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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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

“Did he catch that?” Oz asked hollowly as the receiver fell out of bounds.


“I think both of his feet were inbounds.”


“There’s no way he caught that. No way.” Most of the Wildcats apparently agreed with his assessment, because they were all gesturing wildly at the ref to signal an incomplete pass. “Shit.”


“First down Breakers on the Wildcats twenty-yard line.”


“Fuck,” Oz spat. “Fuck. What the fuck was that?”


Patton blinked and shook his head. “Luck, maybe.”


“There’s no such thing as luck,” Oz growled before stalking away.


Chapter 11