Schoolteacher Julian Reynolds is disillusioned with the seedier side of gay life in New York City with its self-absorption, vanity, and preoccupation with sex. When his long-time relationship with his high school sweetheart ends, he returns to his hometown and vows to live a simple life free of the extremes of the gay lifestyle and romantic entanglements. With that end in mind, he rents the carriage house next door to a large Tudor-style home.<br><br>Tate Butler, a former student of Julian’s, lives in the big house with his mother. Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan. Fearing rejection from his mother and blaming himself for his father’s death, Tate stays firmly in the closet and punishes himself by refusing to learn how to walk again.<br><br>Can Tate and Julian help heal each other’s pasts and forge a real and lasting future together? Or will the driveway that separates their houses prove too wide a gulf to cross?

The Marine Next Door

Had he moved too quickly? Probably. Tate must have just made the decision to open up, to reach out. Julian had let his and Tate’s physical arousal cause him to skip the part where Tate talks about his feelings. He had gone straight to the physical, giving Tate the message that that was all Julian was looking for.


Julian’s body and heart yearned to have taken Tate in his arms and kissed away all the young man’s fears and resistance. But he knew that would have been the wrong thing to do. Whatever was holding Tate back from going on with his life would have to be worked out first. A feeling of helplessness crept over him. Julian knew he had to let Tate go, let him find his own way.


And maybe this was better. Julian wasn’t ready to become involved with another man. Wasn’t he embarking on a new way of life, a life free of gay complexities, and romantic entanglements?


Chapter 15