Rafael Patino has a great life in Rain Valley. He’s a teacher at the high school, has a great group of friends, and enjoys the occasional baseball game. Other than the sporadic call from his drunken mother, he’s pretty content. He’s also been in love with his best friend Dustin for nearly a decade. Years of keeping those feelings under control are put to the test when they begin a summer project together. Dustin Vance builds furniture for a living, has just earned his pilot’s license, and has an amazing best friend. When he buys a 1976 Cessna Skyhawk, he asks Rafael to help restore it, then travel with him to Wisconsin for the largest aviation convention in the world. As they spend their days working on the plane, they begin to spend their nights together. Will they find love in the clouds, or will they stall out before they even take off?

Love in the Clouds

He pulled off his dirty T-shirt and tossed it into the laundry before taking a shower. He’d been looking forward to spending the day with Dustin, but after his verbal eruption in the truck, he’d been having second thoughts. Dustin had seemed horrified at the idea of doing anything sexual with him. He’d always known the man wasn’t interested in him in that way, but Dustin’s reaction had been like a cold slap to his ego.


The shower felt good, the water hitting his body in all the right places. He braced his hands on the tile wall and let the water cascade down his back. The morning’s events played through his head. God, he’d practically admitted his feelings to Dustin right there in the truck. His only excuse was that he’d been high on hope when he’d awoken to find Dustin’s head on his chest. Fuck, that had felt good. More than good. It had felt right. Like that’s how he should be waking up every morning.


Chapter 10