Winning Season - Felice Stevens

Xavier Lord is a bitter man. Outed by his teammates and his college football scholarship withdrawn, life has taught him not to trust or believe in anyone but himself. Xavier-or X, as he calls himself to preserve his anonymity-has built a business on athlete’s mistakes. His hit podcast, You F’ed Up, dissects and calls out their bad plays with zero mercy. Lately his favorite target is Phoenix Young, the Lancaster Legends’ gorgeous but struggling new quarterback.

Phoenix Young has it all: the stats, drive, and championship dreams. Yet since his trade to the Legends, he’s unable to deliver, stumbling to a losing record. As one of the few out, gay players, he feels like he’s let the team and fans down. He’s bearing the burden alone-along with a secret he refuses to reveal: Someone’s been leaving him ugly, anonymous notes. He tries to ignore them and takes the blame for losing solely on his shoulders, but he’s never felt so alone and defeated.

When Xavier and Phoenix hook up on a dating app, one night turns into more, and both fall hard and fast-until Xavier panics and shuts things down, certain Phoenix wouldn’t want a man who makes a living tearing him apart.

Except he does.

But a relationship runs the risk of Xavier losing credibility with his listeners and Phoenix losing his teammates’ trust and friendships. Meanwhile, the ugly notes haven’t stopped. And they have no idea who’s writing them.