Page 116 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“No...like you said, it was up to him to talk to you about it, and he had to do it when he was ready...or until you came pounding on our door.”
“She’s tactful like that,” I said, knowing full well that I was going to find myself with a whole new set of problems. If she was okay with everything and willing to forgive me for dragging my heels longer than I should have, then she was going to end up cozying up to Milo at some point. The idea of the two of them collaborating was enough to send a shiver down my spine. Both liked to get up to trouble, and the two of them working together would result in a lot of trouble for me.
“How...okay are you with this?” Milo asked, and I was relieved that he asked the question. If I had tried, she would have made me twist in the wind before she gave an honest answer. Since she had outright admitted she wasn’t mad at Milo, which meant she was still feeling her normal ‘absolutely adore the little weirdo’ self, she would give him an answer that she’d make me dance and work for.
“With him? No, he’s in the doghouse for a while, and he damn well knows he deserves it.”
“Uh...not what I meant. You guys clearly have your own...ways of dealing with issues, and I’ve learned enough during this conversation to realize I should probably keep my nose out of it if I don’t want to lose it.”
“That is far smarter than most people in the world. I’m proud of you.”
“Thank you?”
“You’re welcome,” she said, all friendly and warm now that she’d had her tantrum. An understandable and completely valid tantrum, but Jesus, sometimes the people in my life exhausted me. “But if you mean, do I have an issue with you two being an item? No. A little weird, with you being brothers and all.”
“Step,” Milo and I both corrected, making Eva jerk back and laugh.
“Whatever, same thing.”
“This from the woman who ‘bagged’ identical twins as she so politely put it,” I said with a glare.
She thought about that for a minute and nodded. “Alright, that’s a fair point. I’d like to rescind my judgment of it being weird, but I’m just one person. It’d be a complete non-issue if you didn’t have that pesky ‘step’ word sitting between you. Though I suppose it’s probably the ‘brother’ that’s really the tricky part, whatever, you know what I mean?”
Milo heaved a sigh. “I do. And we both knew that would be an issue before we got as far as we did.”
“Well, it is what it is. Every relationship comes with difficulties. Yours is just going to come with a lot of ‘ew’ and ‘bro, that’s your brother’ thrown in. But?—”
Milo’s nervousness showed even more as he fidgeted, clearly anxious for her to finish before blurting out, “But...what?”
“But I’m sure the people talking the most shit are the ones who don’t know you two like some of us do,” she said with a shrug, taking another drink. “I mean, I can’t speak for your family, I don’t know them like you do, but I don’t blame you for being nervous. It’s a lot to take in, I’m sure. Of course, there’s also, you know, your fucking boyfriend.”
Milo’s eyes dropped to the carpet. I frowned at her in confusion, while he avoided her gaze out of shame. “Yeah, I-I know. It’s not something I’m proud of.”
“I mean, cheating?” she asked wryly. “Just be glad I’m not him. Eli is in enough shit keeping this from me, I can’t even imagine how pissed Raf must be.”
Milo’s shoulders hunched. “It’s not...cheating. We were...open,areopen.”
“Interesting that you’re correcting it to the present,” she said with a shake of her head, and I frowned at her. Something was...off.
“I don’t know why that’s weird. I haven’t spoken with him to break up yet,” Milo said with a sigh, no longer feeling relieved from her forgiveness and now focusing on his own problems.
One of her brows slowly arched. “I would think that would have taken care of itself.”
“Why?” Milo asked, and Eva stared at him...and something finally clicked.
“Eva,” I began slowly, telling myself I was wrong, that it was a slip of the tongue, a bit of misspeaking. “You said talking.”
“Huh?” Eva asked, looking at me as Milo’s face also scrunched up in confusion.
“You said you were sure people who weretalkingthe most shit are the ones who don’t know Milo and I like you do,” I said, my heart hammering away in my chest. “As in the present tense. Currently, actively talking shit as if they know.”
“What?” Milo asked, his eyes going wide. “That can’t?—”
Eva looked even more confused. “I...well,yeah. How the fuck did you think I found out?”
I stared at her, unable to comprehend or think about anything other than the question she had just asked herself. “I don’t know Eva. How the fuckdidyou find out?”
We both stared at her, Eva’s eyes darting between us in growing confusion. Her gaze shifted to stare at the point between us, confusion locked on her face before slowly easing into a horrified understanding that sent waves of terror and panic crashing through me. That was the face of a woman who had come to understand something that I knew was about to sideswipe the hell out of Milo and me...and that was with me suspecting at least somewhat close to the truth.
