Lovable Grumps

Brooks - I’ve been coming to this little café every weekday for the past month, and everyday the same guy, Noah, takes my order. He always flirts with me, talks to me, and makes me feel like a million bucks. The problem? He’s in his mid-twenties, which is a baby compared to my 45 years. The first time he winked at and flirted with me, I thought he was making fun of me. I may have cussed him out. Okay, I did. But just a little. But, to my surprise, he just laughed and told me I was cute when I was grumpy. I should have run away and never came back to this place. But I can’t stay away. As if the age gap between us isn’t reason enough to keep my distance, we are also complete opposites.

Noah is young and free-spirited, kind and funny. I’m an asshole. Our looks couldn’t be more different either. Noah is tall and thin with dirty-blond hair and blue eyes. He smiles so big his cheeks dimple up, and he lights up the room. And then there’s me. I’m gray-haired, gray-eyed, thickset, and I have crows feet and a bad back. When Noah basically forces me into a date, he flips my entire world upside down. But things can’t be that easy; I’ve got secrets, physical and emotional pain, and enough baggage to fill an airplane. I’ve got to keep my distance because this could never work. Noah - I’m becoming obsessed with a hunky older man. For a month now I’ve been flirting and dropping hints that I like him. Though we talk often, he always shrugs off my advances.

With his sexy gray hair and eyes and his cranky attitude, he’s like my own personal little storm cloud. Sure he’s grumpy, but I don’t miss the way his lips twitch when I tease him, or his eyes sparkle when I tell him he’s handsome. Each day I pull a little bit of information out about himself, but I’m hungry for more. I know there’s a big, beautiful personality behind his tough exterior, and I want to be the one who releases it.

*This M/M May-December romance is insta-love and low angst.