Bar worker and serial slut Terry Seymour is hardly charm personified when it 
to romance. In fact, he doesn't believe in love at all despite his latent
desire for his best friend of fourteen years, builder Marc Pierce.

 Dan Hutchinson is a young homeless man living in a derelict house Marc's
halfway to renovating. When Marc announces Dan's moving in for a while, Terry is
understandably miffed. After all, it hasn't been that long since Marc split with
his boyfriend of a year, so why is he intent on bringing a total stranger into
their home?

 It seems to Terry there's more to this arrangement than meets the eye. Marc
must be providing Dan with food and lodgings in exchange for sex. And with the
lusty vibes Dan sends his way, it's not long before Terry succumbs to the boy's
talents between the sheets. But carrying on with Dan behind his best friend's
back is not easy. Or desirable. And when Terry's plans to oust Dan fail, he's
the one who finds himself out in the cold.

When world-weary Louis Duncan returns to
the English town where he grew up, the last thing on his mind is finding love.
He's come home to be at his estranged mother's side as she lies comatose in a
hospital bed.

The always-sunny barman Jake Harvey yearns to offer Louis
much more than a willing ear. After an evening of too much wine, too much Indian
take-out, and too much of Jake's soft lips, Louis succumbs to the young man's
charms. Jake proves to be a passionate lover as well as a loyal
friend.

When his mother’s condition deteriorates, Louis leans on Jake to
help him through the difficulty of another loss. The love of his life died two
years before, but to Louis he remains every bit alive as Jake. He and Carter
continue to chat, smoke together, even argue over whether Louis is living or
merely existing. They do everything as they always did, except have sex. Now,
despite Carter urging him to take the risk, can Louis give up his first real
love and take his chances with the living?