Page 61 of Boss and Brat

Carter blinked, like he was coming back to himself. “Ethan…”

“I’m sorry,” Ethan said. “I shouldn’t have dumped all that on you. I know it’s a lot. I know it’s—”

“Ethan.” Carter’s voice cut through his panic, steady and low.

Ethan shut his mouth.

Carter looked at him fully now, eyes softer than before. “You were brave to tell me.”

Ethan stared at him, stunned. “Brave?”

“Yeah,” Carter said. “That’s not easy to say. Not to someone you’re not sure you can trust with it.”

A hard swallow caught Ethan halfway. “So… you’re not mad?”

“No,” Carter said immediately. “And what you shared? It stays between us. I promise.”

A long, deep sigh escaped Ethan, the air filling his lungs after a period of held breath he hadn’t noticed.

Carter continued, “And it doesn’t change anything between us. Not how I treat you. Not how I see you.”

Ethan nodded slowly, relief washing over him so fast it made him dizzy. Carter wasn’t pulling away. He wasn’t disgusted. He wasn’t judging.

But Carter had frozen, gone quiet, and looked stunned. Ethan couldn’t stop wondering—

Was it because Carter didn’t expect it? Or because Carter didn’t know what to do with it?Or because Carter wasn’t straight?Or because he was?Ethan wanted to ask. He wanted to know. He wanted to understand why Carter looked at him the way he sometimes did. But he couldn’t figure out a way to ask without sounding intrusive. Without sounding like he was hoping for something he shouldn’t hope for.

So he just nodded again and said, “Okay.”

Carter gave him a small, steady look—one that felt like a hand on his back, grounding him. “Good.”

Ethan tried to smile, but his mind was spinning. He’d told Carter the truth. Carter hadn’t run. But now Ethan was left with a new question burning in his chest—one he didn’t dare ask

The ride back toward the cabin started quiet.

Not uncomfortable—just… full. Like the air between them was carrying everything Ethan had just confessed and everything Carter hadn’t said in return.

Ethan kept glancing over at Carter on his own motorcycle, trying to read him. Carter looked normal. Focused on the trail. Calm. Maybe too calm.

Ethan’s mind wouldn’t stop spinning in a circle.

Was Carter okay with it? Really okay? Did he freeze because he didn’t expect it? Or because he didn’t know how to react? Or because… maybe… he wasn’t straight?

He hated that he even wondered. He hated that he cared so much. But Carter had held him. Carter had looked at him like he mattered. Carter had promised nothing would change. And yet Ethan couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed—at least inside him.

They slowed as the trail narrowed, riding side by side. Carter glanced over. “You’re quiet,” he said.

Ethan shrugged. “Just thinking.”

“Dangerous habit,” Carter said, smirking a little.

Ethan’s chest was tight. “You’re not… weirded out? About what I said?”

Carter shook his head. “I told you. It doesn’t change anything.”

Ethan nodded, but the knot in his stomach didn’t loosen. He wanted more than that. He wanted clarity. He wanted to know if Carter was straight, or bi, or something else entirely. He wanted to know if he even had a chance.

He tried to think of a way to ask without sounding like he was fishing. Every version in his head sounded like a confession.