I think I need a vacation from all this,” said Lucas. He was in the game room, alone, with his phone on the table.

Ash’s voice came over the speaker. “I'll need shock therapy by the time it's over. My dad… He’s different now. Maybe that’s not true. Maybe he’s always been this bad, and I’m just on a different side now. But I’m telling you, Lucas, I want to give up. Let Ricky take everything. Let him buy the whole county. The entire world.”

“We’ll just move off to a desert island. Preferably one with a well-stocked bar.”

“I want to see you. But…”

Lucas raised his eyebrows, even though Ash wasn’t there to see it. “But?”

“I’m exhausted. I wouldn’t be good company tonight.”

“No, I know. We need time to recharge.”

“I want to recharge with you,” said Ash.

“You could come over here,” Lucas said. “Although…I got a call from Pete. He wants to talk to me. Probably about Rex. Just to add to the stress in my life.”

“Maybe I’ll spend another night in my office.”

“God, that sounds horrible.”

“No, no…I mean, yes. I’m sure it sounds horrible. But it’s my own personal cave. It’s the only place on earth I feel like I can think,” said Ash.

“I can’t believe that you want to think right now. I want to turn my brain off.”

“I can’t believe that you want to talk to your friends. I’d rather stare at columns of numbers than confront anybody else for a while.”

Lucas had been avoiding the guys since his conversation with Rex. He could admit that to himself. It was dumb and dishonest, because he knew he had to talk to them about what was happening between him and Ash, because they were all going to freak out when they learned about it…maybe not as badly as Rex, but still. It was going to get ugly.

Yet he needed them here. He longed for the simple routine of playing games, the way they had gotten together for most of their lives, rolling dice, talking, making all of life’s problems seem small and manageable.

“I need to get everything out in the open with them,” he said.

“As long as they don’t throw any more rocks at me, I guess I’m okay with that.”

What Lucas didn’t want to say was that he was worried about this secret he was keeping from the guys. This was so like high school, afraid to tell anyone he was sleeping with Ash…and look where that had led.

No, he couldn’t go down that path again. He had to be honest with them. Hell, he couldn’t lie to them now, not after Rex found out.

I can't relax or even process everything that’s happening, with this cloud of guilt over my head. I know they will be mad at me. They might even hate me.

But friends tell friends the truth.

He realized Ash had said something.

“What was that?”

“I said, when all this is over, I’m going to take you up on that desert island idea.”

* * *

He knew he was in trouble when he answered the door. They were all there, Pete, Simon and Rex. Everyone but Karl, who was lucky to be missing all this.

“Welcome to game night,” Lucas said.

“I think we’re done playing games,” said Rex, pushing his way past. He was still angry, but Pete and Simon looked different. Startled. Shocked. Not sure of what they were getting into.

Had Rex told them?

Had he…not told them? Surely Pete would have made a joke about it by now?

No. He realized the way they were looking over at Rex, that they couldn’t figure out what was wrong, just that Rex was in a horrible mood, and Lucas was the source. They knew there had been a fight, they just didn’t know what caused it.

Pete grabbed beers out of the fridge and passed them around, with a spring water for Rex. “So what’s it going to be tonight?” Pete asked. “Trouble? Sorry?”

“What about Mystery Date?” asked Rex, which just puzzled the guys that much further.

Rex might have been pissed off, but Lucas was heart-broken, staring at his friend. Rex slid onto the couch, staring off into space.

I hurt him so bad. Dude, I didn’t mean to. You’re never going to understand, but I didn’t do any of this on purpose.

But I can’t change the way I feel.

“I don’t know what’s going on in here,” said Simon, “but Rex is acting like you kicked his puppy, Lucas. Is someone going to tell us what the problem is?”

Rex pointed at Lucas. “Why don’t you tell them? It’s a great story. It’s like the sequel to The Battle of Cray’s Quarry. Cray’s Quarry II: The Betrayal.”

Simon and Pete both looked at Lucas.

“You’ve got to promise not to get mad,” said Lucas.

“Oh, god, he did kick a puppy,” whispered Pete. “Was it a cute one? With big ears?”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Lucas. “I need you to be serious.”

“Then don’t say ridiculous things about us promising not to be mad. Just spill it.”

“Yeah, c’mon, Lucas,” said Simon. “Whatever’s going on, you need to clear the air with Rex.”

“That’s not even possible,” said Rex.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a puppy?” asked Pete.

“For crying out loud, Pete.” Lucas popped open his beer and took a long, long pull. He walked over to the pool table and stared down at the green felt.

Just say it. Just get it out in the open.

“I’m dating Ash.”

The room became extremely quiet. So quiet, he could hear the slight fizz from the beer bottles the guys were holding. So quiet, he could hear the soft rustling as they turned to look at each other, and then back at him.

“You’re…what?” said Simon.

It’s funny. The story seemed so complicated, inside his head. Full of twists and turns and complexity. But as he explained everything that had happened since they had come across the survey flags, the story itself didn’t seem to take long at all.

Maybe because the only part that mattered was…

“You’re saying you love him?” asked Pete.

Lucas bit his lip and nodded. “I think I do, yeah. No, that’s cowardly of me. I know I do.”

“But…Ash? Ash Cray?”

“There’s no use talking about it,” said Rex. “There’s nothing more to the story but that. I caught them making out on the sofa. Oh, god, on this sofa,” he said, standing quickly.

Rex’s look of disgust troubled Lucas so much. All he wanted to do was reach out to his friend, convince him that things were okay, that he didn’t have to react like this.

But there was nothing he could do. Rex was acting like the couch was infected.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come over,” Rex said to them.

“Oh, c’mon, stay,” said Pete.

“I thought I could. But you know what? While the Crays are poisoning the air, I don’t think I can be here.”

They all watched him walk out. This time, Lucas didn’t chase him. He felt too defeated.

“This is really bad timing on your part,” said Simon.

In his confusion of anger and sorrow, Lucas closed his eyes and leaned against the pool table. Maybe I can make this all go away if I close my eyes hard enough.

“I didn’t plan to fall for Ash,” he said to Simon.

“Yeah,” said Pete, “but dude, you could’ve kept it in your pants. You knew what this would do to Rex.”

Lucas shook his head. “That’s the problem. It never occurred to me he would take it so hard.”

Pete glanced at Simon, then back at Lucas. “I mean, you’ve heard of the Battle of the Quarry, right?”

“Don’t you start, Pete.”

“I’m just saying, it should have occurred to you that Rex would take it hard. And before anybody says anything, take it hard isn’t meant to be a joke. Although in any other circumstances, it would have been.”

“Of all of us,” said Simon, “Rex has been the most emotionally wounded by the battle.”

“I know, I know,” said Lucas. “I was there.”

“He hasn’t been doing well lately,” said Simon.

“He hasn’t done well since that day,” added Pete.

A sudden defensiveness gripped Lucas. “I understand all that,” he said. “I understand it better than you. Who sat with him every day in the hospital? Me. I’m the one who took Rex in when he couldn’t survive an hour without getting high or drunk. I helped him through school, and once we grew up I gave him a place to stay, a job, things to keep him occupied. Fuck, guys, I’m the one who keeps the fridge stocked with spring water for him, so he doesn’t feel left out when we’re here drinking our beer.”

Pete shook his head. “Then you should have known better. That’s all. Fucking Ash Cray?”

Lucas pointed at Simon. “Simon is engaged to Evan Cray!”

“And you’ll recall we gave him endless shit for it, but Evan never tried to kill our best friend, so it’s a little fucking different!”

Lucas blinked, his grip tightening on his beer bottle. If he hadn’t been leaning against the pool table, he would’ve stepped back. Simon had no such obstruction, and did back a pace away from Pete.

They’d never seen him this mad.

“Pete, man, if you’d just—”

“No way, Lucas. Look at you. You were going to keep this secret—from us!—so you didn’t get in trouble. We wouldn’t even be having this conversation if you hadn’t hurt Rex.”

“That’s not fair,” said Lucas. “Everybody else is finding boyfriends. Or husbands! Everyone else is finding someone. Yet I should just be alone so we can sit around and relive a fight from school?”

Pete took a breath. He shook his shoulders, loosening himself up. Lucas was glad; he hated to see Pete so angry. He missed the dumb jokes and the irreverent comments. Angry Pete was scary.

But he wasn’t finished.

“That’s a lousy excuse, Lucas. Yeah, Simon and Karl are hitched to people now. I’m not. Rex isn’t. And you know if this was anybody else we were talking about—well, except Callum Cray—it would be fine. But it’s Ash, and we know him. He’s going to hurt you, man.”

Lucas shook his head. “We'll have to agree to disagree there. He’s not like that.”

“Hey, you’re the one always insisting that people don’t change. So you have to see it’s a little weird that suddenly you’re dating a psychopath sadist.”

Simon rolled his eyes. “Pete, don’t exaggerate. I’ve got no great love for my future cousin-in-law Ash, but he’s not evil. Pushy, yes. Cold-hearted, sure. Focused solely on business, of course. Arrogant as hell… Wait, Lucas, what do you see in him?”

“Clearly something no one else can see,” he said.

“Something so great you’re willing to lose a friend over him?” asked Pete.

“I’m not the one pushing it to that level,” said Lucas. “I care about Rex. He’s like my brother. I don't want to lose him.”

Pete groaned. He set his beer down and walked to the big window. “I hate to talk like this. I hate it. But Lucas…don’t you see the position you’ve put us in? I don’t think Rex is going to ever accept this. I don’t think he can. You’re going to lose him as a friend…and that’s going to put a strain on us all.”

“I don’t think you understand what you’re asking me to choose,” Lucas said. “Because this isn’t about just me and Ash. Ash is more than just my boyfriend. He’s my ally in fighting Ricky’s takeover. I know you think I should just call it off with Ash so I can make Rex feel better, but if I do that, I don’t just lose Ash…I lose the land.”

Neither Pete nor Simon seemed moved by this line of reasoning.

“I guess you’ve got a choice to make then,” said Pete. “About what’s most important to you, the friends who have stood by you for your entire life, the friends who came to defend you when you needed it most…or your boyfriend and some farmland you can’t use anyway.”