Starting Over (A Linstead Story)

Chapter 4

It took Jay a few seconds after waking up to figure out where he was. Then his brain kicking in, and a smile broke out on his face. He was in Erin's bed. After the dinner date, they had gone back to her place and they had been on each other before she even finished opening the door. The sex had been as wild as it had been wonderful, with years of absence and longing driving their passion for each other.

"What a night," Jay muttered to himself as he sat up and stretched. Erin's side of the bed was empty. He could hear her moving around downstairs in the kitchen. No, now she was coming up the stairs.

"Morning. I'm awake," he called out, his voice sounding like it actually wasn't awake yet.

"You sure about that?" she asked as she walked into the room, carrying a cup of coffee.

She was wearing a crumpled t-shirt and the shorts she liked to sleep in, and her hair was a mess, but damn she looked beautiful, he thought.

"Yeah, I think so. Morning, gorgeous."

"Morning. I brought you coffee. Much as I'd like to fool around some more, if you haven't seen the time yet, you'd better move your ass if you want to get home and change before work."

He took the coffee from her then leaned over the side of the bed and picked his phone up of the floor. "Shit," he said when he saw the time.

"Yep. I'm going to hit the shower. See you at work?"

"Yeah. Erin? Where do we go from here?"

"Go? I'm at the place I wanted to get to. I'm with you. Let's not overcomplicate it."

"You're right," he realised. "Well, in that case why don't you come over to my place tomorrow night? I'm out for drinks with Jess tonight. Called her last night before coming to pick you up."

"Oh," Erin said with interest. "How did that go? I mean, obviously not badly since you arranged to meet up."

"It went really well. I apologised for being an asshole, she accepted the apology, and we talked for a few minutes. Turns out she's crime scene cleaner."

"Really? That can't be pleasant work. I bet it pays well though. I'm happy you're going to meet up with her. Got to get in the shower, Jay," she said, giving him a quick kiss.

Before she could leave the room, Jay spoke up. "Erin? Not sure how to explain this. It's just, it doesn't feel like I've got a sister yet. Feels more like I'm meeting up with a friend I recently made or something. It's weird."

She stopped in the doorway and looked at him. "This is a very unusual situation. You'll get there though, Jay. No doubt she'll like you, and I'm confident you'll get along just fine. In time, hopefully the sibling bond will form between you. That'll take effort from both of you, but it'll be worth it. Now, I'm taking a shower once and for all. If we're not careful we're both going to be late and Hank will kick our asses."

Jay took a big sip of his coffee. "Alright, go. I'll see you later. Thanks for having me stay over," he added, wanting to part ways on some humour.

Erin laughed, which pleased him. "You're welcome. I might make a habit of it."

-----

At work later that day, Jay found himself in the bullpen with only Kevin Atwater for company. The rest of the team, Voight included, were out on various assignments. Curiosity had been nagging at Jay all day, and he finally gave in to it. He was going to look up Jess on the various databases he had available to him on his work computer. There wouldn't be anything to prove she was his sister, but he could obtain some information about her and at least verify she was who she said she was, not that he really doubted it.