Page 4

FOUR

ANDRE

As Ethan talked with Liam, I settled into a chair at the front table and pulled out my tablet along with one of the printed schedules. Meanwhile, my mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. The meeting had gone well, and the town was buzzing with excitement.

Ethan, though. His unease was palpable.

I doubted anyone seated behind him noticed, but I’d clocked at least one relaxation exercise. His words from earlier echoed in my head.

Being in the spotlight like this… It’s not easy for me.

We had so much riding on this festival, and he was such a crucial part. If it would cause so much stress, why had he said yes? He’d never hesitated to say no before.

As he made his way toward me, he rolled his shoulders and flexed his hands. Another relaxation exercise perhaps.

I’d make this as simple as I could, and hopefully he’d tell me what he needed. We’d agreed to work together, and I was committed to that.

“Ready to dive in?” I asked as Ethan took the seat across from me.

He nodded, a tight smile on his face. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“I get your concerns,” I said, hoping to put him at ease. “This year’s festival is twice as long as before—four days instead of two. It seems daunting to me at times, and I’ve been planning these for a few years now. Whatever you need to feel comfortable, please let me know.”

He nodded, though I wasn’t sure I’d provided him with any sense of calm.

I handed him a festival schedule. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a mock-up of Olivia’s gorgeous program that would let him see how much care we were putting into the weekend.

I gave him a moment to read it over, noticing that he ran his finger under each line of text, some lines more slowly than others.

“Do you mind if I record our talk so I’ve got good notes?” He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it up.

“No, of course not.” Once he set the phone between us, I continued. “Let’s start with the opening ceremony. You’ll give a brief speech and take part in the usual tree planting.”

Ethan’s eyes widened. “Speech?”

“Just a few words to kick things off. We added that last year as a way for everyone to hear from the grand marshal.”

He nodded. “Ah. That’s what I get for missing the opening last year. I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“We can work on it together if you’d like.”

He nodded, relief evident in his expression. “I might take you up on that. Thanks.”

As we went through the schedule, Ethan’s anxiety seemed to fluctuate. The fingers on his left hand lightly tapped an irregular rhythm on the table. It was oddly endearing.

The way he looked at me as he listened to the event details, on the other hand, was a little distracting. A small crease kept forming between his eyebrows, and I inexplicably wanted to smooth it away.

I mentally shook myself. Why was I noticing these things?

This was Ethan Gallagher, the guy who’d infuriated me in high school because he didn’t want to take part in anything that wasn’t hockey.

And yet I couldn’t deny the flutter in my chest as his blue eyes reflected a vulnerability I hadn’t expected. There were also the freckles sprinkled across his nose, and how the stood out against his pale skin.

“On Saturday you’ve got a couple of things. Before the hockey game, you’ll help judge the crafts competition. You’ve seen that before, right? The Pride-themed things that people create?”

Ethan’s tapping intensified. “Yeah. I’ve seen that before. But what am I judging on? I’m not sure I’m qualified to judge anything.”

“Creativity, originality, use of a maple element, and relevance to the Pride theme. Don’t worry, you’re always one of three judges and there’s specific instruction on the categories. If it helps, I can email you the rubrics tomorrow.” I paused, studying him. “Are you okay?”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just… more than I expected. Getting the criteria tomorrow would be great so I can study.”

“Will do.” I made a note in my digital notebook. “And I don’t think you’re going to have to study. Plus the judging forms will have the criteria listed too.”

Ethan fidgeted with the schedule papers I’d given him. “Any chance you can send the forms too? It’ll help to be familiar with them since this is my first time.”

“We should have those ready by Tuesday, and then I can get them to you.” I made another note. “Is that okay?”

“I appreciate that.”

I hesitated but decided to ask the question that was nagging at me. “Is this stress why you never participated in events back in high school? Other athletes did events all the time, especially captains. But you avoided them.”

Ethan’s posture stiffened. He took his hands off the table and crossed his arms over his chest. “I was busy. Balancing studying and hockey took up a lot of time.”

His response seemed evasive, and I couldn’t let it go. It was practically the same response I got back then. “But surely you could have made time in the offseason? It seemed… out of character for someone in your position. I mean…”

Ethan’s eyes flashed with—anger? Hurt?

“Look, Andre, I get that you’re trying to understand.” His voice was tight with frustration and weariness. “I don’t need to be bullied all over again about the choices I made in school. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

His words hit hard, and I almost put my hands up in defense.

Bully him? Was that how he saw our interactions? I hadn’t realized. Bullying was the last thing I’d ever want to do. I took a deep breath, tamping down my confusion and hurt, not to mention some anger at the accusation.

“Ethan, I’m sorry.” My voice cracked, a well of emotion bubbling up from my chest. “That was never my intention. I didn’t know that’s how I came across. I can’t apologize enough for causing you that pain.”

So many questions swirled in my head, but I kept them to myself. It was a struggle since a part of me wanted to know how he could think such a thing. But, the important thing was to get through the next few days.

It was a relief that he’d resumed tapping the tabletop.

“I really want us to work well together for the festival. Let’s focus on that, okay?”

Ethan left me hanging for what felt like an eternity before he finally nodded. “Okay.”

We continued going through the schedule that wrapped up on Sunday with him leading the parade and hosting the closing concert.

I made a conscious effort to be more supportive.

There was nothing I could do to remove events from his schedule, though.

He’d already been announced for them, which had sponsors and participants excited.

“Thank you for doing all of this. I realize now we should’ve communicated more since the festival expanded this year. The committee will do better in the future.”

“It’s all good for the community.” He sounded more relaxed than he had at any other time since we’d started talking. “The events are good, as always. And the new ones sound fun, especially the art walk.”

“The last thing you should know, even though it’s not finalized yet, is we’re hoping to stream many of the events. That’ll allow anyone who can’t be here to be connected virtually. As that comes together, I’ll make sure you get details.”

“That’s a terrific idea. If there’s anything I can do to support that, let me know.”

Ethan’s offer confused me. The stream would only add to the people watching him. “I appreciate that. I’ll keep you posted.”

I puzzled over his response. It seemed a one-eighty from his reluctance to be in the spotlight. Why would he support potentially more public attention? Was it genuine interest or perhaps an attempt to smooth over the earlier tension?

“Anything else we should discuss?” Ethan asked.

“That’s it for now.” I snapped the stylus in place on my tablet and closed its cover. “How about we meet up on Tuesday to go over all the judging stuff. I’ll email you what I already have, but we can sit and discuss it all then.”

“Let me know a good time and I’ll work it out with the camp schedule.” Ethan thumbed off his phone and pocketed it.

“So, I heard you bought the Montgomery place. Any big plans for it?” I dropped the question before I could second-guess asking it.

Ethan’s face lit up. “Nothing big. I’m planning to keep it pretty much as is. I have so many memories of spending time there as a kid that when I heard it was going up for sale, I jumped at the chance for it.”

Hearing it from Ethan brought a finality to the dream I’d had, even more than getting the news from Nicolas. Tension coiled in my chest as he made it seem so easy to buy something that big.

Ethan caught whatever disappointment I was showing. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I had hoped to buy that property. It’d be the perfect place to develop a summer camp for queer youth.”

“Oh.” Ethan sounded remorseful. “I had no idea.”

“No, of course you didn’t.” Bitterness flowed through my voice as I couldn’t hold back my feelings. “Must be nice to be able to swoop in with your hockey money and grab up whatever you want.”

My disappointment over the property was raw, but it wasn’t just about that. Years of unresolved feelings from high school rushed back, not to mention his comment about feeling bullied that had caught me off guard. All of it fueled my outburst.

“That’s not fair.” Ethan's voice was low and angry as he stood up, shoving the chair back hard enough that I thought it might flip over.

“Isn’t it?” I shot back as I stood too. “You’re a pro hockey player. You’ve got wealth and opportunity. It’s easy for you to do anything. After all, you did that a few years ago, buying the theater for your moms.”

Ethan recoiled. The hurt in his eyes was unmistakable and sent a pang of guilt through me. Buying the theater like he’d done was a good thing for the town. It was also an example of how he can just do things.

Sometimes I didn’t know when to shut myself up.

Mixed with that guilt was a confusing swirl of other emotions—resentment but also an undeniable attraction. Even angry, Ethan was maddeningly handsome, especially with how a lock of hair had dropped across his forehead.

“I’m sorry the success I’ve worked for offends you so much.

” Ethan ran a hand through his hair, which caused more to fall toward his eyes.

“And I’m sorry if I’ve disrupted your plans.

” He grabbed the chair and shoved it against the table.

“I’m going to go before one of us says anything else.

Just… reach out if there’s something you need for the festival. ”

As I watched Ethan go, a battle waged within me. Lingering frustration and regret over my harsh words swirled within me. Underneath it all sat a spark of attraction that I couldn’t shake or explain.

I dropped back into my chair, resting my face in my hands. Things had gone so wrong so quickly. We’d started the evening with a tentative truce, and now I wasn’t sure where we stood.