Meredith Shayne

Original snippets ahoy!

I am terrible at updating this thing. I’d say I’ll get better, but I probably won’t, let’s face it.

February was not a good writing month for me. Life took over as it often does, and I wrote hardly anything. But it’s March now, and so that gives me an excuse to forget February and have a really productive March instead. I’m still plodding on with the cowboys story, which I think now has a name, possibly. *shifty eyes* Since I haven’t looked at it for a week or so, I’ve been reading it over, and I’ve decided to post some snippets, to keep me motivated. Now, bear in mind that they’re first draft snippets, but for all that I think they’re pretty clean draft-wise, and I’m fairly certain both scenes will make it into the final draft in some form or another. I apologise in advance for any typos or awkwardness – I can’t see any, but that doesn’t mean they’re not there. These have not had the fine-tooth comb treatment.

So, some scene setting: Australia, present day. Our first hero is Michael, a vet from Sydney who has decided to move to the country to start a new life. Here he meets our second hero, Ryan, an ex-mounted policeman who is back on his family’s cattle farm after a few years away for family reasons. Ryan has stock horses now that he’s not a copper anymore, and competes with them with an eye to building himself a nice little stud farm with his prize-winning mares.

In this first snippet, Michael’s sister Jen is visiting him, and Ryan has invited them to the farm, ostensibly so that Jen’s horse-mad son can look at his horses, but really so that he can spend some time looking at Michael. Natch.

***

They took Jen’s car to the Mitchell farm, because it had car seats and Wiggles CDs. Within ten minutes Michael was considering throwing himself under the next truck that passed their way. “I have no idea how you can put up with this music,” he said quietly as Jack shouted the lyrics of “Wake Up, Jeff” at the top of his lungs in the back seat. “And I’m sorry to say, your son is never going to be a singer.”
Jen laughed. “You get used to it, the Wiggles and the singing.” She paused, then looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “So. This Ryan bloke. Have you and he got something going on?”
Michael’s stomach dropped, and he jerked his head around to look at her. “No!” He cast a look back at the kids, but they were happily oblivious. “What makes you say that?”
Jen shrugged. “I don’t know. You looked pretty comfortable together at the market the other day, and it seems to me he’s going out of his way to impress you, inviting us to his farm and all.”
Oh, god. Michael was equal parts horrified and thrilled at hearing that. “Don’t be ridiculous. He’s not going out of his way to impress me, why would he do that? He’s just being friendly, that’s all.”
Jen made a sceptical noise before shrugging again. “There’s friendly and there’s friendly. And I think he’s being the type of friendly that ends with sticking your hand down someone’s pants.”
“Jen! Jesus, not in front of the kids.” Michael looked back at the kids again as Jen laughed. “If Jack regurgitates that in front of Ryan, I will kill you.”
“Oh, what’s he going to say, Mikey? Nothing. He’ll be too excited at all the horses, anyway.” She paused. “Do you know if he’s gay?”
“No. No, I do not know if he’s gay.” Except he thought he did; he thought he was. “And I’m not going to ask him, either. And don’t you ask him!”
“I’m not going to ask him,” she said, in the tone of voice that he knew meant that she would if she could get away with it. “But I’m going to be watching him. I’m going to watch him very closely.”
“Oh, god,” Michael said, scrunching down in his seat. “Just…just don’t embarrass me, Jen, please. I have to live here.”
She laughed and reached over to ruffle his hair. “Aww, little brother. When have I ever embarrassed you?”
Michael snorted. “There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to list them all, believe me.”
Jen laughed, then joined in a chorus of the Wiggles, smiling at him as she did the finger actions in his direction. Michael groaned and sunk down further in his seat, burying his face in his hands.

***

In this second snippet, Michael and Ryan have gotten it together, but this is essentially the first time they’ve seen each other for any length of time since they spent the night together. To put it delicately (I am so Victorian, sometimes, I swear). No sex in this one though. Sorry! The sex isn’t finished yet.

***

During the next pirouette Ryan saw him. He grinned and gave Sally a command, making her stop dead right where she stood. He patted her neck and said something else to her, and then they were walking toward Michael. Michael moved then, too, stepping up to the fence as Ryan drew Sally up alongside it.
“Well…this isn’t really a surprise,” Ryan said, smiling down at Michael. “I see you’ve got my supplements.”
Michael smiled and balanced them on a fence post. “Would it matter if I didn’t?”
“Not really, no.” Ryan was staring at Michael’s mouth again, but instead of hopping down like Michael expected him to, after a moment of silence he slid back a little, toward Sally’s rump, then patted where he’d just been sitting. “C’mere, you.”
“Oh now, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Michael said, shaking his head. “Why don’t you come down here?”
“I don’t think so. Uncle Michael said he’d try riding later. It’s later.” Ryan held out his hand, and when he spoke again, his tone was softer, intimate enough to give Michael the shivers. “Come on, Michael. I’ll make it worth your while.”

***

Hmm. So there you have it. Thanks for reading if you did, and I hope you liked it. Comments/constructive criticism, etc, welcome.