Charlie and Noah have known each other for a long time, although they were not close friends they did grow up together.  As adults Noah reaches out to Charlie after a tragedy takes both Charlie’s parents from him.  Charlie has a hard time dealing with his parent’s death and retreated into himself, living life as a hermit.  Noah refused to allow Charlie to push him away and their relationship evolves into a physical one.  As Noah’s feelings for Charlie grow Charlie continues to treat him with a cold reserve.  The only time Charlie opens up is when he is talking with his online game buddy, but what Charlie doesn’t know is his online buddy is really Noah using the screen name ‘Sly Cat’.

Noah’s hope that one day Charlie will care for him as he cares for Charlie is crushed when Charlie confides in “Sly Cat’ that he didn’t have a boyfriend only a sex buddy.  Hurt and discouraged Noah decides it time to move on, and save himself from further heartbreak.

Charlie didn’t think he would miss Noah’s presence in his life as much as he did, but when Noah stopped coming around Charlie realized how much he did care about Noah.  Charlie now fears he may have lost the one person he loves because he could not see past his own needs.

Pulling Away was good, but I had issues with Charlie.  He was very selfish and self-absorbed and I felt his treatment of Noah was unacceptable.  Noah was sweet, and he wore his heart on his sleeve where Charlie was concerned. I understand that Charlie was hurting over the loss of his parents but it doesn’t excuse how he treated Noah.  Pulling Away portrays perfectly the old saying of not knowing what you have until it’s gone.  Charlie didn’t realize how special Noah was until Noah left him alone but honestly Charlie didn't deserve Noah.  Shawn Lane did a great job in getting me emotionally involved with this story.  They may not be the emotions that were sought after but I had strong feelings while reading Pulling Away.