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"Hey, you need to see a medic before we go back out? You're moving slow, bud."
Working the shoulder more vigorously, he ignored a fresh stab of pain. Cody shook his head and grunted an unconvincing, "Nah."
"You sure? You took down two big guys, Cody. One of them had at least six inches and a hundred pounds on you." Eric Wren propped a foot on the bench beside Cody and leaned his arm on his knee, a casual stance that had the added benefit of blocking Cody from the view of the busy traffic in the hallway.
Tall, dark chocolate brown, with a wrestler's build, Eric was barrel-chested, with a voice as deep as his skin was dark. "Everyone here knows you're a feisty little bad ass. No one tangles with you if they can help it but," he poked a finger into an array of newly blossoming bruises on Cody's collar bone, "that has to hurt."
"It's not so bad, really." He gave Eric a wry grin. "It was more painful to listen to all the teasing about my picture in the paper this morning." He carefully slipped the clean shirt over his head and pulled it into place, unconsciously smoothing out the wrinkles as he tucked it into his waistband. "I can handle this better. It's business, not personal."
"Yeah, well, you pick a rich celebrity for a boyfriend, you're going to get a little of the limelight shining on you. You and Gil have been together for what, three years now?" Eric didn't wait for Cody to nod in agreement, but Cody did anyway. "I think you'd be used to it by now."
"I am used to it." Cody grabbed the paper from the bench and stared at the grainy photo of his lover. Gil Turko was a handsome man, his towering body a mountain of trim bands of toned muscle evidenteven under the tux he wore. His face was Latino dark, all sharp planes and broad bones with piercing brown/black eyes and jet-black hair he wore slightly longer than Cody's neatly trimmed cut.
"It's just--" Cody tossed the paper into his locker and firmly shut the door. "--it was my birthday. It was a great, intimate night. I didn't want to share any part of it with work. Not even the morning after." He gave Eric a ruefully, embarrassed glance. "You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I do. But you were at the biggest fundraiser of the year for Children's Hospital and Gil is one of the major forces in raising money for it. Besides that, he's got a great mug. All those years of football, wrestling and skulking around the world as a special services operative never marred his pretty profile." Eric straightened and threw an arm around Cody's shoulders. His smile was completely without any hint of remorse when Cody grimaced and tried unsuccessfully to shrug him off. "Face it, dude, the camera loves him and so do the media."
"Yeah, well, not as much as I love him." Cody narrowed his eyes and smiled back at his friend. "I have some other, better bruises to prove it. Wanna see them?" He made a move to undo his jeans.
Eric instantly released Cody's shoulder, hands waving protectively in front of him. "TMI, Cody, TMI! I trust you."
Laughing, they both stopped short as a new man filled the doorway, files in one hand and a preoccupied look on his tanned, lined face. Grant Hewlett, section supervisor and their boss, peered up at them over his half frame glasses, clear, steady eyes sharply evaluating both men. "Word has it you had physical contact with a couple of hecklers at the latest homicide scene, Cody. Are you all right?"
"I'll be fine."
"Good." Staring at Cody, Grant nodded, pursed his lips, seeming to think hard about something Cody couldn't see. Grant straightened marginally and nodded again. "Rodriguez called off for nights. Flu. You're next up on the float list. Go home. Rest up and be back for the graveyard shift. You can take the next day off to make up for it."
"I can finish out my day shift now then come back for graveyard." Cody darted a look at Eric, hoping the man would keep silent about the extent of Cody's bruises. He was fine. He could do his job. "It's no big deal."
"It is to me. We're skeleton enough on nights without staffing it with tired people. Go home. Take a nap."
"Yes, sir." He tried to keep disappointment out of his voice but he caught sight of Grant's eyes narrowed, and he flushed, feeling like he did when his dad had caught him in a lie. "I'll leave as soon as I finish the report on what happened."
"You do that, Cody." Grant gave Eric a hard look then moved back out into the hall and walked away adding, "You see to it that he does, Eric. Leave, I mean."
"Yes, sir."
Both men waited until Grant was out of hearing range then sighed loudly. Cody walked back to his locker and began stowing his gear. "Well, damn. Happy birthday to me."
