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"You’re doing sofor you I don’t knohat But we’ll think of soe, I swear"

"I don’t need you to do anything, Kelsey"

"That’s the whole point," she said, as if it should have been thebecause we don’t have to You’re aweso up before he could set her straight Before he could tell her he’d done only what he’d needed to, what any person with a soul would have done

Before he could re out her ain

So, really, hoas she supposed to fight for Evan?

Paige finished the notes from her last session, then quickly checked her email while her mind mulled over what to do about Evan

She was deterht for hiht His kiss, his touch, and the fire in his eyes had confirmed what her body knew But she couldn’t use his desire to bring hiainst hi e are, Whitney had never cheated, but she still loved to gather e didn’t want to fall into bed with Evan only to have hie felt for him was so much deeper On some level, she had to believe he knew it too Their souls seee She’d felt it all those evenings they’d talked for hours in his library about books, movies, politics, her work, his work The connection had existed between thehts they discussed classes and students, science or high finance; daydrea about their goals, what they wanted to acco as simple as what the best classic sci-fi movie was They’d both chosen The Day the Earth Stood Still, with Forbidden Planet a close second If she was going to fight for hi him how much more they had between them than desire

Her eyes skimmed the headlines online and flitted over a sidebar without really seeing it

She wanted to do so that would help Evan see they were ether, no matter how many obstacles stood in their way But what could possibly convince hied by a briefthe words science, fiction, and Mars Oh inable It wasn’t obviously romantic It wasn’t flashy and sexy But it was so absolutely the her phone, she tapped in a quick text

Andy Weir is speaking tonight at a bookstore down the street froo see him with me?

They’d both loved The Martian They’d read it at the sa the advertisehts about their favorite classic sci-fiEvan answered alood Mortimer can pick you up froether

Come home Yes The words were sublime, all she could ever have asked for They h a few quick texts

Mortimer picked her up for the ride to San Francisco, but the traffic was horrendous getting into the city despite it being a weeknight She dashed into the bookstore with no ti tested theroom only, but Evan had saved her a seat, and she squeezed past an elderly couple to slip into the chair beside him

"You’re here" He reached out to squeeze her hand, and she wanted to hang on forever He was scruray suit and white shirt, his tie a shade of topaz and green that soold in his eyes She wanted to eat hiht wouldn’t be about sex Or desire Or need Or all the physical things she desperately wanted froe another word, the bookstore owner introduced the author to a round of deafening applause Andy Weir was an incredibly interesting guy And his publishing story was a his AOL stock options at the absolute high after he was laid off, Evan gave her a thuuy" She loved that he could share this with her

The talk was fascinating, even as Andy got technical And yet, like his book, he presented the material in layman’s terms she could easily understand He was extre, and when asked how he caeek who liked to sit around daydrea or that

She nudged Evan and murmured, "Just like you"

And yet it wastheir plans for the future Daydrea Evan had made all his drea wife

The e up for questions, and the audience ith hands in the air One man wanted to knohy the main character in The Martian hadn’t taken his situation more seriously, that he was actually a little flip, even sarcastic And Andy said that he hadn’t wanted to write a deep, dark character study, that it wasproblem