When State Trooper Travis Kinslow is injured right before Thanksgiving, the only positive is that for once he won't be working during the holidays. Since he has no family, Travis was absorbed into his best friend Joe's, and he considers them as good as his own. Everyone except Joe's brother Noah. Travis has been in love with the younger man for much of his life, but he's always kept his distance.<br><br>As an ER nurse, Noah is a caretaker by nature. When his brother's best friend is hurt, he's happy to help Travis while he heals. He's only ever allowed himself to think of Travis as the next best thing to an older brother, but by the light of the Christmas tree, Noah finally sees Travis's true feelings. And in that moment, everything changes.<br><br>When faced with opposition and a Christmas nothing like they imagined, will their hopes for the future be enough to carry them through?

His Needs

While Nick—the Mastriano child between Joe and Noah—and several of the aunts cleared the table, everyone else continued to sit and pick at the remaining food, talking and laughing. I, on the other hand, was starting to get sensory overload. I’d been holding myself carefully throughout the meal, always conscious of my neighbor’s stray elbows and knees, and the strain was starting to get to me. More than that, I wasn’t used to this constant level of noise for such a long time. It was wearing thin, and I wanted to get up and go home. But that wasn’t an option. Dinner might be over, but there was still about seventeen kinds of pie to be had. Not that anyone had room to eat dessert right now. No, pie time was scheduled for at least two hours from now. I was told it was tradition for everyone to scatter and do their own thing for a while, and then to reconvene for pie.


I had no idea how I was going to make it that long.


Chapter 14