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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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

DeShawn tried not to let on, but Coach Williams made him really fucking nervous. The man was a legend in the AFA, with a combined total of six championships as a player and coach. He still held most of the records quarterbacks cared about—most completions in a single year, most yards in a year, most all-time passing yards, and three MVP awards. But that’s not why he made DeShawn nervous. DeShawn didn’t get starstruck, even by the biggest stars in the galaxy—none of them outshone Patton in his personal galaxy anyway. But there was no light in the man’s eyes. He never looked happy or sad, disappointed or angry. His gaze was always flat, unassuming, unrevealing. When DeShawn stepped into his office, he knew what must have been coming, but Coach’s face didn’t reveal a damned thing.


Chapter 40