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

Fact is, you have your life. I’m going to stay here in this end of nothing for the rest of my life, forever, and time will pass me by until I die, and I won’t know where it all went. That’s how it’s always been.


But you don’t have that. Time moulds you. You will go on and change lives, change people, change all those tiny worlds that make a ripple effect and create differences.


I’ll probably never say them again, but there’s two things you need to know.


Firstly, I’m more grateful than you’ll ever know. You made the summers a little more colourful, like the stars were a bit closer. If I don’t see you again, then I’ll miss you, but I’ll understand and I’m grateful for what you did do.


And secondly, I love you. That one I will probably never say again, but it’s true, and you need to remember that more than I need to say it. I’ve loved you for a long time, and I love you now, and I may well love you when all the summers end.


Chapter 60