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

And okay, they didn’t know each other that well, when you really thought about it. In realistic terms, this relationship was only a couple of months old, at the very best. They don’t know each other all that well, or how they’d fare in close quarters all the time, and then there’s the added element of Mara and how she and Alex have never met and, despite Ryan’s predictions, could very well hate each other on sight.


But then again, he and Mara don’t know each other particularly well either, and they’ve still agreed to rent a little house on the Metro lines together all the same.


And if it doesn’t work—well, Ryan’s never been uncomfortable with trying something and failing. If it doesn’t, then it doesn’t. But whether it works or not, it would give Ryan peace of mind


Because ever since Alex hit his head off a coffee table and gained a brand new scar, Ryan’s been…


Chapter 56