I’m here on Love Bytes today to share an excerpt from Under a Blue Moon, book 2 in the Camp H.O.W.L. series. Today we’re peeking in on Nick and Drew as they take an agility class–which Drew dubs werewolf parkour.
It’s geared toward werewolves, so our dear human knows he’s walking in to fail. He just doesn’t realize how hard that fail will be. I’m over on Christina’s Bookshelf today talking about writing a human in a werewolf series, so pop over there to read more about Drew and his unique situation.
Agility training with Luke was offered in the late afternoon, so they hit that up first after they’d both taken care of their office chores. It didn’t look like anything Nick had ever done before, but he fell instantly in love with the course. It was like the love child between a ninja gym and a skate park.
“Agility training my ass,” Drew muttered as he looked around. “This is some straight-up werewolf parkour shit.”
Nick grinned at him. “Nervous?”
“Hell yes I’m nervous. Have you seen the course? It’s insane!”
Luke walked over with two bundles in his arms. “Great to have you with us today! Since we’re upside down a lot, we wear these while we’re on the course. There’s a changing room at the back of the gym.”
Drew looked at Luke’s skintight outfit and frowned. “Is it optional?”
“Nope! Safety first. Surely you understand, Dr. Welch. This course can be dangerous if you don’t take the proper precautions.”
“It looks pretty dangerous even with precautions,” Drew said lowly. “And please, call me Drew.”
“Have we finally met a staffer you aren’t intimately acquainted with?” Nick asked as they made their way back to the changing room.
Drew ignored him and swept the curtain aside and stepped into a room lined with cubbies. Nick followed.
“I mean, you yourself admitted you’re attracted to multiple people here. So I was just asking.”
“You were just probing to see if I’d slept with him,” Drew said. “Which I haven’t.”
“Hit a nerve, have I?”
Drew tossed his shirt into the cubby and turned to face Nick. “We’ve talked about this. I can’t keep up with all the mixed signals you’re sending. I get it if you don’t want to date me because I’m human. But it’s either/or, Nick. You don’t get to toss me aside and also be jealous.”
Nick stepped in closer. “I’m not trying to send mixed signals. I’m trying to figure this out. But I’m sorry. I was out of line with the comment about Luke.”
“I like you, Nick. You’re hot as hell and funny. You’re smart, and you’re surprisingly kind when you want to be. But I’m going to be honest here, the longer you string me along, the less likely it is I’m going to say yes if you ever get your head out of your ass.”
Nick couldn’t take his eyes off Drew’s lips. “I want to get my head out of my ass. I’m working on it.”
Drew leaned in and kissed him, lips soft and pliant, and Nick gave himself over to it, letting Drew control it. He kept it disappointingly sweet, pulling back before it escalated.
“I’m still okay with waiting—for now.” Drew looked down at the spandex shorts in his hands. “And I’m going to do my best not to look at your ass while you’re werewolf parkouring.”
Thirty minutes later, Nick was soaked in sweat but exhilarated. Ridiculous outfit aside, the agility course was fun. Luke had helped him literally run up a brick wall like Spider-Man. Drew was good-naturedly struggling through the course, though he hadn’t tried the wall.
“Why don’t you grab a drink while I work with some of the others? You’re golden on all the obstacles, man. Jump back in wherever you’d like when you’re done,” Luke told him.
Nick helped himself to a sports drink from the cooler and leaned against the wall, relishing the burn in his muscles from overexertion. This was better than a ten-mile run for burning energy. He wondered if the gym was open to staff after hours or if he had to come during class time.
Drew was doggedly making his way through an obstacle course made up of tilted boxes, but he wasn’t moving fast enough to build up any of the momentum that made it easy. A split second between jumps, Nick saw Drew’s sneaker slip. He pushed off the wall, trying to get to Drew before the inevitable happened. He didn’t make it in time to help, but he had a front row seat to Drew falling short of his last jump and hitting his head on the edge of the wooden box on the way down.
Panic flared through Nick as he shot to Drew’s side. Drew wasn’t moving, curled into a ball on the floor with his head cradled in his hands. Luke was there in an instant with his phone out, ready to call for help.
“Drew? That was a nasty spill, man. Are you okay?”
Drew cracked an eye open at Luke and groaned.
“’m fine.”
Nick highly doubted that. He’d just about swallowed his tongue watching the way Drew’s head had hit. His sister had been hit by a car a few years ago while they’d been out jogging, and even that hadn’t been as bad as watching Drew fall and knowing he couldn’t get there in time to stop it. Then again, he’d known his sister would heal. He didn’t have that kind of guarantee with Drew.
Blurb:
Once in a blue moon, opposites find they’re a perfect match. Nick Perry is tired of helping people with their marriages, so when a spot opens up to work with teens at Camp H.O.W.L., he jumps at it. He doesn’t expect to fall in lust with the dreamy new camp doctor, Drew Welch. But Drew is human, and Nick has seen secrets ruin too many relationships to think that a human/werewolf romance can go anywhere. Happy-go-lucky Drew may not sprout claws, but he’s been part of the Were community all his life. He has no trouble fitting in at the camp—except for Nick’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge the growing attraction between them, and his ridiculous stance on dating humans. Fate intervenes when one of Drew’s private practice patients threatens his life. Will the close call help Nick to see a connection like theirs isn’t something to let go of?
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Bru Baker writes sophisticated gay romantic fiction with strong characters, real-world problems, and plenty of humor.
Bru spent fifteen years writing for newspapers before making the jump to fiction. She now balances her time between writing and working at a Midwestern library in the reference department. Whether it’s creating her own characters or getting caught up in someone else’s, there’s no denying that Bru is happiest when she’s engrossed in a story. She and her husband have two children, which means a lot of her books get written from the sidelines of various sports practices.
Visit Bru online at www.bru-baker.com or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.