Lauren

As a young single dad with a teaching job, I haven't had much opportunity to date. My son is my entire world, and though I would love to have a partner and someone to count on, the passing years have shown that it's just not in the cards for me. So when the gorgeous lumberjack of a man—the same man that I've had a massive crush on since the moment we became neighbors—suddenly asks me out on a date, I'm completely blindsided.

Steve Frost had dreams of wearing the national championship belt in mixed martial arts, maybe even going pro, but instead finds himself working as a security guard for the rich and famous in LA. Quickly earning a reputation for his blunt and precise people management skills, he lands a position on the security team for an up-and-coming boyband, Atrous. Jeremy’s been a pillar for Atrous since day one, but even more so these last few months. When the fame and stress become too much, when Jeremy’s health takes a hit, Steve becomes Jeremy’s lifeline.

Maddox Kershaw is the main vocalist of the world’s biggest boy band. He’s at the top of every music chart, every award show, every social media platform, and every sexiest-man-alive list. He’s the bad boy, the enigma, the man everyone on the planet wants a piece of. He’s also burned out and exhausted, isolated and lonely. Not in a good headspace at the start of a tour.

There’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless. Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying. He hears me, even though I rarely speak a word. But I always knew this place wouldn’t be enough for my free-spirited friend. I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.

As a divorced man in my thirties with a throwaway job and very few friends, I admit that I've made a lot of bad decisions over the years. Rounding out the top of that epic list was allowing my son's best friend, Quinn, to talk me into taking him on a two-week summer road trip... alone. What was supposed to be quality father-son bonding time before Joshua went off to college has somehow transpired into a battle of wills between me and his nineteen-year-old best friend. Quinn may be young, but he genuinely seems to enjoy spending time with me, something I've never experienced before.

I’ve never been romantic. Just ask my ex-wife. Since she broke up with me, I get my needs met any time I want, without putting my heart on the line. Exactly how I like it. But when she is called overseas and leaves me with our child, my bachelor lifestyle ends faster than you can say, “Daddy, I want a pony.” I need help. Problem is, help’s come in the form of an incredibly hot nanny. My employee. Who is much younger than me. And also...a guy.