Pause

Apologize

They all had their weaknesses with one another, things that drew them into each other, one after another until they had tumbled together in a burst of sexual tension.

For Sam and Liam, it had been an obvious step. They had known each other for years on the streets of New York City and their fast friendship quickly made a leap into the unknown. Neither married or seeing anyone serious at the time, Liam's cuddly nature and doting sensibility had drawn Sam in. A few bottles of alcohol was all it took for Liam's arm across his shoulders to pull him in with a soft, questioning kiss which turned into a tumble into Sam's uncomfortably small bed. Their wives knew, of course; it wasn't as if they were secretive about it when they began the marriage and kids phase of their lives. Their partners were a little warier when it came to adding on the rest of the gang, but it took them a moment of watching them all to realize that their husbands, the fathers of their children, needed this, needed them.

Taliesin and Matt had been dallying in this sort of thing for years. Tal and his unwavering bisexuality had discovered that sometimes, OCD Matthew Mercer needed to let go. Tal helped him let go for years until Marisha entered the picture with a blinding sunbeam. Then there was a stupid awkward dance around what Matt needed from his Tal and the love he had for Marisha until finally Sam and Liam and Travis had locked the three drunk idiots in a bedroom and they worked it out. Matt had two hands to guide him and Tal and Marisha loved each other even more. And sometimes they used their flirting to distract Matt just enough to slip his words up or to drop a dice badly. It was a win-win situation for everyone really.

Laura and Travis were a pair when they arrived in L.A., but there was no secret among friends that they were open to adding a person every now and again. Which was how the light of their lives, Ashley Johnson entered the picture. Laura once said that she'd sing sonnets about Ashley's tongue, then tried it once, drunkenly, until Ashley shut her up. Travis and Ash were perfect counterparts in the quest to calm Laura. Large hands and a sweet smile that played on soft lips were sometimes everything that Laura needed. Sometimes. Which is how Laura became Liam's moon. Liam would do anything to make Laura laugh or smile and anything to please her. Travis found it endearing and he benefited from the Liam's need to please Laura more than once.

It was Sam that was the hiccup. Sam knew he wasn't 100% straight (he had Liam to thank for that), but he didn't know if it was just Liam or if it was others. He struggled with it for a while, until the Big Man cornered him at their Halloween party years ago, pinning him against the wall and sucking bruises into his neck with whispered promises of what his hands could really do to him. If Liam's soft spot was Laura, Travis' was Sam. Only Sam could taunt Travis about the Redskins and get away with it. There was a reason that they were positioned on opposite sides of the room on Thursday nights, a reason that included Travis teasing Sam under the table during a practice run at Laura and Travis' while getting his lips on any exposed piece of skin that Sam had showing. Matt had lost control of his concentration ten minutes in.

Travis' adoration with Sam and Liam's long-term love affair with Sam grated Laura for a bit. She purposefully pushed his buttons in the beginning. She would drape herself over Liam while staring daggers at Sam as Liam's attention would hone in on her. Any time Travis began to gravitate towards Sam, she'd distract him with her lithe hands and promises of what she knew got him going. It came to an explosive head one drunken night, just months before their first game together, and Sam and Laura both walked away bruised, limping, and satisfied in ways they hadn't experienced before. Things were calmer after that, but their jealously flared up often and they were the centers of practically every fight that they had.

Sam doesn't think twice when Laura is crying in his kitchen and he is the cause. He kisses her, tasting her favorite merlot on her lips and the biting taste of vodka on her tongue. She had obviously prepared before slinking into his house. He braces himself for her to shove him away like she often did when she was mad at him. But she doesn't. Instead, her hands scramble against him, pulling him in by the shoulders and deepening the kiss with a swipe of her tongue. His hands bury themselves into her hair, gripping onto the dark locks as if his life depends on it. Laura lets out a whine as Sam's quick tongue follows its favorite map around Laura's mouth, nipping at her bottom lips as he draws back.