The baby isn’t either of theirs (but it can be anyone else’s you want it to be— no single lovelorn dads please). And one of the men is a knitter who became well known for his blog and designs.How did they end up starting a campaign to knit for charity? And, show us how they connected along the way.Photo Description: A black-haired man with darkly stubbled cheeks is sitting down, holding a baby up to a man standing close and leaning slightly forward. This man is blond and wears a knitted beanie. The baby tugs on the blond man’s beard.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    They welcomed me into their family with open arms… but what I feel for them, well, let’s just say I don’t think of them as my substitute parents. They are my best friends, and I want them both so bad it hurts to be around them. I know I’m young, but I’m nineteen, not a kid. I know they saw how I looked at them the other day when I accidentally walked in on them, and ever since then, they’ve been looking back… What do I do?Photo Description: The picture is of two twenty-something men lying on a beach. They are fully clothed in jeans and T-shirts, wrapped up in one another’s bodies, but not looking at each other. One gazes off into the distance, and the other at the camera, as though they are both looking for something they can’t quite find. They seem happy, but a perceptive observer might detect some tension; a sign that maybe there’s something missing in their outwardly idyllic life together.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    I’ve never seen him look like that. I’ve never seen him look at ME like that! And never in a million years did I think he’d be kissing ME! What is going on!Photo Description: Two shirtless men are writhing on top of one another on a hardwood floor. Personal effects seem scattered around in the men’s anxiousness to be with one another. The guy on the bottom has a massive tattoo spanning his rib cage and the guy on top seems to be in raptures.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    To make ends meet, Dane and his crew take up mercenary jobs. Yet wherever they go, trouble never seems to be far behind.On what should have been a routine cargo delivery, the ship is forced to make an unexpected pit-stop on the barren wastelands of Earth. There Dane meets a young man with no name or past, whose only companion is a leopard by the name of Spot. Feeling a connection to him, Dane takes the duo onto his ship, unaware of the trouble he has invited in.When the young man's memories begin to surface, Dane leads his crew across space in search of a hidden past, to a backwater planet where something is very amiss.Original Prompt:Dear Author,He was wrong, that's why his family left him on Earth. It was for his own good. The Elders would have taken him away, tried to 'fix' him. It wasn't safe for him on his home world, ever.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is Always Write" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    Who is he dancing for? An audience? One person? Himself? Please help me find out!Photo Description: A black/white photo of a young man dancing. His black pants ride very low on his hips. His unlaced vest is open to show off his otherwise bare torso. His body is slightly arched so that his right shoulder dips lower. His right thumb is positioned vaguely like he's hitchhiking, the left hooked in his waistband.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.Read the story here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 4.__________Genre: contemporary BDSMTags: gay m/m, BDSM, stripping, anal sex, voyeurWord Count: 10,747

    A trip to the movies brings him face to face with the ways he has changed since meeting D.

    Instead, his overprotective corporate CEO mother demands that he stay in New York City and help her evaluate the benefits of a potential merger. Jordy agrees, but resents to constant presence of his mother's spy, her administrative assistant, Ken. Until one night he sends Ken out on an errand and discovers a sketch of the two of them together that throws his life into a tailspin. After suffering through traumatic childhood events, Jordy believed he'd never be able to get close to anyone, especially a man, but he can't stop thinking about the drawing and Ken. Ken thinks that Jordy is out of his league and he has family responsibilities that mean he can't risk his job by pursuing his boss' son, but neither can he deny his attraction. Jordy and Ken have to decide if there are too many obstacles between them or if they can somehow create a merger of equals.STORY INFO:Genre: contemporaryTags: businessmen/lawyers, sweet no sex, abduction/kidnapping, hurt/comfort, coming outContent Notice: off-page deaths of background characters, off-page child abduction, discussion of past child abuse; discussion of past sexual abuseWord count: 23,435Author's note: This story has a Happy For Now ending, but it's only the beginning. Unfortunately, when the boys' tale took on a life of it's own and grew much more complicated than I ever anticipated, I was unable to write out the whole story due to the LHNB event deadline and other simultaneous obligations. I am, however, planning a follow up that will tie up all loose ends and will hopefully be available in the first quarter of 2014.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    P. Barnaby – END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT (First Love )*Sarah Black – SUCKER-PUNCH (Athlete/Hurt-Comfort )Scarlet Blackwell – BREAKING WAVES (Surfing/Angst )Penny Brandon – FINDING JACK (Cowboys/Mild BDSM )Lee Brazil – BE A BAD BOY (First-Time/Family Drama )Cardeno C. – WOMAN WITH A DILDO (Friends to Lovers )L.C. Chase – OPEN TACKLE (Friends to Lovers )*Kim Dare – MASOCHISM 101 (BDSM/Friends to Lovers )S.J. Frost – A LITTLE BIT COUNTRY (Musicians/Rivals to Lovers )Jeanette Grey – HEART AND SOUL (Friends to Lovers )Jambrea Jo Jones – WILD BLUE YONDER (Military )*Pender Mackie by DOG DAYS OF SUMMER (Blue Collar/First Date )JL Merrow – BEAR NAKED (First-time/Bears )M.J. O'Shea – BRIDGES (First Love )*Neil S. Plakcy – PHOTO BOOTH (Cowboys/FBI )Dustin Adrian Rhodes – STORM OF PASSION (Friends to Lovers )Jaime Samms – MOURNING (Hurt/Comfort )*Justin South – REFLECTIONS (First Love/Hurt-Comfort )Zach Sweets – LUSCIOUS LOVE (Coming out/Food Kinky )Piper Vaughn – WANTING (First Love )*Silvia Violet – TIME TO TELL (Military/Friends to Lover)Deanna Wadsworth – UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE (Office Sex )Stuart Wakefield – THE ELEMENTS OF LOVE (Sci-Fi/Ménage )Alex Whitehall – HOLD ME TIGHT (Hurt-Comfort/BDSM Light )Lisa Worrall – JUST ONE KISS (Gay-for-You/Cops )Connor Wright – GONE TO PIECES (Sci-Fi/Mild BDSM )

    Can you please help explain this to me?Photo Description: Three teenage guys stand in shallow water wearing black shoes and wet khaki shorts draped low on their hips, shirts carried in their hands. The two on the right stand closer together, but one of them reaches out to wrap his arm around the shoulders of the third taller boy. That guy stands a little apart, his expression cool.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.Download the story, read it here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 4.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, m/m/m, barely legal, high schoolWord Count: 7,900

    We all do dumb shit when it’s just the guys, after all, right? And I mean, clearly they’ve seen me before when I was competing on the college team, but I guess it’s an understatement to say that they’ve never seen me perform in such― ahem― brief attire.Most of the guys looked uncomfortable, but I noticed one of them looking at me like he had something else in mind. He’s new and kinda one of the more quiet ones among us, so I don’t know much about him. I’ve only just started to realize that I might… well, kinda sorta totally… like guys and not girls. Is it possible he could maybe be… like me?Photo Description: A young, heavily muscled man, with his dark hair in a pompadour, is performing a gymnastics routine on a pommel horse wearing only his underwear.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    I’ve never done anything like this before. Hell, I’m NAKED! I’ve never even kissed and I’m sitting here nekkid? That damn Phil! It’s his fault. He said that I would have the best time. Yeah, right. Phil and I had been best friends since kindergarten. We did everything together. He always had my back and looked out for me. Phil was a joker, the cool jock, and straight. I was (still am) the shy one. My head was always in a book. Yeah, that’s me in the glasses with a bowl of cereal for a loin cloth. Thank the gods for cool glasses these days, yeah? Even when I got up the courage to tell Phil that I was gay, he didn’t hate me for that. He wanted me to be happy. He told me that he always knew and said, “What took you so long to tell me?” He accepted me. All the fretting I’d done over telling him, geez. Phil got sick last January. I was with him till his last day at the hospice. Damn, I miss him so much. We (he) planned this trip two years ago on a whim…on a dare really. Phil had dared me to venture out in life. What? Like I didn’t already have one? He laughed at that and said that work and books were not the only things in life for a cool teddy bear. Coulda fooled me. Teddy bear? He wanted to help me come out of my shell. He got some travel brochures for Gay resorts. Yup, that’s how Phil rolled, coz he thought I’d never do it. We looked them over, and guess which one he picked? You got it…the nekkid, clothing NOT optional resort. Coming out of your shell, my ass! I was terrified! I didn’t show it then and laughed it off. But oh god, when I got home…. So here I sit. My first morning here… in my birthday suit for chrissake…along with every guy here. Shit, what am I doing? I met the guy sitting across from me this morning standing in the food line. Guess where my bowl was? He introduced himself and asked if we could sit together for breakfast. Courage, courage, I said yes. Ahhhhhh! What am I supposed to do now? Everything is all new! How am I going to get through the rest of this trip?! Help!!!Photo Description: Two burly, middle-aged, naked men sit in wooden chairs, eating at a tiny round table. The slightly younger, smoother man with a dark crew-cut holds his bowl up and gazes across at the other's bowed greying head. The second man stares down through wire-framed glasses at his bowl, held strategically over his groin, his feet awkwardly curled over each other.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Hot Summer Days" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.Read the story here or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 1.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, bears, nudists, first time, fluff, holiday romance, coming out, humorWord Count: 2,997

    After my last disastrous relationship with a close friend, you'd think I'd learn my lesson and choose someone else for a rebound. Someone I don't have a solid friendship with. I should definitely stay away from Wyatt. But when have I ever listened to logic?WYATTI’d long forgotten my college crush on Aron. He was never a possibility, having friend-zoned me from the beginning. But now he’s drunk and looking for a rebound. It’d totally ruin our almost decade-long friendship. I have to say no and be the bigger person … right?**Rebound is a 17,000 word short story that belongs to the Fake Boyfriend series but does not contain a fake boyfriend trope. While it can be read as a standalone, it’s recommended to be read in companion with the series.**

    Since we were supposed to be rivals and everyone expected us to fight, we just did it. But then we met under completely unexpected circumstances and realized that neither of us is the prick we thought the other one was. Eventually, we became friends and now I cannot imagine a life without him. Just a few people know that we only fight for publicity now and actually like each other very much.But during our last “fight” something went awfully wrong. He grabbed me in front of the cameras and kissed me! And I liked it! Now, everyone asks me if we are gay or if that was some kind of prank. But I really don’t know! I need to talk to him but he doesn’t react to my phone calls. The only thing I know is that I don’t want to lose him.Photo Description: Two men stand whisper-close, one second from a kiss.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    Can you?Photo Description: He stands there, sleek, muscles rounded with that perfect, pale ass shining like a beacon, rubbing his hands together. I love his tan, taut body but especially those curves that can’t be hidden. Not when he’s wearing shorts or pants and certainly not when he’s wearing that tiny Speedo. Best of all is when he’s not wearing anything at all, and he’s eager for everything I plan to do to him.This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

    Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.Read the story here or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 9.