GOOD TROUBLE

SYNOPSIS A HOLIDAY MxM ROMANCE (A sequel to A TASTE OF BAD but can be read as a standalone) The one thing Scott is certain; is that he hates the new man in town; the one he is very convinced wants his best friend Zara. Luca gets on his nerves more than anyone ever has. So why is he saying yes when he asks him for a sleep-over? Or what could be the plausible explanation as to why his cheek flush ready whenever they hold a gaze for a second too long? Well, Christmas this year is about to get very interesting in the small, quaint town of Silversprings. CHAPTER ONE: A STRANGER IN TOWN Luca Giovanni. Tall, tattooed and always wearing the same unsmiling gaze. Whether it was to unnerve the people in town or just to remain a mystery, no one knew. So just like more than half the townsfolk, we’d all fall silent whenever he walked nearby. My curiosity of him seemed to peek every time I saw him, which was probably twice a month at most since he arrived in town three months ago just at the start of the month of September. No one knew what job he did or if he had any family. All everyone knew was that, one rainy Friday night, a lone, strange young man arrived into the Graham Mansion, the fanciest house in the whole town. Rumors had it that he bought the house on cash and well, the fancy sleek, Black Lexus L.C did seem to support his acclaimed rich status. Still, he didn’t strike me as someone who would settle in a town like this. “Jesus! f*****g piece of s**t!” The cussing behind me snapped me out of my mental haze and I quickly turned my attention to Zara, my best friend. She was quite the clumsy mess and so it was no surprise she’d dropped a plate again. She only had two and half weeks left here in Silversprings before she joined her family in Canada for a week. They’d moved last year but that had never stopped her from coming by to town every chance she got. This time however, it was different. She was going to India upon her grandmother’s insistence to complete her degree in Biochemistry in a private college owned by her grandparents. Who knew when I’ll see her again? “Zara,” I sighed. “Scott,” Her puppy eyes did not work on me this time. “I told you to stick to the kitchen. I’ll handle the serving, okay? Anna and Tony should be here any minute now. Speaking of which, they are late by ten minutes. I’m going to fire them at this rate,” I complained. “And risk your grandpa being mad at you? You know he loves the twins and they will co-own this place too once you are done with college,” She laughed, grabbing a broom and dust pan from the kitchen before cleaning up the mess she made. I groaned in response, closing my eyes briefly before opening them when I heard the bell at the door jiggle. I looked up to find the twins, a.k.a my cousins, treading in as though they owned the place. Technically, they will own two-thirds of it while the remaining one-third remains as mine. If only I could get enough money to buy them out. But where exactly can a twenty-year-old boy in his sophomore year of college get that amount of money? “Morning Cuz,” Anna began rather annoyingly. “The customers will start coming in. Better get your aprons ready,” I said, tightening mine while walking to the table and performing one last round to make sure everything was in place. A satisfactory smile danced on my lips as I glanced at my wrist watch. “7.15 a.m. Perfect,” With my hands behind me, I fixed my gaze at the door, waiting for the first customer to walk in. I didn’t have to wait for long before San, the towns happy bug, walked in with his fiancée, the distinguished Mayor of Silversprings, Lilian, in tow. “I couldn’t sleep the whole night just dreaming of breakfast,” he began, his face a mirror of a full-blown smile. “Trust me, he is always the most active in the morning,” The mayor added as they sat down right after we exchanged greetings. “Well, the man knows his priorities. The usual?” I questioned, returning the smile. “You know it,” he wiggled his eyebrows. “Coming right up,” As cheesy as it was going to sound, the town’s heartthrob and happy bug, San had found himself irrevocably in love with the staunch, rather quiet and the town’s queen of brains and beauty, Lilian, over their similar love for coffee and Miso Caramel-Apple Danish from our family’s diner. They were the town’s it couple and so it was honestly no surprise why their wedding was the most anticipated in town. They had picked a December wedding, on the twenty eighth day of the month. And I didn’t even have a date to that or at least someone to make me less aware of my very mundane life lacking hugely in the department of romance. Sooner rather than later, the diner was overflowing with the town’s folk and it was only around eleven when it slowed down. Hectic mornings and late nights were my routine now but if I wanted to make something out of myself, then I needed to work twice as harder as the twins. I glanced at the figures from the rather old computer on the cashier desk. They were looking pretty impressive today but not yet at the mark I wanted them to be. Even though I’m younger than my cousins by two months, I’m quite certain I’m way more mature. The doorbell jingled but I did not look up and instead muttered a small welcome while my mind remained engrossed in ways to come up with more money. The good thing about Silversprings, is that it’s a college town, making the cashflow much higher during the school days. But now that everybody was celebrating their Christmas break, the sales a were a bit lower. Luca Giovani, who had never set foot inside the diner, was making his way towards the corner booth, dressed like some villain straight out of a drama set. He sat down, his steely gray eyes sweeping around the almost empty dinner before they rested on me. A cold tremor-certainly from the way he was looking at me-passed through the layers of my skin as I stared back at him. Bracing myself, I make my way over towards him, ready to get his order. “I’m sorry about that. What can I…g-get you?” I had no idea why I stuttered as the last part but I was certainly surprised.