Page 2 of The Beautiful Mess

Sven touched Keegan’s shoulder and said, “I’m showing Keegan the ropes.”

Kerry narrowed his eyes, and a dark flush bloomed on his cheeks. “Ropes?”

“You know,” Sven continued casually, unaware or uncaring of his brother’s elevated tension. “I am going to teach Keegan how to seduce a man.” Then he tsked, and Keegan knew without looking that Sven was raking a disapproving gaze over Keegan’s wardrobe choices. He admired Sven’s confidence in wearing crop tops and leather pants or booty shorts, but he hadn’t reached that level of swagger and probably never would. Keegan wore a T-shirt a size too small and tight jeans to show off the physique he’d developed in the gym, and that would have to be enough. It had felt like a big step when he stood in front of his bedroom mirror at the ranch, but now he felt ridiculous.

“Seduce a man?” A strange energy snapped and crackled around Kerry as if he could conjure a thunderstorm at whim. At least he didn’t double over and laugh at the notion of Keegan seducing someone.

“Ker Bear, no one is getting laid if you just stand here all night and repeat what I say. You look a little off. Are you okay?” Sven extended his leg under the table and pushed a chair toward his brother. “Maybe you should sit down.” Keegan detected humor in his friend’s voice, not concern, so he turned his head to study Sven. Pouty lips curved into a coy smile, and mischief twinkled in his cobalt eyes. “Why don’t I go get you a drink from the bar while Keegan tells you all about how his therapist wants him to get laid?”

Kerry placed a beefy hand on the back of the chair and squinted at Keegan. “You want to say that again?”

Keegan swallowed hard. “I didn’t say it. He did.” He hooked his thumb and turned his head in Sven’s direction, only to see him strolling across the room. “I didn’t even hear him leave. He talks so much that I forget how stealthy he can be.” Keegan couldn’t say the same thing about the hulk, who pulled his chair away from the table with enough force to make its legs screech against the bar floor. Keegan winced and braved a look at Kerry, whose expression had grown impossibly darker. To lighten the mood, Keegan said, “The idea is ridiculous, right?”

Kerry dropped into the chair, placed his elbows on the table, and glared at Keegan as if he were public enemy number one. “Which one? That your therapist is acting like a pimp or that you’ve chosen Sven as your love guru?”

Something about Kerry’s attitude rubbed him the wrong way. He knew the man was hurting. Hell, Kerry had recently learned the person who killed his sister twenty-five years ago was a woman he loved like family. But Keegan’s days of being someone’s punching bag were over. He straightened his spine and pulled his shoulders back. “Brendan isn’t a pimp. He’s someone who cares a great deal about my happiness and well-being. And who better than Sven to give me pointers on how to meet men?” Keegan notched his chin higher in a challenge. “Unless you’d like to volunteer as tribute. Is there something you’d like to teach me?”

Kerry’s raven-black brows crept toward his hairline, and his mouth slanted into a smirk. Keegan’s heart tripped over itself as he braced for a response. Had he crossed the line they’d been straddling since their first dance?

“The Hunger Games?” Kerry sidestepped the question, and Keegan felt like he dodged a bullet.

Keegan controlled his breathing so his relief wouldn’t whoosh out of him in a dramatic exhale. He responded with the three-finger salute Katniss gave in the movies.

Kerry shook his head and sighed. “But you haven’t watchedJurassic Park.”

“Nope.” He knew the franchise was Kerry’s favorite, but he wasn’t sorry he prioritizedThe Hunger Games.Besides, he hoped to watch the dinosaur movies with Kerry someday, but it felt like he was waiting for an invitation that would never come. “Secular music, movies, and television were forbidden in my home, and I have to catch up on twenty-five years of pop culture. Cut me some slack.”

Kerry crossed his arms over his chest. “I question your priorities.”

“It seems like you have a lot of opinions about what I should do with my free time and my body,” Keegan said.

Kerry’s beautiful mouth formed a grim line as he stared at Keegan with a stormy expression. “The kitten has claws.”

And Keegan would like to take them to Kerry’s back as he—

“Here we go,” Sven loudly announced as hethunked a frosty mug of beer onto the table hard enough to slosh some over the side. The intrusion made Keegan and Kerry jump like they’d gotten caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Keegan watched the foam slowly glide down the side of the glass and had the strangest urge to lick it. He had little experience with beer, but he’d need to get acquainted with it if he wanted to play a significant role in Cash’s future alehouse. Foam-licking wasn’t included in the training his mentor had excitedly suggested to him a few weeks ago. Yet Keegan’s tongue darted out and slowly swiped his bottom lip. A hoarse grunt came from across the table, and Keegan darted his gaze back to the brooding man whose onyx eyes seemed transfixed by the motion. Kerry blinked and shook his head as if to clear his thoughts or return from somewhere he hadn’t meant to go.

But Keegan wasn’t willing to relinquish the ground he’d made. “Kitten, huh? I guess it’s an improvement over what you called me the first time we met here.”

“Oh, this sounds titillating,” Sven said, leaning in. “What did he call you?”

“Mind your own business,” Kerry told Sven.

Keegan kept his gaze locked on Kerry when he answered his friend’s question. “He said this meat market was no place for a little lamb like me. That was a long time ago, and as you’ve pointed out, I’m not the same person I was back then.” The dance he’d shared with Kerry probably only lasted three minutes, but it changed his life. He doubted the encounter had even registered as a blip on Kerry’s radar.

“God, this is good,” Sven said. “Tell me more.”

Kerry scowled at his brother. “Stay out of it. You’ve caused enough trouble tonight.” He turned to Keegan and growled, “Dance with me.”

Keegan faked a swoon in his chair and fanned his face with his hand. “How could I resist such a sweet invitation?”

Kerry stood up fast enough to nearly topple his chair. “Now, Kee. I want to talk to you and don’t wanthimto overhear.” He jabbed his finger in Sven’s direction, and Keegan turned his head to catch his friend watching them with rapt attention. He’d placed his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together, and rested his chin on the bridge they made. The little shit didn’t bother to fake his interest.

Sven batted his eyelashes. “Most people take it to the parking lot or restroom.”

“That isn’t the kind of talking I intend,” Kerry growled. The king of laid-back charm exhibited a vastly different personality, and Keegan didn’t know what to make of it.

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