RILEY
If history has taught me anything, it's that blood's definitely not thicker than water, whereas my profession as a youth worker, helping troubled teens affected by crime, seems to only further solidify that belief. However, it's hard to cut your familial ties when all your mistakes stare back at you in the eyes of the woman you're not meant to love. She was too young, and ethically speaking, our relationship would have been taboo at best. So I shoved those feelings down, convinced I was doing the right thing. Especially for her. That is, until the past comes calling back, threatening both the life I've worked so hard to build and the woman I've tried to forget.

SIENNA
After a less-than-stellar upbringing, despite the best efforts of my big brother turned guardian, I've tried to stay out of trouble and make new friends. Better friends. But how do you ever recover from the type of wounds that just won't stop bleeding? How do you move on from rejection, when it's reflected back at you from across the dinner table? That's easy. You don't. Instead, I've avoided him, his family and even my own. All in the name of self-preservation. Little did I realize that the strongest emotional walls can come crumbling down, when I once again find myself face to face with the worst of my youthful indiscretions. Avoidance no longer a viable option, can I trust him to protect not only my life but my poorly stitched heart?

Sometimes love is worth a little danger.

Trigger Warning: Mentions of suicide, past and present emotional traumas, treated and untreated mental illnesses as well as histories of sexual assault.