American Love Story
No one should have to choose between love and justice.
Haitian-born professor and activist Patrice Denis is not here for anything that will veer him off the path he’s worked so hard for. One particularly dangerous distraction: Easton Archer, the assistant district attorney who last summer gave Patrice some of the most intense nights of his life, and still makes him all but forget they’re from two completely different worlds.
All-around golden boy Easton forged his own path to success, choosing public service over the comforts of his family’s wealth. With local law enforcement unfairly targeting young men of color, and his career—and conscience—on the line, now is hardly the time to be thirsting after Patrice again. Even if their nights together have turned into so much more.
For the first time, Patrice is tempted to open up and embrace the happiness he’s always denied himself. But as tensions between the community and the sheriff’s office grow by the day, Easton’s personal and professional lives collide. And when the issue at hand hits closer to home than either could imagine, they’ll have to work to forge a path forward...together.
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This book is approximately 95,000 words
Also Available from Adriana Herrera
and Carina Press
American Dreamer
American Fairytale
American Love Story
Adriana Herrera
For those who put their bodies in the struggle. For those who are brave enough to speak truth to power. For those who overcome. You have always mattered.
Contents
Epigraph
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Author’s Note
About the Author
“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”
—Martin Luther King Jr.
Chapter One
Easton
He made my heart stop.
Over a year had passed since I’d seen Patrice Denis for the first time, and still, he was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. Too bad I was so inconsequential to him that he’d been in Ithaca for over a month and was yet to send me a text with as much as a “fuck you.”
I stood there observing him from a distance, once again feeling spooked by what Patrice’s presence did to me. He had his locs coiled on top of his head and was wearing glasses that I’d never seen before, distractedly talking to a man who seemed a lot more invested in the conversation than he was. As I watched the guy lean in close enough to brush against Patrice’s shopping cart, I gripped the handle of mine so tight it squeaked. An unexpected flare of jealousy, coming out of nowhere, just from seeing someone in his space. I shook my head, amazed at the feeling. I’d spent my entire adulthood thinking I just was not the jealous type.