War Paint — Sarah Black

There's an art to love.

Mural artist Ben has come from Tel Aviv to Atlanta to work on a commission. A successful artist, he's still lonely and isolated after his family's rejection. Ben is charmed and surprised when local soldier Eli mistakes him for homeless, and brings him a cup of coffee and a biscuit. This gesture opens the door. Eli is lost, trying to make sense of a future without the Army after a combat injury ends his career.

Art gives them a new language and a path forward. But lost men can reach out, desperate to hang on to anyone close. Is what they find together real, and the kind of love that will last?

States of Love: Stories of romance that span every corner of the United States.