One traumatic encounter that brings them together.  After high school senior Silas Brigs is rescued from an attempted assault, he finds himself indebted to a blond stranger. But he wants nothing to do with the calm, quiet Ben Adams. The California diver reminds Silas too much of what brought them together in the first place, an event he just wants to forget. Yet no matter how hard Silas tries to distance himself, the closer the two inevitably gravitate.With Silas's attacker lurking in the shadows combined with Ben's mysterious history, their blossoming friendship seems doomed to failure. Both are haunted by their shattered pasts, but can they learn to face their demons together? Because, no matter how much Silas wants to resist, they're exactly what the other needs. Even if they don't know it, yet.

    All words used to describe Dr. Micah Steinberg by the hospital staff for their next head of surgery. When a letter arrives from his grandmother’s friend at the assisted living facility, his orderly world tilts dangerously out of control. Josh Rosen had everything until it was revealed much of his world was a lie. Forced to re-evaluate his life, Josh gives up his career and returns home to New York City to care for his beloved grandmother. What Josh didn’t figure on was an attraction to a man who on the surface, appears to be exactly like the life Josh chose to leave behind.As Micah struggles with the reality of his grandmother’s illness, the bond these two share deepens, as Josh helps Micah heal, then open his heart. Micah discovers there is more to life than work, control and success. Josh is in deep but has yet to tell Micah who he really is.When the fight for the hospital’s head of surgery turns ugly, Josh’s past and present collide. Micah must let go of the past and accept who he is, if his life is going to move forward.Life is full of surprises, and as both Micah and Josh learn, love can happen whether you plan for it or not.

    Now he’s got another chance to capture his target, but the gorgeous rancher he’s investigating makes him long for things he can’t have.Ken gave up his society life to run a ranch, and he’ll do anything to protect what’s his. When he starts to suspect his new employee is hiding something, he knows he should send the man away. But Andy is as gorgeous as he is infuriating, and he‘s pulling Ken to him like a magnet. Both men long for control, yet neither knows how to surrender.A clash of wills is inevitable, but neither man expects the tenderness that grows every time they touch. With secrets between them and outside forces threatening the ranch, each man will need to decide how far he’s willing to go to protect the other.

    Lip gloss, eyeliner, eye shadow, nail polish? Back in the small town where I grew up, a boy would have never dared to dress like him. When an assignment to create a video news segment from one of our professors places us both in the same group, personalities clash, and what started as fascination on my part turns into instant dislike, which he seems to immediately return. He's smart, quick-thinking, creative…but also snarky, moody, defensive, and basically the complete physical opposite of every guy I've ever been attracted to. And yet, despite the fact that I think he needs an attitude adjustment, and he thinks I'm just a backward country hick, I've quickly come to realize that sometimes the line between love and hate really is paper thin.P.S. An HEA would definitely be preferred to an HFN ending. Photo Description: Two young men stare at each other through a chain-link fence. They are holding hands through it; one has nail polish and lip gloss.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.Read it online or find it in Love Is Always Write: Volume 11 - Bonus Volume.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: first love; college; coming out; gay-for-you; enemies to loversWarnings: noneWord Count: 68,123

    He is convinced he has a clock for a heart, which makes it impossible for him to die or feel the sort of heartache his mother always feels every time she and Charlie must flee another abusive loser who doesn’t deserve a woman like Charlie’s mum. So yet again Charlie and his mum find themselves at Aunty June’s in Brighton on the south coast of England. But while Charlie’s mum seeks refuge, Charlie himself lets his curiosity get the better of him in his latest attempt to prove his own immortality. That’s when he meets him.The boy who saves Charlie’s life.The boy from Brighton.

    They’ve shared everything: love, life, laughs, even Will’s first kiss. But Jack’s straight, and Will’s long-buried infatuation means nothing until their last summer together draws to a close.Then one night, everything changes, but with Will bound for university in Leeds, and Jack for his dream DJ job in Ibiza, there’s no time to explore their blurred lines. Before long all that’s left are secrets, lies, and misunderstandings.In the months that follow, anger and hurt overshadow fifteen years of friendship, and Will must dig deep to remember Jack is his mate… his best mate, and nothing matters more than that, right?

    But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus.Amidst the chaos, Cal meets sensitive and mysterious Leon, another “Astrokid,” and finds himself falling head over heels—fast. As the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection. But when secrets about the program are uncovered, Cal must find a way to reveal the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.Expertly capturing the thrill of first love and the self-doubt all teens feel, debut author Phil Stamper is a new talent to watch.

    While all this friends can't stop talking about their heterosexual hookups and relationships, Jay can only dream of his own firsts, compiling a romance to-do list of all the things he hopes to one day experience—his Gay Agenda.Then, against all odds, Jay's family moves to Seattle and he starts his senior year at a new high school with a thriving LGBTQIA+ community. For the first time ever, Jay feels like he's found where he truly belongs, where he can flirt with Very Sexy Boys and search for love. But as Jay begins crossing items off his list, he'll soon be torn between his heart and his hormones, his old friends and his new ones...because after all, life and love don't always go according to plan.From debut novelist Jason June comes a moving and hilarious sex-positive story about the complexities of first loves, first hookups, and first heartbreaks—and how to stay true to yourself while embracing what you never saw coming.

    When Luke Morrissey shows up on the Bexley campus his presence immediately shakes things up. Charlie and Luke are drawn to each other the moment they meet, giving Sage the opportunity to steal away to spend time with Charlie’s twin brother, Nick. But Charlie is afraid of what others will think if he accepts that he has much more than a friendship with Luke. And Sage fears that things with Nick are getting too serious too quickly. The duo will need to rely on each other and their lifelong friendship to figure things out with the boys they love.

    But Jordan was lucky. He met Owen Nelson in the second grade, and they’ve been BFFs ever since. Owen is a big, beautiful blond and their school’s champion wrestler. No one messes with Owen, or with anyone close to him, and he bucks popular opinion by keeping Jordan as his wingman even after Jordan comes out at school.Their friendship survives, but Jordan’s worst enemy may be himself: he can’t seem to help the fact that he is head-over-heels in love with a hopeless case—his straight friend, Owen. Owen won’t let anything take Jordan’s friendship away, but he never counted on Jordan running off to find a life of his own. Owen will have to face the nature of their relationship if he’s to win Jordan back.

    Trouble is, Matt’s firefighter outfit is pretty convincing, and the longer he keeps up the pretence the harder it will be to reveal the naked truth: that there’s nothing underneath his costume but a sequinned thong!

    Why didn’t more gay kids join the wrestling team? The other wrestlers.The days of being picked on and beat up were over for Alfonso Flores. Instead of being the scrawny nerd everyone remembered, he returned to high school bigger and buffer. He just wants to be left alone in peace. How does he end up joining the wrestling team?A guy, of course.To get closer to Dallas, he’ll go where no gay boy has gone before: the wrestling team. Even if he doesn’t receive a warm welcoming. For big macho men, wrestlers were pretty self-conscious. Maybe it was a gay guy joining the team. Maybe they understood just how insane their sport was. It was pretty gay.What’s the saying? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. Alfonso’s going to do both. He’ll try not to get killed in the testosterone filled, macho world of groping other guys for sport all while getting closer to Dallas and dealing with his overprotective father. If he doesn’t survive, at least he got to feel Dallas Archer's muscles. Definitely worth it.This is a humorous, light hearted story about getting out of your comfort zone and getting the guy.

    Shane is the opposite of Mason in every way, he's beautiful, athletic, and lives his life to the fullest.Sparks fly when the polar opposites come together, but it will be up to the bookworm to shut down his e-reader and go after the beauty if he wants to love someone outside the pages of a book.

    Maybe he's a workaholic (definitely), but he loves his HR career. What he doesn't care for is getting a bizarre call from the ER telling him an injured grad student with a concussion put him down as his emergency contact. Daniel doesn't even recognize the name at first. Cole Smith? Cole told the hospital to call him? Their parents were married for five minutes! And it was ten years ago! But Cole has no one else to look after him. The doctor says he can't be left alone. What's Daniel supposed to do? He has a snowy mountain getaway booked, and he's not skipping his first vacation in years. Even if it means babysitting Cole. Little does he know, Cole had a secret crush on him when they were teenagers.And the kid has really grown up. He's sweet and funny and sexy. He just might thaw Daniel's grumpy heart in a romantic winter wonderland...In Case of Emergency is a fluffy MM holiday romance from Keira Andrews featuring forced proximity, hot-tub shenanigans, Christmas feels, and of course a happy ending.

    And although he knows it's going to be difficult to go back to the real world, he can't help but get a little lost in the act. Funny thing is, before this trip Luca would have sworn he knew everything about his best friend. But before they leave Miami, Michael reveals something that Luca never expected.Tropes: Fake boyfriend, friends-to-lovers, bi-discovery, virgin, tall/short.