Standalone • Part I of II • Angst • Awakening • Friends to Lovers • Single Dad • Slow Burn Maybe the heart needs to break before one can put together the pieces correctly. This is Jake and Roe’s story. I used to think leaving the Marines and moving to LA was the defining moment that changed my life. I was gonna become a documentary filmmaker and see the world through my camera. Then I met Roe Finlay. Never in a million years could I have imagined…well, everything we went through. I sucked at expressing how I felt—which was emotionally stunted most of the time—but Roe seemed to get me. I became…dependent. Attached. Not in a sexual way or anything—I wasn’t gay. Far from it. Or bisexual like Roe, for that matter. No, this was different. I just wanted to be close to him. He made me laugh like no other. We were a fantastic team. We lived together. Worked together. He was my best friend. He was everything. He was my defining moment. Until he decided to commit to his f—to his girlfriend.

Part II of II Angst Awakening Friends to Lovers Family Buckle in. Roe and Jake have mountains to climb, walls to tear down, and countless private moments to bring them even closer in this final part of their journey. The ground beneath me had finally settled. I was content. I was all right. I could move forward and live with my choices. Then I found Jake’s damn journal from… therapy . That was right. My best friend, who defined “man of few words,” was in therapy. The ground started shaking again. I got desperate. I got angry. I…almost lost him on the job when he saved my life. Nothing was settled anymore.

THE EXTENDED EPILOGUE OF THIS WILL HURT II The honeymoon The kids The Congo The awards The podcast The vacation The food trucks The barbecue The love The condors ...with Roe Finlay and Jake Denver