Some men are built to hold a line. Nobody ever taught them how to be held.

Cole Duvall is the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Iron Saints MC, and for eleven years he's been the man who keeps the whole club from going up in flames. Controlled. Untouchable. A wall with nothing behind it — or so his ex-wife told him on her way out the door, and he's spent four years proving her right.

Then Finn Calloway walks into the clubhouse.

A washed-up quarterback with a wrecked knee and a mind that reads a room like a defense before the snap, Finn was supposed to be a two-week prospect who'd wash out like all the rest. Instead he sees straight through Cole's stillness to the man underneath — the grief, the guilt, the locked room no one else knows exists. And Finn has spent his whole life being second string. He knows exactly what it costs to want a place that might not want you back.

What starts as a suture kit at nine p.m. and a hand held one half-second too long becomes something neither man has the discipline to stop. But Cole is the SAA. Finn is a prospect. And thirty brothers are watching to see which way the most controlled man in the club finally breaks.

When a rival crew turns a burned van into a war, Cole does the only thing he knows how to do — rides out alone, ready to bleed for a family he can't believe would ever stay for him. Finn is about to teach him otherwise.

Second String is a slow-burn MM motorcycle club romance about a touch-starved stoic, the grumpy/sunshine man who cracks him open, and the found family that turns a wall into a home. If you love forbidden age-gap tension, forced proximity, hurt/comfort, and two guarded men who'd rather bleed than say stay — this one's for you.

Grumpy meets sunshine. Prospect meets patch. First string, at last.

One-click Second String now — and find out what's really behind the wall.

A steamy standalone with a guaranteed HEA. No cliffhanger.

22 Lions Publishing, accessible at 22lions.com, is an independent publishing house established in 2014, specializing in high-impact nonfiction genres such as personal development, psychology, esoteric knowledge, business, and practical philosophy, alongside select meaningful fiction. The platform offers a vanity-hybrid publishing model that empowers authors with guaranteed publication, professional support, and global distribution. Authors retain full creative control and the flexibility of non-exclusive agreements allowing book withdrawal at any time. With a focus on author empowerment and industry excellence—boasting over 200 Amazon bestsellers and features in Netflix series—22 Lions aims to bridge traditional and self-publishing gaps for aspiring writers worldwide. weniger anzeigen expand_less