Page 68 of The Boyfriend Zone

"Takes one to know one," I teased, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "We weren't exactly models of emotional maturity ourselves."

"True," Lucas conceded. "But at least we figured it out eventually."

"They will too," I said with more confidence than I felt. "Zach's been talking about Nate constantly at practice. He's clearly into him. He's just never liked someone this much before and has no idea how to handle it."

"Nate's the same way," Lucas revealed. "He acts all cool and detached, but I've seen his face light up when Zach texts. It's just scary for him, I think. Opening up to someone when you've been hurt before."

My phone buzzed again with another text from Zach:Do you think he hates me? Because I'd understand if he does. I'm an idiot.

I showed it to Lucas, who smiled sympathetically. "Maybe we should help them out a little," he suggested. "Not interfere exactly, but nudge them in the right direction?"

"What did you have in mind?"

The next day after practice, Zach arrived looking unusually subdued, dropping onto the couch with none of his typical bravado.

"I screwed up," he announced without preamble. "Massively."

"With Nate?" I asked, handing him a beer.

"Who else?" He took a long swig, then set the bottle down with more force than necessary. "I don't know what's wrong with me, man. I like hanging out with him. A lot. And then I panic and ruin it."

"What are you panicking about?" I kept my tone casual, non-judgmental.

Zach shrugged, picking at the label on his beer bottle. "Everything? The team. My family back home. What it all means." He glanced up at me. "How did you do it? Balance hockey and... you know, Lucas?"

"Badly, at first," I admitted with a wry smile. "I tried to keep everything separate, remember? Hockey Sean and Lucas Sean. Like I could be two different people."

"And that didn't work out so great," Zach recalled.

"Not even a little," I agreed. "The harder I tried to keep those worlds from touching, the more miserable I was. The more I lied to everyone, including myself."

Zach nodded thoughtfully. "But the team was cool about it. When they found out about you guys."

"They were," I confirmed. "Turned out all that fear was for nothing."

"Yeah, but..." Zach hesitated, his typical confidence nowhere to be seen. "You're you, man. Star defenseman, team leader. I'm just... Zach. The loud one who makes bad jokes and occasionally scores goals."

"You're selling yourself short," I said seriously. "The team respects you. They'd have your back, whatever's going on with you and Nate."

"If anything is going on," Zach muttered. "He probably hates me now."

"He's hurt," I corrected. "That's different."

"Because I keep canceling on him," Zach acknowledged. "And then lying about why."

"Why do you keep canceling?" I asked, genuinely curious. "What's really going on?"

Zach was quiet for a long moment, seemingly wrestling with whether to answer honestly. Finally, he sighed, setting his beer aside.

"I'm terrified," he admitted, the words coming out in a rush. "Of messing it up. Of the team looking at me differently. Of my family back home finding out and freaking out. Of Nate deciding he just wants to be friends. Of him deciding he doesn't even want that."

He ran a hand through his hair, frustration evident in every line of his body. "And mostly, of not being good enough for him. He's so smart, you know? So passionate about everything. And I'm just... me."

The raw honesty seemed to surprise even Zach, who immediately tried to backtrack. "Which is stupid, because we're just hanging out. It's not like we're a thing."

"Aren't you?" I asked quietly.

"No! Maybe. I don't know." Zach groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "See? I can't even figure out what we are. How am I supposed to handle all the rest of it?"

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