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‘You are twice the man that I am’ ‘You are the man I alished I could be’ ‘I want you to kno proud I am of you’ They ords that Neal would have loved to hear They ords that would haveof them, but he still wished

He felt a sudden irrational anger towards George It was saturated with jealousy, and all at once, it dissolved into shame His brother had always been there for hienerous He had asked for nothing in return, and suddenly, Neal realized that George was dead It hit hiut He had watched the news, heard it from several different sources, he had discussed it with Harry and accepted condolences froers, but he had never let it sink in He had never really thought about the crash He had listened, without feeling

Now he found hi for his brother He wanted to talk to hi ridiculous that he had said He was lost without George, and he realized suddenly why he had felt so off balance this whole ti until he felt Elena’s hands circle hiently

Neal felt her kiss his hair, stroke his back, and those gestures – so foreign to him, made him cry even harder He sat there on his brother’s bed and sobbed out his sorrohile Elena held hi him back and forth until he had spent all his tears When he was done, he felt hollow, but strangely lighter Elena stood and turned to face hi to reach out and draw her to hiain

She held out her hand to him

“Let’s go home,” she said

Those words,else, made him breathe a little easier

Chapter9

It was a strange feeeks Neal and Elena found the around in what seeot to know one another, they grew hed together,

they played pool and board games They watched movies that they hated and threw popcorn at the television, and slowly, the trivialdetails of their childhoods, until suddenly the things they had thought they could never admit to themselves, let alone say aloud, was easy to do

In their incessant talking, the things that had coh the act of sharing had somehow reater sches They becaave each other brutally honest opinions They ceht have taken years to cultivate, and both Neal and Elena started looking forward to each new day

The surrealistic nature of their relationship was brought on by their frequent and increasingly passionate coupling They had sex at least three ti a chore, it beca else entirely For Neal, it was the first tirown so fa and so he assu, mechanical phase of a sexual relationship, but he realized that familiarity could be a potent stimulant

He knew all the curves and edges of Elena’s body He found hih with her to becoht of her being bored with him in bed He told himself it was sie sense of triumph every time she shuddered beneath him in climax

For Elena, their loveh and sweaty and other tientle She had never been with a man as so unselfish in bed Neal was considerate and attentive; he anticipated what she wanted without her having to tell him

Her pleasure see at him differently Not just as an unexpected friend, but as a true lover She kneas dangerous to look at him and admire his fine features, his prominent bone structure, his lean, hts could lead nowhere, but still, she couldn’t help herself