After a bad fall on a call, Eddie Diaz wakes up in a hospital bed with a pounding headache, a foggy timeline... and one thing he's sure of: The man sitting at his side, fingers laced tight with his, is his husband.
Evan Buckley knows that's not true. They're best friends, partners on and off the truck, tangled up in each other's lives but never quite brave enough to cross that last line. But when Eddie looks at him with raw, terrified eyes and whispers, "Buck?" like he's home, the correction dies on Buck's tongue. The doctors call it retrograde amnesia. Buck calls it a second chance he was never supposed to have.
As Eddie pieces his life back together, his son, his job, the 118, he leans on the memories he thinks he has: late-night talks, shared vows, rings that never existed. Buck tries to hold the lie together without breaking under the weight of it, knowing every borrowed moment will hurt more when the truth finally comes out.
Because Eddie may have forgotten everything else... but somehow, he never stopped loving Buck.
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When Haley discovers the truth behind Xavier, whose silence holds a deeper meaning, she sets her mind on making his life better one small step at a time.
*****
Haley Rosamond is happy with her simple life, content under the wing of her father. Well-protected, she has no idea of the darkness surrounding Xavier Hunt, with his all-black attire and infrequent presence in school-accompanied by his bruises and scars. That is, until Haley catches a glimpse of Xavier's reality and is made to question everything she knows about family and life in general. The truth, she realizes, couldn't be more different from everything she has heard. Supported by her father, Haley sets her mind on helping Xavier any way she can, and what begins with tutoring sessions, free food, and random acts of kindness blooms into friendship and something a little more. But when Haley's admission into her dream college and another tragedy in Xavier's life threaten to undo everything she has worked for, Haley needs to decide if she'll stick by Xavier or simply be another person in his life that disappears.
[[word count: 80,000-90,000 words]]
Cover designed by Holly Thurston