Doug Crandall’s perfect suburban life imploded after his boyfriend’s betrayal and a subsequent lawsuit left him personally and financially devastated. A year later, with a new place in the city and a fresh outlook, he’s back on his feet and ready to start over. Eager to lose his cynicism and heal his battered heart, he immerses himself in the local social scene, which includes a pair of charismatic men engaged in an open relationship. As Doug finds himself becoming emotionally and sexually entangled in their lives, he’s forced to reevaluate his views on fidelity, betrayal, love, and the often calamitous price of happiness.

In the sequel to Guys on Top, we meet up with the Boston boys several months later. Corey has developed a close friendship with Doug, who’s still living in the apartment downstairs. But Doug plans to leave and move in with Stewart soon, and Corey finds himself feeling lost, since his own new relationship is beginning to implode—Zach’s insecurities over Corey’s promiscuous past turning from slightly annoying to downright irrational. Corey’s stress increases when a conflict with a massage client’s homophobic family grows hostile, but through this debacle he meets Angelo, a local psychiatrist, who despite being straight, feels like a mirror image of himself. But soon this friendship becomes confusing as Angelo’s affection starts to feel not so platonic anymore. And for the first time in Corey’s life, he finds himself faced with a man who intimidates the hell out of him, and that he has absolutely no idea what to do with.

Zach has worked long and hard to change his life and restore his dignity after the humiliating breakup with Corey two years ago. But bad luck has forced him to backslide again, and he fears that no matter how hard he struggles, he’ll always be a guy on the bottom. Until he meets Duncan, a much older man who takes a professional interest in Zach, boosting his shaky confidence. But Zach is wary of Duncan’s motivations, even as he finds himself increasingly drawn in by his intense gaze and whimsical charm. To complicate matters, Duncan has a surprising connection to Zach’s ex-boyfriend Corey, forcing his past and present to collide, and Zach wonders if he’s really heading toward a brighter future, or if he’s once again on the path to self-destruction.