by Andria Large
Jayme and Tripp had been casually following the vehicle in front of them for a few miles now. They’ve failed to use their turn signals on multiple occasions, they’ve gone over the speed limit by as much as fifteen miles per hour; and they tailgated a few times.
“Do it.” Tripp growled.
Jayme flipped on the lights and siren. The driver pulled off onto a side street, then pulled over. Jayme and Tripp got out of the truck and walked up on the car. Tripp took the passenger side, while Jayme went for the driver.
The window was already down, when he came up next to the driver. “License and registration, Ma’am.”
“Jayme, are you fucking kidding me?” Mallory barked.
“License and registration.”
Mallory huffed as she rummaged through her wallet. He hasn’t seen her since he walked out of the hospital room. It was rough seeing her after everything she’d done to him. He didn’t realize how much it would bother him. His anger at her bubbled up to the surface, and it took everything he had not to reach in the car; and punch her in the face. She pulled out her license and handed it over.
“I don’t know what happened to my registration. It’s not here.”
He glanced in the backseat, to see that the baby was in the car seat. His heart ached at the sight of the baby boy who was now four months old. He wondered what Mallory ended up naming him, but he wasn’t about to ask.
“Do you know why I pulled you over?”
“Haven’t the slightest idea,” she replied, glaring at him.
“Let me go down the list: speeding, failure to use your turn signal, and tailgating, to name a few. And now we can add on failure to produce proper paperwork.”
“Jayme, I’m late for the baby’s doctor appointment. Can’t you just let me go with a warning?”
He smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. It was more like a baring of teeth. “Oh, you want me to go easy on you?”
“Please. I’m in a hurry.”
“I’ll be right back, Ma’am.” He went back to the truck and ran her license and looked up her registration.
He wrote her a shit ton of charges for every offense he could possibly give her. The total came to about eight hundred dollars. He walked back over to her window and handed her back her license; then handed her the ticket.
“Jayme! This is eight hundred dollars in fines! Are you fucking crazy?!”
“Ma’am, I don’t appreciate your attitude.”
“Stop talking to me like you don’t know me, you fucking asshole!”
“Ma’am, am I going to have to have you step out of the vehicle?”
“You’ll do no such thing!”
“Then I suggest you get yourself together.”
“I’m going to contest this bullshit ticket, Jayme.”
“Great. I’ll see you in court then.”
“Fuck you, you fucking cocksucker.”
“Don’t move,” he growled.
He went back to the truck and wrote her another ticket. This one brought her total up to a thousand dollars. He came back and handed it to her.
“Endangering the welfare of a child?! What the fuck?!”
“You were speeding, going fifteen over the limit. I’d say that’s child endangerment. Wouldn’t you, Tripp?”
Tripp grinned at him from over the hood of the car. “Yep!”
“Oh, fuck off, Tripp,” Mallory shouted and flipped him the bird.
“Keep it up, Ma’am. Next step is being taken out of your vehicle and arrested for disorderly conduct.”
“I swear to God, Jayme...”
“You have a nice day, Ma’am.”
“I fucking hate you.”
“The feeling’s mutual.”
Jayme and Tripp got back in their truck and waited for Mallory to drive away; before pulling back into traffic themselves. Tripp reached over, placed his hand on Jayme’s thigh; and gave it a squeeze.
“You okay?”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“You handled that really well.”
“I wanted to arrest her so badly, and if the baby wasn’t there; I probably would have.”
“Maybe next time.”
He smirked. “Maybe.”
“I mean, that was nothing in comparison to what she did to you; but at least you caused her some aggravation, and probably loss of some money.”
“Yeah, she can contest that ticket all she wants. I’ll show up and tell the judge exactly how she was acting. They might lower the fees, but I’m sure she’ll end up paying something.”
“Agreed.”
The rest of their day went pretty smoothly. They stopped back at the station, before going home, Jayme had to fill out some paperwork. Matt and his partner, Phil, were there doing the same. Matt gave Jayme a shit-eating grin when they walked up.
“What?” he asked.
“Heard you pulled over Mallory today,” Matt said.
“How the hell did you find that out so fast?”
“She called my wife, bitching and moaning about the thousand dollars in tickets that you gave her.”
“She deserved it.”
“Oh, I agree. You threatened to arrest her?”
“Yeah, she called me a cocksucker and flipped Tripp off.”
Matt glanced between him and Tripp. “Well, technically, you are a cocksucker.” Matt laughed.
“And a damn fine one at that,” Tripp said with a naughty grin.
Matt stuck his fingers in his ears. “La la la. Don’t want to hear it.”
They all had a good laugh. Jayme sat down at one of the desks in the bullpen to do his paperwork.
“How are the wedding plans going?” Matt asked.
“They’re coming along. We still have to go pick out suits,” Tripp replied.
“Are you going traditional with black?”
“Nah, I think we’re gonna do navy.”
Matt nodded. “That’s more your style,” he agreed.
“And a slim fit, right Jayme?”
He looked up from where he was writing a report. “Huh?”
“Slim fit suits, right?”
“Oh yeah, right.”
“Fancy. You guys are very stylish,” Matt said teasingly with a lisp.
“Fuck off.” Tripp laughed, and gave him a shove.
Matt chuckled.
They bullshitted some more, while he finished up. Then he and Tripp headed home to have dinner.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Tripp
IT WAS Saturday, June 8th, the day of Seamus and Mitch’s wedding. Tripp wore a light gray suit with a purple bow tie, while Jayme wore a darker gray suit with a light blue vest; and a darker blue paisley tie that he and Ian had to wear as Seamus’ best men. He sat on Seamus’ side with Jayme’s family. It was a fairly large wedding, with at least a hundred to a hundred and fifty people. He and Jayme were only inviting about fifty people to their wedding, so it was going to be significantly smaller.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of Jayme as he stood up there while his brother got married. Jayme looked happy, and maybe a little emotional. He also looked sexy as fuck in that suit. Tripp was sitting next to a couple of Jayme’s cousins.
A male cousin on the other side of the girl he was sitting next to, leaned forward and tapped his knee. He looked over at him, and cocked an eyebrow in question.
“Who are you again?” the guy whispered.
“Jayme’s fiancé,” he replied quietly, and motioned toward where Jayme stood.
“I thought Jayme was married to a woman?”
“They divorced almost a year ago.” He frowned.
“Damn, where the hell have I been?”
He snorted.
“I guess welcome to the family then.” The guy smiled.
He smirked. “Thanks.”
The ceremony was fairly quick, which is what he wanted for his and Jayme’s ceremony too. Straight to the point. As Jayme followed the happy couple up the aisle, he caught his eye; and sent him a wink. His heart
fluttered. He shook his head at himself. No matter how long they were together, Jayme was always going to do that to him; he could feel it.
Since they took pictures before hand, the couple and their wedding party could enjoy their cocktail hour before the reception. He took mental notes about things he liked, and didn’t like about the wedding. He noted things that he might want to incorporate into his wedding.
He still couldn’t believe he was getting married. He knew that one day he would. When he first met Jayme, he never would have thought that they’d get together and fall in love. It was a pleasant surprise that it worked out that way.
Tripp had gone to the bathroom before heading into the cocktail hour. He stood in the doorway to the enclosed sunroom that it was in and looked around for his man. He spotted him talking with some people he was guessing were family members. He couldn’t help but check Jayme out. He had one hand in his pocket, while the other held a beer bottle. Damn, he looked fine in that three-piece suit. His auburn hair was cut short in a military fade, but he’d kept some scruff on his face.
Jayme must have felt him staring because he turned his head, his green eyes landing right on Tripp. A slow smile crept across Jayme’s handsome face. He tilted his head, beckoning Tripp to him. He walked across the room and came to a stop next to him. Jayme slipped his hand along Tripp’s lower back under his suit jacket, leaned in and gave Tripp a peck on the lips.
“Hey, Babe,” Jayme murmured.
“Hi.”
“Tripp, this is my aunt, Maggie, and my uncle, Hugh. Guys, this is my fiancé, Tripp.”
Maggie and Hugh shook his hand, and said hello. Hugh’s handshake was more like a brush of fingers, as if he didn’t even want to touch Tripp.
“I’m surprised you’re getting married this soon after...ya know...getting divorced from Mallory,” Maggie said.
Jayme shrugged. “Love doesn’t have a time frame. We knew it was the right time for us.”
“That’s great,” Maggie replied, although he could tell she thought otherwise.
“Jayme, I’m going to grab some appetizers before they’re all gone,” he said. He also wanted to get away from Hugh, who was giving off a very homophobic vibe. The look of disgust on his face said it all.
“I’ll come with you.” Jayme turned to his aunt and uncle, and said he’d talk to them later. To which they just nodded, before immediately turning and walking away as they whispered to each other.
Jayme shook his head, as he followed him over to the tables with all the appetizers.
“I don’t know what they’re doing here if they don’t like gay people,” Jayme muttered.
“Oh good, you caught that too. I thought it was just me.” he shoved a stuffed mushroom in his mouth and moaned. “Oh man, that’s good.”
“Keep moaning like that, and I’ll have to find a place to sneak you away.”
He looked over to see Jayme staring at him, his eyes heavy with lust. He grinned.
“You mean like this?” he asked, and ate another mushroom and moaned; making sure his face looked like he was in ecstasy.
Jayme growled.
“You two need to get a room.” Seamus laughed as he stopped next to them.
“Hey! Mr. Married Man!” he exclaimed and gave Seamus a hug.
“This is gonna be you soon.” Seamus chuckled and clapped him on the back.
“Can’t wait,” he said, looking at Jayme.
Jayme smiled.
“Are you two ready to dance? Wait until you hear my playlist, it’s amazing,” Seamus said, excitedly. “We’re gonna have so much fun.”
“Oh lord,” Jayme muttered, and downed the rest of his beer. “I need to get drunk for this.”
“I forgot, Debbie Downer over here doesn’t dance.” Seamus scoffed, hiking his thumb at Jayme.
“I’ll have you know that I have been dancing whenever we go to Rain. I might need a few beers, but I’ll dance.”
Seamus looked impressed. “Well then, I look forward to seeing your moves.”
“I wouldn’t go as far as to say there are moves, but I can sway,” Jayme said.
Seamus barked out a laugh, and Tripp chuckled.
“He’s like a drunk pole that I just dance around,” he said.
Seamus rolled his eyes and shook his head. “As long as you have fun tonight, that’s all I care about.”
“We will.” He promised.
“And no sneaking off to fuck somewhere. I will hunt you down and expose you bastards.” Seamus warned, and pointed at both of them. “If I don’t get to sneak off and have sex, neither do you.”
Tripp and Jayme exchanged a glance, they had totally planned on sneaking away; guess that was out of the question now.
“Now, I’m gonna go chat with some of my friends. I expect you both to have a good time.”
Seamus blew them a kiss as he walked off, making Tripp smirk; and Jayme shake his head.
~~~
Jayme
Jayme felt good. He was drunk, and totally enjoying himself as he danced with Tripp. Tripp seemed to be having a ton of fun too. Jana joined them a few times, making herself a Jayme and Tripp sandwich. Both he and Tripp had lost their suit jackets and ties and had rolled their sleeves up to their elbows.
He excused himself to go piss for the millionth time. On his way back, he made a pit stop at the bar. While he waited for his beer, he overheard his Uncle Hugh; who was standing a couple feet away, talking with another one of his uncles.
“Can you believe this shit? Mary and Callen have to be beside themselves. They have not one, but two faggot sons. They act like they don’t care, but I’m sure they do. Those boys are a disgrace to the family...”
He pushed away from the bar, anger making his whole body feel hot; or that could just be the alcohol. Who the fuck did this guy think he was spewing his hate at Seamus’ wedding? He was on his uncle a second later, gripping him up by the front of his shirt.
“Who the fuck are you calling a faggot?” he barked, drawing the attention of people standing nearby.
Hugh’s eyes widened and his mouth moved, but nothing came out. The next thing Jayme knew, Tripp was in front of him; putting himself between Jayme and his uncle, forcing him to let go of his shirt. He fought against Tripp, wanting to get his hands back on his uncle.
“I might be gay, but I can still kick your fucking ass,” he yelled over Tripp's shoulder.
Tripp walked him backwards, until they were practically out of the room. “Come on, let’s take a walk.”
“I don’t wanna take a walk, I wanna beat the shit out of him,” he argued, but let Tripp turn him around; and walk him out the front door.
“I know, Love. But you don’t want to be one of those trashy people who beats up their uncle at their brother’s wedding, do you?”
He sighed. “I guess not.”
They found a bench in the courtyard and sat down. He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his chin to his palms. Tripp rubbed circles around his back.
“He said that we were a disgrace to the family. Said my parents must be beside themselves.”
“Mmm hmm.”
He turned his head and looked at Tripp. “You act like it doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t.”
“What the fuck?”
“Why does it matter what he says? You know that’s not true. You know your parents love you for who you are, and don’t care who you love; as long as you’re happy. Fuck him, and his bigotry. He doesn’t matter.”
Jayme searched Tripp’s gaze, knowing that he was right. Tripp continued to rub circles around his back, and he sighed.
“It still hurts though,” he said quietly.
“Yeah. This may be the first time you’ve had someone call you a faggot but won’t be the last. You gotta learn to let it roll off of your shoulders. It’s just a word.”
“Have you been called faggot a lot?” he asked, eyebrows raised.
Tripp laughed bitterly. “Are you kidding? I’ve
been out since I was sixteen, faggot was an everyday occurrence for me when I was in high school.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I know you didn’t.”
Tripp slid his arm around his shoulders, and tugged him close. He laid his head on Tripp's shoulder.
“It’s worse when it comes from your own family,” Tripp murmured.
“Yeah.”
“He’s not getting an invite to our wedding.”
He straightened up. “Fuck no.”
“Is everything all right out here?” Seamus asked as he walked up on their left.
“Yeah, everything is fine, Jayme needed a breather,” Tripp said.
“I heard something about Jayme gripping up Uncle Hugh?” Seamus asked, and crossed his arms over his chest; eyebrow cocked in challenge.
“Yeah, I did--“
“What the fuck, Jayme?” Seamus squawked, throwing his arms up.
“If you’ll let me finish,” he gritted out.
Seamus huffed, and motioned for him to continue.
“He called us faggot’s, and said we were a disgrace to the family.”
“At my wedding?” he hissed. Seamus’ fists balled at his sides, and he looked downright furious. “How dare he!”
Seamus turned on his heel and stormed back into the building. Jayme and Tripp looked at each other, then scrambled off the bench; and ran back inside to follow Seamus. It was one thing for Jayme to get in his uncle’s face, he didn’t need the groom doing it.
As they made it back into the main ballroom where the reception was still raging on, they saw Seamus talking animatedly to Mitch over by the bar. He watched as Mitch’s face changed from pleasantly drunk, to livid in a matter of seconds.
Tripp started for the couple, and he followed. “Guys, why don’t you let me take care of this? Y’all are too emotionally involved and might do something you’ll regret. I’ll kindly ask him to leave per your request. Sound good?” Tripp said when he stopped next to them.
Seamus and Mitch looked at each other before turning to Tripp and nodding. “Yeah, okay,” Seamus agreed.
“Great. Y’all stay here, and if I need any help; I’ll call,” Tripp said.
He watched Tripp go in search of Uncle Hugh.
