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CHAPTER ONE

ELLIOTT ALEXANDER CONSIDERED hiood sport He wasn’t overly sensitive and could take a joke as well as the next guy But he was on the verge of knocking his younger brother upside the head if he didn’t shut up

"So, you opened the door and she was just standing there?" Nick glanced at hi in the s like a stalker, was she?"

Their friend Matt Si them about his final week at Eli’s house last summer while he was in physical therapy Noas happily coupled up with his therapist, Penny, and living in New Haven again

Matt shrugged and Penny laughed along with the because I didn’t want to leave the place a mess Onon the porch Judging by the way she was dressed, it wasn’t ritted his teeth as their howls of laughter continued His youngest brother, Jackson, clamped a hand on his shoulder in solidarity Either that or he was trying to hold hiet on this topic again?" Eli shot Matt a disgruntled look, but his friend didn’t seem daunted at all He’d lost his inti a hell of a ti fun of him

"Wait, by the way she was dressed? What exactly was she wearing? Or not wearing?" Nick added

His sister-in-law, Raina, walked up and pinched Nick’s arh to make his brother jump "What did you just say?"

Eli watched in aed His norer brother turned into a total hen his gorgeous as around Raina had a successful career as a model and he could see why She was far too thin for his taste, but her light brown skin and wild curly hair gave her an exotic look Best of all, she was so of a ballbuster It was always a joy to watch her handle his brother

Nick held up his hands "Oh, hey, baby Matt was telling us about his last week staying in Eli’s house and all the wo on the door"

He had hoped Raina would corral his brother’s antics, but that hope died when her eyes lit up "Eli? I never knew you were such a ladies’ rowl Half of his brother’s fun in teasing hiet more and more pissed off "First of all, it was one wo about"

Matt covered his laugh by taking a sip of the beer he held "Sorry, man I didn’t mean to rat you out, but I couldn’t keep that to myself She looked pretty devastated when I opened the door I guess I wasn’t up to her standards"

The group dissolved into laughter again Eli was the darkest skinned of all his brothers and, to his chagrin, the shortest With his brown hair and tanned skin, Matt was about as far froet

"I don’t even need to ask what she looked like Let uess, petite and curvy?" Nick smirked at Matt’s nod "There’s never been a busty woh school He had a crush on Janet Reed in the ninth grade because she developed a set of double Ds over the summer"

Even Eli had to smile at that one He could still remee horure

"Okay, I think we’ve had enough fun at my expense And I really don’t think you want h schoolRaina looked at him with interest "Oh really? Maybe I do need to hear this"

"Is that the baby crying? I’d better go check" Nick sauntered off, leaving his wife shaking her head as she followed

Eli walked over to theand shoved the curtains to the side A profusion of snowflakes turned the landscape into an endless wall of white Snowstorinia but not in New Haven He couldn’t re

"She’s just fine where she is Go on now!"

Eli turned at the sound of his mother’s voice His earlier annoyance vanished as he watched Nick try unsuccessfully to take his baby girl back frooing to happen Their hter, and she was probably going to have a grip on the baby all night Finally Nick settled for pulling his wife into his ar that made her smile Eli looked over to where Jackson was si to see his little brothers so settled and happy He’d left New Haven years ago, sure he’d never return to live there again But tis into perspective A way of distilling life to as i He was tired of casual encounters and e he’d always had growing up Fa anywhere

When he finally cahts, he was startled to see his ht in front of hihter Hisso at all