T.J. Alton is shy and reticent, living alone with a rescue cat after his parents' death a year earlier. He rarely strays from his usual daily routine of work and home and back again.<br><br>Then he meets Devon Ryder, an outgoing, colorful, and ruggedly handsome man, with his own long list of emotional baggage. After a month of chatting online, the two men decide to meet in real life, and their first date is at a local Great Escape theme park in upstate New York.<br><br>As they discover more about each other through conversation and food, a connection is made. But will T.J.'s fears of large crowds and intimacy drive him back to isolation, away from the social circle of life, and the idea of starting a new relationship with someone special?

Love's Chances

With his beefy workman’s hand, he patted my leg. I let out a deep exhale. “What about you?” I asked. “What are you looking for besides a few late night chats behind a computer screen?”


“You still have a computer? Boy, you’re really old.”


I licked the sugary remains of the melted cotton candy from my lips and leaned my head against his broad shoulder. The warm moisture from his armpits saturated the side of my face.


“I honestly don’t know,” he answered. “I should decide soon before my life passes by.”


“What does T.J. stand for?” he asked.


I dodged the bullet when Devon asked me the first time during one of our early online chats. Not because it was a secret. But the fact that my name reminded me of my father, whom I despised, it rehashed many unpleasant childhood memories for me.


I coughed to the side. “Tim Jackson.”


Chapter 5