Higher by Roz Alexander Blog tour Spotlight with Exclusive Excerpt & #giveaway @TTCBooksandmore @WritesRoz

Exclusive Excerpt for TTC Books and More

Higher: A Butch for Butch Romance

Roz Alexander

Higher by Roz Alexander is the story of two butches — one grump, one sunshine — finding their way into each other’s hearts despite themselves. In this exclusive excerpt of the novella, Maple is distracting herself while her love interest, Tali, is on a date with another woman.

The next day Maple distracted herself with as much admin work as she could shove into the daylight hours. She knew she should tell Tali how she was feeling, but she was still terrified of the return of the morning-after Tali. That cold, abrupt creature that could go from a night of connection to ten yards of emotional distance without blinking.

She also applied to one of the jobs Tali had sent her way. The rabbinic college was hiring an art teacher for a semester-long test. She loved teaching kids, but the idea of being able to combine her Jewish identity and her career, the way she had been with her Ladino project, felt so right.

When night came though, Maple let herself type before thinking better of it.

Maple: So, how was your date?

Tali: how do you know I was on a date? 

The reply was immediate and Maple could imagine the suspicious narrowing of Tali’s eyes as she typed. She felt a smile pull at her lips despite herself. Not wanting to out Anna, she fibbed. 

Maple: Oh... my assistant 

Tali: you speak grunts now?

Maple: Not no

Tali: Hmmphmm

When nothing else came after a minute, Maple wrote back.

Maple: Uh what?

Tali: That was me grunting my date answer to you. What? The wrong dialect?

Maple laughed into her silent apartment. 

Oh, so she’s funny now, huh? 

Maple: Must be - you’ll have to use English for me

Tali: Or Ladino

Maple: Have you been studying up?

Tali: you wish.

Maple: yeah, I do

A long pause now. Probably she’d put her phone down, annoyed with Maple’s constant flirtation. She kicked herself mentally. But then again, texts could be interpreted in endless ways. Maybe she’d just been interrupted. Maybe she suddenly fell asleep because the date had been so exhausting. Maybe she was at her date’s house right now. 

No, no. Better to not start imagining that option.

Then the three little dots started dancing across the screen and all hope was restored. Until they stopped again and Maple cursed the invention of cell phones. 

Then it rang.

“H-hello?” Maple answered, fumbling the phone in her eagerness.

“I’m tired of typing.” 

“Likely story, you just missed my voice.”

“It was fine. The date,” Tali said, entirely ignoring Maple’s comment.

“Oh wow, don’t go over-describing it now. You know I hate details.”

“I hate you.”

“So you love to tell me. But let’s see, it’s like, uh…” She pulled away from the phone to look at the time. “Wow, it’s barely eight pm and you’re texting, now calling, me. So it can’t have gone well.”

“Maybe it was a super cute lunch date.”

Maple took a quick shot of her own skeptical face, an eyebrow raised and the corner of her mouth quirked up and sent it back in response.

“You are ridiculous. Did you text me a photo while we’re on the phone?”

“I might be ridiculous, but I’m also extremely cute.” Maple waited for Tali’s snort and was rewarded by a particularly disbelieving one. “And I’m well-informed. I know it was supposed to be dinner and a movie. Classic stuff there.”

“Yeah, well informed by Anna. Don’t try to protect her. A long talk is in store for that girl. And, if you must know, we didn’t make it to the movie.” 

A sentence Maple would have stressed over if they were still texting. Could mean dinner had been so great they’d shot right back to the car and fucked hard enough to throw the car into drive and cause a crash. 

What is wrong with you? 

But Tali’s tone said it all.

“Oof, that good huh?”

“What can I say? You’ve ruined me.” 

Maple had expected another goofy joke or two. The best she had expected was they’d tease each other for a while. A few more minutes on the phone, maybe an hour or two of lazy texting. 

Normal, casual friend stuff that normal, casual friends who were definitely not sexually interested in each other did. 

And then say their good nights and continue the slow, steady trek toward real friendship. She certainly, even in her wildest imagination, hadn’t expected Tali would actually start flirting back. Not really. But maybe she wasn’t, maybe this was just a meaner joke. She’s not great at jokes.

“What’s that now?”

“A little honesty. A little bravery. You know, that stuff you’re always yammering on about.”

Maple chose to ignore that dig in favor of falling hopelessly into, well, hope. 

Ruined her? For what?

“How?” Maple cleared her throat when her voice came out far too close to a squeak. 

“What?” 

“How did I ‘ruin’ you?”

“Listen, Linda was perfectly nice.”

“Linda is the date?” She didn’t want to know, she wanted to know everything. She wanted this to last forever.

“Yeah, Linda was the date. And she seemed great. Exactly the kind of woman I’ve gone for in the past.” Tali’s own voice was too measured. What Maple wouldn’t give in that moment for a teleportation device.

“Aaand?”

“And, well, honestly I sat there thinking about how objectively beautiful she was.”

“Nice.” She kept her voice as flat as she could.

“It was. But also that’s it. I knew she was beautiful, but I didn’t feel it. Not like when I look at you.” Maple could hear Tali take in a steadying breath. Heard the rustling of Tali’s sexy, soft body adjusting in blankets. “I feel how handsome you are in my bones. I think about your strong hands on my arms, the way you grabbed me on that first night. The way your binder peeks out. The way your lips look wrapped around my fingers. I feel it like an ache. I want to hurt like that.”