The memories he had willfully ignored and carelessly forgotten surged back like a flood and swallowed him whole.
When Gavin was 18, arrogant and rebellious, he made enemies.
A gang of street thugs cornered him in an alley and beat him bloody.
It was the slight, teenage Elise who threw herself over him without regard for her own safety.
She took every blow meant for him. A sharp weapon cut a deep gash across her palm, leaving a permanent scar.
Because of that injury, she also missed the college entrance exam that would determine her future.
Without a word of complaint, she sacrificed her certain place at an elite university.
At 19, unwilling to be separated from him, she defied her family, gave up a secure place at a local university, and followed him alone to study in a strange city
