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

“Shit.” Watching through the window, Abe saw him hurry across the street. With a sigh, he went to pay for their food. Chloe avoided meeting his gaze, and he sighed again. “You don’t happen to know where he lives, do you?”


“I do, but if you don’t, I’m not sure I should tell you.” She tilted her head to the side. “What happened?”


Abe grimaced. Talking to a student wasn’t smart. “We used to go to school together. I fucked up…back then. And probably now too.”


He didn’t know Jonas. “I used to watch him every chance I got.” He chuckled self-consciously. “High school is a long time ago, though. And I didn’t know him well.”


“Yeah, not the same social group, right?” She pushed the pizza boxes toward him, and he handed over his credit card.


“What makes you say that?” Why did everyone assume he’d been a bastard in high school?


Chapter 10