43 Cold showers
Word Soap: As The World Keeps Turning
Author: SYLnl
Title: #43 Cold showers
Rating: PG13
Summary: Dr. Morgan gets it
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39
#40 #41 #42
The minute he received a call from Gwen Munson to set up a meeting with Reid, he knew he was in trouble. In deep deep trouble. Okay, to be totally honest…he knew he was in trouble when he saw Luke’s ex-boyfriend leave Yo’s. His instinct had urged him to go after him, to admit he had been lying about Reid. But the mixture of alcohol, jealousy, hope and desire had shut down all normal thinking.
So here he was. Dr. Gary Morgan. He checked himself out in a shop-window and shook his head. He actually looked as desperate as he felt. He needed caffeine. Lots of it. So he turned the corner and stepped into Java’s. Right into the guy he really didn’t want to see right now.
He saw something flicker in the brown eyes and it confirmed what he already suspected. They knew. Damn. They knew.
“Dr. Morgan. Looking for some liquid courage?”
Gary lowered his eyes. “Something like that. I guess I’m gonna need it.”
“I know you’re gonna need it.” Luke replied without any sympathy. The blond turned to the counter, picked up his coffee and made his way to one of the tables.
Dilemma. Would he make matters worse by talking to Luke? Could matters get any worse, anyway? After getting his coffee, he took a deep breath and stopped at Luke’s table.
“Can we talk?”
“If you think I will be more clement than Reid, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“That’s not it. I need to apologize to you.”
“That you do,” Luke agreed and with a vague hand movement he motioned Gary to take a seat.
Sitting in front of Luke, Gary once again was struck by his charisma, but also noticed the coldness in his eyes. It made him very uncomfortable, so he sipped his coffee to conceal his uneasiness.
“Okay…well… I understand you know what happened in Yo’s…”
“I know the headlines.” Luke kept looking at him, without any visible emotion.
“I don’t know what got into me, Luke,” Gary shook his head. “This guy started talking to me about how his life didn’t make any sense. He was already pretty drunk by then and I’d noticed he had been checking me out, so I let him talk to assess my chances.”
Gary lowered his head. Man, that sounded cheap. But it was what is was. It was exactly what happened. So he continued:
“And then he mentioned you. And how confused he was, because now he had feelings for a girl, so he didn’t know what his feelings for you had been about and stuff like that. And I’ll admit… I was nosy. I wanted to get some dirt on you, I guess.”
Gary shrugged and looked up. Luke was still looking at him, drinking his coffee.
“So I started feeding him a little and this whole lamentation came out. His grief with Reid, how badly you’d treated him… I guess you know the drill.”
“I may have heard it once or twice,” Luke nodded with a quick grin.
“And again…I really don’t know what got into me, but I guess my jealousy saw this opportunity to act out and I told your ex that I worked at Memorial and had heard some rumors about Reid treating you badly.”
“And Noah was more than happy to buy that,” Luke said.
“He was. He gave me this whole speech on Reid’s arrogance and how he always knew Reid was bad news and how you never listened and always got yourself in trouble and how he was not bailing you out this time.”
Gary drank his coffee and sighed. “And I should have left it there. I would have saved us all a lot of trouble if I would had left it there. But I didn’t. I saw a chance to stir up paradise and I went for it. I pushed all the right buttons and eventually he agreed he needed to show mercy and come to your rescue one more time.”
He looked Luke in the eyes. “And I’m truly sorry.”
“I can see that,” Luke’s voice was icy. “Your apology is a little late, though. It would have meant something if you would have told the truth the next morning. But to wait until we found out…” Luke waved his hand, “meaningless.”
Gary swallowed. He knew Luke was right. “But surely there must be a part of you that understands where I’m coming from…”
“Oh, I do.” Luke nodded calmly. “I remember telling you earlier. I would go crazy too if I had to watch Reid in love with someone else. But I also know Reid told you specifically to be professional about it. That was his only stipulation. By accepting the job, you accepted that condition. And now you broke that promise.”
Gary nodded. “I know. And I understand why you want me out of here.”
“You’re wrong,” Luke’s emotions were still buried in the fridge, “I really don’t care if you stay or leave. You’re not a threat to me, Dr. Morgan. You never were and you never will be.”
“I understand your confidence, but no relationship is that solid, Luke. Things could change.”
“Of course,” Luke gave a glimpse of a smile. “But you will not be the one to change it. You had your chance for…how long was it again…three years?”
Gary got the message. Luke knew everything. “Yes, we were lovers for…” Luke’s laughter confused him. “What?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just…Reid doesn’t like that word, because there was no love involved. His words.” Luke felt evil when he saw Gary pale and he backed down. “Sorry. That was cruel.”
“Well, if it’s your mission to kill off any illusions I still might have had, you’re doing a great job.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do,” Luke agreed. “I do understand that it’s hard to let him go. Of course I understand. But your little stunt with Noah was based on the assumption that you had some sort of chance with Reid if you could get me out of the picture.” Luke shook his head. “And again, Gary, I don’t want to be brutal, but based on what Reid told me, I know he’d never go back to that. Even if Reid and I didn’t make it.”
Gary was gasping for air. “Ouch.”
“I know,” there was some warmth in Luke’s voice now. “But you have to be honest with yourself. You turned it into something it wasn’t.”
“What do you mean? It was…”
“Gary,” Luke lowered his voice, “He didn’t let you in. Not mentally. Not physically. He never let you in. That should have told you something.”
The doctor paled some more, looking sort of gray by now.
“You mean you…” he looked at Luke and the raised eyebrow gave him the answer. Excuse me? Of course I do. Luke closed his eyes for a moment to remember the moment he found out. The moment Reid shared himself for the first time and made sure Luke knew he was the first.
“Okay,” Gary exhaled intensively. “I guess you’re right. I turned it into something special and it wasn’t.”
“Reid’s special… so I do understand the mix-up,” Luke smiled. “But you really need to ask yourself if you’re able to cut him loose and if you want to keep working with him.”
“If he still wants me around…”
“That’s a good point. I really don’t know. That’s up to him.”
Gary checked his watch. “I need to go. In about fifteen minutes I’ll have my next cold shower.”
“You’re the one who came over to my table,” Luke reminded him.
“I know. And believe it or not, I am happy I did.”
“So am I. Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna need that.”
“I know.”
Luke watched Gary leave and took out his phone for a text.
- Had long talk with GM. Don’t cut him loose on my account. I’m okay. xxx
It didn’t take long before his phone beeped and he smiled when he read Reid’s answer
- Can’t wait to hear all about it. Al’s in an hour?
- I’ll be there. Waiting:)
- As you should:) LY
- LY2
It was an hour and ten minutes, but Luke didn’t mind the wait. He smiled when he saw Reid's grin and after a quick kiss, Reid flumped into a chair.
“I need to be back in an hour, I’m afraid. Had you ordered yet?”
Luke nodded and pointed at the arriving food.
“Great timing,” Reid smiled at the waitress and took a big bite before he turned to Luke.
“Sorry,” he murmured with his mouth half full. “I’m starving.”
Luke smiled sympathetically. “Busy morning?”
“Crazy!” Reid shook his head. “But I understand you’ve been quite busy yourself?”
“I was. Did Gary tell you about our conversation?”
“Some,” Reid nodded. “He was very upset by the lovers thing.”
Luke gave a nod. “I know.”
“He was even more upset when he heard the co-worker-with-benefits-remark.”
“Oh my God. You told him that?” Luke stopped eating for a moment.
“Of course I did. I really needed to get through to him. But I could tell you did a lot of groundwork, because he got the picture pretty quick.”
“And now what? Did you fire him?”
“Nope,” Reid slurped his soda, “I offered him a second chance. At the job.”
Luke grinned. “Thanks for that add. I would be so worried otherwise.”
Reid tapped Luke’s leg with his foot. “I can never be too clear, right?”
“True,” Luke fed him a fries as reward and Reid quickly licked Luke’s fingertips, leaving Luke a little breathless.
“Behave,” the blond whispered, but his eyes dared him. Reid growled. This was not a good day to be working late.
“Any plans for tonight or will you be home, missing me like crazy?”
Luke smiled. “Not sure yet. Maybe I can do some writing.”
Reid finished his sandwich while nodding. “Good plan. I can’t wait to read it.”
“I’m glad,” Luke grinned. “I like my men greedy.”
“Hmmm…plural, huh?” Reid narrowed his eyes, “Something about that talk with Morgan you’re not telling me?”
They both laughed out loud and Luke realized once again how lucky he was to experience a relationship like this. So secure, so carefree, so solid.
He placed his hand over Reid’s and squeezed it. “I love you, Dr. Oliver.”
“I loved you first, Mr. Snyder.”
“I love you more, Dr. Oliver.”
“I love you deeper, Mr. Snyder.” Reid’s eyes darkened and he felt his body responding. Luke’s smile was absolutely devious.
“I love you harder, Dr. Oliver.” He whispered and laughed when Reid moaned.
“I love you louder, Mr. Snyder,” he managed to squeeze out and grinned at Luke’s daze. This little game had them both at the edge of their seat. Literally.
“Didn’t you have this new gadget at your office?” Luke whispered and the underlying message took a few seconds to reach Reid’s brain.
“I do.”
“Show it to me?”
“Gladly. I especially recommend the red button…That one has unlimited possibilities…”
Author: SYLnl
Title: #43 Cold showers
Rating: PG13
Summary: Dr. Morgan gets it
Big Thanks To: ltklo, for brushing up my grammar
Previously on As The World Keeps Turning:
#1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10 #11 #12 #13 #14 #15 #16 #17 #18 #19 #20
#21 #22 #23 #24 #25 #26 #27 #28 #29 #30 #31 #32 #33 #34 #35 #36 #37 #38 #39
#40 #41 #42
The minute he received a call from Gwen Munson to set up a meeting with Reid, he knew he was in trouble. In deep deep trouble. Okay, to be totally honest…he knew he was in trouble when he saw Luke’s ex-boyfriend leave Yo’s. His instinct had urged him to go after him, to admit he had been lying about Reid. But the mixture of alcohol, jealousy, hope and desire had shut down all normal thinking.
So here he was. Dr. Gary Morgan. He checked himself out in a shop-window and shook his head. He actually looked as desperate as he felt. He needed caffeine. Lots of it. So he turned the corner and stepped into Java’s. Right into the guy he really didn’t want to see right now.
He saw something flicker in the brown eyes and it confirmed what he already suspected. They knew. Damn. They knew.
“Dr. Morgan. Looking for some liquid courage?”
Gary lowered his eyes. “Something like that. I guess I’m gonna need it.”
“I know you’re gonna need it.” Luke replied without any sympathy. The blond turned to the counter, picked up his coffee and made his way to one of the tables.
Dilemma. Would he make matters worse by talking to Luke? Could matters get any worse, anyway? After getting his coffee, he took a deep breath and stopped at Luke’s table.
“Can we talk?”
“If you think I will be more clement than Reid, you’re sadly mistaken.”
“That’s not it. I need to apologize to you.”
“That you do,” Luke agreed and with a vague hand movement he motioned Gary to take a seat.
Sitting in front of Luke, Gary once again was struck by his charisma, but also noticed the coldness in his eyes. It made him very uncomfortable, so he sipped his coffee to conceal his uneasiness.
“Okay…well… I understand you know what happened in Yo’s…”
“I know the headlines.” Luke kept looking at him, without any visible emotion.
“I don’t know what got into me, Luke,” Gary shook his head. “This guy started talking to me about how his life didn’t make any sense. He was already pretty drunk by then and I’d noticed he had been checking me out, so I let him talk to assess my chances.”
Gary lowered his head. Man, that sounded cheap. But it was what is was. It was exactly what happened. So he continued:
“And then he mentioned you. And how confused he was, because now he had feelings for a girl, so he didn’t know what his feelings for you had been about and stuff like that. And I’ll admit… I was nosy. I wanted to get some dirt on you, I guess.”
Gary shrugged and looked up. Luke was still looking at him, drinking his coffee.
“So I started feeding him a little and this whole lamentation came out. His grief with Reid, how badly you’d treated him… I guess you know the drill.”
“I may have heard it once or twice,” Luke nodded with a quick grin.
“And again…I really don’t know what got into me, but I guess my jealousy saw this opportunity to act out and I told your ex that I worked at Memorial and had heard some rumors about Reid treating you badly.”
“And Noah was more than happy to buy that,” Luke said.
“He was. He gave me this whole speech on Reid’s arrogance and how he always knew Reid was bad news and how you never listened and always got yourself in trouble and how he was not bailing you out this time.”
Gary drank his coffee and sighed. “And I should have left it there. I would have saved us all a lot of trouble if I would had left it there. But I didn’t. I saw a chance to stir up paradise and I went for it. I pushed all the right buttons and eventually he agreed he needed to show mercy and come to your rescue one more time.”
He looked Luke in the eyes. “And I’m truly sorry.”
“I can see that,” Luke’s voice was icy. “Your apology is a little late, though. It would have meant something if you would have told the truth the next morning. But to wait until we found out…” Luke waved his hand, “meaningless.”
Gary swallowed. He knew Luke was right. “But surely there must be a part of you that understands where I’m coming from…”
“Oh, I do.” Luke nodded calmly. “I remember telling you earlier. I would go crazy too if I had to watch Reid in love with someone else. But I also know Reid told you specifically to be professional about it. That was his only stipulation. By accepting the job, you accepted that condition. And now you broke that promise.”
Gary nodded. “I know. And I understand why you want me out of here.”
“You’re wrong,” Luke’s emotions were still buried in the fridge, “I really don’t care if you stay or leave. You’re not a threat to me, Dr. Morgan. You never were and you never will be.”
“I understand your confidence, but no relationship is that solid, Luke. Things could change.”
“Of course,” Luke gave a glimpse of a smile. “But you will not be the one to change it. You had your chance for…how long was it again…three years?”
Gary got the message. Luke knew everything. “Yes, we were lovers for…” Luke’s laughter confused him. “What?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just…Reid doesn’t like that word, because there was no love involved. His words.” Luke felt evil when he saw Gary pale and he backed down. “Sorry. That was cruel.”
“Well, if it’s your mission to kill off any illusions I still might have had, you’re doing a great job.”
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do,” Luke agreed. “I do understand that it’s hard to let him go. Of course I understand. But your little stunt with Noah was based on the assumption that you had some sort of chance with Reid if you could get me out of the picture.” Luke shook his head. “And again, Gary, I don’t want to be brutal, but based on what Reid told me, I know he’d never go back to that. Even if Reid and I didn’t make it.”
Gary was gasping for air. “Ouch.”
“I know,” there was some warmth in Luke’s voice now. “But you have to be honest with yourself. You turned it into something it wasn’t.”
“What do you mean? It was…”
“Gary,” Luke lowered his voice, “He didn’t let you in. Not mentally. Not physically. He never let you in. That should have told you something.”
The doctor paled some more, looking sort of gray by now.
“You mean you…” he looked at Luke and the raised eyebrow gave him the answer. Excuse me? Of course I do. Luke closed his eyes for a moment to remember the moment he found out. The moment Reid shared himself for the first time and made sure Luke knew he was the first.
“Okay,” Gary exhaled intensively. “I guess you’re right. I turned it into something special and it wasn’t.”
“Reid’s special… so I do understand the mix-up,” Luke smiled. “But you really need to ask yourself if you’re able to cut him loose and if you want to keep working with him.”
“If he still wants me around…”
“That’s a good point. I really don’t know. That’s up to him.”
Gary checked his watch. “I need to go. In about fifteen minutes I’ll have my next cold shower.”
“You’re the one who came over to my table,” Luke reminded him.
“I know. And believe it or not, I am happy I did.”
“So am I. Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’m gonna need that.”
“I know.”
Luke watched Gary leave and took out his phone for a text.
- Had long talk with GM. Don’t cut him loose on my account. I’m okay. xxx
It didn’t take long before his phone beeped and he smiled when he read Reid’s answer
- Can’t wait to hear all about it. Al’s in an hour?
- I’ll be there. Waiting:)
- As you should:) LY
- LY2
It was an hour and ten minutes, but Luke didn’t mind the wait. He smiled when he saw Reid's grin and after a quick kiss, Reid flumped into a chair.
“I need to be back in an hour, I’m afraid. Had you ordered yet?”
Luke nodded and pointed at the arriving food.
“Great timing,” Reid smiled at the waitress and took a big bite before he turned to Luke.
“Sorry,” he murmured with his mouth half full. “I’m starving.”
Luke smiled sympathetically. “Busy morning?”
“Crazy!” Reid shook his head. “But I understand you’ve been quite busy yourself?”
“I was. Did Gary tell you about our conversation?”
“Some,” Reid nodded. “He was very upset by the lovers thing.”
Luke gave a nod. “I know.”
“He was even more upset when he heard the co-worker-with-benefits-remark.”
“Oh my God. You told him that?” Luke stopped eating for a moment.
“Of course I did. I really needed to get through to him. But I could tell you did a lot of groundwork, because he got the picture pretty quick.”
“And now what? Did you fire him?”
“Nope,” Reid slurped his soda, “I offered him a second chance. At the job.”
Luke grinned. “Thanks for that add. I would be so worried otherwise.”
Reid tapped Luke’s leg with his foot. “I can never be too clear, right?”
“True,” Luke fed him a fries as reward and Reid quickly licked Luke’s fingertips, leaving Luke a little breathless.
“Behave,” the blond whispered, but his eyes dared him. Reid growled. This was not a good day to be working late.
“Any plans for tonight or will you be home, missing me like crazy?”
Luke smiled. “Not sure yet. Maybe I can do some writing.”
Reid finished his sandwich while nodding. “Good plan. I can’t wait to read it.”
“I’m glad,” Luke grinned. “I like my men greedy.”
“Hmmm…plural, huh?” Reid narrowed his eyes, “Something about that talk with Morgan you’re not telling me?”
They both laughed out loud and Luke realized once again how lucky he was to experience a relationship like this. So secure, so carefree, so solid.
He placed his hand over Reid’s and squeezed it. “I love you, Dr. Oliver.”
“I loved you first, Mr. Snyder.”
“I love you more, Dr. Oliver.”
“I love you deeper, Mr. Snyder.” Reid’s eyes darkened and he felt his body responding. Luke’s smile was absolutely devious.
“I love you harder, Dr. Oliver.” He whispered and laughed when Reid moaned.
“I love you louder, Mr. Snyder,” he managed to squeeze out and grinned at Luke’s daze. This little game had them both at the edge of their seat. Literally.
“Didn’t you have this new gadget at your office?” Luke whispered and the underlying message took a few seconds to reach Reid’s brain.
“I do.”
“Show it to me?”
“Gladly. I especially recommend the red button…That one has unlimited possibilities…”