Showing results by author "Crea Reitan" in All Categories

After a series of relationships where I've been made to feel inadequate because of my asexuality, I've made the sole focus of my life my coaching career. I love hockey—the chill of the ice, the fast-paced, high-stress game. I love the fans and the atmosphere. The energy. Now that I'm coaching in the NHL, I feel a sense of serenity and comfort with life. All that's left is to get my team to the Stanley Cup. The frustration that my boys feel echoes through me, and after one of the most horrible plays I've ever witnessed, I turn my back on the ice—only to catch his eyes.

I've been secretly married for eight years. Why is it a secret? Because having an open marriage splashed all over headlines isn't a good look. We'd constantly be under the spotlight, our lives and relationships judged. That's not the kind of hockey player I want to be known for, especially because we play for different teams. Although most of my relationships outside of my marriage are passing, I've been pining over my best friend and teammate for years. Years! Just as I decide that maybe it's time to see where this leads, management throws an unexpected play in our faces.

Egon Wolf is on a hockey scholarship but failing at everything else. Knowing he's going to lose his ride if he doesn't get his academic act together, he seeks out a tutor. Rakesh Aahnu is a dual major and dangerous when bored. What he enjoys more than anything is the challenge of making straight men fall for him before walking away. Just because he can. Both Egon and Rakesh are about to discover that life has a way of throwing you in the sin bin when you least expect it.

It's a new start—brand new school in a completely different state. For the first time, I now have the freedom to be unapologetically me. But as my luck would have it, I have shit taste in men. The first man to pay me a compliment has so many red flags, that I think I'm in a storm. Life can't get any worse… until he turns into a stalker. Then my stalker ends up brutally murdered, I walk blindly into a serial killer's nest, and I catch the attention of a sociopath.

I'll stop at nothing to get him back. Sometimes what you're waiting for has a funny way of being right in front of you for a long time. Albrecht Holleran is one of those instances. I know that his broody, moody, assholery is the mask of a man struggling. Over two years, I've pried that mask off...

Sometimes, all it takes is a single moment to realize you're needed somewhere, and in that moment, your entire life changes. Felton has so many broken pieces that he can barely breathe. But that's okay. I'm going to show this man what love is. If he doesn't have the capacity to protect himself, I'll do it for him. The abuse ends now.

When you fight for so long, sometimes it's just easier to give in. I want to give in to the god before me. Sent to me from the heavens, Owen is the very definition of divine perfection. But he doesn't know my truth. If he did, he'd know that I don't belong in his world. The shame of seeing the disgust on his face when he figures it out keeps me running from him. Even though fate or destiny or something cruel keeps throwing us together. Maybe he's the motivation I need to get my shit in order. But can I do it before he figures out I'm nothing but a street rat?

My relationship with twins Damon and Declan has always been close. Too close, according to what society has deemed appropriate between guy friends. But that's never stopped our hugging and cuddling—in public or private. My best friends knew I didn't receive affection from home, so they never let me go without it.

Even a gay athlete has an appearance to uphold. There are a handful out in every sport and while every trashy magazine wants to get the scoop on what the gays are up to, looking for a scandal and a way to ruin us, every one of us is constantly on our best behavior. Acting a certain way, dressing a certain way, speaking a certain way. If the world knew the real me, it'd shudder. Lace. Pearls. Dresses. Collars. All I want is to be someone's pretty little doll that they dress up and tell me how pretty I am. I want to be loved for the real me, not the image I'm forced to show to the world.

Love can sneak up on you at the most inconvenient time. I've sacrificed everything to build Rainbow Dorset University into the beacon of safety and excellence that it's become. While my university thrives, all I have to show for my personal life are three grown kids who barely speak to me and an ex-wife who screams at me every chance she can get.

I've lived a very quiet life, keeping my deepest secrets close to my chest. I let no one in, not even my closest friends. When I'm invited to participate in the All-Star Games, I'm suddenly forced to share a hotel room—and a single bed—with a stranger. My carefully guarded world starts to come undone when he kisses me, and I can't get enough.

Life has taught me not to get attached to anyone because they'll only let you down, but I can't stop myself from falling in love with my roommate and frat brother the moment we meet. Nothing can possibly go wrong when I agree to be his fake boyfriend for the holidays, right? One kiss under the mistletoe changes everything, and the childhood make-believe suddenly morphs into so much more. There's only one problem—this arrangement is only for Christmas, and then we're back to being only friends when we return to school.

Falling in love with my father's best friend wasn't on my to-do list. Yes, he's hot. Sure, I've been flirting with him since I was 16. Of course, I'd be down for a little fun. When Laiken begins returning my flirting, things get heated. It was supposed to be sexy fun and nothing more. We weren't planning on making this a forever thing.

Hiding behind my mascot mask has always worked in my favor. As someone with social anxiety and paralyzing shyness, the ability to be out in the world without being seen is the only way I'm able to function. It also means I can long for my crush from afar without him knowing. I'm invisible inside my costume and try to go unseen otherwise. Except that Hugo always sees me because he's such a sweet, kind, thoughtful man. Is it any surprise that I'm completely in love with him? What starts out as an accidental anonymous text turns into a date, but there's just one problem.

I've wanted one thing for as long as I can remember—someone to love, a family, and a happily ever after. I finally found it with the least likely person across the street. Our life together has been dipped in espresso and given a massive jolt forward, but we couldn't be happier. That is, until someone threatens that happiness and I'm forced to respond in order to protect my family that's barely begun. I didn't mean for this relationship to begin bathed in blood, but I will do anything to protect the love I've waited decades for.

One summer. An island resort escape. Solitude to banish the demons in my past. What begins as a chance meeting on a beach during sunset turns into the most romantic, life-changing five weeks I could ever dream up with two of the most amazing men I've ever met. The end of summer comes all too soon, and we're forced to part ways, though we promise to keep in touch. Fate isn't letting this be the end, though. The start of the new school year finds me on Alka's soccer team. We're not sure whether to celebrate being together again or hide our forbidden relationship.

After the fallout between me, my brother, and Simon, I find myself either wallowing in a black pit of depression or lashing out with vicious rage. Technically, Simon still lives in the condo the three of us bought together, but ever since our relationship imploded months ago, I've barely seen him.

I used to believe in fairy tales, but I've kissed far too many frogs that never turn into Prince Charming. The glass slipper never fits. I'm always the ugly step-sibling; never the princess. They're the same crushing blows every time. Why is it so difficult to accept that I like myself the way I am? With my pretty dresses, pastel tattoos, and sparkly nail polish, I like to feel beautiful. All I want is my happily ever after. To be cherished and adored and loved for who I am. I desperately want to find my forever person. Why am I always left with a broken heart instead?

This wasn't supposed to happen to me. I'm supposed to be at the top of my career. Untouchable. Worshiped. Finally proving to all the jerks in my life that I made it. I'm at the top. Then a video that shouldn't exist leaks and everything comes crashing down. I'm about to lose it all and I can't seem to get out of my own way. My agent banishes me to a place that technology can't touch while he tries to salvage my career.

One mistake can ruin your life. I learned that at fifteen when my hormones got the best of me and I was landed with an unwanted pregnancy. My parents decided to punish me and forced me out of the sport I love to raise my child and provide for my newly forced-upon-us-both marriage. One mistake can cost a life. My life. If not for my best friend who rescued me and my daughter, I'd have ended it all.