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

“Make it five,” he told me. He must’ve seen the confusion on my face because he explained, “Easy money, kid. Let me blow you and get off on it, I’ll give you five bucks. How can you say no to that?”


I didn’t think I could. A blowjob—my mind went numb, I had never had one before. With my heart beating in my throat, I led the way to the thicket upstream, a place I discovered earlier in the week. I came out there to jerk off, just because I liked the sun on my bare genitals, and it was so hard to find privacy in the house. The guy followed me, crawling into the space between the bushes and pushing me down as I sat up. “Lie back,” he said, his hands pulling down the front of my shorts and briefs in one motion. “Five dollars, kid. Easiest damn money you’ll every make.”


Chapter 55