Page 17 of Christmas at Hart's Ridge

“No. Why?” Ethan’s gaze darted around the room. “She was here a few minutes ago.”

“Well, now she’s not. She went home. Let me tell you why.”

Ethan paused a beat, eyeing me speculatively. “Okay,” he said finally. He hefted the tray of dirty dishes. “Walk and talk.”

I followed him across the room. “I found Bethany in the hallway after her shift.”

Ethan grunted, turning so he could push the swinging door with his shoulder, and continued down the hall into the kitchen. “Okay.”

“She told me she wanted to stick around, flirt a little, maybe kiss somebody.”

“Okay,” Ethan said again, dumping the dishes into the sink.

It wasn’t the reaction I was expecting.

“She wanted to kiss somebody,” I repeated. “Who isn’t you,” I clarified. Just in case Ethan really was that dense. In which case, I couldn’t blame Bethany for acting out a little.

Ethan shrugged. “Not many prospects tonight. A couple, maybe. She’ll have better luck on Friday. More people come out.”

I stared at him incredulously. He truly seemed not to care. Was it an act? Was he trying to act tough to hide a broken heart? “What makes you think she didn’t find someone?”

“I would have noticed.” He paused. “Probably. And even if I hadn’t, she would have come found me and told me all about it. You said she went home. She wouldn’t have gone home without telling me that.”

Unless the person she kissed was his own brother.

“I sent her home,” I said. “She never made it back to the bar.”

That got his attention. Finally. He looked up sharply, eyeing me with an expression that seemed almost mistrustful. But maybe that was just my guilt, although what the hell did I have to feel guilty about? I had kissed Bethany because if I hadn’t, it would have been someone else, and wasn’t it better for everyone that it was me? I had kissed Bethany forEthan’ssake.

“Why did you do that?” Ethan asked.

“You saw how she looked tonight. I couldn’t let her get herself into trouble just to make you jealous. What happened? Did you two get in an argument or something?”

“No, of course not.” Ethan laughed. “What the hell are you talking about? She wasn’t trying to make me jealous.”

He meant it, I could tell. Which meant…well, hell, I didn’t have a clue what that meant. Maybe they were in an open relationship. Or maybe Ethan got off on seeing other men want his girl. That particular kink was unfathomable to me, but hey, to each their own. Or maybe—

“Did you two break up?” The words came out with more interest than I wanted to feel. Because it shouldn’t matter to me whether they broke up. A good guy didn’t date his little brother’s ex-girlfriend, either.

“No,” Ethan said slowly. He searched my face. “We did not break up. We were never together.”

That set me back on my heels a bit. Never together? That wasn’t possible. “You take the bus to her every year. That’s all day on public transportation, each way. You don’t do that for someone you don’t love.”

Ethan looked at me, his expression inscrutable. “I love her.”

I didn’t like the way I felt about that. It wasn’t a brotherly feeling. “So she doesn’t love you? Is that it?” I hated myself for how much I cared about the answer.

“She loves me.” He said this with supreme confidence.

“Then I don’t get it. Is it the distance? Why—”

“Luke.” Ethan blew out an exasperated breath. He leaned back against the large metal tub, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’m gay, bro.”

For the second time in an hour, the world shifted around me. But this time, when it settled again, everything felt in order. I blinked. Well, shit.

“No,” I said. “No, you did not just come out to me by sayingI’m gay, bro.”

“It literally happened.”

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