Chapter Eleven

Justin

BEFORE JUSTIN KNEW it, summer was almost upon them, and they'd practically wrapped up their sophomore year.

"What are we doing about summer?" Justin asked as he flopped down on Ethan's couch.

"I'm going home. Dad already told you he expected you there," Ethan said as Justin smirked knowingly.

"I have to be back early for training and spend some time at home with my parents," Justin said.

"Yeah, but you have a month and a half to burn before all that."

"Where would I sleep?"

"In my room. I mean, they totally know. They know the deal, and we can move another bed into my room. No more guest room for you. Not for that long anyway."

"That would be weird," Justin said with a sigh.

"It's no different than what we do here, except Mom will cook for us all summer. And Dad will want to drag you to practice with him if the schedules work out right. What will you tell your parents?"

"That I'm going to stay with you and help your dad out with his team for the summer." Justin shrugged. "It's not a lie."

"Nope," Ethan agreed.

"That's what we're doing, then."

*

"BOYS." BETHANY HUGGED them both and kissed their cheeks as John entered the kitchen and gave his round of hugs and hearty backslaps.

"I'm glad you decided to come. Ethan was worried you wouldn't," he said, and Justin agreed because there was no place he'd rather be—wherever Ethan was.

"You need help with summer practice, right?" Justin asked, and John nodded.

"He just can't get hurt," Ethan reminded them both.

"No, no, I know." John grabbed Ethan's bag. "Come on. I got it set up like you asked."

"Thanks, Dad." Ethan gave Justin a see? look over his shoulder.

Sure enough, two beds sat across the room from each other. Ethan pointed at a twin bed next to the window wall.

"That's yours," he said, and Justin groaned as he compared Ethan's queen and then the twin bed.

They unpacked their bags, and John helped until they were situated. Then, the three of them returned to the kitchen, where Bethany was getting dinner ready.

"Put us to work, Mom," Ethan said, and she dished out orders just as she did the food.

Justin sat down after helping, and John seemed to approve of the filled chairs at the dinner table before they all dug in.

"I'll be running even more with you," Justin said between bites. "I can tell already."

John hummed his agreement with a mouthful, and Bethany seemed pleased with the compliments of hungry men and forks scraping plates. Seconds were even more compliments to her.

"All summer," Ethan warned, but then he lit up. "It's gonna make training camp so much fun."

"Now, you boys aren't going to work out, run, and play ball all summer," Bethany said. "Tell me what your other plans are. There has to be some fun in there somewhere."

"Oh, we'll probably take a trip or two to the beach, maybe go fishing." Ethan turned expectantly to his father, who nodded. "The waterpark…" Ethan shrugged. "There'll be plenty to keep us busy."

"And," Justin said, "I did agree to help with some things around here that Ethan mentioned."

Bethany appeared pleased, as did John, to have help with a few large projects he couldn't handle alone.

Ethan and Justin took over dish duty for the summer stay, then joined his parents on the back patio by the pool, where they had a grill and lounge area. John muttered as he filled the pottery chimenea for Bethany, who claimed it helped with bugs, that he thought it was entirely too nice out for a fire.

Justin listened to the two lightheartedly bicker as he and Ethan sat next to each other on an outdoor sofa. Once the kindling was crackling and Bethany was pleased, John reclined in his chair. Bethany got up and came back with cold beers from the outdoor kitchen beer fridge and passed them out.

"See, beer and a fire," she justified, and Coach shook his head at his wife.

He turned his attention to them.

"Here we go," Ethan said.

"I just gotta ask. I mean…" John shrugged. "Do I knock first, or what?"

Justin coughed, feeling so awkward despite their few previous exchanges. He shook his head as he pulled his cap brim down and rested his forearms on his thighs.

Ethan waited next to him, being absolutely no help as Justin glanced at him. He just lifted a brow like his father to see if Justin would answer.

"Knock first, if it's no disrespect, sir," Justin finally said, sitting back up and addressing John directly.

Coach nodded once. "All right, then."

"Good," Bethany said.

And that was it as Ethan shot another see? at Justin. Ethan's parents were cool like that—not shake the walls down cool, but they wouldn't be pissed about other things happening under their roof. Not that things were happening or going to happen, but Ethan and Justin had fewer boundaries than most. Those lines just seemed to disappear more, one by one.

They changed clothes in front of each other. There was no awkwardness when one needed to take a piss or a shower. They'd showered together, but Ethan frequently bitched about Justin using his towel rather than getting a clean one out of the cabinet. They lounged around in sweatpants or shorts, shirtless. They heckled and grabbed at each other, doing dumb shit. They crossed no additional lines, but there was an easy comfort between them. Ethan had finally seemed to accept it, and so had Justin.

Justin glanced at Ethan again. No, he'd never imagined this for himself, but he also recognized he'd never been happier in his life than when he was with Ethan. He knew Ethan was still dealing with a lot. And Justin had a harrowing reminder each time he realized he'd memorized Ethan's scars. He knew each one. Justin didn't know what had caused them for a fact, but it wasn't difficult to make assumptions about the kinds of marks that marred Ethan's back, his chest, and the different one on the side of his head.

Ethan slid his hand from the top of his thigh to the seat cushion between them, his pinky looping over Justin's absently as he stared off at the pool water rippling in the early summer breeze.

Justin drank some of his beer and relaxed, banishing his dark thoughts as he sat next to Ethan while his father talked about his players and the team's issues, and Bethany enjoyed the low crackle of her unnecessary fire.