At 16, Stacy Evans dropped out of high school in the hopes of moving on with his life. But four years later, he's stuck in an abusive relationship with Lamar, a "friend with benefits," and works long hours at a dead-end job just to get by.<br><br>Then his mother enrolls him in a program to earn his GED. There he meets Darian, a woodshop teacher who is everything Stacy's friends are not -- smart, successful ... and who seems to take a personal interest in helping Stacy turn his life around. The two develop a rapport that keeps Stacy after school just to spend extra time with him. In intimate moments alone, they grow closer than just student and teacher.<br><br>On the right track for once, Stacy has a chance to choose between his troublesome past and a promising future with Darian. But his jealous friends won't let him go so easily.

Stepping Up to the Plate

With a heavy sigh, Darian set down his knife and fork. “Remember I told you about my brother? Dean?” Stacy nodded. “He was everything to me, everything I wanted to be. I wasn’t home when he died—”


“You were at college.” Stacy felt proud that he remembered the details. “On scholarship at State.”


Darian nodded but the smile Stacy hoped to see again didn’t appear. “I had this friend, Lynnette—”


Another nod. “Yes. I knew the moment we met that she liked me. It wasn’t hard to tell. She was always finding excuses to run into me, at the bookstore or the cafe, at every single home game, every practiceeven, she was there. She knew my roommate from high school and was constantly in our dorm room, hanging out and flirting, with both of us but mostly me. I told her time and again I wasn’t interested, but she didn’t seem to care.”


Cautiously, Stacy asked, “Why weren’t you interested?”


Chapter 92