by A. J. Marcus
The easy way that Chad revealed being gay made Rusty wonder if Tyler had said something to him and was trying to play matchmaker. It wasn’t a big thing or the first time Tyler had tried to hook him up with someone, but he wished Tyler had been more direct with him about Chad being gay. It might’ve saved some awkwardness.
“I’m sorry.” Rusty briefly touched Chad’s hand as they both reached for a chip. “If he was the one who bought you the balloon, you must’ve been close.”
“We were.” Chad’s voice darkened for a moment. Then he sighed. “On his deathbed, he made me promise to never lose my love of balloons and flying. A week later, after the funeral, when I took his ashes up and scattered them over Sandia Peak, it was the first time in nearly a year that I’d had the balloon up. With him fighting cancer and me wrapped up in corporate nonsense, I hadn’t had the time to fly. That flight changed me more than any other ever did. When I got down, I realized I had to get out of corporate America and immerse myself in Rising Pride.”
Rusty blinked at him. “Rising Pride?”
“That’s the name of my balloon.” Chad chuckled again, his mood seeming to lighten once he was done talking about his grandfather. “Didn’t you catch the announcers this morning calling out the names of the balloons?”
“There was a lot going on this morning.” Rusty shrugged. “With Tyler dragging me through the hordes of people, I was lucky to hear much of anything. I guess that does explain the various pride spectrums on the balloon.”
Chad nodded. “Grandpa had the balloon custom-made for me. Actually, most hot-air balloons are custom-made. That’s why there are so few alike. Sure, some of them repeat patterns, but very few of them repeat the patterns and colors.”
“I was wondering about that.” Before Rusty could say much more, his phone rang. It was Tyler’s tone. “Give me a second.” Rusty swiped to answer. “Yeah, what’s up?”
“So are you two in bed yet?” Tyler sounded a bit drunk.
“No.” Rusty rolled his eyes. He’d never moved on a guy as fast as Tyler moved on his women. It was something Tyler could never understand. “We’re sitting here having dinner.”
“Oh. Okay. Don’t wait for me tomorrow morning. Candice has a friend who’s on the Dawn Patrol, and she’s going to get me a ride with them. I’ve never done that before. Maybe you can just ride in with Chad.”
Rusty resisted a heavy sigh at Tyler’s assumption he and Chad were going to end up in bed after dinner. Not that he’d mind. Chad was very handsome, and he was enjoying their conversation, but he didn’t want to push things to that conclusion. “So I’ll find you tomorrow?”
“Yep, unless I find you first.” A feminine twitter came from the background, and Tyler whispered something in reply. “Okay, I gotta go. Candice is ready for her close-up.” Then Tyler was gone.
“Tyler will meet me at the festival tomorrow. He scored a ride on the Dawn Patrol.” Rusty slipped his phone back into his breast pocket. “So where were we?”
“We’d wandered off into balloon design.” Chad pointed at Rusty’s chest pocket. “So you’re into Star Wars?”
“What?” Rusty tried to follow the sudden change in topic, then remembered his Han-Solo-in-Carbonite smartphone cover. “Oh. Yeah. A bit. I’m not as radical as a lot of people are.”
Chad nodded. “I hear you. That’s a good thing. Science fiction shows were where my interest in flying first began. Grandpa and I used to watch every movie that came out together. I’m a bit nearsighted, so I couldn’t go into the Air Force to be a pilot, and that would’ve been the only reason I’d join the military. I could get a small plane, but balloons are cool enough. Well, that and I couldn’t afford a small plane right now.”
Their waiter returned with their food, and Rusty moved his hands from the table to give the man room to put his enchilada plate down. “Other than the landing, I think balloons are a lot more relaxing than small planes.”
Chad moved to make room for his fajitas. “Yeah. And you get used to the landings. Sometimes, though, if a balloon pilot hasn’t paid attention to the weather forecast, things can get a little hairy aloft. But on mornings like this morning, things are great.”
“Yeah, it was.” Rusty took a deep breath, savoring the smell of his food. “Almost as cool as watching the Millennium Falcon zip through an asteroid belt.”
“Exactly.” Chad flashed him a bright smile as he rolled up slices of steak, onions, and peppers into a tortilla. “I wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to go up in a fighter jet, but I doubt it would be the same as flying through space. Sometimes I think being in space must be a lot like drifting along in a balloon. Even though you’d be flying a lot faster, it would feel like you were hardly moving at all.”
“But you wouldn’t have the wind in your hair.” Rusty went for his second bite of the savory enchiladas. It was delicious, as always in that restaurant. The good food and easy conversation with Chad made him happy. Even if Tyler had set them up, it was a great date. He couldn’t wait to see what happened, and even if they didn’t end up in bed, they were still having fun, and that was the most important thing.
“The wind in your hair is why most pilots have short hair.” Chad chuckled and ran his hand over his brown hair that was just a little longer than a buzz cut.
With a soft smile, Rusty asked, “You don’t think Chewie would do well in a balloon?”
After a short thoughtful look, Chad shook his head. “It would take weeks to comb out all the tangles he’d have.”
Rusty laughed. “A tangled Wookiee wouldn’t be a happy Wookiee.”
“Exactly.” Chad joined him in the laugh.
For a moment, Rusty wondered how long it had been since he’d shared a laugh with someone other than Tyler. Then he realized it didn’t really matter. What mattered was he was enjoying his dinner with Chad, and they hadn’t even gotten around to discussing his ideas for an ad campaign. It made him feel light and happy in a way he hadn’t felt in a very long time.
“WOULD YOU like to come up for a bit?” Rusty asked, suddenly nervous as Chad pulled his truck up to Rusty’s hotel. They’d had a great dinner, and he wasn’t eager for their evening to end. “I could show you some ideas I’ve got for an ad campaign for your balloon tour business.”
Chad cocked an eyebrow at him. “You’ve got ideas for me?”
Rusty nodded. “A few. You said this morning that things are slowing down. I did a little research and came up with some ideas for you.”
“Was dinner just a way to warm me up for this?” Chad frowned slightly.
A stab of fear hit Rusty. Even if it was something he did on a regular basis with clients, that hadn’t been his intention at all, especially after they’d begun making a real connection. He was trying to find a reason to make their evening keep going for a little while. Now he’d brought up business, and it might sour things. “No. I really enjoyed our dinner. More than any dinner I’ve had in some time.”
With a soft, sexy sigh, Chad’s frown eased. “So did I.”
“Good. To be honest, I’m trying to find a way to spend more time with you. Get to know you better.” He felt good about being honest with Chad. He liked being honest with the men he was with; it made life easier.
Chad patted Rusty’s leg. The action sent waves of heat through him.
“Tell you what. We can go up, see what you’ve come up with. I know I’m out of ideas. Then we can see about finding a movie to watch. You’re in one of the nicer hotels around here. I bet they’ve got pay-per-view options.”
Rusty didn’t bother mentioning he’d caught one of the latest gay porn movies the previous night using the service. “Deal. Do I need to let you go at any particular time? We both have to be at the launch field fairly early in the morning.”
“It’s Balloon Fiesta. We all expect to stay up late and get up early. That’s what the lull in things in the afternoon is for… siestas.” He unfastened his seat belt and pulled his keys out of the ignition.
“I was kind of wondering about that.” Rusty followed Chad’s lead.
“Yeah, it really helps those of us who aren’t morning people.” Chad walked around the truck and waited at the tailgate for Rusty.
“But if you take people out for morning flights, don’t you almost have to be a morning person?” Rusty gestured for Chad to follow him toward the main door of the hotel.
“Not really. I normally crash for a few hours each afternoon after a flight, then stay up until about one watching movies.”
Rusty wanted to ask if it was more than just science fiction movies, but the door to the hotel opened, and they strolled in. He stopped talking as they walked through the lobby to the elevators. With the Balloon Fiesta going on, the place was packed. The afterglow, after-dinner crowd packed into the halls and elevator, making conversation hard until they reached Rusty’s room.
RUSTY TRIED to remember the last time he’d had so much fun with a guy. True, all they’d done was have dinner, go over his proposal, and then recline on the bed and watch a movie, but he felt like he was finding a real connection with Chad. They’d geeked out on Star Wars, then found a Star Trek movie to continue their geekfest well past midnight.
Chad shifted, and his shoulder bumped against Rusty’s when Rusty reached for the television remote after the end credits rolled.
“Ah. Man. I can’t believe I drifted off during the credits.” Chad yawned and stretched. “I guess I should probably hit the road. The alarm’s going to go off in a few hours. And we’ve got another Mass Ascension at sunrise.”
Inwardly, Rusty groaned. He didn’t want their evening to end, but Chad was right. They did have an early morning scheduled. As he switched off the TV, he turned to Chad, who looked like they probably should’ve wrapped up their evening a movie earlier. “What time do you need to be up?”
“Five.” Chad covered another yawn.
“Then stay here.” The words slipped out before Rusty could stop them, but they felt right.
Suddenly Chad seemed a little more awake. “I’m not big into one-night stands.”
Rusty shook his head. “That’s not what I’m suggesting. I’m thinking we pull back the covers, crawl under, and go to sleep. If we’re going to be up at five, we don’t really have time for anything.” He’d had a lot of one-night stands, particularly when he was traveling for work, but most of those encounters hadn’t included an enjoyable dinner before or the opportunity to be a complete geek with another guy. There was something about that simple connection with Chad that said if something developed between them, it might be more than a brief, hot encounter. He had no doubt that sex with Chad would be hot.
A soft, sleepy smile curled Chad’s full lips. “I think I can go with that. I’ve got my phone set.”
Rolling away from Chad, Rusty put his phone on the charger and set the alarm. “Mine’s set too.”
When he rolled back over, he realized he’d just suggested they sleep in their clothes. He hated trying to get comfortable in bed with anything, other than sheets and blankets covering him. But something told him if he took his clothes off, they might not get the sleep they needed. “Do you mind if I take off my shirt?”
A little spark appeared in Chad’s brilliant green eyes. “I was about to ask you the same thing. But nothing more. We need some sleep.”
“Okay.” Rusty pulled his shirt off and dropped it beside the bed.
Chad did the same, revealing a heavily muscled torso with a thick covering of brown hair. Moving his gaze slowly across Rusty’s body, Chad nodded and smiled in appreciation. “So that’s why you’re such a big Chewie fan.”
“What can I say?” Rusty shifted the covers and moved to slip under them. “Like attracts like.”
With a soft, sexy laugh, Chad slipped under the covers with him. “I haven’t said anything until now, and I’m not saying this just because we’re crawling into bed together, but you’re a really sexy man, Rusty.”
“Thanks.” Heat rose in Rusty’s face, and for a second he wished he’d already turned out the light so Chad wouldn’t see it. “I think you’re hot and hunky too.”
Chad’s touch on Rusty’s chest was soft and gentle. “I wish we had a little more time tonight.”
“Me too.” Rusty ran his hand across Chad’s arm, enjoying the hard feel of his bicep with its heavy cording. He realized how easy it would be for them to do a lot more than just fall asleep.
“We really need to go to sleep,” Chad muttered as he leaned close and kissed Rusty.
A jolt of passion shot through Rusty as their lips met. He wrapped his arms around Chad and pulled them so close their chests pressed together. His pulse raced. He wanted more, but they didn’t have time. Chad was worthy of more than just a quickie before falling asleep.
After drawing out the kiss for several minutes, Chad pulled away first. “Man, that was nice.” He brushed his hand across Rusty’s chest. “You’re very hot.” He let out a very frustrated sigh. “We need to get some sleep. I hate trying to fly on less than four hours. Too much of a chance for a mistake.”
“Okay, we don’t need you crashing the balloon or anything like that.” Rusty laid his head on Chad’s shoulder.
“Right.” Chad traced his fingers down Rusty’s back. “Can we spend the day together tomorrow? I mean, beyond time at the fiesta.”
It sounded like a perfect day. Rusty nodded. “I’d like that a lot.”
“Good.” Chad kissed him again. “Now why don’t you turn out the light so we can get to sleep. We’ll grab some horizontal time during the break tomorrow afternoon.”
“Sounds like a great plan.” Rusty turned loose of Chad long enough to fumble with the light switch and plunge the room into darkness. When he rolled back over, Chad had rolled away from him, and for a second Rusty wondered what he should do. Then he decided to wrap his arm over Chad’s side as he settled as tight against Chad as he could. The strong warmth radiating out from Chad felt wonderful. He kissed the back of Chad’s neck.
Chad chuckled and turned in Rusty’s embrace. They kissed again. It was another long, lingering kiss; then Chad rolled back over. “Good night, Rusty. Thanks for a great evening and for not being pushy right now.”
Rusty kissed his neck again and managed to ignore the way his cock throbbed in his pants. “Good night, Chad. I should be thanking you for a wonderful evening and for being straight about what you’re up for.” As the words slipped from his mouth, Rusty realized Chad’s honesty had touched him in a way he hadn’t expected. He didn’t get much truth in his life. It wasn’t normally a part of corporate life, and he found it refreshing.
Chad laced his fingers with Rusty’s. “I’ll do my best to always be up-front with you.” A heavy yawn shuddered through him, and seconds later, Rusty released one of his own.
“Thanks.” He placed another soft kiss on Chad’s neck. It was a gentle, sexy sensation.
Within minutes Chad was snoring softly. The easy sound lulled Rusty to sleep even as he tried to remember if he’d ever fallen asleep with another man in his arms. It didn’t really matter. Chad felt wonderful, and Rusty was at peace.
RUSTY HELD on to the side of the gondola as Rising Pride came down for a landing. The morning was chillier than it had been the previous day on his first flight, and he was glad he’d thought to grab a jacket before he and Chad left the hotel room in a hasty race to Chad’s hotel for him to change clothes. His day had started well enough, waking up with Chad scrambling to turn off the alarm on his phone moments before Rusty’s had gone off. It had been a long time since he’d woken up next to another man. Even rumpled with sleep, Chad was sexy. Once they were out and moving, the day had been a rush as Chad met up with the ground crew and figured out where they wanted to go, since the winds were coming in from a different direction. Then they’d joined the line of crews waiting to get into the launch field so they could get the balloon rolled out, inflated, and launched. Going up that morning, Rusty had paid attention to a lot more, since it wasn’
t all as new as it had been the first flight. He caught more of the pilots shouting good-naturedly to one another as the balloons rose up and took off across the cold morning sky.
“Hey!” Chad shouted as the basket bounced once and came to a landing. “Look over there!” He pointed to the east.
About half a mile away, a Darth Vader balloon and a Yoda balloon raced each other across the sky. Vader was slightly higher, but Yoda was ahead toward their unknown destination.
Rusty laughed. “That’s cool. Yoda’s beating Vader. I always knew the little guy could.”
“It might not end that way. There’s a good air stream heading south about the level of Vader. He’s catching up quickly,” Chad observed.
“You need to stop jawing and help us get Pride wrapped up,” Rose snapped. “We’ve got other balloons coming this way quick. They’ll appreciate it if we’re out of their way.”
Chad laughed. “Okay. Rusty, give me a hand with this. If you want to learn anything about the love of my life, now’s the time.”
“Okay.” At that moment, Rusty was willing to do almost anything Chad asked him to. The morning had been great, one of the best he’d had in a long time. He was finding that he and Chad worked well together, even with the rest of the ground crew often lending him a hand in something he wasn’t exactly sure how to do.
They’d gotten the gondola loaded on the trailer when Rusty’s phone rang with Tyler’s tone. He stepped a few paces out of the way as he answered the call. “Hey, Tyler, you finally back at the launch field?”
“Nope.” Tyler sounded a little upset. “Are you on the ground or in the air?”
“We just landed. Why? What’s up?” Rusty watched Chad and the ground crew roll up the envelope, put it in its protective bag, and carry it over to the trailer.