Page 8 of Ethan

“Of course,” Avery said.

“Like Avery would ever let us do anything else,” Charlie scoffed.

Livvy smacked Charlie on the shoulder. “Be good.”

“That’s just it, I’m so good, Livvy,” Charlie crowed.

“Is his head going to eventually be too big to fit through the front door?” Livvy wondered, not looking completely serious.

“Eventually?” Avery questioned and Livvy laughed as Charlie made a face.

“Actually,” Avery continued before Charlie could protest, “I think Ethan’s gonna be the best of us. The tallest, for sure.”

Livvy leaned back and looked him up and down. Ethan straightened up more, hoping that she would see how much he’d grown even in the few weeks it had been since she’d seen him last.

“I can see it.” She patted Ethan on the head. “Gonna be so good, Eth. Tall, too.”

“Now you’re just being mean,” Charlie whined, because he was always so stupid about his height.

“Sure, Showtime,” Livvy teased, referencing the fact that Charlie had ended up in Avery’s Patrick Kane jersey.

“Ugh, I hate you,” Charlie complained.

“Nah,” Livvy said sweetly. “And you love your brothers too, even when Avery tells you that Ethan’s gonna be the tallest.”

“Maybe,” Charlie said begrudgingly. Then his face softened, and he was tugging Ethan into a half hug. “Okay, maybe alittle.”

“Or a lot,” Avery pointed out.

“You guys have each other,” Livvy said, her tone going surprisingly serious. Ethan didn’t think he’d ever heard her talk so serious. “Don’t forget that, okay?”

“Never,” Avery declared firmly.

“No way,” Charlie agreed.

“And you have us!” Ethan piped in and they all laughed. But notathim.With him.

That warm feeling in Ethan’s middle grew and grew until it felt like it should explode. But it never did.

Chapter 1

One year ago

Ethan kind of hated his brother.

It wasn’t enough for Charlie to be an annoying know-it-all, but it was even worse when it was shit that Ethan actually needed to know.

“Today’s just going to be real casual,” Charlie said, as he flicked on his turn signal so they could pull into the parking lot of the New York Bandits’ practice facility, just outside the city. “Maybe some drills. Meetings. Some social media bullshit. That kind of thing. But it’s still really important to be serious about it. To take it seriously, okay?”

Like Ethan wasn’t going to take his very first day as a drafted NHL player seriously.

The thing was, Ethanlovedhis brother. When he’d been drafted to the Bandits in June, it had been one of the very best days of his life. His agent, Barty—who was also Charlie and Avery’s agent—had sat him down a month before the draft, after the combine, and had told him what he could expect. He’dbeen very honest. Maybe even brutally honest. “Not top five, but probably top ten,” Barty had told him.

The Bandits had the eighth pick, and Ethan hadn’t even had to say it out loud for Barty to know exactly what he was thinking. What he was suddenly hoping for.

“I can’t guarantee the Bandits are gonna want to draft you,” Barty had said, blunt as always. “They already have Charlie and Max Meier and Matt Daniels. And I’m not sure the brother thing is going to be something they see as an advantage.”

Later that night, Charlie had flopped down onto Ethan’s bed and they’d talked about it. “I don’t know what they’re gonna do,” Charlie had said. “But they’d be crazy not to take you. Barty’s not wrong often, but he’s wrong about this. I really hope they do. I wanna play with you.”