Page 3 of Watch Over Me

Ryan snorted. "Please, as if it even compared to what the two of you get up to. And that's when I'm around to listen. I can only imagine how it goes when I'm not there."

"Your imagination would be way off," James told him. Sure, he and Eddie did skirt the line from time to time, but it wasn't so bad.

"My imagination may be, but the facts aren't. If you think my joke was too much, you need to do some self-reflection, buddy. Or," Ryan added, "finally admit that you want him and ask him out. He's been waiting for a long time."

"He's not—"

"You can't honestly tell me you don't know how Eddie looks at you. You're too observant for that."

When pushed into a corner, redirect.

"He flirts with everyone," James said. "Case in point, you and him, barely a few minutes ago."

"That was nothing and you know it. I don't want him like that, and he doesn't want me, either. You, on the other hand, he wants."

"That's you guessing."

"That's me knowing what I can clearly see," Ryan shot back. "Like when we could tell Martinez was falling for the Judge. Like how we know that Dave and Travis are fucking or that Vic is head over heels for the boss.Weknow."

James stared ahead at the road. Sure, he wasn't oblivious to any of what Ryan had listed, but he and Eddie were something else entirely.

"We're friends," he finally said. "Close friends, yes, but nothing outside of that."

"Because for some reasons that I don't understand, you're not letting it move forward."

"We're good where we are."

Ryan shrugged. "Yeah, maybe you're good. But you could be better."

"That is definitely guessing," James told him with a shake of his head. "As if you've never seen a friendship imploding when people try to make it into something else."

He regretted his words as soon as they left his mouth. He wasn't trying to hit where it hurt, he really wasn't, but considering Ryan's history—

"If that's what it is," Ryan spoke in a softer, quieter voice before James could apologize, "I get it. If you're afraid of losing what you have, that's valid. But what you seem to ignore is that you're losing what could've been along the way."

"Now you sound like a motivational speaker from a random YouTube video, please stop."

"I'll stop, for now, if you promise to think about it."

James turned onto Ryan's street with a badly concealed sigh of relief.

"Here we are," he said as he parked in front of Ryan's building. "Get out and get some sleep."

Ryan paused with his hand on the door handle. "I'm serious. Think about it."

"Fine, I will. I will, now go. I have places to be."

It took another second of hesitation, but thankfully, Ryan finally left.

Once James went back on the road and headed towards the HQ, he reached up to turn his mic back on, but then stopped himself.

Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, after all.

Maybe he could use some silence for a change.

CHAPTER TWO

Eddie finished up his coffee from the thermos he kept on his desk and took his glasses off to rub his face. James and Ryan were already off for tonight, which left him with only one other team to monitor, and since it had been a quiet night for Jeremy and Martinez, Eddie allowed himself a moment to rest his eyes. He should make himself another coffee, too, butsomeonehad finished off the good beans and hadn't brought more from the stock room, so they were out of anything worth drinking.

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