Consume Me Like a Fire

“We all want to be the best at something. Trouble is, some people are only the best at being second best.” ~Jarod Kintz

The sun began to filter into the guest room through the open blinds and woke up Shiloh. The girl groaned and buried her face in Spencer’s night shirt. The latter blinked his eyes open at her movement and grinned.

“Good morning,” He mumbled, closing his eyes again.

“No,” Shiloh whined but finally lifted her head. Her blonde hair was awry and suffering from pillow burn. Spencer looked at her with laughter in his eyes. Shiloh grumbled obscenities under her breath as she forced herself out of bed and into the adjoining bathroom to shower. Spencer got in as soon as she was done.

“Shiloh? You guys up?” Nick’s voice came from the other side of the door.

“Yeah, we’re getting dressed,” She called back.

“Okay, breakfast is ready and there’s fresh coffee. See you soon.” Shiloh got dressed and turned when the bathroom door opened. Spencer came out in a pair of boxers while he towel dried his hair.

“There’s coffee in the kitchen,” Shiloh teased. Spencer almost drooled and quickly pulled on his clothes. He was out the door before Shiloh but waited up for her because he didn’t remember where the kitchen was located. The two walked into the kitchen together and saw Nick and Stephanie already sitting at the table.

“Good morning!” Stephanie cooed and stood up to make their plates. Spencer made a beeline for the coffee machine and poured a large cup before adding a copious amount of sugar to it. Nick watched him with a raised eyebrow and turned to Shiloh for an explanation. She shrugged her shoulders with a smile and sat down. Spencer soon joined her and Stephanie handed them a plate of eggs, bacon, and toast.

“Thank you,” They chimed before digging in. Nick and Spencer soon got pulled into a conversation about some of his old cases which made Shiloh turn to Stephanie for company.

“Dad was telling me you were saving cookbooks for me,” Shiloh started with a smile. Stephanie beamed and nodded.

“Yes, I have some about—“

“Mom, is the food ready?” Shiloh looked up to see Brady walk in dressed in boxers and a muscle shirt. Brady stopped rubbing his eyes and looked up to see the extra guests in the room.

“You’re here already?” Brady asked seeing Shiloh. Still as annoying as ever…

“Brady, say hello to Shiloh and her boyfriend, Dr. Reid. I’ll make you a plate.” Brady sat down across from the couple and next to Nick.

“You’re a doctor?” He asked leaning back in his chair and folding his arms over his chest.

“Yes, I have three PhD’s. You can just call me Spencer,” The FBI agent said holding out his hand. Brady eyed it and slowly shook it.

“How old are you?” Brady asked confused.

“28. I attended college very early. You’re a senior in high school, right?” Spencer asked, trying to make small talk. Shiloh was grateful he was the one talking to her stepbrother instead of her. Any longer than five minutes and she wanted to ring Brady's neck…

“Yeah, I’m the starting quarterback,” Brady smirked.

“Where will you attend college?”

“Psh, I’m not going to college. I’m gonna go pro with the NFL,” Brady scoffed, rolling his eyes at Spencer. Nick sighed and shook his head.

“We’re stilling discussing his future education,” He said as Stephanie gave her youngest son his food. At the moment, the older one finally arrived in the kitchen. Cam yawned and went to the coffee machine without looking up. Shiloh decided to ignore him and keep the conversation going.

“What do you want to do today? We don’t have anything planned today, right Dad?” Shiloh asked. Nick shook his head no.

“We can do anything. I’m not picky. Last time I was here, I only went to the beach and the police station,” Spencer joked. Cam glanced up when he heard Shiloh’s voice and smirked. He didn’t realize she was already in town or else he would have dressed up for her. He looked at her and the man sitting beside her before frowning.

“Why were you at the police station?” Cam asked, leaning against the kitchen counter sipping his coffee, “I’m Cam by the way.” Everyone turned to look at him when he spoke.

“I’m Spencer—“

“Dr. Spencer!” Nick cut in with a grin. Spencer chuckled and continued.

“I was here on business to help the local authorities.”

“Oh, what kind of business? If you’re not a medical doctor, then what exactly do you do?” Stephanie asked happily. Shiloh swelled with pride. She loved when Spencer got to tell people about his job because she respected him for what he does for the country. After experiencing what he does first hand, she wanted everyone to know how much of a hero he is.

“I’m an FBI agent, and I travel across the country helping the police solve difficult cases,” Spencer said in a nutshell.

“Don’t be shy about it! Spencer is a Supervisory Special Agent in the Behavioral Analysis Unit. He profiles serial killers to help catch them before they hurt more people. He worked Fritz’s case,” Shiloh added, holding his hand under the table.

“Holy shit. The FBI? You don’t look like an FBI agent,” Brady commented, looking at Spencer critically. Cam cringed at the explanation from where he stood and did the same. He wanted to find out what made Shiloh attracted to Spencer instead of himself.

“I’m there mainly for my brains. I have three PhD’s, two BA’s, I can read 20,000 words a minute, and I have an eidetic memory which means I can remember everything I read and if I want to, everything I hear,” Spencer explained. Brady’s jaw almost dropped whereas Nick grinned excitedly.

“Shiloh didn’t tell me how accomplished you were. I’ll have to steal you away soon and take you to my personal library. I think you’ll enjoy some of the books I have in there,” Nick said.

“I’d like that,” Spencer agreed. Shiloh leaned closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder sweetly. Part of her wanted to be closer to Spencer, and the other half wanted to let Cam know that she was off limits. She saw how he was looking Spencer earlier and it made her uneasy.

“Wow! So you catch the bad guys. Shiloh said you worked on her case. What exactly did you do?” Stephanie asked, resting her elbows on the table and leaning closer to him like he was telling the most interesting story.

“I actually interviewed Shiloh about the murders on campus and kept up with her throughout the investigation. But I also helped create a profile that used the unsub’s MO to help identify him. After we arrested Katie, I was the one who found Shiloh being held captive by Matthew Fritz. Luckily my team got to us before serious damage was done—“

“This wasn’t serious damage?” Shiloh asked, gesturing to the fading scar on Spencer’s forearm.

“Well, it didn’t kill me so it wasn’t too serious,” Spencer grinned down at her. Shiloh snorted and shoved him.

“Let’s change the topic! Spencer and I are going out today, and I don’t know when we’ll be back. Do you need anything while we are out?” Shiloh asked Stephanie.

“No thank you, Sweetie. I went shopping yesterday.” Shiloh nodded and stood up with Spencer.

“Why don’t you and Spencer grab some lunch with Brady and me so we can catch up?” Cam asked coming closer and resting a hand on Shiloh’s shoulder. Spencer eyed it before looking back at Cam with his profiler eyes. Shiloh shrugged his hand off.

“We can catch up at dinner. I’ve been wanting to show Spencer around. I’ll see you and Brady tonight,” Shiloh got out quickly and pulled Spencer out of the room.

“I don’t like him,” He whispered once they were walking down the hall.

“Cam?” Shiloh asked and got a nod in return.

“Neither do I… But it’s only for a day and then we are going home,” Shiloh replied with a smile. She laced their fingers together and headed to the front door.

The two walked all over LA, looking at the different shops and doing some shopping before stopping at a café near the beach. They got a booth and set their bags down in the spaces beside them.

“Penelope will love that picture frame! You should get a picture of you and Derek and put it in there,” Shiloh said, looking at the menu.

“That’s a good idea. Then I can give it to her for Christmas,” Spencer smiled. He peeked over his menu at his girlfriend and smiled even wider. He thought about all their time together and felt at peace. Yes, the time has been short, and they’ve had to deal with obstacles like Matthew and Ian, but he’s loved being with her.

“I love you.” Shiloh looked up at Spencer quickly. They didn’t say it every day so when they did, it was special.

“I love you, too.” A light blush graced her cheeks. No more words were needed.

They finished their lunch and headed back to her dad’s house to unload their bags. Shiloh looked over and saw Spencer putting his new sweater in his suitcase.

“You got another sweater vest?” She laughed.

“Uh, is that bad thing?” He asked nervously, but Shiloh just shook her head.

“No, I like you in those. It’s part of your dorky charm.”

“Oh thanks...” Spencer rolled his eyes.

“Well, you finish with your stuff and meet me in the living room. Stephanie wanted to give me those cookbooks,” Shiloh said kissing Spencer on the cheek on her way out the door. She walked into the living room, but her smile quickly fell. Cam was lounging on the couch and jumped up when he saw her.

“Hey, you’re back! I didn’t even get to properly welcome you back this morning,” He said smoothly, moving to meet her in the middle of the room.

“That’s not necessary. Where’s your mom?”

“I don’t know, but I need to talk to you. What’s up with that Spencer guy? Are you two serious or something?” He asked getting right to the point. Shiloh held back a groan and decided to get this over with so Cam would leave her alone.

“Yes, he’s my boyfriend and we’re serious.”

“He doesn’t look like he can satisfy you like a real man can. Like I can,” Cam whispered moving in closer to Shiloh. She frowned and sidestepped Cam’s advances.

“He satisfies me just fine, trust me. And for the last time, I’m not interested.”

“Shiloh, you can stop the act. You and I both know that I’ll have you sooner or later. I want it to be sooner,” Cam smirked reaching out to grab her arm.

“Don’t touch her,” Spencer growled. He walked into the room and stood in front of Shiloh, acting as a barrier between the two.

“I’m pretty sure Shiloh said she isn’t interested,” Spencer said staring Cam down.

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure she’s just playing hard to get. Most girls seem to like doing that,” Cam snapped back. Spencer looked him up and down before smiling.

“Let me guess, your dad was a real womanizer, right? He probably cheated on your mom and brought home women behind her back. You see women as unequal with you being superior to them. That’s why you think that you can have whoever you want… But you also seem to be trying to overcompensate for something. You look like you work out daily and the way you hold yourself makes it seem like you see yourself as better than others, better than me even. I’m going to guess that you also like to dominate your partners in the bedroom, maybe hold them down. You’ll never let them have control because you don’t think they deserve it. You have a narcissistic personality—“

“What the hell are you talking about?!” Cam yelled, red in the face.

“Profiling you. It’s what I get paid to do. Was I close?” Spencer asked full of confidence with his work. Cam didn’t respond, but he gave Spencer a deathly glare.

“That’s what I thought. So from now on, stay away from my girlfriend,” Spencer warned and led Shiloh out of the room. Once they were down the hall, Shiloh grabbed Spencer’s face and kissed him.

“I love it when you do that,” She said against his lips. Spencer grinned and pushed her into their room, closing the door behind them.