The first year is always the hardest.

Freshly graduated from an Ivy League university, Ethan Read is embarking on his legal career as a junior associate in a prestigious law firm. He's keen to make his mark on the world, and if that means working a hundred hours a week, so be it. The fact that Ethan is gay has never been a huge deal for him, mostly because he's never had the time to act on it. That doesn't seem likely to change at a firm where junior associates routinely duck away for naps in lieu of actual sleep.

Not three weeks into his first year, Ethan has the honor of meeting Rick Frelman. A senior associate and famed litigator, Rick is handsome, brilliant, talented, everything a man could want – more to the point, he's everything Ethan wants.

Ethan is thrilled when he is assigned to help Rick on a murder trial. But working in close association with Rick brings Ethan face to face with the force of his desire – and the reality of what it means to be a criminal defense lawyer.

As Ethan and Rick embark on a torrid, passionate affair, a difficult case takes an unexpected turn, challenging Ethan's commitment to the law – and Rick's commitment to Ethan.