Theme Week : Love is an Open Road
Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Out in ther Deep End 
AUTHOR: Lane Hayes
LENGTH: 41 pages
STORY PROMPT:
Dear Author,
My water polo team is the most LGBT friendly team on campus. Literally half the team is queer and it’s ok, you can be jealous. One of the reasons I was hella excited to come here, ha! But I don’t care about the rest of the team right now, because all I can think about is this new freshman with the mad skills. Zev.
He has this gorgeous lob shot and makes our intense practices seem effortless. I swear if I hadn’t just played an entire game, I would have gotten hard at the backhanded skip shot he scored last week. Seriously. It was amazing. And why does Zev have to be just as stunning out of the water? He’s all dark hair and heavy brows and these hazel eyes that make me stutter like a fool.
I don’t know why he’s warmed up to everyone on the team but me. I’m the main driver, and he’s a leftie, so we should clearly work together… I mean, aside from the fact I want into his pants.
Fuck it.
This is California, and it’s college— it’s pretty much the definition of fun. So what happens when we’re assigned roommates for the three-day tournament in Long Beach?
REVIEW:
College polo player Adam is out and proud, at an LGBT friendly college in California. He’s a popular guy at school and on his team, with everyone but the man he has a crush on. Zev, fellow polo player, does not seem to like Adam. They play together in the water, but any time Adam approaches Zev, or tries to be friendly with him, Zev ignores him or has a snarky comment back. Adam can’t figure out what the issue since he’s so awesome, he can’t believe Zev wouldn’t like him! Could he be homophobic?
The team is preparing for an away tournament, and Adam is unhappy to see he is sharing a hotel room with the prickly Zev. The first night goes as Adam expects, Zev being an asshole, Adam being uncomfortable, but things change on the second night.
Turns out Zev is not the asshole that Adam thinks! He’s just scared and confused.
This is a sweet little college age, coming out story. It is short, as it’s meant to be for this group of Goodreads stories, but I have to say it’s hard for me to review something like this. I liked it just fine, I am a big fan of Lane Hayes, and the writing is good, it’s just really short. It’s a brief moment in the lives of these two young men. A time of discovery. There is no background, no character building or depth, but lots of potential. Potential love, a potential future, and a potential life together. I enjoyed it, I liked the characters just fine, and liked the little glimpse of their lives. I liked the details of the polo games, something I know nothing about. It was a fun little story!
RATING: 
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