Title: You Make Me Feel
Series: Love is Stronger, Book One
Author: R.D. Airam
Publisher: NineStar Press
Release Date: 07/21/2026
Heat Level: 3 - Some Sex
Pairing: Male/Male
Length: 334
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, contemporary, family-drama, gay, mechanic, photographer, motorcycle club, singer, cross-dressing, long-distance relationship
Description
Theo Lowe is a freelance photographer who agrees to face his fear of motorcycles and escape his hometown by hopping on the back of his best friend’s bike. Fate brings them to Kurt Hart who owns a garage in Santa Barbara.
Boredom brings Theo and Kurt together when they match on Grindr, even though the two men couldn’t be more different from each other. Theo’s life is in Sacramento, CA. He gets to spend a memorable summer with Kurt during which they learn how to deal with a long distance between them and their blooming relationship.
The strength of their new and fragile love is threatened when Theo is offered a once in a lifetime opportunity that will take him to Japan. Is their relationship doomed before it has even begun?
Excerpt
You Make Me Feel
R.D. Airam © 2026
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
The salty smell of the ocean and the blue skies calmed Theo’s nerves somewhat from being on a motorcycle. He had always considered motorbikes to be unsafe and death traps, but in a desperate attempt to change the scenery and clear his mind, he’d accepted his best friend Valerie’s invitation for a road trip.
Theodore Lowe had befriended Valerie Carter in preschool, when she was the only kind child to him. Theo had always been extroverted and independent. He had never cared about anyone’s opinion regarding his choices in life.
At the age of five, he got into his mother’s drawers and chose a flowery dress, the tallest heels, and the bright-pink nail polish. The moment he clumsily painted his nails he knew this would become part of his daily attire at one point.
His love for vibrant colors and wearing clothes not designed for his gender had brought him tears and heartache during his teen years, but once he left all that behind and stepped into the world with his flame burning brightly, he was unstoppable.
Ree, as he loved to call Valerie, had stood by his side, sometimes acting as his personal bodyguard, other times as his cheerleader. But she was his biggest supporter in everything he did.
Theo’s love for photography made him stop Valerie several times during their trip so he could snap photos of the landscape and the sky. It was the best tactic to feel the ground under his feet for a few minutes.
He was relaxed enough to enjoy the beauty of the road they were speeding down toward Los Angeles. When Ree had suggested he should accompany her for one of her music gigs, Theo was all for it until he found out they were taking the bike. Only the idea of the beauty of their country and the photos he could get out of this adventure had convinced him to accept the invitation.
He also needed to get out of his head and away from Sacramento. After yet another failed attempt at finding a partner, Theo was excited about their trip. He planned on simply living in the moment during this vacation. For once, he didn’t want to find someone to spend the rest of his life with. He wanted to have fun.
They were in Santa Barbara, a couple of hours away from their destination, and Valerie reduced the speed considerably due to early evening traffic.
Theo became aware of how agitated his friend was. One of Ree’s legs was bouncing while her hands gripped the handlebars. It made him feel sick, because there had to be something wrong with the bike.
As she veered right, leaving US 101 behind, Theo noticed smoke coming from the engine. His grip on Valerie tightened, because he wasn’t sure what that meant.
Not long after, she stopped and shrugged him off before dismounting. Theo followed her, watching thick white smoke coming from the engine.
“Fuck,” she spat, taking her helmet off. She crouched to see the damage and Theo took a step back, pulling her with him.
“What if it catches fire?” he asked, trying to hide his anxiety.
“It won’t.” She stood and looked around. “Amazing…no one nearby.”
Theo pulled his phone out and googled “bike garage in the area.” He thumbed through the results, checking them on the map, until he found one not far from where they were.
“I found a garage. Let’s have it checked out,” he suggested.
Valerie nodded, handing him her helmet. “I’ll push. You tell me which way I go.”
“Isn’t it too heavy for you? I can help.”
Ree flipped her long black hair over her shoulder, looking offended. She was a five-foot-tall firecracker. She kicked the stand, then steered the bike ahead. Theo hurried after her, holding both their helmets against his chest while also keeping his eyes on the virtual map on his phone.
The ocean’s breeze helped with the heat, but the short walk to the garage felt like a long trek through the desert.
“There!” Theo shouted when he spotted the sign indicating the location to a building on the other side of the road.
Bike Doctors was a concrete structure with a large rolling door coiled up. There were several motorcycles parked outside, and a couple more inside the garage.
The crosswalk wasn’t far from where they were, but judging by the traffic, Theo expected they’d have to wait a while for someone to allow them to reach the other side. Of course, he tended to forget how confident and fearless Valerie was.
She pushed her bike on the crosswalk, steering it into the traffic. All incoming cars had to come to an abrupt halt so they wouldn’t crash into her.
“Jesus Christ, Ree! That car nearly ran into you,” Theo chided her, walking alongside her.
“But it didn’t.” She side-eyed him. “Trust me, Theo. I know how to handle situations like these when men tend to be dicks. I’m the main man in a man’s world.” She winked.
He laughed, shaking his head. “Whatever you say, honey.” Although he knew Valerie could take care of herself and that she was tough, Theo had always been protective of her. They had each other’s back. “What do you think happened?” He sensed his friend was calm enough to discuss her beloved bike.
“I just told you. They wouldn’t have driven over us.” She sounded somewhat aggravated.
He laughed. “No, I meant with the bike.”
“Oh.” She shrugged, struggling to veer right on the gravel in front of the garage. “I hope it’s not the engine.”
Two men came out of the garage, heading to their bikes, but they stopped when they noticed Theo and Valerie. The taller of the duo approached them. His bald head shone in the blazing sun and Theo tried not to laugh. He couldn’t imagine ever shaving his hair, unless he had some condition that required it. His hair was part of his personality, and its color often changed, but he had been platinum blond for the past half year.
“Hello! Can we help?” The bald man stopped by their side.
His friend approached slower, due to a limp in his leg. His Hispanic features were accentuated by the thick mop of black hair and the mustache and goatee combo. His dark eyes were sunken in, the wrinkles around them showing his age.
“Hi,” Valerie said, smiling. “I hope you guys aren’t closing. I need someone to check out my bike. It broke down a few minutes ago.”
“What happened?” The Hispanic man stopped on their other side, assessing the bike. “Engine failure?” he guessed. There was smoke still coming from the engine, but only thin clouds, unlike earlier.
“I hope not. I have to be in Los Angeles tonight.” Ree ran a hand through her hair.
“You’ll find Kurt inside. Unfortunately, we have to leave,” the bald man said in a hurry.
Theo thanked them as Valerie jerked her head toward the opened door of the garage.
The two men got on their bikes, as Valerie pushed her motorcycle up the path with Theo hot on her heels.
They stopped in the doorway, and Theo looked around, finding something about the place very aesthetically pleasing. There were two bike skeletons not far from them, an engine on a worktable, various parts on a bigger worktable, more tools hanging from the walls, and many oil and grease stains on the concrete floor.
Then the most attractive man Theo had ever seen came into their line of sight. He was tall, with his muscles defined and ripped. He was wearing a white tank top with grease stains on it, along with a pair of ripped blue jeans, also with stains on them. His hair, caught in a man bun, was the color of melted caramels.
Theo forgot how to breathe for a moment, and only a jab in the ribs from Valerie made him shake his head from daydreaming. Clearly, this fine specimen wasn’t gay. But Theo could dream, and it was such a beautiful vision of him bent over one of the worktables with the hunky man working him.
“Theo,” she hissed, stepping on his foot.
He winced, but there was no time to explain why he was acting like a lovestruck tool.
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Meet the Author
R.D. Airam has always loved creating alternative endings to her favorite books which soon turned into writing her own stories. Her dream has always been to become a published author and share the worlds living rent-free in her mind with readers around the world.
The author is currently working on the next installments of the Love Is Stronger series, You Make Me Feel being the first book.
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Suzy Langevin loves love, even though she forgot how to say it in Latin when she was a contestant on Jeopardy! And she channels that love into writing happy ever afters where people are loved because of, not in spite of, the things they see as their flaws. She is the winner of the 2024 RWA Golden Heart Award, and her short fiction has been featured in several anthologies and magazines. Suzy lives and writes in central Massachusetts, and does, in fact, run on Dunkin'. For information on available titles and upcoming releases, visit www.suzylangevin.com, and follow her on Instagram @suzylangevinwrites.
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