It wasn’t hard to find the man he was looking for. One call to a coworker later, Leo heard that Victor and his partner, Kyle, were on-scene at another break-and-enter.

Better—or perhaps worse—it was just in the next neighborhood over from his own house. The break-ins had been steadily migrating in his direction, which was worrying.

“Hey. Forgot your gear?” Victor grinned. He was leaning against his car with a cup of coffee, standing behind the tape line.

Leo was in his running gear, a clingy t-shirt and track pants. He had made it look casual, almost accidental, that he’d run into them. Paul—the other forensic photographer—had his back. He wouldn’t ask questions about why Leo wanted to know where Victor was.

“Yeah, I’ll cut the bullshit. Did you snitch?”

Victor looked confused for a moment, looking at Leo and then around. “On what?”

“Me and Dustin.” Leo had only gotten revved up by the jog over here, not calmed down like he’d hoped.

“Me? Tell? What do you mean?”

“HR,” Leo sighed, leaning on the car next to Victor. The tape line between them was a thin damn barrier, but it was enough of one that it gave him extra boldness. “Look, man. Don’t bullshit me. If you got a problem, tell me to my face.”

“Does your boyfriend know we’re talking?” Victor raised his brow. It sounded like it was intended as an insult.

“No. Why does that matter to you?”

“It doesn’t. I didn’t think he wanted you talking to me,” Victor grinned.

Leo chuckled. “Nice avoidance. I take it that’s a yes. Well, man. I’ve got a meeting with HR in an hour to review my suitability for the position.”

The surprise that crossed Victor’s face was genuine. “What?”

“Yeah. Your little stunt might leave me out of a job. And if I am, I will have nothing better to do than stalk your ass for photographic proof of whatever fucking shit I can nail you with.”

For the first time, Victor looked worried. “What?” he said again, his brows furrowed. “Man. I didn’t tell on you. I think it’s weird, all of that gay stuff,” he gestured with his coffee cup. “And you going gay on me and not telling me…”

“I’m not gay. I’m bi. Remember, the question you didn’t ask?”

Victor stared, then groaned. “God. Technicalities.”

“Yeah, but an important one,” Leo waved his hand. “Less important than my job right now, though. I don’t believe you.”

“I didn’t,” Victor protested. “Okay, I was pissed that you lied to me—”

“No lies, man. I’m not gay. I wasn’t dating him then, either. I’m bi, and now I am. If you’d just been able to spit it out—are you dating Dustin?—I would have told you.” Leo sighed. “Look, I think we’re just… different now.”

“Right about that,” Victor muttered and finished his coffee, waving his empty cup for a moment. “Damn. But I wouldn’t try to get you fired. That’s just below the belt.”

That was a weird moral line in the sand if he was willing to harass Dustin at the bar, but whatever. “Are you sure?” Leo looked him dead in the eye, looking for any sign of dishonesty, but he found none.

Victor shook his head. “I’m sure. Maybe I’m kind of a dick, but I won’t screw with a buddy’s job.”

Leo pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. Victor was the easy answer. If it wasn’t him, there weren’t many possibilities left for who could have reported them, and he didn’t like any of them. “Okay, man. Thanks for being straight-up with me.”

Victor hesitated, looking at his cup for a second, then threw out there, “I might know who did it. If you can’t find out, let me know.”

The weird gesture of friendship came out of the blue. Leo stared at him for a few moments, then shook his head. “Why?”

Victor waved a hand. “We were buddies once. Maybe I never liked Dustin, but I liked you. If you get fired, and I had something to do with it…” he trailed off, frowning. “That’s not cool.”

“But you said—”

“I didn’t tell HR. But I might know who did. That’s all I’m saying,” Victor said firmly. “Just… see what you dig up.”

What a day. Leo shook his head. “Okay, fine. I better head to my meeting. See you around, man.”

The jog back home didn’t turn up any magical answers. He showered and changed into something more professional, then grabbed his keys and headed for the office.

Before he left, he doubled back to grab his wallet. If he got fired, he was buying himself donuts on the way home.

* * *

“Hey, Josh? What’s up?”

“Oh, hey! Leo. Not much, you?” Josh sounded worried. “Is everything okay?”

“Not sure yet,” Leo admitted. Now he was glad he’d gotten Josh’s number after their chat about machinery to send him some Wikipedia pages on modern armor. “You’re the only one of Dustin’s friends whose numbers I’ve got.”

“Oh! Yeah. How can I be of service?” Josh chuckled.

Leo could hear what sounded like a horse neighing in the background. “Sorry, this a bad time?”

“No, no. Shoot.”

“Well… I might need some of that photography work sooner than I thought. Also, I’m dating Dustin for real now.”

“Uh… Shit. And congratulations. In that order… probably. Good luck with him,” Josh joked.

Leo managed to crack a smile. He was leaning back in the driver’s seat of his car, his car tucked in at the far end of the parking lot. He’d shown up early for the meeting, and hell if he was gonna walk in early and sweat it out inside. “Thanks.”

“It’s great to see you two together, for real,” Josh added. “So, the photography work? You quitting?”

“Or being made to. I don’t know. There’s vague rules on dating coworkers… I don’t think they usually apply them, but they might now, of course.”

“Because of the gay,” Josh said sarcastically. “Great. Man, you need to talk to Roman.”

“Roman? Why? He a lawyer?”

“Pilot, but he got into some trouble over something else with HR a while back. Homophobic coworker. He knows Tennessee law a bit now. Hell, you’ve got boyfriend status,” Josh drawled, “I’ll add you to the group chat.”

“Group chat? Thanks, I think.” Leo rubbed his forehead with his arm as he stared down the building. He’d walked into war zones. He could do this.

“Does Dustin know yet?”

“Not sure if he knows how bad it is yet,” Leo said. “But I’ll catch him before I leave.”

“Okay. We got your back, man. You should be in the chat now.”

Leo’s phone pinged, and he glanced down at the alert, then opened the thread. “Looks like it.”

Roman sent a quick text: Welcome, Leo! Leaving for work in 10. I hear I’m needed? I like to be needed. This is Roman.

Leo laughed to himself. “Okay, I’ve got Roman’s number. Thanks.”

“Anytime, man.”

He hung up and scrolled through the chat to answer. Hey guys. Going into a work meeting in 5. Josh said you might know laws on being fired for excessive gayness.

Oh hell no. Still illegal here, man. They can get you for something else though.

That’s what I thought. Leo chewed his lip. I’m on probation, so…

Someone else—Falcon. WTF? Because of you and Dustin? And does this mean you’re dating???

OMG, Oscar chimed in.

Beside the point, guys. Gimme a sec, Roman texted, followed by another message. So 1) ask them why they’re firing you, 2) get as much in writing, 3) don’t you want to quit anyway?

I did ask Josh if you guys have any of those sweet jobs lined up for me. Leo smiled to himself as his stress started to fade. Roman was right—this was a chance to make a leap. Whether or not they fired him, if they made it clear they didn’t want couples working together, he could solve that for them.

He’d planned to do it over a bit longer a period of time, but when life handed you lemons…

OK, walking in now. TTYS.

Leo instantly got several good luck messages back, and his spirits lifted as he put a name to the new feeling. It was like he’d finally found somewhere he belonged: a chosen family, who took him exactly as he was and tried to help, even though they hardly knew him. Dustin had great taste in friends, if not in bosses.

Leo locked the car and strode to the building without fear. No matter the outcome of this meeting, his future was in his own hands—nobody else’s.

And maybe the hands of a few new friends.