Starting from Scratch

If there's one thing I know, it's how to play the game...both on and off the field. If it hadn't been for that one teenage slipup where I kissed Beau Campbell, I'd be able to keep fooling myself. Football is the one thing I use to distract myself from the truth, and when I screw-up and lose the game I love, I find myself right back in Fever Falls. And right back face-to-face with Cranky Campbell, who hates me even more than he did when we were kids. But whatever magic he held over me then is still there.

Justin is recently and unhappily single. Christmas is coming, and he doesn't want to face his ex alone at their office party. So Sean volunteers to go with him and pretend to be his new flame. Sean has always lusted after Justin from afar, but there's never been a good opportunity to ask him for more than friendship. Posing as Justin's boyfriend isn't a chore, and if Justin wants to rebound onto him, Sean's more than willing. At the party pretense and reality blur, and a kiss on the dance floor leads to a night of passion.

Alec Rowland is a high-flying lawyer in a London firm, whose career is his life. He doesn't have time for relationships, and his sexuality is a closely guarded secret. After picking up a cute guy on a Friday night, Alec's world is rocked to its foundations when his one night stand shows up in the office on Monday morning - as the new temp on his team.

Christian Rafferty is a talented quarterback with a big secret. He’s determined to make the most of his final season on the football field and, if possible, avoid any confrontations with his conservative parents about his future. It shouldn’t be difficult; he’s become adept at keeping his public and private lives separate. However, when a math class threatens to derail his plans to graduate on time, he realizes he may need outside help.

Shy, inexperienced Rudy has a crush on Zac from the moment his new colleague walks through the door. On an office night out before Christmas, Rudy finds the courage to make a move, and they form a tentative bond. When he discovers Zac will be alone at Christmas, he invites Zac to come home with him. Zac prefers to keep people at arm's length. Yet when Rudy offers him a family Christmas it's impossible to resist. With no parents of his own, Zac is pleasantly surprised to be welcomed by Rudy's. The only drawback is that everyone assumes they're a couple. Unwilling to disappoint Rudy's mum and make Christmas awkward, they decide not to deny it.

Evan di Angelo is an upbeat, good-natured goofball who loves his friends and family…and football. A traumatic accident may have ended his hopes of playing professionally, but he’s made the most of his four years on the field at a small Southern California college. He’s learned the hard way to embrace change, take chances and try things outside of his comfort zone…like agreeing to play fake boyfriends for someone else’s senior project.

Derek Vaughn is a little too serious. He’s a type-A controlling personality with a penchant for order and a love of water polo. But he’s determined to enjoy his last year of college. The real world with a serious job and big expectations can wait for a few months. He’s going soak up every minute on campus with his friends and teammates before he moves on. The only possible kink in his plan is the new guy on the team...also known as his nemesis.

When Aiden agrees to run the Mad Mucker - a 12-mile muddy slog over an obstacle course - he’s expecting it to be a bit of a laugh. The training will be tough, but Aiden could use the motivation to regain some fitness.

Gary should be living it up in his South Tower unit of Metropolis, but he's having a hard time adjusting to his newly single status. It's not easy to walk away from five years with his ex, who he discovered was cheating on him with some North Tower twink. After a night out partying, licking his wounds, he goes to bed alone. When he wakes the next morning, there's a naked guy in his bed. Not just any guy. A stud from North Tower. But hot as he is, what the hell is he doing in his room?

Everyone said our love wouldn’t work. That it was too hard, too complicated, too messy. Oh how I enjoy proving everyone wrong.

I don't need anyone's protection. I'm fine. But to appease my sister after a home invasion, I agree to take self-defense lessons. They just so happen to be with a big, muscled former navy SEAL who may or may not be everything I've always daydreamed about but never thought I could have. And he's dead set on looking out for me even when things in my life suddenly get complicated. Between the increasing threats against me and pressure from my wealthy family to be someone I'm not, I'm having a hard time keeping it together.

Nearing the end of a suspended jail sentence should unlock a brighter future for CJ Davis, only the chip on his shoulder is as hard to shift as his bad reputation. Born into a family of career criminals who live down Davis Road, an address the cops have dubbed Davis Row, his name alone is like a rap sheet that makes optimism impossible. Brand-new parole officer Noah Huxley is determined to see the good in men like CJ. After all, he knows firsthand that bad things can happen to good people.

My home is my sanctuary. Or is it my prison? Some days it's hard to tell. I've confined myself behind these walls for protection. I have my reasons, but that doesn't change the profound loneliness I've discovered in the process. Then one day I find myself drifting toward the window to see him. Corey Marshall, my new neighbor. Quiet, reserved, and cute as can be. He infects my thoughts, becomes the image I fantasize about. I want to taste his lips, smell his scent...feel what it's like to be inside him.

All his life Eric Sontag has judged himself on his size, believing love and friendship aren't in the cards for someone like him. Tired of being alone and scared of his doctor’s warnings, he enrolls in a nutrition support group, determined to change his life. When a beautiful thin man sits next to him, he can’t believe they have anything in common, but conversation between the two soon proves first impressions aren’t always what they seem.

Being an identical twin doesn't come without issues. No one can tell us apart, not even our parents sometimes. We don't usually use that to our advantage, but it comes in handy when my brother needs help breaking up with his boyfriends - which happens more than I'd care to admit. I know it's enabling him, but I can't say no to Anders. I will do anything for my twin. The breakups always go the same; they're swift and simple. Until Reed. When I give in to temptation, it's not because he's a guy. It's because he thinks I'm my brother, and I can't bring myself to tell him the truth.