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 wasn’t gonna say that. I’m just scared. That’s all.”


“What?” Rain frowned. “You mean Milo? No, Tristan, he’s never hit me. I can understand how you could draw that conclusion from what you saw that afternoon, but Milo’s harmless, he’s just—”


“Harmless? You sure? The guy was shaking you like a you were—well, a puppet.”


“No, wait. He does have a short fuse, and he’s thrown shit around, grabbed me, or locked me up in closets, but nothing more.”


Tristan pulled away and leaning on his elbow, gave him a stern look. “Grabbed you? Locked you in closets?”


“He gets crazy, yes, but he’s never hitme.” Rain sat up. Tristan had touched a nerve. Why was he defending Milo’s behavior? “He’s in therapy. He’s doing better. He had a really bad start in life. His father killed himself when Milo was just a confused teen and it left a deep scar in his heart.”


Chapter 28