Brooks Price loves a challenge. So when a frenemy dares him to sleep with a dorky, over-tall film major, Brooks amps up his considerable charm.
Matt Porter can’t guess why Brooks is flirting with him. Raised religious, Matt doesn’t believe in sex before relationships. Unfortunately, Brooks is all about sex, and Matt doubts Brooks is interested in anything else.
Slowly, Brooks chips away at Matt’s armor—taking him on dates, asking for kisses, holding hands—baby steps, none of which Matt can resist or refuse. However, when Brooks pushes too far, Matt freaks out.
Despite his stoic exterior, Matt’s painfully conflicted over his sexuality—scared of his darker desires, worried about hurting Brooks. The pair explores boundaries, but when things turn rough and Matt unleashes his inner wants, he doesn’t know if he can overcome his shame about sex in order to be with the man he’s growing to love.
Brooks Price was raised with money. His family is the sort that feeds off of connections and he was raised with the thought that if a person doesn’t have connections he’s not worth being friends with. Because of this Brooks hasn’t been the nicest of guys to everyone but it didn’t stop from heading around the block a time or two with other men.
Matt Porter is a tall unassuming guy that was raised in an extremely religious family and is thought of as an abomination by those back home. He was also raised to believe that you don’t have sex before you’re married but he’d settle for being in a committed relationship. He would love to have what his roommate has with his partner (Gabe & Nick from book 3) which is love, familiarity and the kind of relationship where you can just be yourself.
Brooks’s “friend” Hunter sees Brooks checking out Matt’s ass and of course laughs about it since Hunter thinks of Matt as a no one. He decides to bet Brooks that he can’t get Matt in bed. Brooks takes the bet because of course he has to look more than capable in Hunter’s eyes but really, he wouldn’t mind getting Matt into the sack.
Brooks starts his flirting which Matt is secretly thrilled by and eventually Brooks asks Matt out to a museum exhibit with him. Matt agrees but makes it clear that it’s not a date. When they get to the museum it turns out that the exhibit is erotic art. Matt barely manages to make it halfway through the exhibit before he has to hit the restroom and take care of business. Brooks is pissed that Matt felt that jerking himself off was better than having Brooks take care of it for him. It’s more than a bit awkward but then Matt comes clean about his feelings on sex and amazingly Brooks agrees to just date…and kiss.
Matt and Brooks start seeing each other regularly and eventually become more intimate in the bedroom but Matt has a problem. He has these thoughts and feelings about sex that shame him. They are dirty, nasty, dominate thoughts and he can’t bring himself to tell Brooks or even act on any of his darker desires. The tension this creates soon produces some problems in the relationship and Matt just doesn’t know how to come clean.
Despite the tension the couple have the kind of relationship that Matt always wanted. A stable and committed relationship. Brooks realizes, after being with Matt, what an ass he’s been to others and tries to really make up for that. I loved that about his character. He doesn’t have the big revelation about his life but he slowly becomes a better person over time and can finally see his family and his upbringing from a different angle. His family life is really brought to light when Matt meets Brooks’s mom and she hardly acknowledges his existence. Not that she doesn’t like him, but for her he’s just nobody because he knows nobody and therefore hardly exists. I’m sure there are more than a few people in the world like this and it was nice to see one of them, even fictionally, becoming conscious of what a crappy way of life that is – as Brooks did.
Matt’s part of the story was definitely a bit darker. I say his part of the story but it was all interwoven so nicely that they didn’t seem separate. I guess when I say part I mean his thoughts and actions that he was so shamed by. I loved that he and Brooks discussed things between them – though it did take some time and coaxing to get the truth from Matt. I loved that Brooks was open to Matt both physically and emotionally and it generated a fantastic level of intimacy between the two men.
The book was really terrific. I have to say that when I heard that Brooks was involved in this book, after reading just a tad bit about him in the last book, I was a little leery. I didn’t like Brooks in Townie and the Twink and did not want to read about him. Daisy swore to me that he would be redeemed and, well, she was right. The story is great and I ended up liking Brooks so very much – as well as Matt…and the two together.
I couldn’t decide on the rating so it gets somewhere between a 4.25 and a 4.5…which makes it a 4.375 I guess. lol
I’ll just say it was a very good book and you should definitely read it. :0)
I enjoyed this one, too. 🙂