Tristan used to be top salesman at his firm, but when his friends suffered a tragedy, he stepped in to support them. Their ordeal over, Tristan turned to partying to ease his new solitude. Now his job is at risk and he stands to lose his home. Rain spent years putting up with his husband Milo's bad behavior before moving out. Single again and insecure, Rain dreams of creating a marionette show to celebrate kids on the autism spectrum in honor of his son. When Rain meets his neighbor Tristan, he's drawn to Tristan's sex-appeal and protective nature. But Milo keeps pulling on Rain's strings and messing with his head. Tristan loves everything about Rain, including the strange sandwiches, mismatched socks, crazy marionettes, glitter makeup, and messy apartment. And Rain wants to give Tristan everything, but can he cut lose from Milo's hold?

A Touch of Rain

“I don’t think that sentence has ever been spoken by a man to another man before.” Rain laughed. “Really? You wanna see my marionettes. That’s what you want?”


“I wanna pop open a bottle of red wine and I want you—” Tristan pushed his index finger’ into Rain’s chest, “—to show me your puppets.”


Rain stared at him a little longer. “Okay…you asked for it. I’ll show you my puppets.”


“And I’ll get a bottle of wine from my cellar.”


“Oh, la, la. Well, then.” Rain walked away, but then stopped in the hallway and turned around. He did a few smooth dance steps, his socks sliding on the hardwood floor, and tipped an invisible hat to Tristan.


Delighted with Rain’s carefree ways, Tristan burst out laughing.


Chapter 26