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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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 laughed. “I’m not lying. I’m not. There was something else I needed to do. And since Phoenix has become a circus, I decided now would be a good time to do it.”


“I had to do it sometime. Might as well get the ball rolling today.”


“Patton…I’ve got to get going. They’re shouting for me.”


“I know. Kickoff is in thirty minutes. We’ll talk after the game. Good luck out there. Oh, and DeShawn, about last week…”


“You don’t need to say anything about last week.”


“I think maybe I do. You left so fast and you never even sent me a text.”


Chapter 57