Showing results by author "Saxon James" in All Categories

I’ve always been the relationship guy. I love big, hard and fast … but unfortunately for me, that’s the quickest way to make a new romance crash and burn. Moving to Wilde’s End, our not-so-abandoned town, is exactly the fresh start I need. What’s better than a town in the middle of nowhere and long days of hard work to swear off relationships? At least that’s what I think, until I meet Ziggy.

Walking away from my marriage was my idea of a fresh start. My kid is in college, my ex-wife and I are on good terms…but being single in my 40s is a world different to being single in my teens. I’m thankful for my best friend, Heath. He’s got my back like he always does and is ready to take me out and show me how the bachelor life is done. He was never supposed to show me literally. After we wake up in bed together, I can’t stop looking at him differently, and one thing becomes abundantly clear.

Being invited to my cousin’s wedding really shouldn’t be a big deal except, oh yeah, I haven't seen my family for a decade. My parents turned their backs on me, and I’ve done everything since to become successful and show them what they've lost. Only it’s kinda hard to be a success when you’re a walking trainwreck.

Give me the smallest reason to make a bad decision, and I’ll jump in with both feet. Case in point: thinking that drunkenly buying an abandoned town with my brothers is a good idea. As builders, we plan to renovate and flip the town, maybe turn it into something worth seeing, but the longer we’re here, the more things feel … off. It’s not until a bearded mountain man breaks into my room in the middle of the night and threatens for us to get out of his town that I realize Wilde’s End isn’t as abandoned as we were told.

Once upon a time, playing for the NHL was my dream. Then Radimir Novicov skated circles around me and made it clear I’d never be good enough. He was smart, talented, and worst of all–sexy. Every closeted guy knows that you don’t hit on your teammate, even if his gaze lingers longer than it should. All it took was one drunken close call before our friendship was in tatters, he was called up to the NHL, and I was sent for further conditioning. Playing in the NHL was off the table, so coaching became my new dream. And seventeen years later, I’m finally heading to the big time.

At Rho Kappa Tau, I’m a legacy. It’s a lot of pressure, but I’ve always been responsible, never had that rebellious need to rock the boat - and I like it that way. But after a party at Sigma - the jock frat - I meet Chad Doomsen, and for the first time in my life, I want to step outside my square. Our houses have always had a rivalry, but some of the guys seem to hate Chad specifically, and I don’t know why. He’s surprisingly sweet and kind. I need to stay away. A relationship with Chad would be betraying the very legacy that brought me here. But I can’t help myself.

One date. That’s how long it takes for Marshall Harrows to end up on my bad side. Luckily, I have no plans to see the giant teddy bear again. Except when he shows up as my new roommate, I can’t escape him, and he’s just as irritating as I thought he’d be. He leaves cupboards ajar and puts empty milk cartons back in the fridge. His bedroom door is always open, I find his underwear on the laundry floor, and he has this whole bashful sweetheart thing going on that I just…can’t…stand.

Banging my son’s bestie was a total accident that will never, ever happen again. I’m sure of it. While he might be gorgeous and caught me in a weak moment, when it comes right down to it, my son has been my entire life for the last twenty-six years. I don’t know how to be anything other than his dad. But with Molly heading off to Seattle, he leaves me with a parting gift: Will. His best friend. And my new roommate.

You know what’s the worst feeling in the world? Being in love with someone since you were twelve years old, knowing they only see you as a little brother type. Not even becoming an NHL star has made him realize I’m all grown up now. All of that changes when I ask my brother’s best friend to ref a charity match and we spend an entire week in each other’s pocket. Being close to him is torture, but for the first time since my adolescent crush started, I begin to feel hope.

The idea of moving away from Seattle was a joke at first. I have too many failed relationships here. Too much baggage. So when I find myself signing with Nashville and leaving everything behind, I’m hopeful a new start will cure me of my attachment problems. I fall fast and hard, and I’m quickly realizing it’s not so easy to escape my emotional damage. That follows no matter where I go.

The fall from NHL superstar to domestic disaster was swift and painful. When I became the legal guardian of my five younger siblings, I had no idea what I was doing. One year later, I'm still lost. Coaching CU's hockey team might be the only thing I'm excelling at. But when our star forward is failing math, I have to do what it takes to keep him on the team. Even if it's going head-to-head with Jasper Eckstein. One minute I'm confronting the notorious hockey-hating professor, and the next I'm agreeing to be his date to a twenty-year high school reunion. I don't know how that happened.

Five years ago, I walked away from Sunbury, Oregon, and left my best friend behind. The move was supposed to get my life on track. I even had a list: Life changing epilepsy surgery. Check. See the world. Check. Get over my straight best friend... Not exactly. No matter where I go or who I meet, I can't let Tanner go. I'm back to tell him how I feel. To get the closure I need once and for all. Only now I'm here and falling for him all over again, it's getting harder to say the words. Because once I have my closure, I'll be gone. And this time it will be for good.

My best friend is uptight, gorgeous, the greatest person I know … and I might be a smidge in love with him. Just a small amount. Barely worth the mention. Which is a stupid choice on my part when the guy is straight. Starting a landscaping company with him was the perfect mix of doing what I love and an excuse to spend time with him, only it hasn’t completely taken off yet and now he’s telling me he’s lonely.

Straining my groin is bad enough. It puts my hockey career, my future, but even worse, my dignity on the line. Having to get massages in that area from Vance Landon, one of the team trainers, is mortifying. It’s impossible to hide my feelings toward him. If my constant blushing and bumbling doesn’t give it away, my body does. It’s getting to the point where I wonder if hockey is even worth the embarrassment. Trying to avoid him only makes him seek me out more. He’s determined to rehab my injury, but all I want is for him to leave me alone.

Moving to Seattle is supposed to be all about getting a fresh start and leaving the bitter man I was becoming behind. I have new roommates–quirky, sometimes strange, roommates–a nosy next-door neighbor, and a grumpy kitty for company, but even surrounded by people, I still don’t feel like I belong. Plus, it turns out the men in Seattle are exactly the same as the ones I left behind, and my string of romantic disconnections continues.

At first, I thought it would be an easy payday. A few pew pews for bad people, a couple of suitcases of cash for me. People have done worse for an honest living. The problem is that after a couple of jobs, I’ve never actually managed to unalive someone, and not for lack of trying. Apparently, a basic requirement of a hitman is being a good shot. Despite my constant duck-ups, I’m given another name, and I very nearly follow through. Only after obliterating this guy’s ear and his fervent pleading to spare him, I’ve sent him into hiding and collected the cash anyway.

There’s something seriously wrong with me. For once, I’m not talking about the health anxiety that randomly pops up and wreaks havoc on my life. I'm talking about, well, everything else. All my roommates have found someone to love them, and it hurts to see the guys who used to have me at the center of their worlds pair off and grow up, especially when it’s a reminder of how alone I've always been. I’ve always had an issue with relationships. With forming a connection with people outside of Seven, but this is more.

The worst part of being in love with my straight best friend is the fact he’s too oblivious to see it. Years of pining have left me exhausted, and I need a break from Dex. I need space to get over my feelings. But when his relationship falls apart and he turns to me for comfort, I cave immediately. If there’s one thing I hate more than being hurt, it’s seeing Dex struggle. I can’t leave him in a time of need, even if my friends say it’s my biggest downfall. They say Dexter Mitchale is my weakness, but if that’s true, I don’t want to be strong.

"Look out for Zach, and don't hit on him." My brother's request sounds easy enough. Keep an eye out for his best friend on campus and keep my hands to myself. Easy. Even if Zach is a quintessential nerd, who I've always thought was cute, I don't have the time to think with my...stick. There's only one stick I should be focused on this year, and that's my hockey stick. My goal once I graduate is to get an NHL contract. The last thing I need is a distraction. On or off the ice. Only, keeping to the rules is harder than I thought it would be.

Finding out those closest to me don’t see me as the great guy I think I am not only kicks me in the gut, it makes me question everything. Until that happened, I didn’t think I had many regrets in my life. Now, I have nothing but regrets. And when my NHL team is bought out, and the new owner makes his presence known, my existential crisis kicks up a notch. Because he might be my biggest regret of all. Parker Duchene. I made his life a living hell in high school, and now he’s inserting himself into my career to repay the favor.