Josh Aterovis

Most definitely. The murder investigation really picks up once Killian arrives back on the scene, however.

My partner's mother (who lives in Arkansas, for reference) was recently chased by a someone in a car who repeatedly tried to run her off the road, followed her all the way home, and held her at gun point while screaming at her and calling her names. She'd never seen this man before. He fired his gun to scare her, then left after making more threats. She called the police, who took almost an hour to respond (while she hid, scared to death), then when she showed them the shell casing from the gunshot, the deputy PICKED IT UP WITH HIS BARE HANDS AND STUCK IT IN HIS POCKET. When she asked him, "What about fingerprints?", he shrugged and said they wouldn't bother with fingerprinting it! Then she showed them the footage from her security cameras and the guys told her, "I doubt we'll catch this guy, so if you were my daughter I'd tell you get a gun." America.

See also: Any Michael Bay "movie"

Some excellent theories here! And that's all I'll say...

I thought you were going to say that Will keeps jumping from various heights...

Josh does, indeed, know more about Joey's father. Whether I tell you remains to be seen... The suspense will only continue to ratchet up from here. Like I said back in Chapter 1 (I think), this book is very much a slow burn. We're halfway through and just getting around to the bodies! But in a lot of ways, it's not a traditional murder mystery. I think it's just as much a character study/coming of age story. And maybe a bit of an exploration of mental illness and depression.

MORE EXPLOSIONS!

Man, wouldn't this be a boring book if Will minded his own business? 🤣

When I got back to the apartment, I told Aidan what Mrs. Taylor had said. "So the police are looking for you?" he repeated, looking as exhausted as I felt. I shrugged. "Sounds like it. What should I do?" "Do you have anything to hide?" "No." "Then you should go talk to them before they have to hunt you down. That makes it seem like you're guilty of something." "But... I don't want to." I sounded like a whiny little kid even to myself. "I'm scared," I added, which di

You are correct that it is a St. Christopher medal. 😊

Very insightful! I think a lot of people raised in extremely religious families are very sheltered and often emotionally stunted. Add to that the fact that they've been brainwashed for their entire lives and you end up with...well, Will. 😬 I'm honestly loving all these references to John. 🖤

I mean, we're all waiting eagerly for Charlie and Kips Christmas adventure, right?

Killian will soon return...

"Who? Who died?" Panic closed in around me, squeezing all the air from my chest. Some part of me already knew the answer, but I needed to hear it. "I don't know, man. Who cares? Fuck that shit." "No, wait!" I grabbed the guy by the arm. He could have easily shaken me off — he towered over me — but instead he just looked at me like I'd lost my mind. "It might be my friend. Are you sure he was dead? What did he look like? What was he wearing?" He pulled his arm away. "I only go

So many good questions. How many will I answer? Tune in next week, same gay time, same gay website. (Next chapter actually drops Tuesday...)

Here's hoping!

Seriously!

😂 Way to find the silver lining in this chapter! 📸

You'll learn more about Joey—and Will's evolving view of him—as the rest of the story develops...

Fun fact: I live in Baltimore so I have run into John many, many times. He's extremely kind. I've even been to his house twice for work-related reasons, and once he gave me and my coworker a personal tour of his entire home, which is filled floor to ceiling in every room with books. He is very beloved here.

I hatched a plan over the next several days that I was sure would either exorcise Joey from my life forever or let me know conclusively if there was any hope for our friendship. My plan would go into effect that Friday night. According to Aidan, Joey had become a party animal, and there was never any shortage of parties on a Friday night in a college town. All I had to do was find the one he was at and get him alone. Easy, huh? I would have to wing it from there since I had no clue how

Also very true. After all, DEI is evil. But this is set in Maryland, and Maryland is a relatively safe state as far as laws go, and, as yet, has not caved to the fascist in chief.

That's a really good point! I missed that when I was rewriting this.

I'm so sorry to hear that! That sounds awful.