“How are you?” Sophie asked, her voice suddenly unsure, her eyes holding doubt.

“Fine.” Ayden stepped closer. It was a good thing his arms were full of groceries or he might be tempted to touch that soft-looking lock of tawny hair that fell across her cheek. “You?”

“Good.” His eyes followed the movement as she spoke. “We’re, uh, going bowling later. Would you like to come?”

Wait. What? “Bowling?” His eyes flickered up to meet her gaze.

“You know, it’s that sport where you take a big black ball and roll it down a wooden floor,” she said with a glint in her eye.

He furrowed his brow in mock disgust when he realized she was teasing him. “Not hardly a sport.”

She smiled and her eyes sparkled. “Would you like to come with us?”

No. The answer he should give was “no” because her friends clearly didn’t like him. And though she didn’t seem to mind his status as persona non grata, she would soon enough. The allure of the criminal element always faded once the reality became known. He could soften his dialect, eliminate profanity, even remove his tattoos, but he couldn’t erase the years of violence he’d both inflicted and received. He didn’t fit with her friends and never would.

“Okay,” he said, much to his own surprise.

“Great.” And she looked like she truly believed it. “We’ll be at Hondo’s on First Avenue about nine. See you then.” She gave him a little wave and then jogged off to join her friends around the corner.

Bowling? Had he really agreed to spend the evening with people who looked at him like he was sidewalk gum? People who acted like they wanted to find a stick and scrape him off?

Reckless Association is a sweet and gritty story that contrasts the worlds of inner-city violence and small town prejudice through the experience of Ayden Breckinridge as he seeks a new start in life.

Ayden "Reck" Breckinridge is a street-level enforcer, known on the inner-city streets of Cincinnati as The Wrecker. His occupation is written on his skin with ink and scars and in his eyes with a look of steel. When a community leader assaults his sister, the only person who shares space with in his shriveled heart, he seeks vengeance in the only way he knows. However, just as violence breeds violence, so too does aggravated violence lead to time in a federal prison. Upon his release, Reck finds a second chance at the foot of the Cross. Weary of pain and death, Reck grabs onto salvation with both hands, taking his first step on the road to recovery. But can the power of God transform a life so filled with violence? Seeking to reinvent himself, Reck leaves his criminal history behind in the gang-ravaged streets of Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati and moves to Ancora, a small town in Ohio. But what he cannot leave behind are the consequences of a lifetime of aggression. Day by day, hour upon hour, he progresses away from his past, stumbling, falling, but rising up anew to try again. His life, he learns, is a work in progress. But the people of Ancora do not want the ex-con among them. They judge him harshly, seeing only the way his apparel, his status, and behavior patterns make differ from those in their community. Except for Sophie Paetan who sees beyond Reck's scruffy clothes and tattoos to the man beneath. Can Reck overcome his tumultuous history to find love with Sophie? When the selfish choices of his past life intrude on their relationship, can Sophie and Reck overcome the consequences of his past and build a future together?