❀ Auslly one shot ❁

Office holiday Christmas party

He may have had a bit too much eggnog which led to him feeling slightly tipsy, but he had been staring at her all night. It wasn't on purpose – really it wasn't. There had been something about the twinkling fairy lights behind her that drew him in toward her, that made him want to ask her name and see if her eyes were really as brown as he believed they were.

If Dez asked him later on what led him to ask out their new co-worker, he'd definitely be blaming it on the seasonal concoction.

"So, is Santa bringing you anything nice for Christmas? Because I asked him for you, and I guess he delivered," Austin grinned while inwardly cringing at himself. He definitely became a hundred times less cool under the influence of alcohol.

Good news was that her eyes were a brighter chocolate brown than he originally imagined. They were the same shade as the Chocolate chips on his pancakes that he had for breakfast this morning. Her own gaze reflected the lights as they blinked to the beat of the holiday music being played. Austin found himself wanting nothing more than to stare at them for the rest of his life.

A brown eyebrow quirked upward as she said, "Is that really your best line?"

"Uh, when I'm tipsy it is?" he shrugged. "But when I'm sober I'm better."

And cooler, but he wasn't about to add that in.

The woman nodded. "And why, may I ask, are you hitting on me? While drunk? Which, I might add, is the worst combination ever."

"Because you're really pretty, and I might have been crushing on you since our boss introduced you to all of us."

He also apparently became more open when he was under the influence of alcohol. He definitely needed to remember this for the next office holiday party. Who knew what he would say to anyone else in this office. The last thing he needed was for his boss to know Austin thought he was an uptight, know-it-all who should pull the stick out his ass and loosen up. That wouldn't go over very well.

"Did you by any chance catch my name?" she asked.

Austin blinked. He hadn't because he was too busy staring at her and had spent most of the meeting drowning out his boss's voice.

"Uh," he started, "was it Monica?"

"Close," she smiled. "It's Ally. Ally Dawson."

Ally offered her hand to Austin which he took a little sloppy and more uncoordinated than usual. This was the last time he ever drank anything alcoholic in his life. He was making a fool of himself in front of the woman he was also trying to hit on.

"And you are?" she asked once they let go.

"Austin Moon."

Her eyes lit up and became a more youthful as she said, "Oh, you're Austin! Dez was telling me about you!"

He felt warm liquid crawl up his stomach that was definitely not from the eggnog. Dez talking to Ally about him was not good. Not good at all.

"Wh-what did he say exactly?"

"Oh, nothing," she said nonchalantly.

Austin watched as she took a sip of her drink – which he noticed wasn't a milky white like his own, but rather a dark red. Her lips sucked on the straw before releasing it in a very enticing way that should not have turned him on as much as it had. She swirled her drink around before looking back up at him, a cute, small grin on her face.

"He just told me how head over heels in love with me you were, that you had written my name all over your notebook, and picked out the names of our kids as well."

It took him several seconds, the sly gleam in her gaze, and the playfulness in her voice for him to realize she was joking.

"God, you almost gave me a heart attack there," he sighed, leaning on the table beside them while he clutched his chest. "Believed you there for a second too. Was about to go kick Dez's ass because that's not true. I'm not that lame."

"Coulda fooled me," she smiled. She took another sip of her drink before speaking again. "What do you say we go get some coffee in you to try and sober you up? Maybe chat a little?"

Austin grinned. "I charmed you that well that you actually wanna get to know me better?"

"Let's just say that I'm the one who's written your name all over my notebook and picked out baby names already."

"Really?" he snorted.

"No. But I have thought you were kinda cute since I first came here and have been trying to figure out how to ask you out for a while."

"A girl who likes to take the initiative. I'm starting to like you even more, Dawson."

They walked together to the office kitchen where Austin sat down at one of the tables and cradled his head while Ally made him a cup of coffee. The steam and heat combination made him feel a little less dizzy and more awake. Sitting perpendicular to him, Ally drank her own cup of the same brown liquid and they talked and asked questions about each other. It wasn't until their boss came in to tell them the party had ended that they realized they had spent hours just sitting there.

Austin walked her home and made sure to also get her number in case she wanted to catch lunch the next day. Which she did.

A/N: follow my Instagram for book updates

@/kawaiimarano

Read my new story 👇🏻

(Bedroom window)