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They watch in silence as Alexis and Beckett leave, but two seconds later Esposito grabs a file off Ryan's desk and smacks him upside the head with it.
"Ow!" Ryan says, rubbing the back of his head.
"Dude, what the hell?" Esposito asks. "Were you flirting with Alexis?"
"What? No!" Ryan protests, throwing up his hands. "Not seriously, anyway. We always got along well, even when she was a kid." He stands, grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair.
Esposito considers this information, face thoughtful as he slides on his own coat. "Huh. What'd you say to Beckett, then? She looked pissed."
Ryan shrugs, falling into step beside Esposito as they head toward the elevator. "Man, you tell me. All I did was ask if she thought Castle knew Alexis was here, and she flipped."
Esposito glances over, narrowing his eyes. "You weren't giving her shit about going on a date with Little Castle?"
"Dude. No. Why would I? I didn't even realize that's what was going on until Beckett went all Hulk and tried to blackmail me." It's weird for him to know that Beckett knew about this, probably the whole time. He'd—well, yeah, he'd kind of figured she had some idea, but there was always plausible deniability and besides, she never mentioned it. But for her to flat-out threaten him with it… that speaks to a kind of certainty Ryan doesn't like to think about.
Esposito laughs softly, shaking his head in a fond, amused way. "For a homicide detective, you're damn oblivious sometimes." He bumps his shoulder against Ryan's, and Ryan tries to ignore the little flip in his stomach. "What kind of dirt does Beckett have on you, anyway?"
"Well, uh—" Ryan stops, scratching the back of his head and steadfastly not looking Esposito in the eye. He considers his options: one, laugh it off and make something up; two, come clean. He must hesitate too long, because Esposito nudges his chin up, forcing Ryan to look him in the eye.
"Kev, seriously. Did she help you hide a body once or something?" There's genuine concern in his voice that belies the joke; it's that tone and the Kev that get to Ryan.
"I have a thing for you," he blurts out, knowing what he's risking but not giving himself a chance to regret it. "Well. More than a thing. Christ, Javi, I'm so far gone on you I don't know which way is up. And Beckett knows, I don't know how; she just figured it out."
Esposito just stares at him, like he doesn't know what he's supposed to do with this information; like he doesn't know how to handle his best friend and partner confessing his love for absolutely no reason. (Which, you know. Ryan can't exactly blame him.) When he speaks again, his voice is low and dangerous. "I swear to god if you are fucking with me—"
Ryan cuts him off with a shake of his head. "I'm not. Look, I tried, I just—hey, can we pretend this isn’t a big deal, and move on with our lives? I promise I won’t, like, be inappropriate toward you or whatever. Everything can stay the same as always." And it won’t, it will never be like it was, but for better or for worse Ryan's not going to have to wonder what might have been.
"You’re a goddamn idiot, bro."
"Uh…" Ryan begins, not sure where Esposito’s going with this, but then Esposito touches Ryan's jaw—just a light brush of his thumb, really—and Ryan gets it. Without thinking he leans in, but Esposito pulls back with a small shake of his head. Ryan closes his eyes, mentally kicking himself, until—
"Dude. Not here." Esposito sounds amused, not angry; when Ryan opens his eyes, Esposito’s smiling wide. "I don't know about you, but I do not wanna risk Iron Gates getting an eyeful."
"Right," Ryan breathes, because of course. "Right, yeah."
Without breaking eye contact, Esposito reaches out and presses the down button on the elevator; nine nerve-wracking seconds later the doors slide open, and Esposito hooks a finger in one of the belt loops on Ryan's pants, tugging him the last two steps inside. Ryan just goes with it.