Offside Pass


Stephani Hecht - 2011
    Set to become the next superstars of the sport, they had lucrative contracts and numerous endorsements within their reach. Then the bottom fell out of their world and everything changed. Now struggling to make ends meet, they have been reduced to playing in the minor leagues. To make matters worse, they all end up playing for the same dead-end team, the Battle Creek Hawks. Not only hasn’t that team won a game in three years, but their arena is falling down around them and is in danger of being condemned. Then Devon and his brothers hit a new low when they get thrown out of their first game for getting into a brawl…with each other.Battle Creek Times sports reporter Saul Davis knows the instant he see the three brothers beating the snot out of each other that he has a story. It only takes a little digging to find out how far the once promising hockey players have fallen. Intrigued, Saul tries to pin down Devon for an interview, only to be rudely rebuked. Unfortunately for Devon, that only makes Saul more determined to get to the bottom of the story.Then Saul uncovers something about the brooding hockey player that could not only destroy the man’s reputation, but also ruin any chance of him every playing on the professional level again. Saul knows he should go ahead and run the story, but as he finds himself growing closer to Devon, he realizes that his feelings for the other man are too strong to ignore. When a rival reporter also discovers Devon’s secret, Saul recognizes that he may have to make the most painful decision of all – his own journalism career or Devon.

Car Wash


Shawn Lane - 2009
    He’s already been laid off from his job, compelled to sell his motorcycle, and now faces eviction from his apartment. Things can hardly get worse. Now, forced to work a low-paying job at a car wash and barely surviving, Kevin is too embarrassed to even tell his friends. Hotshot lawyer, Michael Bennett, comes into the car wash to have his Maserati cleaned. Kevin knows Michael well. When Kevin was fifteen, an openly gay twenty-one-year-old Michael was Kevin’s dream. But when the teenaged Kevin made his move, Michael rejected the young man. Nine years have passed and Michael is surprised how attracted he is to Kevin. He soon takes him out, then takes him home. This time the beautiful man is not too young. When he learns of Kevin’s situation, a smitten Michael makes it his job to clean up the disaster that Kevin’s life has become. But his take-charge, bossy way irritates a sensitive Kevin, who starts a fight, ending in the breakup of their budding relationship. A breakup neither of them really wanted. Can they repair their fractured relationship or will their differences and hurt feelings keep them apart for good?

Scrum


P.D. Singer - 2013
    He’ll attend practices, cheer every game, and bleed with every tackle, but he won’t come close enough to get an autograph or say a few words. Yves Dubois' team runs faster, passes better, and scrums harder when Robin watches: they’ve been winning steadily. Yves has a blinding smile for Robin after practices, but never stops to talk. Robin needs to know if Yves’ grin is only joy in the game. Finding out will be Robin’s birthday milestone, but first he needs to give himself the gift of courage. This short story also appears in the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" anthology volume 10.

Six Ways from Sunday


Mercy Celeste - 2013
    After high school he had football but he lost Dylan.Dylan Sunday walked a different path, one laid down before him by his father and his grandfather. Losing Bo one day after discovering they shared more than football wasn’t part of the bargain. Six years of missed connections and finally Dylan is able to come home to the man he left behind. The spectacle of the biggest game in the NFL is only the beginning of one sizzling week. After that time and fate would decide if Bo and Dylan would walk the same path, or if one of them would make the ultimate sacrifice.Warning: bittersweet tale of two hot men, making up for six years of separation. May not be suitable for sensitive readers. Contains scenes of male/male sexual practices.

Texas Hold 'Em


Carol Lynne - 2009
    Other than coaching high school football, the only excitement he gets is playing poker with his close friends every other Saturday. That is until he opens the door to the hottest pizza delivery man he's ever seen, and man, does Zac want a piece of that pie.Eric Stanton spends long hours as an intern at one of the largest hospital in San Francisco. To help keep a roof over his head, he also has a part-time job as a pizza delivery driver. When a gorgeous customer tries to flirt with him, Eric's too tired to reciprocate.Just when Eric wonders if he'll get a second chance with the guy, an order is placed requesting him personally. Tired or not, perhaps things are looking up.

Double Full


Kindle Alexander - 2013
    However, interference after the play has him hiding his past and burying his future in the bottom of a bottle. While Colt seems to have it all, looks can be deceiving especially when you're trapped so far in a closet that you can't see your way out. When ten years of living his expected fast-lane lifestyle lands him engaged to his manipulative Russian supermodel girlfriend, he decides it's time to call a new play. Jace Montgomery single-handedly built the largest all-star cheerleading gym in the world, driven by a need to forget a life-altering encounter with a handsome quarterback a decade ago. His reputation as an excellent coach, hard-nosed business man, and savvy entrepreneur earned him respect in the sometimes catty world of competitive cheerleading. When Jace learns of his ex-lover's plans to marry, his heart executes a barrel roll and his carefully placed resolve tumbles down without a mat to absorb the shock. Can his island escape help him to finally let go of the past and move his life forward?

To the Highest Bidder


Kate Steele - 2008
    Becca has bid on and won an auction and she's handing her winnings over to Ben. The highest bidder gets the privilege of sharing lunch with Mitch DeSantis, star of wildly popular television show, Case Files.Though he's a huge fan of the show and not above entertaining a steamy fantasy or two starring Mitch, Ben's not particularly thrilled with the idea. After all, how do you make conversation with someone you see on television every week? As it turns out, he needn't have worried. While Mitch is as gorgeous in person as he is on screen, he's also rude, arrogant, and a complete ass. Ben leaves before the main course is served, hoping never to see Mitch DeSantis again.Fate has other plans. A completely changed and contrite Mitch shows up with an apology, a heart-stopping smile, and an invitation to dinner. It's a combo Ben finds hard to resist. This new Mitch is someone Ben could lose his heart to, but it's a one-time thing, right? No danger of that happening.If he'd only known. Mitch has an ulterior motive that could lead to something neither one of them expected.

Taken


Kate Sherwood - 2011
    Or, at least since the first day of kindergarten, when he stole my Lego's, then shared his cookies with me when he realized he'd made me cry.He was my best friend. The first person I came out to. My entire support system in high school when no one would come near me for feel of catching "gay cooties" or AIDS.He's the guy I gave my virginity to. The guy who taught me to fuck. The guy who taught me to be safe. He doesn't know it, but he's also the guy who taught me to make love.I'm the guy he goes home with when there's no better prospect at the club.It was never supposed to be serious. I knew that, I even wanted that. I'm the one who broke the rules.So, dear author, how do I watch him go home night after night with the pretty boy - or man - du jour, when all I want is for him to come home with ME, and to stay?Photo Description: Two young men lie in a tangle of white sheets. The nearer man is asleep facing us, arms wrapped around his pillow. Behind him, his lover watches him, lean naked body braced up on one elbow, his dark eyes fixed on his lover's still form, his mouth just slightly curved up in affection.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: Tags: gay m/m, Word Count:

Breathing Snow


Dev Bentham - 2013
    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.

To Find and to Keep


Serena Yates - 2009
    To escape their threats, he ran away to Canada. Now his twin sister Nicole is getting married to his best friend Peter, and Ryan will risk anything to attend. Help arrives in the most unexpected form: Peter's older brother Daniel, the man Ryan had loved from afar.

The Game Changer


Kay Simone - 2016
    A gay physical therapist. Love is out of bounds… Right? Malcolm Rodgers loses everything in one week.The quarterback is benched with an injury the same week his fiancée breaks off their engagement. Lost, hurting, and stuck on the sidelines, Malcolm must spend his days in physical therapy with the one person who refuses to let him get back in the game: cocky Vance Coberly.Vance is out and proud in the macho world of pro football. As the top physical therapist in his field, flirting with football players is strictly out of bounds.But the rules of play all change when Vance meets Malcolm.Malcolm can’t deny what he feels for Vance — but Vance won’t be someone’s one-time fling. Can a Hail Mary gesture save the deepest love Malcolm has ever felt?

Str8te Boys


Evangeline Anderson - 2009
    Thanks to that never-back-down spirit, they're about to share more than they bargained for.The game is gay chicken. The rule: get as close as possible without kissing, and the one that pulls away first is the loser. The problem: neither of them likes to lose. It isn't long before the game becomes an excuse to touch and kiss in every possible forbidden way. And after they pose for a gay website to earn extra money, things really heat up.Suddenly Duke is talking lifetime commitment, and Mav is backpedaling as hard as he can, not sure if he's ready to accept all his best friend is offering him. Or the truth about what he is.

Just Desserts


Scarlet Blackwell - 2010
    French chef Luc Tessier is five-star successful. His cookery program on TV is rated as high as his restaurant, and casual flings are his specialty. The only stain on his toque is Daniel Sheridan, an English food critic who has made it his business to ruin Luc's reputation. The only way to clarify this particular pat of butter is to invite the critic to dine and bury the hatchet-preferably in Daniel's back. The moment he lays eyes on Daniel, however, Luc's thoughts turn from sauces to seduction. Daniel definitely finds Luc appetizing, but he plays it cool. He never wants to be anyone's toy, ever again. Yet in the face of Luc's relentless pursuit, he's finding it harder to keep the flamboyant chef at arm's length. A cooking competition on a remote Scottish island seems the perfect way to put some distance between them. Until Luc shows up to compete, determined to win not only the trophy, but Daniel's heart... Warning: Ingredients include two extremely hot men determined to come up with a whole new definition for "sizzling." Explicit use of food items could incite spontaneous nekkid food fights.

Ten in the Bin


N.R. Walker - 2013
    12.5K words. Heartbroken, Dean Cartwright leaves Sydney and heads home, to the coastal town of Newcastle. In a bid to make new friends, he signs up for a local rugby league team where he meets a man known as Macca. Dean and Macca are both front row forwards, meaning they’re the biggest guys on the team. Over six feet tall and over a hundred kilos each, they’re a force to be reckoned with on the field.But when Dean gets knocked out, Macca gets even by punching the other guy, and both Dean and Macca end up on the sideline. Dean soon realizes that being knocked unconscious is the best thing to ever happen to him. Story is set in Australia, and uses Australian English

Never Let Go


M.L. Rhodes - 2007
    Ethan--sophisticated, cocky, and full of wild daring--was everything bookish and quiet Will was not. Yet they'd instantly connected and forged an unlikely friendship that had carried them through their teens and well into adulthood. Even as teenagers, though, they'd always kept secrets from one another...hidden bits about their lives and desires they feared could destroy their friendship. As adults, the secrets have become heavy burdens to bear, forcing them to keep their distance from one another and make up stories to hide the truth. Then, in an unguarded moment, Will lets his secret slip. His revelation explodes into a night of unexpected passion that stuns them both. When Ethan disappears the next morning, Will blames himself, and as the months pass with no word, he's convinced he's driven away his best friend. He forces himself to move on with his life and try to forget. But three years later, Ethan shows up again, only a shell of the vibrant man Will once knew, and mysteriously evasive about where he's been. When Ethan makes a confession of his own, can the two men recapture the friendship they'd once shared, and maybe even build something more powerful? Or will the hurts and deceptions of the past tear them apart for good? Note: Don't miss the exciting sequel, Hearts & Bones... Genres: Gay / Contemporary / BDSM / Series