Running Feral by Erin Russell

TOBIAS
I moved home to take care of my grandmother. Instead, I got caught up with the worst kind of people in town, and now I’m the personal punching bag for a member of the mafia who has no intention of ever letting me go.
He doesn’t care about me. He cares about what he owns. I used to care about things like staying alive, or trying to be a good man, but the longer this goes on, the harder it is to see a future different from this. I don’t even have friends in this town.
The only person I could possibly run to is a bartender who I barely know. Gunnar watches me a lot. He doesn’t speak very often, but the way he watches me, I know he cares. He’s probably the only person who does.
It’s not like I could really ask him for help, though. He’s a stranger, and Eamon isn’t a normal guy. He’s violent and unpredictable. Anyone who tries to ‘save’ me will be putting themselves right in his crosshairs.
Maybe some people just aren’t meant to be free.

GUNNAR
I hated Possum Hollow when I was growing up here. But now I’m older and wiser, I’m able to see it for what it is. Poor and remote, sure. Full of some toxic attitudes? Sometimes. But there are also a lot of amazing people here, and I do more good trying to change the culture than running away.
Which is why I came back and started a business that was meant to be a refuge for people like me who weren’t welcome anywhere else.
But I was also supposed to keep myself distant from them. Give people a safe space, but not get tied up in their problems. Especially not the problems of someone who is way too young, way too pretty, and way, way too damaged for me to be getting attached to.
What can I say? I was never very good at setting boundaries. And Tobias needs someone in his corner more than anyone I’ve ever met. As long as I don’t fall in love with him, everything will be just fine.