Ben stared at the stack of boxes in his living room. Moving boxes looked so out of place in this house that Ben had stopped dead in his tracks at least half a dozen times already just to crinkle his nose at how strange it was.

The ranch, the house, and everything in it had been built from the ground up and made to last. The heavy furniture had been in the same places in the same rooms for decades. And even though everything was noticeably worn and legitimately old now that Ben was an adult, it all still had an air of permanence that was in open defiance of the cardboard boxes Chase, Eric, and Ben had brought in.

“Where do you want this box, babe?” Chase asked, emerging from the dark hallway carrying a box that was stuffed with who-knows-what from one of the bedrooms.

“Babe?” Eric said the word just loudly enough for Ben to hear as he entered from the opposite direction, stopping to pluck a chocolate chip cookie from the plate Ben had laid out in the kitchen. “That’s new.”

“Shut up,” Ben hissed, shooing him away as inconspicuously as he could. It was too late, though.

Ben’s eyes darted between his brother and Chase, wishing a hole would open up in the middle of the floor and swallow him. To his shock, though, Chase spoke up to answer him.

“Yep. Babe. Your brother told you the good news, didn’t he, Eric?” Chase set the box down and walked across the room to sling an arm around Ben’s shoulders. “He and I are gonna be dating when we move to New York. So… that means you and I are basically brothers-in-law.”

Ben burst out laughing and Eric rolled his eyes. “You two are perfect for each other,” he said, turning on his heel and walking back out of the room. Not before Ben could see the hint of a smile flash across his face, though.

He might be a smartass, but Ben knew Eric was happy for him. He’d been the one to suggest Ben say something to Chase in the first place, after all.

“I’m gonna take that as a compliment,” Chase said, grinning widely as he planted a kiss on Ben’s forehead.

“He’ll be begging to come visit us in a few weeks, I’m sure,” Ben let his eyes linger on the spot where his brother had just been standing before turning and melting against Chase’s hard body for another kiss. “But anyway, he’s probably just jealous.”

“I’m so not jealous,” Eric called from the other room, sending Ben and Chase into another fit of laughter.

Ben almost shot off another sarcastic reply, but stopped himself. He didn’t want to snipe back and forth with Eric when he could put his mouth to much better use with Chase.

Chase apparently felt the same way, because he’d stopped laughing entirely and had started trailing kisses down Ben’s cheek and along his jawline.

Ben couldn’t help but let out a soft whimper when Chase made it to the base of his throat, to that spot that made Ben’s heart beat faster and his cock throb insistently every single time.

He put a hand on Chase’s chest and backed away with a grin. “Do you really wanna start something we can’t finish right now?”

Chase gave a half shrug before dipping down to steal one more kiss. He met Ben’s gaze again and jerked his head back toward the bedroom. “Who says we can’t finish,” he asked, his voice low and thick with desire.

“Oh my God, don’t tempt me,” Ben said, his eyes darting back toward the bedroom with a furtive glance. “But we’ve still got a lot of packing to do, and I’m sorry, but I’m gonna take advantage of the extra pair of hands while you’re still here.”

Chase waggled an eyebrow and reached around to grab Ben’s ass, one cheek in each hand, then whispered, “You can take advantage of these hands anytime.”

It was Ben’s turn to roll his eyes, but there was no denying that his body was already starting to respond to Chase’s touch—corny pick-up lines notwithstanding.

If they were really going to get anything else done at all, Ben was going to have to steer the conversation toward something less exciting.

“You surprised me with how easily you threw the ‘B’ word out there with Eric,” Ben said, speaking the first thought that had come to mind. “And I think you shocked the hell out of him.”

Chase laughed. “I’ll admit it was mostly for shock value, but I figured you’d already told him, anyway.”

“More or less,” Ben nodded. “But it was still pretty funny to see the look on his face.”

And even though Ben didn’t say it out loud, it gave him a tiny sliver of hope that Chase was becoming a little more comfortable in his own skin.

Coming out to Eric wasn’t exactly a risky move, though. Ben had pretty much desensitized him to conversations about feelings and dating guys. If anything, he’d just been surprised that Chase had admitted it out loud—just like it had surprised Ben.

Still, it had been a good and important first step, and Ben wanted Chase to know that he supported his decision to tell—or not to tell—whomever he wanted.

“Anyway,” Ben continued, “I thought it was sweet, but I don’t want you to feel obligated to say anything to anyone, okay? There’s no more rulebook when it comes to our relationship.”

“That’s good to know,” Chase said, “And I haven’t really changed my mind about telling anyone else. It was just one of those things where it felt like the right time and place, you know?”

Ben nodded. He understood.

And while a tiny part of him might have wished for something more, he was happy enough just to be able to have an honest conversation about coming out without either of them getting upset.

“So,” Chase said, finally shoving his hands into his pockets in what Ben figured was a last-ditch effort to keep them to himself. “What’s next? Daylight is burning and like you said, you might as well put me to work while I’m here.”

“You read my mind,” Ben said. “Follow me. There’s plenty left to do.”

Ben gave one more look at the growing stack of out-of-place boxes in the living room and shook his head. This was not the time to think about that, or to get sentimental about packing things away.

This move was for the best—for everyone involved—and it was easy enough to remind himself of that when Chase and Eric were around.

He dreaded the evening, though, when they would both be gone and he would be alone in the house again.

Alone with boxes and memories.

Alone with his feelings and the disappointed ghosts of his relatives.