Is a gift of love enough to open Aiden’s heart and let Tris back in?<br><br>After the car accident that killed his parents and left his sister paralyzed, Tris is left with nothing. His family is destroyed. His reputation is shot. And all he has is the guilt of knowing it was all his fault. People in town know he’d been drinking that night, and know he should never have gotten behind the wheel. And even Aiden, the man he thought he’d be with forever, blames him too much to stay.<br><br>But Tris can’t let him just disappear. After months of loneliness and isolation, Tris brings Aiden a gift on his birthday, a hawk he’s carved from a chunk of wood they’d found in the forest during an afternoon of love. A small chink seems to open in Aiden’s heart, the first sign of forgiveness. With renewed hope, Tris takes a job renovating one of the older homes in town and tries to rebuild his life. But the townspeople have long memories, and when his sister’s condition worsens, forgiveness -- and Aiden -- seem to slip even further out of reach ...

Without Aiden

His bike sat unmolested in the rack as they pulled into the parking lot at the apartment complex, and Tris climbed wearily out of the police cruiser. “Thanks. See you later.” He lifted his hand as the man drove away. He pulled the key to the tire lock out of his back pocket and knelt by the Huffy, but his eyes strayed to the door of Aiden’s apartment. He wondered if the twins were still there.


He scowled as he undid the chain and freed the front tire from the rack. It hadn’t been fair of Aiden to kiss him like that, igniting fires he’d tried to smother the long months they’d been separated. Tris put a hand to his cheek and felt Aiden’s lips brush against his skin. He remembered Aiden’s lush mouth burning kisses down his neck, sucking the tight buds on his chest, moving with tantalizing slowness down his abdomen. Fuck


Chapter 5