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

I don’t succeed—somewhere between those early morning dream-like kisses and the time I become aware of being fully awake, Dan gets out of bed. I lie curled into blankets that hold his scent and keep my eyes shut as I listen to the house around me, listening for his voice. I still don’t want to get up just yet. Maybe if I wait long enough, he’ll come back from the bathroom or the kitchen, or wherever it is he’s gone off to, and he’ll crawl in beside me again, he’ll wrap his arms around me, he’ll whisper silly nonsense in my ear until I just can’t keep my eyes closed any longer and I wake up to more kisses, breathless giggles, my name in his voice. In my mind I hear him ask again, “Can I hold you?” And this time I’m not so tired or worn out, this time I let his kisses lead to something more. Beneath the covers, I trail my fingers up my own stiffening cock as I think of his body next to mine, him in me, his skin as supple and pliant as my own beneath my hands.


Chapter 92