Mark Arbour

Stories are like massages: they're best with a happy ending. Having said that, "happiness" is a pretty subjective term. Happiness for whom?

But did he? Matt says he's moving to Boston, which he's always been able to do, but that doesn't mean Wade's willing to recommit to him. Wade's not exactly happy these days.

I think what we witnessed in this chapter was a complete reordering of Matt's priorities. I think that makes a lot of sense, considering what he's been through over the past year. In 9-11, Will was ripping into Gathan about Zach, and asked Gathan how he would have reacted if one of his heroes had died. I think that Robbie was both father and hero to Matt, and that probably shook him to the core. Now, he's gotten his head back on straight. Finally.

I'm so glad I could make your day a little better! I like to end with a bang. :-)

August 8, 2002 Chicago, IL Matt I groaned and rolled over, facing away from the window, and the sunlight that was glaring in. I’d gotten into Chicago and just come up to the condo and crashed. It hadn’t been all that late, but I was tired, the kind of tired you get when you’re fatigued. The kind of tired that comes from having a really shitty day. Usually when that happens, I can’t sleep, and things are just worse the next day, but last night, all alone in the cond

Thanks! I think George did well too, although his patience is wearing thin.

Thank you so much for the review! Once again, Granger's father has given him excellent advice. If he wouldn't have listened to the Duke, he wouldn't have been able to so neatly parry Lady Elgin's blows. But Granger deserves a lot of credit for having Clifton and Treadway there. With Clifton, he has a reliable source to help denounce the rumors. It shows Treadway just how damaging that encounter was, and should earn Granger his loyalty, if he didn't already have it.

Well, that's entirely possible. ;-) I think it's funny that as much as Granger loves the Spanish, so he seems to dislike the Portuguese, especially since Spain and Britain will be at war for some years to come. I suspect that da Colma's warnings are very valid, as Granger undoubtedly stirred up a hornet's nest when he antagonized Her Most Faithful Majesty's governors.

Granger hasn't ranted about that, but he most certainly wouldn't force the ladies (Lady Elgin and her maid) to bathe. That must worry him, that his fairly pest-free ship could be infested by Lady Elgin cooties.

Thanks Miles. I think that George mentions Lady Elgin's common background to irritate her, because he's pretty sure that's her weakest point. It actually shows our blond hero in a negative light, since that's a pretty crass thing to do. I think it would be hard to resist the temptation, though, and he does it so well!

I'm so glad you liked the chapter. At least as far as this story goes, I'll bet it's Lord Elgin who likes to be spanked. ;-0

October 18, 1799 HMS Valiant Off Porto, Portugal “I think we’ve finally gotten things organized again, my lord,” Winkler said, looking at Granger’s cabin with satisfaction. “It’s nice to have it back the way it was.” It was set up exactly as it had been when he’d taken Valiant to retrieve Lord St. Vincent. “Yes it is,” Granger agreed. “Pass the word for Mr. Weston.” The call was dutifully sent to Weston, who was on the quarterdeck, so he came into Granger’s

Addison is a 'no'.

Kody! Great to see you back! As usual, I love your review. I hadn't really thought about Wade and the 'point system', but that's an interesting observation. I can see Wade subconsciously doing that, if for no other reason than to keep Matt engaged and optimistic. It wouldn't be out of character for Wade to do that for control either, as you pointed out. That's also an interesting option for Zach...dating a religious girl. I think that Zach is a good short term strategist, though, so I'm not sure he thought that far ahead. Plus he'd have to find a girl who fits that profile. As far as football goes, I mentioned this before, but for someone like Zach, just playing football isn't enough. A rec league would be more frustrating to him than fun. To toss out another analogy, it would be like only letting DaVinci use finger paints. ;-) In essence, I think it's hard to understand this unless you've been (or have dealt with) really talented athletes (and maybe you have...I'm not trying to be patronizing), but I think it helps to put it into the context of your own field. Zach is also egotistical enough to think of himself as the next big thing, and to see this as his destiny. A rec league won't scratch that itch.

LOL. When I think of religious nutcase football players, I stick pretty close to home and think of Kurt Warner. I think that if I had a wife who looked like Brenda, I'd be walking on the wild side. Just saying. :-)

That's an interesting comparison, but I think this is a lot different than Brad/Robbie/Neil. Alex may have a quirky hangup, but he's not patently evil like Neil. Neil was trailer trash, while Alex is quite the blue blood. That gets even tougher if you slot Wade in for Robbie, since Wade is normally a very thoughtful and unemotional person (unless he's dealing with Matt), and while Wade may be infatuated, he's not going to let Alex manipulate him like Robbie did with Neil.

Thank you! That's an awfully short review for you. :-)

You're probably right about that, but I don't think it was feasible for him to remain in office, at least not in 2004. His opponents would have been quick to play up the trust issue, and that he was cheating on his wife with (gasp!) another man. Look what they did to Bill Clinton for a simple blowjob. In 2014, I think it's something he could have considered. That should make all of us happy.

Here's what Esera Tuaolo had to say about Aikman.

Thanks so much! Wow. I will say this...when I go back and read my earlier works, I have to pat myself on the back at how much better the more recent stories are; maybe not in the storylines, but at least in the way I put them together. The moral of that story: it's all about practicing. In the review response, I was just trying to point out that there are multiple ways for the current problems with Wade, Matt, and Alex to resolve themselves. I didn't mean to imply that there was some black cloud, just waiting to rain on everyone. :-)

Wade mentioned in his chapter (I think it was 38) that he tried to pick up the action, but Alex shot him down. Wade got more aggressive in bed, and that turned Alex off. Now, in a perfect world, Wade would have had a conversation about it with Alex, but this isn't a perfect world, and I can't see either one of them willingly discussing their sexual problems.

I'd never heard that song. It was pretty good.

Thanks for the review, Maarten. I think that Matt took a pretty big gamble with the ring. He and Wade have been working it out so they weren't partners, and Matt has been playing along with that. By giving Wade the ring, he's laying his cards on the table. If Wade isn't ready to go there (as partners), Matt may just lose him. I think that I did allude to the reason for Will's growth: it was JP's influence on him. He's modeling his relatives (besides his father) and learning from them.

Actually, it's a bit more intense even than that. In American football, there has NEVER been an openly gay NFL player. That's what all the hype is about Michael Sam, who was drafted by the St. Louis Rams. When/If he plays in his first game, he'll be the first openly gay NFL player.

I get what you're saying about Zach, and how he should have dropped a hint to Will. I'm wondering, though, how that would have gone. It was driving Will nuts not being in Claremont with Zach, so if Zach had said something that mysterious to Will, he probably wouldn't have taken it too well. I think the other thing to factor in here is Zach's embarrassment. It doesn't surprise Will that Zach can't stay hard for a woman, but it surprised Zach. That's a huge ego blow, especially for a guy who's immersed in the macho culture of football. So I see your point, but I'm still undecided if it would have been better for Zach to drop a cautionary hint on Will.