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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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

“Has it been lonely without me?” Patton asked.


“There hasn’t been anybody but you.”


“Too scared? Keeping your head down until the front office stops watching you?”


“I know you are, too. It’s perfect, if you think about it. Nobody would think I’d come here after everything, and you don’t have to worry about anybody else finding out your secret.”


Patton narrowed his eyes. “You’re such a coward.”


“I’m lonely. I know you are, too.” Chris stood toe to toe with him, forcing Patton to look up to meet Chris’s gaze. “We don’t have to be alone this afternoon.”


“That’s not going to make anything better.”


Chris cupped the back of Patton’s head, holding him in place with his large palm. If he shoved Chris away, that’d be the end of it. And he didn’t want Chris. Not anymore. But he’d always be attracted to him. It wasn’t really loneliness that made him wrap his arms around Chris, or silenced the warning bells at the thought of surrender.


Chapter 15