"Tristan, we need to talk," Joshua said. His voice was deep and assertive, filled with a resolve that couldn't be ignored.

This conversation meant a lot to Joshua.

He had spent the previous night restless, wrestling with his thoughts about their history.

He and Nova had spent three memorable years together overseas, an experience that had brightened his otherwise mundane life.

He wasn't the man Nova needed—his past was full of flaws, and he felt even worse than the ...