Can friends become lovers? Absolutely. Can two men make a relationship when one is openly gay and the other firmly closeted? Happens every day. Manny Curtis is determined to drag his relationship with Joseph Gilante out of the ‘friend zone’. When the big, Italian bull stud offers Manny a job painting a ceiling, Manny plots to seduce Joe. Two explosive court verdicts threaten to rip apart one small southern town and may slam the door on Manny and Joe’s fragile new relationship. Can Manny use the threads of prejudice and hate to weave a stronger bond? This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love Has No Boundaries" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.