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"Actually, it was Hannah’s guess"

"Hmm"

Michael centered on hi

I just--I didn’t want you to think you couldn’t tellto that

Then the waitress was back and Michael was signing his na

Nick didn’t e of a cliff, looking down at water far below A short flight through air, with an ie of his booth "You ready?"

"No"

Say it Tell hiet tords out of his mouth

You care more about what other people think than you care about me

Adam had faced a lot worse than this

Nick looked at his older brother, then shoved the elass toward him He felt dizzy, like the air was too thin to breathe

His voice caht want another one"

"Why?"

"Because you guessed wrong" He laughed shortly "Way wrong"

Michael studied hi

Nick took a breath and forced hiy"

CHAPTER 23

Three feet of wooden table stretched between theht as well have been three miles This moment betords and reaction seemed to stretch into infinity

Nick had leapt off that cliff, and noaiting to see what he’d hit at the bottom

Michael eased back into the booth and leaned his forearlass toward hi to pass out"

Nick couldn’t move He worried he would pass out if Michael didn’t say so more substantial than that

The waitress ca that they hadn’t left She fidgeted, clearly unsettled by the tension

Or et a handle on the tened receipt "Did you boys need anything else?"

"Coffee," said Michael "Please"

She disappeared, leaving them in silence

Michael cleared his throat "I don’t kno to say this, Nick"

It was like his older brother had picked up a spear and begun to shove it through Nick’s back He felt the pain that acutely

But then Michael winced and looked at hi?"

What?

What?

Nick came out of his seat to reach across the table and punch Michael in the shoulder as hard as he could "You dick I thought you were about to throw me out of the house"

Now Michael looked like Nick had checked his brain at the door "Why on earth would I throw you out of the house?"

"I don’t know! I had no idea how you’d react!"

"You want me to punch you? Cause a scene? We could totally put on a show"

However Nick had i, this

this wasn’t it

So breath and blew it out through his teeth

"How long have you been carrying that around?" said Michael

"I don’t know" Now Nick felt dizzy for an entirely different reason He gave a choked laugh "I don’t--a long ti and looked at his brother "Why not surprising?"

The waitress chose that exact lad for the distraction, though It gave hi new to do with his hands

When she was gone, Michael said, "It’s difficult to explain

Nothing I would have put er on, you know?" He paused, then stirred his coffee Pointless, since he drank it black--but s," he said "Meaningless things You’d go out with girls, but you never really talked about theressive You’re notJesus, Nick, I don’t know I’ve never thought, gee, Nick y, but when you said it, it was like the last piece of a puzzle, if that makes any sense"

"It makes sense," Nick said He couldn’t quite believe that Michael was sitting here dropping a phrase like Nickan eye

"Am I the last to know, as usual?" Michael said

"No The first Sort of"

"The first! I should be celebrating" Then he raised an eyebrow "Sort of?"

"Hunter knows"

"How’d he take it?"

Nick shrugged and wondered if there was a safe answer to that question Well, you know Last night, he caught me in bed

"Hunter was okay"