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

Any other time and it wouldn’t be hard to patch this rift between us. It’s not like we haven’t had arguments before—boys fight, and Stephen and I were no exception growing up. Stupid shit, though, like who got the last Mr. Goodbar at Grosso’s and who called dibs on the prize in the Cracker Jacks box. We fought over who ran the fastest and whose dad was the strongest and where we wanted to live when we were older—I’d say New York and Stephen would say no, hewas living there, not me, and that would start a shouting match that made my mom yell at us to keep it down. And our angry words would dissolve into giggles, he’d hide his face in my shoulder and whisper, “You can live there with me, Mike. I was just teasing.”


Then came the kiss, which led to more kisses, and touching, and soft lips, grasping hands, probing tongues on smooth flesh…why couldn’t I see how he felt for me? Why couldn’t I feel it in his hands, his lips? And why the hell couldn’t I have felt the same?


Chapter 78