Hello faithful readers, one and all! This story for Esposito came out of an idea I had for one of my own personal writings so hopefully you guys like it. It's a new direction for the characters but I'm doing a hybrid of my Castle-verse and the canon of the TV show. In a nutshell, it's a continuation from the timeline established in 'Cake Crumbs'. Also, if you're going to 'favourite' this story, please add a review, even if it's only once. The feedback helps develop future stories! Enjoy!

Love was in the air, and Javier Esposito was ready to choke on it. Not that he was bitter about his friends finding happiness - riding Ryan like a circus pony about being a newlywed was even better than Craig Ferguson's Magic Week and the Christmas episode of The Big Bang Theory combined. And of course, it was impossible to miss the twittery little lovebirds that appeared in Technicolor whenever Castle and Beckett were in the same area code. But at the end of the night, whether it was going home after shift, or like tonight, after the precinct poker night Castle was hosting, it made him grind his teeth more than a little that Ryan and Honey-Milk went one way while Beckett stayed behind with her writer; even the captain had his wife and son at home.

It wasn't that he missed the drama of a relationship, and he'd had his fair share of that. But when Beckett and Castle had finally come clean about 'officially' being in a relationship and he'd seen how compatible they were even in the new phase of their relationship, Esposito had realized with no little astonishment he wanted his own version of Castle. He wanted someone fun but patient, who understood the stresses of his job, preferably a curvalicious Latina whose combination of sass and sweet would keep him on his toes. Not that he wanted his hypothetical girlfriend to be some incalculably smoking hot movie star, but did it make him chauvinistic to want someone who resembled Zoe Saldana to give him a kiss and share the popcorn bowl with when he went home at night? The closest thing he'd come to have a date in the last little while was Ryan and Honey-Milk's wedding when he'd spent the night making Alexis' college friend go all googly-eyed, and it was more than a little lowering to admit he'd almost asked a teenager for her number.

Even if she was a dead ringer for Lupe Velez.

'Esposito?'

'Hmm?' Esposito shook himself out of his fog, glanced at Beckett's concerned look. Her green eyes were eying him warily.

'It's your call.'

'Oh, right.' Esposito looked at the cards on the table, his own, and folded his own measly junk pile. 'I'm out. Anyone for more beer?'

Castle pursed his lips, watched him pick a bottle out of the bowl of ice on the counter. He'd seen the distance in Esposito's eyes, recognized all too well the signs of benign jealousy. 'I'll take one. Winning your partner's money makes me thirsty.'

Ryan smiled thinly, tossed in his own hand. 'I'm out, and I'm out. Jenny's on mornings at the hospital starting tomorrow so if I want to see her before she turns into a fanged monster, I better head out.' He opened his wallet, tossed his share of the pot onto the table. 'Beckett, see that you win that back, buy me my new coffee mug for the station, you hear?'

Hardly ten minutes had past before Beckett won the final hand of the night, made a slight show of yawning and reminding Castle they had to be to bed early since she was due in court the next morning. Castle gave her a little kiss on the cheek but stayed at the table while Esposito neatly stacked the poker chips back into columns in the box, giving the task more than its due concentration. He said nothing, just went to his liquor cabinet and returned to the table with his stash of Goslings rum he knew Esposito preferred to whiskey. He poured two short glasses, nudged one over to his friend.

'Talk.'

Esposito looked up from his chip organizing, took the offered booze. 'Talk?'

'Put your thoughts into words in your mouth and spit them out in sentences.'

'Just have a lot on my mind that's all.' But the instant he tasted the molasses rum, his resistance to discussing his personal life weakened. 'I don't know, just...being around you guys...'

'Does it bother you?' Concerned, Castle sat up a little straighter.

'Not bother, believe me no. No one is happier for you three than me. It's just...it's hard being single around two new couples. I'm always the odd man out. I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I just...I miss it.'

'You want me to get you a girl?'

Esposito choked on his rum. 'Castle, I'm a cop. I'd have to arrest myself.'

Castle only laughed and shook his head. 'Not like that. I just meant I could put out some feelers amongst my female acquaintances, see if there's anyone interested.'

God help him, he must be truly in the pathetic stage, Esposito thought grumpily, if he was getting Castle's leftovers. Then again, Castle's leftovers were usually better than most friend fix-ups.

'Alright. Do it.'

R&R&Enjoy.