Keeping Casey (Keeping Him #1) - Amy Aislin Page 0,21
his cheeks. Every laugh that wormed itself into Ethan’s belly.
He’d always been aware of Casey in a way that he’d never been aware of anyone else. But the way Casey had completely melted against him earlier, when Ethan had caressed his back after Theo’s announcement that Britton was eyeing them, heightened all of Ethan’s senses.
His gaze had continuously strayed to Casey throughout lunch and he was no doubt being obvious about it. Casey, however, seemed completely unaffected.
“Why the Trailblazers?” Casey asked, apropos of nothing.
“Huh?”
“Why is an NHL team mentoring a bunch of college freshmen? The pros are pretty far removed from college, right? Plus, not all of them will have attended college. Wouldn’t it have made more sense for senior members of the team to mentor the freshmen?”
“I asked Harkrader that question, actually,” Ethan admitted. “He just shrugged and said that was Britton for you. Very go-big-or-go-home.”
Cocking his head, Casey said, “What does that even mean?”
“Probably that seniors as mentors isn’t good enough. I don’t know. I didn’t have time to ask him to clarify before the movie started.”
Ethan felt like a moron for not having seen through Britton’s good-ol’-boy facade right from the get-go, but he wasn’t going to let it bother him too much. He’d been duped by Coach Fallon once too, in the juniors. Either he was an exceptionally bad judge of character or he preferred to see the good in people.
He very much hoped it was the latter.
Casey’s brow scrunched. “You went to the movies without me?”
“It was that new horror flick. Bunch of us went to see it in Montpelier yesterday evening.”
“Oh.” Brow smoothing out, Casey cocked his head. “Can I watch it?”
“No,” Ethan said with a laugh. “It’ll be like The Grudge all over again; you’ll spend an entire month sleeping in my bed.”
In hindsight, he should’ve invited Casey.
Chuckling, Casey’s leg bounced again and he leaned his elbows on the table. “Do you think his husband will be with him?”
Him being Roman Kinsey. Ethan was well-versed in Casey’s sometimes quick switches in conversation topics. “He didn’t mention it. Although, I don’t know why he would.”
“Mention it or bring him?”
“Both.” Trapping the foot of Casey’s bouncing leg between both of his, Ethan scowled at him. “Stop that.”
“His husband went here, you know,” Casey said. “To GH. He’s best friends with Mitch Greyson.”
Mitch Greyson from Toronto’s NHL team? Cool. “Did you google Roman Kinsey and his husband?”
“Right after you told me who you were matched with. Didn’t you?”
“I googled Kinsey. I didn’t get paired with his husband. Do you have, like, a celebrity crush on his husband or something?”
A pause, then, “No.”
Ethan let the silence drag out.
“It’s not like he’s a real celebrity anyway, as the husband of an NHL player. Both him and Kinsey prefer to stay out of the spotlight.” Casey’s gaze drifted past Ethan’s shoulder and his eyes went huge. He started patting Ethan’s hand. Incessantly. “They’re here,” he whisper-shouted. “Holy shit, they’re really here.”
Ethan rolled his eyes and stilled Casey’s hand. “I thought you were going to be cool.”
“Cool and I have temporarily parted ways.”
“No shit.”
Lips flattening, Casey stared at him. “Tomorrow, when I replay this conversation, I’m going to be insulted.”
Ethan snorted a laugh. Standing, he turned to give Roman Kinsey and his husband a wave to identify himself, then rounded the waist-high iron fence that bordered the Eatery’s patio and made his way over to them.
“Mr. Kinsey? I’m Ethan Rain.” He held out a hand, determined not to part ways with his own coolness even though his armpits were sweating. He was meeting a real-life NHL player!
Kinsey extended a tattooed right arm and gave Ethan’s hand a firm shake. “Roman’s fine. Good to meet you, Ethan.” He placed his other hand against the lower back of the man next to him. “This is my husband, Cody.”
“Hey!” Compared to his husband, Cody was sunshine and light as he gave Ethan a brilliant smile and a wave.
And okay, Ethan could see why Casey had a crush on him. But if Cody was the type of guy Casey was interested in, Ethan didn’t stand a chance.
Where Roman and Ethan were both six feet of broad shoulders and toned physiques, Cody was slightly shorter and lithe, with slight muscle definition in his arms. Dirty blond hair to Roman’s shaved head, glasses-covered pale blue eyes to Roman’s greenish, and skin tone several shades paler than Roman’s summer-tanned gold.
Basically, Ethan’s opposite.
Only the fact that he’d seen Casey flirt with men—and women—of all shapes and sizes kept