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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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

The kiss fluctuated, the two of them falling into an easy push and pull, alternately tasting and tasted. DeShawn traced tiny circles on his neck, infinite geometric patterns sinking through his flesh. The contact was light, barely a caress at all, but Patton’s throat pulled tighter and tighter, clenching in sympathy with the constriction in his groin. He hooked his leg around DeShawn’s legs, holding him in place, trying to destroy the illusion of space between them. They wouldn’t be close enough until one of them was inside the other and Patton didn’t care who topped. Not as long as they were naked and locked together.


Chapter 26