As much as Ryan complained about his little brother’s choice of city—he worked as a realtor in downtown Toronto now—he had to admit, Eric had a pretty sweet place. Only problem was, he was usually working too much to enjoy it.

Ryan had chosen the complete opposite career path when he went into the trades. He’d always enjoyed working with his hands and building stuff, and when he figured out that there’d always be a demand for those services, it was a no-brainer.

Now that he was out of his apprenticeship and working on his own on building sites, his own job sucked up a little more time than he’d thought, but he couldn’t complain about his wages. And he still built things at home for fun, and sometimes to sell on the side. He’d taken a long weekend to see his brother here, but Eric had to work today.

Luckily, Kevin lived here now and had instantly agreed to pick him up, show him to Eric’s place as long as Ryan knew the address, and hang out that afternoon before his brother was off in the evening. Apparently Kevin was off to the cabin with some friends this weekend, but at least they’d catch each other today.

“Hey!”

Ryan glanced around until he located Kevin’s cheery grin, then laughed as he moved in for a quick hug by the luggage carousel. “Hey, man. How’s it going? Long time no see,” he joked.

“Nah, it’s like I saw you last week,” Kevin grinned. He looked good, though. Even more than last week, Kevin was glowing with life.

They were all happy for him, that he’d gotten his dream job out here. Well, one league down from his dream job, but still a comfortable one. But was there more than a job going on here? Kevin looked… bright.

Ryan usually didn’t say much. He was a lot happier to let everyone else do the talking while he just watched and listened. He picked up a lot that way. “You’re looking happy,” he commented, though, unable to resist.

“Yeah. Almost training week,” Kevin laughed. “And I’m where I wanted to be, training-wise.”

“Great,” Ryan approved. He kept an eye out for his suitcase, and once it passed by, he grabbed it. “Where we headed?”

“Over to the ferry, then a streetcar. You got your brother’s address?”

“I’ll text you it.”

They pulled out their phones for the silent exchange, and then Kevin squinted at his phone. “Ohhh yeah. Okay, no problem, that’s close.”

“It looked like it on the map.” Ryan still wasn’t too familiar with Toronto. He’d only been out here on vacation a couple times as a kid, and to visit his brother a few times. He didn’t really leave Fredericton much, honestly.

Walking through downtown Toronto was a little overwhelming for Ryan. Crowds were in general, actually. He stayed close to Kevin as they headed over to the ferry bridge, then boarded the boat.

“So, how’s it been going with everyone?” Kevin asked.

“In the last week?” Ryan laughed.

“Just in general.” Kevin cleared his throat as he leaned on the railing, glancing out across the Toronto harbor. “Feels like everyone’s on the other side of the world sometimes.”

Ryan winced in sympathy, casting his mind around their group of friends for things Kevin wouldn’t have heard. “Let’s see… oh. Oh, Jesus, that’s right.” His big news of the week—but could he share it?

Nah, Noah wouldn’t mind.

“What? What is it?” Kevin pressed, picking up on Ryan’s excitement.

“I’m making a custom ring box for someone…”

Kevin’s eyes went huge. “No shit. Who?” he exclaimed. The way his face worked, he was running through the possibilities.

Ryan almost laughed at the look on his face. “Noah.”

“No shit,” Kevin breathed out, and Ryan did laugh this time. Kevin was clearly both delighted and shocked. “He’s proposing? When?” His voice almost cracked from excitement.

Ryan snorted with laughter. “I don’t know, man, he won’t tell me. He just said this summer.”

“Oh my God, that’s… that’s so cool,” Kevin laughed. “Wow. Christ. I guess they’re an item now, then.”

“They all are.” Ryan tried not to sound jealous. The doors were closing, the ferry almost on the move. “I mean, most of us are getting really… settled in.”

“Except you, obviously.”

“And you,” Ryan returned, but watched Kevin closely. “I assume.”

There was a second of hesitation from Kevin that said more than his following words. “What? Yeah, I mean. Uh… well…”

Aha. Ryan smiled slightly and let him talk.

“I mean, there’s someone I like,” Kevin admitted after a long few seconds of contemplation. “But shit, it could get complicated.”

Ryan was curious, but not if Kevin wasn’t ready to share yet. “Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Nope, not ready to talk, then. “Hey, you wanna come to a practice later this summer or something? You coming out again this year?”

“I thought I did that a couple years back,” Ryan smirked.

Kevin groaned but chuckled. Any coming-out joke mandated at least a chuckle from their little group of friends—tight-knit enough to be family by now, even the ones not apparently marrying soon.

“I was thinking this fall, actually. Cam wants to come out to see all his old buddies on the team, and watch one of your home games. Especially you and Matty.”

Kevin jolted slightly. “Oh yeah! Of course.”

“You met him already, didn’t you?” Ryan asked. “Seem like a nice guy?”

“Well, if he’s friends with Cam,” Kevin shrugged, and Ryan had to agree. Cam was a pretty good judge of character about everything except his boyfriends. Thank God he’d lucked into meeting Noah. “But yeah, he’s cool. We’re working out together. Glenn wanted us together because we both have the same work ethic.”

“Obsessive gym nerds, then,” Ryan teased. It wasn’t like he never hit the gym himself, but most of his tone came from hauling lumber and shit around, not daintily pressing on machines.

Kevin laughed sheepishly. “Pretty much. Man, good to have you out, though. We’ll grab lunch as soon as you drop your stuff off at your brother’s, and then… the gym?”

“That sounds great.”

Ryan smiled out across the harbor as the ferry coasted to the city shore. If he only had a couple days in Toronto, he was gonna make the most of them. And maybe spy on Kevin a little, like everyone back home wanted him to do.

* * *

“Oh, Jesus.”

It was only half an hour into their gym workout and Ryan regretted making fun of Kevin’s weight machines.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t handle the weight—Kevin was being careful not to get him hurt. But this was just a different kind of pull. Or, in this case, push, since he was lying flat on his back, raising a weighted machine board with his feet.

Kevin laughed as he hovered nearby, ready to spot him if his knees gave way. “Almost there. Don’t stop. Push harder.”

“Jesus, go get laid,” Ryan laughed, rolling his head back as he slowly raised and lowered his feet again, starting to count backwards in his last set.

“You too, you dick,” Kevin snorted with laughter. “Oh come on, you can go harder than—don’t. Dude, don’t make it weird.” But Kevin was laughing loudly now, covering his face with his hand.

Ryan tried to keep his breathless laughs under control until he got that last painful raise and lower out of the way, then locked the bar and lay back on the bench for a hearty, quick laugh. “You said it, not me.”

“Did I pass the test, then?” Ryan slowly sat up, ignoring the burn in his calves.

“With mediocre colors,” Kevin smirked and came around the machine.

Ryan flipped him off. “You come lift a load of lumber out of a truck bed and see how far you get.”

“No thanks.” Kevin ran a hand back through his hair and chose the machine next to him, setting it up for chest work instead. “Speaking of, how’s work going?”

“Good.” Ryan figured he should elaborate a little more. “Just finished roughing out a new place. By the time I’m back we’ll probably be on to the next house. The growth in town is crazy. You saw all those new suburbs and developments going up.”

“Yeah! God, you must be up to your eyeballs in work.”

Ryan laughed. That was pretty accurate, actually. “This summer’s gonna be nuts. But I was thinking more about doing custom stuff, too… I don’t wanna be tied completely to builders. They can go bankrupt or stop developing or whatever. And I like piecework… it’s relaxing.”

“You go home after a long day of sawing shit and you go saw shit for fun?”

“Hammer shit together, or sand it, or varnish it…” Ryan trailed off, then snorted. “Yeah, okay, fine.”

Kevin chuckled. “No, that’s cool, though.” Ryan moved around to spot him as he lay back on the bench and gripped the bar. “You’re thinking you might sell some of your stuff?”

Ryan nodded. “I mean, Noah came to me about the ring box… I’ve been doing stuff like trunks, coat racks, all kinds of weird little things. It’s actually been a lot of fun,” he admitted.

“You’re good, too. You can sell your stuff no problem,” Kevin told him.

The praise made Ryan smile, though he knew Kevin was right. He took pride in the job he did. “At farmer’s markets?”

“Why not? Cam’s boss does great,” Kevin shrugged. Cam worked for his soon-to-be fiancé Noah’s uncle at an apiary, and according to their story, they’d first met when Cam bought some of Noah’s honey. Of course, everyone had had to heckle them about that, but they insisted it wasn’t a euphemism.

“Yeah…” Ryan trailed off, dubiously. “They got a couple carpenters there already.”

“So? You can sell at Christmas fairs, too,” Kevin told him. “People go apeshit for real, handmade gifts. Especially as good as your stuff is. And at least one of the farmer’s markets will take you, guaranteed. I bet if Noah’s uncle puts in a good word for you…”

“All right, all right,” Ryan laughed. “I’m thinking about it. Just, I won’t have time this summer—or probably even the fall or winter.” With the ground frozen and nigh-impossible to excavate for new foundations, that was the season for interior work. “Not to work for other people, then come home and do stuff, and then somehow find time to advertise and sell it…”

Kevin blew out a breath as he carefully put the bar back down, then stretched out and rested. “Ooof. Hmm… You could hire someone.”

“Like, to build for me?”

“Nah, to do all the other shit,” Kevin shrugged. “Stick to the stuff you know and like.”

“Now you’re a business consultant?” Ryan laughed.

Kevin slipped out from under the rack and winked. “I’ll charge you for my advice unless you take it.”

“Unless?” Ryan laughed. Clever little bastard. “Yeah, yeah,” he waved him off.

Kevin slapped his shoulder, then turned. “Oh, hey, Hans.”

A light-haired guy in the back corner nodded at them both, his eyes flicking to Ryan. Ryan wasn’t sure he liked him—even though the guy had no reason to dislike him. That was kinda weird.

“Hans, this is my buddy from Fredericton, Ryan. Ryan, my roommate.”

Oh yeah, that was where he’d heard the name. Ryan smiled and jerked his head in a quick upnod. “Hey, man.”

“Hey.” Hans glanced between them, and now Ryan’s suspicion about what he was thinking was confirmed. “This your buddy?” His accent was German.

“Yeah, my buddy.” Either Kevin didn’t notice what he was implying by asking again, or he didn’t give a shit. Ryan noticed and he didn’t appreciate it, though.

“Cool,” Hans concluded simply.

Ryan nodded back at Hans, then stepped out of the room to head for the locker room while Kevin had a word with his roommate.

Now he could see one of the potential complications Kevin had hinted at.

But you can’t let everyone around you stop you from living your life, man.

Ryan tried to ignore the sinking recognition in his own stomach. It was always easier to see things in other people than himself.

Time to hit the shower and head for food with Kevin. They still had an afternoon to enjoy—platonically, whatever Hans thought—before Eric was off work and ready to hang out. Hopefully Hans wasn’t around, because Ryan planned to enjoy it.