The Space He Left for Me
A tender, slow-burn gay small-town romance about a second chance, forbidden longing, a debt that becomes love, hidden truths, and a damaged man learning to stayBy Reese Hartwell
Length8h 23m
About this audiobook
Jonah moved three states away to disappear, not to fall for the man climbing through his broken fence.
The Massachusetts plates were still on his truck. The boxes weren't even unpacked. He'd come to the Oregon coast to outrun a brother's debts and a year he couldn't undo.
Then Ethan Marchetti hooked one leg over the rotted crossbeam, calm as anything, and said his kayak was beached on the wrong side of the gap.
"I'm Ethan. I work at the marine research center down the road. I'm sorry about the fence. I should have knocked."
Jonah's hands were still half-curled into fists. He made himself unclench them. Ethan's eyes crinkled at the corners like he smiled more than he didn't.
"I startled you. And I broke your fence climbing through it. That's a debt."
It was supposed to end there. One fixed fence between strangers, then three states of silence. But debts on this coast have a way of multiplying — a repaired boat at midnight, a delivery gone badly wrong, a photograph hidden in a toolbox, a double life that catches up at the worst possible hour.
The closer Jonah lets Ethan get, the more he has to lose: the quiet he crossed a country to find, and the secret that could put both their futures in front of a town council and a court.
Then comes the night it all breaks open. The chase on the water. The arrest. The black, sick certainty that he's ruined the one good thing he didn't think he was allowed.
Some people leave a space behind them, shaped exactly like the person you became when they were gone.
To keep Ethan, Jonah will have to stop running — and decide whether a man who's only ever been left can finally be the one who stays.
The Space He Left for Me is a tender, slow-burn gay small-town romance about a second chance, forbidden longing, a debt that becomes love, hidden truths, and a damaged man learning to stay.
Perfect for readers who love MM small-town romance, grumpy-meets-steady pairings, found family, forced proximity, and an emotional second chance. A standalone romance with a hard-earned happy ending.
Audiobook details
GenreRomance, General Fiction
Length8 hrs 23 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Introduction
2Chapter 1 - The Fence I Didn’t Build
3Chapter 2 - The First Apology
4Chapter 3 - The Lie I Told Myself
5Chapter 4 - Wine and Shrapnel
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6Chapter 5 - The Echo of a Watch
7Chapter 6 - Broken Boards
8Chapter 7 - The Second Betrayal
9Chapter 8 - The Night We Repaired a Boat
10Chapter 9 - The Offer
11Chapter 10 - The Double Life
12Chapter 11 - The Truth Between Us
13Chapter 12 - The Chowder Days Bet
14Chapter 13 - The Photograph in the Toolbox
15Chapter 14 - The Delivery That Went Wrong
16Chapter 15 - The Interrogation
17Chapter 16 - The Warning
18Chapter 17 - The Council Meeting
19Chapter 18 - The Aftermath
20Chapter 19 - The Chase at Sea
21Chapter 20 - The Arrest
22Chapter 21 - The Black Moment
23Chapter 22 - The Fix
24Chapter 23 - The Dedication
25Chapter 24 - The New Start
26Chapter 25 - The First Date
27Chapter 26 - The Brother’s Peace
28Chapter 27 - The Grant Approval
29Chapter 28 - The Space He Left for Me
30Epilogue
31About the Author
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