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

Thankfully, Nick didn’t comment on anything and was gracious enough to let me off the hook.


Later, we sat in the living room, on separate couches, facing each other over the coffee table. I’d turned the radio on for background noise and some jazz band was playing. We sipped our drinks—whiskey again—and tried not to make eye contact for too long. Every time our eyes met, a surge of electricity shot through my body and I could tell he was feeling it, too.


Finally, he leaned in and set his glass down on the coaster. “So…how did you and Nathan meet?”


The very sound of Nathan’s name on Nick’s lips ground my nerves. But I couldn’t pretend like Nathan didn’t exist. “Um, a sa—sales conference.”


“He cheats on me,” I sputtered, unable to hold Nick’s eyes. “Always has.”


“What?” I sat up straight. “No. No, Nick. This is—isn’t revenge at all. I just—I just—”


Chapter 67