After what Myles had done the day before in the library, he knew George would take charge overnight, and he thoroughly had. Sex was the best distraction and the one thing they weren’t getting nearly enough of. When they talked about anything but Claire, bitterness and hurt boiled up. Myles wanted to clear the air, but George had built walls around his heart. One by one, Myles was pulling down the walls between them and George hadn’t noticed. George caring about Myles’ safety had knocked down a whole layer as far as the sailor was concerned. It’d been so long since anyone had cared where Myles was or if he was safe, that it felt wonderful. George could claim it was about Claire, but the men knew each other too well. The navy kept tabs on its crew, true, but in war—death was a reality. Getting too attached to friends onboard only made it harder in battle. Myles received the odd letter from Claire, but mail delivery was not very reliable. Myles’ father and brother only wrote to remind him of their rise in Society and his sickness wouldn’t be tolerated.
