From the farms of Tennessee, Beau Watkins had it all in high school: the cute girl, the popular jock lifestyle, a loving family. As a rising freshman at an out-of-state college, he's determined to find out who he really is behind the fake it 'til you make it attitude. He joins Rainbow Connection, the gay student alliance, hoping to find himself. Instead, he meets Vin Reyes. Raised by his grandparents and the heir to a prosperous company, Vin has been out of the closet since he figured out what that meant. He has it all: fashionable clothing, fancy cars, huge houses, and a real party lifestyle, even a bodyguard. Most of all, he has a secret. Uncomfortable with Vin's generosity, Beau fights his growing attraction for the president of Rainbow Connection, instead chasing a series of shallow affairs. Vin's never been denied anything he wants, though, and now he wants Beau. But it isn’t until an old rival puts Beau in the hospital that Vin realizes Beau means more to him than a simple affair. Can the two of them bridge the gap between their worlds and roll with the all the punches life throws at them?

On a Roll

It’s a good thing I’m gay. Even more than the norm, he did not understand women. He didn’t want to understand women, and more than half the time he really just wished they’d stop. Talking. Oh. My. God.


Beau: When I get off the phone? 10 mins? Bacon?


“Look, Momma,” Beau interrupted a tirade about the county adding another storm water tax, “I gotta run. Gonna grab some dinner with my friends.”


The phone was already on the way to the cradle when his mother yelled, “Eat something green!” just before he hung up.


“Be careful there,” Josh observed, looking over the edge of his book, “Your Dixieland is showing.”


Beau grinned, somewhat shamefaced. “Yeah, that happens sometimes. Sorry.”


“I’m sure the ladies think it’s adorable. I bet they fall all over that shit,” Josh said. “Poor me, I’m pure Chicagoan. I need, you know, a gimmick to get girls to talk to me.”


“I’ll throw you my spares, if you want?”


Chapter 9