Chase had only pulled up to Ben’s ranch with one thing in mind—to clear the air and hope they could still be friends.

But once he started talking, once the weight started to lift from his shoulders, he realized that what he wanted was to be more than just friends. Especially once he saw that Ben wanted more, too.

How could they make that happen, though? Dating wasn’t exactly practical, given the soon-to-be long-distance situation. And he knew neither of them wanted to do anything that might jeopardize their friendship.

Chase really wanted an opportunity to kiss Ben again, though. He wanted it to be something they could talk about and laugh about and have fun with—not something they had to run and hide from.

An idea was forming in Chase’s head, though. An idea that—if Ben was on board with it—might just be the best possible solution.

“So, you’re right,” Chase said, smiling as the idea started to take shape. “I am leaving in a few days. But it seems like a shame to waste the time I’ve got left, you know? It is almost two whole weeks away.”

“It would be a shame,” Ben agreed, his brows knitting together. “But… I’m not sure I follow.”

Chase took a step closer. He knew they were too far away for Eric to hear, but he didn’t want to take any chances. What he was about to ask could really go either way, but the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was really the perfect plan.

“Maybe it’s too late to go back and change what happened eight years ago, or even last night. But we still have all this time.” Chase quirked an eyebrow and dropped his voice. “What if we went on a date? Just to see what might happen—or what might have happened.”

“What?” Ben cast a quick glance back over his shoulder. “Like… an actual date? You and me?”

“Yep. Me and you. An actual date.” Chase couldn’t stop grinning. “Just think about it—it’s perfect, really. How often do you get a chance to go back and make a different choice? This is that chance, Ben.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed and for a split-second, Chase thought he might say no—or maybe just laugh it off as a ridiculous suggestion.

And maybe it was sort of ridiculous, but it really could be the best way to spend a couple of weeks.

“That’s really something you’d want to do?” Ben asked, looking and sounding cautiously optimistic. “You’re saying you really wanna go on a real date? With me?”

Chase knew he was basically agreeing at this point, but he wanted to make sure Ben was fully on board before he got too excited.

“I really do,” Chase repeated. “Just think of it this way—we’re already friends, right? Really good friends. Best friends… right?”

Ben nodded immediately. “Right. Of course.”

“This will be like the best of both worlds.” Chase started talking faster, getting more into the idea with each word. “It’ll be better than just friends—even better than friends with benefits—because you mean more to me than that. But it won’t come with all the baggage and regular dating shit, because there’s a hard time limit on the whole thing. It can’t be anything more, so we don’t have to worry about it turning into something like that.”

If there was a downside, Chase wasn’t seeing it. And sure, there was a small chance that it might not work out, but he and Ben were grown men and great friends. Chase had no doubt that if any issues came up, the two of them would be able to sort things out.

“It sounds almost too good to be true when you say it like that,” Ben said. “But… okay. If you want to give this a shot, I’m on board. I mean… what’s the worst that can happen, right? There is one rule I’m going to insist on, though.”

“Sure,” Chase grinned. He was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. This was really going to happen. “Anything. Just tell me what you want and I’ll make it happen.”

“I just want to make sure we’re both clear on this,” Ben said. “If we go on a date—and especially if we go on more than one date—I think we have to remember that we’re not dating. At the end of this, we still have to be friends. I want to go along with this crazy idea because I do think we’ll have fun, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about how things might have turned out, but… I don’t want to do any of it if there’s a chance I might lose your friendship.”

Chase took another step closer, closing the distance between them. He put his hands on Ben’s shoulders and looked directly into his eyes. It was reassuring to know that Ben valued their friendship above anything else that might happen between them, even after all of these years apart.

And it only confirmed in Chase’s mind that they were onto something good, because he felt the exact same way.

“Absolutely,” Chase nodded. “The last thing I would want to do is fuck things up with our friendship. But I don’t think that will happen. I know it won’t happen, because we won’t let it. There’s no pressure here, Ben. We’re just two guys having fun, living in the moment and not worrying about tomorrow. That’s how I always try to live my life, and I promise you it can be amazing if you give it a chance.”

“Okay,” Ben said, finally smiling as widely as Chase had ever seen. “Okay. I’m with you on this. Let’s do it.”

“Seriously?” Chase asked, not because he doubted Ben’s words, but because he just wanted to hear it again.

“Seriously,” Ben confirmed. “I’m all in. And I think you’re right. I think it could be really fun. So… what now?”

“How about dinner tomorrow night? Maybe a movie, too?” Chase moved his hands down Ben’s arms, trying not to let himself get too distracted by the tight muscles he felt there. Things he would never even notice on another guy were suddenly sexy as hell when it came to Ben. “We could drive over to Joplin, make a night of it if you want.”

“Like a real date,” Ben said, chuckling.

“Yeah, that’s the idea.”

“Okay. That sounds good.” Ben nibbled at his lip and Chase caught Ben’s eyes darting down to Chase’s mouth before snapping back up to meet his gaze. “That sounds really good, actually.”

“Perfect.” Chase leaned in, until their faces were just a couple of inches apart. “Then that only leaves one more thing I’ve been wanting to do again since last night.”

“Oh yeah?” Ben’s voice had gone low and breathless, and his lips parted slightly as Chase moved closer and closer.

Chase slowly brushed his lips across Ben’s, smiling as he backed away just enough to say, “Yeah, this is exactly what I’ve been wanting,” before kissing Ben again.

And then it didn’t even matter that Eric was just a few yards away and was probably still watching. It didn’t matter that what they were doing wasn’t conventional or something that best friends would normally do.

Nobody else had to get it or understand what they were doing. As long as Ben was happy and having fun, that’s all Chase cared about. They had both gone for years without the kind of unconditional, understanding friendship that seemed to come as easy as breathing between the two of them.

Now they had two weeks to make up for lost time.

Chase didn’t want to waste a single minute of it.