Thomas and I rented a room in a small family-run motel in the heart of the town. I had only been there a day and a half, and I was already bored out of my mind.

There was nothing to do in the area. This was one of the reasons why I didn’t regret leaving home. These small towns, with small communities where everybody knew everybody, were a sap on my energy.

There was no excitement here. The air felt still, the town gossip was stale, and the town’s inhabitants were tired zombies from having worked all day in the warm sun in their fields.

Thomas flicked on the television. Static popped off the screen as the news channel faded into view.

“What do you want to do?” he asked me. “Want to grab some food? I’m feeling sushi.”

“This is rural Illinois,” I reminded. “You won’t even find a pizza joint around these parts.”

“Room service, then?”

“I doubt they’ll have anything good,” I grumbled. I took off my tie and tossed the piece of clothing onto the questionable bedspread of the rented double bed.

I sat down on the edge of the mattress and lay on my back. I let out a relieved sigh as the pressure dissipated momentarily.

“How’re you feeling?” he asked me.

“Okay,” I lied. I felt like shit. All this walking around was really taking it out on me. I just wanted to be home, in my own bed, not on this lumpy mattress in a motel in the middle of nowhere with scratchy bedsheets.

“The chair’s in the trunk if you need it.”

“I know.”

A silent moment passed between us. The news anchor introduced the weatherman. Nothing but sunny skies for the next few days, with mild temperatures. At least we wouldn’t have to deal with shitty weather while we were here.

“So,” started Thomas slowly.

“What?”

“How’d you know the guy?”

I sighed, rubbing my face with the palms of my hands. The stubble on my chin felt scratchy. It was probably time for a shave soon.

“I grew up around here,” I explained.

“I gathered.”

“We were pretty much neighbors. Went to the same school. Hung out a lot as kids. I think he was my first real crush. He kicked the shit out of puberty, though. Barely recognized him.”

Thomas kicked his shoes off, letting them fall to the carpeted motel floor with a thud. “Oh?” was all he said.

I had never been particularly shy about being gay. It was just one more thing that I liked about being in the city. The city was open and liberal and full of like-minded people.

I felt like I couldn’t be myself when I was at home. It was stuffy here, suffocating. There was always talk about keeping tradition, staying the course.

I’d come out purely by accident, nonchalantly mentioning to my sister when I was eleven that I’d rather die than kiss a girl. Cooties, and whatnot. From there, my family just sort of assumed.

But then the accident happened, and there were more important things to deal with than my sexual orientation.

“I didn’t peg him for your type,” admitted Thomas. He flipped the channel and wound up on a local cartoon network. It was some wholesome family show with a talking dog wearing a magical hat. Super thrilling stuff.

“Doesn’t matter now,” I mumbled.

“I saw you making googly eyes at him.”

I snorted and rolled my eyes. “Did not.”

“He was totally checking you out.”

“You’re the worst,” I mumbled.

Thomas laughed it off. “It must be pretty shitty, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you feel a little bad? You’re effectively making a childhood friend homeless.”

I frowned and rolled onto my side. “It’s not my problem. What do you care?”

“You’re a cold bitch,” joked Thomas.

“We didn’t get in this business together because we liked to feel warm and fuzzy.”

“I know, I know.”

In our line of work, we ran into more problems than solutions. If you didn’t have a heart of stone and an iron fist, there was no way you could be successful –- no way you could make cold, hard cash.

I’d had to deal with my fair share of convincing people to move on, to give their properties over. We were always generous with our offers, and many of them settled before I ever had to begin with real negotiations. But it was cases like these, like Dan’s, where you had no choice but to flex your muscles and poke until it hurt. Sometimes it was the only way of getting what you wanted.

I told myself that it had to be done. Dan knew he was running out of time. It was written all over his face. His bright blue eyes betrayed his quiet desperation.

But I knew Dan. He had always been stubborn, too proud to admit defeat. He’d once twisted his ankle when he tripped during our elementary track and field day, but went the entire time without telling anyone because he didn’t want to seem weak in front of the girls in our class.

There hadn’t been any childhood epiphany that I liked boys. I always had, so I never questioned it. And then I thought about Dan.

I’d loved Dan’s smile, and the way he found a reason to laugh about absolutely everything. He was the class clown, the prankster. It was impossible for me to count the number of times we’d stolen Sarah’s dolls and hidden them around the barn. She’d cry and scream until we gave them back to her. We really were little shits.

I shivered. What had happened to the poor guy?

You know the hard work that goes into raising your animals, harvesting crops. It’s in your blood.

Dan hadn’t been wrong. The moment my foot contacted the dirt driveway, my mind had flooded with memories of my life on the farm. My muscles ached, not from the pain of my injury, but from the urge to help. Breakaway Ranch was a clear fixer-upper. The fence along its perimeter needed painting, it looked like the woodshed was running low, and there was an old rusty tractor parked off in the corner of the ranch that needed some work done.

But then Dan had mentioned bringing out his horse, and I froze. The idea made me sick. In all honesty, I was on the verge of collapsing then and there. I hadn’t been around horses in over a decade. I don’t think anyone I knew could blame me.

Thomas’ phone rang. He sat himself upright in bed and pulled the phone out of his pocket and answered.

“Hello? Hey, Albert.”

I glanced over. It was incredibly late, so I assumed that this call must have been important.

“Uh huh,” Thomas muttered. “That’s excellent. I’ll let Jacob know. Thanks a lot.” He hung up promptly, turning to me with a massive smile on his lips.

“Bad news?” I quipped.

“The worst news,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Dan caved. He accepted our offer.”

“I told you he would.”

“Dude, we’re about to score it so big!” I could see the excitement in Thomas’ eyes. He flopped back down onto the mattress, resting his head against the pillow. “We’ll go visit the ranch tomorrow and start planning things out.”

“Yeah,” I mumbled.

But I couldn’t shake this tiny nagging feeling from the back of my mind. I had made a serious profit from other projects much like this one. But Breakaway Ranch felt different.

Something about this just didn’t sit right with me. The pit of my stomach felt heavy. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way Dan had looked at me like an old friend.

I knew that our relationship should have nothing to do with this transaction. I was smarter than that to let an old friendship ruin this opportunity for me. But I remembered how cornered Dan had looked, how exhausted and troubled he was.

The smallest inkling of guilt crept into the dark corners of my mind. I let out a long sigh and rubbed my hands over my eyes.

“What’s wrong?” asked Thomas.

“Nothing,” I lied.

I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. I could hear sections of my spine pop and crack as I did. I grunted as I stood up, slipping my jacket on.

“Where are you going?”

“Just want to get some fresh air. This place smells too much like mothballs.”

“Do you want me to come with?” offered Thomas. “Maybe we can find something to eat.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’ll be back soon. I think there’s a gas station up the road. Maybe I’ll grab us some burritos or something.”

“Gas station burritos,” hummed Thomas. “Fine dining at its best.”

I snatched my copy of the motel key from the bedside table and slipped into my shoes. When I opened the door, I was immediately greeted by the crisp country air. It was so cold that it burned the inside of my nose and sent a shiver down my back.

It surprised me just how quiet it was. I could hear the crickets off in the bushes, singing their little songs, and when I looked up, I could see a blanket of dazzling stars.

You couldn’t see those things in the city. The lights from the towering skyscrapers and incessant traffic made it impossible to see the night sky clearly. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a refreshing change.

As I walked down the narrow sidewalk toward the end of town, thoughts of Dan drifted into my mind. I couldn’t stop thinking about the way his lips had curled up into a smile when he remembered me. His deep voice practically resonated in my chest when he spoke. His words echoed in my mind again and again.

I don’t know what to do. I built this place from the ground up.

I felt a little sorry for him.

My fingers twitched. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and stared at the screen. Maybe I could call him. Maybe if I apologized, I wouldn’t feel as bad as I did.

Surely Dan could be reasonable. We were helping him out, after all. We were the answer to all his problems.

But I clenched my jaw, thinking better of it. He’d seemed pretty pissed when we left earlier this morning, and he’d already accepted the offer. There was no logical reason for me to reach out to him.

I stuffed my phone back in my pocket and continued down the road. The gas station was the only modern-looking thing in the entire town. Its walls were lined with flashy neon lights and a massive glowing overhead sign. It clashed with the surrounding area. All of the other buildings along the road were very obviously older, made of brick and wood, with hand-made storefront signs.

I felt like the gas station. Out of place, and clearly too good for the area.