Abe Cooper is starting over. For fifteen years he's lived the life that was expected of him, but not anymore. He's packed up his things, bought himself a cabin in Northfield, and managed to secure a job at the local high school teaching gym and coaching the football team. But his new beginning didn't include running into Crazy Joe on his first trip to the grocery store.<br><br>Jonas Raghnall has everything he needs -- good friends and a job he loves. He's worked hard to get over what happened sixteen years ago, but one run-in with his past and all the memories come flooding back. Seeing Abe Cooper, The Abe Cooper, sets everything out of balance.<br><br>Abe had pictured a fresh start with no ties to his past, but now that Jonas is there, he wants nothing more than to be close to the man who had butterflies filling his belly when he was in high school. Jonas doesn't want to come face to face with his past, but if he sees Abe every day, it's not really meeting up with your past, is it? It's more like a date with your future.

Crazy Joe

“The students love him.” Abe was taken aback by the sharpness in her tone.


“Let me guess, you were on the football team when you were in high school, right? Most of your friends were on the team too, and you all dated the same group of girls. You don’t have any teacher training, right? You’ve coached a few teams well enough, taught a few gym classes, got some nice letters of recommendation from schools where you’ve worked. And since this is a small school in the middle of nowhere where no one with the right credentials ever applies for a job, you got it.”


“You have sailed through life like some overgrown teenager, never having taken any responsibility, never really moved on since high school, and now you’re prolonging your glory years by working in the same environment.”


Chapter 5