Just Between Us

Seventeen-year-old Luke Chesser is trying to forget his spectacular failure of a love life. He practices marching band moves for hours in the hot Texas sun, deals with his disapproving father, and slyly checks out the new band field tech, Curtis Cameron. Before long, Luke is falling harder than he knew he could. And this time, he intends to play it right. Since testing positive for HIV, Curtis has careened between numbness and fear. Too ashamed to tell anyone, Curtis can't possibly act on his feelings. And Luke--impulsive, funny, and more tempting than he realizes--won't take a hint. Even when Curtis distances himself it backfires, leaving him with no idea how to protect Luke from the truth. Confronting a sensitive topic with candor and aplomb, acclaimed author J. H. Trumble renders a modern love story as sweet, sharp, and messy as the real thing, where easy answers are elusive, and sometimes the only impossible thing is to walk away. Praise For J. H. Trumble's Don't Let Me Go "A sexy, vibrant, and heartfelt debut." --Martin Wilson, award-winning author of What They Always Tell Us "Deeply moving. . .will be appreciated by adults and teens alike." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "A charming story. Trumble's love for the characters is evident on every page, and it's contagious." --Robin Reardon, author of A Secret Edge Luke Chesser is trying to forget his spectacular failure of a love life. He practices marching band moves for hours in the hot Texas sun, deals with his disapproving father, and slyly checks out the new band field tech, Curtis Cameron. Before long, Luke is falling harder than he knew he could. And this time, he intends to play it right. Since testing positive for HIV, Curtis has careened between numbness and fear. Too ashamed to tell anyone, Curtis can't possibly act on his feelings. And Luke--impulsive, funny, and more tempting than he realizes--won't take a hint. Even when Curtis distances himself it backfires, leaving him with no idea how to protect Luke from the truth. Confronting a sensitive topic with candor and aplomb, acclaimed author J.H. Trumble renders a modern love story as sweet, sharp, and messy as the real thing, where easy answers are elusive, and sometimes the only impossible thing is to walk away. Praise For J.H. Trumble's Don't Let Me Go "A sexy, vibrant, and heartfelt debut."--Martin Wilson, award-winning author of What They Always Tell Us "Deeply moving. . .will be appreciated by adults and teens alike."--Publishers Weekly, starred review "A charming story. Trumble's love for the characters is evident on every page, and it's contagious."--Robin Reardon, author of A Secret Edge/I Luke Chesser is back, and it looks like his luck may be changing when he makes a surprising connection with one of the marching band field techs, Curtis Cameron. But just as their relationship is set to launch, Curtis is diagnosed HIV positive. Too ashamed to tell anyone, he puts off treatment and pulls the plug on his relationship with Luke. He won't risk infecting another person. But Luke won't let go so easily. The two soon find themselves struggling to either define their relationship in terms they can both live with or end it altogether. Seventeen-year-old Luke falls for new guy Curtis, who is secretly HIV positive, but when the two become involved, Curtis has trouble distancing himself from Luke in order to protect him from infection