Chapter 4 #4
Still, Hank, new to the team and still desperately trying to stay up, not for just a playoff push, but permanently, had been bracing for Charlie to approach him ever since.
But he hadn’t, not right away, and now that Charlie was skating closer, a deceptively casual look on his face, Hank thought he understood what Charlie’s game was.
He’d been lulling Hank into a state of complacency before he struck, like a snake.
Kind of like how he could look deceptively laid-back out on the ice and then suddenly strike, one of those quick-fire shots that he’d made his trademark.
“Hey,” Charlie said, finally settling against the boards, face-to-face with Hank. He picked up his water bottle and squirted some into this mouth. “How’s it going?”
“Good,” Hank said stupidly. Even if it hadn’t been going good, he’d have said the same thing.
“You’ve been up what, four weeks now?”
“A month,” Hank said, still stupid.
“Right,” Charlie said, taking his helmet off, then shaking out his damp curls before he shoved them back. It was funny; he was so obviously Ethan’s brother. They had a lot of physical similarities but Hank had never been attracted, not once, to Charlie. And Ethan? Well.
He knew he shouldn’t have broken their FaceTime standoff on Valentine’s Day but he’d just wanted to see him. Once. On such a big day, too. The problem with doing that was that he’d gotten conditioned to having it, now, and Hank wanted it all the time.
Even if he knew it was dumb and would probably get him into some kind of deep shit, at some point.
Like right now.
“Eth told me you guys have been talking.”
There it was.
“Yeah.” Hank tried not to tense. Told himself that Charlie wasn’t going to kick his ass.
Charlie couldn’t kick his ass. He had four inches and at least forty pounds of muscle on Barney, but he also knew what kind of engine drove him.
Hank wouldn’t put anything past Charlie, if he was properly motivated.
Charlie raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
Hank shrugged, unsure what he was supposed to say. He’d answered the question, hadn’t he?
“Real talkative guy,” Charlie said, chuckling under his breath. “It’s cool, you know?”
Hank still didn’t quite believe that. “If it was so cool, why’d you come over here?”
“Oh, that’s cute,” Charlie said, grinning now. “You think I’m over here to kick your ass for talking to my brother?”
“Why would I think that?” Hank didn’t think he sounded all that convincing.
“Hmm, I don’t know.” Charlie leaned in, and that smile turned sharp. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Max talked about Charlie like he was all affable and charming and easy. Hank didn’t know how Charlie had their captain so fucking snowed, because Charlie was honed to a fine-edged blade.
Probably better to not think about how Charlie had fooled Max, at least not right now, anyway.
“We’re just talking. Just friends,” Hank said. And that was true. They’d not said anything that hockey bros all over hadn’t probably said hundreds of times. But sometimes, Ethan was looking at him and Hank was looking back and it felt like his heart was in his fucking throat.
It was wonderful; it was also fucking terrifying.
He’d gotten off the phone more than once thinking, what the hell am I doing?
But no matter how many times he thought it, he still hadn’t stopped. Didn’t want to stop.
“Right,” Charlie said. “Just friends.” He said it so casually, Hank might’ve believed him, but this was Charlie. Maybe Max might believe it, but Hank didn’t. Not for a second.
But Charlie didn’t leave it at that. “He ask you to talk to Inverness?”
“Um, no?” Why would Ethan ask him to talk to Inverness?
Inverness would just fucking laugh at him.
Hank didn’t have any pull, and zero influence over their general manager.
And if he had any, he’d probably justifiably use it for himself.
To bolster his own fucking position. He didn’t have a famous last name or a brother who was already wearing a letter.
“He asked me,” Charlie said. He still sounded so fucking casual, but Hank could feel the tension creeping up his back, all the way up his neck.
“Practically begged. And here’s the thing, he was okay staying put in Portland when he went there in the fall, after camp.
But now all of a sudden, you’re here, up with the team, and he’s so freaking desperate to get Inverness to sign his entry-level contract that he’s asking me to intervene. ”
Hank couldn’t say he was very familiar with the Barnes brothers’ dynamic.
Ethan had alluded to it, more than once.
Then there was the thing he’d said, back in February.
About the way the media acted about them and how it wasn’t necessarily all true.
He hadn’t paid much attention before that, but after?
He’d dismissed any post or any comment that came across his social media.
Only trusted whatever he heard from Ethan’s mouth.
But Hank did know that Ethan respected the hell out of Charlie and also never, ever wanted Charlie to beat him. Probably because Charlie had spent their whole lives doing exactly that. So yeah, it was surprising that Ethan had come out and actually asked Charlie to say something to Inverness.
“He didn’t mention it to me,” Hank said, which was true.
If Ethan had told him he was going to do it, Hank would’ve told him not to.
That they probably weren’t making the playoffs, and as bad as he wanted Ethan in the same time zone, the same state, the same fucking city, he’d have told him to stay put.
To enjoy the last bit of his college experience.
“Well, he sure as hell mentioned it to me,” Charlie said. He still sounded friendly, but his voice had taken on a bit of a concerned edge. “And I was trying to figure out why he’d do that, and then he admitted to me he’d been talking to you.”
Immediately Hank knew the conclusion Charlie had drawn.
“It’s not because of me,” Hank argued.
“No? From where I’m standing, that’s what it looks like. And if it was, it wouldn’t be a problem.”
Hank didn’t think that was true, not for a second. That was more just Barney misdirection. He’d say it was okay to Hank’s face and then probably convince Max to sit him down, all earnest, concerned eyes and caution him against it.
Charlie would never want to be the bad guy, telling someone to stay the fuck away from his younger brother, but he’d sure as hell make sure it came from someone.