Spending every summer with his grandmother in the south of England isn't Ryan's idea of a good time, and when he finds someone his own age to hang out with, he doesn't much care who that is. Alex might not say much, but company is company when there's nobody else to choose from, and Ryan will simply have to make do. It isn't, after all, like he really needs a friend. But Alex is more than just a kid with a thing for smashing up greenhouses, and Ryan finds himself dragged further and further into a dark, uncertain world of alcohol, bruises, a mother's madness, and a father's anger. Worst of all, Alex is dragging Ryan into a world of lust, attraction, and midnight kisses that Ryan is struggling to keep confined to southern summers. This thing with Alex can't go further than summer -- but Alex, and the shadows that surround him, are not so easily forgotten. Ryan can't forget Alex, but the longer he hangs on, the more he discovers ... not just about Alex, but about himself, his future, and the things that really matter. But eventually, summer must come to an end.

Our Last Summer

“What did you tell them?” Ryan asks, in a very low voice. There are other patients, and nurses coming and going, but he needs to know.


“Rough-housing with you, and tripped on the edge of the rug. Hit the coffee table when I went down. Came round just as you were bundling me in the car,” Alex says, as succinctly as possible. Ryan wonders if he’s just being Alex, or whether he feels sick still, or whether he’s embarrassed about the breakdown of all that calm.


“Okay,” Ryan says, and folds up the nearest hand into both of his. “But God, you scared me.”


“This isn’t just a game to me any more,” Ryan says carefully. “I’m not sure what it is, but it’s not like last summer. It’s not…not messing about anymore. It’s something…more?”


Chapter 49