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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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

Patton did meet DeShawn’s eyes once, and his smile faded, replaced by a thoughtful, though not unpleasant, frown. DeShawn stopped breathing for a moment, feeling trapped and eager at once, knowing Patton could hold him there for as long as he wanted. Somebody said Patton’s name, breaking the connection. DeShawn wanted to push his way through all of them, take Patton by the hand, and drag him somewhere private. Somewhere nobody could follow and the two of them could just be the two of them. He knew he couldn’t reveal his jealousy—especially since Patton had been sending him mixed signals for the past week, pushing DeShawn away with one hand while he pulled him closer with the other.


Chapter 32