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 ...

So instead, he’d play Makai a song and hope he would understand. He felt oddly nervous, waiting for Makai to come from the shower. It all evaporated when Makai stood there by the bed, looking curious because of the guitar and the obviously closed bedroom door.


“I want to sing you a song,” Emil said before he could ask. “I… I think it says something I… can’t.”


Makai smiled and sat on the bed. “Okay.”


Emil started to strum the guitar like he had at his parents’ house. But this time, the song was City and Colour’s “Northern Wind.” It wasn’t a typical love song, but he knew Makai would pick out the parts that mattered.


Makai’s attention was fixed on him as he played and sang, but it didn’t feel wrong or awkward. Instead, the gentle smile and the slowly gathering heat in Makai’s gaze was welcome, like a caress, almost.


Once the song’s last note drifted into silence, Emil stilled the strings and put the guitar on the floor by the bed. Then he turned to Makai.


Chapter 91