Sorry it took so long. It turned out to be just one short chapter; I'm sure I could have filled it up more, but I really just wanted it to be mostly about Sam and Andy.

The Sam/Luke confrontation is for Swarekaddict79; hope you like it.

Before they took off, Andy and Traci watched Leo get into the car with his Grandma. He hardly even looked back; he was too busy asking his Grandma if she saw what a good job he did and how they all gave him high fives…even some of the firemen.

Traci and Andy laughed at his antics as they drove away, but they were soon home and focused on the task at hand. Tracy jumped in the shower first and once Andy finished hers, they were done in record time. They were out the door 45 minutes after they came in.

When they pulled up to the Penny, the parking lot was packed. They knew it was going to be busy but the minute they opened the door, the noise assaulted them. They had seen the Penny full, but never this full. Every cop and fireman from the 15th must have been in there tonight.

Traci smiled almost immediately; she had already spotted Bronko sitting with a large group not far from the door. Andy's gaze was automatically drawn straight to Sam's usual spot and he did not disappoint. Just as their eyes met, Andy's arm was grabbed and she was being pulled in the opposite direction.

Sam's smile didn't quite make it to his dimples before it fell off in disappointment; he had wanted to motion her over. But he knew he didn't feel as bad as the guy sitting next to him though. Jerry had watched with him as Bronko grabbed both Andy and Traci and pulled them to the table that was filled with his teammates as well as Chris and Gail, and Dov who was deep in conversation with Abby.

Andy and Traci exchanged greetings with everyone around the table. Andy had to smile when she saw the look on Dov's face. Lovey Dovey wasn't too far from the truth right about now, and she planned to tease him relentlessly about it later.

Bronko offered them a seat but the girls decided to stand; Andy planned to work her way over to Mack as quickly as possible.

Before they had a chance to order a drink, beers were placed in their hands by Dov. Apparently he wasn't totally mesmerized by Abby, at least not enough to neglect two of his best friends.

Andy and Traci smiled as they both received a lot of compliments on their play that day. Bolt couldn't help but remind everyone that he had called it last week that the women would be the difference in the game. Lisa just groaned.

"Yeah…yeah…you were right." She agreed, before quickly adding "…just don't get used to it." The table erupted into laughter.

As Andy tried to make her way over to Mack, she kept getting intercepted by another guy. She felt like the blush was permanently coloring her cheeks; she wasn't used to all the compliments. But they were all being so nice when they told her how great they thought she was so she was polite and made sure to thank each one, all the while being careful not to give anyone the wrong idea. She did not want to go through that again.

She was almost next to Mack, when Lisa got a hold of her. She told Andy that she thought that even Bolt had underestimated how good she was. Andy thanked her too, but told her that she still wasn't sure about playing ball with her team. She did give Lisa a glimmer of hope though when she suggested that maybe if they were playing in a tournament on a weekend she was off, she could give it a try. The grin on Lisa's face was huge; that was a good start and then she would have the rest of the team help her to convince Andy to commit more.

Meanwhile Traci had changed her mind about standing and sat down next to Bronko. She was smiling when he placed his arm on the back of her chair, but the smile faded just a little when she saw Jerry walk out the door. Although she was just sitting with Bronko, she didn't want Jerry to think she was throwing it in his face.

Over at the bar, Sam was watching the entire scene unfold; he hadn't been good company to Jerry as he was too busy watching Andy. He had just realized that Jerry left him alone, when he heard another voice behind him. He frowned as soon as it started. Where are Ollie & Noelle when I need them?

"Looks like Andy has a lot of admirers."

"Yeah well she played a great game; she deserves it." Sam responded, showing no interest in continuing the conversation.

"I think they're admiring more than just her game." Luke taunted.

Sam's patience was already wearing thin. "Your point?"

"I'm just saying I'm surprised; I thought you would've moved in the minute I moved on."

Sam laughed humorlessly. He knew which one of them had moved on.

Luke wasn't ready to give up though. "That Mack seemed to really like her."

"Yeah…thanks for telling him she was available." Sam replied sarcastically.

"Why? Isn't she?" Luke asked with fake innocence. "Is there something you want to tell me Sammy? I didn't see you making any moves; I thought she was still free."

"Just because you don't see something, doesn't mean it's not there."

"Whether it's there or not is beside the point." Luke said bitterly; he knew all too well that it had been there between Sam and Andy for a long time. "You still have to do something about it."

"You better be careful." Luke warned. "You snooze you lose."

"Yeah, well. Don't worry about me." Sam advised. "Contrary to what you might believe I haven't been 'snoozing'."

He finally turned to look Luke straight in the eye when he added. "And I'm not the one that had her and let her go. So I think we both know who the loser is here."

This did not go as well as Luke had planned, and he walked away in a huff. Sam smirked as he turned back to his drink.

On the other side of the bar, Andy finally got next to her target. "Mack, can I talk to you for a second?" She asked, motioning away from the group.

"It's OK Andy; I already know." Mack said as he followed her to the bar.

"What do you mean?" Andy asked.

"I mean I already know. I am surprised though."

"Surprised?" She had no idea where this was going.

"Your boyfriend must really trust you."

Andy wasn't sure she heard him right. "Pardon me?"

"Your boyfriend, he must really trust you." He stated again. "I would have been over here within the first five minutes when all these guys started coming up to you. And yet he still just sits at the bar."

"It's Sam right?" He asked as he motioned towards the man in question. She looked over to find Sam watching intently.

"I'm really sorry if I was too forward." Mack apologized; he was just a really nice guy. "I hope I didn't cause any problems between you and your boyfriend."

"It's fine." Andy said with a soft smile. My boyfriend.

"You guys make a great team; you two were unstoppable today – double plays, back to back home runs."

"We are pretty good together." She admitted with another smile. "But how did you know?"

Mack laughed. "Well it was pretty easy to tell he was jealous by the way he reacted when I slid into you at second, but then he confirmed it when we spoke right after. "

Andy's grin grew bigger.

"I wish you would have told me. " Mack said, a little hurt.

"You're right, Mack. I'm sorry." Andy apologized. "It's just it's still kind of new so…"

When Mack looked at her hopefully, she added quickly, "…It's already pretty serious though."

They continued to chat for a few minutes against the bar, but he had taken the hint. When Andy called the bartender over to order a drink, Mack turned away to rejoin the group. Andy was looking down at her drink, replaying the conversation…and enjoying the revelation.

Sam had watched as she chatted with all the other guys and then Mack. He knew he should be more sociable and go over there and chat with all of them, but he didn't think he could do it without putting a protective arm around Andy. And he didn't want it to look like he didn't trust her.

He was about to order another drink when the bartender brought him one. "I didn't order that."

The bartender responded nonchalantly. "It's from your girlfriend."

Sam looked at him confused. The bartender motioned to Andy across the bar, who had been watching the exchange.

Sam met Andy's eye and she tipped her glass to him and winked. Mack must have told her about their conversation. He grinned at her and motioned for her to join him.

"Were you going to leave your girlfriend alone all night?" She teased.

"You weren't really alone for long now were you?" He said, trying to control the jealousy that was seeping into his voice.

"No…but don't you think a girl would prefer the company of her boyfriend?"

Sam knew he'd been caught, but he wasn't about to acknowledge it. "I don't know would she?"

"Well this one would." Andy revealed, sitting down beside him.

Sam grinned. "So is your friend upset about striking out?"

"No, but he's wondering why I didn't tell him up front that I had a boyfriend?"

They both knew, but he still wasn't admitting to anything. "And?"

"Well I couldn't really tell him that I didn't know I had a boyfriend so I told him it was still pretty new."

She looked over at Sam. "I guess I'm just getting used to it."

"Good." He said, giving her a quick glance.

They sat in companionable silence for a bit, each in their own thoughts about what this meant and realizing that they could finally be together without anything or anyone standing in their way. Those thoughts were enough to spur Sam into action. "Have you had enough celebrating?"

"I've had enough here." She said with a saucy grin. Glad they were on the same wavelength; Sam grabbed her hand and started to lead her out of the bar.

They slipped out quickly not wanting to draw attention to themselves. But they didn't go unnoticed; a small smile graced Chris' lips before he was quickly drawn back into the conversation.

Out in the parking lot, Sam led Andy to his truck. Instead of opening her door, he took her by surprise and pinned her against the side. Andy giggled as he started to kiss along her jawline. "Andy?"

"Hmm?"

"If you remember the game this afternoon, you'll remember that I'm not used to stopping at first base." He said, as he moved his mouth to meet hers in a soft, passionate kiss.

Andy leaned back for just a second. "I'm not sure if you remember…but I'm not either." She responded, deepening the kiss.

"Good to know." He murmured against her lips, before continuing to devour them.

When they finally broke apart, gasping for air, Sam opened her door anxious to get them on their way. After helping her up, he ran around to his side to get in. He immediately pulled her close so she could snuggle in beside him. They had just exited the parking lot when Sam spoke again, lowering his voice. "Andy…I don't know if you remember the game this afternoon, but I wanted to remind you that I'm not used to stopping at second base either." His hand slid up and down her arm, grazing the side of her breast with each pass. He smiled as she shivered.

"Sam," she responded in kind. "You might recall that I don't always stop at second base either. "

Sam's smile faltered just a little. "I don't want to talk about what happens when you're at second base."

Andy chuckled quietly. "Then maybe we should go straight to third." She proposed in a soft voice, as she slowly moved her hand up his thigh.

When it started to slide up and down his inner thigh, he felt the side of her hand graze him as she whispered in his ear. "Because I think jealous Sam is very sexy."

He tried to laugh, but with Andy so close, he was having trouble with even the most basic functions. He stopped her hand so he could at least concentrate on driving. Once she stopped, he regained control of his voice. "Andy…I don't know if you remember …"

"Let me guess." She interrupted. "…you don't stop at third either?"

"Well, I don't like to brag." He stated.

She just lowered her chin and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Well…not usually." He granted with a wink. "But I believe I hit a home run every time I got up to bat. You know I'm kind of getting used to it."

"And I do recall that you enjoyed going all the way yourself." He added with a wicked grin.

Andy blushed at both the compliment and the prospect of what Sam was suggesting.

"So what do you say McNally?"

"Well that depends."

"On what?"

"Do you want home field advantage?" She wondered.

Sam's playful mood turned more serious as he contemplated the implication of her question. "You're not going to run are you?"

"No." She answered, realizing it was the complete truth. For the first time in her life, Andy McNally did not have the urge to run.

She finally felt...safe.

Hope you liked it! And it's never too late to review...I love hearing what people think.