Chasing Justice (Gay Detective Romance Novella) by Corynn Crawford

it all out, but every time he sought to quiet the confusion, a small spark of curiosity fluttered through him.
    “What else?” Eddie asked.
    “What else what?”
    “What else is nice about me?”
    “Christ, Brock—”
    “I’m superficial. Humor me.”
    Luke sighed. “Your hair.”
    “I was thinking about cutting it.”
    “No! I mean, it looks good this length. I like the—”
    Eddie looked into his eyes and smiled. “What?” he asked softly.
    “I like the curls,” Luke answered, slightly embarrassed.
    Eddie pulled him close again as they continued to dance. “I’ll keep ‘em then.”
    “Oh shit.”
    “What?”
    “I just saw Julio near the dressing rooms,” Luke said, halting the dance.
    “Good, we can stand over near the bathrooms. I gotta piss anyway.”
    “You shouldn’t have sucked down that beer so fast.”
    “It’s not that,” Eddie said, disentangling himself from Luke’s arms. “I’m nervous. The adrenaline is pumping...it makes me pee.”
    Luke shook his head. “Come on.”
    They walked to the edge of the dance floor and made their way through the crowd to where the bathrooms were.
    “You wait here while I pee, and then we’ll split up and follow Julio when he comes out for his number.”
    “I can’t believe you have to stop and pee during this. You must be hell to work with.”
    Eddie shrugged. “But they love me anyway. Mostly. I’ll be right back.”
    The door swung shut behind him, and Luke stood to the side, relatively obscured by a large potted plant. His senses alert now, he scanned the crowd, hoping to catch sight of Thayer. As a creature of habit, he was sure Thayer would be here to watch Julio dance. It was just a matter of catching the bastard before he had a chance to sneak out through the crowd. Luke’s heart was pumping now, his mind turning over scenarios in his head as to how this was going to turn out. He was hoping Thayer would go down without too much struggle.
    Suddenly he saw Julio exit the dressing rooms, his hand wrapped in someone’s behind him. Fuck, it was Thayer. And they were both headed for the bathroom.
    Barreling into the bathroom before either of the men could recognize him, he found Eddie washing his hands at the sink.
    “Goddammit,” Luke cursed, eyes scanning the room.
    “What? I washed my hands.”
    “Come here,” Luke said, grabbing Eddie.
    “Luke, what the f—”
    He pulled Eddie into a stall, which was such a tight squeeze that Luke had to straddle the toilet for both of them to fit. He pressed his hands against the walls of the stall to steady himself, and Eddie pushed in tight next to him.
    “Not that I’m complaining,” Eddie said, grinning, “but what the hell?”
    “Shut up,” Luke hissed. “I just saw Julio and Thayer headed this way, and if you didn’t have to take a goddamn piss, we could have stopped them just as they were leaving the dressing rooms!”
    “Dammit,” Eddie whispered, turning around with difficulty and cracking the door of the stall just enough so he could peek out. “This might work out better, though—safer than out in the club. We’ll grab them after they’re done in here.”
    “You better hope so,” Luke whispered back, trying to shift his weight so he wasn’t directly pressed against Eddie’s ass. “There’s no way I’m losing him this time.”
    Eddie turned his head. “Easy, Luke. He’s not going anywhere. I promise.”
    The intensity with which Eddie said those words made Luke relax a little.
    Then they heard the door to the bathroom open, with the sound of Thayer and Julio giggling. There was then a loud scraping sound.
    Luke nudged his knee to get Eddie’s attention, and Eddie leaned back to whisper in Luke’s ear. “They just slid the garbage can in front of the door.”
    “For what?”
    “Wait for it,” Eddie said, moving his head back to peek out.
    Luke was about to ask Eddie to answer the damn question when he heard the unmistakable sound of kissing—loud, wet, and