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 knows his days on the ice are numbered, but he’s happy with the Moncton Ice Cats and he’s still got some time to figure out what comes next. He’s been taking college classes online and thought he knew what he was doing, but then he made the ultimate rookie mistake. It turns out the poetry class is not the easier way to get his required English credits. Barnaby Birtwistle has exiled himself to the wilds of New Brunswick, leaving London, his so-called friends, and his cheating ex behind. His life is finally getting back on track, and he's going to keep it that way, even if it means living like a monk. Travis is expecting a bookish nerd to help him pass his staggeringly boring class; Barnaby is expecting a meathead hockey player who struggles to string two words together, let alone appreciate poetry. Turns out that they both have something to learn.

    After meeting Lincoln, will he have the courage to finally do what makes him happy?Alexander – I like to imagine myself a rebel – an ass-kicker that takes what he wants regardless of what others think. I make my own path and flip off the people who don’t agree. I laugh in the face of conflict. Nobody tells me what to do.In reality, everything about me is a lie – past, present, and future. The Bryant name requires certain things and all my decisions are based on those requirements. I like football, but the family name demands I love it. I want to be an artist, but the family name demands I be a lawyer. The family demands I fall in love with a nice girl, but I’m falling for, well, the opposite of nice AND girl. I’m a coward and a liar.Lincoln – I like to imagine myself a loner – a cold heartless bastard that takes what he wants. I lived the biggest part of my life with parents that were ashamed of me for more reasons that one could begin to count, so I trust no one.I have a low tolerance for bullshit and hate liars.So why did I go and fall in love with the biggest liar of them all?

    He meets his wealthy father’s goals as both the quarterback for the famous SCU football team and a business major, but secretly he attends art school and longs to live as a painter. And he's gay. But if he can win the coveted Milton Scholarship for art, he’ll be able to break from his father at the end of his senior year.In a painting master class, Will meets his divergent opposite, Noah Zajack. A scarred orphan who’s slept on park benches and eaten from trash cans, Noah carefully plans his life and multiple jobs so he has money and time to go to art school. Will's problems seem like nothing compared to Noah's. Noah wants the scholarship too and may have a way to get it since the teacher of his class has designs on him, a plan Will isn't happy about.When a gossipmonger with a popular YouTube channel finds evidence that Will is gay, the quarterback’s closet doors begin to crumble. Hounded by the press and harassed by other players, Will has to choose. Stay in the closet and keep his family’s wealth, or let the doors fall off and walk out with nothing. Nothing but Noah.

    Senior Toren Grey cares more about his family and his grades than what brand of clothes he wears. He agrees with the majority consensus that he's a nerd. So he's quite surprised when resident bad boy Wesley Carroll speaks to him in the hall, stirring feelings that Toren has to hide. Disconcerted by Wes's free and easy ways, Toren can't deny the attraction between them. As he relaxes and gets to know Wes better, he finds there's more to the sexy rebel than his public image. Before long the young men are exploring new territory and falling in love, but life just isn't that simple. After they graduate, obstacles block their relationship at every turn: Wes working versus Toren in college, the virulent disapproval of parents, and everyday trials faced by any struggling young couple. Wes and Toren have to believe in each other... and never doubt that their love can conquer all.

    Deny, deny, deny.2. Hope that his team and the public will just get over it.3. Make himself look better by means of a long-term, committed relationship.The problem? He has yet to really kiss another man.The solution? His manager knows just the guy.Enter Henry Brown: music student, openly gay, currently single, and so pretty that the public will just eat him up. He's all too happy to lend Ben a hand.Between public appearances and the media spotlight, they become friends. But when benefits come into play, the question is: are they ready for the real thing?Pull Me Under is a cheerful tale of two people finding truth in the middle of a media whirlwind — an emotional rollercoaster of slow ascents, magnificent drops and stomach-turning loops, all while hoping to come out with the sun on your face and a smile in your heart.

    As a pro athlete, I have one unbreakable rule when it comes to men -- Don't date another baseball player. Good thing I haven't been tempted once in four years in the majors. Until the day a rising star walks into my locker room. Outgoing, affable, and sexy-as-sin, Grant has confidence and talent for miles. He seems to get me too, maybe because we each have our fair share of secrets and scars -- ones we'll both fight to protect. But, I've got far too much trouble in my past to want to bring any into my present. All the more reason to resist the kind of dirty deeds his lips and eyes promise. Even after I plant a scorching, hot kiss on the rookie one night after a game. Even after he sends me the world's sexiest selfie. But when Grant reveals his biggest secret, I'm so damn ready to rip up the rulebook. Turns out he's a virgin and he wants me to help him get around all the bases. The only rule? Don't fall in love with him as we go. Scoring with Him is book one in the utterly addictive Men of Summer series. This romance between two professional athletes spans five epic years and continues in Winning With Him.

    Noah Andersson is loud, outgoing and probably hasn’t stopped talking since he learned how to say words. When Morgan ends up on a team with Noah at the Olympics, they get closer than either of them expected, and even when they’ve returned home Morgan still finds himself drawn to Noah. Confused by his feelings for him, Morgan might have to figure out himself before he figures out his relationship with Noah.

    His current boyfriend wants to take their relationship to the next level, which makes Rett hesitant and doubtful. Luckily, a job offer in a new town solves his problem for him, giving him the perfect excuse to run away yet again from the uncomfortable feeling of someone trying to get close to him, even if it means picking up after seven years of school and starting over.Most guys would kill for his new job, and Rett’s certainly desperate for the paycheck. But the irony of the new position isn’t lost on him — he’s never cared a whole lot for sports, and even far less about the world of professional sports, which is right where he’s landed. Then he finds out he’s not the only one that’s new to pro sports, and he gets closer and closer to one of the players as they try to make sense of the whole crazy thing together. And things seem good!But when his family, whom he had long since left behind, shows back up with a family crisis, his life starts to unwind and Rett allows everything around him to painfully self-destruct. It’s only then that he realizes he’s got to get back up, stand his ground, and teach himself the one thing he never truly learned growing up.He’s got to stop running away and finally learn what it really means to be a man.

    His dream comes true and then some; he finds himself playing alongside his idol, first baseman Matt Blanco, who is everything he dreamed of and more. Matt Blanco is entering the twilight of his career, plagued by injuries and two decades of lying about who and what he is, but he thinks he still has a few good years left in the major leagues. Then he meets Iggy and everything turns upside down. But carrying on an affair with a much younger man is one thing. Having an affair with his teammate introduces a whole new set of complications. When a trade and a career-ending injury threaten to keep them apart, both men have to figure out what they’re willing to risk for the love of baseball and each other.

    A flare of temper, a thrown punch, and Jay Ruttman’s dream of being a footballer evaporated. Thrown out of the Pro Academy, Jay falls back to Plan B. University. At least he got accepted onto the sports scholarship. It might keep his dreams alive. Now he has a new plan: Head down. Train hard. Get scouted. That plan does not include falling for a rock musician – last thing he needs is a posh muso stirring up those well-hidden preferences that could end Jay’s career before it can even begin. Sebastian Saunders is out and proud. This rich kid rock musician wants to live it up, chase the dream and rock out for as long as he can, dodging his millionaire father’s plans for him to take the helm of the family business. He has a strict rule that he doesn’t date closest cases because he’s been there, done that. So that should mean not falling for shy sexy footballers, no matter how pretty their baby blue eyes are. For the sake of his heart. And both of their dreams. Kick Off is the first book in The District Line series. A New Adult, Opposites Attract, First Time, Sports/Rocker Contemporary MM Romance serial featuring an east end cockney footballer, a west end elite public-school boy gone rogue and the London tube line that connects them both.

    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?

    He wasn’t that interested in finding a relationship—his habit of hot and steamy one-night-stands suited him just fine. Falling into a very expensive hotel room bed with Alex really was just another night. Until George learns that the guy he’d slept with wasn’t just ‘Alex’—he’s Alexander van Amsberg, Prince of the Netherlands. George puts the incident behind him until he runs into Alex again, and this time Alex makes sure to get George’s phone number. Despite all the reasons why their relationship shouldn’t work, something clicks, and Alex thinks that he might have finally found the right guy. But Alex’s aristocratic ex stirs up trouble in the tabloid press, and suddenly George’s working class family is put under the spotlight. Alex has to admit that their relationship isn’t a fairy tale, and despite his royal title, he might have lost his chance for a happily ever after. *This is a second edition, re-release of the October 2015 novel ‘My Prince’ by Anna Martin.

    Theo hates lying to Chris, but in coming out, he might lose the one person who understands him best, a risk he’s not willing to take. When a relationship with another young man goes south, Theo is forced to confront his own sexuality along with his growing attraction to Chris and his stunted, tenuous relationship with his father. Will Chris abandon Theo when he learns the truth, or will he stand by him in this tumultuous season of self-discovery? In this quirky coming-of-age romance, Theo’s path to manhood is fraught with awkward firsts and a few haters, but also the unexpected comfort of a friend turned lover.

    Add that to the fact that his dream guy was his best friend's jerky older brother Levi Baxter, and it made hooking up virtually impossible. Now home from college for winter break, Toby is a different person. He left Coburn for San Francisco, where he wasn't the lone gay guy and the only black kid in town. And yeah, he took advantage of what the city had to offer. Apparently Toby isn’t the only one who’s changed. Levi’s not acting like the self-centered guy with all the answers that Toby remembers from growing up. Oh and Levi’s realized he's bisexual, which makes things a lot more interesting… Heading back to college, Toby doesn’t expect to meet up with Levi again, despite him being in med school not far away. A surprise visit from Levi blows that assumption out of the water. As they spend more time together Toby sees Levi as more than just the fantasy. He’s complicated, unsure…he’s real. But if Toby can’t get out of the past and find the words he keeps locked inside himself, he’ll lose his chance at Levi for good. A gay, new adult, interracial romance.