my gear bag. If he didn’t know before now, he’s not as observant as I thought.”
“Maybe he was able to ignore it,” Theo suggested. “I mean, a tiny key chain isn’t exactly the same as blurting it out to his face. And anyway, he’s going to have to get over it. You’re not the only guy on the team who’s into other guys.”
“What?” Ethan paused to blink at Theo. “Who else?”
Shrugging, Theo crossed his arms. “I don’t know. I’m just saying, statistically, you can’t be the only one. In fact, I know you’re not. Because I am. Gay, I mean. As a flamingo.”
“Are there gay flamingoes?” Casey asked, making a mental note to look it up later.
Kicking a small rock away, Ethan muttered, “They look gay.”
“Jeez,” Theo said. “Stereotype much?”
Ethan stared at him until Theo burst into a laugh. Sighing, Ethan squeezed his eyes closed, digging his fingers into his eye sockets, but there was a small smile on his lips.
Casey rubbed his upper arm. Thank god Ethan had been assigned Theo as a roommate and not Britton. Or Harkrader. Although, Brant Harkrader had stepped up for Ethan in the kitchen, so maybe he wasn’t a lost cause.
“Hey, wait up.”
Well, speak of the devil.
Harkrader jogged up to them, pausing next to Ethan. “Sorry about Cole, man.”
“It’s not your concern.”
Ethan’s eyes were still closed, so he missed the hurt that swept briefly across Harkrader’s expression before he schooled it once more into one of indifference. He must’ve realized how snappish he sounded, though, because he immediately lowered his hand to grasp Harkrader’s shoulder. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that you don’t have to apologize for him.” Heaving out a breath, he turned to Casey. “What are we going to do about this situation?”
Do? Casey cocked his head. “I don’t understand the question.”
“Are we going to pretend to be together for the entire school year?”
Bad idea, his brain warned. Bad idea! Casey ignored it and shrugged. “Don’t see why not. We’d just have to keep it up in front of Britton, and seeing as we’re not often in his presence together, it shouldn’t be hard.”
Harkrader’s gaze swung from Ethan to Casey. “Wait, you’re not together?”
“No. Casey’s just my best friend.”
“Just?” Casey repeated. Unimpressed, he glared at just his best friend.
“You know what I mean.” Waving a hand, Ethan turned to Harkrader. “We’re not together. Never have been.”
“We’ve been together our entire lives,” Casey countered.
“Why are you making this difficult?” The exasperation in Ethan’s voice was full of affection, warming Casey from the inside out.
“But he’s always over,” Harkrader pointed out. “And you’re always talking about him.”
“Really?” Perking up, Casey rubbed his hands together. “What’s he say?”
Ethan waved his hands between them. “We’re getting off topic. Case, we can’t pretend to be together. People don’t actually do that in real life. This isn’t a romance novel.”
“Be cool if it was, though,” Theo muttered to no one.
“Sure, we can,” Casey insisted. “Plus, it has the added benefit of throwing your gayness in Britton’s face whenever possible.”
“That seems like a terrible idea,” Theo said.
Harkrader nodded once. “Agreed.”
Running a hand over his face, Ethan said, “Look. I want to prove to Britton that queer people can play hockey too, but I don’t need a fake boyfriend to do that. I just need to play good hockey.”
What if I was a real boyfriend instead? Nope. Not going there.
“Except having a boyfriend means Britton will never question your sexuality again.” Casey bumped their shoulders. “Do you want to go the entire school year with him trying to convince you you’re straight?”
“Your man has a point,” Harkrader said, and Casey didn’t correct him on the your man business. He liked how that sounded way too much. “Cole will do that.”
Ethan’s gaze narrowed on his teammate. “How do you know that?”
One shoulder lifted in a half shrug, tense and awkward. “He’s my stepbrother. I’m well-versed in his bullshit.” Harkrader glared over his shoulder at the House, as though he could see Cole Britton through the brick. “Although this is a new brand of shitty, even for him.”
“Man.” Theo patted Harkrader’s shoulder. “Guess that saying is true—you can’t choose your family.”
“Well, my mom chose to marry his dad, so . . . Make of that what you will.”
Ethan stared up at the stars as a gentle wind swept between their little group. “He seemed like such a good guy when I first met him.”
“Yeah,” Harkrader said with a sigh. “He’s very good at making people see