Page 116 of Ethan

What he didn’t like was getting cornered only ten minutes into the “get-together” at Max’s place by Danny.

“So, how’s it going?” Danny asked.

“Good?” Hank raised an eyebrow. Wondering if it would be too obvious if he said he had to go help Max with something—or that he needed to go find Ethan.

Danny was a cool guy but had a knowing way of looking at everyone and everything like he could see right through them, and it made Hank vaguely uncomfortable. Like he was revealing something, just by standing here.

Plus, one of his best friends was Morgan Reynolds, and that was more than a little intimidating. Barney was bad enough; the thought of Danny saying anything toMorgan freaking Reynoldsabout him made Hank nauseous.

“You don’t have to look so freaked out,” Danny said, grinning. “I’m gonna be nice, I promise. If I wasn’t, Max would give me the sad eyes, and everyone tries to avoid that.”

“For good reason.” Max’s sad eyes were lethal.

“Exactly. And you’re under his wing now, staying at his place. And . . .” Danny waggled his eyebrows and took a long drink out of his beer. “And you’ve apparently landed right in the heart of the Barneses. Not a bad spot to be in.”

“It’s not . . .” Hank clamped his lips together. Itwasexactly like that, so he couldn’t really argue it wasn’t.

“Oh, please, dude, we all know it’s like that. And we’re all cool with it, whenever you wanna go lay a big smooch on our rookie over there.” Danny smirked.

“Sure,” Hank said, because what else was he supposed to say?

“You talk to him about moving to Max’s line?”

“Only every single day,” Hank said.

“He and Max would be a solid one-two punch. Not that Max is old—”

“Max is twenty-four,” Hank inserted, a little disbelieving. He shouldn’t be surprised. This was just typical Danny bullshit; the only shocking thing was when hedidn’tpull anything out of his ass.

“Right, exactly,” Danny said. “I’ll tell you, keeping up with Barney keepsmeyoung. Or at least that’s what Morgan keeps telling me.”

And there it was. Hank mentally squirmed. “Oh. Yeah.”

“Don’t tell me you hero-worship that asshole, too,” Danny said jovially, leaning in and slinging an arm around Hank’s shoulders. Hank was at least three inches taller than Danny, so the way Danny took over space was impressive and must be something he’d practiced for awhile.

“He’s not . . .” Hank stuttered. “He’s not anasshole.”

“Let me guess, you had his jersey over your bed. I’m here to enlighten you, Tuck. That guy isn’t real special. At all. He shits the same way we all do.”

Hank didn’t know what to say. He hadn’t actually had a Reynolds jersey, but that wasn’t for a lack of asking. His dad had balked at him not celebrating “Canadian exceptionalism” so he’d ended up with a Sundin jersey, though hehadthought about how Mats Sundin was Swedish, not actually Canadian. Still, he couldn’t be mad at that, even if the Leafs hadn’t won a Cup in like a hundred years.

“And, even better,” Danny said, the edge of his voice going teasing and sly, “he fucks up relationships just as much as the rest of us. Don’t pull a Reynolds and fuck this up with the baby Barnes, okay?”

“I wasn’t going to,” Hank said. At least he was going to try really fucking hard not to. HelikedEthan so much; was afraid, now that they were finally back in the same geographical area, that he might more thanlikehim.

But it was way too soon to even think that, never mind say it.

“I just had to make sure,” Danny said.

“And you don’t fuck up relationships?” Hank asked archly, unsure where he’d gotten the courage from, but he’d taken enough of Danny’s gentle teasing for the night. If Danny could dish it out, he could take it, too.

Danny just threw his head back, cackling. “Oh, Tuck, that’s exactly the point. I don’tdorelationships, so that means I don’t have the opportunity to fuck them up.”

“Yeah, but—” Hank broke off. What Danny said made sense. It also sounded lonely, but Hank wasn’t going to saythat. He wasn’t stupid.

“But what?”

“It’s just . . . nice, you know? To know I have someone. To know I’vehadsomeone.”