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 ...

“That’s fine by me. I don’t have anywhere to go really.”


“Oh…,” Makai breathed when something occurred to him. “He’ll know you spent the night. I hope that’s okay?”


Emil smiled. “I don’t care. Besides, he’s gay. It’s not like he’ll be disgusted or anything.”


“No, I know that, just… I don’t know how you want to spin this?”


“Makai, I stayed over because it was too late to go home after watching movies. It’s pretty innocent, and if it wasn’t, who cares? I like you and you like me, right?” He waited until Makai nodded slowly. “We’re adults, and last I checked, adults get to have sleepovers too.” And then Emil blushed.


“I’m gonna go take that shower now,” Makai said and hoped it didn’t sound like he was going there to think of a possible future sleepover. However, when he glanced at Emil, he could tell that was exactlywhat he had thought too.


Chapter 55