Beaten by the IT recession, Justin has come back to his hometown where he’s inherited a small house from his mother. Surely Barry, his old crush and sometime nemesis, is long gone. Jobs are scarce, so impulsively Justin seeks to buy into a pet grooming business. But when he has to visit the local bank for a loan, who sits behind the big desk but Barry?<br><br>Justin’s appearance jolts Barry out of his miserable rut of a life. What if they were to pick up where a brief boyhood attraction abruptly ended? Then his mother’s sudden stroke throws his whole life into a tumbled ruin.<br><br>Juggling business and pleasure can be a complex, risky endeavor. Will Justin resist Barry’s charms and flee again, or will fate give them a new leash on life?

A New Leash on Life

Finally, Barry lifted his head, just enough to speak. “You want this just as bad as I do. It would have happened that night if the fuckin’ deputy hadn’t come at just the wrong time. And it would have happened soon afterward if you hadn’t cut and run. Why, Justin? Why did you take off?”


“No, it’s why did I come back. I figured you would be long gone, that it would be safe now. I didn’t have anywhere else to go, really, and I thought it would be okay.”


“Nowhere else…I thought you had a great job in Phoenix.”


“Had is the operative word, past tense. There’s a recession, man, and things have been really wicked.”


Chapter 11