Lysander "Fitz" Fitzgibbon used to teach at a university, but quit when his father grew ill and needed someone to take care of him. Years later, after his dad's death, Fitz has given up on his dreams, drives a bus route, and endures visits from Jerry, who can't really be called a friend, and barely a benefit. Fitz is lonely, worries about his weight, and figures life won't be getting any better.<br><br>Then, Fitz stumbles over a dead body in the park. As if life couldn't get any worse, he has a run-in with Detective Holland Simms, whose infuriating arrogance and brash behavior provokes Fitz to punch him. But strangely enough, Fitz feels more alive around Simms than he has in a long time, though he finds it hard to believe that the confident Simms would want anything to do with him. Should he take a chance on more?

Being Fitz

I heard Detective Simms sigh and murmur, “Moron.”


I frowned. “Was I supposed to hear you say that?”


“Well, you did, right? So, the man who almost knocked you over was wearing jeans and a hooded sweatshirt?” His thumbs moved rapidly as he spoke.


I bit back a growl. “Dark blue jeans with bleach spots and a gray hoodie. Slender. Caucasian. He looked back at me briefly and I got the impression of, I don’t know, brown or gray eyes and stringy blond hair, blotchy skin. Maybe he had acne, or something. In his twenties.”


Simms threw his hands in the air, tablet still held in a firm grip. “Jesus, how dumb are you? This is a fucking important clue. Anything else you might have seen that you didn’t tell us?”


Chapter 5