Ethanwatched him for a moment before he said, “Pretty much the same thing.”
“Betrue to yourself? Were you doing it as a personal reminder?”
“Yes,”Ethan said abruptly.
Knowingthe conversation was about to take a dark turn, Beau opted to lighten the mood.“Does Zane know about it? He’d sure give you shit about it if he did.”
Ethangrinned, the storm clouds that had brewed momentarily were disappearing rightbefore Beau’s eyes. The pressure that had settled uncomfortably on his chestlifted as Ethan’s eyes lit up.
“You’reright. And no, he doesn’t know. Or let me rephrase that. I haven’t told him.I’m sure he’s probably seen it.” Ethan smiled, and it appeared only slightlyforced. “How did you and my brother end up being friends, anyway?” Ethan asked,leaning back in the booth and resting his arm over the top edge.
God,the man was sexy. Everything he did made Beau want to jump him. Public or not,he really didn’t give a shit.
“Whatare you trying to say?” he goaded Ethan with a mirroring grin.
“Y’allare like night and day.”
“Well,there’s something to be said about opposites attracting, right?”
“True.And the two of you are that.”
“Areyou saying I’m not fun?”
“Notat all. I’m saying you aren’t insane.”
“Well,there is that,” Beau agreed.
Thewaiter chose that moment to bring two more beers and a loaf of bread that wentuntouched between them. Beau grabbed the beer and pushed the empty away whileEthan did the same.
“Seriouslythough, y’all have been friends since what? The first grade?”
“Somethinglike that,” Beau said. For as long as he could remember, he’d been friends withEthan’s younger brother. Zane was like the brother he never had.
“Iremember going to football games when Zane played.”
Beaufought the urge to frown. Thinking back on his football days was bittersweet.The friends, the fun, all of the laughs he shared with the guys in high school,those had been great times. But despite any attempt to ignore the bad times,Beau had a hard time separating his father and football. The two seemed to gohand in hand, and just like Beau’s ties were severed with football when he hadinjured his arm his senior year, so had any conceivable relationship he hadwith his father.
“Youwere in a car accident that year, right?” Ethan asked, clearly having anexceptional memory.
“Yeah,”he said, forcing a hint of a smile on his lips. “Bunch of us were out fuckingoff. Black ice caught us by surprise and the truck we were in flipped. My armwas crushed. That was the end of my football career.”
“Doyou miss it?”
“Football?”
“No,high school,” Ethan barked with a laugh. “Of course football.”
“Notreally, no.” That was only a partial lie. He missed the thrill he got when hewent out on the field, the roar of the kids and their parents. There was nodoubt Beau had thought he’d be off to the NFL eventually just like everyoneelse had, but that dream came to an abrupt halt because they were out beingidiots after a freak ice storm.
“Whatabout you? You play sports?”
“Nah.I was too involved in FFA to take on sports.”
“So,you wanted to be a farmer, huh?” Beau joked, spinning his beer bottle in hishands.
“Nope,just knew I had to do something to pass the time. I always wanted to go to workfor my brothers.”
“Youmean for yourself?”
