Shadows Between Us
In a city where ambition shines brighter than honesty, Ethan Blackwood has built his life on control. A rising executive with a flawless image, Ethan keeps his emotions tightly guarded, believing that vulnerability is a weakness he cannot afford. Love, if it exists at all, is something distant—something meant for other people.
Kai Rivera lives by an entirely different rulebook. A bold, intuitive photographer, Kai sees the world through shadows and light, capturing truths others work hard to conceal. Unafraid of emotion or connection, he moves through life with fearless curiosity—until a chance encounter at a rain-soaked art gallery collides him with Ethan.
What begins as a charged glance turns into an undeniable pull.
As Kai’s uninvited lens follows Ethan into quiet cafés, crowded elevators, and hidden rooftops, tension grows into something neither of them can escape. Ethan’s carefully built walls begin to crack under Kai’s relentless honesty, while Kai finds himself drawn deeper into a man who refuses to admit how much he wants to be seen.
But desire is never simple.
Jealousy, misunderstandings, and the pressure of expectations threaten to tear them apart. Forced into moments of uncomfortable proximity, both men are pushed to confront the truths they’ve been avoiding—about fear, identity, and the cost of loving openly. When emotions finally collide, Ethan must decide whether protecting his image is worth losing the one person who sees him completely.
Shadows Between Us is a slow-burn BL romance about longing, restraint, and the courage it takes to step out of the shadows. It is a story of two men learning that love does not demand perfection—only honesty.
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Chapter: no more runningEthan didn't call Marcus back.He didn't call anyone.He went home, stripped off his wet clothes, and sat in the dark living room staring at nothing until the sun came up.His phone lit up periodically through the night. Lucas checking in. A missed call from his mother, probably hearing the news through the grapevine. Three texts from Marcus, each one more insistent than the last.Nothing from Kai.By morning, Ethan felt hollowed out. Empty. Like he'd been running on adrenaline and fear for weeks and his body had finally given up.He made coffee he didn't drink. Opened his laptop to search for jobs he couldn't take. Stared at his bank account balance until the numbers blurred together.Three months of savings left. Maybe four if he was careful.The logical choice was obvious. Call Marcus. Apologize. Find a way back.His finger hovered over the contact.Then he thought about Kai's face last night. The way he'd looked at Ethan like he was watching something break in real time.*You're l
Last Updated: 2026-01-23
Chapter: The breaking pointMorning came with coffee and cautious optimism.Kai made breakfast while Ethan sat at the small kitchen table, watching him move around the space like he belonged there. Easy. Comfortable. Everything Ethan had never let himself have."You're staring again," Kai said, sliding eggs onto a plate."Can't help it."Kai smiled, setting the plate in front of him. "Eat. You need your strength for job hunting."The words were light, but they landed heavy. Job hunting. Reality. The future neither of them wanted to talk about yet.Ethan's phone sat face down on the table. He hadn't mentioned the text from Richard Chen. Wasn't sure why. Maybe because saying it out loud would make it real, would force him to decide what it meant."You okay?" Kai asked, sitting across from him."Yeah. Just thinking.""About?""What comes next."Kai reached across the table, laced their fingers together. "We'll figure it out."The "we" made Ethan's chest tight in the best way.His phone buzzed. They both looked at i
Last Updated: 2026-01-23
Chapter: Ghost and wallsThe weekend passed too quickly.Ethan spent most of it at Kai's apartment, neither of them acknowledging the elephant in the room. They cooked breakfast together, watched old movies, existed in a bubble that felt fragile as glass. Every time Ethan's phone lit up with another message from the firm, Kai would distract him. A kiss. A touch. A story about his childhood that made Ethan laugh despite the dread pooling in his stomach.But Sunday night arrived anyway."You should go home," Kai said, even though his arms were still wrapped around Ethan on the couch. "Get some sleep. Be ready for tomorrow.""I don't want to.""I know." Kai pressed his face into Ethan's neck. "But you need to."They stayed like that for another hour before Ethan finally forced himself to leave. The walk to his own apartment felt like moving through water. Heavy. Slow. Wrong.His place was exactly as he'd left it. Clean. Organized. Empty.He didn't sleep.By the time Monday morning came, Ethan had rehearsed seven
Last Updated: 2026-01-23
Chapter: Standing in the LightThe city had never felt so loud.Ethan stood at the edge of the conference room, hands clasped behind his back, eyes fixed on the skyline beyond the glass walls. Below him, traffic flowed relentlessly indifferent to headlines, rumors, or the way his life had fractured under scrutiny.Behind him, voices murmured.Board members. Legal counsel. Executives who had once praised his discipline now watched him like a liability.“Ethan,” the chairman said carefully, “this situation has become untenable.”Ethan didn’t turn around. “Because I went to someone’s apartment?”“Because of perception,” another voice cut in. “Your association is distracting. Investors are uneasy.”Association.Not love. Not truth. Not humanity.Just optics.“We’re prepared to offer you a path forward,” the chairman continued. “A public statement. Distance. A clean break.”Ethan finally turned.“And if I don’t?” he asked.Silence followed.“You will be removed from your position.”The words landed cleanly. Final.Ethan
Last Updated: 2026-01-03
Chapter: What the Light RevealsThe fallout came faster than Ethan expected.It always did.By Monday morning, whispers followed him through the office corridors quiet conversations that stopped when he passed, glances that lingered just long enough to sting. The promotion announcement never came. Instead, there were meetings without invitations, decisions made without his input.He felt it slipping away.Control. Status. The life he had built so carefully.And yet, when his phone buzzed with a single messageKai: Are you okay?none of it mattered.Ethan left work early.He didn’t bother with excuses.Kai’s apartment was warm and understated soft lighting, neutral tones, photographs lining the walls like fragments of a soul laid bare. Ethan had seen Kai’s work in galleries, but this was different. These photos weren’t curated. They were honest. People caught mid-breath. Mid-truth.Mid-love.Kai stood by the window when Ethan arrived, arms crossed loosely, eyes searching Ethan’s face the moment the door closed behind
Last Updated: 2026-01-03
Chapter: The Cost of SilenceEthan didn’t hear from Kai for three days.Not a message.Not a call.Not even the accidental coincidence Ethan had come to dread and secretly crave.At first, he told himself it was a relief.The quiet fit neatly back into the shape of his life. Meetings. Emails. Polished conversations. Everything returned to its proper place, smooth and untouched. No complications. No dangerous proximity.But silence, he learned, could be louder than confrontation.It followed him everywhere.In the reflection of glass office walls. In the empty chair across from him at the café. In the ghost of Kai’s warmth still lingering in his memory his wrist beneath Ethan’s fingers, the way he hadn’t pulled away.Ethan pressed his pen too hard against the paper, tearing through the page.“Damn it,” he muttered.Lucas noticed immediately.“You look like hell,” his friend said, leaning against Ethan’s desk. “Want to explain why you’ve been staring at your phone like it personally betrayed you?”Ethan didn’t answ
Last Updated: 2026-01-03
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