A Prairie Dog's Love Song by Eli Easton

he could get his hands on about the history of homosexuality in the Old West. Joshua overheard him asking Sammy if he’d ever had sex on a cattle run, and what kind of gay sex exactly was practical in a bedroll, because the history books weren’t real particular on that point.
    And then there was the cluster of teenage girls who stared at him and Ben all sappy like, as if they were a passel of puppies.
    Well. Joshua reckoned it was a start. They all had a lot to get used to.
    When Ben finally ran out of people to hug, Joshua walked up behind him and stood close.
    “You okay?” Joshua asked.
    Ben turned. His eyes were shining, and he had a goofy sort of smile on his face. He sniffed and swiped at his nose. “Thank you, Joshua. This is… this is the best Christmas present that anyone could ever have given me. Just knowin’ that I can come home again when I want to, that folks don’t hate me. It means a lot.”
    “I was kind of hopin’ you’d feel that way,” Joshua said.
    They just looked at each other. Joshua was feeling a little nervous and shy, and it seemed like Ben was too. And then the band started playing “I Remember You.”
    Ben smiled so big he looked twelve years old again. “Dang, I love this song.”
    Joshua held out his hand.
    Ben glanced around nervously. “You know, one good thing about us comin’ out as a couple, at the Christmas dance —no one’s gonna be talking about the porn anymore.”
    Joshua huffed a laugh. “I reckon that’s so.”
    “You don’t have to prove anything more to me, you know,” Ben said, his face growing serious.
    But Joshua didn’t drop his hand. Sammy and Dale danced by and smiled at them. Across the platform, the twins were two-stepping with their male dates as sweetly and chastely as you please.
    And the song was , after all, Slim Whitman. Ben, being Ben, held up his chin boldly and placed his hand in Joshua’s.
    Joshua thought he’d pulled off looking brave. But it took courage, a lot of it, to pull Ben into his arms and dance a slow two-step in front of the whole town. This was a side of himself that Joshua had always hidden, and it was kinda terrified of the light of day. He wasn’t the sort to put himself out there, let folks see his heart. But this was for Ben, and as Nora had pointed out, if Ben needed him to walk through town naked, well, then Joshua would. It was as simple as that.
    And then it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Ben Rivers was in his arms, looking as handsome and real as anything and gazing up at Joshua like he hung the moon and the stars. The song was so romantic it wove a spell.
    You’re the one who made my dreams come true, a few kisses ago.
    Joshua pulled Ben close and breathed in the scent of his hair.
    “I can’t believe you did this for me,” Ben whispered.
    Joshua was silent for a bit, trying to work out the words he wanted to say. This was tough too, but he figured as long as he was leaping off cliffs tonight, he might as well get it all over with in one go.
    “If you think I’d let the best-ropin’, best-ridin’, best-lookin’ bi-curious cowboy ever to be born in Clyde’s Corner move away without a fight….”
    Ben pulled away to look at him. For once, Ben was just silent, waiting.
    “Stay with me,” Joshua said roughly. “Us marryin’ ain’t legal, but if we vow to each other, the paperwork don’t matter none. I can put you on the lease of the ranch and… well, whatever else makes sense. Only say you’ll be mine.”
    Ben looked a little shocked, and he blushed down to his coat collar. “Ain’t it kinda soon to be talkin’ like that?”
    Joshua firmed his hand on Ben’s back and nodded at the mayor as he swept by with his wife. “Nope. See, I’ve had this notion about you and me since you was seventeen. I shouldn’t have expected you to read my mind or wait till I was ready to do somethin’ about it. I am sorry for that.”
    Ben smirked. “You’re a little slow on the draw there. I was ten