He feels even more guilty when he finds Peter has prepared a special dinner for him, complete with a Sweetest Day cake – and David doesn’t even consider Sweetest Day a real holiday. But after nearly twenty years together, David knows just how to make things up to Peter…

    But only if he has the strength of will to let go.
Poe passes through a graffiti-laden alley, his chin tucked into his chest, a scarf wrapped tightly over his mouth to keep out the cold. He has nowhere to go since Isaac's death, but something compels him out in the frigid Chicago winter. He steps out of the alley, off the curb, and...into sand. In summertime. Isaac told him it would happen but Poe doesn't care how it's possible, only that now he has a chance to make everything right.

    He's unable to rid himself of survivor’s guilt, made worse by the secret he hides from his family and co-workers. Nick's life is centered around helping burn victims, until he is reunited with the man he’d once loved but pushed away. Now he has a second chance at a love he thought lost forever.For fashion designer Julian Cornell, appearances mean everything. His love affairs are strictly casual, and the only thing he cares about is making his clothing line a success. A chance encounter with the man he loved long ago has Julian thinking for the first time in years there may be more to life than being seen at the best parties and what designer labels to wear.When Julian’s world takes an unexpected turn, it's Nick who helps him regain perspective on what matters most in life. Julian, in turn, helps Nick accept who he is and understand he isn’t responsible for tragedies he couldn't prevent. Lost love found can be even sweeter the second time around and after all the years apart, both men learn to look beyond the surface to find the men they are inside.

    They don’t have it all, but they have all they want—each other and the only relationship that’s ever meant anything to them. The week they met, they didn’t flirt with seduction to see what would happen. They fell in love and proved it the only way they knew how. They’ve never been apart since that first tumble into life as lovers, playful partners, best friends, and soul mates. Charlie has no reason to believe arriving home ahead of Bryce on a random Monday night will change everything between them. But when Charlie logs onto a computer he shares with Bryce, he stumbles into the devastating truth and learns what Bryce really thinks of him. Or does he? Charlie is sure he’s discovered a secret Bryce has kept for seven years, but Bryce swears Charlie is wrong. Blindsided by lies, mistrust, and shattered faith, the two are swallowed into a vortex spinning so fast, it tears them apart. Can they reveal the fiction in the truth and find their way back to each other, or will the black-and-white portrait one man’s words paint destroy them forever?

    Leland isn’t just his boss, though. He’s the son of the company’s CEO. And Brian has fallen in love. Hurt by too many stolen kisses and nooners at seedy hotels, Brian finally broke off their secret affair two weeks ago. Leland isn’t ready to let Brian go and he isn’t above seducing Brian — again — to give them both what they really want for Christmas: each other.This free short story was originally written for the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's 2010 holiday event and appears in the event's Stuff My Stocking: M/M Romance Stories that are Nice and… Naughty anthology.

    All called it an accident, but Benji thought it more. However, even years later, he is buried deep in his grief, throwing himself into taking over Big Eddie's convenience store in the small town of Roseland, Oregon. Surrounded by his mother and three aunts, he lives day by day, struggling to keep his head above water.But Roseland is no ordinary place.With ever-increasing dreams of his father's death and waking visions of feathers on the surface of a river, Benji's definition of reality is starting to bend. He thinks himself haunted, but whether by ghosts or memories, he can no longer tell. It's not until the impossible happens and a man falls from the sky and leaves the burning imprint of wings on the ground that he begins to understand that the world around him is more mysterious than he could have possibly imagined. It's also more dangerous, as forces beyond anyone's control are descending on Roseland, revealing long hidden truths about friends, family, and the man named Calliel who Benji is finding he can no longer live without.

    Tom is there to adopt another service dog into the Canine Comrade Corps, but it’s Jamie his heart goes out to. But each man turns away, walks away, from the potential pain, the rejection, the knowledge that it’ll all end in tears…Jamie knows damn well that the HIV he contracted from an unfaithful lover has put him out of the dating game forever in the small town of Santa Vera. Tom lost his legs in Afghanistan, and got new ones, yeah, but with a side order of PTSD to go, he thought grimly. The real problem is that only now does he realize he’s gay, now that the revelation would be just one too many things to put his family through, after everything else they’ve had to deal with. So both men grin and bear the loneliness, put their feelings on a shelf, even as Jamie’s volunteer stint at CCC turns into friendship and, despite their resolve, something more…

    But sleazy casting couches don't earn him stardom, and despair leads to a series of poor decisions that ultimately find him at a cheap motel off Route 66, lifeless at the bottom of the pool. Sixty years later, Tag Manning, feeling hopeless and empty, flees his most recent relationship mistake and takes to the open road. On a roundabout route to Las Vegas, he pulls over to rest at an isolated spot on Route 66. There’s no longer a motel or pool, but when Tag resumes his journey to Vegas, he finds he’s transporting a hitchhiking ghost. Jack and Tag come to find much-needed friends in each other, but one man is a phantom and the other is strangely cursed. Time is running out for each of them, and they must face the fact that a future together may not only be a gamble... it may not be in the cards.

    With his mother’s final days approaching, Jason returns to make peace with his mother and his past. Part of that past includes former best friend and lover, Danny Yarrow. Danny’s satisfied with his life as a drama teacher at the local high school, but the one thing missing is the love of a good man. He’s only too happy to be reunited with Jason. They’ve both grown and changed since their broken teenaged relationship. Jason hasn’t had an easy time of it since leaving Sutter’s Bay, but Danny intends to convince his friend and lover their love is worth taking chances.

    The kind of day he loves, even if the looming New Year's Eve leaves him feeling nostalgic and a little lonely. But then the last person he ever expected to see walks through the door of his shop, and Sherlock realizes that some things don't fade with time, but grow stronger.

    But when he receives a wrong-number text confirming the details of a date, he does what any considerate person would—he goes to meet them and explain why they've been stood up. Asher Wescott hadn't expected his blind date to go well, because when do they ever? Henry shows up instead, and things are suddenly looking up. Socially awkward and attached to his routines, Henry is nevertheless one of the most charming and kind men Asher has met in a long time. Too bad he's not Henry's type. An accidental date, an impulsive kiss, and a few conflicted feelings later, can Asher get Henry to see the world—and him—in a different light?

    The last thing he expects is for his friend’s roommate to be the one guy he despises the most. The same guy who stomped on his heart senior year of high school. And by the looks of the girl on his arm, the same man who’s still deep inside the closet. Nicholas Dell never predicted that eleven years later, one of his greatest regrets would show up on his doorstep down on his luck. Nick has made some terrible mistakes—story of his life—and he’s been paying for them ever since. And if the guilt and shame aren’t enough, his first crush had to turn into one of the sexiest men he’s ever laid eyes on. Nick and Brin have weeks to steer clear of each other. Weeks to avoid strangling each other. But when stubbornness leads to skyrocketing sexual tension, hate-sex doesn’t seem like such an awful way to work through their frustration. Except hate is a powerful emotion, especially when it’s turned inward. And in Nick’s case he’s been drowning in a sea of self-loathing for so long, he can’t see his way out. As Brin reconnects with Nick, his perception of what really happened in their past begins to change. He’s finally ready to forgive him and take a second chance on the one guy who stirs him like no other. But Nick’s demons are complicated, heart-wrenching…demanding. So devastating, he might never allow himself true happiness—even with the one man who’s always owned his heart.

    Just imagine if you had a chance to meet him and all your fantasies started coming true. There's only one catch: Between you and your dream guy is his less-than-pleased boyfriend. They say that love conquers all, but can love conquer love?Like and Subscribe is a new short story by Jay Bell, the author of Something Like Summer.

    After an indiscreet rendezvous with a sexy satyr in the supply closet at work, he's put on probation and temporarily reassigned from the Easter Bunny Department to the Cupid Department. As his penance he's ordered to motivate one very sexy but surly cupid by the name of Charles Ross, who is effectively on strike. Their first matchmaking assignment looks clear cut, an in-and-out (so to speak) task they can finish quickly so Vincent can prove he's done his time and go back to stuffing Easter baskets. But when the plan goes wrong and Charlie ends up in a love coma, Vincent is put on trial for his slutty bunny ways! Now his only hope is for love to conquer all-including death-and come winging his way.

    With the encouragement of his friends and a nudge from the newest member of Jacob's small circle, he agrees to sign up for a film based photography class.Elijah Fall, a widowed photography teacher, is exactly the man to bring Jacob back to life. But, while Jacob may have found the man of his dreams, will Elijah, someone who has lost everything once, be willing to risk his heart again?