Rey left home at seventeen after an event that shook him to the core. He didn't see a way to feel safe anymore, so he panicked and ran to the streets. He got lucky when two friends, Lake and River, found him and took him in, becoming big brothers and a new family when he had nobody.
Moving with them from New York City to Joliet, Illinois was a big change, but when Lake inherited an animal rescue, there was no way he and River would leave Rey behind. Suffering from agoraphobia that makes him unable to go outside makes life difficult for Rey, but he has an understanding found family and things to occupy his time.
Everything looks great, and then Cook comes home.
For Jack Cook, life hasn't been exactly kind, but he deals with the physical and emotional baggage from his childhood and his days in the Army just fine. He's made a great career as a private chef for wealthy clients, and he has a home base at the Twin Star Rescue while he's in between jobs.
At thirty-six, he enjoys his life and doesn't get surprised by much, but then he meets Rey.
There's an instant connection, a camaraderie between two people who enjoy cooking and taking care of their loved ones. Gradually, that connection grows into something deeper, something different.
Both Rey and Jack know that they don't want anything to happen between them before Rey turns eighteen. That feels wrong, and not just on the legal side.
But dealing with the emotions swirling between them becomes too much, and distance is the only way Jack can deal with it all. While he runs to his blood family to figure out how to move through his past and heal enough for a future, Rey stays at the rescue and soldiers on.
Rey can be patient when need be, but when he turns eighteen and Jack isn't back yet, he decides to tempt fate to move things along.
Invoking his past might not be the best idea, but Jack will come home to keep him safe, right?