Can two broken men build one life? Ten years. That’s what Makai lost for a crime he didn’t commit. He’s been exonerated, but the abuse he suffered in prison isn’t so easy to leave behind. He heads to the one place he remembers being happy: Acker, Wisconsin, where he spent summers with his grandpa. Unfortunately, not everyone wants Makai there. Ten days. That’s how long Emil, now twenty-one, was held prisoner as a teenager. The mental and physical injuries he suffered at the hands of a drug trafficking ring still haunt him. Nightmares, anxiety, and PTSD challenge the connection forming between Makai and Emil, though together, they might find a way to move beyond their pain and into a future -- and a relationship -- that both had thought impossible. Now they just have to convince Emil’s father, the town sheriff. It won’t be easy with danger closer than they know ...

“Oops!” she exclaimed briefly, then continued on her way, the too big boots making her stumble here and there.


Oops, indeed. Emil wasn’t ashamed of freaking out or even Joy’s little outburst afterward. He was fucking annihilated by his own prejudices and how he could see them hurting Makai. He just hoped Makai didn’t think he was racist. Sure, he’d been surprised as fuck when the big guy had used the word “trigger” so casually, but he hadn’t meant anything by it, and now Makai was hurt.


Joy babbled about things as they made the slow trek back to her side of the little lake. The day had started beautiful, and Emil wished it had stayed that way


Makai had been everything and nothing he’d expected.


He was just as big, tall, and gorgeous as Lotte had whispered to him that day when he arrived to look after Joy. He was also kind, very protective, and had a gentle soul.


Chapter 19