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248 pages, ebook
First published January 28, 2016
Maybe the greatest happiness wasn't the rush he'd get from sleeping with a different man each night, but instead it was waking up to the sleepy morning smile of the person you'd been dreaming of.
Love was the culprit; the enemy of independence and self-reliance.
Growing up in a home where he was nothing but an afterthought, an unwanted child, he'd make certain that as an adult he'd always be his own first priority.
Marcus's entire childhood had been spent attempting to please people who honestly didn't care; he could've stood on his head and recited the alphabet backward without any notice from his father and an indifferent shrug from his mother. That apathy had shaped him into the man he'd become. Ruthless, cold and self-indulgent.
Marcus sensed an iron gate clanging shut, locking Tyler away well behind unbreachable bars. Marcus knew all about those iron gates. He lived in a fucking compound.
They both hid from the world in different ways: Marcus with his flash and sarcastic wit, trading sex for companionship, while Tyler pushed people away, allowing mistrust and false pride to control his life, refusing genuine offers of friendship and goodwill.
"From the moment I met you, you turned me upside down and made me change the way I looked at the world and at myself. You showed me I could love other people without losing who I was. You were my change, the best part of me. You turned ME into a WE."
"Love was inescapable, indefinable, and sometimes ill-advised. It took you by the throat and shook you until your brain rattled, yet just as gently, cradled you in its loving arms."
"“You may be my boss and pay me , but that’s as far as it goes. I don’t have to like you, or put up with your crap like everyone else here does.”
"“I don’t need your help, and no, we won’t get to know each other better. You’re my boss, and you pay me to work for you. That doesn’t include fucking me.”"
"“I didn’t want trips to places that weren’t for children or toys that were too expensive to play with. I wanted parents who wanted me.”"
"He didn’t know how to love anyone, not like his friends loved their partners. He’d seen Julian give himself to Nick and Zach to Sam so completely, and it scared the shit out of him to lose that control, to put someone else first."
"“Why are you here?”
“I have no fucking clue, but I have to find out.”
“Find out what?”
“I don’t know.”“Why you let other men touch and kiss you, but me you push away.” “Why it matters to me.”"
"“I’m going to make certain that when you leave here tonight, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind who you belong with from now on.”
"“I don’t want to leave because I need you.” He pressed a clumsy kiss to the corner of Marcus’s mouth. “I love you.” Marcus stilled and held Tyler a bit closer. “Do you know that’s the first time anyone’s ever said that to me?”"