Love in the Clouds

by Sarah Hadley Brook

  To Rafael, it looked really short, but he’d only been on a couple of flights in his life and they were on jets, so what did he know? Rows of long metal buildings stood at the far end of the airport, and even with his limited knowledge of aviation, he was sure those were the hangars.

  They passed rows of small, parked planes as Dustin gestured for him to turn into a road leading past even more planes—a few of them looked like more expensive personal planes that a company might own—and then Dustin directed him to turn into one of the rows, driving nearly the full distance before his friend had him stop.

  “This is my hangar—at least for a couple of months. Once my plane is running, it’ll be parked out with the others.”

  “I had no idea there were that many planes here,” Rafael admitted, thumbing back from where they’d just come from.

  Dustin chuckled. “More pilots in Rain Valley than you knew, huh?”

  “Definitely.”

  “One of the larger hangars we passed houses RV Aviation. They’ll be checking out the plane for me and helping with some of my maintenance needs. Mac Warner, the guy who runs it, told me to let him know whenever I have a question. After I’ve done some of my own repairs, he’ll take over and finish it up. Then it has to pass inspection, which they also handle.”

  “So you’re not going into this blind, huh?” He’d worried Dustin might be biting off more than he could chew, but hadn’t wanted to say anything. But then again, his best friend never failed at anything he put his mind to. He was kind of brilliant like that.

  “Of course not! I have a plan.”

  After they parked and unloaded the huge toolbox, Dustin opened the hangar’s garage-style door while Rafael rolled it inside, the sound of the wheels on the concrete floor echoing in the empty space.

  Once they’d place it against the back wall, they started unloading all the new purchases. Dustin organized and got things ready, and Rafael couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face. Dustin started dancing while he worked, mouthing the words to a song only he could hear in his mind. His hips moved from side to side, the jeans stretching across his muscular ass and thighs. When Dustin turned to the side, Rafael’s gaze traveled to his friend’s flat belly, wishing that damn T-shirt would ride up. He licked his lips and took a deep breath, trying to look away. This was not the way to get past his feelings.

  He shook his head, trying to erase the emotions coursing through him—not just lust, but love. But loving Dustin and knowing the man didn’t return his feelings sometimes proved to be too much. Despair welled up inside, and he blinked back the tears he was usually able to hold back.

  “You okay?”

  Dustin’s voice jolted Rafael from his mini-breakdown, and his eyes flew open. He cleared his throat and tried to fight the heat climbing his neck. “Yeah. Um, tired I guess.”

  His friend grasped his shoulder. “Well, wake up! While you were daydreaming, I received a text that my plane just pulled through the gate!”

  “If it doesn’t run, how’s it being delivered?”

  “It’s being towed directly to this hangar. God, I can’t wait to get my hands on her. She’s beautiful, Raf. And just think—in July we’ll be flying to Oshkosh! A week of just you and me and my plane. I’m going to get us registered today or tomorrow.”

  The sound of a large truck grew near and they stepped outside to see the tow-truck turning down their aisle.

  Dustin threw his fist in the air. “Fuck, yes!”

  Rafael grinned, more excited to watch Dustin than the plane, to be perfectly honest. Soon, the tow truck maneuvered the aircraft into the hangar.

  The small plane was white with thin burgundy and blue stripes along the sides and a white tail with blue edging. A big white letter N followed by a series of numbers stood out against the burgundy on the tail, and Rafael wondered what those were for. Possibly like a license? He would have to ask Dustin.

  The wings spanned out from the top of the plane. Like a normal car, the aircraft had two windows on each side, and a front and back windshield. But this was definitely not a car.

  Once the tow truck driver unhooked the plane, Dustin talked with him for a moment, then the guy left. Dustin walked around the plane, running his hand over it, his face a mixture of reverence and disbelief. Rafael stayed quiet, letting him drink in the moment. Dustin finally stopped in front of Rafael, his lashes wet with unshed tears.

  “Can you believe this?” Dustin’s normally self-assured voice had dropped to a shaky whisper, as if speaking too loudly could burst the bubble.

  Rafael nodded. “I know. It’s crazy. I’m so proud of you, Dusty.” He opened his arms and his friend walked into them, clutching Rafael’s waist. They held tight for a moment until Dustin sniffled and pulled back.

  “Sorry. Feeling a little overwhelmed. My dad would have been so excited. We talked about this so much, I kinda feel like he’s here right now.” He laughed and wiped away the tears with his thumb.

  “That makes sense, actually. From everything you’ve told me, he wanted this dream as much as you did.”

  Dustin gave him a hesitant smile. “He certainly did.”

  Dustin spent the next hour showing Rafael the parts of the plane, pointing out what needed to be worked on, and explaining the many items on the instrument panel. Rafael’s mind kind of went numb—he’d had no idea how much there was to flying.

  Considering the plane was from 1976, the interior was nice. The two front seats and back bench seat were covered in a tan leather and the floor had a tan carpeting that appeared fairly new.

  As they inspected the tail, Dustin pointed out several rivets missing along the seams where the metal panels met.

  “I’ve already purchased rivets and a rivet gun. Can’t believe I left those in my workshop back home. I’ll probably get working on those immediately.”

  Rafael ran his hand across the letter N that preceded the numbers on the tail. “What are these for?”

  “The number is a registration number, with the letter in front standing for the country. ‘N’ represents the ‘US.’ ‘C’ is ‘Canada.’ ‘F’ for ‘France.’ Some countries have two letters, like the Netherlands use ‘PH.’”

  “How do you remember all that?”

  Dustin shrugged. “When I was younger, I tried to memorize them all. I kind of read anything and everything plane-related.” His cheeks pinked at the admission.

  “That’s really incredible.”

  Dustin shot him a smile. “I was shy and geeky in high school. Had to find something to keep me occupied when everyone was at the football games or prom.”

  “You were shy?” He had a hard time reconciling that with the force of nature Dustin was now. He made friends everywhere he went and would never back down from a challenge. He seemingly had no fear. But his friend had never opened up about his teen years, and Rafael’s chest tightened a little, thinking of Dustin struggling.

  “Shy. Nerdy. Gay. Basically a bully magnet. I got beat up a few times and decided it was better to stay home than venture out.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet. “Top Gun was on TV one night and I ended up watching it over and over. Ever since I’d gone flying with my uncle, I’d wanted to be a pilot, but that movie pushed me over the edge.”

  Dustin’s eyes grew bright as he talked about flying and Rafael loved watching him. He came alive when he spoke about planes. He was already a beautiful man, but this made him irresistible. Rafael wanted to wrap his arms around Dustin and pull him in for a kiss. To drink in his excitement, his vitality—feel that buzz rolling off him in waves. But he balled his hands into fists and fought the urge, knowing Dustin would most likely push him away.

  So, as usual, he settled for watching him and listening and keeping his feelings to himself. It got harder every day, though, and he worried one day it would all pour out of him. He chastised himself for letting his emotions run away again.

  “Did you know that the Cessna 172 has been built more than an
y other plane? This is a 172M, even though in 1976 they didn’t tack that on to the title, just calling it a Cessna Skyhawk. But over the years, there have been a lot of variants. I can’t remember which model it was, but one of them set a flight endurance record in 1958—stayed in the air for sixty-four days.”

  Rafael gaped. “This kind of plane? How could it do that?”

  Dustin laughed. “There were two pilots, and apparently they would fly low over a moving fuel truck and get what they needed. Cars also raced to keep up with them and hoisted up food and supplies, too.”

  “That’s crazy.”

  “I haven’t checked for a long time, but I’m pretty sure the record hasn’t been broken for a small plane like this.”

  As Dustin regaled him with more stories about his beloved Cessna, Rafael felt the pull to him again, low in his belly, but he ignored it. Next weekend he planned to get laid. He needed it. Needed to get Dustin out of his mind.

  He ignored the way his heart ached when he thought about never holding Dustin in his arms. He ignored the way his mind nagged at him when he tried to focus on the plane rather than Dustin. And he ignored the way Dustin’s eyes danced as he talked about their upcoming trip.

  God, he was in trouble. A week in a tent with the man of his dreams? It would be torture.

  Chapter 4

  Dustin

  The sound of the sander drowned out everything, which is how he missed the phone call. When Dustin finally took a break, he tried to brush off as much of the sawdust as possible, then removed his safety glasses before he checked his phone. He swore under his breath and called back, hoping he wasn’t getting dumped before they even had a date, because that was just the kind of luck he’d been having in the romance department lately.

  “Hello?”

  “Jack? It’s Dustin. Sorry I missed your call. I’m out in the workshop. I’m guessing your cousin changed his mind?” Blind dates were bad enough, but getting dumped before meeting kind of sucked ass.

  “What? No, that’s not why I was calling. Jesus—paranoid much?”

  Not usually, but lately he’d been feeling off his dating game. He kept that to himself, though. “No. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

  “Well, you better get in a better mood. I really talked you up to Conner and he’s looking forward to tonight.”

  Dustin sighed. “Sorry. I’ll be fine by tonight. Just stressed out.” Because I want to be working on my plane instead of working for a living right now. “So what’s going on?”

  “I found something in the back room from the other night. A card fell behind the buffet. Has your name on it and doesn’t look like it’s been opened.”

  “Oh, thanks. I can swing by to get it later today.”

  “No need. I was thinking I could send it with Conner, if that works?”

  “Sounds good. I’m meeting him at Fisher’s at seven P.M.”

  They chatted for a few minutes before hanging up. Dustin’s gaze fell on the desk covered with a tan tarp. He’d finished the desk earlier in the week and had wanted to get it stained before he headed to the airport, but he was itching to go. He’d spent nearly every evening out there since the day the Cessna had arrived, but he had that date today, so instead, he would head out for the afternoon.

  He texted Raf to see if he wanted to go with him. His friend been coming out most evenings and they were having a blast working on the Cessna together. Raf had jumped in without hesitation as Dustin’s co-pilot on the project and had quickly become hooked. Raf was nearly as excited about the plane as Dustin was.

  Rafael: Yeah. I get off at 1 today. Early release. Their last day of school.

  Dustin: Awesome. See you around 2?

  Rafael: I’ll run home and change. Maybe 2:30?

  Dustin: See you then. I’ll bring the root beer.

  Raf sent back a smiling emoji and Dustin laughed. Raf loved his root beer. On Monday, Dustin had taken a small fridge to the hangar so they could keep snacks and drinks on hand, and Raf always pouted when there wasn’t any root beer. It was kind of cute.

  And that messed with Dustin’s head. He wasn’t blind; Raf was hot. And there was something charming about a man who wanted to help kids. He was like a geeky, cute guy with a heart of gold. He also had no idea how sexy he was—which only made his appeal that much stronger. They were friends, though, and had never crossed that line. Unless you counted the night they’d slept in each other’s arms. But ever since that night Dustin had arrived to find Raf in a towel, odd thoughts kept popping up. What it would be like to kiss him. How Raf would look completely naked, on his knees, Dustin’s cock in his mouth. And that surprised the hell out of Dustin. Shit, he’d even dreamed about the man the night before—one of the most vivid sex dreams he’d ever had. Raf in control, taking him from behind, making Dustin beg for it.

  It was hotter than any porn he’d ever watched and he couldn’t help but wonder what Raf was like in bed. Because he could totally believe that under that “shy teacher” persona lurked a man who liked to be in control. Maybe even liked it a little rough and dirty sometimes. And, oh, what those thoughts did to Dustin. For the first time since they’d met, he looked at Raf differently.

  It wasn’t just the attraction, though. They’d always been close. Raf was the one person Dustin knew he could count on for anything. Middle of the night or noon, didn’t matter, Raf would drop anything to help him. The love Dustin felt for his best friend was genuine. Looking back, he could honestly say he’d never really cared for another friend like he did Raf and that only made him wonder more about what was going on with suddenly seeing him in a different light.

  Which is why he needed that damn date tonight. He needed to get laid. Surely that would help him get over whatever the hell this was. And by the sound of it, Conner wasn’t looking for anything serious. He was in town for a few days and would be heading back to Boston Sunday night. Jack had thought they might hit it off and had set the whole thing up. Dustin was hoping for a bit of fun—something to push away the images in his mind of Raf fucking him over his sofa. Or his bed. Or the kitchen table. Shit. He needed to stop thinking of him like that.

  Soon, he jumped into the shower and adjusted the water until he found the right temperature, letting the pulsing jet punch at his tight muscles. Once he’d bought the house, he’d switched to a showerhead with multiple-pressure levels.

  Now, images of Raf ran through his mind…naked, dripping with water, the towel falling…He closed his eyes and tried to turn off his thoughts. Funny, but his dick didn’t get the message and stayed at half-mast until he took things in hand, so to speak. Colors exploded behind his eyelids as his orgasm skittered through him, and he could focus on only the image of Raf’s brown eyes looking down at him.

  Fuck, he hoped Conner was looking to get laid, too.

  He was up on a stepstool, elbow deep in the engine, attempting to change out one of the engine-to-engine mount bolts, when Raf arrived.

  “Hey, should you be doing that alone?”

  Dustin turned to find Raf right behind him, hands on hips, frowning.

  “Um, yeah, Mr. Patino, I cleared it with the shop teacher,” he quipped and rolled his eyes.

  His friend pursed his lips and his frown deepened. “I was just thinking of safety. I don’t know much about planes.” He huffed and the hint of a smile played at his mouth. “Okay. I guess I went a little teacher-man on you.”

  “Grab a root beer from the fridge and you can help me with the sealant I need to redo on the front windshield.”

  Raf grinned. “Thanks for picking up the root bear. You want one?”

  “No, thanks.” Dustin gestured to the can of Pepsi he had on the toolbox.

  “So is the windshield cracked somewhere? Is that what the sealant is for?”

  Dustin shook his head. “No. See that felt strip?” He pointed to the chair near the toolbox. “I need to replace the old one around the edge and we install that with a sealant. Check out the page I have marked on
that manual next to my drink. And can you turn the music back on?”

  Raf hit the I Heart Radio app and brought up Dustin’s favorite playlist. Shawn Mendes’ “In My Blood” filled the hangar and Raf began reviewing the manual.

  “This looks really old.”

  “It is. 1976, remember?”

  “What did Mac from RV Aviation say? Didn’t he check it yesterday?”

  “He’s working up a report for me—and estimates on costs for things I can’t do myself.” He stopped fiddling with the engine and wiped his brow with his forearm. It definitely got hot in the hangar. He noticed Raf still in his teacher clothes—a light blue button-down cotton top and gray slacks. “Hey, I thought you were running home to change?”

  “Ran out of time and didn’t want to get here any later. Since it was the last day of school, a lot of the kids were hanging out saying their goodbyes for the summer. I let them sit in my room for a while.” He shook his head. “I’m excited for the summer break, but I’m going to miss them.”

  Dustin climbed off the stepstool. “What about that girl? The one you mentioned who had cracked her tablet?”

  Raf frowned. “I’m worried about her. Martha was a great help with the new tablet and the student was grateful. But she looked so sad today. And there was something in her eyes…I can’t tell if it was sadness that the school year was ending, or something else. Hell, school could be the only place where she gets a real meal, for all I know. I talked with Rita again, who’s concerned, saying the girl looked like she’d lost weight. I kind of thought the same thing. Rita planned to call the Department of Social Services before she left work, but who knows if that will pan out.”

  Although Raf couldn’t give names due to privacy concerns, Dustin sure worried about the girl, too. Raf had had a hard childhood and Dustin assumed this girl reminded him of his past. He gently squeezed Raf’s shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes. “It sounds like everyone is doing the right things. You guys are keeping an eye on her, calling the authorities…it’s really all you can do, right?”