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 Tate is bitter and withdrawn after losing a leg while serving in the Marine Corps during the war in Afghanistan.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

“Do you care if we go?” Tate asked. “This is getting too weird.”


“Sure, we can leave,” Julian replied, a smile breaking out on his face.


Julian helped Tate over to where he’d left his artificial limb, then they headed back to the cabana. Glad to find it unoccupied, they quickly changed out of their swim suits. Tate dried his stump, put on the sock, and re-attached his leg. Lastly they gathered their things and headed out onto the pool deck.


A naked and very intoxicated Stephen came unsteadily up to them. “You’re not leaving are you? The party’s just started,” he slurred and fondled his semi-hard cock.


“The party’s over for us,” Tate said. “Thanks for inviting me. It was a real eye-opener.”


The pair left Stephen standing there, his hand still on his crotch, looking puzzled and protesting. They made their way through the house and out the front door.


“I had about as much of that stuff as I could stand,” Tate said, opening the passenger door


Chapter 28