First and Goal

By Terry O'Reilly

After being disappointed too many times by the hook-up sites, Broadway dancer Darrin Houghton takes down his profiles. However, when he gets a message from an intriguing hunk on a site he’d forgotten about, Darrin sets up a meeting despite his reservations.

Brad Grabosky is a deeply closeted football player in the NFL. Brad has a preference for no strings attached, anonymous, one night flings in seedy motel rooms.

However, love has a way of complicating the intentions of both men, leading them to make compromises they never thought possible. Will Darrin and Brad find a way to get to first and goal and ultimately score a touchdown? Or will their chance at happiness be fumbled away?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Feb 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781634860536

Terry O'Reilly

TERRY O’REILLY, the winner of hundreds of international advertising awards, is the bestselling author of The Age of Persuasion and This I Know. He is also an in-demand speaker. His highly awarded radio programs O’Reilly on Advertising, The Age of Persuasion and Under the Influence have been broadcast on CBC Radio since 2005, and his podcast has been downloaded over forty million times. Terry O’Reilly lives outside of Huntsville, Ontario.

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First and Goal

By Terry O’Reilly

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information.

Copyright 2016 Terry O’Reilly

ISBN 9781634860536

Cover Design: Written Ink Designs | written-ink.com

Image(s) used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It may contain sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which might be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

* * * *

To John and his love of sports.

* * * *

First and Goal

By Terry O’Reilly

With one second left on the clock, the Hounds call time out. What play do you think they’ll call, Jim? the play-by-play announcer asked.

Darrin Houghton ran his hands through his hair and sat on the edge of the couch. Dolly, his tri-colored, basset hound puppy sat next to him. She stared at the TV screen, shifting from one paw to the other, and whined as if she understood what was going on.

Well, Ted, the Hounds are on the twenty-seven yard line. A field goal will do them no good, they’re down by four. They need a touchdown. They haven’t gotten the running game going at all, so my guess is it’s got to be a pass, Jim, the play analyst replied. They’ve got two pro-bowl receivers in Benson and Hill. They’ll probably go with one of them.

Right, Jim. Here they come. The Hounds have an empty backfield, with two receivers wide right, and two wide left.

Darrin crossed his fingers and muttered, Come on, come on.

Dolly stood up, her tail thumping the back of the couch.

Here’s the snap…and there’s a penalty flag, the announcer said.

The referee ran up, consulted with his fellow officials, then faced the camera and, rotating his fists around one another, called out, Prior to the snap, False start, number eighty-eight, offense. Five yard penalty. Repeat fourth down.

Darrin clasped his head with both hands and stood up. Brad! No! Brad! he groaned.

Dolly lay down, head between her paws.

That backs them up to the thirty-two. Here they come up to the line. This time they have three receivers left and the tight end, number eighty-eight, Grabosky, out to the right.

Darrin started pacing, rubbing his hands together. Dolly watched him, her head following his every move, her long ears swaying with the motion.

There’s the snap. None of the receivers are open. The quarterback is scrambling. Looks like Thomas is going to be sacked. That’ll be the game.

Shit! Darrin shouted.

Dolly stood, threw her head back, and gave a deep basset bay.

Wait, he dumps it off on a screen to Grabosky. The pass is complete. Grabosky takes off. He breaks a tackle, and another one.

Go Brad! Darrin yelled, jumping up and down.

Dolly barked in excitement.

Grabosky is tiptoeing down the sideline, trying to stay inbounds. Harris is closing in. Grabosky is on the five. He dives for the pylon! Touchdown! What a play! Hounds win! They’re another step closer to a division title and home field advantage in the playoffs!

Darrin screamed, Yes!

He danced around the room. Dolly jumped off the couch and ran in circles, barking wildly. Darrin watched as his boyfriend was mobbed by his teammates. When Brad emerged from the pile, he did his victory dance. Darrin laughed. Brad had begged Darrin to teach him some sort of dance to use for touchdown celebrations. All the players did that, he’d explained. Darrin, a trained professional dancer, tried his best, but while Brad Grabosky might be a fantastic football player, as a dancer he sucked, big time.

Guess we’ll have to work on that a bit more, Darrin said to Dolly, who cocked her head.

When Brad was done with his victory performance, he took the ball and handed it to a little boy in the stands. The