So when the dinner hostess sits him with a bubbly woman and her single, gay, and very sexy brother, Tad’s vacation started looking even better than expected.The crystal blue ocean doesn’t hold a candle to the hard abs and cocky smile of Nick Boden, but Tad has spent his entire adult life building up the walls of his closet, while Nick has never put anything but clothes in his. The ship is called Freedom, but will its message be heard on the open ocean.Original Prompt:Dear Author,Last summer, I went on a cruise, and one day while I was out roaming the ship, I saw this guy sitting and reading and he just looked so peaceful and content that I needed to take a photo. But when I got home, I saw the guy in the background who looks like he is spying on him... I wonder if they have a story to tell.Photo Description: A man relaxes in a lounge chair in nothing but swim trunks and shades. One arm reaches over his head, showing off strong abs. One knee bent, a book is propped on his thigh. In the distance, behind a support beam and tinted glass partition, a figure appears to be discreetly watching our reader.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, Volume 4.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, closet, vacation, meddling sister, lawyer, artistWord Count: 14,757

    I see a new story every time I look at him. I think he's waiting for someone, maybe someone he doesn't know; I love the way his posture echoes the woman in the mural - is this picture at the beach? What kind of van or truck is he leaning on? Maybe it's a delivery van, and he's trying to catch the eye of a hot surfer dude, or perhaps someone all the other men have overlooked, who works at the beach?Do you think he knows how beautiful he is, and he's posing? I think the way his hands are resting on his crotch and thigh is no accident... Thanks, Dear Author - I've wondered for two years what he's looking at... or looking for. What do you think? Photo Description: A young man leans back against a white striped van, in front of a mural of girl-with-surfboard. The man wears dark jeans and white Tshirt that nicely set off his lean muscled body. His eyes are hidden by large light sunglasses, his features are model classic. Shoulders on the truck, his hands cup his groin with studied casualness.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 2.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, role-playing, vacation, beach, surfingWord Count: 13,887

    Who would have thought...Photo Description: A thin vertical rope stretches down into rippled muddy water. Four naked men cluster around it. One stands at the base of the grouping, almost hidden by the second man in a wide-brimmed hat astride his hips. The third curly-haired man perches on his shoulders. A fourth, shoulder-deep in the water, reaches to steady the three on the rope.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 online or find it in Don't Read in the Closet, Volume 3.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, m/m/m/mWord Count: 9,269

    Thank you!Photo Description: The room is jumbled with soldiers' gear but this man stands alone, his back turned, tightening the belt of his BDUs. His bare shoulders show the muscle he has built, the winged blue lines of the tattoos he has chosen, the nape of his neck below short-cropped dark hair.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 3.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, military, dadt, friends to loversWord Count: 2,404

    More the fool me.It wasn't as if *you* knew he was married, either.And for the record, I never said I didn't care about you. You said you didn't want a relationship with me.So, what changed?Photo Description: A man's face: startlingly blue eyes glare out from a frame of thick black eyeliner, under a one-sided fall of black hair. Lean cheeks and strong chin are accentuated by a stubble of beard. His full lower lip meets thin upper, mouth firmly closed. A chain of silver V-links circles his neck, under his open white shirt.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 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, goth, club, guyliner, friends to lovers, unrequited loveWord Count: 2,909

    I have put everything else in my life on hold to make earning this championship. I thought everything was worth it until I recently injured myself. Now they say I will have to forfeit my title if I cannot defend it in my next match scheduled for later this year. I am beginning to wonder if i can even recover enough to compete ever again, let alone in such a short time. I have been depressed and dare I say brooding lately. Without my boxing I am not sure what to do with my life, I have no close friends or family. I haven't been going to my physical therapy sessions because the PT wasn't working for me...Now my manager says he has a new PT specializing in treatment for my injury. Author do you think it would be possible for this therapist to pull me out of my depression and get me ready to defend my title? Can our relationship develop beyond therapist and patient?Author please give this man his HEA in a sweet romantic story that is light on the sex.Photo Descriptions:These pictures show two very different men. The first is chocolate-skinned, tight-jawed, shaven-haired, with the back-light gleaming off his curved, toned muscles. His gaze is intent. The second smiles a little behind his hand, looking at the world through amazing blue eyes. Light stubble and tousled dark hair grace his model-perfect face. 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 1.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, athlete, celebrity, hurt-comfort, medical personnel, non-explicit, sport, sweet no sexWord Count: 13,219

    He wears dark jeans and a white tank-top. His (dyed?) blonde hair is just a touch long, but not quite in his eyes, just above dark eyebrows and long eyelashes.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 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, college, barely-legal, established-couple, coming-out, in-the-closet, reunitedWord Count: 6,118

    Hot days and sultry, sexy nights. So, who's this guy got in his barn?Photo Description: In the dark doorway of a barn stands a burly, muscular man, wearing only a white stetson and buckskin pants. His hands pull the pants open and low on his hips, exposing his hairy torso down to the curls at his groin. A straw juts from his mouth, and his eyes are intent under the brim of his hat.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: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, cowboys, friends-to-lovers, reunited, first-love, HFNWarnings: implied homophobia (as a regional issue)Word Count: 10,167

    A work of art. The beginning of something beautiful.When these three mix it up, it's hot and sweet and just what the doctor ordered.Original Prompt:Dear Author,Please tell me the story of this pic, who's watching, when does the threesome begin, where are they, are they strangers??Photo Description: A muscular man with cropped dark hair and razored beard lies back on a low fur-covered bed. Hands behind his head, he watches intently as another tattooed, naked man cups his flanks with gentle hands and kisses his scrotum. In the background, only the legs of a third man are visible, standing close, one foot up on the bed.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, Volume 3 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: contemporary; m/m/m ménageTags: gay m/m, cock-docking; mild kink; threesome; HEA; sweet & hotWord Count: 14,663

    I’ve never done anything like this before. Hell, I’m NAKED! I’ve never even kissed and I’m sitting here nekkid? That damn Phil! It’s his fault. He said that I would have the best time. Yeah, right. Phil and I had been best friends since kindergarten. We did everything together. He always had my back and looked out for me. Phil was a joker, the cool jock, and straight. I was (still am) the shy one. My head was always in a book. Yeah, that’s me in the glasses with a bowl of cereal for a loin cloth. Thank the gods for cool glasses these days, yeah? Even when I got up the courage to tell Phil that I was gay, he didn’t hate me for that. He wanted me to be happy. He told me that he always knew and said, “What took you so long to tell me?” He accepted me. All the fretting I’d done over telling him, geez. Phil got sick last January. I was with him till his last day at the hospice. Damn, I miss him so much. We (he) planned this trip two years ago on a whim…on a dare really. Phil had dared me to venture out in life. What? Like I didn’t already have one? He laughed at that and said that work and books were not the only things in life for a cool teddy bear. Coulda fooled me. Teddy bear? He wanted to help me come out of my shell. He got some travel brochures for Gay resorts. Yup, that’s how Phil rolled, coz he thought I’d never do it. We looked them over, and guess which one he picked? You got it…the nekkid, clothing NOT optional resort. Coming out of your shell, my ass! I was terrified! I didn’t show it then and laughed it off. But oh god, when I got home…. So here I sit. My first morning here… in my birthday suit for chrissake…along with every guy here. Shit, what am I doing? I met the guy sitting across from me this morning standing in the food line. Guess where my bowl was? He introduced himself and asked if we could sit together for breakfast. Courage, courage, I said yes. Ahhhhhh! What am I supposed to do now? Everything is all new! How am I going to get through the rest of this trip?! Help!!!Photo Description: Two burly, middle-aged, naked men sit in wooden chairs, eating at a tiny round table. The slightly younger, smoother man with a dark crew-cut holds his bowl up and gazes across at the other's bowed greying head. The second man stares down through wire-framed glasses at his bowl, held strategically over his groin, his feet awkwardly curled over each other.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 1.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, bears, nudists, first time, fluff, holiday romance, coming out, humorWord Count: 2,997

    No matter what he needs some loving and a happily ever after, don't you think?Photo Description: The man is caught in mid-disaster. In an old-fashioned bathtub shower, a lean, naked, dark-haired guy is taking a spectacular fall, feet higher than his head, tangled with the clear shower curtain, arm, head and shoulder headed for impact with unforgiving porcelain. One hand has grabbed the flimsy curtain. It will not be enough to save him.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 1.__________Genre: BDSM, contemporaryTags: gay m/m, BDSM, masochism, friends to lovers, kink, medical, nurse, reluctant dom, bratty subWord Count: 7,229

    Maybe there's one hanging out in this bottle of Jaeger....Photo Description: Sitting on a doorstep in a brick wall, arms on his knees and a bottle of Jaeger tilted to his mouth, is a very...unusual man. He's lean, tattooed and shaven-headed, wearing only a pink tutu, pink-and-white striped socks, and rubber-toed black sneakers. He holds a cigarette, one knee sports a Band-Aid, and perched on his head is a rhinestone tiara.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: paranormal contemporaryTags: gay m/m, fairies/fae, magic, second chances, comfort, sex content mild/non-explicitWord Count: 4,850

    However, their respective families stand on their chance to be together. WouldPhoto Description: An iron balcony rail, two dark-haired young men, a tender moment. The man above leans down to extend his hand, smiling. The white-shirted man below grasps the rail in one fist and with the other brings the back of his lover's hand to his mouth for a kiss, eyes closed.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: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, sweet-no sex, in-the-closet, first-love, athleteWord Count: 18,240

    Then came college and everything changed. For the first time he was part of a team, he had friends and an actual social life. If only he could stop staring at his teammate’s arse. Matt was confident, hot, and oh-so-very straight. Which didn’t make any difference, anyway, because Blaine couldn’t be gay. He was happy, and no guy was worth upsetting the precarious balance of his new life. Unfortunately, he never bothered to tell Matt that. Matt, who isn't so straight after all, and who is more than ready to show Blaine that some risks are worth it.Dear Author,These guys have been friends for years (and are maybe teammates) and are indulging in a bit of "I'll show you mine..." They're old enough for looking to lead to touching, to lead to...?Photo Description: Two very young men, naked except for jeans pushed low on their thighs, sit together on a low stone wall. Fully exposed but unaroused, they touch foreheads, eyes closed. One is a little more muscular, shaven-headed with a dragon tattoo on one pec. The other is slender, with short dark hair and a star tattooed on each pale shoulder.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 1.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, collegeWord Count: 6,569

    When he gets a job overseas, Abram feels that he has to follow his lover, but he still harbors doubts of his own worthiness. Those doubts come to a head during the long flight to begin their new lives. How far is Abram willing to go to keep Beau to himself? Sometimes in matters of the heart, you just have to dive in and sink or swim.Original Prompt:Dear Author,I will leave the story up to you. What ever gets your creative juices going is fine with me. These men just need a story.Photo Description: A close-up photo of the faces of two dark-haired, scruffy, shirtless young men in a field of red wildflowers. They are lying down in opposite directions. One's head rests on the other's chest, the other's head pillowed on a bent arm to look at the viewer.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, Volume 3 or Don't Read in the Closet: GayRomLit Retreat 2011 Special Edition.__________Genre: contemporaryTags: gay m/m, established couples, travel, new beginnings, mile-high, first-person, HEAWord Count: 13,815