Page 43 of Ethan

“MaybeIdecided that it was time for me to have my big Avery queer-is-okay pep talk,” Avery said softly.

“Ugh, I don’t need to hear it to know it,” Ethan said.

“Don’t roll your eyes. Even if you know it, it’s still important for me to say it, and for you to hear it.”

Ethan waved at him then and then took a long sip of beer. “Well, let’s have it, then.”

Avery had the nerve to be the one doing the eye-rolling then,afterhe’d fucking told Ethanhecouldn’t.

“You could be a little more enthusiastic,” Avery grumbled.

“I’m just saying, it’s a moot point.”

“Is it?”

Ethan shifted in his chair so he could pin Avery with a hard stare. “Nothing’s happened. And if you fucking interfere—”

“Shouldn’t you be threatening Charlie with that?” Avery asked mildly. “I’m not eveninNew York. I’m not even going to be playing with you guys.”

“Oh, trust me, we’ve had that talk. Surprisingly, it’s been pretty effective, at least because there’s something Charlie wants, too.”

“Max,” Avery concluded, and Ethan nodded.

“Did Charlie also tell you to come out here and tell me that I need to always remember to put the team first?”

Avery laughed. “No.No.He didn’t—wait, I’m not even that shocked, really.”

“How could you be? You have to witness it all the time.”

It was unnecessary for Avery to guessMaxagain, because of course that was the root of Charlie’s emphaticteam-firstargument.

“At some point, we’re going to have to do something about that,” Ethan pointed out.

“No, don’t,” Avery argued instantly. “He’s going to get there, eventually. And we shouldn’t interfere.”

“Will he though?” Ethan questioned.

Avery looked about as convinced as Ethan was. Which meant,not at all.

“Well, we still shouldn’t interfere,” Avery said staunchly. “Kind of like you don’t want either of us to interfere with Hank.”

“But I’m not being catastrophically stupid about Hank.”

Avery raised an eyebrow. “No?”

“No,” Ethan said.

“Just texting him a lot,” Avery offered. “Talking to him a couple of times a week.”

On cue, in Ethan’s hoodie pocket, his phone buzzed. A text, almost certainly from Hank. His phone only did that when it was Hank—or his brothers, Livvy, or his parents. Livvy was at their parents’ house, and they’d talked to them just a few hours earlier. Avery was right here. And Charlie? Well, they’d covered just how occupied his brother was with Max.

“Yeah,” Ethan admitted.

“You guys talked about it?”

Ethan didn’t really want to talk about it with anyone, maybe not even Hank. He just wanted todoit. And if hewastalking about it, Avery was probably not very high up on the list. Charlie, either. Because Charlie would just end up lecturing him about putting the team first.

“Not really, and it’s okay. We’re friends.”