His Broken Protector - A College MM Romance #936947

I promised myself I'd never fall for him.
For seven years, I've been Ryker's safe place. His protector. His best friend. I found him at his lowest, helped him survive the darkness, and watched him rebuild himself into someone incredible.
I also fell in love with him. Hard. Completely. Hopelessly.
But loving him in silence was the price I paid to keep him in my life. He was too young, too vulnerable, too good for someone like me. So I buried my feelings and became what he needed—nothing more.
Then everything changed.
Now he's getting married to someone else. And he just asked me to be his best man.

RYKER
Three months before my wedding, I finally see the truth I've been hiding from for years.
I'm in love with my best friend.
Elijah has been my anchor since I was fourteen. The person who knows my worst moments and loves me anyway. The one who makes me feel safe when the world feels hostile. And somehow, without me realizing it, he became the person I can't imagine living without.
But telling him means blowing up my entire life. My engagement. My family's approval. Everything I've built to prove I'm stable and whole.
It also means risking the most important relationship I have. Because what if Elijah doesn't feel the same way? What if I'm confusing gratitude for something more?
What if choosing him costs me everything?
They said we were too different. Too complicated. Too damaged to work.
They were wrong.
This is the story of two people who fought for each other when the whole world said they shouldn't. Of a love that survived investigation, gossip, family rejection, and every obstacle designed to tear them apart.
Because some connections are worth burning down your whole life to protect.
And this is one of them.