The summer before fourth grade, Colten Mosley moved into the house across the street from mine, and we became inseparable.

He played the piano and baseball.
I had a penchant for dead things while at the same time imagining what it would be like to kiss Colten.

We were filled with curiosity and overly active imaginations.
We were also forbidden to be more than friends.
But that didn't stop us.

Weeks before graduation, he annihilated my heart, and it's been seventeen years since the day I knew I'd hate him forever.

Now he's back in my life-a single dad and a homicide detective looking over my shoulder while I perform autopsies as one of Chicago's most gifted forensic pathologists. Then fate throws us a curveball.

Colten saves my life, but he can't erase the images that now keep me awake at night. And I can't explain them.

Am I still the girl he's always loved? Or nothing more than pieces of that life?

*This story contains sensitive and graphic content.