Desire’s Casualty

Home : Stories by Catw00man : RCR 2008 AU : Path of Thorns - Desire’s Casualty

Summary: Clint’s going to see Dale and Kevin doesn’t approve...at all.

AUTHOR: Catw00man
EMAIL: catw00man@cryptoffic.com
RATING: R
SERIES: Path of Thorns
CHARACTERS: Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, Kevin POV
PROMPT: Taming the Muse #85 (#60 for me) - Topaz
COMPLETED: March 8, 2008
WORDS: 1,454
DISCLAIMER: I own NOTHING and am affiliated with NO ONE mentioned here. Not the drivers, not the teams, no one. This is all fiction and fun. In other words...NOT REAL, NOT REAL, NOT REAL. ;-)
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I figured with a day off in Vegas, why wouldn’t the boys stay at a casino? My world, my rules. ;)
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Las Vegas Preseason Testing - Monte Carlo Hotel: January 29, 2008

“What do you mean you’re ‘not coming?’  D, it’s Vegas…you always….  Shouldn’t she be able to fend for herself by now?  I mean it’s bad enough she’s staying--”

Pull the cell from my ear when she starts screaming and I still can’t believe this.  I’m in Vegas, with an extra day off…alone!  I’m never supposed to be alone here.  Why the fuck can’t she just let Athena take care of herself?  Why is this all my fault and why the hell isn’t my wife here to enjoy the place we got married?

“Fine, fine, go shopping with the Goddess.  See if I fucking care.”  Snap the phone closed and toss it across the bed. What the fuck is wrong with her?  She always comes to Vegas with me, if not for the testing for the break in between.  This is our place, where we snuck off from the world and joined our lives together just as the shit storm of 2001 was getting started.  I knew that stepping into Earnhardt’s shadow would be fucking insane so I did the one thing that made the slightest bit of sense.  I married DeLana.  And now she doesn’t even fucking care.

God damn Earnhardt.  This is his fault.  His and Clint’s.  D hasn’t been the same with me since that stupid fucking Christmas party and I’m getting sick of it.  Ever since Athena started staying with us I feel like she’s slipping away.  That’s why I was looking forward to coming out here and spending some time with her…but that’s a little hard to do when she isn’t even here!
 
Fucking DeLana.  She knows how much I love it out here, how much I love to be with her here.  God I even got the same suite we had last year.  Grab my jacket off the chair I tossed it on earlier and look around the room.  I don’t think there’s a single surface we didn’t “christen” in some way last year.  We even had Clint and Athena banging on the wall around 3am for us to shut up…not that we did.  And now here I am, in our suite, all alone.

Fuck this shit.  If my night has to be ruined I’m gonna make sure someone else’s is too.  Snatch my phone off the bed like the good little whipped boy I am and shove it in my pocket as I head across the suite to the adjoining door.  I’d booked both rooms before Shifty lost his fucking mind and dumped the Goddess for fucking Earnhardt.  I’d had visions of opening the suite door for other reasons this trip but obviously that’s not happening.  Not when he’s Junior’s bitch.

Unlock and open the door on my side of the suite and then bang on his door, hard.  “Open up Shifty, I know you’re in there.”  Bang hard on the door again.  “Open the damn door and entertain me, Kansas boy.”  Continue to bang a few more times until I hear him slide the lock on his side.  Take a half step back until he opens the door and then push my way through.

“Kev, what’re you doing?” he asks as he follows me across the room and I can tell he’s already flustered by the way he fiddles with his ear.  He used to always get like this during interviews, but it’s been a long time since he’s been this way with me.  “Shouldn’t you be with--.”

“D?”  Drop down on his bed and look him over, taking in the pressed, button down shirt, the way he’s spent time spiking his hair up, the faint scent of cologne….  The bastard’s going out and I know exactly who with.  Fucker.  Cock my head back and raise an eyebrow at him.  “You really are the clueless wonder aren’t you?  I’m here all on my own because D is back home looking after your forgotten Goddess.”

“Athena?”  He runs his hand along the shell of his ear once more and he genuinely looks confused.  Has he completely lost his mind?  “Why would she even be there?  Why would DeLana need to…?”  It’s official.  Junior has completely fucked the boy’s brains out.

“Where do you think she went when you tossed her out to be Earnhardt’s booty call?  Back to Kansas?”  He frowns and that’s when I know he really hasn’t thought about her at all.  Dammit Shifty, what happened to you?  “She gave up her life to follow you, you ass.  You think she just gave up her home and her friends again to run home and out of your way?” 

Push off the bed as he stammers for words and I can’t believe this is the same guy I spent so much time with the last few years.  Can Earnhardt’s cock really be that magnificent that he loses his ever loving mind?  Narrow my eyes and stalk towards him.  “She’s been staying with us, you idiot, while you’ve been playing the part of Earnhardt’s latest bitch.”

“I’m not his bitch!” he snaps and pushes me backwards before turning away.  Tilt my head and just watch him as he paces in a small circle.  “It’s not like that, Kev.  I need to do this.  I want to.  Now I’m sorry DeLana didn’t fly out but I need to go--”

“For what? A date?”  Cross my arms and shake my head at him.  “You think he’s going to take you dining and dancing?  That he’s going to spend time with you?”  Snort at him and take a step back to sit on the edge of the bed, leaning back on my hands.  “You’re just a booty call Clint.  That’s all you’ll ever be to him.  What you should do is go home and--”

“Call Athena?”  He shakes his head and smoothes his hands over his shirt as he glances at the mirror.  “It’s beyond all that, Kev.  She’d never want me now and I…I don’t know that I could go back.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Shifty.  Look, just forget about him.  We can order up some beer and watch movies or something.”  He’s agitated and I know he’s confused.  This isn’t like him at all.  I swear I could kill Earnhardt for this, for fucking up all our lives.  “Why don’t you just sit down and we can talk or something?  So tell me…what was your first car?”  Grin up at him and tease, “I bet it was a Gremlin or a Mercury Topaz or something…”

“You know damn well she was a Concorde, Kev, and I’m sorry I can’t stay and entertain you tonight.”  He moves over to the large mirror over the dresser to start primping again and I’ve had enough.  I’ve had more than enough of this shit.

“Why not?  Have an appointment to be Junior’s bitch boy?” Push off the bed and start towards him when he spins around sharply and snaps at me.

“What’s wrong, Harvick?  Jealous?”  Freeze in my tracks and blink in surprise at his uncharacteristic outburst.  “You’re just pissed I got to him first. What? Are you not enough on your own to keep DeLana happy anym--”

Lunge forward and grab him by the shirt, jerking him close as I growl at him.  “Watch your mouth, Bowyer.  At least I still have someone who loves me and am not just another fucktoy.”  Take a step back when he shoves me hard and narrow my eyes at him.

“I’m not anyone’s damn toy,” he snaps and I just cross my arms and tilt my head as I give him an “oh really?” look.  “I’m not.”

“Who are you trying to convince, Clint?”

“No one,” he responds as he smoothes his shirt and tries to move past me for the door.  I step to block him for a moment, trying to find the friend I used to know in the stubborn person in front of me, but he’s nowhere to be seen.  “I have to go.  Junior’s waiting.”

Move to the side when he puts his hand on my shoulder and watch him with disgust.  There’s a dozen different acidic remarks on my tongue but I know not a one of them would make a difference.  He’s leaving.  He’s going back to Earnhardt to be lead on until Dale gets tired of him and right now I hate them both for it.  But I’ll forgive Clint.

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Catw00man - catw00man@cryptoffic.com