Tyler

Four years have passed since I left home, my parents, and my brother Asher behind, since I shut out my past.

And, Erin. Four years since I last saw her, since I heard her voice and held her in my arms. I've spent my time forging a path from woman to woman, from bed to bed, trying to find an answer. But, I think I've lost my way. There's no light at the end of the dark.

No big surprise. I carry the dark inside me. I'm a bastard, branded as such from the start. I never give my phone number and address. I take my pleasure, and don't come back for seconds. No commitments, no promises and no happy endings. Yeah, I'm a bastard down to the bone and I don't give a damn.

But now, I'm back in my birth town, the town I fled at eighteen, back to make amends to the brother I abandoned and watch from afar the only girl I've ever wanted. Hope isn't a currency I can afford. I learned that lesson long ago.

Yet, when she looks at me and says my name, I can't help but hope.