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

Vin said nothing. By the time Beau finished getting dressed, he was, frankly, terrified with worry. “Hey, really,” Beau said, putting an arm around Vin’s shoulders. “It’s all right if you don’t want to tell me. I didn’t mean to spoil the day.”


Vin turned haunted eyes on him, filled with enough pain, uncharacteristic agony, that Beau would have given his left arm to snatch the words back.


Oh, but he had. Whatever this was, it was bad. Beau gritted his teeth. Best get it done with, then.


“I’d forgotten about it,” Beau said, talking to fill space. “You didn’t wear it at your grandparents’ place.”


Vin laughed, dull, flat, the antithesis of good humor. “No, I couldn’t do that.” He took a deep breath, seesawing the ring on its chain, the gold rasping against the links. “It was my mother’s. Marlin recovered it for me about a month ago.”


Chapter 54