Page 82 of Ethan

He’d rather get his ass beat every single game for the rest of the season than admit he couldn’t handle it. He was a hockey player, for God’s sake. He could take a hit.

“Well, they didn’t,” Ethan retorted. “And I’m okay, really. It’s just a few bruises.”

“Where’s your ice?” Hank asked, sounding annoyingly just like Charlie.

“Ugh, really?”

“You know better than to let that shit go,” Hank soothed. “Come on. Go get some, and then we’ll chat.”

Ethan shot Hank his very best seductive look through the phone. “I can ice,after.”

Hank’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “After?”

“Well,yeah,” Ethan said, trying to sound like a hopefully irresistible combination of confidence and temptation.

But Hank didn’t look seduced; he just looked confused. “After what?”

“Oh come on, you can’t even pretend anymore that you don’t want me—”

“Of course I fucking want you,” Hank said, frowning. “Why would you even say that?”

Ethan mentally declaredfuck itand trailed a hand down his chest, detouring to tweak a nipple, and bisecting a few bruises, before settling lower, where his dick was beginning to fill out his jeans.

“What are you doing?” Hank squawked, which shouldn’t have been so damn cute butwas, anyway. “Are you trying—wait,what?”

“Are you serious?” Ethan could barely believe it. “I thought we were going to have phone sex! FaceTime sex! I know you want to, you’re all red.”

It was adorable, how Hank went even brighter red at that. “You don’t know that,” he muttered.

But Ethan did. They’d been doing this long enough he’d figured it out, without a shadow of a doubt. And then the way they’d kissed and humped to a really hot orgasm only a few weeks ago had confirmed it, unequivocally.

The only thing he wasn’t sure of was why Hank wasn’t taking full advantage of this. Maybe they couldn’t do this in person, but they could sure as hell do it over the phone.

It wasn’t even that weird; people did thisallthe time.

“I didn’t think we were pretending anymore,” Ethan said slowly. “Ilikeyou. And I know you like me.”

“Idolike you,” Hank said. He was totally flushed now, and Ethan would be lying to himself if he said that didn’t turn him on even more. His dick was hard just because he was staring at Hank’s bright pink skin.

Charlie would tell him he was pathetic, and maybe he was right, but was it pathetic if he was in the trenches right now, fighting for what he wanted so fucking bad?

Ethan waved a hand. “Then okay, get naked. Okay. Getmorenaked.”

Itwaspathetic how much Ethan loved Hank’s grumpy expression. Like a cat suddenly dunked in a full tub. “That wasn’t why I wanted to talk to you. Why Iwantto talk to you.”

“Okay. Noted,” Ethan said. “Now, get naked.”

“But . . .”

“But?”

Hank winced. “We’ve never even been on a date. I’ve never even seen you nakedin person. I don’t wanna—I mean, Ido, I very much do, but it just feels . . . shitty. Like . . . this doesn’t mean what I want it to mean.”

Ethan didn’t know whether to be pissed or touched. He took a second, letting both emotions settle into him. Because yeah, definitely a bit of both. “You want me to know that you’re serious.”

Nodding, Hank said, “Iamserious. I was going to talk to you about it, on our date—”

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it now?” Ethan teased, because that was easier to do than tearing his hair out in frustration. He wanted Hank so goddamned bad, and hecouldn’thave him—not in any of therealways he wanted to have him—but hecouldhave this. They could have this, except that in typical Hank fashion he’d decided he needed to be noble about it. See Ethan’s cock in the flesh before he ever saw it on a phone screen.