To read about the first book in the series, click here. They are stand-alones and do not have to be read together.
Blurb:
Stephen has spent years being someone he isn’t, out of
guilt and a desperate need for acceptance. Getting away from everything and
everyone seems like the solution until he meets someone who makes him forget
about his own problems. Gregory lives with burns and scars from a car accident,
just like Stephen’s twin brother, and he hides away in the woods to protect
himself. Stephen only wants to be his friend, but the more time they spend
together, the more he longs to explore the feelings this damaged man inspires.
Excerpt:
Stephen spotted
Gregory walking through the woods and hurried to catch up with him. He hadn’t
seen him at all the day before and wanted to invite him to dinner. He’d brought
way more food than he would need, and he had two steaks thawing in the fridge.
“Hey, Gregory?”
Stephen called.
Gregory looked up
and paused. He waved and began walking over. “Hi,” he said. “Are you enjoying
your stay?”
Stephen nodded.
“Yeah. I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me. I’ve got a couple
of steaks thawing. I’m here to get away from stuff, but I’m used to being
around people and all. The quiet’s great, but…” He trailed off, pressing his
lips together. “Rambling again.”
“No, you’re fine.”
Gregory shifted his weight. “Sure. I’d love to. Can I bring anything?”
“Nah, just you.
I’ll do some potatoes and green beans as well.”
“That sounds
good.”
Stephen noticed
that Gregory didn’t maintain eye contact long. “It’s nice out today. Seems odd
snow was predicted. I saw a few flakes the day I got here, but it didn’t seem
to stick at all.”
Gregory looked up
at the clouds. “The sun’s warming everything up, but once it goes down, I think
the temp will drop pretty rapidly.” He shrugged. “I love the cold. Always
have.”
“It was nice and
brisk this morning. The trees seem to keep the wind from biting too much.” We’re talking about the weather! This is
ridiculous. You can do better than this. He cleared his throat. “You
headin’ down to the pond?”
“Yeah. There was a
fox cub there yesterday. It was hurt, but I couldn’t get it to come out of the
log it had climbed into. If the mother didn’t come for it, I’m gonna call
animal services.”
“Aw, poor thing.
You want some help?”
Gregory’s eyebrows
went up. “Would you mind? That’d be great.”
“Not at all.”
They walked down,
and Gregory approached a big log. He looked inside, but then he shook his head.
“It’s gone.” He scanned the area. “Hopefully it made it to safety.”
“Is there lots of
wildlife roaming around in the winter? I saw a rabbit the day I got here.”
“Yeah, there are
lots of rabbits. They don’t hibernate. The foxes don’t either. They all just
stay close to home and try to conserve energy. When it snows excessively, I
spread some feed a local vet recommended.”
“That’s nice,”
Stephen said, smiling. “You’re such a sweet guy.”
Gregory stared a
moment, and Stephen bit his lower lip. “I can explain why I said that.”
Gregory shook his
head. “I’m not going to object to being called sweet.”
“No, it’s just,
well, my brother … we’ve had our problems. He really sort of went to the dark
side, so to speak, after his accident.”
“You were assuming
I’d be more prickly?”
“Maybe.”
Shoving his hands
in his pockets, Gregory shrugged. “I don’t blame you. I was a bit defensive
when we met. I’m sensitive at times, but I don’t take it out on others. My dad
did that. I promised myself I never would.”
“What did he do?”
Then he realized what he’d asked. “Whoa, sorry. That’s so nosy. You don’t have
to tell me.”
“It’s no big
secret to me. He worked in construction, and he lost a leg. He’d dropped out of
school real young, so he had nothing to fall back on. He became very bitter.
Drank himself to death. He was good man, but he handled his problems poorly.
Very poorly.”
“Oh my god, I’m so
sorry.” Stephen moved closer. “Really I am.”
Gregory looked
into his eyes a few seconds, and Stephen again noted how bright they were.
“Thanks.” The side of his mouth lifted, just a little. “At least you don’t dump
sad stories on people. Rambling’s better any day.”
“It’s fine. Don’t
worry about it.”
Gregory sat down
on the log. “So, how old was your brother when all this happened?”
“We’d just turned
seventeen. Senior year of high school. He finished up through some homeschool
program. Had lots of surgeries. Then buried himself in first college and then
work.” Stephen took a deep breath and sat down before letting it out slowly. Sound familiar? He tried to ignore the
voice nagging him in his head. “Our mom died in the accident. It fucked us all
up.”
“Really? That’s awful.”
Stephen almost
spilled his guts about how his mistakes had caused the accident, but he held
his tongue. Dominic no longer blamed him, but he still blamed himself. He liked
this guy a lot and didn’t want to air all of his dirty laundry just yet. He paused,
mulling over his realization. It had been a really long time since he’d liked
someone right off the bat, and he wondered for a moment. You’ve spent an awful lot of time thinking about this guy’s eyes the
last two days. He shook himself and said, “Yeah. But it was a long time
ago.”
“My accident was
four years ago. I woke up in the hospital, and the first thing I saw was a pile
of suitcases. My boyfriend had dropped them off. We’d just moved in together,
but he changed his mind once he saw me. So I moved back here. It’s easier to
have me close anyway, so—”
“What a shit! He
just kicked you out? Didn’t even break up with you? Or offer to help? He
could’ve broken things off but still been a decent enough fucking person to try
to help you through something like this.” He shook his head, fuming. “God damn
it, I hate people. This is why I’m single and fucking alone and don’t do
anything but work. Why try to be good with people? Hardly anyone’s worth it!”
Gregory touched
his hand. “Hey, don’t say that. Lots of people are worth it.”
The warm hand
rubbing his really got Stephen’s attention. He placed his other one on top of
it. “That was so rude. I’m sorry.”
Gregory gave him a
full smile this time. “Don’t be sorry. It was kind of…” He trailed off this
time, pulling his hand away.
“Kind of what?”
Gregory looked
down at the ground. “I was gonna say, uh … sexy.”
“Can’t say anyone
has ever called one of my outbursts sexy.”
Gregory slowly
turned his gaze back up. “I’m assuming you’re straight, though? I hate it when
people assume, but…” He shrugged again.
Stephen opened his
mouth, but then he closed it.
“Is the question
hard?” Gregory blinked at him.
“I’m thinking.”
Laughing, Gregory
asked, “Why do you need to think?”
Stephen swallowed.
“Because you have really nice eyes, and I was disappointed I didn’t see you
yesterday.”
“You were?”
Stephen nodded.
“I stayed in
yesterday. Felt like I’d been kind of rude to you.”
“You weren’t. I
was staring, and I know how people can be.” He dug out his cell phone. “I know
I was kind of awkward the day I got here, but really, here’s a picture of my
brother Dominic.” He found the photo and showed it to Gregory.
Gregory took the
phone and studied the picture of Dominic and Sophia. “The car exploded. Right?”
“Yeah. He was
trying to save our mom.”
“You’re right. Our
scars are really similar. The flames … they kind of blew right across my face
as they exploded out.” He handed the phone back. “He’s still pretty hot,
though, for an old guy.”
Stephen caught a
light twinkle in Gregory’s eyes. He felt grateful the guy was trying to lighten
the mood. “Old, huh? How old are you?”
Gregory linked his
hands across his knees. “Thirty-four.”
“That’s nine
years. It’s nothing.”
After a long
pause, Gregory said, “You think my eyes are nice, huh?”
Stephen wiped his
sweaty palms on his jeans. “Yeah.”
“But now you’re
getting freaked out because you told me that.”
“No, no, not at
all.”
Gregory shook his
head. “It’s okay. If you’re gonna be curious, you at least want to do it with a
cute little twink.” He stood up. “I need to go check in with the office. But
what time for dinner?”
Stephen felt lost.
How could Gregory segue so casually? He didn’t know what to say or do. “About
six, I guess.” He stood up as well. “I feel like I’ve offended you. I like you.
A lot.”
“I like you, too.”
“But yeah, I’m not
gay.”
Gregory studied
him a moment and nodded. “I get it. Liking my eyes doesn’t make you gay any
more than me thinking a girl is pretty makes me straight. Don’t worry about
it.” He walked off, waving over his shoulder. “See ya at six.”
“Yeah. See ya.”
Under his breath, he said, “Don’t worry about it? You don’t know me that well
yet.” He sank back down to the log, feeling even more lost, especially since
now he found himself thinking about that genuine smile Gregory had given him a
few moments ago. Before he’d stuck his foot in his mouth yet again. It had made
his eyes even more striking, and now Stephen really couldn’t stop thinking
about them.
