Blaine
BLAINE
Another work week passed, and still didn’t feel like he’d got two feet on the ground. He’d finished most of his unpacking, though there really hadn’t been much to unload. He would have to find time over the weekend to buy more things if only to make his apartment look less like a bachelor pad.
Sighing, he rhythmically tapped the edge of his keyboard and stared at the screen. There’d been another fire and another casualty as well. A former hunting lodge themed resort had burned to the ground. The entire building was gutted by the fire and collapsed into the basement. The only body found in the remains had been Anthony Howell, identifiable only by dental records.
Their arsonist wasn’t stopping, and now they’d taken a respected man of Port Dale. The push to find the bastard terrorizing the city was growing, but didn’t think they were any closer to finding the culprit. He was quickly beginning to suspect he wasn’t very good at investigative work, and all the paperwork and notes about cases were starting to give him a headache.
Eric, however, was thrilled with all the new facts and figures pouring in. He was swearing up and down that, the latest fire wasn’t from their resident arsonist at all. The lack of any gadget to start the fire was his prime reason, though wasn’t so sure. The other devices found at the scene weren’t in the greatest condition, and this latest fire had resulted in an explosion.
Yet his partner was obsessed, pouring over the files that constantly dropped onto their desks every hour. was pretty sure Eric had practically wet himself when a report came in saying that one of the earlier gadgets had survived with less damage than they’d feared. knew his facts and figures obsessed partner was chomping at the bit to get that particular analysis.
Eric grunted from his desk. “Would you stop tapping? It’s drilling into the center of my brain.”
Immediately, stopped, finger hovering over the keyboard as he watched Eric. still didn’t know what Sean or Chief Morgan had said to Eric, but it had done something . Eric still wasn’t trying to buddy up to him, but he’d lost most of the sharp edges. There was no genuine warmth, but sometimes would swear he spotted Eric watching him intently when he was sure wasn’t looking.
“Sorry. Bored and anxious,” admitted.
Eric snorted. “Police work not as exciting as you thought it would be?”
“I never really expected it to be explosions and shootouts, but I was expecting more than this,” said with a frustrated wave of his hand toward the computer.
Eric shook his head. “Sorry, soldier boy, but most of what you’ll do here is paperwork. The next biggest thing is looking over everyone else’s notes. If you want more, you should go out with the foot patrol boys.”
wrinkled his nose. “I think I’ve been shot at enough in my life, thanks.”
Eric looked up, frowning at him. “You really...you were shot at that much?”
“Ah,” flushed.
“Right. Sorry I asked,” Eric said quickly, turning his attention back to his screen.
sighed. “No, it’s...I just meant it as a joke. But yeah, I’ve been shot at a lot. Kind of what happens when you’re one of the grunts on the front lines.”
To his surprise and confusion, Eric’s jaw tightened as he nodded. “Sure.”
shook his head, again unsure what he’d said wrong. Eric had to have known that wouldn’t be safe while he was gone. Hell, it had been one of the main arguments Eric had thrown at him when had finally broken the news.
straightened in a flash of understanding.
“What?” Eric asked roughly, seeing the movement out of the corner of his eyes.
shook his head. “Nothing, just stiff from sitting for four hours.”
And the realization that he’d inadvertently shoved salt into an old wound. No big deal.
Eric grunted again, pushing his keyboard away. “Yeah. Same. C’mon.”
raised a brow as Eric stood up. “What?”
“If I have to stare at these reports any longer, I’m going to throw my screen out the window. And if you have to sit still any longer, you’re going to vibrate through the walls.”
“Ah,” started, realizing he had nothing to argue with. “Okay. We still have another couple of hours.”
“That we do. And it’s time I introduced you to our downstairs setup.”
“Downstairs,” followed him out. “Where the holding cells are.”
Eric snorted. “There’s also another set of locker rooms. A small track to run on and some gym equipment.”
blinked. “Three weeks into being here, and now you tell me?”
Eric shrugged. “Slipped my mind.”
sighed, following diligently. It was far more likely that Eric had kept it from him because the man could be petty as hell when irritated. It was rarely anything cruel and spiteful, but it could be frustrating.
“Ass,” muttered as they descended the stairs.
“Most of the time.”
Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Eric pointed to their right. “Go down there. Door on your left is the locker room, the one on the right is the workout space. You should be lucky enough that no one’s in there yet. It’s mostly the beginning of shifts that bring them in.”
“You’re not coming?” asked.
Eric shrugged. “I might. I might not.”
“Thought you said you were tired of looking at reports.”
“I am. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to stand around and watch you take your sweaty, pent-up energy out on gym equipment. I’m going to go prowl around and see what sort of trouble I can get into.”
watched him walk back up the stairs, lips twitching. “Hey, Eric.”
A sigh, and Eric turned around. “What?”
smirked. “Where’s your hiding spot?”
Eric blinked. “For what?”
“I already saw you smuggle the book into your desk. Where do you go to read it without anyone bugging you?”
Eric’s face blanked, and would bet he was trying to figure out how knew. A look of irritation flickered over the man’s face. He’d figured it out. knew how much Eric hated being reminded of how well he knew him.
shrugged in response. It wasn’t his fault he could remember all the times Eric had been written up in high school for reading in class.
“The physical records room,” Eric admitted sourly. “No one goes in there.”
hummed. “Tales of spacefaring rogues, rescuing star systems, and getting the girl?”
Eric’s cheeks darkened. “Fuck off, .”
chuckled, leaving Eric on the stairs. “Yeah, you too.”
* * *
Two hours later and more laps and reps than he’d bothered to keep track of, trotted off the track with a smile. He might have overdone the weights at the start and would probably feel it in the morning. He was tired, sweaty, and could feel the soreness settling in deep, but damned if he didn’t feel good.
grabbed a towel from the rack and wiped his forehead, still smiling. He had allowed his workout routine to fall by the wayside during the past few weeks. Between trying to settle in his apartment and dealing with Eric’s foul mood, he hadn’t found the will to drag himself to a gym and get a membership.
Humming to himself, he made his way out of the gym and back toward the locker rooms. They were smaller than the ones on the main floor but thankfully came equipped with showers. After leaving Eric to stomp off, he’d had the sense to return to the main floor and retrieve his bag from the lockers.
Satisfied with his body’s tiredness, he opened the locker and pulled his bag out. Yanking out the small toiletry bag and the towel he always kept with him, he stuffed the bag back into the locker.
A pleased hum came from him as the water warmed quickly, and he set about washing. One thing he’d missed most about being in a location that wasn’t a base camp in the middle of nowhere was the reliable plumbing. The water was hot, beating down on his taut shoulders and stiff back.
He jerked when an angry voice bounced off the walls. “Fuck’s sake, how long you gonna take in there?”
“Eric?” called over the sound of the water.
The water drowned out the muttered reply, but could hear the irritation just fine. He wasn’t sure if he should sigh or roll his eyes, so he settled on both as he turned the water off. Snatching up his towel, he wiped himself off.
“What are you doing?” called out.
“Waiting for your dumbass, obviously.”
“Right. But why?”
“Because apparently, I’m your babysitter.”
That...didn’t make a whole lot of sense. knew better than to prod Eric further, though. He sounded closer to the level of irritation from the first two weeks. If Eric were willing to tell outright what he wanted, he would have done so, probably with a lot of swearing.
“Decided not to join me?” said, swiping the towel over his legs.
“Excuse me?”
snorted at the indignation. “You were the one who said you might join me for a workout.”
“I said might, not for sure. There’s a difference.”
“Got sucked into your book, huh?”
“Blow me, Edwards.”
grinned, almost having to bite his tongue physically before replying. Eric might be less willing to snarl and hiss every time spoke to him, but he didn’t think they were at the point where he could make casual sex jokes. Well, especially those that would hit far too close to home.
Drying himself slowed to a stop as his withheld joke lingered in his mind. It was too easy to remember being with Eric. The man could be feisty and even a little rough one minute and pliant and submissive the next. had never known sex could be such a spin of the wheel or that it could be so much fun.
He cleared his throat. “Right.”
“Speak up. Can’t hear you when you’re mumbling,” Eric called back.
rolled his eyes and tucked the towel around his waist. He hadn’t been expecting Eric to come barging into the locker room, and he wasn’t wearing his sweaty clothes outside. His bare feet padded softly against the tile, rounding a row of lockers to find Eric sitting on a bench.
opened the locker, yanking his bag out. “Fine, fine, I’m here.”
Eric tapped at something on his phone. “I’ve been waiting for ten minutes. Christ, do you take this long at home?”
“Worse,” admitted.
Eric shook his head. “Of course you are.”
chuckled softly, opening his bag to pull out clean clothes. He turned his back on Eric as he rummaged for his socks. paused when a low, strangled sound came from behind him. He rolled his eyes, plucking the socks from the depths of the bag. He was not going to be sorry that he found Eric’s grumpiness amusing again.
Stuffing the dirty clothes into a plastic bag and then into his gym bag, he turned around. He froze in the act of pulling on his shirt as he caught the expression on Eric’s face.
“Uh, what?” asked, not liking Eric’s wide eyes and thin lips.
Eric’s jaw worked. “You weren’t kidding.”
“No,” said slowly. “I enjoy long showers.”
“Not what I meant, you?—”
blinked, not quite sure what he was supposed to say. Suddenly conscious of his half-nude state, he looked down at himself. It was the same expanse of skin and hair he was used to seeing, right along with the white puckered marks and jagged lines of his...oh.
“Oh,” grunted.
“That was a mighty big scar on your back,” Eric said, voice taut.
sighed. “Uh, yeah. Most of it’s just bullets, grazes, shrapnel. Normal stuff.”
“Normal stuff,” Eric repeated tightly.
“And the one on my back was from a crash.” He yanked his shirt on quickly. “Helo went down while I was in it. We were alright, but I was the worst. Got a piece of metal from the copter lodged in my back. Missed everything important but left me a souvenir.”
“Yeah, spotted that, thanks,” Eric grunted, cheeks blooming with color again.
tried to hold his gaze. “I’m not going to apologize for the scars, Eric. There’s nothing I can do about them.”
Eric jerked his gaze away to stare at the lockers. watched as the man’s throat worked, adam’s apple bouncing as he swallowed repeatedly. Guilt curled in his gut, but he stuck true to his word. wasn’t going to be sorry about his scars, even if he did feel bad that it just hurt Eric all over again. Now, if only he could get the man to stop punishing him for old choices, they might actually get somewhere.
An urge to reach over and take Eric in a tight hug washed over him, and he shoved it away. Eric would sooner deck him than let touch him. Still mindful of Eric’s presence, he grabbed his underwear and pulled them on under the towel. Nudity wasn’t a big deal to him, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to put himself on display in front of Eric again, even if the man was resolutely looking away from him.
“I look forward to having the next couple of days off,” offered as a change of topic.
“Why’s that?” Eric asked.
“I need to get some things for my apartment so it doesn’t look like a bum lives there. Also thinking I need to find a watering hole. I hear there’s some good bars around here.”
“A couple.”
pulled on his pants. “Which is as good a reason as any to figure them out. I’m going to be living here a while, so might as well.”
In moments like this, felt something he could only call hope. When Eric talked to him without sounding like he’d rather headbutt a cactus. Maybe they would never be more than friendly coworkers, but that could be enough.
And maybe he could tuck a certain ring away out of sight at home instead of leaving it on the table.
Eric cleared his throat. “I know a good one.”
cocked his head. “Yeah? Where?”
Eric’s gaze shifted to his shoes, studying them intently. “I can show you.”
Reaching for his bag, froze. “Oh?”
“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” Eric snapped.
“Okay.”
“But you said you wanted to be friendly partners. And sometimes, partners go out for drinks together.”
“Right.”
“So, I’m offering to take you to a decent place.”
Okay, maybe they were doing better than he’d originally thought. Sure, it looked like Eric was swallowing a whole lemon, but he was still offering. had to fight to keep from smiling.
Same old Eric.
“Sure. What time?” asked, keeping his tone light.
Eric stood up. “I’ll text you the address. Meet me at eight. And don’t be fucking late.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” told him, watching him stomp off.
As he heard the door leading to the stairwell slam shut, realized Eric had never told him what he was doing in the locker room.