After being robbed by a black assailant, white Chicago dentist Mark Cross is hesitant to go out at night, let alone get involved in an interracial relationship, but that’s exactly what happens after he meets Darren Nichols, a black high school teacher and basketball coach. When Mark and Darren are introduced at a party, their attraction to each other is immediate and intense, and they soon begin dating. As their relationship progresses, Mark realizes he loves Darren. But he’s hesitant to ask Darren to move in with him because Darren’s last relationship ended poorly and Darren is scared to get involved with another man so quickly after that experience. Mark also worries he doesn’t live up to Darren’s expectations and fears Darren ultimately longs for a man who isn’t white. And Mark is still haunted by the man who mugged him and harbors fears about black men in general. Despite his worries and insecurities, Mark asks Darren to move in with him and Darren agrees. Though they both bring baggage to their bond, Mark and Darren work hard to build a life together. But when Darren invites over some of the guys he plays basketball with, Mark suspects one of the players, Terrance, is the same man who assaulted him. Mark shares his suspicions with Darren, but Darren isn’t convinced his friend could do something so terrible. Mark is determined to uncover the truth, but will he jeopardize his relationship with Darren in the process?

Pivot

Soon after the new year started, we both stuck to our plan to have a condom-free sex life. We each got tested for HIV and exchanged our results one night after dinner. Seeing that we both were negative wasn’t surprising to either of us.


Darren looked at me across the dining room table. “I have to admit, this is a little more anti-climactic than I thought it would be.”


“Well,” I said, “let’s hope it won’t be as anti-climactic when we’re fucking tonight.”


Darren sat back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. “Can I take a rain check?” he asked. “I’m not really feeling up to it tonight.”


I stared at him. After all of this, his insistence that we go condom-free, the subsequent testing, and the exchange of our test results, now he didn’t want to fuck? I couldn’t believe it.


He shook his head. “I’m tired and I’ve got a ton of papers to grade. I’m sorry.”


Chapter 35