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asphaltcowgrrlTitle: Guilty
Fandom: White Pine original fiction
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,888
Summary: Ethan gets yet another surprise visit while Travis makes a discovery.
Author’s Note: Written for the A to Z challenge at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
1_million_words – G is for Guilty. Because that’s what both of these idiots are. Last post today, promise.
Continued from here.
"I may have accidentally adopted five cats.”
“That’s nice, Travis,” Ethan said distractedly, glaring at the jerk currently leaning against the wall of his hotel room. Why had Reid decided to pay him another surprise visit after he’d made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with the man? And for the love of god, why now? Ethan hadn’t had time to slam the door in his ex’s face because his cell had begun to ring, giving Reid an opening to let himself inside.
“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” He heard Travis let out a disgusted sound on the other end of the phone. “Never mind, Ethan. I’ll talk to you later, when you’re interested in hearing what I have to say.”
“Travis, wait,” he said, cringing when the dial tone reached his ear. Glaring, Ethan turned on Reid. “You’d better hope to hell that I can talk him off the ledge he’s on because if not? There’s going to be hell to pay. I am not throwing away this marriage for you.” This asshole wasn’t worth losing Travis over.
Shrugging, Reid dropped onto the couch and settled his feet on the coffee table. Ethan made a face, thinking about how many meals he’d eaten off that piece of furniture. “Sounds to me like you’ve got a knack for pissing off your husbands, ducky.” Reid turned those coffee-colored eyes on Ethan and flashed the smile that had once made him weak in the knees. “You might want to curb that tendency if you ever plan to hold onto one.”
Struggling to remain calm, Ethan shoved his phone into his pocket and then roughly ran his fingers through his hair. “Why are you here, Reid? I keep telling you that I’m not interested. I’m married, I’m happy, and you can’t seem to accept that. So, you must have an ulterior motive.”
Reid inclined his head in the direction of Ethan’s missing cell phone. “You sure you’re happy there, Ethan? Sounds like trouble in paradise to me.”
The nerve of this asshole. “He’s upset that I wasn’t paying attention to him because you were standing in my room, distracting me!” Ethan regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Even though what he’d meant had been clear, the way Reid was going to process them was going to muddle things badly.
“Aw,” he cooed, taking his feet off the coffee table and leaning forward. “See, I knew you still cared.”
“I don’t,” Ethan started before stopping himself. He couldn’t let Reid get under his skin, couldn’t allow his former husband to ruffle his feathers, so to speak. Reid had always been so good at that, too, hence his nickname ‘ducky’. Ethan had to admit, he felt like shaking his feathers and getting Reid Farrow out of his system. “Will you please leave or are you going to force me to remove you from my hotel room?”
Slowly, Reid rose to his feet. He took his time crossing the small room, moving slowly, observing Ethan as he walked. Stopping before Ethan, Reid reached a hand out, tracing the curve of Ethan’s jaw with his fingertips. The touch made Ethan want to recoil, disgusted at the way his heart leapt at the skin on skin contact. Leave it to his body to betray him at a time like this.
“You’re still as handsome as the day I met you,” Reid murmured. “Those eyes, they were always my downfall.”
Leaning in, Reid pressed his mouth against Ethan’s, stealing more than a kiss. Ethan felt his body go stiff, unsure of what to do or how to react, only knowing it had to end. Reality crashed in and Ethan shoved Reid off of him, watching the taller man stumble backwards, barely catching himself before he tumbled over the coffee table.
“Don’t you ever try that shit with me again,” Ethan raged, fists clenched at his side. “Get the hell out and stay away from me.”
Reid wiped his mouth with the fingers of his right hand. A smirk curled the corners of his lips as he gave one sharp nod of his head. “As you wish, Ethan. You did love to challenge me, ducky. So, game on.”
Ethan could tell by the smirk that Reid was far from done with this game and it made him ill to contemplate what might lie in his immediate future. Fuming, he almost managed to wait until Reid was through the door before he slammed it closed, securing every lock it came equipped with. Heart pounding, Ethan allowed his head to slam against the wooden barrier at his back. How the hell was he going to keep this from Travis now? The obvious answer to that was he wouldn’t. More to the point, he couldn’t, not after that little show. But how could he admit to this, to any of this, and not completely destroy every ounce of faith Murphy had in him?
Taking the phone from his pocket, he figured there was only one way to find out.
Travis was ashamed of himself, he could admit that much. He’d never been the jealous type, but he’d never been in love with someone like Ethan before, either. It was strange to have something so important that he couldn’t lose it. But whatever was going on with his husband in Garret needed to stop – and soon – or Travis was going to load up his old truck and pay the traveling detective a visit. Just to make sure things were on the up and up. He trusted Ethan fully and yet, something was niggling at his brain, causing him to jump to conclusions and make bad choices.
To his credit, it hadn’t started out as snooping. He’d been on a legitimate mission to find the silver cufflinks he’d bought for Ethan to show his mother. She and his dad had been invited to a nice dinner in Minden Lake and Travis had thought they’d look nice with his father’s one good suit. But he couldn’t find them anywhere. Which was why he’d called Ethan in the first place.
That was about when everything went to hell in a handbasket. Ethan was distracted by something – or someone – and wasn’t being any help, so Travis had hung up on him. Childish, he knew, but Ethan had hurt his feelings. Out of options, Travis had searched every nook and cranny of their shared bedroom trying to locate the cufflinks. Ready to give up, he was left with the one place he hadn’t ever thought to look. Desperate, he regarded the wooden box that sat on their dresser, just to the left side of the mirror. It was one of the few things Ethan had brought into his home when they’d moved in together and, to date, Travis couldn’t remember a time when his husband had opened the box for any reason. Not to put something in, not to take something out. Curious, he lifted the lid, hoping the cufflinks were inside.
He’d been wrong.
It had made sense to look at the time. Seeing as he and Ethan rarely had occasion to dress up, putting the cufflinks and any other bits of nice jewelry in the box would have been fitting. And considering how their lives were, the fact that Ethan hadn’t ever gotten into it to retrieve said jewelry also fit the scenario. When he’d opened the box, he’d found jewelry, no doubt, just not what he’d expected to find. Instead of cufflinks, he found a single gold band sitting next to a pristine golden cross on a delicate chain.
The sound of the ringing phone startled Travis, causing him to drop the appropriated jewelry back into the box. Feeling shamefaced, Murphy sat on Ethan’s side of the bed and answered the land line. “Yeah?”
“Didn’t your mother teach you how to answer the phone, Travis?”
He smiled at Ethan’s voice flowing down the phone line, but the contentment didn’t last long. “Oh, so now you want to talk to me, eh? What, did you shoo your boyfriend out the door finally?” It was a cheap shot, but Ethan’s indifference earlier still stung.
“Travis,” Ethan sighed, causing Murphy to picture him rubbing a hand through his hair, both tired and frustrated. “I’m sorry about before and you’re right, there was someone here. Not my boyfriend, god help me but I won’t ever make that mistake again.”
Travis swallowed his heart back into his chest. Ethan had apologized, that had to count for something, right? But who the hell was in his room that caused him so much diversion? And what the hell did he mean by ‘never make that mistake again’? “Was it that Jordan guy you’ve been partnered with?” It was a long shot, but he had to try.
Ethan’s breath whispered across the phone lines, sounding sad and weak, tearing at Travis’ heart. “No Murph, it wasn’t Jordan, although I wish it had been.”
“Then who,” he demanded, unable to keep his voice level. The not knowing was beginning to eat at his soul.
“Are you sitting, Travis? Because this isn’t going to be a fun conversation we’re about to have.”
He looked down at his feet, both planted firmly on the floor and chewed his bottom lip. “Do we have to have it then? Can’t we just say we’re sorry and hug it out?”
“It’s not that easy, Travis,” Ethan said, sounding more worn-out than Murphy could remember. “How are you doing on your manuscript?”
“Are you changing the subject on me?” Travis looked back towards the dresser and frowned at the box.
“No,” Ethan chuckled. “I asked for a reason. If you’ve been making decent progress and are at a stopping point, I was hoping you could come up here. It’ll be easier to have this discussion face to face.”
He thought about his current work, calculated his approximate word count to date and figured he could take a day or two off from writing. It’s not like he wasn’t pushing it every deadline already, what was one more that got by him? Truthfully, with Ethan not being around to distract him, he’d done more to move this novel along than he’d ever managed before. His editor would be both impressed and shocked when he called for his next update. “Yeah, I can break away for a couple nights. But…”
“But?”
“Are we going to be okay, Ethan?” He was scared by the fact that what Ethan had to say couldn’t be said right now. There were many things that shouldn’t be communicated over the phone but often were. The few things that absolutely had to be done in person weren’t ever good.
“I don’t honestly know, Travis,” Ethan replied. “I suppose we’ll find out when you get up here.”
Making a decision, Travis stood. “I’ll be there before bedtime, baby. See you in a couple hours.”
He hung up the phone and mentally rounded up everything he needed: clothes, accessories, food and water for the cats so they didn’t tear the walls down while he was away. Oh, and that goddamned gold ring in the box on the dresser. Because whatever was about to go down in Garret, he had to know why his husband had hidden it in plain sight.
Continues here.
Fandom: White Pine original fiction
Pairing: Travis Murphy/Ethan McDowell
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1,888
Summary: Ethan gets yet another surprise visit while Travis makes a discovery.
Author’s Note: Written for the A to Z challenge at
1_million_words – G is for Guilty. Because that’s what both of these idiots are. Last post today, promise.Continued from here.
"I may have accidentally adopted five cats.”
“That’s nice, Travis,” Ethan said distractedly, glaring at the jerk currently leaning against the wall of his hotel room. Why had Reid decided to pay him another surprise visit after he’d made it very clear he wanted nothing to do with the man? And for the love of god, why now? Ethan hadn’t had time to slam the door in his ex’s face because his cell had begun to ring, giving Reid an opening to let himself inside.
“You’re not even listening to me, are you?” He heard Travis let out a disgusted sound on the other end of the phone. “Never mind, Ethan. I’ll talk to you later, when you’re interested in hearing what I have to say.”
“Travis, wait,” he said, cringing when the dial tone reached his ear. Glaring, Ethan turned on Reid. “You’d better hope to hell that I can talk him off the ledge he’s on because if not? There’s going to be hell to pay. I am not throwing away this marriage for you.” This asshole wasn’t worth losing Travis over.
Shrugging, Reid dropped onto the couch and settled his feet on the coffee table. Ethan made a face, thinking about how many meals he’d eaten off that piece of furniture. “Sounds to me like you’ve got a knack for pissing off your husbands, ducky.” Reid turned those coffee-colored eyes on Ethan and flashed the smile that had once made him weak in the knees. “You might want to curb that tendency if you ever plan to hold onto one.”
Struggling to remain calm, Ethan shoved his phone into his pocket and then roughly ran his fingers through his hair. “Why are you here, Reid? I keep telling you that I’m not interested. I’m married, I’m happy, and you can’t seem to accept that. So, you must have an ulterior motive.”
Reid inclined his head in the direction of Ethan’s missing cell phone. “You sure you’re happy there, Ethan? Sounds like trouble in paradise to me.”
The nerve of this asshole. “He’s upset that I wasn’t paying attention to him because you were standing in my room, distracting me!” Ethan regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Even though what he’d meant had been clear, the way Reid was going to process them was going to muddle things badly.
“Aw,” he cooed, taking his feet off the coffee table and leaning forward. “See, I knew you still cared.”
“I don’t,” Ethan started before stopping himself. He couldn’t let Reid get under his skin, couldn’t allow his former husband to ruffle his feathers, so to speak. Reid had always been so good at that, too, hence his nickname ‘ducky’. Ethan had to admit, he felt like shaking his feathers and getting Reid Farrow out of his system. “Will you please leave or are you going to force me to remove you from my hotel room?”
Slowly, Reid rose to his feet. He took his time crossing the small room, moving slowly, observing Ethan as he walked. Stopping before Ethan, Reid reached a hand out, tracing the curve of Ethan’s jaw with his fingertips. The touch made Ethan want to recoil, disgusted at the way his heart leapt at the skin on skin contact. Leave it to his body to betray him at a time like this.
“You’re still as handsome as the day I met you,” Reid murmured. “Those eyes, they were always my downfall.”
Leaning in, Reid pressed his mouth against Ethan’s, stealing more than a kiss. Ethan felt his body go stiff, unsure of what to do or how to react, only knowing it had to end. Reality crashed in and Ethan shoved Reid off of him, watching the taller man stumble backwards, barely catching himself before he tumbled over the coffee table.
“Don’t you ever try that shit with me again,” Ethan raged, fists clenched at his side. “Get the hell out and stay away from me.”
Reid wiped his mouth with the fingers of his right hand. A smirk curled the corners of his lips as he gave one sharp nod of his head. “As you wish, Ethan. You did love to challenge me, ducky. So, game on.”
Ethan could tell by the smirk that Reid was far from done with this game and it made him ill to contemplate what might lie in his immediate future. Fuming, he almost managed to wait until Reid was through the door before he slammed it closed, securing every lock it came equipped with. Heart pounding, Ethan allowed his head to slam against the wooden barrier at his back. How the hell was he going to keep this from Travis now? The obvious answer to that was he wouldn’t. More to the point, he couldn’t, not after that little show. But how could he admit to this, to any of this, and not completely destroy every ounce of faith Murphy had in him?
Taking the phone from his pocket, he figured there was only one way to find out.
Travis was ashamed of himself, he could admit that much. He’d never been the jealous type, but he’d never been in love with someone like Ethan before, either. It was strange to have something so important that he couldn’t lose it. But whatever was going on with his husband in Garret needed to stop – and soon – or Travis was going to load up his old truck and pay the traveling detective a visit. Just to make sure things were on the up and up. He trusted Ethan fully and yet, something was niggling at his brain, causing him to jump to conclusions and make bad choices.
To his credit, it hadn’t started out as snooping. He’d been on a legitimate mission to find the silver cufflinks he’d bought for Ethan to show his mother. She and his dad had been invited to a nice dinner in Minden Lake and Travis had thought they’d look nice with his father’s one good suit. But he couldn’t find them anywhere. Which was why he’d called Ethan in the first place.
That was about when everything went to hell in a handbasket. Ethan was distracted by something – or someone – and wasn’t being any help, so Travis had hung up on him. Childish, he knew, but Ethan had hurt his feelings. Out of options, Travis had searched every nook and cranny of their shared bedroom trying to locate the cufflinks. Ready to give up, he was left with the one place he hadn’t ever thought to look. Desperate, he regarded the wooden box that sat on their dresser, just to the left side of the mirror. It was one of the few things Ethan had brought into his home when they’d moved in together and, to date, Travis couldn’t remember a time when his husband had opened the box for any reason. Not to put something in, not to take something out. Curious, he lifted the lid, hoping the cufflinks were inside.
He’d been wrong.
It had made sense to look at the time. Seeing as he and Ethan rarely had occasion to dress up, putting the cufflinks and any other bits of nice jewelry in the box would have been fitting. And considering how their lives were, the fact that Ethan hadn’t ever gotten into it to retrieve said jewelry also fit the scenario. When he’d opened the box, he’d found jewelry, no doubt, just not what he’d expected to find. Instead of cufflinks, he found a single gold band sitting next to a pristine golden cross on a delicate chain.
The sound of the ringing phone startled Travis, causing him to drop the appropriated jewelry back into the box. Feeling shamefaced, Murphy sat on Ethan’s side of the bed and answered the land line. “Yeah?”
“Didn’t your mother teach you how to answer the phone, Travis?”
He smiled at Ethan’s voice flowing down the phone line, but the contentment didn’t last long. “Oh, so now you want to talk to me, eh? What, did you shoo your boyfriend out the door finally?” It was a cheap shot, but Ethan’s indifference earlier still stung.
“Travis,” Ethan sighed, causing Murphy to picture him rubbing a hand through his hair, both tired and frustrated. “I’m sorry about before and you’re right, there was someone here. Not my boyfriend, god help me but I won’t ever make that mistake again.”
Travis swallowed his heart back into his chest. Ethan had apologized, that had to count for something, right? But who the hell was in his room that caused him so much diversion? And what the hell did he mean by ‘never make that mistake again’? “Was it that Jordan guy you’ve been partnered with?” It was a long shot, but he had to try.
Ethan’s breath whispered across the phone lines, sounding sad and weak, tearing at Travis’ heart. “No Murph, it wasn’t Jordan, although I wish it had been.”
“Then who,” he demanded, unable to keep his voice level. The not knowing was beginning to eat at his soul.
“Are you sitting, Travis? Because this isn’t going to be a fun conversation we’re about to have.”
He looked down at his feet, both planted firmly on the floor and chewed his bottom lip. “Do we have to have it then? Can’t we just say we’re sorry and hug it out?”
“It’s not that easy, Travis,” Ethan said, sounding more worn-out than Murphy could remember. “How are you doing on your manuscript?”
“Are you changing the subject on me?” Travis looked back towards the dresser and frowned at the box.
“No,” Ethan chuckled. “I asked for a reason. If you’ve been making decent progress and are at a stopping point, I was hoping you could come up here. It’ll be easier to have this discussion face to face.”
He thought about his current work, calculated his approximate word count to date and figured he could take a day or two off from writing. It’s not like he wasn’t pushing it every deadline already, what was one more that got by him? Truthfully, with Ethan not being around to distract him, he’d done more to move this novel along than he’d ever managed before. His editor would be both impressed and shocked when he called for his next update. “Yeah, I can break away for a couple nights. But…”
“But?”
“Are we going to be okay, Ethan?” He was scared by the fact that what Ethan had to say couldn’t be said right now. There were many things that shouldn’t be communicated over the phone but often were. The few things that absolutely had to be done in person weren’t ever good.
“I don’t honestly know, Travis,” Ethan replied. “I suppose we’ll find out when you get up here.”
Making a decision, Travis stood. “I’ll be there before bedtime, baby. See you in a couple hours.”
He hung up the phone and mentally rounded up everything he needed: clothes, accessories, food and water for the cats so they didn’t tear the walls down while he was away. Oh, and that goddamned gold ring in the box on the dresser. Because whatever was about to go down in Garret, he had to know why his husband had hidden it in plain sight.
Continues here.
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Date: 2016-06-22 06:39 pm (UTC)