Mariah the Christmas Moose

By Andrew Grey

Kyle’s mother thinks he’s crazy. He’s just moved from Florida to Anchorage, Alaska for an elementary school teaching job. In December. She may not be far off base. Spooked by a “monster” outside his new house, Kyle calls for the police, only to discover that his attacker is a moose named Mariah. More visits from the moose yield more visits from the same sexy policeman, and the two men explore ways to stay warm in the frozen North.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
• Release date: Dec 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781615817658

Andrew Grey

Andrew Grey is the author of more than one hundred works of Contemporary Gay Romantic fiction. After twenty-seven years in corporate America, he has now settled down in Central Pennsylvania with his husband of more than twenty-five years, Dominic, and his laptop. An interesting ménage. Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He is a recipient of the RWA Centennial Award, has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and now writes full-time. Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing). He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Email: [e-mail] Website: www.andrewgreybooks.com

Book preview

Mariah the Christmas Moose

KYLE placed his feet on the floor, immediately pulling them back as a shiver ran through his slender frame. Cold. Why did everything have to be so cold all the time? The only time he felt warm was when he was in bed. Curling back beneath the covers, he tried to think of what on earth could have woken him up at—he checked the clock—five thirty in the morning. Then he heard the buzzing again and reached his hand from under the covers, grabbing his phone before pulling his hand back beneath the blankets. Hello, Mom, Kyle sighed, blinking his eyes. Do you know what time it is? he asked groggily as his legs started to feel warm again.

Of course, honey, she responded brightly, obviously checking the clock as she dragged out her words to fill any possible empty space. It’s ten thirty.

Mom. Kyle felt his head throb once. Alaska is five hours behind Florida; that means it’s five thirty here. He told her this every time she called. For the first week, she’d asked him what time it was when she called. Now she’d just given up and gone back to assuming her time was his time. Is there something you wanted?

No, I just called to talk. I got this new cell phone, and they said I had free long distance, so I thought I’d call, see how you were. More like find out if he’d changed his mind and decided to come back home, Kyle thought in response, but he phrased it in a much less mom-friendly way. She’d asked him no less than five times in the three weeks since he’d taken the job as a teacher in the Anchorage school system. So, is it cold there? she continued, completely oblivious to anything he might have to say. It was eighty degrees yesterday, and I went with your brother and the kids to the beach. We had a lovely day. She went on for a while about his perfect brother, Gregory, and her perfect two grandchildren—how cute they were, what they did, the cutesy questions they asked her. Kyle’s attention snapped back when her tone changed. And do you know what Dommy asked me after we went swimming? She sounded scandalized. He asked me if girls had inside penises.

She whispered the last word, and Kyle completely lost it.

It’s not that funny, his mother replied indignantly.

Mom, you called me at five thirty on a Sunday morning just to tell me that one of my nephews asked you the difference between a whoo-hoos and who-haas—using the euphemisms his mother had used when they were children—and for some reason you don’t think that’s funny? Kyle continued laughing until his gasps moved the covers, letting in a blast of cold air.

If you’re not going to be serious, I’ll hang up, and you can call me later. The line went dead, and Kyle closed his phone and placed it on his nightstand before looking around the room. It was still dark, and he chuckled a few more times before burying his head beneath the covers, trying in vain to go back to sleep.

His family all thought he was completely crazy to leave the family home of Bradenton, Florida for the wild and cold of