bit of distance between us, I pushed him against the wall of his kitchen and wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him towards me to whisper in his ear. "Too bad," I teased. "Because I'm about to take that off for showering." With a chuckle, I stepped back and turned around as if I was heading to the bathroom. Of course, I wasn't really going to shower right now, but I enjoyed fooling around with Jay.

"I wouldn't exactly call that bad." I turned around once again at hearing his words. His eyes were sparkling with lust, and I had to grin. "What would you call it then?" He shrugged as he came towards me. I breathed in sharply when he moved his hand under the waistband of my shorts. "I'd call it lucky," he said with a smirk. He was obviously satisfied by the fact that he was gaining control of the situation. My body was aching to pull him closer, to kiss him, to feel him.

A content smirk playing on his lips, he picked me up and set me down on the counter. He pushed his hand further down my slip and started touching me with determination. A soft moan escaped me as I closed my eyes for a moment. It wasn't new to me that boys were always up for sex. But having grown up in a rough environment and without ever knowing what it was like to have a caring boyfriend or to sleep with someone you loved unconditionally, it felt new and surprising how much Jay could make me crave it. "So," he smiled at me and used his free hand to brush a loose strand of hair from my face. "You can go shower... Or you can stay right here and we both shower after." Jay didn't have to wait for an answer, he already knew it. So instead, he leaned in and kissed me passionately.

When we were at Molly's that evening, I first sat with Jay and his colleagues since they were all excited to hear more about my plan of joining the academy. I had asked Sylvie not to tell anyone from the firehouse yet because I feared their reaction, but I was sure they would find out sooner or later either way.

"I'm just not gonna comment on how long it took you guys to go home, shower, and get your asses here," Adam remarked with a smirk while Jay was at the bar getting drinks. I was used to working with a bunch of guys twenty-four hours, so I didn't mind his dirty comments much. "And it's better you don't, Ruzek," I shot back, making a mouth-zipping gesture at him. He winked. "Bet it is."

Once Jay returned with our drinks and we talked for a bit, I noticed Cruz eyeing me curiously from the table at which he was sitting with Sylvie, Casey and some other people from the firehouse. I excused myself, quickly pecked Jay on the lips and walked over to join them.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting down next to Sylvie. "You guys miss me yet?" I noticed my friends exchange glances before Casey finally spoke. "We were just wondering if you'll never sit with us anymore once your police?" He smiled at me. "And if it's possible to sleep your way into Intelligence before you even started working patrol," Joe added with a wink, nodding over at Jay. I looked between Joe and Casey in surprise. "What the...," I stopped mid-sentence, looking at Sylvie. "You told them?"

She firmly shook her head. "You think she had to tell us?" my brother Kelly asked. "We have our sources, sis." I glanced over at him, not sure what to think of this. Were my friends disappointed I wanted to join the academy? Disappointed I didn't tell them? Angry because I was going to leave?

Herrmann came up to our table, placing shots in front of all of us, including himself. Then he patted my back. "Did you really think you could go through with this and not tell us? Without us having your back and without us training you at the station until you're more than ready to kill those entrance tests?" He shrugged. "We're your family Liz, there's no way you're gonna do this without us." I looked around the table to find all my friends smiling at me.

"CPD will be lucky to have you. It's our loss," Casey noted. Kelly nodded in agreement, raising his glass. "To my little sister, who's gonna be the toughest, most kick-ass policewoman this city has ever seen." Everybody raised their glasses to me, and we drank at once. "Thanks guys," I said, a genuine smile forming on my face.

I was still scared I might not make it, but I felt safer knowing my firehouse family was there to support me. With no intention, I looked over at Jay, who was still sitting with his colleagues. Our eyes met, and he smiled at me. He knew exactly what had just happened over at my table and his face was saying 'I told you so'. I rolled my eyes at him, which only made his smile grow wider. God, I loved this dumbass.

"Hey," Sylvie slapped my arm, making me take my eyes off Jay and look over at her. My friend grinned. "Stop flirting across the room and get another drink."

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alright, so in case you didn't notice, i changed my username to @written_by_maya, which matches my instagram xD also you might have noticed these last few chapters have been pretty peaceful with little drama and i have no idea if that's actually kinda boring or not, but i just wanna say it won't stay like that forever 👀

either way, as always... i hope you enjoyed this chapter ;) thank you so much for reading and leave a vote or comment if you like! have a nice week❤️