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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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

“He was not happy with that. I’d never seen him more upset. By then he was thirteen, and he had an amazing arm for his age. He thought the coach underestimating him. I think it definitely stung his pride a little. But he changed his tune after only a couple of weeks. He never looked back after that.


“DeShawn flourished in high school, turning down athletic scholarships in favor of attending UCLA. It’s where his hero, Patton Cooper, played.”


“I used to take him to a few UCLA games every season, and he used to be just in awe of Cooper. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s when he decided he wanted to be a quarterback. He even waited after a game for an autograph. We still have that card on our mantle. DeShawn was a Breakers fan like me, but Patton Cooper was the one he watched.”


Chapter 50