Title: Bluff

Author: wildwordwomyn

Word Count: 1,267

Fandom/Pairing: Criminal Minds slash featuring Morgan/Reid, mention of Hotch/Rossi

Rating: PG

Author's Notes: Continuation of "Wager". I gave this story its title because Morgan keeps trying to pretend when it comes to Reid. The problem is he can't. Not anymore.

Disclaimers/Warnings: No spoilers. No own. No harm intended.

Summary: Morgan finally asks Reid out. Lucky for him, Reid says yes...

A week after the bet was made it's obvious Rossi has lived up to his end of the bargain. Morgan, however, has not. He has yet to actually ask Reid out. He talks to him every day, which only adds to how pathetic he's being. The truth is he's not sure he wants to hear him say no, or worse, to have to explain to the young genius that when he says dinner he means date. Both situations terrify him more than most anything. But if Rossi can do it why can't he?

"Hey, Reid?" he calls just as the younger agent is about to step out of the bullpen. He catches up with him quickly. "You got a second?"

"Sure. What's up?"

He steers the other man toward the underground parking garage where his own Jeep waits. In an excuse to touch him, Morgan rubs his head, messing up his now short hair. Reid ducks a little too late, grumbling and smiling.

"It's almost a sin, you not having hair."

And it is. He's so used to fantasizing about running his fingers through the long strands that he always assumed they'd be there. Not that them being gone looks bad on him. It actually makes him look more grown up, more professional. God help him, he finds himself struck by how the cut makes Reid even more handsome than he already was.

"Did you actually want something or did you just feel the need to pick on my hair, or lack thereof?" He's still smiling though, knowing by now that Morgan's only teasing.

"I wanted something...But the picking was an added bonus," he answers lightly. They've made it to his SUV in the garage. "I..." He takes a breath and goes for it. "Would you like to have dinner tonight? With me, I mean? I mean, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?" Morgan would smack his own forehead if he was alone right now. He sounds anxious.

"Well, I was going to write my mom and-."

Great. His worst fear. Realized in front of him. "Reid, I'm asking if you'd like to go out on a dinner date with me tonight..."

It takes him a minute to notice he's inhaling shallowly. If he's not careful he'll make himself hyperventilate and that would not make the best of impressions. Morgan looks down at the concrete, at his key chain, anything but at his face.

"Oh." That's all Reid says for a second. Then, "Oh...You want to go on a date with me?" Morgan smiles inwardly. The guy's so damn awkward in social situations it's adorable. Which is probably why he fell for him in the first place. "Are you sure? Why me?" It comes out slightly suspicious. Morgan can't blame him. As a kid he had been subjected to bullies who pretended to want to date him, only to beat him up or steal his clothes, forcing him to run home naked. "I just...Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. But if you don't want to, if you'd rather stay friends I'm okay with that."

"No!" Reid exclaims loudly. He looks around guiltily. "No," he repeats more softly. "I'd like to go on a dinner date with you. I'd like it a lot." He blushes.

Morgan fights and barely succeeds in not blushing in return. He unlocks the doors and pretends not to watch the other man get in. Sometimes it amazes him how graceful the lanky man can be. When he's not thinking about it, when he's not feeling self-conscious, Reid moves so easily. It's just one more thing to attract him to the man. His sexiness. Reid would never link that word to himself but he is most definitely sexy to him.

"I was thinking we could try that new place on Welsh if that's okay?" he questions. When the other agent agrees he exhales in relief. He won't ever tell him but he'd looked up 'gay-friendly' restaurants close to Reid's apartment before catching up with him in the bullpen.

"Morgan?" He looks over. "What exactly does a 'dinner date' entail?"

He can't help it. The laugh bursts out of him. It's so like Reid to ask in such a way that Morgan not only wants to kiss him, he also wants to scratch his head at 'entail'. "Dinner. Just dinner, and then we see how it goes. That's all." He doesn't attempt to hide the affection in his tone.

Silence reigns for a full minute before, "See how what goes?"

"You're too much, Kid!"

He reaches over to ruffle Reid's hair again, but his hand slips to the younger man's cheek when he squirms. Morgan freezes, not knowing what to do next. Should he pull away as if it never happened? Should he keep his hand there and acknowledge how nice the skin feels against his palm? Should he be honest and tell the guy he's been wanting to touch him like this for a long time? Reid solves the problem for him by leaning into his palm. His breathing abruptly stutters.

"I take it this is what you meant?" His voice vibrates against Morgan's hand, tickling it. Morgan blinks.

"Uh, yeah," he says roughly, suddenly wishing he could be bold enough to bypass the date, drive him to his house and take him to bed. "That's...Right..." Instead of turning around and heading back toward home he continues on to the restaurant. He reluctantly brings his hand to the steering wheel, feeling like a teenage girl in the presence of her idol. A part of him almost wants to never wash that hand again. He grips the wheel tight and shakes his head at the thought.

At Mean Cuisine they sit down across from each other, each ordering the same drinks and appetizers. They both blush sheepishly. When the food comes they both begin eating in an effort not to talk. It's another fear realized for Morgan. Feeling insecure and just plain weird around Reid. On their first date no less. He has lots to say to the man. But it's all compliments and declarations of, well, everything. Things that are too romantic to bring up yet. So Morgan keeps his mouth shut except to eat with. He can't figure out what Reid's thinking.

"Not quite what you hoped for, am I?" Reid asks when they've moved onto their entrees.

Morgan looks up from his plate and catches the younger agent watching him intensely, desperately. "What? No! I just...For some reason I don't know what to say. But it's not you. Well, it is you, but it's a good thing, Reid. Really. I'm just more nervous than I thought I'd be."

Reid cocks his head warily. "You're not lying?" All these years of working together and he still can't tell for sure when Morgan's telling him the truth...

"No, I'm not." He puts his fork down deliberately, taking his time in grasping the other's hand. "There's nowhere else I'd rather be."

Somehow that's the perfect thing because Reid grins happily, flipping his own hand over to hold Morgan's. Morgan grins back, lost in Reid's gaze, in his touch. He's glad the younger man has more courage than he does, or they never would've ended up here. He never would've been on this date, let alone holding his hand.

"Good," Reid replies. "Because there's nowhere else I'd rather be either."

The End