When the playboy quarterback of the hapless New York Templars is injured in a freak sexcapade, backup QB Quinn Novak picks up the ball and takes the team to the playoffs. There he attracts the attention of two other quarterbacks who’ve been rivals since high school, Mal Ryan of the Philadelphia Quakers and Tam Tarquin of the San Francisco Miners.<br><br>Quinn begins a volatile relationship with the narcissistic Mal and a loving one with the open-hearted Tam, keeping each secret from the other. What he doesn’t know is that the two have a complex sexual history of their own.

The Penalty for Holding

“You have come a long way,” he said to Quinn.


“Yes,” Quinn replied, looking at him fearfully.


Here Quinn shot him a look that said don’t go there


“Oh, for God’s sake,” Mal said. “You could’ve gotten that out of Sportin’ Lifemagazine. Tell us something you couldn’t have read.”


“All right,” Luis said, giving him a hard look. He was a serene man, Quinn thought, but even the calm and centered could be roused to anger by a tormentor like Mal.


“May I have a piece of paper and a pen?” Luis asked.


He scribbled something, folded it and handed it to Quinn.


“Well, I’ll be damned,” Quinn said. “It’s the name of the dog I had when I was five—Rory. Now I know I’ve never told any reporters that. Let’s give him a hand.”


And with that, Quinn held up the paper as the guests clapped, tearing it into tiny pieces and thrusting them deep into his pockets before Vienne could snatch any from him.


Chapter 37