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

“I’ll take your word for it,” Beau said. “I pilot, you navigate.”


Beau plugged the destination address into his phone, and once the faintly condescending female computer voice started giving directions, it was as if all of Vin’s normal good cheer drained right out of him. He sat in the truck, commented not at all about Beau’s Cars CDs all over the seat, and stared out the window. He didn’t answer Beau’s few conversation attempts, nor did he even wince when Beau sang along to the music.


“Pull in here,” Vin directed. The building was huge and ugly, like office buildings tended to be, glass and brick and solid with no-nonsense angles. A few snow-covered bushes attempted to soften the lines, but it was, without a doubt, a corporate building of some sort, filled with cubicle hives and people counting time until Friday.


Chapter 34