Pedro

It was your smile. Your laugh. The color of your eyes. The way you looked at me when no one else was looking. The way you held me. The way you kissed me. It was everything about you I loved. The flattening of that smile. The silence of your laughter. The loss of your lips. The way you left. The way you destroyed it all. The way you destroyed me. Destroyed us. It was everything about you I hated. Everything about you. I wanted. Needed. Hoped for. And that day, you not only broke my heart. You f--king crushed it.

Julian was the boy next door. My brother's best friend, he fit with my family in ways I never could. While he and Rhett went on to play house, I left the only life I knew, desperate for a fresh start. Until everything changed. Heartache came along, and the aftermath of my brother's death was here to stay. I was now face to face with Julian more than I ever wanted to be. Being around him brought up all my insecurities, forced me to deal with hard truths, and conjured up feelings I had no business entertaining. He wasn't the man I thought I knew.

Even though Chase--one of my favorite authors--insists he wants to be left alone, I refuse to let him wallow in whatever’s drowning him. A local bookstore owner and author myself, I’m intrigued by the man who’s a master of the written word. Unfortunately, his social skills could use a lot of work. Even so, I’m determined to pull the irritable and frustrating man out of the dark pit he’s fallen into and back to the surface no matter how hard he fights it. I only hope dragging Chase down that fiery path just might reignite his spark and that I don't get burned in the process.