When he sees entrepreneur Mitch O'Shea whirling around an empty building, contractor Ben Behr is enchanted. Even though his two brothers are gay, Ben always thought he was a ladies' man until he met Mitch. Despite his feelings, Ben knows San Francisco native Mitch is totally out of his league. What could Ben possibly do to get out-and-proud Mitch to notice him? Turns out Mitch is just as attracted to Ben. As they compete in car rallies, camp in the Sierra Nevada foothills, and tour the bars Mitch owns in the city, they realize how stifled they've been their entire lives. Maybe looking over the fence and jumping it to explore what's on the other side are good ideas. When these two seemingly opposites get together, will Ben and Mitch find out they have the world at their feet and might even have love in their hearts?

Waking the Behr

Mitch laughed at my question. “It’s not about being first or best, Ben. It’s about precision, remember? I pride myself on being able to decide on a goal and meet it. But this rally thing’s killing me. See those directions? What we need to do is all there. Simple. So why can’t we?”


“The directions don’t account for accidents or problems.”


“Right. So that’s where we come in. We should be able to solve the problems and work around the accidents and still adjust our schedule so we come in on time or within seconds. But so far we haven’t been able to do that. It’s just—I don’t know—frustrating.”


“So can’t we just go out there and have fun, Mitch?”


His face was all mashed up with overthinking. I was surprised. He usually took everything with a grin.


“One more shot at perfection and then we just go out for the hell of it?” he pleaded.


I shrugged. “Sure. Whatever. Rally season’s just about over anyway.”


Chapter 9