Oh, boy.
What could he say?
There was only one thing.
“I’m sorry.”
Ethan touched his face with his fingers, making Callen stare into his eyes.
The bottom line was the bottom line. That secret had been set free, and it wasn’t just between him and Callen. Gene was privy to it, and that was a problem.
For all of them.
Already, that secret was doing damage. In that moment, he had to make a choice.
Risk the best thing that had ever happened to him for his brother, or put distance between them both so they had a chance to find their paths in life.
Ethan was on his.
Callen had to find his own way now.
“After that admission from you, I can’t be here. We both know that we feel the same thing, and that has to die. I can’t come back here, CJ. I’m in love with Gene, and I moved on. I need you to forget about me.”
Callen sat there.
His goddamn mouth had made a mess. Now, he remembered the letter and everything that went down.
“So, no brother shit like you mentioned?” he asked.
Ethan sat beside him.
This was a tough line to tow.
Only, he’d run for his whole life, and now, he had to be the strong one, by, ironically, running away.
Yeah, the universe was fucked up.
They were the proof.
“Can you tell me honestly that you’re not thinking about having sex with me?”
Oof.
“And don’t lie. Now’s not the time, CJ. Gene overheard you, and he knows.”
Double oof.
What had he done?
“It’s always there,” Callen admitted. “It’s always in the back of my mind.”
Well, then, being here, and risking it…
Ethan couldn’t let that happen.
“Maybe one day I’ll be back, but it won’t be until I can do it safely. Maybe when I’m married. I know my brother. You’d never break up a marriage.”
And he wouldn’t.
