Heart on the Run
Authors: Havan Fellows
Tags: #holiday romance, #anal sex, #manlove, #parkerburg, #gay romance, #mm romance, #gay sex
Charles Darwin Millsworth, Chaz to one and all since infancy, has no wish to live up to the grandeur of his name. Fortunately, his Southern belle mama isn’t at all inclined to push her son into a career that won’t make him happy. She thinks he needs to loosen up and enjoy life. After all, that’s the whole point of being independently wealthy, isn’t it?
Chaz can see her point, but his father died in his forties as did his father before him. As far as Chaz is concerned, he has limited time on this earth to make his dreams come true. And he refuses to leave anyone weeping over a wasted life.
Sprocket Moretti is a simple guy. He loves his job, enjoys college, lives in his beloved childhood home—why worry about the little things when the big stuff looks so good. Unfortunately, one of the little things he tries not to stress over is a broken friendship with a very hot and bewildering sous chef. They were pals, hung out and had fun. But one night they stepped over that invisible line, and the next morning Chaz kicked Sprocket out of his bed and his life.
Now, no matter how much Sprocket tries to charm Chaz, the guy has no desire to return to their pre-sex playful bantering ways. And if Sprocket stays true to his motto, this little thing—Chaz—should be written off and never worried about again.
If Sprocket had known one night of reality-altering orgasms would endanger their easygoing friendship… How do you finish that sentence when all your mind wants is its friend back and all your body wants is another taste?
The Hearts of Parkerburg stories can be read as standalones, each with a HEA...but trust me, you'll want to read about all the sweet happenings in this quaint little town.
Heart on the Run
A Hearts of Parkerburg Story
By
Lee Brazil
&
Havan Fellows
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, small towns, and incidents are completely and absolutely a part of the authors’ creative imaginations. Any resemblance to actual persons living or deceased, businesses, events or locales are entirely coincidental. Perhaps also a little bit fortuitous as well, because if you do find a doppelganger Parkerburg out there somewhere, please let us know, we might consider moving there and enjoying Maple Street ourselves. Think of the good lattes, great food and hunky men.
Editing by: Jae Ashley
Cover Art by: Author Services
Published by: Appleton Publishing Avenue
Copyright
©
November 2015 by Havan Fellows & Lee Brazil
Printed in the United States of America
ISBN# 978-1-941841-36-5
All rights are reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical or otherwise, is forbidden without express written permission of the publisher/author. So please be good, good is fun.
Table of Contents
Dedication
Thank you to our readers. Last year we finally had an open slot in our schedules and wrote the book we’d talked about co-authoring for a while. We faced a lot of excitement and fear in the process – would our readers like our writing voices combined…could our friendship stand up to the heavy demands of writing together…would the book suck?
But our readers confirmed what we secretly believed, our voices sound spectacular together, our friendship is rock solid, and we don’t suck. Well…um…okay, we might—
Yeah, basically we’re saying it’s because of you, our loyal readers, that we decided to walk down Maple Street again. We look forward to many more strolls through Parkerburg with you in the future.
Thank you,
Lee Brazil & Havan Fellows
And now…for your reading enjoyment…
Heart on the Run
Chapter One
Ooh
…
sweetie, look! Cute boy alert.
His mother’s dulcet tones whispered in his ears as clearly as though she stood behind him instead of being safely ensconced some three thousand miles away. He could picture her there, head tilted to the side, one elegantly manicured nail twisted through a golden curl, blue eyes sparkling with delight. He was blushing
—
he could tell from the heat at the back of his neck and the sudden dampness of his palms.
“
I know, Ma,” Chaz whispered, hoping his lips didn’t move. Grimly, he kept his attention focused on the whiteboard and the day’s specials. The cute boy
—
and there was no denying that Sprocket, even with all his tattoos and piercings, was both cute and boyish
—
stood on the other side of the plate glass, making exaggerated faces and wildly gesticulating with both hands laden with coffee cups from the Prudence’s Perks coffee shop on the corner.
He didn’t even need to be able to hear Sprocket to know what all the excitement was about. It was fall. Pumpkin time. Prudence’s specialty of the season was a delicious nutmeg and clove spiced blend that people, including Chaz and his boss Dermot salivated over.
“
Chaz…” Said boss startled Chaz by reaching over his shoulder and snatching the dry-erase marker. “I told you…beet relish and goat cheese crudités. Not goat relish. What the hell is goat relish? Are you insane?”
“
I didn’t…” Blinking in astonishment, Chaz surveyed the board. In his own neat calligraphy, the main reason he was trusted with this task, it clearly said goat relish. “I’m sorry.” Miserably aware of Dermot’s irritability, though that had been much better since Dermot and Xander had finally acknowledged that they were “a thing,” he stepped back. “I was distracted.”
Dermot’s gaze strayed to the window. “I see. Does he think it’s a secret that Prudence’s menu changed yesterday? She always starts the seasonal roasts on the first of October.”
“
I guess.” Chaz refused to look at Sprocket, who was apparently still carrying on outside the window. “I can fix the board,” he offered as Dermot scrawled something illegible on the board and stepped back, tapping his finger on his chin to read it.
Scowling, Dermot flipped the marker at him. “Do it. I don’t know how you manage to write so neatly like that. But anyway…after you get the board done, you can go calm Sprocket down before he lifts off or melts down. Bring me back a coffee and then get started on dicing the beets for the relish.”
Great. Chaz bit his lip and nodded. He got it. He had to pay his dues. Graduating from the Culinary Institute was only part of becoming qualified in the kitchen. The rest…
Well, as Dermot’s sous chef, he’d done a lot of chopping, dicing, and slicing. What he really wanted was to be able to put his own spin on things. Gathering his courage, feeling like Daniel bearding the lion in his den, he took up the familiar argument. “So… Dermot? Can I show you the menu plans I made for lunches?” His heart beat rapidly, and a light-headed sensation made him sway on his feet as he waited, breath held for an answer.