Still Water by Ruthie Luhnow

“What’s the protocol for falling in love with your best friend?”

Max Hartmann only cares about two things: his university rowing team and his best friend Finn—the one person Max can always count on, the one person who believes in him the most. But now it’s senior year and something about Finn is different. Max can’t figure out why Finn is pulling away, leaving Max adrift without him. But when a drunken hookup takes them both by surprise, everything changes. Max is straight, right? So why can’t he stop thinking about Finn’s lips on him?

“I fell for my straight best friend. What a cliché.”

Finn Stevenson feels like a failure. It took him 22 years to figure out that he was gay, and he returns to campus dead-set on ignoring his true feelings for Max. But it’s impossible to deny he’s fallen in love with his best friend. How could he not? Max lights up every room and makes Finn feel like the most special person in the world. But after throwing himself at Max one night at a party, Finn knows he might have just jeopardized the most important friendship in his life.

“You think I’m gonna change my mind, don’t you?”

How can Finn trust that Max’s feelings for him are real if Max won’t even come out? And as Finn struggles with the pressures of competitive rowing, Max fears losing the person who means the most to him. As the rowing season heats up and graduation looms, the future has never been so uncertain. Will their relationship drown under the pressure or can they find a way to stay afloat?

Still Water is an m/m contemporary romance with out-for-you and hurt/comfort themes, plenty of heat, and a happy ending.