When I started to write this novella, gay marriage wasn’t legal in Australia. The day this novella was accepted for publication, gay marriage had been legal for six days. I swear it wasn’t that long between the two events! It’s an incredible change and one I am so proud Australia has made. Originally I was really sad Bishop and Jake couldn’t be married here. Sure, I could’ve changed it in editing, but I didn’t. I’m going to save that for Liam’s happily ever after, and yes, it is coming!

I had no intentions of ever writing this novella, but as I was writing Bishop’s parts in Breaking Down he jumped off the page and his backstory grew and grew. I knew it couldn’t be ignored. In Breaking Down we have a very definite idea of who Bishop is. Here, I turn it all on its head. I think it is so vitally important not to make assumptions of people. Unless we know them intimately, we’re never going to know what’s going on with someone else. As the saying goes, we’re all fighting battles no one else can see. I hope you enjoyed Bishop’s battles.

First off, as always, I want to thank Becky and Hot Tree for taking chance after chance on me. I will forever be grateful to you for doing so, as well as to the Facebook ad I saw advertising for submissions.

To Liv, Justine, Virginia, Barbara, and everyone else involved in getting this book to where it is, thank you so much!

To my awesome parents who never fail to be proud of my achievements, and never waver in their support of me, thank you so much. I love you both so much! Especially my Dad, for whom this will be the only sentence of this book he reads!

To my girls: Gen, Trysh, and Mary. Thank you for keeping me sane, for lifting me up when I need it, for the laughs, the postal addresses, and for always being there for me. I am so incredibly glad we met and I couldn’t imagine my life without you guys in it!

To all the same-sex marriage campaigners in Australia, thank you for your tireless efforts.

To Wander Aguiar, thank you for the most awesome photo on the cover of this book. Thank you also to Michael Atanante and James, for looking so damn good! Michael, the minute I saw you I knew you were Bishop, so thank you for that too!

A massive thank you to Claire Smith, who has designed the previous Rocking Racers covers and Tracie Weston for designing this one. They say to never judge a book by the cover, but if they do, your covers certainly make my words look damn good!

To my friends and family who always pick up a copy of my books, even if you never read them, I love you. Thank you for supporting me, for not laughing at me when I said I write girly love stories. You have no idea how much your support means to me, thank you again!

To all the bloggers who have taken a chance on me, let me take over their pages, shared posts, or written reviews, thank you so much. The book community is so great and it would be nothing without you!

To Ang, who is one of my favourite people. Thank you for all your kind words and the endless book chats!

To you, who have picked up this book and stayed with me this far, thank you for taking a chance on me. It means so much more than I can say, but I will continue to say it, as poorly as I do, until the day I die. As always, if you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review.

To any gay athlete, we are with you; we support you; you can do this.

To anyone who is struggling with their sexual identity, I know it’s scary, but love is just around the corner. I hope you have the courage to be your true self, it is beautiful and pure. You are exactly as you were meant to be.