Page 89 of Ethan

“But close enough,” she guessed.

“Um, yeah, kinda.” He flushed. “I don’t see the point of pretending that Idon’tlike him. He likes me. If he was here . . . well, you know how it would be.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I do?”

“I mean, we’d be together, and we’d probably be the ones giggling over the potatoes. Or he’d be in the living room, debating who was going to win the football game. Either way, itwouldbe straightforward. Because it is.”

“Exactly.” She chuckled again. “Don’t lose that, Eth. It’s special.”

Ethan found that difficult to believe, but then out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Charlie’s lovesick expression, and well,yeah, maybe it was.

“Okay,” he agreed.

“Are you going to tell your dad? About Hank?”

Ethan hadn’t been sure. He didn’t like keeping secrets. He hadn’t really intended to keep Hank a secret, even, but then by late November and Thanksgiving, he’d expected that Hank would be back in New York. That he’d be around to introduce to his family.

That would make it all very straightforward. Cut and dried.Simple.

“I don’t know,” Ethan admitted. “I don’t think he’d be mad.”

“Why would he? He loves you boys.”

Ethan didn’t say he had a funny way of showing it sometimes because it was a holiday and he didn’t want to have an argument. Sometimes his mom could be blind to the pressure Michael puton all of them. It wasn’t her fault, necessarily, but sometimes it did frustrate him.

Especially when Charlie got off the phone with him, and he looked pale and drawn. Or in the bro-chat when Avery asked Charlie if he’d talked to their dad lately and Charlie always clammed up. Went silent.

“I know,” Ethan said. “It’s just . . . things aren’t like officialofficialyet. Because Hank’s not here.”

“Any idea when he might come up?” she asked.

Ethan wished he had a better answer for her. For himself. ForHank, who was working his ass off to prove to Inverness that he was worthy of the Bandits’ roster.

But he had no idea.

“No,” he admitted.

“That must be tough.” His mom put her arm around him and tugged him close. “I want to meet him, when he does.”

“You’ll like him,” Ethan said, because he knew she would. Even Michael would probably like him.

“You like him, so of course I would,” she said softly. She straightened. “Come on, let’s go rescue your brother and the potatoes before Max beats them both completely into submission.”

Ethan huffed out a breath, but he got up too and followed Charlotte deeper into the kitchen.

Chapter 12

December

“I’m just saying,” Ethan said, trying not to pout a little as he moved a dish to the strainer, but making sure to shake the excess water off it first, because if he didn’t and he got the counter around the sink wet, it would set Charlie off, “itcouldhappen.”

“And cows could fly, too,” Hank muttered. “I know you want it—Iwant it, but if Inverness is gonna call me up, he’s going to do it after the break.”

“Maybe,” Ethan said dubiously. He set the second dish next to the first. There was still a third in the sink, and the pots and pans from dinner. The third dish, because, naturally, Max had joined them for dinner.

Max had practicallymadedinner, so Ethanwasgrateful for that. It was why he’d offered to do the dishes—and also because Hank had texted. And also because Charlie and Max had leaned in together on the couch, chatting in that low, earnest way of theirs, and Ethan always felt like a painfully awkward third wheel whenever they pulled that crap.

“You know that if he’s going to be bringing me up, it’s gonna be after the holidays,” Hank said. Tonight, Hank had opened their convo with the news that he’d been talking to his parents about him going up to Toronto during the holiday break.