Free Blind Spot by Maggie Kavanagh

“I’m a firm believer in nudity. It’s good for the soul. Freeing. I’ll cover up if you want me to.”
    “It’s fine.” Sam carefully skirted the periphery of the kitchen to grab a mug. “I’m just not used to waking up to find random naked men in my kitchen.”
    Eric frowned. “What a shame.”
    Sam helped himself to a cup of coffee and tried to work out how he was feeling. In less than three hours, Nathan and Eric would be gone and Sam would have to live with it. There was no denying Eric was attractive. He would probably be tempted if he were in Nathan’s place, but he didn’t have Nathan’s history with him. There wasn’t anything between them, and he doubted there would be in the future. It was all for show. An act. He could live with that.
    He grabbed his laptop from the kitchen counter, where it was charging, and headed for the living room.
    There were still no arrests in the mayor’s murder investigation. Sam wondered whether there had been any developments since the last time he spoke to Chief Howard. He figured he might as well head to the station to poke around—maybe follow up with Barney Collins too.
    “I want you to know I have no intention of moving in on Nate.” The statement distracted Sam, and he looked up from his laptop. Sometime in the last five minutes, Eric had located his underwear and put on a wife beater. He’d also apparently fallen under Shadow’s spell. She lounged belly-up in his massive tattooed arms, purring like a motorboat as he scratched under her chin. “The guy worships the ground you walk on, anyway. You don’t have nothin’ to worry about.”
    Sam flushed. “The feeling’s mutual. And I’m not worried.”
    “Oh no?” Eric raised an eyebrow in his direction.
    “Well, you have to admit, this whole thing is weird.”
    Eric shrugged. “It’s all relative. If you saw some of the things I’ve seen, you’d be thanking your lucky stars Nate’s got a case like this. Don’t you trust him?”
    “Of course I trust him.” But… once Nathan was in the field, who knew what might happen? It wasn’t impossible that he might meet someone who interested him. Worry twisted Sam’s stomach even though he tamped it down.
    “Listen. I get it, man. I had a guy I was crazy for once. We were together in Iraq. Had a threesome with another buddy, and it was strange. I didn’t like it.” He stared off into the vacant space behind Sam’s head.
    “So what happened with the guy?” Sam asked. Was this mysterious lover the referent of the FP tattoo? He was surprised at the revelation that Eric had served in Iraq, though he didn’t know why he should be. The timeline made sense.
    Eric shrugged, his nonchalant grin firmly back in place. There was a hollowness behind his eyes, though. “It’s not important. Love isn’t for me. It’s too much… everything.” He shook his head and went back to petting Shadow.
    Before Sam could ask him to clarify, Nathan stumbled, bleary-eyed, out of the bedroom.
    “Morning,” he said, smiling at Sam. Once he saw Eric in his underwear, he closed his eyes and muttered something to himself. At least he had put some clothes on.
    “Hi, lazy bones,” said Sam.
    Nathan approached him and gave him a quick kiss. “What’re you two talking about?”
    “Oh, nothing.” Sam didn’t want Nathan to know about his continuing concerns, because it would suggest he didn’t trust him. He did. But he hated not knowing what might happen. Unforeseen circumstances couldn’t be prevented.
    “I’m gonna take off for an hour or two. See the town and give you some time alone,” Eric said. He was already walking toward the guest room. “Be back at ten. And then we head out. Right?”
    Nathan nodded. The two of them would be met by their handler and receive their final briefing later that day, and then they’d be off to someplace in New Jersey. The specific location hadn’t been disclosed. Nathan couldn’t even tell Sam the alias he’d be using, but