Page 54 of The Beautiful Mess

“Hours?” Kerry scoffed. “You don’t have that much hair.”

“It’s this entire process of separating the strands with a comb, then bleaching some and wrapping it in foils. He uses toners and hair masks, and it’s just an extensive process.” Keegan rolled his eyes upward as if that would allow him to see Kerry’s damage. He snorted at his silliness and asked what color paint was in his hair.

“Well, it’s like the color on your stomach but darker since it wasn’t diluted with your spunk.”

Keegan slapped Kerry’s shoulder, signaling for him to move. “I better wash this off.”

Kerry nestled closer, nuzzling his nose in Keegan’s neck. “But this feels so good.”

And he groaned because it was better than good. “Amazing.” His shower was all but forgotten when Kerry kissed him deeply. Their phones both went off at the same time with incoming FaceTime calls. If one of their phones rang, they could ignore it, but both? Kerry rolled to the side, and Keegan fumbled through the pile of clothes until he found one of their ringing devices. “Sven is calling me,” he said as he searched for Kerry’s phone. He snagged it off the floor and tossed it to Kerry.

“And Dom’s calling me, but that’s Sven’s face.”

Mindful of the phone’s angle, Keegan accepted the call. “Sven, what’s up?”

“Oh good,” he said breathlessly. Kerry’s phone immediately stopped ringing, so Sven was calling both of them from his and Dom’s phones. “I was afraid neither of you would answer.” He squinted into the phone and leaned closer. “Why is it so dark there? Are you in a cave?”

A snort came from nearby Sven, and then Dom said, “They’re at a hotel during a lover’s getaway, Stevie. Why do you think it’s dark?”

“Oh. Ohhh. I didn’t expect you to do it with the lights off,” Sven replied. “Turn on a light and cover your bits. This is an emergency.”

“What are the two of you doing together?” Kerry asked while Keegan turned on the bedside lamp. He joined Kerry on the bed and positioned the phone so they could both see the screen.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Sven teased and batted his eyelashes.

“Quit teasing him, Stevie,” Dominic growled. “Sven is helping me with a case, which is why we’re calling.”

“But first,” Sven said, “what’s smeared all over your skin? Why is Kerry’s beard pink, and what’s in Keegan’s hair? What kind of freaky getaway are you two having?”

“Let me see,” Dom demanded. Sven moved the phone over, and Dom’s handsome face came into view. It was clear he was driving, but he glanced over long enough to see what Sven had described. “Holy shit. You kinky little fuckers.”

“The nature of the call, please,” Kerry demanded. “Maybe we weren’t done getting our freak on.”

Sven sighed. “Unfortunately, you are.”

Kerry and Keegan sat up straighter. “What happened?”

“Vinny put me on another case with short notice,” Dom said. “I started my investigation last night and already asked questions around the bar. I didn’t want to make any of the regulars suspicious, so I called Sven to help me.”

“Sven?” Keegan and Kerry said at once.

The man in question snarled at them. “Neither of you recognized me when I trailed Keegan on his date.” They conceded his point graciously and encouraged them to talk. “So, I went into this bar to get pictures and details for Dom’s case. I looked so hetero that some hot ladies tried to pick me up.”

“Focus, Sven,” Dom said.

“Hang back,” Sven told Dom. “He’s going to notice you’re following him. Put more car lengths between us.”

“I’m the professional here,” Dom replied dryly. “You just bring Kerry up to speed.”

Sven sighed heavily. “While I was gathering evidence for Dom, which I bagged in record time, I noticed Chuck the Fuck ranting and raving at a nearby table. His dumb ass wouldn’t recognize me if I’d come in my usual fabulous attire, but I took advantage of my disguise to secure a table close to his so I could eavesdrop and snap a few discreet photos.”

“Sven, you shouldn’t have risked your safety,” Kerry said.

“You’ll be singing a different tune when you find out what he overheard,” Dom replied.

Sven preened for a few seconds. “As soon as I heard him say your name, I turned on the video recorder on my phone. The quality probably isn’t great with all the bar noise in the background, but I caught every word of his plot.”

“What plot?” Keegan and Kerry asked.

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