Craving Stains by Alina Popescu

All Wynn Brenwood knows is the sterile apartment his mother has kept him trapped in since birth. Locked away in a hospital-like cage, Wynn longs to escape his mother’s hold and experience the world beyond what he can see through his window or research on his computer.

Wynn’s mother insists he cannot face the outside world without falling ill again. Is it her desire to keep him safe that motivates his imprisonment, or is it something else?

Desperate to break free, he encounters Doyle, a handsome, enigmatic stranger, whose life is the opposite of Wynn’s. But is Doyle real, or is he an illusion Wynn’s imagination has created to make life tolerable?