Stripped Love (Guys Next Door Book 1)

by Baylin Crow

I live in Texas where the heat and I don't get along. One day I hope to call Northeast USA home. I'm a mother of two ridiculously cute kids. I have two dogs and one cat, the latter of which is a spoiled brat, but she's my spoiled brat.

  Spending the day under a fluffy blanket reading or writing away on my laptop with a mountain of coffee is my idea of time well spent. I get to live so many lives through books that I consider myself genuinely lucky to call myself an avid reader. Books, whether I'm reading or writing them, make up a huge part of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

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  Guys Next Door Series

  Stripped Love (Book One) September 2020

  Keep an eye out for the next in the series!

  Also Available: Fling

  FLING (NOTHING SERIOUS BOOK ONE)

  Our time together has an expiration date.

  HAYDEN: I don't remember a time when I didn't love him.

  The only guy I've ever wanted sees me as nothing more than the kid next door and his younger sister's best friend. But when Dean comes home after college graduation, things are different. I've grown up, and the way his golden-brown gaze scorches a path over my body tells me he's noticed. When he makes me an offer I should refuse, I'm caught between my feelings for him and logic screaming that this idea is doomed to end in heartbreak.

  DEAN: I'm not interested in anything serious but I need to have him.

  I plan on spending a few months at home relaxing before beginning my dream internship. What I don't count on is my little sister's best friend sending me for a loop. He should be off-limits, but the pull I feel toward him is too strong to ignore. When I come up with a solution to spend the summer together in secret, I'm sure I have it all figured out. I just need to work him out of my system.

  It’s supposed to be free of complications…a fling. By the end of summer, it’s anything but simple.

  Also Available: Risk

  RISK

  We never should've been anything more than roommates.

  DREW: Life dealing me a hard blow is nothing new. What's one more sucker punch?

  When my uncle offers me a job working at his MMA training center, I jump at the chance to turn my life around... not upside down and questioning everything I know about myself.

  Light Heavyweight Champion Asher Ramsey is the definition of a ladies' man. His stormy gray eyes and inked skin call to the artist in me and make me itch for my pencils and sketch pad so I can capture every detail. If I'm honest, they make me itch to touch every detail too, which confuses me.

  After he offers to let me stay in his guest room, I discover there's more to Asher than he allows the world to see.

  ASHER: My life is a lie. A play written and directed by my PR manager.

  With the biggest fight of my career only weeks away, my focus is on securing my title. Losing my belt to some new up-and-comer isn't an option, and I can't afford any distractions. Or an unwanted attraction.

  When Drew begins working at the gym where I train, my priorities waver. To make things worse, I offer to let him stay with me until he finds a place of his own. It'll be fine. Sure, I'm attracted to him, but I'm an expert at hiding behind the mask of a straight man. Besides, he's completely off-limits. Not that it matters—we don't even play for the same team.

  What's the worst that can happen?

  Also Available: Quarterback Sneak

  Quarterback Sneak (Sugar Land Saints Book 1)

  The boundaries of our friendship are tested and lines are crossed.

  RUSH: I'm in love with my best friend.

  There wasn't an exact moment when I fell for him. It was something that grew and evolved over time. He loves me back, but it'll never be more than platonic. It can't be because he's straight.

  Then one night he kissed me and left me with more questions than answers. The very next morning my trust was shattered by a family secret. I'd been lied to my whole life. He was by my side through it all, offering support when I needed it most.

  How can I risk losing a friendship that held me together when I was falling apart?

  TORIN: He friend-zoned me.

  Four years ago, I gathered enough courage to kiss my best friend. What I'd hoped would be a pivotal moment that would start a new kind of relationship between us was over before it began. His world was upended, so I put my feelings aside and stepped back into my role as a friend he could count on.

  He wasn't ready then, but now it's time to find out if he's willing to take a chance on us being something more.

  We've been friends, roommates and teammates, but I want him, body and heart.

  Quarterback Sneak is a low angst, high steam novella about childhood friends, trust and football.

  Also Available: Broken Play

  Broken Play (Sugar Land Saints #2)

  We're friends, teammates—and we hook up. Often.

  Shaw: He's intense and the heat of his stare is hot enough to set fires.

  The first time we got together, it was a spontaneous earth-shattering moment. I wanted more. So, of course I popped the question.

  “Yours or mine for round two?” That’s where the trouble began. We agreed on an exclusive, no strings arrangement. When one of us is ready to walk away, we'll still be friends. Perfect, right?

  He's not exactly a people person—understatement of the year—but I've seen the real him and he's so much more than the broody loner others see him as.

  But the brilliant plan backfired. I accidentally caught feelings.

  Bishop: He could be my game-changer but there's a problem.

  He put a dent in my armor when he decided I needed a friend. Then he managed to crawl under my skin—and between my sheets.

  He's the one person in the world I trust, and he's mine, for as long as this lasts. But I think I messed up and likely lost him for good.

  The role in my family's company I've been groomed for my entire life competes with my growing feelings for him. Turns out I can't have them both.

  What a terrible time to realize he means more to me than just a friend and convenient hookup.

  Being friends with benefits is the perfect arrangement until someone falls in love.

  Broken Play is the second book in the Sugar Land Saints series. It's a story about finding that one person that gets you, choosing your own future and the love of football.

  Also Available: Recovered Fumble

  Recovered Fumble (Sugar Land Saints Book 3)

  Rendon: Nash is football royalty in this town and has an ego to match.

  We met at a party--the last place I wanted to be. Full of confident swagger, the campus playboy approached me. It was hard to believe he was interested in me, but he was. Interested in hooking up, that is.

  When things ended before they really even began, we agreed once the semester started it'd be best to keep our distance from each other. But I'm the only one holding up my end of the deal.

  He thinks he can just waltz back into my life, turn on the charm and have me with a simple snap of his fingers. He can't.

  Nash: Rendon is off-limits but I want him anyway.

  With dreams of going pro depending on my current season, I know I should have stayed away from him. Hooking up with a teammate's younger brother was asking for trouble.

  It's been months since I've seen him and the moment I set eyes on him my already cracked resolve crumbles to dust. That small taste of him I had isn't enough. It will never be enough.

  Now that he's back on campus to stay, I plan on picking up where we left off... Except now he says he doesn't want me.

  Rendon may be a virgin but Nash is the one who has no clue what he's doing.

  Recovered Fumble is the third book in the Sugar Land Saints series and the first full-length novel. It's a story about opposites with undeniable ch
emistry, a well-rounded education and the love of football.

  Also Available: Scar

  SCAR

  A closed-off bartender. An outgoing college athlete. Sparks fly...but will anyone win this battle of wills?

  BEARD: Oh, I want him. But it's too risky.

  My past isn't pretty. After a disastrous incident nearly destroyed me, I rose from the ashes to reclaim my life. I may not be happy, but I'm comfortable. And I'll never let anyone get close enough to hurt me again. But then six feet of pure temptation walks through the doors of my bar...repeatedly...for a year. I've done a good job of ignoring the sexy college soccer player, until the night his teammates leave him stranded and intoxicated, forcing me to offer him shelter. Now I can't shake the persistent man.

  SOCCER: I play to win. But he's more than a game.

  As a forward, it's my job to score points. Too bad I haven't been able to do that with the local green-eyed bartender. I haven't been subtle about my attraction, and Beard's interest shines through his gruff exterior...whether he chooses to admit it or not. When my well-meaning teammates intervene, using questionable tactics, and leave me at Beard's mercy, it's time to make my move.

  When past hurts threaten to destroy their chance at happiness, is it time for Soccer to push forward to reach his ultimate goal...or has he made a play destined for mutual heartbreak?

  This is a standalone novella.