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the Phoenix Wildcats, until he realizes the coach has no intention of letting him start, and his childhood hero is a withdrawn, wary man.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 had somebody order a car service for him—his days of taking a cab were over—and reached the mansion while the last of the sunshine colored the sky orange. Patton lived in the hills, his house secluded by towering trees and a gate that should have had a giant dollar symbol on the front. It swung open slowly, allowing the car to pull right up to the door. DeShawn shouldn’t have expected anything else, but he was still more than a little surprised. Patton had a rather modest home in Phoenix, and seemed perfectly comfortable there without all the trappings of success. From the outside, this house was beautiful but…ostentatious.


Chapter 59