It sucks you into a narrowly focused world and leaves you blind as a bat to other things...~*~ Extended Version (13,000 words--short story)~*~

    Re-released in August 2020 under the combined title "Off-Balance".

    Never mind the fact that Max owns the company and is overqualified for the task of monitoring chlorine and cleaning skimmers. He's just happy to watch his unattainable dream play-until one day Everett invites him over and suddenly Max is his platonic plus-one for everything from movie nights to racy industry parties. Then Max learns the one-time Olympian isn't as straight as everyone assumes, and he isn't sure how long he can hold out before his crush grows much deeper."A story from the Dreamspinner Press 2013 Daily Dose package "Make a Play.""

    He kisses his first boy at the age of fourteen. Both are intense moments, and both lead Dan to fundamental realizations about who he is. The first: this is what he wants to do with his life. The second: if he wants to play hockey, he needs to make a choice when it comes to who he wants to be. Dan’s whole world becomes hockey. He’s a professional player living his dream, playing the sport he loves for a living, and he’s made his choice. He’s in the closet. It’s a compromise, but it’s one he’s come to terms with. When his carefully planned life is derailed by a career-ending injury, Dan doesn’t know how to adjust to a world without the game he loves. Faced with trying to fit back into a life built entirely around hockey, he decides to uproot everything and move to England, where few people know the game and fewer still are likely to ever recognize him as a player. Dan lands in Brighton at the beginning of his quest for a new start—and for the chance to explore his sexuality, taking a cautious step out of the closet in a place where nobody knows his name. Please Note: This book contains Adult Language & Steamy Adult Activities, it is intended for 18+ Adults Only. Short Story, approx. 10,000 words in length. HEA (happy ever after ending). Does not end with a "cliffhanger".

    One brother. Two lovers. A thousand temptations. Too much guilt. What would you do if the source of your deepest desires was just one step away from you, and yet so morally unattainable? Ramo knows what he wants—or better yet—knows who he wants, and is willing to do anything to make things happen. Ric is torn: he struggles, he runs away—but never far enough. Will his heart and mind find common ground? Who will be the first to blink? “So Close” is a mix of love, drama, and explosive passion.

    As he's working up the nerve to ask the guy out, he has no idea that getting his man is only half the story.

    When Tony’s mother Marie and Marc’s father Dennis decide to tie the knot at last, it should be an occasion of great joy for everyone. Except all Marc can think about is having to spend the next two weeks with the young man he’s been in love with since he was sixteen. Tony feels so torn about Marc coming home from college. He keeps telling himself that it’s wrong to feel this way about him. After all, in two weeks’ time they’ll be related. So when the two young men are thrown together to prepare for the wedding, tensions rise and discoveries are made.It’s going to be a very long two weeks, and a wedding that no one will ever forget.

    Definitely not Vet Sciences Professor Derek Paulson’s type. Which he tells himself, repeatedly, every time the other man attends his class. Until the day he looks over to see Gage’s seat is empty. When Gage arrives at Derek’s veterinary clinic with a frostbitten stray dog, the lines of their teacher/student relationship are blurred. Derek realizes his most difficult student has a few things to teach him. Things he’s more than willing to learn. “One of my favorites of this collection. It contained well developed characters and a tender storyline. The power struggle and the flirting between these two was HOT. Loved Matty and I was so happy that it ended as it did.” PrismBookAlliance "Celebrating Diversity Through Literature" Contains first chapter from A Restored Man by Jaime Reese.

    That is, until he puts himself in the middle of a criminal investigation by literally stepping in it.This is the story of Alex's first case with Agent Murielle Lapointe, and while it's lacking in romance, it's a delightful look into grumpy young Alex and what he got up to before he was a professional consultant.

    Once a wild and voracious player, he became a loner after a traumatic event in his past tore his world apart. Older and wiser, years of loneliness and a moment of weakness drive him to seek another’s touch. The only problem is, the club he chooses to visit is filled with PYT’s—pretty young things Chance simply doesn’t find appealing.Rory Calhoun has his own baggage that haunts him. Still, he gives in to curiosity and decides to check out the local club. Inside he spots a man who fires up every fantasy Rory’s ever had. The only problem is, despite a quick, enthralling encounter, the stranger makes it clear he isn’t interested in PYT’s, a label Rory knows would be slapped on him in a heartbeat if the stranger ever saw his face.Rory has one unexpected opportunity to make Chance see him as a man, and he’s going to grab that opportunity, and Chance with both hands.

    He’s worked for years to win Olympic gold, and he can’t let himself—or his partner—down. Distraction in the form of steely and smoldering Mikhail Reznikov is the last thing he needs as he prepares for the biggest competition of his life. But with the Games only days away, they can’t keep their hands off each other. Dev soon learns that beneath Mikhail’s arrogant and aloof exterior is Misha, a passionate man who warms Dev’s heart and scorches his bed. They're both determined to win, but for Misha his freedom could be on the line. Can Dev put his deepening feelings on ice as he goes for gold?

    Gay activist Dylan Cussler stirs up the establishment when he moves in with his boyfriend and sues the state over its gay adoption ban. Sixteen-year-old Jericho Jiles and his best friend, Mac Travis, decide to do their bit to convince Dylan and his boyfriend to leave town. But when Dylan turns up before they can finish trashing his house, Jericho panics, leaving Dylan unconscious and wounded.Drowning in guilt, Jericho returns to Dylan’s home to make amends. He is surprised when Dylan forgives him and opens his eyes to the world around him. Soon Jericho comes to a life-changing realization: he is attracted to boys as well as girls. That’s a problem, considering Jericho has a girlfriend and very strict, very religious parents. Accepting his sexuality means he must question not only his identity and his place in the world but his relationship with his girlfriend, his parents, and with God.And so begins the battle for Jericho’s soul.

    Kyle's life seems to be spiraling out of control. Greg doesn't mind picking up the pieces, but his normally smart, ambitious and good-looking friend seems more distracted than usual after his last break-up. And he's starting to get annoyed at Greg trying to lend him a hand. What Greg doesn't realize is that Kyle is keeping something from him... and it could change both of their lives forever.

    When his diving partner suffers a nearly fatal injury, Blake is devastated and walks away from everything he’d worked so hard for. Two months later, though, his coach finds him a replacement partner in an attempt to coax him back into the water. The only problem? His new partner is Nick Freeman. Despite his reputation for being cocky and impossible to work with, their coach thinks Nick would be the perfect match for Blake. Too bad the two can’t seem to get it together long enough to find out. Desperate, their coach hatches a plan that leaves them handcuffed together for a full week. Will the scheme to get them in sync take them to Rio, or will they be riding the board on their own?

    When the holidays found them alone together and sharing a mutual attraction, they couldn’t help breaking a few regulations. And nearly breaking some furniture in the process.Years after their short-lived fling, Senior Chief Flint returns to SEAL duty and finds himself under the command of the man he’s never been able to forget: Lieutenant Commander Walker. And Josh hasn’t forgotten David, either. Rules be damned, they can’t keep their hands off each other.Despite their discretion, another SEAL catches on and threatens to expose their relationship, forcing Josh to bend to a blackmailer’s demands to avoid strife within the team just before a dangerous mission. David is the last man he can confide in…and the first to pick up on Josh’s tightly screwed-down stress.When a life-or-death decision calls Josh’s leadership into question, coming clean could cost him what he values most. His coveted trident…and the man he loves.WARNING: Contains a pair of Navy SEALs who don’t like playing by the rules, scorching-hot sex between two Alphas who like to be in charge, cursing as only Navy men can curse, lots of camouflage and badassery in the wilds of North Korea, and enough emotion to sink a battleship.