how?? cj always refers to flick as his "partner". does that not say anything to you??
Partner is not always romantic.
CJ and Flick have an obvious work relationship, and that is what partner is in reference to.
I'm not saying this as a do not ship them sort of thing, but in that implying romantic partners is not in fact the canon meaning behind the word. They are work partners and roommates, and whether they are actually romantically involved is up for interpretation. But in my book, Nintendo doesn't get the pat on the back for progressiveness when they aren't really being very progressive, lol.
( In Japan, they don't even have the gender neutral options America went with btw, which is why you still pick a male or female body type in the menu even tho it literally changes NOTHING AT ALL. In the JPN version, it does. )