Seventeen-year-old Apollo Reyes-Perez is struggling to understand two things: his identity and his best friend's suicide. But when Amory Hartmann, the new boy in town, catches his attention, he discovers that the answers to those questions may be more complicated than he had anticipated. ...... After the passing of his best friend, Apollo is left in an unfamiliar world, or perhaps one he never understood. Swimming, friends, and family. That was Apollo's universe. Until one day it wasn't. His friends expect too much, his parents don't talk enough, and swimming feels wrong. It only took one day for his life to change. Isn't the world supposed to stop when the person closest to you is gone? That's what he believed. But when the realities of growing up as a Mexican-American teenager hurdle towards him, he must accept the simple fact that life goes on. This becomes abundantly clear when Amory Hartmann enters his life, forcing Apollo to face the parts of himself he intended to keep hidden. Pieces of himself he's been too afraid to share with a boy. Will Apollo learn to leave the past behind him and move towards the future, or will his demons keep dragging him back to the darkest point of his life? Featured by @TeenFiction 🥇1st place LGBTQ+: The Novelists Awards 2022-2023 🥉3rd place Romance: The Pride Awards 2023 💜 @YARomance Undiscovered Book of The Month {November 2022}

What happens when the boy known for fighting everyone and anyone starts to fight for you? What happens when the artist who hides behind his masterpieces, starts to see you on his canvases? Gray and Axel meet by chance, unaware of the tidal waves they are causing in the other's life. Both stuck in their own lives, cold and always alone, they begin to find warmth with each other. Their hands keep finding their ways to each other- behind closed doors, in the dark, under the table. Once their walls start to crack, there's no going back and there's no pretending it means nothing. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• "Don't- don't touch me like that," he breathed out. I blinked at him. Is he angry? In pain? "Like what?" "fucking...gently," he seethed. "Why?" I peered at him, pressing my hand to his other cheek. I just needed him to look at me. I didn't care if it was wrong. "Because I'll... I'll fucking break," he barked, lips trembling under his confession. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• !! This is a slow burn !! •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 🏅 #1- bxblove- Nov 16, 2025 🥇 #1- gay romance- Nov 19, 2025🥇 #1- tattoos- Oct 22, 2025🥇 #1- delinquent- Nov 6, 2025🥇 #1- trauma- Dec 1, 2025 🥇 #1- family problems- Dec 1, 2025 🥇 #1- teen- Dec 15, 2025🥇 #1- school- Dec 22, 2025 🥇 #2- bisexual- Nov 18, 2025 🥈 #2- high school experience- Nov 26, 2025🥈 #2- boyxboyromance- Oct 19, 2025🥈 #2- love- Nov 17, 2025🥈 #3- boyxboy- Nov 28, 2025🥉