When Michael Knapp brings his lover Dan Biggs home to meet his parents, he doesn't expect things to go smoothly. His mother's been trying to marry him off for years, and sometimes he isn't even sure his father knows he exists. He has always felt like the shadow son, competing with his terminally stupid older brother and smart-mouthed little sister for his parents' attention. Coming out to them over dinner seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get noticed.<br><br>But an unexpected phone call interrupts his announcement -- Aunt Evie, the family matriarch, is dead. With Dan in tow, Michael follows his family to Sugar Creek, where he spent his summers growing up, to prepare for the funeral.<br><br>Amid an overabundance of memories and relatives, Michael's world begins to slip. His dysfunctional family, Evie's death, and an old friend's confession all threaten to smother him. Worse, in his grief and confusion he seems determined to inadvertently push everyone away, including his lover. Can he and Dan move beyond his family and his past to a new life together, before Michael's insecurities tear them apart?

It's All Relative

By the end of the evening, most of the men were drunk, and they left in groups of twos and threes, some with one of the girls caught beneath the span of their arms, some just holding onto each other to make it back to the barracks in one piece. Shitfaced, the whole unit—their CO would’ve been proud. Roxie walked between me and Dan, both of our arms around her shoulders just to feel each other’s touch. At her car, she gave me a kiss while Dan looked the other way. “You guys have fun,” she purred with a wink. When Dan didn’t reply, she poked his stomach playfully. “You hear me, G.I. Joe? Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”


Chapter 46