Release Day Teaser: The Moves We Make by CD Rachels


So excited to be able to share an exclusive excerpt of The Moves We Make by CD Rachels today as part of their Release Day Celebrations!  You can also join us in the MM Romance Reviewed Facebook Group tonight at 6:00 PM EDT for the Release Party and Author Takeover!


From the blurb:

Landon
On my university soccer team, people see me as an obnoxious loud-mouth, but this semester, I’m turning over a new leaf. Part of that involves supporting my best friend and his new relationship (with a guy!). Ravi being gay has really thrown me for a loop. The way he looks at Steven, it makes me feel… jealous? I’m not gay, but no girl has ever made me feel the way those two feel about each other. To top it off, I’m forced to take my university arts requirement in the form of a dance class! I have to fumble around trying not to fail while the teaching assistant Dane refuses to take it easy on me.Still, the longer I spend in dance class, the more I get to know the real Dane: he’s fun, interesting, sweet, attractive, and… did I say attractive?! No way, that’s not what I meant. Because if I actually feel that way then… turning over a new leaf just got a LOT more complicated.

Dane
Dance is my life, and being a performing artist is my ultimate goal. That’s why I took this university TA position and why I’m hoping to secure an internship in the big city. I refuse to get distracted by some (admittedly handsome) jock that I’m tasked with teaching. He’s uncoordinated, but eventually, I can tell that he’s actually trying, so I cut him some slack. There’s also the tiny detail that he admits he may not be 100% straight.
That’s fine by me. It’s not like a guy like that would go for someone with a messed up face like mine. Still, as the weeks go by, something shifts and we become closer. I can’t let myself become sidetracked in catching feelings for a boy who’s new to being queer. I just need to disregard the burning chemistry we have whenever we’re in the dance studio alone. It’ll be easy to ignore the way he makes my heart flutter when he talks to me, or how charming he is when he lets down his guard.
Well… maybe one kiss won’t hurt, right?

[ “The Moves We Make” is a low-angst, male/male romance, opposites-attract story involving hands-on movement lessons, road trips, drunken dance floors, soccer games, and discovering what love and sex with the RIGHT person can actually lead to, HEA guaranteed.
It is the second of the “Artists and Athletes” series but can be read as a standalone.]


Excerpt:

With Dane back early, I’m relieved to know I’ll have someone to talk to this year at the family party. The twins will be too busy being pimped out by my parents, and my family doesn’t want me to camp out in my room all day, so Dane being here is actually a life saver. I can only hope we can become better friends before my siblings reappear and do what they usual do—show Dane how un-special I am by comparison.

Going through my closet, I manage to find an old dark-brown suit and a white button-down I haven’t used in ages. They’re still clean, and I’m sure they’ll fit Dane, so I grab them and some black dress shoes and walk next door to the guest bedroom. I lay out all the clothes on the bed and stare at them intently as if they’ll soon reveal to me some secret code. 

“Hey, you’re back!” I hear Dane close the door behind me.

“Yeah, I got you some—” My words are cut off as my brain short-circuits. Dane is standing in front of me all wet and wearing only a towel. The remnants of shower water dribble down his rippling abs, and all of a sudden, I can’t speak. I knew dancers were fit, but I didn’t realize Dane was hiding the body of a Greek god under all those sweaters. 

“Nice! A brown suit!” He thankfully doesn’t seem to notice my thirst. “Thanks, Landon!” 

He walks over to the bed and puts on his white boxer briefs right in front of me under the towel, then lets the towel drop to the floor. Now that I have a direct view of his sculpted ass packaged in thin fabric, I can say for sure he’s nothing like the chicks I’ve been interested in before. Yet, with his back on full display as he pulls on my pants, it feels like…Do I think Dane is sexy? I can’t stop staring at his body, and these urges are pulling me toward him just like during puberty when I started jerking off to girls, but…Dane isn’t a girl. That would mean I’m…

I shake my head and take a step back. “Uh…” He turns to look at me. His right eye is so soft as he puts on the button-down shirt. “I’ll meet you downstairs!” I bolt out of there and shut the door, trying to catch my breath. 

---

I stand outside by the buffet table, putting dressing on my salad. The inner courtyard of our house has been set up with a dozen round tables and heat lamps because it’s winter. Twenty guests roam around, most of whom are either chatting with my parents or talking to my siblings—Link, Kara, and my older brother Lars with his wife. Eventually, Dane makes it outside, and fuck, is he hotter with the suit on than he is half naked? Is that a thing?

I try to push down all these bi-curious thoughts. “Dane! Come get some food!” I smile and wave him over.

“Thanks man. This is”— he looks around— “lavish.” 

“My parents like to do it big for these parties.” He smiles at this and starts putting food on his plate. Eventually we sit down at a table in the corner away from the crowds.

“You think you got the internship?”

“I hope so. They seemed genuinely interested in me.”

“I hope you get it too. Just think, if you get it, since I live nearby, maybe we can hang out in the summer.” 

I eat some salad and look at him. An expression I don’t recognize flashes across his face before he smiles again. “For sure.”

 

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