Easy-going Sebastien divides his time between working as a cleaning technician, caring for his widowed father, and running off to the park for soccer practice. Coasting through his existence, he's convinced he doesn't have much going for him.<br><br>That isn’t what his best friend Jack thinks. Quick-witted and passionate, Jack is fascinated by art and history, but the greatest book or painting could never compare to how he feels when he's alone with Sebastien.<br><br>In the last five years, Seb and Jack have shared everything, sometimes even a bed. Yet though their chemistry is smoking hot, Sebastien keeps Jack at a safe distance. But when the two move in together to lower their living expenses, that distance gets smaller and smaller, until Sebastien and Jack are standing so close, they can't see what's right in front of their eyes ... the love of their life.

Auguries of Summer

In the entrance, she handed me a white envelope and a small thermos. “Thank you for being such nice company,” she said.


“I don’t think I understood your painting so well.”


“Oh, Sebastien, it’s not what you say. It’s your presence. Your…energy.” She fixed my T-shirt collar. “You’re such a decent young man. You have that double H working for you.”


With my free hand, I strapped my bag on. “Well, I’ll be back next week. And be careful until then, all right?” I raised the thermos to her. “Thanks, by the way.”


“Listen, Sebastien, I put a little more in there.” She pointed to the envelope sticking out of my pocket. “For your studies.”


A few months ago, I’d made the mistake of telling Valencia about the promise I’d made to my mother. But what kind of man went back to finish his high school degree at age twenty-seven?


Jack swore people did it all the time. He’d even offered to help me out financially if I chose to get my high school diploma.


Chapter 13