Pepper Espinoza

Patton Cooper won three national championships as the starting quarterback for the Los Angeles Marauders, but that didn’t stop them from trading him to Phoenix without so much as a warning. At thirty-two, he finds himself weighed down by old injuries and forced to start over again as a backup quarterback for an untried rookie. Deeply hurt by the betrayal of both his team and his ex-lover, Patton keeps to himself and takes what solace he can in football.<br><br>Cornerback DeShawn Jones has loved two things in his life -- football and Patton Cooper. It seems like his dreams have come true when he’s drafted to play for the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man. But DeShawn refuses to give up on his dreams of playing, or his hope of reaching Patton.<br><br>A tentative connection forms between the two men, but the pressures of the game may be too much for the relationship to withstand. Especially when DeShawn is given the chance of a lifetime while Patton struggles not to relive the mistakes from his past.

Mr. November

“What would you do?” DeShawn asked, at his side once again.


“I’d get the ball to the end zone.”


Patton shook his head. “I can’t answer without getting a good look at their defense.”


“You’ve been looking at them all week. Studying the tapes when you think nobody notices.”


“So you’re telling me you’d trot out onto that field without a single strategy in mind? You have to call something in the huddle.”


Patton shook his head again. He had a process, but it was his own, and he didn’t speak about it to anybody except Coach and Chip. He especially wasn’t going to describe his method to this kid. Who knew where he’d end up in the next season? Who knew where either would of them would be?


“That’s fine, I wouldn’t tell me either.”


“I thought you had me all figured out. You tell me.”


Chapter 3