Kenny Culpepper is a spin instructor at a local gym, but he used to be a bike courier, too. Truth is, he’s still recovering from the time his former roommate, Biff Tremonte, viciously attacked him and threw him out of their apartment for being gay. Only his close friends Damien and Les helped him survive and gave him a place to stay.<br><br>Now that Damien has moved in with his boyfriend in the duplex upstairs, Kenny has more time to himself than he knows what to do with. Then he receives a letter that changes his life.<br><br>Cypher Tremonte, Biff's younger brother, has contacted Kenny in the hopes of making things right. Turns out, he was also a victim of Biff's fists. The meeting between them is tentative and painful, but they find an unexpected connection that might even turn into love.

Heavy Metal Bicycle Blues

“No. I felt too ashamed to admit to anyone that I’d failed to…fight back.”


“There’s no shame in what happened to you,” Cypher insisted. “The shame is on Biff, and only him. It took me a long time to realize that myself. As victims, we often internalize the hurt and pain, punishing ourselves for things that weren’t our fault and never will be. Biff needs help, okay? The fact that he almost killed two people is extreme.”


Cypher put his hand on top of mine on the table, his touch making my skin twitch. “The fact that you can hold your head up and face each day means you’re strong, that you are, in fact, a fighter. You didn’t let Biff win. You should be proud of that.”


He was right, but I still felt I had a ways to go to get there. “I appreciate that. Talking to you is helping a bit.” I removed my hand from under his, reluctantly, and sat back in my chair. “So are you staying in a motel or something while you’re in town?”


Chapter 5