Book of Love - David Horne

Chapter One

Life is a funny thing. It never follows any set path. It can veer left only to jerk violently to the right. You think you have it all planned out. You’re born, you grow up, go to school, marry, have kids and so on. Matthew Ward thought that this would be his life when he was younger. However, life found a way to change. It started when he hit puberty, and he discovered that women, just didn't do it for him. The talk in the locker rooms made him cringe inside.

Matthew kept those feelings to himself, the shameful feeling inside his chest when he was checking out guys rather than the girls. He knew how to act like he was into girls. But, it never went farther than saying school and sports were more than enough for him.

Matthew knew that it would eventually something would happen to crumble his world. He supposed it was karma getting back at him for what he did in high school.

He was at his peak. He was the star quarterback on his way to a full scholarship when tragedy struck. He suffered a “career-ending” injury before his career could even really begin.

It happened on their home field. Everything was going great. They were leading and just a few minutes away from the end of the game. They were close to another touchdown when he felt the excruciating pain in his knee before he went down. A misstep was all it took to tear his ALC and with it his scholarship and life plans.

His father was more worried about the loss of opportunity than his son's torn-up knee. Matthew guessed that his father was always more concerned about his own legacy than what his child was feeling.

Luckily, Matthew could still get a scholarship. It wasn’t a full scholarship, but it was better than nothing. It was while doing therapy that he discovered a new passion. Matt had known that he would never be able to play sports again, but he could help other people get back into the sport that they loved. His father wasn't impressed with his new life choice. His father started to lay obvious hints that he wanted Matthew to start thinking about marriage. People were beginning to talk.

William Ward, Matthew's father was a small-time business owner with hungry ambitions to make it big in the business world. One of his plans was to marry off his son to his one and only big-time associate's daughter. It was all in hopes of getting a better foothold into the elite world of the rich and famous.

There was just one tiny problem. Matthew despised the girl. He never hid his feelings from his father that he wanted nothing to do with the girl. He would rather die alone than be with a money-hungry good-for-nothing, immature woman. His mother was on his side. She was less ambitious than his father and wanted nothing to do with the life of the rich and famous.

His father was continually pushing for Matthew to meet the girl. His pushing began to cause stress in his parents' marriage.

When Matthew started his college studies, everything came to a head. His mother filed for divorce. It shocked his father as he thought that she'd never leave him. He tried to get her to change her mind, but his pride was too great when she said that he had to leave their son be.

Daphne Ward left the Ward home for good as he finished his first semester. Matthew still talked with his mother and had coffee at her new home. She was his rock. His mother was the only thing keeping him sane as his father became more and more demanding.

Matthew could no longer take it and confessed to his father that he was, in fact, gay. His father gave him a look. For a moment, Matthew thought his father would unleash fury upon him. But, he just swirled on his heel and left the room.

He quickly learned his father had a plan, a plan he thought Matthew would adhere to. Marry the woman and have a lover on the side. It sounded so simple to William that he was shocked when his son glared at him. Matthew couldn't believe his father’s nerve. Marriage was something sacred. Clearly, his mother leaving his father had loosened a few screws in his father's head.

The argument was loud, things were thrown and bridges were burned. Matthew packed all his most important belongings. He then grabbed his wallet