Fourteen years ago, on the banks of Craving’s Creek, Ryde swore to his best friend Alistair he’d never be alone in the world. Though Alistair was destined for the priesthood, there was something beyond holy about the first kiss they shared. But a fun camping trip went horribly wrong when Alistair was involved in a horrific incident. Now, at age thirty-one, Ryde’s life is a mess of alcohol and the painful imprint of his last look into Alistair’s desperate eyes. Since the evil they encountered on that shore, his first love has been lost to him ... until he learns a friend’s wedding is to be officiated by a priest named Father Alistair Genet. Amid the rush of emotions, one thought crystallizes: Ryde’s love for Alistair has never died. It’s stronger than ever. But can it win over the repressed memories slowly tearing Alistair’s mind apart?

Craving's Creek

Alistair shivers again. We’re both in our swim trunks with our discarded T-shirts and shoes scattered around. “Come here,” I tell him. “You’re freezing.” I rub his shoulder and put my arm around him.


“Ryde,” he says seriously. “When you go to school in September, in the city, and I go to the Grand Seminary, will you still wanna hang out with me?”


“Hang out with you? Is that what we do?” I can’t help being irritated by his question.


“I mean, will we still…be friends?”


“Alistair,” I say, impatiently. “Don’t ask me stupid questions like that.”


He looks back at the water. “Sorry.”


I nudge his shoulder with mine. I wish I had a cooler temper. “Hey,” I say softly, “we’re gonna move in together as soon as I have a steady paycheck, and we’ll both work for a while and save up some money and go to Berlin.”


“Yeah, absolutely. There’s a real queer culture there, I think, and maybe their mentality is real different from ours.”


Chapter 24