To the fans, he's an invincible playmaker. Behind the lens of my camera, he's the man I walked away from-and the one who still holds my heart.
ZACH
I have one goal for training camp: prove my rookie year wasn't a fluke. I bought a secluded beach house to escape the noise, but my solitude is shattered when the reality show Outside the Pocket assigns a cameraman to document my every move.
To the production crew, Griffin is just an employee. To me, he's the college love who broke my heart three years ago. I should hate him. But when the cameras stop rolling, I don't see the man who left me. I see the only person who knows who I really am beneath the helmet.
He's the distraction that could ruin my career. He's also the exception to every wall I've built. Because when the pressure of living a lie becomes too much, Griffin is the only one who makes me feel safe enough to be real.
GRIFFIN
To the producers, this is just a paycheck: capture the personal life of the Wilmington Breakers' star receiver. The truth? It's my personal hell. I'm the reason Zach is alone. I walked away to protect his dream and keep him in the closet, even though it broke me.
I thought I could keep it professional. Then I looked through the viewfinder.
He hates the intrusion, and he has every right to hate me. But inside the walls of his empty house, the history between us screams to be heard. Zach is the only one who ever made me feel like I mattered. He's the one regret I can't shake.
I know I should stay behind the camera. One slip-up could out him and end the career he's sacrificed everything for. But how am I supposed to keep my distance when the man in my focus is the only one I've ever loved?
Down by Contact is an angsty, second-chance M/M sports romance featuring a closeted pro football player and his cameraman ex, forced proximity that melts the ice, a reality show that threatens to expose everything, high-stakes secrets, and two men realizing that the only stat that matters is the one they build together. HEA guaranteed.
