The Dual Draft by Cel Galiza

Jared Malloy and Derek Cabrera spend three years as small-town rivals, competing for every trophy their town can offer, until a shared DUI sentences them to a month of community service that cracks open something neither expected: love. Through college, professional drafts, and years of long-distance secrecy, they build a relationship strong enough to survive silence but never designed for scrutiny—until a Christmas Eve proposal, caught on a stranger's phone, forces them into the public eye. The Dual Draft follows their reckoning with fame, family, and each other as they choose a quiet wedding over a lucrative spotlight, then found the Second Vest Project, a safeguarding-first foundation for LGBTQ+ youth in sports. Its real triumph isn't recognition—it's watching the thing they built keep running long after they've stepped out of the room.