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 ...

“Bed, please. I can watch something on the laptop if I want to.” They went to the bedroom door, and as soon as Emil opened it, what seemed like an avalanche of cats rolled out.


“Were you idiots leaning on the door?” Emil asked fondly, picking up the kittens so that Makai could make it to the bed without them underfoot. “Stop squirming, hellions. You need to let Daddy get to the bed first.”


Mouse jumped on the bed and stared at Makai as if he’d been gone for months. She meowed at him tentatively, and as soon as he made himself comfortable, she rounded him and went to sit by his head as if taking stock of where she could step and where not.


“Oh, Mousey,” Makai sighed and petted her gently. “Missed you too.”


She headbutted his face and purred loudly, and then Emil had to let the kittens go because they were starting to get too clawy.


Chapter 76