Ben jumped as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He’d been on edge for the past couple of days, ever since he’d shown the property to Carlos.

He’d been checking his phone non-stop since then, hoping that Carlos would call with the estimate. Even if it wasn’t the right number for Ben to consider selling—and he knew it probably wouldn’t be—Ben just wanted to put the idea behind him, one way or another.

He was tired of living with the far-fetched fantasy of actually moving. It either needed to become a reality or he needed to get the hell over it.

Except now Carlos actually was calling, and Ben didn’t know what to do.

It didn’t help that he was in the middle of the pasture with Eric five feet away.

“You okay, bro?” Eric asked, his brows knitting together as he watched Ben fumble to get his still-vibrating phone out of his pocket.

“Yeah, absolutely… I just, um… I need to take this call?” Ben shrugged apologetically as he started walking in the opposite direction from where Eric was standing. “I’ll be right back.”

Great.

Because that hadn’t looked suspicious at all.

And it wasn’t like Ben could lie to cover up what he was doing—or even think of a good lie fast enough in the first place, for that matter. Eric would see through it in an instant.

But whatever.

He’d have to deal with that later.

For now he was having enough trouble not hyperventilating as he swiped to answer the phone.

“Hey, Carlos,” he said, trying to sound nonchalant but also quiet enough that Eric wouldn’t overhear. “What’s up? Do you have good news for me?”

“The best kind of news,” Carlos answered. “Are you sitting down?”

Oh God.

Oh God, oh God, oh God.

Ben’s heart was already racing, but Carlos’ words had kicked it up about five notches until Ben thought it might actually burst from his chest before he even learned what the best kind of news was.

“I’m out in the pasture, actually,” Ben said, trying and failing to keep the nervous tremble out of his tone. “But go ahead and hit me with what you’ve got.”

He could hear Carlos shuffling papers on the other end of the line for what felt like an eternity, even though it was probably closer to ten seconds.

“Okay,” Carlos said, finally. “There’s good news and then there’s better news. I’ll start with the good news.”

“Perfect.” Ben was pacing back and forth already, trying not to yell into the phone for Carlos to just hurry. “Good news first.”

When Carlos told him the amount they could reasonably ask for the land and the house, Ben’s eyes felt like they were going to pop right out of his head. He suddenly wished very much that he’d taken the man up on his suggestion to sit down.

He was tempted to anyway, pasture or not.

“Are you still with me, Ben?” Carlos asked, chuckling as he could clearly hear the heavy breathing on Ben’s end of the line. “Is that a number that you can work with?”

“Um, yeah, that’s a great number,” Ben said, still unable to really wrap his mind around it. It wasn’t enough that he would be set for life or anything, especially not after splitting it with Eric—and especially not in a city like Manhattan. But it was still a lot. Enough that Ben could take his time and take his pick when it came to finding a new job.

He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to feign disappointment with the first number or what the protocol was when it came to negotiating with a realtor, but he honestly didn’t care. Carlos was a friend, and Ben knew he would be trying to get the best deal possible.

Plus, holy hell, it was more money than Ben had ever even considered.

By a lot.

“Wonderful,” Carlos said. “Now, are you ready for the great news?”

Ben couldn’t even imagine what that might be. Had Carlos picked up a lottery ticket for the two of them to split or something? It was seriously going to be hard for him to top the news he’d just given Ben.

“I’m ready,” Ben answered. “I mean… I think I’m ready. I hope I’m ready.”

The chances he might actually have a heart attack seemed more real by the second as he waited.

Luckily, he didn’t have to wait for any paper shuffling this time.

“I’ve got an offer for you, Ben. Full asking price.”

Ben blinked.

Then he blinked again.

“Wait, what?” Ben shook his head as the words finally started to sink in. “You have an offer? From… a person? An offer to buy?”

“Yes! Can you believe it?” Carlos was so excited he was almost yelling, and Ben cast a quick glance to where Eric was still standing.

But Eric was busy with work, and if he did happen to be paying attention to Ben, he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it.

“No,” Ben said, truthfully. “I really can’t believe it. How did you even manage to get an offer so soon? Like… we haven’t even listed it yet, have we? I wasn’t ready to do all of that, but—oh my God, did you say the offer was for the full price? The price you quoted me a minute ago?”

Ben’s head was spinning, and he wished he had something nearby to steady himself. He thought again that he might need to actually sit down in the pasture, but that would no doubt look really strange if Eric did happen to glance over at him.

Still… it was crazy. Nothing Carlos had said so far made any sense. If Carlos hadn’t been a friend for so long, Ben would have probably thought it was some kind of outlandish joke.

But Ben knew Carlos didn’t joke about real estate or about making a deal. And he sounded almost as incredulous as Ben felt.

“Yes, you heard right,” Carlos replied. “Full asking price. It’s a businessman, a farmer who has been looking around in the area for a while. Someone in my office referred him to me when I mentioned I was working on this estimate. He’s interested, Ben. Very interested. He hasn’t seen it yet, of course, but when I spoke with him on the phone, he seemed to think it would be the perfect location for a new farm and he wanted me to put in an offer immediately, to make this a private sale.”

It was certainly news to Ben that someone had been looking to buy land around Baxter Springs, but he hadn’t exactly done a good job of being social for the past couple of years. He’d been too busy just trying to keep things afloat at the ranch to worry about what anyone else in town might be doing.

But he didn’t have any reason to doubt what Carlos was saying. And anyway, he was too overwhelmed with all of the information he’d just been given to dwell on any particular piece of it for more than a few seconds at a time.

Ben inhaled slowly and then exhaled, doing his best to center himself enough to get through the rest of the phone call. If Carlos had any more surprises up his sleeve, Ben hoped he’d save them for a different conversation. His brain couldn’t handle anything else, and his heart sure as hell couldn’t.

“Okay,” Ben said, finally. “What do we do now? What’s the next step?”

“Well, I know you said before you weren’t in any particular rush to sell, but I think you should seriously consider this offer, Ben. They don’t come along like this every day, and it could be months—or longer—before we find someone who is looking for that much acreage in this part of the state. And then they’ll probably want to negotiate the price down from what we’re asking. This really is the kind of deal you don’t just pass up.”

Everything Carlos said rang true to Ben. He knew that it was a hard sell to unload a ranch of this size, especially for the price Carlos had mentioned. Ben certainly wouldn’t have paid that much for the land, if the situation had been reversed.

But he couldn’t just accept the offer now, not without thinking it over and talking to Eric about it. He cursed himself for not at least mentioning the possibility of selling to his brother sooner.

He really didn’t think it would happen like this, though. In fact, he didn’t really think it would happen at all.

“What sort of timeframe are we talking about here?” Ben asked. “I need to think and to discuss it with Eric, of course. Can you give me a few days, at least? Maybe a week?”

“I understand,” Carlos said. “I know it’s a lot to process, but unfortunately the buyer wants to make this happen as soon as possible. He’s already looking at other land in the area, but he wants your land.”

“If he wants my land so badly, he’ll surely wait a few days, right?” Ben was feeling the pressure from the conversation, and Carlos wasn’t helping now that he’d gone from happy and excited back to his normal business voice.

“No, Ben. He made it very clear to me that he’s going to make a move in the next couple of days. He said if I can’t get him an answer within twenty-four hours, he’ll buy from someone else. He apparently has construction contracts and deadlines to meet and I don’t even know what else, but he’s serious about this deal, Ben.”

The pressure he’d been feeling suddenly got about five times worse, and Ben put his free hand up to massage his temples as he tried to think rationally.

“I’ll have to call you back, Carlos. I need to talk to Eric like, immediately, but I’ll have an answer for you one way or another within twenty-four hours. I can promise that much right now.”

“Don’t hesitate to call me at home if it’s after hours,” Carlos said. “This deal is my number one priority.”

For once, Ben didn’t doubt for a moment that Carlos meant it when he said that.

Ben’s head was still spinning as he hung up the phone. What in the world was he going to say to Eric? How was he even going to bring it up?

He wished he just had a little more time. But that clearly wasn’t going to be the case.

Eric was just a few yards away.

Ready or not, the time had come.

“Why were you shouting?” Eric asked, as soon as Ben was back within earshot. “I heard you all the way over here.”

“You heard?” Ben felt his stomach drop.

But maybe that was a good thing? Maybe Eric had heard the important pieces and now Ben wouldn’t have to find the words to explain as much…

Maybe?

Hopefully?

“Well, I didn’t actually hear what you were saying,” Eric shrugged. “But I heard your tone. And you sounded a little bit crazy, if I’m being honest.”

Ben sighed. So they were back to square one. He should have known better than to get his hopes up. The conversation was still going to be difficult, because that’s just how the universe worked. He couldn’t expect to catch all the breaks in one day, after all.

“I had a pretty good reason to sound crazy, in my defence,” Ben said. “But yeah… I’m sure you’ll agree that it was a shouting moment. Except you’ll probably be shouting at me.”

Eric’s brow furrowed. “That’s not a great way to start a conversation, bro. There’s something I’m going to be pissed off about?”

“I don’t know,” Ben confessed. “I don’t even know how I feel about it yet, actually. But… we need to talk about it, for sure. Like… now.”

Eric gave him a hard look for a moment, then sighed. “Fine. I need to take a water break anyway. Let’s at least go sit on the tailgate while you tell me whatever it is that’s gonna ruin my good mood.”

Ben didn’t know for sure that he was going to ruin anything, but he definitely wasn’t ruling out the possibility. He was mostly worried that Eric would think he’d been trying to go behind his back with the whole thing.

Which… technically was the truth.

But Ben never expected it to go this far. It was just supposed to be a fun thing, just to satisfy his curiosity and let him live the dream a little longer.

Now he wasn’t sure if he was living the dream or if it had become a nightmare.

“Okay,” Eric said, hopping onto the back of the truck and chugging several large gulps of water. “Let’s hear it. What’s going on?”

Ben eased himself up onto the tailgate next to his brother and looked out over the pasture for a moment before he answered. It was a sobering thought that if they agreed to the deal, all of the land they’d worked their whole lives on would belong to someone else.

He still couldn’t quite wrap his head around the idea.

“So,” Ben said, finally turning his attention back to his brother. “Do you remember last week, when you were asking me if I ever thought about moving? About… just… leaving here and going somewhere else?”

“Yeah,” Eric nodded. “And I remember you shot it down before I could even get the hypothetical question out of my mouth.”

Ben stifled an eye-roll. It would definitely not be helpful to cop an attitude right now. But he did think Eric was being a little dramatic in his re-telling of the conversation. As far as he could remember, Ben had at least let Eric get the whole question out before mostly shooting it down.

“Something like that, yeah,” Ben waved his hand. The specifics of that part weren’t too important in the scheme of things. “So I started thinking about it more and more after we had that conversation, and I sort of called Carlos to get an estimate on how much we could get if we actually did sell the place.”

Ben winced as he said the last few words, knowing that was the part that was going to determine the tone for the rest of his conversation with Eric.

To his surprise, though, Eric didn’t yell. He didn’t curse. He didn’t even give Ben a dirty look.

“I’m not sure I follow,” Eric began, slowly. “You… sort of got an estimate from Carlos? Carlos Garcia, I assume? The realtor?”

Ben nodded. “Yes, that Carlos. And by ‘sort of’, I mean I did get an estimate. That was him on the phone just now getting back to me about it.”

Eric inclined his head and looked off into the distance, as if he was taking it all in. After several seconds of silence, he turned back to Ben. “And? Are you gonna tell me what he said, or are you going to keep me in the dark about that, too?”

And there it was.

But at least as far as sarcastic digs went, that had been a pretty mild one, especially coming from Eric. And, to be fair, Ben deserved at least a little bit of grief over the whole ordeal.

He just hoped that would be the end of it. They still had a lot to discuss, and they needed to come to some sort of agreement real soon.

“Listen,” Ben said, doing his best to keep his tone even and non-confrontational. He really didn’t want this to turn into an argument if he could avoid it. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about it before now. But I promise you that I didn’t think it would turn out to be anything important. I thought he’d give me some low-ball number and I’d laugh and that would be the end of it.”

“But?”

“But he didn’t give me a low number,” Ben sighed. “He gave me a really, really good number. And he also told me he already has an offer on the place.”

Eric’s eyes went wide. “What? Seriously? How much?” When Ben told him the amount, Eric jumped up from the tailgate and threw his hands into the air. “What? No. You’re kidding, right? That’s…that’s not even possible, is it?”

Ben nodded. “That’s what I thought, too. But this is really happening, and Carlos needs an answer by tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? Holy shit, are you serious?” Eric looked as faint as Ben had felt when the news hit him, which was reassuring in a way. At least he didn’t seem mad, so that was a plus. “What are we gonna do? I didn’t think we’d really be in a position to sell this place, bro. I mean… wow… I don’t even know what to say.”

“I don’t know, either,” Ben confessed. “But we need to figure it out. On one hand, it feels weird to even think about leaving, you know? After our family has been here for so long.”

“Yeah,” Eric agreed. “But on the other hand, sometimes it really sucks to think this is all we’ll ever do… and for what? It’s a thankless job. Neither one of us has kids or anyone to even pass the place on to. If the past couple of years has taught us anything, it’s that life is too short not to take some chances. And I’ve gotta say… this is a hell of a chance.”

“Does that mean… what I think it means?” Ben was almost afraid to say the words out loud. Was Eric really on-board with selling the place? Was it really going to be this easy? “Should I tell Carlos to go ahead with the deal?”

Eric didn’t answer right away, but Ben could tell from the look in his eyes what he was thinking. A broad smile crossed his face and he slowly nodded. “Yeah, bro. This is our chance. Let’s take it. Call Carlos and tell him to make it happen.”

Ben exhaled loudly, feeling like a hundred-pound weight had just been lifted from his shoulders.

It was really going to happen.

It was really going to be that easy.

It was almost too good to be true.

But Eric was right. This was their chance. If they didn’t take it, they might not get another one.

Now it was Ben’s turn to smile, because there was just one more person he had to share the news with.

It had been a long time since Ben had stepped foot inside Chase’s parents’ house. Not since the night of that party, eight years ago.

He smiled wryly at the memory as he walked up to the front door, remembering the way he had staggered home that night, his whole world turned upside down.

It felt a little bit like poetic justice now that he was back again, about to surprise the hell out of Chase.

“Hey, come in,” Chase said, opening the door and ushering Ben inside only a few seconds after he had knocked. “Are you okay? When you said it was urgent I got worried.”

“I’m good,” Ben said, leaning in for a quick kiss after checking to make sure Patricia and Neil weren’t in sight. “Really good, actually. I’m sorry I worried you.”

“No need to apologize,” Chase said, grinning. “I’m just glad everything is good.” He took Ben’s hand and led him through the foyer. “But now I’m really curious about this urgent business. Come upstairs and tell me about it.”

Ben followed Chase up to his room, that weird sense of déjà vu returning. The house hadn’t changed a bit, and Chase’s room still looked almost exactly the same as it had back then. It felt a little weird to be sitting on the edge of the bed, just like he had that night.

Except this time he felt nervous for a completely different reason. And this time, he didn’t have to feel bad about sneaking a kiss from Chase.

“Okay, so…” Ben took a deep breath. “I don’t even know where to begin, so I guess I’ll just, um, cut to the important part?”

“That sounds like a good idea to me,” Chase shrugged. “But I don’t know what the important part is yet, so I’m just guessing.”

“Right, well…” God, was he really just going to blurt it out? Yep. That was exactly what he was going to do. “I talked to a realtor—remember Carlos Garcia? Anyway, I talked to him earlier, and then I talked to Eric, and, um…I think we’re selling the ranch.”

For a moment, Chase’s face was expressionless, but then it was like a switch flipped, and his eyes bulged, his mouth fell open, and he stood up from the bed. “What? No way, babe. No—is this for real? You’re selling the ranch? And Eric is cool with that?”

Ben nodded and gave a little smile. It still felt strange to say it out loud. “Yes… yes to all of that. It’s really happening. It’ll be enough money that Eric and I can go just about anywhere and do… well, we can do whatever we want to do now. I won’t be tied down to Baxter Springs anymore.”

It took another moment for that bombshell to sink in, but then Chase’s eyes got wide all over again. “Does that mean… you could maybe… oh Jesus, Ben, I don’t even wanna get my hopes up here if this isn’t what you’re thinking, but…”

“Yes,” Ben nodded, enthusiastically. “If what you’re thinking is New York, then the answer is yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking.”

He didn’t have time to think or say anything else, because Chase had pulled him up off the bed and was doing his best to smother him with kisses while simultaneously hugging the life out of him. Ben could barely breathe, but in the best possible way.

“I can’t believe it,” Chase said, finally stepping back just enough to let Ben catch his breath. “Like… I seriously can’t believe this is happening. I’ve literally been dreaming about this, but I never thought it could actually happen. Will you come with me, then, when I leave?” Chase paused, then answered his own question. “But no, right? It can’t possibly be happening that fast… can it?”

Ben laughed. It was reassuring that both Chase and Eric so far had been just as flabbergasted as Ben was about the whole thing. None of them could seem to comprehend it all at once.

And while Ben normally might not have thought that was a good thing, it at least made it feel somehow less overwhelming to know that everyone else was just as overwhelmed.

“It’s happening fast,” Ben said. “But probably not quite that fast. Still, by the time you’re settled up there in a couple of weeks, I should be ready to follow you. You can help me find a cheap apartment and also keep me from freaking out about… everything.”

“I don’t know how much help I’ll be with that, but damn, I’m looking forward to it.” Chase crushed his mouth against Ben’s giving him a kiss that was so enthusiastic it was almost painful. “And maybe… once we’re both up there… do you think we could try this dating thing again? Except… for real?”

It was the question Ben hadn’t even dared to hope for. “You want to date me? As in—actually be my boyfriend?”

This was the kind of news that would have actually stopped Ben’s heart from beating if he’d heard it at the same time as the thing about the ranch. In fact, the thought of Chase wanting to date Ben—really wanting to date him—was still almost too far-fetched for Ben to believe.

Sure, they’d been fooling around and having fun for a couple of weeks, but that had been different.

Hadn’t it?

And Chase wasn’t even gay, was he?

There were still so many questions, and he wasn’t sure if Chase would be up to answering them, but it was worth a shot.

“That is what I want, ideally,” Chase said. “I know you had that rule about feelings and stuff, but—”

“Okay, wait,” Ben interrupted, holding a hand up. “I’m sorry, but I need to backtrack a little. This is kind of a big deal.” He paused, trying to figure out what he wanted to ask first. Might as well start with the obvious. “Does this mean you’re… gay? And does it mean you’re ready to come out? You know I don’t really do the closeted thing very well.”

“I’ve thought about that,” Chase said. “About all of that. And I don’t know if this is going to be a deal-breaker for you or not, but I’ll just be as honest as I can, okay?”

“That’s all I can ask,” Ben replied.

“I honestly don’t know if I’m gay.” Chase shrugged. “Believe me, I’ve tried to figure it out. Maybe I’m bi? I’m not even sure about that. All I know is that I’ve never wanted another man like I want you. The way you make me feel? Yeah, it’s different from anything I’ve ever felt—and that goes for men and women. I don’t know what the label for it is, or if there is a label, but I know for sure that I’m attracted to you. I want you, Ben.”

Ben felt a little bit breathless already, a little lightheaded. “No, um—no deal-breakers so far,” he said, ending with a nervous laugh.

“Well… I hope this next part isn’t one, either. About coming out… I don’t know if I can—at least not all the way?”

“O-kay,” Ben said, drawing the word out. “Can you go a little deeper with that? What does ‘not all the way out’ mean to you?”

Chase took a minute to answer, as if he might be choosing his words carefully. And Ben hoped that was the case, since it was an important topic for him. He wouldn’t pressure Chase to come out if he wasn’t ready, but Ben absolutely thought he deserved to know what Chase’s thoughts and plans on the subject were.

“It means,” Chase began, then paused again. “New York is a big place, right? So it’s not like it would really matter if anyone there knew we were dating. I think I would probably even tell Jake after a little while, once I got him warmed up to the idea, maybe.”

Ben nodded, but didn’t say anything. There were a lot of qualifiers to that explanation, and he knew Chase wasn’t finished. If Ben knew anything about the man, he was saving the unpleasant part for last.

“When it comes to the rest of my family, though…” Chase frowned. “I’m not sure. I think my parents would be okay with it eventually? Maybe? But man… they’ve been on my ass about settling down and having kids and all of that bullshit. With a woman, of course.”

“Of course,” Ben said, quietly. It already felt like he’d been punched in the gut. That last line had just poured salt in the wound.

“So, I guess the answer to your question is… I don’t know. I want to be as honest and open as possible—with you, with them, with everyone. But I’m not sure everyone is ready for that truth yet. Especially not around here.”

Ben knew he shouldn’t be taking any of it personally. He appreciated the fact that Chase wanted to be up-front and honest about what he was thinking and feeling. And he knew that everything Chase said was practical and probably for the best.

That didn’t take the sting out of the words, though.

“I understand,” Ben said, finally.

He didn’t understand all of it, but his brain could at least make sense of Chase’s reasoning. And that was… something.

“Can we talk about more exciting, happier stuff again?” Chase asked. “Like how amazing it’s gonna be having you there with me in New York. It really is the answer to my prayers, Ben. I can’t even tell you how many nights I’ve lain there in that bed thinking about that exact thing. It’s kind of crazy when you think about it.”

“Yeah,” Ben nodded and gave his best smile, even though he was a jumble of emotions on the inside. “It is kind of crazy, isn’t it?”

Crazy or not, though, the decision had been made. Everyone was on board. Everyone was on the same page.

There was still a lot left to do, but the dreams Ben and Chase apparently shared were one step closer to coming true.

It was almost as perfect as it could possibly be.

So why did Ben still feel like something was missing?