PIlar Bravo was amazing.
She wasn't very tall, but she walked like a giant. She was tenacious and damn good at her job.
Early on when she joined the force and he'd been partnered with him, Crois had heard all the 'masculine' shit that some of the officers were saying about her. At first, it just irritated him.
Officers on the street had it bad enough without other officers making it hard for them in the Precinct.
And if they were blabbing about it in the men’s locker room, he knew it would be there on the street, too.
The way that they treated her on the street. The looks they likely gave her, to her back.
People would notice.
He knew that Pilar did.
She just didn't talk about it.
Even to him.
Although...
He smiled at his next thought.
Pilar probably did talk to their sergeant about it.
Kate Turner was going to be Pilar's sister-in-law, but she was also their direct supervisor.
And being a woman, she understood all too well what Pilar was experiencing.
"You know," he spoke softly and reached out for another fry.
Pilar smacked his hand away.
He shrugged it off. "I'm going to miss you while you're on your honeymoon."
Pilar's face changed.
From shock.
To confusion.
To... something likeawwww.
"You like me."
He leaned back, his face contorting into some kind of denial. "What? Like you?"
He snorted and his fingers tapped on the tabletop. "Don't make this into something, Bravo. I count on you to have my back, and you know I've got yours."
She smiled at that, the humor gone in her expression, but there was a real warmth in her eyes. "That's why I'vegrudgingly," she smirked at him, "asked you to be my man of honor."
He felt that now-familiar warmth in his chest spreading around. "Speaking of that," he cleared his throat, "are you ready for your bachelorette party?"
Her forehead creased a little. "You really don't need to. We can all just get together somewhere and-"
"Hey," he lifted his hands from the table in a vague gesture, "I got this!"
Pilar opened her mouth to talk but their radios squawked.
