Raleigh Ruebins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read

Raleigh Ruebins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:32:17 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 http://www.ilovenovels.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/favicon.png Raleigh Ruebins – Read Books Online Free Ebooks good best novels to read http://www.ilovenovels.com 32 32 Reckless Little Game (Crimson College #3) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/reckless-little-game-crimson-college-3-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 28 Feb 2026 17:32:17 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/reckless-little-game-crimson-college-3-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Angst, Contemporary, Dark, Forbidden, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Crimson College Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >77

My frat enemy pulled me deep into reckless obsession.
Weston’s the perfect college golden boy.
The rule follower ‘Frat Dad’ of Onyx Society.
I call him the campus sheriff, because his rigid, lawful attitude gets deep under my skin.
But on the night we collide, Wes surprises me… and I like it far too much.
I see him on his knees for me and I crave more.
He says I’m chaotic.
Dark and violent, just because it’s fun.
But I watch as he breaks all of his rules for me, one by one.
He’s never slept with a man, and I’m a lone wolf...
But this twisted thing between us is quickly becoming a need.
But now I’m playing for two sides.
My frat has me gathering info on Wes, as our societies reignite a war that should have died years ago.
Violence erupts, and my loyalties should belong elsewhere.
But Wes is opening up to me. Giving me all of him, still needy for more.
And I will recklessly protect what’s mine

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

“No more holding back.

Be reckless.

Tell your Love to everybody.”

― Rumi

Part One

Blood in Rain

Prologue

WESTON

The first time I receive an invitation to a Zenith night, I don’t make it past the front porch.

The colossal door looms in front of me, tall and painted in glossy black with a prominent gold handle. It shines under the angled moonlight, but there are no other sources of light outside the house.

He’s here.

Sev Berlant is inside, somewhere.

All I have to do is go in and find him… then take what I want.

My heart starts to slam in my chest already. The potted white flowers flanking the door smell like fresh soil, and everything else about this house seems normal.

Does someone live here? Is it solely reserved for fucked-up Zenith club activities? It’s a couple of blocks past the edge of the Crimson College campus, on a street that usually would be reserved for professors’ homes or wealthy administration execs.

Not sex parties.

Sex parties that try to pretend they’re something else.

Or maybe they are something else, and I don’t even know what the fuck I’m getting myself into.

My heart weighs heavy in my chest as I shift my feet on the patio floorboards.

Just do it.

Quit being nervous, and do it.

I reach up and knock in the specific pattern that the invitation instructed. Two slow knocks, then two more in quick succession.

No one answers.

My skin flushes with heat as I second-guess every step that led me here. I don’t do things like this. People call me “Frat Dad” for a reason, no matter how ridiculous I think it is.

I run charity events. I take care of things. I don’t show up at shadowy houses late at night with a mask on my goddamn face and…

Fuck, what the fuck am I doing here?

I slide my fingertips over one of the flower petals in the cool air. White daffodils, just like our housekeeper used to plant every spring growing up. The petal is thin and velvety.

The thick door swings open and I jump back, the petal breaking off in my fingers.

“Why do you come here?” the masked man at the door asks, his figure silhouetted by the dim glow of light behind him.

Music comes from inside the house. Not loud like a normal college party, but low, deep and pulsating, filling the air.

The rules on the invitation were simple.

Say the fucking phrase.

Just. Act. Normal.

“To be unchained,” I answer, forcing my vocal cords into cooperation.

The man moves aside.

And it’s as if my skin lights on fire, catching like kindling and sweeping over every inch of me in a flash.

I can enter now, but I don’t. I see into the room and spot candles, low lamplight, and more masked figures walking around in the main room.

There’s one man who catches my eye sitting in the center, alone on a blood-red tufted loveseat.

He’s tall. Broad. Probably very strong under his cream-white collared shirt. He’s sitting there with his legs spread wide, like he’s a lord surveying his land.

Not really like a participant.

More like… a ruler.

A flash of ink slips out from the tattoo below his sleeve. It’s the black edge of a raven’s wing, jutting down from his wrist.

There you are.

I haven’t even stepped inside yet and my body is too hot under my suit and puffy coat. My neck is overheating.

Sev Berlant is right fuckin’ there.

And you knew he would be.

And you’re still two seconds from chickening out, like you’re already laid bare in front of him.

The threshold of the door is right in front of me. All I need to do is take a step forward. The Zenith club is exclusive, another layer of elite within the elite college I’m already attending.

But I can’t. Step. Forward.

I’m not naked, not even close. But I’ve heard enough about Zenith lately to know I should be wary. Heard rumors, at least. And I know by the end of the night I’ll either be bloodied or passed out or truly naked, perhaps tied up and fucked because that’s what I made the fatal mistake of signing up for.

Right? Remember? You fucking wanted this?

There is one reason I’m here.

I want to make Sev Berlant take my cock.

I need to finally see him on his knees, under my control, after enduring the years of his pompous fucking attitude toward me on campus. He breaks every rule. He fucks up events that I put weeks of effort into. He shows up at my parties and acts like he is the king.

After being injured for the last few months, he can finally walk again.

And ever since I found out he attends the Zenith parties…

I’ve had a deep, sick craving to bring him to his knees. It’s not revenge, per se. Just vindication. He signs up to be part of this depraved group of people who fight and fuck all behind anonymous masks. So it’s the one place in life where I can put him in his place.

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Possessive Little Game (Crimson College #2) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/possessive-little-game-crimson-college-2-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Wed, 07 Jan 2026 10:40:17 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/possessive-little-game-crimson-college-2-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Dark, M-M Romance, Virgin Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Crimson College Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >83

My secret? My online camboy obsession just joined my college society.
Niko is tattooed, troubled, and hot as fire in videos, but in person his ego is everything I despise.
We clash into violent sparks when I confront him about his private account.
That’s how I strike a dangerous deal with
You’ll be my fake boyfriend for the holidays, and I’ll keep your wicked little secret.
The problem? Niko is unhinged, demanding, white-hot chaos… and I’ve never done anything with another man.
Now I’m letting him touch me.
Film me.
He’s pure liquid fire, and I’m drawn deeper into his flame.
The worst part? Someone from his past keeps trying to hurt me for it.
Attacking me. Trying to destroy us both.
The more Niko is forced to protect me, the more I feel like I actually do belong to him.
Fake becomes far too real, and both of us are bound to pay the price for this twisted game

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

“You cannot love a person fully without knowing the darkness etched into their soul. I want to know his so well it becomes my darkness too.”

― Sav R. Miller

Part One

Smoke and Mirrors

1

Niko

Niko, naked on camera last Thursday, 11:56pm

Username: Dragonfly

“Any requests?” I ask into the webcam, knowing there will be many.

497 people are watching as I slowly stroke myself. I’ve been edging for an hour already. I can feel their eyes glued to their screens.

It’s like I have them under a spell.

And this is the one place in my life where I have power like this.

Hercules2210: You’re taking requests now?

I adjust the iridescent mask covering my face, moving it up enough so he can see me blow him a kiss.

“Anything for my followers. What do you want from me?”

I shouldn’t be here.

I know it so clearly, like a hot, blood-dark bruise that aches at the slightest touch. The type of bruise I inflicted on myself, with a blow so hard it could kill.

Thanks, past me.

Fuck you, too.

A new school can be a clean slate, a fresh start, or a way to shed your old skin and start over, defining yourself as something you always wanted to be.

Crimson College isn’t going to be anything fucking like that.

I’m here in the entryway of Onyx House, surrounded by the thrum of music, chaos, and exceeding amounts of wealth.

It even smells expensive, like some aura of liquor, faint incense, and old wood, all purchased by college guys who have a taste for the finer things and access to parents’ credit cards. The music in the main room is so loud I can feel the bassline reverberate in my bones, and I watch people dance, drink, and grind.

Typical frat house, with a better setting.

Sorry.

Society house.

Because Onyx, and all of these so-called elite private school college guys have to be special. Calling themselves a normal fraternity isn’t enough.

I run my fingers through my hair, pulling out my phone to text Sev.

Niko: Remind me again why I said yes to this?

Sevan: Do the words “free ride” mean nothing to you?

I’m here, despite everything.

And your dear, dear brothers got you in, despite your awful grades.

Don’t make me puke.

You *are* one of us, even if you hate it.

I’m not telling him the whole story.

Sevan is my cousin and the best friend I’ve got, but he doesn’t know everything about me.

Like the fact that I secretly post videos of my cock online. Or that my ex has started stalking me after going increasingly batshit insane.

Because Callum is a nightmare human. The reason I had to flee. And a problem I need to deal with at some point.

And Sevan also doesn’t know that I’m not just here at Crimson College because I got a free ride… because the real reason I agreed to show up here is a lot more dangerous.

I have plenty of money. What I don’t have is a home, anymore. Not a safe one, at least.

There are lots of things I have to talk to my cousin about now that I’m here. But it’s going to have to wait. Tonight there are other people I’m required to see.

I’m about to meet my two long-lost brothers for the first time in our lives.

Fucking.

Kill.

Me.

I stay in the entryway a while longer. Can’t stomach the thought of walking in yet. I glance around, knowing that somewhere in this house, my two half-brothers are waiting.

But they can wait a little bit longer.

I watch like I’m studying wild animals in a closed habitat. This place looks like an old-school mansion, with its beautiful carved oak banisters, fireplaces, chandeliers, and probably over a hundred years of history… and yet there are undoubtedly filthy things happening in every inch of it.

I can admit that there’s something depraved about it that gives me a thrill.

A beautiful old house being desecrated by a party like this is wickedly satisfying, after all, even if I’d rather not be here.

The dim party lights strobe from purple to red and back again.

Purple, then red.

Back and forth, those same colors of an excruciating bruise.

Doesn’t matter how we grew up. I’m not one of them. You aren’t, either.

I’ve never hated it like you do. Try to have a little fun with your brothers. Even though Weston is a complete good-boy poster child.

Go fuck yourself. Love you.

Before I head inside I raise my phone up, turn on the camera, and snap a picture of myself leaning on the wall in the entryway, one hand pushing back my hair. My ex told me the only things I was good at were sex and posing for pictures. At least I can guarantee one of those things tonight.

Maybe both.

If some frat boy wants to lavish attention on my dick.

In the photo I’m backlit from the side with purple light, wearing my crisp white hoodie as my fingers dig into my dark hair. My newest tattoo stands out in the purple glow. A six of hearts card on the back of my hand in fresh red and black ink.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >83

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Dark Little Game (Crimson College #1) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/dark-little-game-crimson-college-1-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Wed, 29 Oct 2025 22:14:25 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/dark-little-game-crimson-college-1-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Erotic, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Crimson College Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 89074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 445(@200wpm)___ 356(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >87

I’m pulled too deep into a monster’s web.
Hunter Knox shouldn’t be at my college.
My best friend’s brother is unhinged. Dark. Violent.
And now he’s in our secret society frat, forced to share my room.
I only kiss him on the first night to get revenge, because Hunter doesn’t usually kiss men, and I don’t usually kiss psychopaths.
But the spark that flares between us becomes a forbidden game we play.
Hunter starts to follow me around like a stalker.
Becoming a little too obsessed with me.
We share an all-consuming secret that his brother can’t find out. And when I’m attacked, Hunter snaps into chaos, hell-bent on protecting me like I’m his possession.
Onyx Society is a fraternity that shouldn’t have to play by college rules, but someone from the outside is targeting us.
Targeting me.
Now nothing is safe. My best friendship, my sanity, and my heart.
Lines blur between desire and control… and I start to think I might want him to win this brutal game

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

“I am drawn to you for the same reason insects are drawn to burning light; we are both compelled to jump into beautiful things, even if they have the potential to set us on fire.”

— Emma Bleker

Part One

Onyx Night

1

Rayne

I know I’m being followed as I run across campus.

My feet hit the cobblestone path that curves toward the meticulously cut grass of the quad.

A place that should feel like home.

A place that doesn’t feel like fucking home at all right now.

When things feel too perfect, I get a feeling deep in my bones, like a certainty that the other shoe will drop, or that I’m in the calm before a devastating storm.

Too perfect is bad.

Dangerous.

And I’m letting myself dwell and dwell and fucking dwell on the one thing I shouldn’t, a person who has clawed his way back into my psyche like a fever I can’t shake.

The way Hunter Knox absolutely fucking loves to do.

A twig snaps under my shoes on the path.

My vision darts all around me as I run beneath the canopy of trees.

Look behind.

Look in front.

Glance right, glance left.

When a psychopath is around, you feel crazier, too.

I’m out on a jog with Weston, but I’ve been gaining on him for a few minutes now. I pull in a lungful of air and hang back a little, waiting for Wes to catch up.

My best friend isn’t a slow runner.

He’s just a lot more chill about the whole Hunter situation than I am.

“Think he’s here yet?” I mutter to Weston as I match his jog.

Weston is silent for a moment.

“Quit thinking about him.”

“He’s your brother,” I say. “If he’s going to be on this campus, I’m going to talk about him, especially if I have to be his fucking roommate.”

The sound of Weston’s footsteps falls in line with mine.

For a moment, I listen to the sound of his breath. We cut off onto a small gravel path that curves onto the main quad, jogging at a steady pace.

“You’ve asked me about Hunter three times today. Pretend not to be obsessed, Rayne. I don’t know when he’s getting here, and I don’t care.”

Look behind.

Left.

Right.

“Wasn’t a single day of high school that your brother didn’t fucking piss me off,” I mutter.

The words spill out of my mouth before I can filter them. I wish I could shove them back in.

“Well, we’re not in high school anymore.”

“Damn right.”

Back then, Hunter was stronger than me.

That’s not the case anymore.

Look left.

Look right.

Behind me, then back in front.

“No more all-nighters for me,” I tell him. “Think I’m starting to lose it.”

“Stone and Flame party is tomorrow, so you better get sleep tonight.”

“All I ask is that it’s better than last night’s party.”

Wes makes a mock cooing sound. “Poor little Rayne didn't have his boyfriend around to get his cock wet? Aww, is that your pwoblem?”

“Shut the fuck up. Also yes, it is.”

Weston puffs out a heavy breath. “Mikael is such a fucking prick.”

“Talking shit about my boyfriend now?”

“I tell Mikael he’s a prick to his face all the time. Double Daggers fuckface.”

“Same, honestly,” I say. “His phone is turned off again today, I guess. Haven’t heard from him.”

He hums, casting me a glance. “Red flags just make your cock hard, I guess.”

Red flags make my cock hard.

Massive understatement.

It may as well be the title of my goddamn biography.

I slip out my phone and jot off another couple of texts to Mikael that he’ll probably never respond to.

You around?

Want to see you tonight. xx

Channeling a polite tone into my texts feels like trying to put a bandage on a broken femur.

I’m shocked when he responds right away, ignoring the messages I sent yesterday asking where he was.

Mikael: Maybe. Kiss kiss

Can you come over in an hour?

He doesn’t respond.

I know he probably won’t send another message at all.

He hates anything that isn’t vague.

I probably won’t even hear from my boyfriend again until he decides to show up one night in Onyx House, drunk, on his own terms.

“You okay?” Weston asks.

I clench my jaw, shoving my phone back in my pocket.

“I’m too nice. And I’m sick of it.”

Weston groans with pleasure. “Fuck yeah. Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to realize that? Enter your villain arc, Rayne. I’m begging you.”

I snort at him, giving him a little shove.

But I want this year to be good, too.

A steady rage is pooling in my veins, like I’m ready for a fight right now.

I almost wish Hunter was here now.

I’d take him to the ground first.

Hunter and Wes have always despised each other, too.

Every time they’d get into physical fights back in high school, I would watch closely as my anger built up like a pressure cooker threatening to blow.

Sometimes I’d try to pull Hunter away while he was trading punches with Wes.

He would shrug me off like a fly.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >87

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Touchdown Tennessee (Hard Spot Saloon #4) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/touchdown-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-4-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 30 Aug 2025 08:41:37 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/touchdown-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-4-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Hard Spot Saloon Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 70294 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 351(@200wpm)___ 281(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >70

The goal? Get close to the college football star.
The assignment? Write an article for the college paper about him, just in time for homecoming.
The problem? I slept with the egotistical jock on day one… and I hate how good he was.

I’m a college senior with a darker past than most people will ever endure.
I don’t like anybody. I don’t trust them, either.
I write articles that bite, and get the best interviews out of people that the TNU college paper has ever seen.
Cocky? No. I just know what I’m good at.

Andrew Peachel is out and proud, and he knows he's a college football god.
But there’s more behind his golden-boy, dimples-and-muscles, himbo perfect image.
I have an all-access pass to follow him anywhere.
Everywhere.
And I bring him to his knees on night one.

In public, he acts like I’m the enemy.
In bed, he demands I give him more.

He’s bossy. Cockier than me. A problem.
But when he responds by becoming obsessed with me, how can I resist?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

CHAPTER 1

ANDREW

The football was like an arrow aimed straight at me.

And that is a perfect fucking pass.

Linford had been tapped into some sort of magic all game.

And I was off my game, for the first time in months, getting caught out and fucked over since the first quarter.

One thing in particular felt different, this game.

And I could feel it in the air.

I lunged to the right, watching the football like it was prey headed right into my grasp. I wasn’t going to miss it again.

I’d fumbled the last pass, and that was the last one I was willing to let slip away.

The football is mine.

And mine only.

I pulled in a sharp breath of air through my nostrils. The bright lights surrounding the field glinted in my eyes as I looked up, but I didn’t lose sight of that ball.

They’re all watching.

Everyone up in the stands, and…

Him.

That one person watching me tonight whose eyes had been digging under my skin for the whole game.

Someone who wasn’t on the team.

The definition of an outsider.

Gray Gilman was the smartest, cockiest asshole in all of TNU, from what I had heard.

And he was writing an article about me. About the TNU Tempests football team, really, but I’d felt his eyes on me for the entire game. The senior year head writer for the TNU school paper was known for writing scandalous articles.

He wrote the type of articles that could absolutely destroy someone’s reputation.

And as the star senior player on the Tempests and Coach’s favorite?

The last fucking thing I needed in life right now was some exaggerated, scandalous article written about me by a guy who couldn’t wipe that smug look off of his face on the sidelines.

Pay.

Attention.

To the damn.

Football.

As I bolted further to the right on the field, hanging back just a little to make sure the football came right at me, I could feel his gaze on me.

Do you like what you see?

Does it get you off, seeing just how good I am with a ball?

There’s a whole fucking lot more where this comes from. Soak it in.

The football slammed into me like a bullseye, right in the pocket I made with my hands and my chest.

Finally.

I took off for the endzone, my thighs building up fire as I ran.

This was what I was made for. The crowd was already going wild by the time the football touched me, but I had dozens of yards to run now. I kept my head up, focused forward.

Eye on that prize.

I kept my breathing even, my lungs heating up as I ran for it.

I saw the line of the end zone coming closer with each footfall as I ran.

I could taste the touchdown about to happen right in front of me. I could hear the crowd getting ready to explode.

Please, give me something good tonight.

Something good for this cocky bastard to write about.

The past few weeks of my life had been… punishing.

I hated keeping secrets, but I had been hooking up with Coach’s son Danny, so that was the first boulder on my back.

Then Danny cheated on me. Multiple times.

Then I’d discovered Danny cheating on me, in a bar, with a blond guy who rubbed it right in my face, saying something to me I couldn’t forgive.

That’s when I’d gotten too drunk and made the first big mistake of my life.

I’d clocked Danny’s new blond boytoy in the jaw.

Mistake, mistake, mistake.

All of that needed to be kept very, very secret. Which meant that as of tonight, it was now my full-time job to keep Gray Gilman from finding out a single shred of that information.

Something went cold in my chest.

No. Right now my job was to run this fucking football. Get the touchdown, no matter what.

I sucked in air and pushed harder, trying to dig deep and run faster to the end zone.

I was less than twenty yards off now.

So close.

It was already mine.

And then my next mistake came up on my right.

No shot.

He can’t fucking be there.

I was too close to Dev Bailey, Kansas University’s best cornerback. He’d gained on me, and I’d been doing the one thing I knew I shouldn’t do: thinking too much. So distracted by one guy, sitting on the sidelines, watching my every move.

The blood in my veins changed rapidly, going from stone cold to molten hot.

Like desperation.

Like shame.

Out here on this field was the one place where the rest of the world should melt away, but for all of tonight’s game, I’d been focused on something else, and pure, red-hot anger was barreling at me like a semi truck named Dev Bailey. My own distraction was about to cost me the touchdown.

I thought I had a clean path on the field. But there was no avoiding it now.

I was about to be tackled.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, already thrown off-kilter. How could I not have seen him?

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >70

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Bad Cowboy Tennessee (Hard Spot Saloon #3) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/bad-cowboy-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-3-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Mon, 30 Jun 2025 19:07:08 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/bad-cowboy-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-3-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, Dark, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Hard Spot Saloon Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >89

He’s not just a cowboy. He’s a monster, with his sights on me.
He’s also my sister's boyfriend.
Until they break up on the first night he’s in town…
…And suddenly I’m the one with a very bad, very wrong cowboy on my hands.

Draven Lyons is the heir to the wealthiest Montana ranch dynasty.
He’s also a walking red flag, carrying a violent past filled with blood.
Letting him touch me was the first mistake.
Enjoying it was even worse.

I’m straight, but now he’s making me want things.
And it ends up with me pinned against a wall. My lips up against his ear. Begging him for more, especially when it hurts.
Telling Draven about my online stalker was the next mistake.

So what if my online videos make men want me? It’s just business.
Now Draven’s following me in the name of protection.
But his own dark secrets torment me. What happened back in Montana? Why is he still here in Tennessee, hiding out in my small town? And why does he want a frat boy bartender like me?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

Part One

Roses

Chapter 1

Max

Something was off.

Maybe it was the crowd at the bar.

Drunker than usual. More depraved than usual.

Within the first hour of my regular bartending shift down at the Hard Spot, I’d seen enough.

Mascara running down cheeks.

A guy passed out on the back patio.

A man dick deep in somebody else’s mouth, too, before I politely separated the two of them in one of our bathroom stalls.

I was pretty sure I was going to see blood spill by the end of the night.

I leaned against the cool wood surface of the back of the bar, collecting my to-do list inside my head:

Restock the bottom-shelf vodkas.

Check on the patio, which is probably littered with empty pint glasses.

Probably about time to sweep the bathroom stalls again for any more active penetration, too.

The plan had been to sneak some time to film a quickie video for my online channel tonight between rushes. The Cocktail Bro was my baby, and my followers had come to expect regular updates and recipes.

I wanted to give it to them.

I wished I had time to record a dozen videos a day, but with the state of the bar tonight…

So much for having time to film anything.

Firstly: people needed their alcohol. The music was loud in here, and I could feel eyes on me as more groups filed in through the front doors and sidled up to the bar, waiting for drinks.

I gave myself ten seconds to take a breather before plunging back in, heading over to another mob of college guys awaiting a round of green apple vodka shots.

“The rum thing,” a girl called out to me from the other side of the bar, hiccuping. “Can I get another rum thing? You’re cute.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“Like, really cute. I’d fuck you.”

I nodded. “Here is one rum thing, and a tall water. I recommend it.”

Before I became a bartender I didn’t know that the job description included being a therapist, a babysitter, and a constant referee. Sometimes I felt like I was behind the bar to act as a pure, blank canvas for people to paint their sins on.

Usually I didn’t mind.

It was fun, and I got good tips, enough for me to keep putting money into more renovations for my barn house.

I was also good at the whole therapist-babysitter thing because being 22 and fresh out of a frat house meant that I’d had a lifetime’s worth of experience with drunk bros and learning their limits.

But tonight, I was bone-tired. On edge. Ready to take a damn breath.

When I finally got to the end of my shift, it felt like crossing the finish line of a marathon.

I gunned it home in my truck.

But I didn’t know that going back to my house wasn’t going to help at all.

It was only going to take this night from bad to catastrophically worse.

The air coming in from my driver’s side window was humid. It felt tinged with electricity like right before a storm, even though the sky was cloudless.

Tennessee weather could be unpredictable, but there were stars for miles in the black sky up above. If there was a storm coming, it wasn’t from anywhere I could see.

I got to my driveway.

Threw the truck in park.

Cut the engine.

And I made my way to my front door like I was a kid on Christmas morning.

Home.

I shut the front door behind me and let out a long breath.

Now can tonight please start feeling fucking normal?

I dropped my keys onto the little table by the front door. It was dark other than a tiny lamp I left on in the far corner. My place was just a barn, situated on the far edge of my parents’ property, but I’d retrofitted it into a living space for myself over the past year.

It was the first space that was truly all mine, and I loved this goddamn barn like it was my child.

I was in my little kitchenette by the window, raising a cold, short glass of liquor to my lips just a few minutes later.

Lemon and whiskey hit my tongue. Sour, sweet, and bitter.

Followed by the kick of the secret ingredient I’d laced into the back end of the cocktail: a splash of spiced tart plum liquor. My followers online were going to love it. I was going to name it The Sucker Punch in my next video.

I first heard a sound at my front door as I raised the glass to my lips for a second time, cutting through the quiet in my barn.

A rattling sound.

Then, a slight jingling.

I froze in place, my ears perking up like two antennae.

Not possible.

I was alone here.

At least… I should have been alone, for a radius of at least a football field around this barn.

There was no chance someone could be out there.

I put down my phone. The sound of one of my videos was still playing quietly on a loop, my voice coming out from the tinny phone speaker: “And this cocktail is like an old friend… with benefits. And that’s how we do it in Tennessee, baby.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >89

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Hot Ice Tennessee (Hard Spot Saloon #2) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/hot-ice-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-2-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Mon, 21 Apr 2025 22:18:53 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/hot-ice-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-2-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance, Sports Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Hard Spot Saloon Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73094 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 365(@200wpm)___ 292(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >76

A hockey hotshot has me wrapped around his finger…
Even after I learn his dirty secret.

Jesse is cocky, charming, tattooed, and even more possessive off the ice.

…He’s also my friend’s younger brother—which I found out like a puck to the face.

He’s too young, too popular, and he knows he has my attention. He’s a college dreamboat, with frat bros riding his jock every day. My world’s different. I spend my days outside on my ranch riding horses, and my nights at the local saloon, looking for something or someone fun.

Jesse’s more than just fun, though. I’ve been a lonely, hot mess, but my first time with a hockey player lit a fire in me I haven’t felt in too long. I got a taste, and I don’t want to stop.

I’m addicted. To his lips, his mouth, his skin on mine.

He should be off-limits, but when he gets all possessive, telling me that I’m his?

Only one word comes out of my mouth.

Yours.

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

MASON

First thing’s first: I didn’t know he was a hockey player.

The summer kickoff party started out perfectly innocently, or as innocent as I was capable of being, at least. I should have seen the red flags waving in the wind from a mile away, in the self-assured, confident way he sat there, sizing me up.

There was a lot I didn’t know about Jesse Sanocki yet.

Cocky ass motherfucker.

TNU’s hottest young hockey center was sitting right across from me. I didn’t know who he was yet, but he was about to witness me doing what I did best.

Making a terrible decision in front of a lot of people.

The bar was rowdy out here on the back patio. The sun had set, and the hot day had given way to the humid buzz of night. Never change, Tennessee summers.

I was up on the table, standing on my hands for a few seconds before a crowd started forming around me in a circle. Everything in my field of view was upside-down as I managed to hold myself in a handstand on the wooden outdoor table, pint glasses and pitchers of beer surrounding me, with two strangers holding each of my legs up for support.

“Is he really going to do it?” somebody said. Heads on the patio turned toward me, one by one.

“Another keg stand,” my friend Kane grumbled, making his rounds on the patio, picking up empty glasses.

“Well, I’m not doing it from a keg,” I said, trying to act like it was easy to talk upside-down. I watched Kane’s disapproving stare. “And I haven’t done one of these in months.”

“One keg stand a year would be too much,” Kane said. “You know what? Zero keg stands would be even better.”

Kane owned this bar. The Hard Spot was his baby. I wouldn’t dream of doing shit like this unless I knew that deep down, he got a kick out of it, too.

The bar was busier than usual. Music bumped with plenty of bass, and the early summer cicadas chittered in the night air surrounding the patio like they were cheering me on, too. Tonight was the summer kickoff party, otherwise known as the perfect time for me to chug a monster of a cocktail upside-down. You know how the Little Mermaid wanted to be where the people are? That was essentially me, other than a few small details like being a cock-thirsty cowboy instead of a mermaid with a pretty voice.

This was my happy place. Getting people to quit dwelling on whatever was shitty in their lives, let loose, and have a damn good night.

There was so much I was running from, too.

Let’s all forget together. I’ll raise my glass to that.

The brooding, dark-haired guy was still sitting across from me, looking like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

Why did he look determined to be alone, even sitting in a crowd?

Watch me change your mind.

“Keep him safe,” Kane warned the guys holding my legs before he went back inside the bar. I steadied my palms on the smooth wooden table beneath me. One of the guys had kindly poured my headbanger cocktail—rum, energy drink, whiskey, beer, and cider—into a big bottle for easy access, because if I was going to chug upside down, I sure as fuck didn’t want to do it from a glass.

Someone touched the cold rim of the bottle to my lips. I kept my hands steady on the patio table, my palms pressed against the smooth wood planks.

“Ready to roll?” the guy asked.

“Born ready,” I replied, my arms already starting to burn. “Let’s go.”

The crowd clapped and cheered. The whole outdoor patio was watching now. The guy tipped the bottle upward and the cold drink started to flow. I’d done a few keg stands in my day, but this cocktail was a level up from that, burning at my throat the moment I started to drink.

I chugged. And chugged. The liquor mixture burned at my throat and the inside of my nose, but I wasn’t going to stop for anything, even though I quickly realized what a bad idea this was. A bottle is a lot to drink at once in any situation, but when it’s pouring fast out of some stranger’s hand and you’re upside-down, too?

That shit feels like a goddamn firehose unloading right onto your tongue.

I kept my hands steady as my arms started to burn from the handstand. One of the guys holding my left leg swayed a little, and for a second I was worried I’d lose balance.

Don’t stop.

We keep going.

Push it. Feel the burn.

Right as I thought my arms couldn’t take it anymore, the end of the drink hit my mouth. Cold remnants dribbled down my cheek and neck, and the guy took the bottle away from my lips and bellowed out to the people watching.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >76

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Best Friends Tennessee (Hard Spot Saloon #1) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/best-friends-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-1-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sun, 02 Mar 2025 13:35:07 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/best-friends-tennessee-hard-spot-saloon-1-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Hard Spot Saloon Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >74

I’m not attracted to men.
But I’ll break all my own rules for my best friend.

One thing is true about Ori he hates small town Tennessee. We were always I played football, he was in art class. I was straight, he was gay. I was popular in school, he never fit in. He fled to the city the moment we graduated.

It ain’t perfect here, but I love our country home. I missed Ori like hell, but now he’s back, living in my guest room after years apart.

Best friends reunited, right? …Like hell.

He says I’m too Tennessee for him now. So what if I love the local saloon, volunteer with horses, and wear a Stetson hat? I want a white-picket-fence life, and he wants all things casual. When I try to show him how good it can be here, he tells me to back off.

But I’ll check his cocky attitude when he calls me stubborn. He pushes? I push back.

I’ve got him up against the wall within 24 hours.

It’s a full-on fight, but it turns into… something else. A craving. Some twisted need to be close to him.

Being physical with him was what I missed most, but we were never physical like this before.

…He sure doesn’t mind how country I am when he’s in my bed.

Now I can’t get enough. But if he won’t commit to anyone, why would he with me? And how can I show him exactly how deep I’m willing to go?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

ORI

They say you can never really go home. Well, try telling that to the state of Tennessee… Or to Finn Hardy.

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re kind of trying to get hurt?

Not in a fun, spank-me, toss-me-in-bed kind of way. That type of hurt is just another fun night.

More like the kind of hurt where you’re pushing ninety miles an hour in your old beat-up blue Volkswagen with your ass glued to the driver’s seat, winding through Tennessee country roads with golden sunlight filtering through tall trees… and you want to take a bulldozer to every acre of it?

I let my foot off the gas before the needle on the dash reached 100.

The car lurched a little before it slowed. I sucked in a slow breath, squinting at my rearview mirror. The last thing I needed was a face full of rage from a Tennessee cop, and the old car couldn’t take it, anyway.

Maybe I wouldn’t bulldoze the whole state of Tennessee.

A lot of people say they’d never move back to their hometown, but I’d really meant it when I said it—I was 18 when I left, 24 now, and it had taken a whole lot to make me break that promise.

The Beetle rattled as I hit a bump in the road. A big blue sign at the side of the road whizzed by: Bestens, Tennessee, 6 miles.

A pit of dread formed in my stomach.

I was going to see my best friend soon.

How could things have gotten so bad with Finn that I was even dreading seeing him? Most people didn’t want to flee the moment they were in the same town as their childhood best friend, but I was already plotting my escape route in real-time.

“One year or less,” I said out loud to no one.

I vowed not to spend more time than that back in Tennessee. I repeated it now because I needed to remind myself of it, too.

But home was unfortunately the best option right now.

Even when it didn’t feel like home.

I pulled up outside Finn’s house a few minutes later, my chest twisting itself into knots as I looked outside.

I cut the engine and stayed put in the driver’s seat, staring at the front of the house through my sunglasses. I waited one minute, which became two minutes, then three. The longer I stayed parked in my car, the more it felt like a time bomb was ticking inside me, waiting to blow.

Finn’s house was a Tennessee bungalow DIY work-in-progress surrounded by oak and hackberry trees. From my car I could already see at least three projects Finn had going on: a pair of weeding gloves draped above the edge of the flower bed, some fresh two-by-fours in a stack, and a bag of fertilizer resting on one edge of the driveway.

He’d even tacked a horseshoe underneath the light on the front porch, like he was trying to signal to the whole neighborhood: trust me, a real Tennessee guy lives here. I’m just like y’all.

Which was true.

Finn really did fit in here.

That had always been the biggest difference between us.

I shifted my ass on the driver's seat, knowing I was stalling by now. I didn’t want the road trip to be over, because that meant I’d really done it, and I was really back.

And I sure as fuck wasn’t ready to see him.

But the ruby-red front door of Finn’s house finally swung open, and the decision was made for me. I held my breath, the time bomb inside me coming to a pause.

Finn’s broad figure filled the doorframe.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said under my breath, pushing down my sunglasses.

He was actually wearing a cowboy hat. Since when did he start wearing cowboy hats for anything other than a costume?

“That hunk of metal made it all the way from California?” Finn asked, approaching the Beetle as I got out. “How do you even still fit in that thing?”

I sucked in a breath and shutting the driver’s side door behind me. Finn had always thought any vehicle other than a truck was too small.

We’d always had very different tastes in cars, clothes, music… everything, pretty much.

But when we were kids, somehow it seemed to matter less.

I ignored the fire in my veins. I stretched my arms up high above my head, loosening my muscles after the long trip.

“We can’t all be pickup truck-driving country boys like you,” I said, looking him up and down. “What’s with the hat?”

He tipped the front of it toward me. “I don’t know. Stetson hats are cool.”

“You look like the dollar-store version of a young Clint Eastwood.” I could tell he was biting back a smile, even as he lifted a hand to flip me off. “Save that shit for Halloween,” I told him.

I’d been lying. Kind of.

Finn did look good, even if the country-boy thing was the polar opposite of my style, and every move he made confused me these days. His build was still as muscular as it had been in high school—he needed to stay fit working as a massage therapist.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >74

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Fake It for Christmas (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #9) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/fake-it-for-christmas-fixer-brothers-construction-co-9-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Fri, 06 Dec 2024 20:22:56 +0000 http://www.ilovenovels.com/fake-it-for-christmas-fixer-brothers-construction-co-9-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 41373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 207(@200wpm)___ 165(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >43

I’m a jock-next-door from Tennessee, and he’s a city boy running from his past.
But I need a fake boyfriend this Christmas… and now he’s in my bed.
I’m only good at two things: sports and holiday spirit. But this Christmas feels different, even though I should have everything I want. My family’s bugging me again about why I’m still single, and I’m getting desperate.
Rowen’s nothing like me. He’s smart, accomplished, and back in Tennessee from the city—not by choice. Even though he’s straight, he agrees to be my fake boyfriend for my family’s Christmas party.
He says I’m hot and could have any guy I want, but I don’t get it. I’m just muscle with a reindeer sweater on top.
…But he wants me to teach him.
About being with a man.
Who could resist a gift like that?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

SHANE

My heart skipped a beat when I saw the advertisement online, gleaming out at me like a bonfire out on a cold winter night.

Fixer Brothers Home Renovation Contest: Couples Edition!

I gripped my phone, staring at the simple ad on the screen like I was a kid who’d just found a golden ticket in a chocolate bar.

Yes. Fuck yes.

The jazzy piano version of “O Christmas Tree” playing on my living room speakers suddenly felt too calming compared to the surge of adrenaline hitting my veins.

This was what I needed. It would be my Christmas gift to myself. It didn’t matter what I had to do: I was going to enter the contest.

And I was going to win.

“This is not a drill,” I told my sister Mariel. “There’s a contest to be on the Fixer Brothers TV show.”

She didn’t even look back. She was reaching up high on a stepladder, pinning the last of the Christmas garlands around the living room ceiling.

I’d never won anything in my life—hell, I’d somehow never even managed to get so much as a participation trophy in anything I did as a kid. Soccer, baseball, basketball, football. I’d played and enjoyed them all, and I’d never been remarkable at any of them.

But I was not an average Fixer Brothers fan.

I’d wanted to be a home renovation client since the moment I’d first seen their TV show.

“You think The Fixer Brothers would come all the way out here?” Mariel said, stepping back down to the floor. “The middle of nowhere, Tennessee, to a house that’s a hundred years old?”

“Hey,” I protested. “I love my house, and you bet your ass they’d love it, too.”

“I’ll admit, it has a charm,” she said. “Especially around Christmas.”

It was the beginning of November, but my sister and I were steadfast: starting November first, we were allowed to hang holiday decorations. And that was exactly what we did, every year. She helped at my house, and I helped at hers.

She reached down to plug in the cord hanging from the garland and all around the ceiling, glowing white Christmas lights lit up, strung throughout the pine garland. These types of lights always had a way of making any room come alive, and suddenly my dusty old living room became more like a cozy, wood-framed hideout. Memories flooded my mind. The scent of ham roasting in the oven, Mariel and I as kids coming inside from snowball fights, and Gram laughing in the kitchen.

I felt like I came alive when those lights switched on, too.

The rollercoaster shitstorm of the past few years lessened, and I could remember what it felt like to be me.

To maybe even let myself want things again.

I glanced back down at my phone, the yearning in my chest almost too much to take. “The contest says it’s open to the whole United States,” I said. “Screw it. I’m applying.”

“It’s rare to win things like that. But I guess you’ve got nothing to lose.”

“Yeah,” I said, scrolling through the contest website.

She gave me a dubious look as she glanced down at my phone, seeing the details.

“Shane,” she said in a gentle tone. “Did… did you see that it says couples edition?”

I pulled in a breath of air, leaning back on the couch. “I did.”

“And that you have to showcase why you and your partner are perfect for the show,” she continued, “in a five-minute video you need to submit?”

I was like a stubborn puppy who wouldn’t give up his stick, not making eye contact with Mariel.

“I did see that,” I said, defiant.

She chewed on the side of her cheek. “How do you plan to… handle that? Being single, and all?”

That, of course, was the big elephant in the room.

Or the big elephant in my mind, because no one was more aware of my singlehood than me.

“How could I not apply, though? It’s my favorite show of all time,” I said.

It was an understatement.

I’d seen every single episode of their home renovation show, and I had re-watched all of them an embarrassing amount of times. I followed all of the guys on their individual social media accounts, too, and to me, the Fixer Brothers crew were even bigger celebrities than the damn Royal Family.

But my sister was right.

I was terminally alone, and the contest was supposed to showcase couples.

“I’ll… figure something out,” I told Mariel as she folded up the step ladder.

“This place looks damn good,” she said, glancing around at all of the decorations we’d hung.

We’d been at it for hours. We hauled home a Christmas tree, put up the lights outside, strung more lights and garlands inside, and arranged my seasonal plaid pillows on the couch.

“Gram would have loved it,” I said, already feeling the twinge of tightness in my throat.

It was our second Christmas without Grandma. We kept every tradition she loved alive, starting with these decorations and continuing into all the food we’d make on Christmas day. Her favorite was sweet potato casserole, and holiday garlands in particular were a must.

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >43

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Wedding Bet (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #8) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/wedding-bet-fixer-brothers-construction-co-8-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Thu, 21 Nov 2024 13:34:55 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/wedding-bet-fixer-brothers-construction-co-8-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 69413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 278(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >73

I made a that I’d be his perfect fake boyfriend for this wedding.
Now I desperately don’t want to lose.

My dark all my life, I’ve felt like a fake.

I act like I have it together. But I fry eggs for a living and can barely pay rent. I’m a hopeless romantic but still chronically alone.

So here at my brother’s wedding, in the middle of snowy mountains at a fancy ski resort, I got… desperate.

“Lucky” Landry Lucock is the definition of having it together. Wealthy, handsome, and completely out of my league. Guys like him don’t want me.

…But now he’s calling me boyfriend, even though we’re anything but.

I made a bet with Landry that I could be his fake boyfriend for this wedding week and put on a killer show for his awful ex. Now we’re sharing everything, and I keep ending up in his bed.

I’m telling myself this will never be more than pretend.

But he’s kissing me even when no one’s around.

And I never bet on something fake being so damn addictive…

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

❄

This book was a pure escape to write, in the best way. Recently I’ve needed it more than ever. A way to find magic again, when the burnout or *handwaves* the world in general is just too much.

Jamie and Landry helped me find that magic again. They went on a hell of a journey to find it for each other, too. Welcome to the snowglobe…

-Raleigh

1

JAMIE

I’d only been in the Rocky Mountains for an hour, and already, I knew I’d royally screwed up.

“I look like a marshmallow,” I told my brother Chase over the phone. I turned around in the light and watched myself in the camera, frowning at the screen. “Tell me why I chose a white puffy jacket, again? And can you go back in time and slap me for choosing a white one?”

“It looks good with your eyes,” he said, peering at me through the video chat. “Makes the blue pop. And you got it because it was the only one on sale.”

“Right. Because no one else wanted it,” I said. “It’s colder than a popsicle out there, though, so I’m going to need it.”

I was in a hotel room that was fancier than anywhere I’d ever been in my life. The lamps were gold-colored, there were old paintings on all of the walls, and there had been an assortment of fine local Colorado chocolates on the pillow when I’d walked in. I sure as fuck couldn’t afford it, but I’d gone all out, treating myself because everybody always said I never did.

I picked up a napkin sitting on the side table, tracing my thumb over the gold impressions around its border and the resort name at the top.

“I know you only picked this ski resort because of its name.”

Chase groaned. “Why does everyone keep telling me that?”

“Chase. It’s called Snowcock Ski Resort.”

“So what?”

I paused, giving him a look over the video call. “Snowcock. Ski. Resort. Snow, cock.”

My brother’s radiant smile came across the screen a moment later. “Okay, so Adam and I did slightly prefer it to the other ones, but it’s not just because it’s called Snowcock, okay?”

“Where does that name even come from?” I asked. “I can picture the owners now, sitting in a room with cigars and brandy years ago, laughing about calling their ski resort Snowcock. I’m sure they knew it would get all of the people like you to come here.”

“Snowcock is the name of a mountain bird, thank you very much,” Chase said, holding up a finger.

“So you like it because you’re such a bird lover, huh?”

“Oh, hell, no,” Chase said. “I love snow. And cock, for that matter.”

We both laughed, and I pulled in a slow breath, taking in the lavish room again. “I am happy to be here at Snowcock. Even if I’m going to freeze all of my limbs off by the end of the week.”

“You’re going to love it,” Chase said. “I give it three hours before you’re in love with the snow.”

“Not going to happen,” I said. My brother was lovely and kind, but he’d moved to this frigid-ass place years ago, and he’d never been as much of a beach bum as me. “I wonder what the temperature is like in Stellara right now.”

Chase and I were from Stellara Beach, California, born and raised. On the video call I saw Chase lean over, checking the temperature app on his phone. “It’s apparently… seventy-five and sunny over there.”

“You just had to have a winter wedding,” I teased him. “You always have to be different, don’t you?”

He smiled. “God, I’m so excited you’re actually here,” Chase said. “Adam and I are arriving there at the ski resort in a few hours. Your room looks fucking sweet, dude.”

Chase lived here in Colorado, about an hour further down the mountains toward Denver. He’d been planning his wedding for a year, and he and his fiance Adam had chosen one of the most beautiful ski lodges in the state. Up here, it was all fancy ski lodges and snow.

But I’d do anything for Chase. It was only the second time in years that I’d actually taken a vacation, and I never would have made it if it wasn’t for his wedding. I’d pinched pennies to visit him in Colorado before, and I had thought it was freezing even when I visited last fall.

I’d never even seen snow until today, when I got out of the cab in the mountains to see a blanket of snow over everything in sight.

“You’ll enjoy the resort,” Chase said.

“I’m going to head downstairs to try and find the bar soon,” I told Chase, taking my cell phone with me as I walked. I left the hotel room and meandered down the long hallway toward the gleaming elevator bay. “By the way, you didn’t tell me that people who look like billionaires hang out in ski lodges.”

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >73

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Home Game (Fixer Brothers Construction Co #7) Read Online Raleigh Ruebins http://www.ilovenovels.com/home-game-fixer-brothers-construction-co-7-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Sat, 05 Oct 2024 02:29:46 +0000 http://www.booksnovels.com/home-game-fixer-brothers-construction-co-7-read-online-raleigh-ruebins Genre: Contemporary, M-M Romance Authors: Raleigh Ruebins Series: Fixer Brothers Construction Co Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 73174 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)

<<<<1 2 3 11 21 >76

He’s pro football’s hottest wide receiver…
But for me he’s pure, red-hot trouble.

Storm Rosling is cocky. Charming. A bad boy football player who can’t keep his name out of headlines and scandals.

In my life, he’s one big red flag.

I’m working with Fixer Brothers Construction to take their home renovation TV show to the stratosphere. I’m all business, and I’m damn good at it. But Storm Rosling is a marketing nightmare - and the new star of the Fixer Brothers’ show.

Every moment of his home renovation will be caught on film for the TV show, and from day one, Storm knows how to get under my skin. He hates my fancy suits and expensive cars. I hate that he could ruin my career with one spicy social media post.

…But I’m craving him, too. Millions of football fans watch him every week, and now I’m addicted, too, in real life and on the screen.

Storm said he was straight. But a challenge turns into a dare and the next thing I know, he’s on top of me. The fire between us burns hotter than ever, and I won’t deny pure attraction.

He wants me.

I want him, too—even if I hate every way he provokes me.

Don’t they say to keep your enemies close?

*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************

1

EMMETT

It was early September, and a professional football player was about to ruin my life.

I didn’t know that, of course. Not yet.

The cocky, bad-boy, pain in my ass new star wide receiver of the Denver Ferals team wasn’t on my radar. I drove into the Jade Brewery parking lot and shut the door to the Porsche with a satisfying quiet click. It was a quiet afternoon, and a breeze blew through, shuddering the leaves and pine needles of the Aspens and Spruce.

For the first time in months, there was a promising chill in the air.

There.

It was there. The first hint of fall.

Everything is in its right place, and I’m in control.

Leaves were edging toward the gold that would soon fill the mountains, and I was about to be locked into the most promising brand deal of my entire career.

Aimed like a steel arrow right at a bullseye.

And all I had to do was make it happen. To get what I wanted. What I’d known for years that I deserved.

I smoothed out the front of my custom Zegna suit. I’d had it made with subtle lines of crimson on black, to match the red of my favorite car.

Jade Brewery wasn’t exactly the kind of place where I needed to be dressed up. All of small-town Jade River, up here in the mountains, was populated by more people in T-shirts and hiking athleticwear than anything approaching fancy. Even down the mountain in Denver—hell, all of Colorado—wasn’t the kind of place where tailored suits or Italian leather shoes were necessary.

But it was like my armor. Fine fabrics, custom tailoring. I could do anything if I was suited up—I’d once negotiated a client into a deal that ended up making us both millions in this suit, and I was about to do it again.

I caught sight of a couple holding hands, walking into the front doors of the brewery, and bitter regret hit my throat.

Everything was in its right place, sure.

But I was still alone, single for the second autumn in a row.

Had it really been that long since Sam had left? He’d been my whole world, and then one morning he’d been gone. And God, I craved a man’s touch.

Hell, who am I kidding? I craved watching my cock disappear inside of someone. I craved sweat, and skin on skin, and nights that blurred into mornings, delirious and spent and covered in bite marks that I wore like a badge of honor. I craved something physical.

I needed that surrender.

The breeze ripped through the air again, stronger and chillier at the back of my neck as a grey band of clouds crossed through the sky.

Onward and forward, Dad would have said.

No time for broken hearts and touch-starved desperation when there was business to be done.

I swung open one of the front doors of the brewery, heading inside with my head high. I’d long since decided that I was going to enter any business meeting with the same level of respect. Today it was a meeting with construction guys in a bar, but it may as well have been a meeting with a queen at a castle—I gave everyone my full presence and attention. Just like my father had, too.

“Emmett!” I heard from the side of the brewery as I walked under the awning and swung open the wooden front doors. I spotted Shawn and Nathan, the brother duo behind Fixer Brothers Construction, sitting at one of the bigger leather booths near the edge of the bar.

I gave them a wave as I walked over. Something intoxicating was filling the air, and it wasn’t just vaporized alcohol coming over from all of the giant metal brewing tanks at the side of the room.

“This whole place smells like beer, apple, and cloves,” I said as I approached. “Allspice, maybe? It’s like I just walked into fall heaven.”

Shawn held up a pitcher of amber-colored beer on the table in front of him. “Harlan is testing out batches of this year’s fall ale as we speak. We’ve got a sneak-peek sample pitcher here.”

“Lucky us,” I said, sliding into the opposite side of the booth. “Shawn, did you see the announcement for the new Preston Gildon book? Fifth in the series?”

Shawn’s eyebrows lifted. “A new Gildon book? Holy shit, we’ve been waiting almost six years to continue the series. That’s awesome.”

“Announced yesterday,” I said with a nod as Nathan poured me a golden, foamy pint of the fall ale. “Should be out by Christmas. Can’t wait. And Nathan, I bet your daughter is excited for that bubble tea shop opening up down the street.”

Nathan held up a hand. “Oh, she’s mentioned it about six times a day, every day. I don’t know why teenagers are bubble tea obsessed, but I guess I’ll find out once that place opens.”

“You’ll love it,” I said. “Your daughter’s onto something.”

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