Quiet and imaginative, Derek O'Reilly spends a lot of time watching a movie in his head. His fiancé Nathan wonders why Derek hasn't taken any interest in their wedding planning, and Aunt Fran -- his spiritual guru -- would like to know when her guilt-tripping nephew became a kept boy. When she drops Derek's childhood journal on his lap, he's forced to remember the name he's been trying to forget since he was twelve years old. Nicolai Lund. Nick was Derek's neighbor ... and first love. Weeks before Derek's engagement party, a chance meeting with Nick catapults Derek into the past. But Nick isn't that seventeen-year-old rebel anymore. He's a man hardened by invisible scars. A man struggling with grief. As Derek reads through his childhood diary, he realizes what Nick was to him, still is today, and yet might be ... NOTE: This edition has been expanded and substantially edited.

Split

For a second, the floor was where the ceiling should have been, and my brain felt loose inside my skull. The music thundered inside me, moving up my limbs and bones. Nick hadn’t let go of my hand. His long fingers were wrapped around mine and he was jerking me around like a noodle. “Let’s see your moves.”


Nick laughed and spun me around again. “Like this.” His fingers let go of mine, and as soon as they had, I missed them, but within seconds, his hands were pressed against my hips. “Go with it. Dancing isabout pushing and pulling.” I was stiffer than an iron stick, but Nick began swaying again, only this time, he locked me in, and I had no choice but to follow his movements. “Relax.” He pressed his warm mouth to my ear, sending shivers down my shoulders. “Listen, O’Reilly.”


Chapter 57