Chlorine & Ink

By: Jason M Buss

One viral video. Two different lives. Four words that could burn it all down.

Jesse Valentine has the life everyone dreams of-or at least, the one thirty million people fell in love with online. As the assistant manager of a charming Detroit bookstore, he's just said "yes" to a Pinterest-perfect proposal from Ezekiel Hendricks, a successful, steady, and protective financial analyst who has spent three years polishing Jesse into a masterpiece of stability.

But beneath the pressed shirts and scheduled haircuts, Jesse is drowning. He spends his dawns writing a secret manuscript about a love that felt like "drowning in starlight," a love he thought he buried ten years ago.

Then, a text message from an unknown number shatters his carefully curated reality: "Hey there, pretty boy."

Anson Donovan was Jesse's first everything-the star athlete who devoured him in empty locker rooms and the boy who broke Jesse's jaw on prom night in a fit of terrified rage. Now, Anson is back, no longer the coward he once was, demanding to know why Jesse is settling for a life that doesn't make his heart race.

Caught between the safety of a cathedral and the wild fire of the truth, Jesse must decide who he really is before his story is told for him. With a national television appearance on The Darcy Quinn Show looming, the world is waiting for a fairy tale-but Jesse is finally ready to rise from the ashes.

In a world of highlight reels, can Jesse Valentine find the courage to choose the messy, beautiful, and dangerous truth?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0GNRY3VWC
• ISBN13: 9798248444533
• Release Date: February 2026
• Publisher: Independently published
• Length: 222 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.6" x 5.0"