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

“School is great, mom. I aced my midterms in economics and Spanish. Bio was a C plus, but I’ve got the lab nailed, so my final grade should be okay.”


“Then what’s the problem that you seem to be softening me up for?”


Great. Slightly hostile. That’s not how he wanted to approach this conversation. With his pregnant niece—and everyone had scrupulously not talked about it over dinner, but he bet thatwas some conversation going on in the gender-separated rooms—and all that, maybe it was just better to not. His stomach took a slow dip to the left, the painful relief of a dreaded thing pushed off into the nebulous future. “Can’t I just have missed you?” He leaned forward and kissed his mother on the forehead.


She twitched her mouth sideways at him. “You could. Give me leave to doubt it.”


“Love you, too, Momma,” he said. “I’m going to go keep Aunt Lucy company.”


“You’re still smoking? Thought you were gonna quit on that.”


Chapter 31