Billy Goat Stats

Billy is eighteen years old, starting college at Hoosier State on an athletic scholarship and he’s just been dumped by e-mail! He can’t believe Jonah would just send him an e-mail not even speaking to him face to face. Considering the fact that Jonah won’t answer his calls or texts Billy has to leave for college without discussing it.
Jonah realised he couldn’t speak to Billy face to face about letting him have his freedom to explore when he gets to college because one look at Billy and Jonah would do anything asked of him. Jonah thought with Billy away at college they would both be able to get on with their lives and although he does meet and spend time with another gay student, all Jonah can think about is Billy. He is so relieved when Billy sends him an e-mail, it proves that Billy does care.
College proves to be harder to fit into than Billy anticipated. The basketball team is a time-bomb waiting to go off. Because Billy likes to listen to Jonah’s jazz music as loud as possible through his headphones he gets the nickname Grandpa well, it’s better than Billy Goat! The more time Billy spends at college the more he misses Jonah and he is so very grateful Jonah comes for a visit to watch his first game. Billy makes it very clear to Jonah that he doesn’t want to have his freedom because Jonah is the only person he wants.
The tension within the team is almost more than Billy can stand most days and he gets the feeling that the coach is more than happy to leave it up to Billy to get it sorted out. It doesn’t help when one member is openly gay and goes out of his way to antagonise the one member who, on the surface seems to be extremely homophobic. When they learn why the young man behaves as he does, they help him come to terms with the fact that he is gay and that it’s nothing to be ashamed of.
As Billy is struggling to cope with the politics of college basketball and trying to keep his relationship with Jonah quiet he slips and not only comes out to his parents but the entire sports world on television! Now his overbearing, bigoted, homophobic father won’t talk to either Billy or his wife and this causes even more pressure for Billy to cope with luckily he has Jonah to talk to every night. Jonah decides to take the bull by the horns and asks Billy’s father if he can catch a ride with him to Billy’s next game, needless to say it didn’t go down well. When Billy’s mum hears what’s going on and how her husband is refusing to take Jonah or even talk civilly to him she decides that she will go with Jonah. Jonah uses the road trip to get Billy’s mother to understand that, although they have not had sex they were in love with each other and he was not giving Billy up. Billy is incredibly lucky in the fact that his mother, once she got over the shock is behind him one hundred percent! Jonah decides to try out for a college only an hour away from Billy but his nerves get the better of him which unknowingly puts even more stress on poor Billy. It takes quite a while but they get their act together and start working together towards the end goal they both want, to be together!
I must admit I was very surprised with this book, I thought it was going to either be a bland, whitewashed story or a raunchy over the top sex filled college story but Billy Goat Stats is an incredibly well written love story about two young men who find the courage to stay together against all the odds. I will be recommending this book to all of my m/m romance loving friends to read!