Page 22 of Ethan

Danny turned to Hank. “He being cool?”

“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Don’t be afraid of Barney, even with all his points and pretty-boy looks. He takes a shit just like the rest of us.”

“Danny,” Charlie squawked. “You’re such an asshole.”

“Kinda yeah,” Hank agreed.

He hadn’t been a huge fan of whatever Charlie was gearing up for, but he didn’t deserve for Danny to embarrass him about it, either.

Danny nodded sagely. “Taking Charlie’s side. Smart move, man. I respect it.”

“What’s going on here?” Max popped up then. And that was bad enough, but then there was Ethan, too, right behind him.

Charlie flushed. “Nothing. Just Danny thinking he’s funnier than he is.”

“Oh, so he’s giving you shit, like normal,” Max said, and Charlie made a face.

Max tucked an arm around Charlie’s waist, tugging him in, and Hank noticed that he didn’t immediately push Max away, like he had Danny.

When he looked at Ethan, Hank realized with a jolt that Ethan was already looking right at him. He shot a pointed glance at Charlie and Max and then waggled his eyebrows. Hank tried, but he couldn’t help the laughter that burst out of him.

“Okay, maybe I’m funny, but Tuck here thinks the baby is the funniest,” Danny observed.

Charlie cleared his throat. Max looked confused. Danny shot him a knowing look.

Hank was suddenly, uncomfortably aware that maybe these guys had all clocked it. But clockedwhat. He wasn’t queer. He wasn’t into Ethan, not like that. He hadn’t even thought Ethan was queer either. Both his older brothers were out and proud, so it wouldn’t have made sense to hide it. Maybe only if he wasn’t ready, but everything about Ethan Barnes screamed confidence.

“It’s cute,” Ethan said, dimple emerging again as he grinned. “You wanna share an uber, Tuck?”

He did. He really did. But he shouldn’t. Not with Charlie looking on like that, not with the pressure of his own expectations weighing on him, too. His own plans. Syracuse for a few months and then the roster. And then next season? Off his entry-level contract and onto the NHL roster full-time, no moving back and forth.

“Uh,” Hank said. “I’ve got one on the way already.”

Ethan’s smile barely flickered.

“Come on,” Charlie said, “you should come with me and Max anyway.”

Ethan made an exaggerated grimace. “Ugh, not you two again.”

“What about us—” Max started to ask, always worried about how he, the captain, would come across to others. But Charlie just interrupted him.

“Ethan’s just being a sulky idiot,” Charlie inserted.

“Right,” Max said.

“It’s just the opposite way,” Hank said weakly.

Danny gave him a single nod, like he got it. Like he understood. But how could he?

Hank barely understood it himself.

Shit.Shit.Hank needed to get his head screwed on straight. There were only a few days left of development camp, and he needed to keep making a good impression on the coaching staff, and on Inverness—at least if he wanted to have a shot in hell of getting called up this year.

“Pavs, you’re at the hotel with Tuck, right?” Max spoke up, that certain tone in his voice that always appeared when he was captain-ing. “You guys can share. I’ll go with Barney and Ethan.”

It was the right call. One hundred percent the right move.