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Carlos Reyes sits across his friend Michelle, watching her eat instead of eating; he's played around with his chicken and rice for the last fifteen minutes while Michelle devours her meal. There are words at the tip of his tongue that Carlos is sure he'll explode if he doesn’t get them out.
“I’m sleeping with TK Strand,” he blurts out in an exhale, his shoulders loosening as the words are finally given voice. He waits for Michelle’s reaction, shock, or disbelief. Instead, she continues chewing, barely sparing him a glance.
He waits, getting annoyed when she still doesn’t say anything. “Seriously, chica?” he questions, irritated. “You have an opinion about everything – but this, nada?”
“I’m waiting for you to tell me something surprising,” she answers easily, taking another bite.
“You didn’t know,” he accuses her, scowling when she just shrugs a shoulder at him.
“I didn’t know for sure,” she agrees, reaching over to steal a piece of chicken from his takeout container. “But you two undress each other when we’re all on calls together, and I see you lingering around each other as I work on the victims.”
“You should be focused on the scene,” he tells her, blushing at her observations and the smirk she gives him now.
“I could say the same for you, Officer Reyes,” she teases, her blue eyes sparkling with mischief. “Instead, you end up mooning over that pretty boy. You telling me how you’re sleeping with him isn’t a big reveal, kid.”
“Oh,” he says softly, not sure what to say next.
Michelle watches him quietly, sipping on her water as she waits. When he doesn’t say anything, she rolls her eyes, letting out a huff. “Well?” she demands impatiently. “How is he in the sack?”
Carlos feels his face go red hot as his eyes widen. “Michelle!”
“Oh, come on,” Michelle scoffs, rolling her eyes again. “If you are telling me now, it’s because you want to talk about it.”
“We’re not talking about that,” he swears, earning a wince back from her.
“Oof, that bad, huh?” she says with pity in her voice that has him answering before reason can catch up with him.
“No!” he argues hotly. “TK is a ten, the sex is mind-blowingly amazing.”
Michelle grins at him victoriously, perfect white teeth flashing. “There, that wasn’t so hard, was it? No need to be such a prude.”
“I hate you,” Carlos tells her. He tries to give her a disapproving look, sighing when all she does is flash him another amused smile at his expense. Sometimes when dealing with Michelle, it’s exactly like dealing with one of his sisters.
“That’s a lie,” she tells him unconcerned before pointing at him with her fork. “So, what’s going on?”
Carlos hesitates, not sure how to put what he’s feeling into words. “It’s complicated,” he finally answers, rolling his eyes at the cliche.
Michelle raises an eyebrow at him. “What’s the problem? You just said he’s a ten,” she reminds him with a quirk of her lips. “I’ll tease you about that comment later by the way – and you said the sex is amazing. What’s so complicated about that?”
“Nothing is complicated about the sex,” he answers. “It’s fantastic – that’s the easy part,” he continues with a sigh, leaving out that it’s everything outside of the bedroom that gets dicey between him and TK.
Even without saying the words out loud, Michelle seems to read them off his expression alone. “Oh, Carlos,” she says with gentle teasing. “You really are the softest, sweetest boy.”
“Michelle,” he whines, feeling himself blush as she chuckles lovingly in his direction.
“Sorry, sorry,” she says quickly, still laughing softly at him.
“Yeah, I really feel your remorse as you laugh in my face,” he answers sarcastically, shaking his head when her eyes crinkle at the corners from her amusement.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Michelle repeats, taking a breath before letting it out loudly. “So, the problem isn’t the sex,” she says meaningfully. “It’s that you want it to not just be about sex.”
Carlos swallows, feeling his face go warm once again, but he finds himself nodding anyway. Michelle returns the gesture in understanding.
“You want to date him,” she continues, and Carlos nods once more, making Michelle smiles softly. She reaches over to place her hand over his. “So ask him. What’s the worse that can happen?”
“He could say no,” Carlos answers honestly. “He could say no, and I can lose him completely.”
“If that happens, he’s not as smart as he seems,” Michelle shoots back, and Carlos smiles at the protectiveness he hears in her voice; he turns his hand to intertwine their fingers, giving her hand a squeeze, silently thanking her for her support.
Michelle softens at the gesture.
“We should finish here,” he motions to their forgotten meal. “I still have to take you back to the station.”
Michelle nods, picking up her fork once more. She waits a moment before speaking again. “For the record, I don’t think you should worry about him saying no to a date at all.”
“No?” he questions, taking a bite of his lunch.
“No,” Michelle answers with a shake of her head. “Remember, I wasn’t surprised about you two – and that’s because that boy lights up around you as much as you do around him. It’s obvious.”
Carlos bites down on his lip, feeling his heart speed up at the hopefulness he feels with Michelle’s assurance. He lets her words run through his head for a moment.
“We have to stop somewhere before I take you back,” he tells her, feeling nervous and excited as he comes to a decision.
Michelle raises an eyebrow at him, but all Carlos does is smile.
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“Shut up Michelle,” Carlos mutters, cheeks stained red as he pulls up to the Fire Station, one hand on the Peach bubble tea to make sure it doesn’t spill. Michelle grins at him from the passenger’s seat.
“Trying to win the boy over through his stomach,” she teases, paying no mind to his warning.
Carlos lets out a deep sigh as he parks. “He likes boba, okay,” he tells her, causing Michelle to snicker.
“You’re adorable, Carlos,” she continues.
Carlos sighs again, getting out of the car, waiting for Michelle as she comes around to his side. He rolls his eyes as she nudges him with her shoulder as they walk into the station.
“Hey!” calls out a voice above them.
Carlos looks over at the stairs; at the top stands TK, leaning on the rail as he looks down at them for a moment before he starts to make his way down.
“Yeah,” Michelle whispers at him, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “That smile on his face screams not interested.”
“Go away,” Carlos hisses at her as TK walks towards them; he feels her shake with laughter before she steps away just as TK comes to stand in front of him, he flashes her a smile before looking back at Carlos.
“Hey, you,” he says easily, his green eyes twinkling, obviously pleased to see him.
“Hey,” Carlos greets him back, he wonders if TK can hear his racing heart. “Brought you something,” he continues, lifting the cup in his hand towards him. He watches as TK lights up at the simple gift, and Carlos knows that he’s gone for the man in front of him without a shadow of a doubt.
“Peach?” TK asks, taking the drink from Carlos. He takes a sip, grinning around the straw. “You’re the best.”
“Yeah?” Carlos questions jokingly even as the words make his stomach flutter.
“Yep,” TK answers sweetly, taking another sip. “My favorite.”
“I know,” Carlos nods towards the drink in TK’s hand.
“Oh, yeah,” TK says, looking down at the drink. “That’s my favorite too.”
Carlos startles at the implication behind TK’s words; he looks at him, feeling his breath catch at the shy look TK gives him from under his eyelashes. He opens his mouth, ready to put his heart on the line and just ask TK out the way Michelle said.
“TK – “
“Hey, are you free tonight?” TK interrupts. He bites down on his bottom lip, a nervous smile on his face when Carlos raises an eyebrow at him. “I saw this ad for a drive-in on Franklin,” he tells him, the words coming out in a rush. “I thought it could be fun.”
“You wanna catch a movie?” Carlos questions, not sure if he hears TK right or if he’s daydreaming this very moment. “With me?”
“They’re playing Grease,” TK tells him like it explains everything. “We can get a bite to eat afterwards if we aren’t stuffed from popcorn and M&M’s.”
“A date?” he asks softly, hesitantly, hopefully.
“Yes,” TK answers just as soft, but sure. “A date.”
Carlos nods, probably more than he should by the way TK grins, pleased and amused.
“Okay, then,” he says, still smiling, bright and oh so beautiful. “My shift ends at seven, pick me up?”
“Yeah,” Carlos gets out, still shocked by the turn of events. “Seven.”
“Great,” TK answers quietly. He pauses for a moment before stepping forward into Carlos’ space, pressing his lips to the corner of his mouth without thought of who might be watching, or how, with the action – he’s stealing the last bit of Carlos’ heart that isn’t already his. “Thank you for my drink.”