Page 33 of Ethan

ButGod, Ethan wanted it for Hank almost as bad as Hank probably wanted it for himself—and Hank wanted it really fucking bad.

Ethan wanted them both on the roster, starting next fall. He wanted to play an NHL season, and he wanted to do it with Hank right next to him. As his friend, absolutely. On the ice as an invaluable teammate that Ethan could depend on. But in his bed, too.

Wally just rolled his eyes and headed off to the showers.

Ethan opened his phone. Nothing from Hank yet today. But they were on an off day back in Syracuse, and it was totally possible that Hank was taking the chance to catch up on some much-needed sleep.

There wasn’t anything from Hank, but the bro-chat had a few notifications.

happy v-day,Avery had sent earlier.make sure you text mom.

why?????Charlie had responded.

Avery had only sent back the shrugging emoji.

anyone doing anything fun tonight,Ethan texted.

playing a game in montreal,Avery responded only a minute later.

Charlie chimed in next.max and I are having a horror movie marathon.

Ethan really wanted to tell his brother that he was 1) not subtle and 2) maybe even more pathetic than he was, because at least he wasdoingsomething about the way he felt. Sure, he hadn’t done alot, but he was giving Hank a chance to adjust to the idea, and on top of that, they weren’t even in the same state. In the same freakingtime zone.

Charlie and Max were literally in the same fucking building, only five floors apart, and spent most of their evenings together. Even if they were spending Valentine’s Day watching horror movies, they were still spending Valentine’s Day together, cuddled up on the same couch, thigh to thigh probably, sharing the same bowl of popcorn.

Maybe Ethan was a little delusional, but Charlie was cornering the fucking market.

Ethan switched out of the bro-chat and back to his convo with Hank. After a second, he typed out,facetime tonight?But before he could send it, he chickened out.

As much as he wanted to, the risk was there that Hank would just shut him right down, and that would suck so bad.

Maybe Wally was right, and hewaspathetic.

Maybe even Charlie wasn’t that far off, either. Possibly, itwasbetter to enjoy what you had instead of reaching for something that you might never get.

Ethan locked his phone and headed towards the showers himself.

Three hours later, Ethan was lounging in bed, trying not to either sulk or freak out that he’d not heard from Hank today. There had to be a reasonable explanation that wasn’t that he was suddenly, unexpectedly, out with someone for Valentine’s Day.

They’d never talked about it, but Ethan thought there’d have been more gaps if Hank had been interested in someone and not told him. Way less intrigued, flirty texting for sure, because Hank didn’t strike Ethan as the kind of guy who’d keep a bunch of options hanging around for when something actually materialized.

Sure he was a hockey player, and agood-lookinghockey player, and it wasn’t hard to find a hookup if you wanted one, in that situation, but Hank hadneverseemed like thenotches-on-the-headboardtype.

Thus, there had to be another explanation.

Ethan had put Avery’s game on his laptop and was vaguely following along as the Mavericks went up 2–0 to the Habs.

He pulled up the bro-chat and sent a text.looking solid bro. I think this new guy they’ve got you paired with is gonna be good.

Avery had spent the whole fall and winter whining about the ever-rotating group of d-men they kept slotting in next to him. Nobody seemed to be able to keep up with him, and nobody ever seemed to stick. Everyone on the Mavericks—and a lot of other teams, too—seemed to understand that Avery could be an elite defenseman, but it was like they couldn’t find the magical formula to get him there.

Charlie chimed in a minute later.uh,he said, and Ethan, who’d been haunting his thread with Hank, hoping for something even though it was late there, looked up at his screen and winced.

The Mavericks had just given up a goal on a mistake of Avery’s partner. A bad giveaway that any rookie would’ve known better not to commit.

“Shit,” Ethan mumbled.

He almost texted Charlie specifically to tell him not to say anything else. That Avery was frustrated enough. That he should go back to his horror movie marathon with Max—though the Mavs–Habs game was beginning to look a little nightmare-ish. But Charlie knew that better than anyone, because he went quiet too.