Gentlemen, Place Your Bets!

Thanks for the reviews so far! I have so many other projects that they really help keep me interested in finishing the story!

Disclaimer: I don\'t own Fake!


The next day JJ decided to play it cool and keep his distance from Ryo. The only contact he made with the man was a few fleeting, but significant, glimpses. He sensed the other man\'s confusion and thought it better to give him some space to figure things out. Plus, the silver-haired man had a hunch that it was better to play a little hard-to-get in Ryo\'s case. Smiling warily, he thought Dee could probably benefit from this advice; the dark-haired man pushed Ryo too far sometimes, yet JJ could see how easy to would be to do so. The blond man left just enough ambiguity in his responses to leave you thinking he might want more.

Which was so unlike the loud, volatile responses of Dee when JJ pursued him. As much as the man grumbled, JJ still enjoyed getting such extreme reactions from him. After all, it did indicate strong feelings toward him, right? If Dee had been indifferent, that would\'ve been harder for the silver-haired man to take.

But why then had he begun to feel somewhat drawn to Ryo\'s aloof, demure manner throughout the week? Although the new attraction was a bit disconcerting, it did help to lift some of the mystery behind Dee\'s own attraction to Ryo. JJ had never understood why he would go after someone who seemed like such a cold fish, but now, after getting to know him, JJ started to notice the subtle ways in which Ryo responded to Dee\'s presence and overtures.

When he watched Dee lean over Ryo\'s shoulder to read a document in the man\'s hands, JJ saw the blond man loose a bit of his carefully-constructed composure. As the silver-haired man watched this exchange, a scowl began to form over his features, leaving him to wonder just which man he was jealous of. He sighed; he really didn\'t need any more complications in his life.

Suddenly his mind was snapped out of his musings by a sharp slap on the back of his head.

\"Hey! Wanna help me out here, or are you just going to stand there drooling over Dee all damn day!\" came a voice from behind him.

Rubbing his head, JJ growled, \"You don\'t have to be so violent Drake!\"

\"Hmph,\" his partner mumbled, \"You sure as hell wouldn\'t mind certain other people getting a bit rough with you, though, would you?\"

JJ crossed his arms, \"I heard that and it\'s not funny!\" He whirled around and stomped out of the office.

\"Damn it!\" ground out Drake as he stormed after his temperamental partner. Why did JJ have to be so touchy, he thought. Especially when they had so much damn work to do!

\"What\'s up with those two?\" asked Ted, stepping up next to Dee and Ryo\'s conjoined desks.

\"Beats me,\" replied Dee, shrugging his shoulders, \"but they\'ve been at it all week!\"

Looking up at Drake\'s retreating form, Ryo pondered their behavior and wondered why all relationships had to be so difficult.

\"JJ needs to concentrate on work a little more!\" Dee said with a scoff, thinking about all the energy the other man was using to chase after his poor Ryo.

\"Give him a break, Dee,\" came the blond\'s unexpected reply.

His partner gave him a quizzical look and asked, \"Since when did YOU become his biggest fan?\"

\"I-I just think you could be a little nicer to him sometimes. He\'s just being himself after all,\" retorted Ryo as he got up to put away a few files. Dee\'s mouth hung open in surprise as he stood staring at Ryo\'s back.


By the end of the say, Ryo\'s mind was still a blur, but he came back to the present in time to catch Dee on the way to his car.

\"Hey, Dee!\" he called, walking up to the slightly taller man. As Dee turned his gaze upon him, Ryo\'s heart jumped in his chest. Dear heaven, the man was so handsome it made his voice constrict in his throat. Even though they spend their days together at work, not being able to see Dee in a more intimate setting after hours made him feel a pang of yearning for him. Pull yourself together, he said silently to himself. But still he couldn\'t get any words to fit passed his lips.

He really wasn\'t sure what he wanted to say. Should he ask him to come over for dinner, so he could talk to him and see if he was truly jealous of JJ? Maybe he\'d rather not know. Maybe it was unfair of him to ask when he hadn\'t made his own feelings toward Dee very clear.

\"What is it, Ryo?\" Dee asked patiently.

\"N-nothing. I just thought maybe you\'d want to drive to work together tomorrow... We both have to be here early so it might be convenient for you to stay over and go with me the morning,\" he explained haltingly.

Dee hesitated for a moment before replying, \"I, well, I can\'t. See ya Ryo!\" And then he was in his car and rolling out of the parking lot. Ryo stood in disbelief: his partner had actually turned down an offer to spend the night? The dark-haired man had looked frustrated and agitated and he just didn\'t know what to make of it. It seemed as if he had wanted to say \'yes\', but held himself back for some unfathomable reason.

When Ryo turned around to walk to his own car, he saw JJ walking by and caught an odd look in his eye. Sighing, he decided he was too tired to try and figure things out right then. First dinner and sleep and perhaps tomorrow would bring some new insight.

Try as he might, though, Ryo only grew more restless once he reached his home. It was unusually quiet with Bikkyy ony on another school camping trip and the silence seemed to wrap round and smother him.

Walking to the phone, he automatically began to dial Dee\'s number- then stopped himself. No, Dee had already turned him down for the evening. Almost without knowing what he was doing, Ryo\'s hand went to his pocket and drew out the slip of paper JJ had stuffed into his hand the night before.

A moment\'s hesitation and then, \"JJ? Hi... yes, it\'s Ryo. Would you mind stopping by my place- just for a bit?... Yeah, I\'d like to talk with you about something... Thanks, see you soon.\"

In record time, a loud, rapid knock sounded at Ryo\'s front door and he opened it to a beaming JJ. \"Hi, Ryo! I was so glad you called!\" he said, throwing his arms around the taller man.

\"JJ-!\" cried Ryo, trying to pull the man\'s arms from his neck. But the next instant the silver-haired man had skipped away and was settling himself down on Ryo\'s large sofa, patting the cushion next to him and waving him over. \"Come on, sit down and tell me what you wanted to talk with me about,\" he said in a light voice.

Sighing, not sure what to say, Ryo sat on the couch as far from the other officer as he could- which didn\'t do much good since JJ scooted up next to him the moment he sat down anyway.

\"So?\" pressed JJ.

Ryo fidgeted a bit before speaking. \"I thought... I was hoping...\" he paused and JJ drew closer, feeling victory in his grasp; he\'d win the bet after all and then maybe he\'d even decide to stick around with his enigmatic man. His heart raced in his chest as Ryo continued, \"... you could show me how to be more- open. To express my feelings better, the way you do,\" he explained.

Immediately, JJ was squeezing the blond man in a vice-like embrace of joy. \"I KNEW it!\" he cried, then whispered close to Ryo\'s ear, \"I\'ll show you everything... don\'t worry, I\'ll be gentle...\"

\"Th-that\'s NOT what I meant!\" Ryo yelled, pushing away the over-eager man.

\"What are you talking about?\" JJ pouted.

Continuing to push the other man further away from him, Ryo tried to explain, \"I- I just wanted to talk with you, you know... Just to figure out how to open up my feelings- since you always can be so honest about your emotions.\"

\"Your feelings?\" said JJ, his eyes narrowing now. \"Your feelings for whom? For Dee?\" he asked, his voice taking on an unexpectedly angry tone.

Sandy-blond hair fell over Ryo\'s eyes as he gazed steadily at the floor. \"Yes...\" he whispered in a nearly inaudible voice.

Although it seemed absurd, a sharp stab of pain clenched at JJ\'s chest upon hearing Ryo\'s answer and he couldn\'t say exactly why. In any case, rejection never felt good, and he had had his fill of it in the past year over and over again while chasing Dee. However, he never gave up easy either...

Slowly, cautiously JJ slipped a hand up the back of Ryo\'s neck, tangling his fingers in the honey blond hair and holding his head still as his lips came down over the man\'s mouth. Ryo sat there stock still for a moment- too shocked to move. What the hell was going on here? JJ loved Dee! Right? Although it was hard to believe it with the way the man was moving his mouth over his right now.

As his head spun with thoughts, JJ tried to deepen the kiss and Ryo pondered how different this kiss was to Dee\'s or Berkely\'s... It was softer, less demanding; it was the kind of kiss that he told himself he wished Dee would give him rather than the hot, bruising way the raven-haired man usually did. But...

It left him cold.

It reminded him of all the kisses he\'d received from women in his past, the ones that left him wondering why he didn\'t feel more.

When JJ\'s mouth lifted, his voice came out in a heated whisper, \"I know you have trouble with the idea of loving another man, Ryo, but I could help you. I could, \" he paused to caress one smooth-shaven cheekbone, \"show you how to love another man.\"

The blond detective didn\'t answer. He still didn\'t understand what was going on, why JJ was suddenly coming onto him.

\"But, Dee...\" he finally managed.

\"Yes,\" JJ said reluctantly, \"I do love Dee... but he won\'t even look at me.\" The silver-haired man looked up into Ryo\'s eyes entreatingly as he continued. \"And I haven\'t looked at anyone else in so long... but don\'t I deserve some affection too?\"

Dark eyes watched through golden hair as JJ\'s face contorted in pain, \"If he won\'t give me attention, can\'t I find some comfort elsewhere? Would it really be so bad? We\'re here, we can solve both our problems...\" He didn\'t think about what he was saying and he didn\'t want to ponder whether he said them because of the bet or because of himself. At this point, he just didn\'t care.

Once more he leaned in to smother Ryo\'s lips, but this time the blond man pulled back and JJ looked into the dark eyes of the man before him. There was a kind of wistful sadness and refusal there that broke his heart.

\"JJ, I...\" Ryo began, but JJ wouldn\'t let him finish. He simply turned and left. He didn\'t want to hear it, didn\'t want to be pitied or let down easy, and he knew Ryo would try to do just that.

He couldn\'t say why he didn\'t keep pushing Ryo the way he had always done so with Dee. It was just something in those onyx eyes, a tender rejection that Dee had never shown him. It seemed much more final than any of Dee\'s yelling and shoving ever had.
And Ryo watched him go, unable to say a word.


*******Poor JJ! Now, I\'m not a huge JJ fan, but ya gotta feel sorry for the guy sometimes! So, what\'ll happen now? And was Ryo really so immune to JJ\'s advances?
Reviews welcome! ^_~