Gentlemen, Place Your Bets!

Disclaimer: I don\'t own fake.

\"Ryo, you\'ve improved!\" beamed JJ as they sat down after firing off a few rounds.

The blond man smiled, but said, \"Not really, just getting a little more consistent- which is a miracle considering how little time I\'ve had to practice lately.\"

\"Why\'s that?\" JJ asked, scooting closer to him and trying to look attentive. Yes, operation \'Seduce Ryo\' was well underway.

\"Well,\" Ryo said, let his eyes falling to the floor, \"Dee just, takes up a lot of my time- I mean, keeping him in line and all...\" His voice trailed off and JJ thought he could see the faintest hint of a blush creep across the man\'s cheeks. It really was quite adorable, he had to admit. Not as adorable as Dee, though.

\"Yeah, Dee can be a real slacker, always has been\" said JJ, surprising Ryo. \"But that\'s just part of his charm!\" he added, grinning. Oops! He would have to stop praising Dee in front of Ryo if he go{ngoing to get anywhere with the man!

Although he wasn\'t really sure he agreed with the other sharp-shooter, Ryo smiled and nodded.

\"What about you, Ryo?\" JJ began, trying to get back on track, \"What were you like back in police training?\"

\"Huh?\" Ryo said, his mind wandering and taken off-guard by JJ suddenly asking him questions about himself. \"Oh, a lot the same, I guess. Only, I didn\'t socialize as much. Just kept to myself.\" JJ watched as he sighed and his eyes glazed over with a soft, unreadable look. \"As pushy as Dee can be sometimes, he has helped me open up a bit.\"

Try as he might, JJ couldn\'t hide the look of surprise on his face. If Ryo was more laid back now, he couldn\'t imagine how uptight he must have been before! How could Dee have chosen this guy over him? The silver-haired man thought his vivacious attitude complimented Dee\'s rough and stubborn personality so well. He just couldn\'t see what the attraction could be to this demure, quiet man. Sure, he was good-looking; JJ wasn\'t blind after all. And he did have this slight melancholy air about him that just made you want to hug him until he smiled.

\"JJ?\" said Ryo.

Shit! What had Ryo been saying? He really did need to work on his concentration skills!

But before he could think of anything to say, the door to the room was thrown open to reveal a very pissed Drake.

\"JJ! Where the hell have you been?! We\'ve got work to be done!\" he shouted.

Folding his arms, JJ replied calmly, \"As you can see, I was just getting in some target practice- in case you- HEY!\" His partner had grabbed a hold of his collar, yanked him up and was now roughfully dragging him through the doorway.

\"Sorry, Ryo,\" Drake murmured to the blond man as he passed him by.

\"Drake! Ouch!\" JJ whined as he disappeared into the hall, leaving Ryo blinking and suppressing a laugh as he sat on the bench. However, when Dee arrived a second later, his laughter halted.

\"There you are! You get on ME about slackin\' off and here you are sitting on your ass!\" the dark-haired man snarled as he pulled Ryo up by the arm.

\"But- Dee!\" he cried as he was himself hauled out of the room. What a day...


Although Dee was grateful for not seeing JJ the rest if the day, he did have to speak to him before the day was over. He had to tell him to forget this whole fiasco. As Ryo was finishing up a few things in the office, Dee slipped out and grabbed the silver-haired man as he was about to walk out the door.

Pulling him into an unused conference room, he swung the smaller man around to face him. JJ was about to make a cry of protest when the look of bright anger over the other man\'s face stopped him.

\"Dee...\" he whispered, entranced at the man\'s closeness, no matter his mood.

\"Listen JJ, you\'ve got to forget this whole \'bet\' thing, ok? Promise me!\" he said sternly.

\"W-why?\" he asked. Could it be, was Dee... \"Are you jealous?\" he questioned, a grin leaping across his face. \"OH! My sweet DEE!! You ARE jealous aren\'t you?! I knew you\'d see how much you care t met me!\" he cried, arms flung out to engulf the dark-haired man in a crushing embrace.

\"AHH! JJ get OFF! I\'m NOT jealous of you- you freak!\" Dee protested, shoving the other man anyway as best he could. The small man really was stronger than he appeared sometimes.

\"But, DEE! Why else-?\" JJ whined, still holding his arms about Dee\'s waist like a vice.

\"Because you idiot- I don\'t want you pawing all over Ryo!\"

\"Hmph,\" muttered JJ, letting his arms fall. \"I guess you should\'ve thought of that BEFORE you said \'anyone\' in the building, huh?\" JJ said sulkily.

\"Come on,\" Dee coxed, \"We agreed to exclude people like the Chief, didn\'t we? People who were already attached? Right?\" Dee was praying that JJ would, for once, be reasonable. However, he was about to be disappointed.

\"Ryo\'s not \'attached\' to anyone, though, is he?\" he replied flatly, looking Dee square in the face. It was time for this man to realize just how futile his efforts were toward the aloof blond man. Maybe he was being a bit harsh, but he still thought Dee needed to hear it.

After a long pause with Dee staring daggers at him, JJ continued, \"Besides, if he IS so attached to you then what are you afraid of? You\'ll win $20 and get to say \'I told you so\' at the end of the week.\"

Leaving Dee to fume by himself, JJ turned and calmly walked from the room.

What on earth have I gotten myself into? Dee thought, shaking his head.

For the second night in a row Ryo found himself somehow dragged to dinner with JJ. And for lifelife of him, he couldn\'t figure out what had caused the silver-haired man\'s change of heart toward him. Of course, JJ had never truly been hostile toward him in any way, but he knew the man considered him a rival and he\'d never been exactly friendly with him either. So why did JJ suddenly want to spend so much time with him when he could be chasing after Dee?

For that matter, just where was Dee? His partner appeared to be avoiding him lately, making up lame excuses as to why he couldn\'t ride to or from work with him this week and always seeming distracted. It was all so odd.

The only thing that Ryo could think of, as implausible as it seemed, was that JJ was hanging on him to made Dee jealous... and that it was working. Something in Ryo\'s gut told him this wasn\'t the case, but at the moment he had no other theories.

Across the table from Ryo at the small diner, JJ sat staring out the window. His plan was going pretty well thus far. After their first argument about the bet, Dee had continued to try and thwart JJ\'s efforts toward Ryo, until, finally, JJ had to play a little dirty.

\"You\'ll WHAT?\" cried Dee.

\"For this to be a fair bet, you have to stop getting in the way. If you don\'t, I\'ll tell Ryo that you made the bet about him,\" explained JJ the day before.

\"You! You can\'t!\" Dee ground out in fury, steam coming from his ears.

\"\'Course I can! But I WON\'T as long as yive ive me some time alone with Ryo.\"

\"You don\'t even LIKE Ryo!\" Dee yelled in a whiny voice. \"Here,\" he said, digging into his pockets, \"Just TAKE the 20 bucks! OK? You win, now can we just call this off?\"

\"No,\" JJ replied stubbornly. \"A bet\'s a bet. So give Ryo and me some space!\"

Recalling their exchange, JJ couldn\'t help but smile. It was rare that he ever got the upper-hand with Dee, and he was definitely going to enjoy it. Although, it was too bad the week would have to end in a couple days; then Dee would learn that he hadn\'t gotten anywhere with Ryo.

Hard as it was for JJ to admit defeat, he had little hope left after fawning after the blond for the past several days that he would really be able to seduce him. The man was a fortress. Sure, he could have swiped the occasional kiss when Ryo was off-guard (which was often enough), but to really get him into bed... well, that was something else. But he wouldn\'t give up trying. Not just yet. Where Dee approached Ryo demandingly, JJ was taking his time and he still had a sliver of hope that it would off.off. But now he could almost sympathize with Dee\'s struggles over this man. Then again, he had his own troubles to worry about.

For one thing, Drake and him hadn\'t been getting along well. Although JJ couldn\'t pinpoint the reason behind their recent spats, he suspected his partner was in the mist of another break-up. The way Drake went through relationships, you\'d think it wouldn\'t bother him so much when they ended. But it always did.

JJ shook his head to clear it and returned his eyes to the menu.

\"You haven\'t been spending much time around Dee this week,\" Ryo said suddenly after they placed their order.

\"Huh? Umm, no I guess not,\" he replied, trying to think of a viable excuse for the behavior.

\"But you\'ve spent a lot of time with me,\" Ryo said looking the other man in the eye.

\"Well, I\'ve enjoyed spending time with you,\" he answered. And when he said it, he kne was was true. Despite how cool and distant Ryo could be at work, when you got him alone, he could be so warm and, well, vulnerable.

\"I think I know why,\" said Ryo with a smile.

Smiling in return, JJ\'s head began to spin. \"Really?\" he asked. Was Ryo taking the bait after all? Did he believe he had feelings for him? The thought made the smaller man unexpectedly giddy.

\"Of course,\" Ryo replied, \"You\'re trying to make Dee jealous.\"

Was it just his vanity and pride or something more that left JJ feeling deflated after this statement?

But he laughed lightly, saying, \"Perhaps, or maybe I\'m just beginning to realize what Dee sees in you.\"

In response, Ryo looked a bit surprised, then uncomfortable, then finally tried to change the subject. \"You know, I never heard why you decided to become a cop. I know Dee did because of Jessie, but I never heard your story.\"

JJ tried to hide his frown. Who was Jessie? Although he thought he had heard the name before, he didn\'t know any of the details. So why did Ryo know? The blond man hadn\'t known Dee half as long as he had and yet he knew such intimate details of the man\'s life? It didn\'t settle well with him at all. To keep his mind off the sudden squeezing pressure over his heart, JJ delved into he story of his past.

An hour later, Ryo sat in front of a half-eaten meal, his eyes looking with wonder at the man before him. Caught up in the silver-haired man\'s story, Ryo couldn\'t pay much attention to his dinner. He hadn\'t expected JJ to divulge much information, but the other sharp-shooter surprised Ryo by confiding in him about his unpleasant past and Ryo felt somewhat privileged to be put in his confidence.

It seemed that the younger man had decided to go into law enforcement after a close friend of his was the victim of a despicable hate crime. He had been tempted to take his own revenge on the group of teenagers who perpetrated the act, but his uncle convinced him to take legal action instead.

\"My uncle was the only member of my family who really understood, he was the only one who knew that I was gay,\" JJ explained, speaking in a light tone that belied the emotion in his words and seriousness of the conversation. \"I knew that if he had faith in the law, then I should too. Of course, things didn\'t turn out exactly how I wanted them to- the guys got off with a slap on the wrist- but it left me with a real taste for justice,\" he said.

\"Yeah, I know what you mean,\" Ryo agreed in a quiet e. e. JJ looked at him closely and could sense the depth behind his words, but he didn\'t push him to explain.

\"I decided after my friend\'s death that I wasn\'t going to hide or be ashamed of who I was anymore. I wanted to be able to live my life openly, for him,\" said the detective, looking out the window.

\"Life is too short not to live it honestly,\" he said with conviction.

The words stuck in Ryo\'s mind he he wondered just how honestly he was living his own life at the moment.

\"So I came out to the rest of my family and went off to join the force. It was difficult for my family and I certainly didn\'t make many friends at the academy because of it, but it still felt good to be \'out\',\" he explained and then smiled. \"Especially after meeting Dee. He was the first other man I met who was so open about his sexuality and I just couldn\'t stay away from him,\" JJ said, his smile now growing into a silly grin.

As the other man spoke, Ryo fidgeted with the straw in his drink and refused to meet his eyes. He\'d always thought JJ was a bit obnoxious and annoyingly straight-forward, but now that he knew more of his background, Ryo saw the man in a new light. Hell, he even admired him toegreegree. If something similar had happened to him, he most certainly would have retreated even further into his protective shell, rather than pledge to be completely open.

Even now, he couldn\'t be honest with himself. What was it he really wanted anyway?

As the blond man struggled with this internal question, JJ exploited the moment by reaching a hand across the table to slip his fingers over Ryo\'s. \"Maybe it\'s time for you to start being more open and honest with yourself, Ryo,\" said JJ in a silky tone, reflecting the other man\'s own thoughts.

Ryo blinked.

\"I could help you,\" he pressed, letting his thumb side down to caress the detective\'s fingers.

A small, nervous laugh came from the blond\'s lips, but he whispered, \"Perhaps.\" It was all he could think of to say as his emotions stormed inside him. Maybe JJ could help him open himself to his true feelings, but- he pulled his hand away and tucked it safely under the table- not like that.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence and Ryo thanked JJ in a quiet voice as they left for picking up the tab.

\"Ryo,\" called JJ before the man slipped into his car. \"Think about what I said,\" he whispered, leaning in close to the taller man\'s face, then slipped a small piece of paper into Ryo\'s hand. \"Call me,\" he said and left a bewildered Ryo standing in the open door of his car.


*******Next ch. will be up soon. Also, the title is intended for the readers as well, just who do you think wll end up with whom?? :P Reviews welcomed!