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

He whispers it now, here beside the bubbly creek, amid the tall grasses and tall trees, and it’s still enough to dry up my tears. We lie together on the ground, his body covering mine, his arms cradling my head and his hands clasped together in my hair, his kisses sweet and tender and soft on my face, my neck, my lips. He’s still inside of me—I swear I can feel his heart pounding in my groin. Every now and then he shifts above me, small movements that cause his wilting member to flare to life briefly, a thickening throb deep in the very center of my being. I don’t want to lose this moment, I don’t want to lose him, and the tears that fill my eyes and course down the sides of my face leave me shaky with relief. Mine, he tells me in a gentle voice that barely rises above the rustling leaves. “I’m yours, Michael. Forever and you know it. Don’t block me out, baby, please. Don’t turn me away.”


“I won’t,” I swear. “I won’t, Dan, ever again. I’m so sorry.” He kisses the apology away.


Chapter 113