Stories

Begin Again starts with one coffee. That had been the whole plan.

Evan wasn't looking for complicated. He had enough of it—a life he'd never settled into, a house in Wicklow he didn't know what to do with, and a habit of leaving before anyone could ask him to stay.

Then he meets Cian, an Irish arborist who is steady, direct, and clear about what he wants.

One night becomes another morning, a spare shirt, and a man who won't pretend this is less than it is. The sex is easy. Letting Cian see him afterward isn't.

Evan knows how to leave before anyone matters. Cian knows how much of that he'll tolerate.

Jacob continues his journey to form new bonds with his brothers while struggling to find his place after awakening to a brand new world. Will newfound friendships be broken? Will his first real love be lost? Those are the heart-wrenching questions Jacob must face with the ever-present fear of losing himself to light and shadow.

This is the third and final part of the Confounded Trilogy, portraying a May - December story with familiar characters.

You would be wise to (re)read the previous parts of this trilogy, to get reacquainted with the characters; some you will know, some are new. Some references will hark back to previous writings, and will make more sense. This story is told from perspectives, so called Points of View (POV).

This contains excerpts from in-world texts from various sources and times.

Elliot Reyes and Theo Marchetti can't stand each other, apparently. Then, one ordinary Thursday night, in a London office tower that's emptied out for the evening, the power goes, and the only two people left in the building find themselves trapped in a stalled lift between the eighth and ninth floors, in the dark, for hours. Just two men, one torch, and the slow, terrifying business of being seen.

As Jake and Danny begin their senior year, everyone has something to prove at Mon Valley High School. But as wounds from the past reopen, carefully constructed identities begin to unravel.

Meet the Harding boys: Matt and his big brother Justin, their hunky dad Richard, and their fun-loving uncle Patrick.

When Matt gives his father a lavish vacation, it's meant to bring them closer -- but a secret plan to indulge a forbidden curiosity unsettles everything. An old passion reawakens in Richard, soon ensnaring Justin and Patrick too.

Sons collide with fathers, uncles with nephews, and brothers with each other. As the Harding men circle the same questions, the past simmers beneath the surface, threatening to redraw the boundaries of family, loyalty, and lust.