In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish

Doesn’t take highly attuned powers of deduction to see it’s something that will require way more effort than I want to put forth at the moment. “You always bring me the nicest things,” I grumble, squinting at the bag and deciding the couch is a better option than whatever Rex has brought from the workshop. I reach out blindly to pull him to me but get an armful of something decidedly not the cozy, flannel-clad chest of my hot boyfriend. I wake to a warm hand sliding under my t-shirt and resting on my stomach, and breath on my neck as Rex kisses me softly. We got up way too damn early this morning. Rex disappeared into his workshop after we got the tree propped up without telling me what he was doing, so now I’m lounging on the couch, staring at the thing, half considering reading or putting on music but actually just waiting until I drift off.

Or, I know we had one for a couple of years before my mom died-one of those fake, from-a-box ones-but I don’t really remember it so I’m deciding it doesn’t count. I guess it’s the first tree for both of us. We wrestled the damn thing into the house okay but Marilyn immediately started barking at it like it was going to attack her at any moment. Well, I mean, I guess it started as a whole production what with cutting down a tree and all. This whole … Christmas tree business has turned into a total production.

Just as they begin to break down the walls that have been keeping them apart, Daniel is called home to Philadelphia where a secret is revealed that changes the way he understands everything. When Daniel arrives in Holiday, they are smitten with each other, but though the sex is intense and explosive, Rex fears that Daniel will be one more in a long line of people to leave him, and Daniel has learned that letting anyone in could be a fatal weakness.

Though he loves the quiet and solitude of his little cabin in the woods, Rex can’t help but want someone to share it with. Rex has lived in Holiday for years, but his shyness and imposing size have kept him from connecting with people. REX VALE clings to routine to keep loneliness at bay: honing his large, muscular body until it can handle anything, perfecting his recipes, and making custom furniture. Now, Daniel’s relieved to have a job at a small college in Northern Michigan, but, a city boy through and through, when Daniel arrives in Holiday, Michigan, it’s clear that this small town is one more place he just won’t fit in.

Daniel has never fit in-not at home with his auto mechanic father and brothers, and not at school where his Ivy League classmates look down on him. DANIEL MULLIGAN is tough, snarky, and tattooed, hiding his self-consciousness behind sarcasm.

In the Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish