Humming the gorgeous song from Adele he had heard on the radio while parking in front of his house, Anderson St John grabbed his backpack from the front seat and rose out of his Prius. Just shy of six feet, his lanky frame styled and muscled for a long-distance runner, he stretched out his arms and back. Shoving dark brown locks from his face, Anderson heard his cell phone ringing from its pocket on the backpack. From the specialized ringtone, he knew the caller was his boyfriend. He grinned as he pulled it out and hit the button.

"Hello, gorgeous. How is your day going?" He walked to the mailbox and pulled out the day's mail. He flipped through the envelopes, sorted the bills automatically from the junk.

A chuckle rolled through the phone, warming his body with the sound against the frigid January wind. "Hey there, beautiful one. Day is quiet on the customer end, but I still have work to do. Hope your day at school was good." Morgan Brookes mentioned his store, Metamorphys, a gorgeous costume store.

"Ehh. It's high school," the eighteen-year-old said with all the nonchalance that went with it.

"It's your senior year, so it should be a little more special."

"Still the same classes and grind. There's nothing different until we hit graduation. Only big thing was back during Halloween when we finally got together."

Morgan chuckled. "Why did I see your gorgeous ass running past my store this morning? Why weren't you on the treadmill at home?"

Anderson laughed at the thought about his freezing morning run through the quiet, sleepy Vermont town called Hamilton River. "It wasn't a long run, only the town's streets. I prefer running outside than hitting the monotony of...