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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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 didn’t try to challenge DeShawn again on that drive, calling a running play and then scoring with a bootleg pass to J.J. from the five. With nine minutes left in the quarter, the score stood at twenty-three to twenty-eight.


Castillo didn’t take that score lightly. He started on his own ten, walking out to the scrimmage line with a new swagger in his step. This was only his fourth year in the league, but he played like a much older veteran. Quick, smart, and clean. The Breakers were one of the least penalized teams in the conference precisely because he ran a tight ship. He didn’t get too excited, didn’t get stressed, didn’t turn over the ball. He was rock solid. Which was why Patton couldn’t quite believe his eyes when the ball went flying out of Castillo’s hand a split second before his knees hit the ground. Howard recovered it, and no sooner did the referee indicate a change of possession than a red flag hit the ground on the opposite sideline.


Chapter 55