Showing results by publisher "Riley Hart" in All Categories

To listeners of The Vers, a queer podcast I host with my three best friends, I’m known as The Realist—I accept life the way it is, believe in honesty over sugarcoating, and okay, I can maybe be a little bossy. If you asked The Vers guys, they’d tell you I’m a caretaker who’s always thinking of others, but they also give over-the-top hugs and don’t believe me when I say feelings are the worst.

I'm a fun-loving guy who doesn't take life too seriously. If there's something I want, I go for it. Why not? Life's too short to slide into the grave with regrets. But what I don't do is go for men who aren't out and proud. Been there, done that. The only real way to get to me is to hurt my brother, but now that Sawyer's happy, he doesn't need me anymore. I'm stoked for him, I am! But seeing my friends and brother paired off is a constant reminder of the one thing I don't have but desperately want: Jude.

Listen to Book Four in The Vers Podcast series now.

Grady Dalton is in a rut. He’s 38, without a boyfriend, and has yet to find the place that feels like home. The closest he ever got was his best friend, Nathan. But it’s been seven years since he passed, and life isn’t getting easier. That’s how he ends up in Briar County, hoping to grow roots in the place Nathan had loved. Deacon Sharpe spends his days serving homemade ice cream and his nights alone, pretending he’s getting by after his wife’s death better than he is. His world is rocked when a man shows up who claims to have been his brother-in-law’s best friend.

Seeing my best friend West happy with his fiancé opened my eyes to things I’ve been missing in my own marriage. My divorce, which was amicable, followed. Strangely, at West’s wedding, I find myself confiding in Darren, the straight, confirmed bachelor and star quarterback of the Atlanta Lightning.

I wasn't supposed to fall for my older brother's best friend. Unfortunately, that ship sailed when I was a teenager, even though Chase Hawthorne always treated me like nothing more than a younger sibling. Things were worse after my parents died. Chase was sweet and supportive, which only strengthened my feelings for him. But then he'd act like I couldn't take care of myself, and that part didn't go over well with me. Yeah, I had a habit of screwing up.

Nothing in my life is really mine. I take care of my mama, work three jobs, I’m there when anyone needs me. Something about the beautiful, lonely man on my mail route interests me. He’s different in my world, where everything’s the same. I think he hates me, but that doesn’t stop me from hand-delivering every package and trying to find ways to make him smile. Then Emerson makes me an offer: He’ll pay me to spend the weekends with him, losing ourselves in each other’s bodies, no feelings or pasts involved.

As a founding member of The Vers, a queer podcast I host with my three best friends, I’m "The Loner"—quieter than the others, and except for them, I don’t let myself get too close to people. Most of them just let you down anyway, or maybe it’s just that something about me chases people away.

Lincoln I've done a good job getting over my past. I'm not only proud of who I am, but revel in it. Still, I don't let myself get too close to people...Except I can't stop sleeping with Rush Alexander. I try, I really do...Unfortunately, things become a little more complicated when I tell a white lie that lands me in a fake relationship with him. Yeah, not my best moment.

At 43, Holden Barnett is getting along just fine. His job as a pilot keeps him from getting restless, and he’s got a man who doesn’t want promises for the future. One phone call from his estranged sister changes everything. She needs his help, so Holden drops everything and heads to Harmony, a small town in Briar County, which represents everything he’s tried to avoid in life.

When it comes to The Vers, the queer podcast I host with my best friends, I’m The Romantic. The one who’s looking for love in all the wrong places. If there’s a jerk close by, I’ll find him. I’m beginning to think my Mr. Right doesn’t exist.

It started out as a little fun. When there was a man in my building on a hookup app, why not message him? Only we didn’t meet. We just texted - one night after the other, after the other. GoodWithHisHands was the perfect escape from my life, where pressure was always on my shoulders: my father’s expectations, the worry about my sister, Maddy, getting sick again, and her ex-husband, Ryder Lynwood, suddenly back and volunteering at the same hospital as me. I like talking to him, the same way I enjoy chatting with GoodWithHisHands. They weren’t supposed to be the same person.

If there's one thing I know, it's how to play the game...both on and off the field. If it hadn't been for that one teenage slipup where I kissed Beau Campbell, I'd be able to keep fooling myself. Football is the one thing I use to distract myself from the truth, and when I screw-up and lose the game I love, I find myself right back in Fever Falls. And right back face-to-face with Cranky Campbell, who hates me even more than he did when we were kids. But whatever magic he held over me then is still there.

Elijah: Out of all the apartments in Atlanta, I ended up with the worst neighbor. Shaw Hastings is a headache. He's so full of himself it makes me crazy. Our official language is snarky banter - which I don't enjoy, I swear. I've got eyes for my bestie Danny, anyway. I need to figure out if he feels the same, so I email an advice column written by a serial dater, who's just as annoying as Shaw. Now, I'm asking myself why am I thinking less about Danny and having a blast virtually flirting with Anonymous?

Nathaniel Montgomery can't escape the pressure to be perfect, to be smart, to be successful. To live the life chosen for him - one that doesn't include being gay. Wren Cunningham lives on the streets and does what it takes to survive. No one has ever given a damn about him, so he works with the cards he's been dealt and pushes his dreams aside. Fate steps in when Nate and Wren meet when they are 18. They have one week to live how they want and to pretend everything they hope for is within reach.

Dylan Sutton doesn't go looking for trouble, but it always seems to find him. After the devastating loss of his father, he travels across the country to deliver a letter to his dad's estranged best friend. But surely, he deserves a night of relaxation when he first gets to town, right? He sets his sights on the attractive older guy at the bar - except his almost-one-night-stand turns out to be the very man he's in town to see. Oops.

I’m not a guy who’s looking for a serious relationship. I love the chase, and the one time I thought I wanted more, the guy bailed. When my buddy Will mentions his recently out, older brother is looking for a place to stay, I offer the spare room in my apartment. It’s clear Jonathan’s past did a number on him, and he’s locked up tight. I make it my mission to show him how to have a little fun. What I don’t expect is to start to like him...or get jealous when he goes on a date...and hooking up with him is a terrible idea...right?