Struggling with your sexual identity is no easy path-and it's never a joke. Especially not in the world of football. Especially not as a Black male with an overbearing father who makes it clear he "ain't raise no sissy." For Isiah Carter, that struggle only gets worse during his junior year of high school when a new teammate, Luke Collins, joins the field in the summer. At first, Luke is nothing but a thorn in his side-the dog to his cat. They clash constantly, never seeing eye to eye, always one argument away from throwing hands. They clash on and off the field, tension building with every argument, every look held too long. Luke is everything Isiah shouldn't want-and everything he can't ignore. But one night changes everything, and suddenly, Isiah is unable to deny what he's been running from.

"𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎,𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚎,𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙,𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏". 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍: 𝙽𝚘𝚟.𝟾

𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 '𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘶𝘴. NOT EDITED.

Have you ever met someone whose just the light in all of the darkness that surrounds you? Someone who makes you strong, someone whose willing to fight for you when no one else can. Have you ever met someone whose willing to help you through your pain when they know nothing of it? A pain that's so unbearable that it can destroy a thousand souls in just a matter of seconds. Have you ever met someone you love unconditionally as a friend before anything else? They seen you first instead of your scars.

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"𝙃𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩"

Book 2 of Blessings.

' 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 '

𝐀𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐋 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎