I'd been looking forward to Caleb's story after reading about him in Depth of Field and how he had to abruptly leave Last Chance when his parents found out he was gay at the age of sixteen.

Now, years later, Caleb has returned to Last Chance after years in hopes of being able to reconnect with his old friend Shane and finding some semblance of normalcy and peace. After his parents tried to "fix" him by isolating him, he went down a dark path for years and is ashamed at how far he let himself go before he was able to pull himself together.

Ryan had a traumatic experience that permanently altered the track of his life and he had to move away from his old life and the people he knew in order to process his loss and find his new normal. That's when he comes to Last Chance out of desperation, and somehow ends up staying.

Caleb and Ryan meet one night at the town diner and immediately hit it off over having the same cars. As they speak, Caleb realizes they have quite a few similarities, and their differences only make their conversations more interesting, and he truly enjoys Ryan's company.

The two keep crossing paths over the next few days, and each interaction only leaves them wanting to know more about the other. So when Ryan runs into a little situation with his landlord and needs a new place to stay, Caleb offers to let him rent a room at his place. At first, Ryan rejects this because he was slowly having a new reaction towards Caleb than he's ever had for a man before, and it leaves him feeling scared and confused.

But as a month passes and he still isn't able to find any place, he finally takes Caleb up on his offer and moves in. As they spend time together, Ryan's feelings for Caleb only grow more confusing, and he tries to fight it, denying it and not knowing what it means. Which is when Caleb explains to him that he might be demisexual. 

Coming from the family he had and being religious and expected to live a certain way, exploring his feelings or voicing his concerns wasn't an option, so he went decades feeling like something was wrong with him or that he was broken. Being able to put a name to what he was and knowing he wasn't the only one made it easier for Ryan to connect the dots and make sense of his situation without feeling like he was broken or wrong for having these thoughts.

Caleb was really gentle and patient with Ryan, knowing how this new turn of events was too much for him to handle, but he also guided Ryan through all the confusion and questions while letting him set the pace to decide what he wanted and how far he was willing to explore this with Caleb. Slowly, with time, Ryan starts exploring his attraction towards Caleb and how it was all so new for him to be with a man, but also felt so right. And the spice!! The spice was done so well, and I loved every second of it, made even better by the fact that the two had a strong emotional connection too.

Given Ryan's past with his ex-wife and the trauma from the loss they had suffered, he was still torn up over it and blamed himself for it in a way. He had given up on finding anyone to be with before Caleb. It was hard to read about how much that loss affected him, but I also felt good when he finally got the closure he needed.

Caleb had gone through a lot and lost a lot over the years; he'd done things he was proud of and things that he was ashamed of too. A lot had happened over the years he was away from Last Chance, and he opened up about it with Ryan, telling him what he went through, his reasons, and his choices. He somehow felt at ease with him and also wanted to give Ryan an insight into who he was.

I truly loved their banter and flirting, the times when Caleb cooked for Ryan, when Ryan decorated their place for Christmas because he knew Caleb missed Christmas with his parents, and how they were so in sync about the gift they wanted to get each other for Christmas. The emotional connection between the two was really something, and you could see it in how in tune they were to each other's needs and how at ease they felt. I loved their nicknames for each other because somehow it showed how they fit. The parts when they got each other the sweet and salt fix they needed were so cute. 

I loved how their relationship slowly progressed over time as Ryan came to terms with his sexuality and gave Caleb a chance. They had some navigating to do regarding where they saw their relationship going and how it would work out. While Caleb was gay and open about it, Ryan still wasn't ready to come out while he was still figuring himself out and was also nervous about how people, including his father, would see him. It was a little hard to see how Caleb felt during times when they were out in public and had to pretend like they were just friends. Knowing Caleb and how he had spent years trying to hide who he was in the same town and then living how he had tried to hide that side of him for his parents, he just wanted to openly claim his love and also not feel so alone since he didn't have anyone else.

There was no third-act breakup, although the last 50 pages had a lot going on, and my heart ached for both of them. I liked how Ryan finally spoke to his father about the things bothering him and how things went from there.