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 steps dragged on the gravel driveway. He wished Andrew would have taken his offer. There was nothing for him here, anymore. He stopped in his tracks as the house came into sight.


“Aiden?” Surprise made him speak out loud, though Aiden was nowhere in sight.


Aiden’s car rested in the center of the driveway, still cooling. He must have come straight from the cemetery. What did he want? Tris’s pulse thundered in his ears. He hoped to God it wasn’t pity that brought him there, when Tris most needed him.


He climbed the steps and made his way around the porch. He nibbled his lips, unsure. What if Aiden had only come to talk about the accident some more? He tried to dampen his churning excitement. He wanted to feel alive! He needed the intimacy and passion and total absorption of sex, shared with the only man he had ever loved.


Chapter 19