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Beneath the Beauty

Page 78

by Gene Michaels

“Hey…I heard that, and it’s not elementary school,” Andrew barked from the kitchen.

I smiled and shook my head. “Ears like a bat,” I whispered to Bryce.

“You have no idea,” he replied with an eye-roll.

“I’m still here, you two!” he grumbled loudly, making us glance at each other in amazement.

Andrew joined us in the living room after a few minutes. “Okay, your dinner’s in the oven. It’ll take about forty minutes. We’ll hang until it’s done, and I’ll take it out for you. Hopefully, Jonesy will be home soon.”

“Aren’t you guys joining us for dinner?” I asked, looking between the two of them.

“Nope. It’s your first night out of the hospital, and you guys can spend the time together. I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.” I knew Andrew was referring to what happened.

“It smells good. I’ll give you that,” I said, sniffing the air, deflecting the conversation.

“Chicken enchiladas,” he replied. “They can sit out to cool too, so there’s no rush for your boyfriend to get here right away.”

My phone buzzed, and Jonesy’s smiling face lit up the screen. I put it on speaker. “Hey, babe,” I answered.

“Hey, I just got to your place, and I’m putting things together for you. Anything special you want me to bring back?” he asked as I heard drawers opening and closing.

“Lube and handcuffs,” I said, catching him off guard. I winked at Andrew and Bryce, who burst out laughing, and there was silence on the other end, broken only by a heavy sigh.

“Do you really think that’s going to happen?” he replied dryly.

“No… but I can dream, babe. I forgot to ask if my laptop was found at the crash site.”

“It was, and I have it. I’ll bring it with me.”

“Thank God. My life is on that thing. I can only hope it didn’t get damaged much.”

“I should be there in about half an hour. Thanks for hanging with my guy, both of you,” he said, addressing our friends.

“No sweat, big guy,” Andrew replied. “Your dinner will be ready when you get home.”

“Sweet! See you all in a bit,” he exclaimed before hanging up.

True to his word, Jonesy came through the door in record time with not only my duffel from my trip to Lake Tahoe and my laptop, but also my airline carry-on, which I was sure was filled with stuff from my house. The looks on Andrew's and Bryce’s faces were priceless as they took in his undercover outfit and makeup.

Andrew let out a stifled snort and covered his mouth. Bryce looked on with his mouth agape. I barked a laugh, and pain shot through me, so I grabbed a sofa pillow to my chest. Laughing was not a laughing matter with a cracked rib.

“What’s so fucking funny?” Jonesy shot back.

“It’s…it’s just your…uh, whatever,” Bryce stammered, waving an arm up and down at Jonesy. Andrew kept his mouth covered, and I composed myself since the pain made me stop.

“Hey… I was undercover, okay? I haven’t had a chance to get cleaned up yet, thank you very much. Jesus,” Jonesy grumbled with a frown, dropping the bags and handing me the laptop.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that we didn’t expect to see you in uniform,” Bryce replied, making Andrew giggle even more.

“You guys have seen me in drag. This is just a different form of it.”

“Yeah, but we knew you’d be in drag then—this is a bit of a surprise. That’s all.” Bryce stated, trying to justify their outburst.

“Well, surprise!” he blurted out, throwing his arms wide.

Bryce stood up and motioned to Andrew. “Now that our diva is home, we’ll be heading out.”

“Let me check on the enchiladas,” Andrew said, darting to the kitchen.