I’m Happy To Be Back Home… Even Happier When I See An Old FriendPahrump, Nevada.I've missed you.England's wild green landscape is nothing like the flat orange desert.I was raised here, I've come back to renovate the house for my mom.You'll never guess who runs the local construction company – Eric, my childhood best friend.I've been in love with Eric since high school, as if coming home wasn't complicated enough.The name's Eric.Recently divorced, father of a six-year-old, and a project manager for a construction company.I love my kid, and the money's good – but it's lonely, and stressful, to say the least.I just heard Will's back in town.It'll be nice to see him again.Fix Me is a standalone Gay First Time Best Friend Romance with a HEA and NO cheating!

    Gabriel's got sexual charisma potent enough to make a straight man such as Shane lose his senses, lose sleep, lose himself to dark desires and not want to find his way back to reality.What follows is not a love story. This is a story about an unforeseen attraction that brings a strong, sane man to his knees, and about lovers tangled up in each other too deep to know who's in control and who's helpless.

    The war started in third grade, with a surprise punch to the face, and lasted until the summer after high school when Brooklyn and Dallas are stuck working at the same store. At night. Together. It should've been a recipe for disaster. But instead of outright combat, they slowly start to notice that not only do they not hate each other, but perhaps they have more in common than either of them knew. Soon, amidst unexpected laughter and camaraderie, Dallas realizes that maybe the guy who used to be his number one enemy could actually be his perfect match.Original Prompt:Dear Author,These beautiful boys have a story to tell. A story of firsts. The first stirrings of attraction, the first feelings of love, the first touch of another, the first forever...Please tell us their story so that their love may live on...Photo Description: A black/white photo of two naked teenage boys in a white bedroom. One sits on the bed facing right, leaning back into the other kneeling behind him. His lover's right hand is across his arm and chest. The left hand gently strokes his hardened penis as they both watch.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, Vol 1 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, virgins, first love, enemies-to-lovers, high school, summer romanceWord Count: 14,012

    Colleagues at work and close friends, though on the surface it's an unexpected friendship between an odd couple. While Zane took the "high school to college to med school" track, medicine is Eli's second career and the best choice he ever made. He has work that he loves, an extended second family of colleagues and friends, and Zane. So why does everyone make such a big deal about the pair of them? Yes, they spend a lot of time together. It doesn't mean they're a real couple. When teased about it one too many times by their colleagues, Zane challenges Eli to set the record straight with a kiss to prove there's absolutely no chemistry between them. Neither expected a spark to ignite between them. More than a spark. Desire. Passion. Zane wants to try getting up close and personal again to see if it was a one-time fluke or something more. Eli thinks he's too old to jump the fence now, but he can't say no to Zane and he doesn't want to. Truth be told, Eli's not so sure they can set the record straight after all.

    When his cellmate offers him protection, Sage accepts the offer, even though he doesn't trust the guy. Little does he know how much it will change his life.When he's released from prison, Sage finds himself needing and wanting things he shouldn't want. Sage is straight. He really is. He has a girlfriend. What happened in prison stayed in prison--or so Sage tells himself.Until he meets his former cellmate again. Xavier. The guy he hates and craves.This short novelette contains explicit language and very steamy M/M sex. For mature audiences only. ~12,500 words

    But lately, Rafferty’s imagination has been creating fantasies about Nick—more specifically, about Nick and him together—that have shocked Rafferty. Detailed erotic scenarios a thirty-something, set-in-his-ways straight man shouldn’t be imagining. He’s been struggling to keep them secret, afraid that if Nick discovers the truth it will end their friendship. But with each passing day it’s getting harder and harder to pretend Nick is “just” a friend. And harder and harder for Rafferty to come to terms with the possibility he might not be as straight as he’s always believed.Nick’s always known he’s gay and he’s had deep feelings for Rafferty for years. But after a difficult experience at his former police precinct in Boston, he decided when he moved to Maine to keep his sexual orientation under wraps on the job. He wants to be acknowledged at work for what he can do, not who he’s doing. And with Rafferty being straight, there’s always been a clear-cut line that Nick’s known he can’t cross with his unsuspecting partner and best friend. And yet...for the past few months it’s become difficult to remember that line. He’s not sure why, he just knows that for the first time in four years his heart and his body are urging him to go for what he really wants...Rafferty.When a stormy weekend trip on Rafferty’s boat gives birth to an unexpected night of passion, will it be the spark they need to forge a new and deeper relationship? Or will Nick’s past and Rafferty’s fear drive a wedge between them that will destroy not only their barely-begun love affair, but their partnership and friendship as well?

    He’s sure he could never share the truth with his conservative family or his best friend Ethan, so in an attempt to figure out if his fantasies are the real thing or just a phaze, he heads out to a local gay club. On the jam-packed dance floor, it's easy just to move to the techno beat and let things happen. But when James turns around to look at the guy giving him a grope, he gets the shock of his life. Now he doesn't know whether he wants to grab happiness with both hands -- or run for his safe, closeted life.

    They do everything together—work, play, relax, live. Minus the blight that is Wally's wife, and the unhappiness she brings him, their lives are grand.But then Wally files for divorce, and his wife drops a bombshell he never expected, and Antoine realizes that the life he'd always imagine with the best friend he's always secretly loved has been taken away from him a second time.By the Way is a side story to the novel The Missing Butterfly by Megan Derr.

    Thank goodness, right? Otherwise, the guy would hear Az's dirty talk which would be all kinds of humiliating considering Az is actually a virgin who doesn't even know if he's doing phone job properly. But Travis isn't deaf. He's standing in for someone else and hears every single word of Az's raunchy call. So when they're randomly set up on a blind date together, the sparks fly from the very first moment they meet. What follows is a steamy connection in which Azrael and Travis realize they have more in common than they originally thought despite Az's strict family and Travis's ten year age difference. This 17k word short is full of awkward blind date moments, first-time you-know-what, interfering family, and sweet, sweet dance moves.

    No mate, no pups, just him and his brothers working on their handyman business together. Until he stumbles across Grim, an omega deer. Suddenly, things Jasper once had no desire for, come crashing to the forefront. Would it be so bad walking away from the lone wolf life? Grimaldo knows instantly upon meeting the cheerful alpha wolf Jasper that he needs to stay clear of him. His family already has plans and he can’t go against his herd. Grim has no time to be tying himself to some random alpha. These two are opposites in every way so what happens when fate decides to pull them together? Trusting in Fate is a 33k low angst mpreg romance with insta-love, grump and sunshine, steam, and a realization that family comes in unexpected forms.

    The dare leads to a connection he never expected and a night he’ll never forget.

    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?

    She’s tough, merciless, and top dog. That’s what Paul Stewart, reporter for the Journal, had heard, and all he expects when he’s assigned to interview the legend.. But nobody really knows the person behind the make-up.What if…what if the person behind the sarcasm and music was more than just a man in a dress? What happened in his life that, thirty years later, made him a successful CEO, a philanthropist, and a legend in the gay community? Thirty years and almost a million dollars raised for people living with HIV/AIDs, yet still no one knows the real story.Until one night, one man breaks through the shell, and Matthew Trammell—Auntie Social—opens the door he closed many years ago and lets his secrets spill out.Pain is like rain, it covers your skin and soaks in bone-deep, but it eventually recedes and allows fresh things to grow.

    Simple handyman. Can they find common ground? Will Spencer is a player with a reputation for using and discarding lovers as easily as he earns big money on Wall Street. Handsome, sexy and openly gay, he’s used to having whatever—and whoever—he wants at the snap of his fingers. And what he wants now is his new handyman, Jack Crawford. But Jack is skittish. One lingering touch, one stolen kiss could send the older man into full retreat. Where Will might have quickly moved on to a more ready-and-willing partner, he unexpectedly finds himself wanting to go slow. With just a little coaxing, he’s sure he can show Jack how good it could be between them. Jack, a recent widower, never thought of himself as gay. Frightened years ago by an erotic encounter with his best friend, he focused firmly on his marriage. Now that his bed is empty, however, those deep sexual longings are rising dangerously close to the surface. Their connection is deep, instant, and one that Jack tries to ignore. Yet friendship grows into an erotic journey that must cross a divide of different generations, backgrounds and worlds. The prize is the one thing neither is sure he can handle—true love.

    He’s tired of being an afterthought. With the help of a friend, he leaves his life behind, hoping for a chance at happiness, at being first, even if it means being without his dragon.Phin is a Lightning Dragon. His greatest treasure is a man who has inexplicably turned hostile. Chasing Nick to the human realm, Phin discovers the joy of being one’s true self. With this knowledge, he finds the love he never knew he had.In this humorous tale of costumes, outdoor naughty times, claimings gone awry, watch as two men find out what it means to be both treasures and mates.This novel features friends to lovers, second chances and snarky best friends.