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then stopped. “A ranch with horses, small enough to manage with just the two of us. We work hard, but in the end it‟s all worth it, right? Gable, I want to grow old here. If I live a long life and they bury me in this soil at the end of it, I‟ll have had a great life.” Gable looked down at the straw on the floor.
    “But the one thing that‟s keeping me here is you, Gable. The fact that I can share this with you. And I know I‟m presuming a lot. This is your ranch and it will always be yours, but I hope you‟ll let me run it with you.”

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    “You do all the work.” Gable still couldn‟t look at Flynn. He wasn‟t prepared to see that look in Flynn‟s eyes. The look that told him how much Flynn loved him. He couldn‟t look up because it made him feel guilty, because he knew all too well how little he gave back to Flynn.
    “You know I don‟t mind. I know it won‟t be like this forever. One day you‟ll feel good enough to work with me again.” Gable swallowed to hold back the emotions, but Flynn was too close to him. He could smell him and feel the warmth radiating off him and then he felt Flynn‟s lips against his forehead.
    Flynn shushed him and kissed him again. “Let‟s go inside before heaven‟s floodgates open again, ‟kay?” Flynn pulled back and walked toward the barn door. “I love you, Gable. That‟s all that matters.” And with that he disappeared around the corner, taking Bridget with him and leaving Gable alone in the barn.
    Gable waited for a while and then spoke to the horses. “Did you hear that, guys? He loves me. He must be crazy, but hey, I take it as it comes.”

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    Zahra Owens

    Chapter 17

    FLYNN briskly walked back to the house with a much lighter heart. It felt good to know that Gable knew exactly where they stood. Flynn also knew that hearing himself say the words made him believe them even more. Yes, he loved Gable, with all of his heart. They‟d been through hell and back and still had a lot of healing to do, but at least Gable hadn‟t pulled away or denied any of Flynn‟s feelings, and he hadn‟t been even half as mad as Flynn had predicted he‟d be when he told him about his little horse-breeding experiment.
    Bridget darted around him, clearly picking up on his happy mood.
    It was only now he realized how withdrawn the dog had been these past weeks. “You happy, girl?” The dog jumped up at him, and he took her head between his hands and rubbed behind her ears. “Think Gable‟s happy too?” She tried to lick him. “Yeah, I think he will be happy too, from now on.”
    They made their way inside the house and Flynn decided to take a quick shower before starting dinner. When he came downstairs again, dressed in clean, warm, and above all, dry clothes, Gable was sitting at the kitchen table, fixing Bridget‟s dinner. Flynn couldn‟t stop smiling, realizing what a difference he saw in Gable. Was it the trip to see the horses or his declaration of love that had brought about this change? In any case, Flynn was glad to see Gable take the initiative to do things other than sit on his daybed and stare into nothingness.
    “You‟re going to get a five-star dinner, girl,” Flynn told Bridget, who was sitting next to Gable, tongue dangling and an expectant look directed at her master. She barely looked away from the meat Gable was carving up for her to acknowledge Flynn‟s words, but then Flynn wasn‟t looking at her either. He was looking at Gable, who was 128

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    smiling. Flynn couldn‟t resist the temptation to walk behind him and put his hand on Gable‟s shoulder.
    “I‟ll start dinner, okay?” Flynn said more than asked Gable.
    “Potatoes are peeled,” Gable stated as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
    “Thank you,” Flynn answered quietly, unable to form a more eloquent answer. He walked toward the stove, where he found the pot with the potatoes, glad Gable was too preoccupied with Bridget‟s dinner to see the mix of emotions on his face. Flynn couldn‟t think what had brought about this change in his lover, but he was happy about it. It meant Gable was finally moving forward instead of dwelling on the past, and that was surely a good thing. Maybe the overture in the barn also meant that Flynn‟s stolen touches would be returned again.
    He hated to admit it to himself, but he needed more from Gable than Gable had recently given him, and sex was only a small part of it. He didn‟t