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

“Oh, you know Hector,” she said, breezily folding one of the fliers. She whipped out a pen and jotted “Aidan” on it, then stuffed it under the door at room 113. “Upstairs, now. We’ve got the other two on third-west.”


“No, really, I don’t,” Beau said.


Ann-Marie stopped on the stairs; she was a step above him and this put him eye-to-eye with the tough, blonde girl. He’d never really looked that closely at her face before. She was friendly enough, in a straight talk, no-nonsense sort of way that he wasn’t used to from girls. She was, in essence, one of the guys. And she’d probably knock him right down the stairs for saying so. He was just wise enough to not say it anyway. “Look, Beau, I hope you didn’t think a fling with Hector was going to mean anything. He’s not like that. He’s a boyslut. A nice one. He never means to hurt anyone, but he’s not going to call you up, not going to buy you dinner, and you’re not going to take him home to meet your family.”


Chapter 20