The Weight of the JerseyWhen a college athlete and team captain is sidelined by an injury, his full-ride scholarship depends on recovering quickly enough to return to the field. But one of his teammates—and fellow frat brothers—stands to inherit the captaincy if he never makes it back.
Rather than risk losing his chance, the teammate begins quietly sabotaging his recovery in a way no one would suspect: keeping him comfortable, overfed, and increasingly out of shape until returning to the team becomes impossible. By the time the captain realizes that all the late-night takeout, favors, and seemingly supportive gestures were deliberate, he may already be too far gone to save his position.
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The King’s FavorTheo has only just been introduced to court, joining his lord-father to trips there, when the old king passes and the only prince is crowned in his place.
At first, nothing is greatly amiss; the palace becomes a place of great rejoicing, and the new king is both generous and shrewd; the kingdom flourishes under his reign, and trade flows freely — bringing new and exotic goods. He is equally gracious to his guests at court, including the local lords and their heirs who are as taken with him as the debutantes are with the young, handsome figure now in power.
But then… Theo notices something. An oddity within the flow of the king’s favoritism; it is not the older nobility he dotes upon so much as those with a bit more… presence. Heft.
Theo isn’t the only one to notice, either. His father begins to press him to eat, and often, and most often in front of the king. And as Theo begins to grow, so too does the king’s interest in him…
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