CE Ricci

Catching feelings was never part of the plan. Taking in Kason Fuller as roommate is meant to be a favor; one I regret immediately. The bumbling, virgin football player drives me to the brink of sanity—stealing my food, my sleep, my peace, and solitude. My solution? Call a ceasefire.

Let me tell you how Holden Sykes operates. As the campus playboy and one-and-done king, he doesn’t do strings. Or repeats. Or names, for that matter. So when he tries making my best friend the next notch on his bedpost, I react poorly....

It was never meant to be more than a dare: A party game. A dare. A single kiss. That’s all it took to flip my world upside down. I’ve always classified myself as straight, and as far as I can tell, so has he. I didn’t think one kiss would change that, but I was so wrong....

My path to success never included an enemy as a teammate, especially one as infuriating as Quinton de Haas. Clawing under my skin is his favorite pastime, only feeding the animosity between us as the years pass. We’re as completely opposite as two people can be; the golden boy and the black sheep.

Grief. I’ve never battled with the raw, debilitating pain that comes with it. Then a twist of fate hits me out of nowhere, and I can barely keep from drowning. It’s like weights tied to my ankles in the middle of a raging ocean. I’m helpless, with no way to swim back to the surface....

Duty, honor, and sacrifice. Dedicating my life to these elements, for family and country, leaves little for myself in return. It's why I indulge in a no-strings hookup with a handsome stranger mere days before heading half-a-world away.