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Chapter 1 ~ Xander

The blaring of the alarm clock wakes me up and I roll over, slamming my hand down on the snooze button. Pushing my chocolate hair back out of my face, I grumble, pulling the blanket back over my head. Six-thirty is too fucking early to be up. Just as I’m sliding back down into a delectable dream of hard bodied, oiled up sailors, my covers are pulled off me.

“Xander! C’mon, you lazy sack of bones! Get up already. We got a two-hour drive to get home!”

“Couldn’t we have just flown? It would have been so much nicer…” I groan, sitting up and scratching my ribs, pulling the sheet across my semi-hard cock. “Could ya gimme a few minutes to at least take a shower?”

Emma laughs. “Yeah, yeah, go rub one out. I’ll be fastening the rest of the stuff to the top of the truck.” She tosses her long black and blonde hair over her shoulder before walking out of my room. I love that little spitfire, but she really needs to learn personal space. I hop in the shower, take care of business, and toss on a pair of black cargos, Adidas sandals, and a beater. Gelling up my hair, I’m grabbing my Oakley’s, my keys, and scanning the hotel suite for the last time before I’m out the door. This weekend had been a total bust. At least for me. Gay and single in the Hamptons was apparently not the way to go this season. Sure, the parties were raging and the meat market was full, but I’m not feeling like Grinder type hookups anymore. I’m twenty-five and it’s already getting old. I sigh, getting into the driver’s seat of my cherry red Jeep Cherokee LTD.

“What’s the matter, honey bunch?” Emma asks, pulling a fleece blanket up to her chin. Bitch thinks she’s gonna sleep all the way back to our apartment, she’s got another thing coming.

I look her over. “Ah, hell no, wake the fuck up, little girl… You wanna beat the traffic home, you best be up and awake to keep me entertained to drive this shit drive!” I pull the blanket from her and toss it into the back seat with a huff.

“Bitch!” she whines. “I’m hungover.”

“And I’m not? I was at that party too, just didn’t get it on in the backroom with a Latin Lothario like some people.”

She giggles as I pull away, heading toward the interstate and the first Dunkin Donuts we can find.

“Whatever happened to the guy you spotted in the artisan’s tents?”

“Which guy?” I ask as we pull up to the Dunkin’ drive thru. “There were a lot of hot men working out there.”

“The guy running the knife shop, the one with all the tattoos and piercings?”

“Oh?” I thought back to the tall drink of fire water we spied a few times while walking the shops. He was gorgeous, the way the fire framed his muscles as he worked on the forge, creating knives and teaching others how to make blades of their own. He had the body of Adonis and the piercing green eyes of a jungle cat. “I saw him at the white party with a bunch of chicks. So…”

“Sorry, baby.” She pats my arm. “That sucks… I really wish you’d had a better weekend. I mean it would have bee- Aghh- Look out!”

SMASH!

I pick up my head and we’re in the divider, the coffee is everywhere, and the airbags are deployed. Fuck, we’ve been slammed into, all because I wasn’t paying attention! I look over at Emma, she seems to be okay.

“Ems, you alright?” I ask urgently. My teeth are a little rattled, but I’m otherwise in one piece.

“I’m okay, but I think the truck is trashed.” She pops her seat back and undoes her seatbelt, getting out of the truck. I follow her lead.

Fuck, the front end is all jacked up, the tire twisted out and the grill mangled. “We got lucky. Where’s the thing that hit us?”

Emma points to a huge moose still twitching some thirty feet away. I feel sorry for the thing. I thought we’d been hit by a car, but a 1200-pound animal will do the trick too. I pull out my phone and call 911.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2 ~ Emma

 

We’re sitting on the edge of the road waiting for the tow truck. The cop offered to stay, but Xander said it wasn’t needed. EMS gave us the all clear and the New York Department of Fishing, Game, and Wildlife took care of the dying moose. Just shot it right there and loaded it into the truck like it was an everyday thing. It was horrible! After that, I was a mess. Xander has been holding onto me like I’m a little kid. I’m thankful for him. It’s too bad he’s gay because he’s the greatest guy I’ve ever known and I love him completely.

“The truck is here,” Xander says, stroking my hair. I look up and sure enough, there’s the bright green and yellow graffiti looking tow truck inching its way toward us. It pulls right up to the back of our truck and a tall guy hops out with a New York Yankees hat on and a black mechanics jumpsuit.

“You Xander Gatlin?” he asks with a husky voice that makes my panties instantly wet. My God, what is it with me and a man who has to get dirty for a living? Xander stands up and nods. Seems he is as enthralled as I am, as he didn’t speak right away.

“Okay, and you’re going back to Manhattan? You know it’s like two-hundred for this tow, right, plus whatever its gonna be for the fix?”

“Whatever it takes, but you do take credit cards, right?” Xander asks timidly.

The guy nods. “With two forms of I.D. and the promise of your first born.” He smiles, hooking up the rig.

“You got here really fast,” I say, looking him over. He seems familiar, but I can’t quite place him.

“I was in the area. Name’s Asher, O’Grady, but most people just call me Ash.” He takes off his gloves and extends his hand.

“Emma, “O’Grady like on the truck?” I ask, spying the name of the company on the wrecker.

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiles, turning his attention to Xander. “I own the garage. Listen, will you need a ride back into the city or did you arrange an Uber or something?”

“Um, well…” Xander says pulling his hand back and pushing his hair away from his face nervously.

“It’s cool, I can fit you in the front of my truck. How far are you two going? My shop is in Little Italy, off Grand Street.”

“Um, we’re over in Chelsea, just off 9th Ave actually.”

“Then we’re neighbors sorta… That’s cool. I’ll get this dropped and if you want, I can have one of the guys bring you or I’ll drop you myself, after.”

“Thank you.” Xander smiles sheepishly as Ash nods, going back to work. This guy is delectable and owns his own business? Momma is on the prowl, that is for sure.

I tap Xander and smile with a nod and he laughs quietly. “I know, he’s hot,” he whispers.

“Right? So hot I’m gonna try and score his number before he finishes the truck,” I say, voice low.

“I would, but these grease monkeys are never…” He stops as Ash comes back around the truck.

“All set, you two, if you wanna get in the truck, we can get moving.” He takes off his cap and we can see he’s got thick gages in his lower lobes and his eyebrow is also pierced. His beard is trimmed neatly and dark blonde with reddish highlights and his head is shaved around the bottom, but the top is ponytail long. As he looks at us with bright green eyes, I hear Xander gasp.

“What’s up, honey bunch?” I ask him as Ash lifts an eyebrow.

“Sorry, this may seem like a stupid question, but you don’t happen to also run a small stand, making knives, on the weekends in the Hamptons, do you?”

Ash laughs, tossing his head back. “Wow, I do actually, but how?”

“We saw you working this weekend.”

“Small world,” he answers, looking Xander and me up and down suddenly, his smile wide. “Well, c’mon, we got a ride ahead of us.”

Well isn’t this just a serendipitous situation?

 

***

 

We pull up to Ash’s garage and it’s a full-service place: oil changes, detailing, brakes, body work, the whole shebang. Cars are sitting outside and inside just like a Jiffy Lube, only everything is painted some shade of green. Weird, considering this is like Little Italy and he’s definitely not an Italian. I let out a little chuckle as I hop out of the truck and he eyes me.

“Sorry, but it’s a lot of green.”

“Yeah, it makes the place stand out. Besides, I’m an Irish boy, well mostly, Momma’s Italian, so I got roots here too.” He smirks, leading us into the office. “The guys will get your truck on the lift and see what’s what. Should take like an hour to get you a rough estimate.”

“Thanks,” Xander says, looking around. His eyes zero in on the vending machine and he starts fishing through his pockets.

“You alright?” I ask.

“My sugar’s dropping. I need to eat.”

“The machine’s only taking change right now.” Ash looks at his watch and I notice it’s a Rolex. An older model and gold, but a Rolex just the same.

“Can you hold out for like fifteen minutes?”

“Probably, why?”

Ash laughs, embarrassed. “My mom, she usually brings lunch from the deli for us about now. Brings enough to feed a small army. You’re welcome to join us.”

“I- well-”

I nudge Xander. “Of course, thank you.” I smile up at him. He’s gotta be six-three to my five-four. Admittedly, too tall for me but perfect for Xander, who’s about six foot. I can’t go after this guy now that I know Xander wants him, it’s against the friend code, but I can see if there’s some way to hook them up. He’s really friendly and my gaydar says it’s worth a shot.

Xander & Asher

Manhattanites Bk 1

Copyright ©2017 Hayes

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