Act One: and other stories

Four short, sweet tales of love.

Garret Souders had his life scripted out, but now several years have passed and he's playing a supporting role in his own script. One of the few bright spots in Garret's life is a man who dresses as a superhero and poses with tourists on Hollywood Boulevard. Garret wonders why the man chose to portray Nourish-Man, a third-rate superhero from an eighties cartoon. Then one evening disaster strikes and Nourish-Man comes to the rescue—in more ways than one.

A vegetarian at a testicle festival? Berkeley graduate student Tyler Wang should have known better than to allow his flaky friend to lure him way out to the country for such a bizarre event. As if the friend's failure to show up wasn't bad enough, Tyler ends up getting accidentally whacked in the face by a cowboy—a very handsome cowboy. And that's not the end of the day's disasters. But despite the mishaps, maybe the day won't end so badly after all.

History professor Ira Mayer is having trouble moving on from the past. After the sudden loss of his lover, he's left with sad memories, a garage full of boxes, and a dog with an embarrassing name. But then the dog finds a fallen nestling, and when Ira takes the baby bird to a wildlife care specialist, he runs into a former student, hunky Caleb Phillips. Can Caleb help rehabilitate more than an orphaned bird?

Marshall Fagan isn't in Kansas anymore. He and his puppy, Judy, have just moved to California and his life is in chaos. He doesn't have time for romance. But his neighbor is drop-dead sexy, and Judy has a plan.