Page 120 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
Marshall gave him a crooked smile. “Fair enough. Different folks, different strokes.”
“Keep up what you have today, and I might want to show you a different stroke,” Raf said with the grin I had once been struck by. Not because it was more arrogant or humble than a standard smirk, but because it was the first one I’d ever thought of as rakish, despite usually thinking it was a corny term that deserved to stay in romance novels.
“Ugh,” I groaned as Marshall chuckled, smoothing his shirt in what I suspected was an almost nervous gesture.
“I’m sure you would,” Marshall said, and my horror mounted further when I suspected from his tone that he wasn’t necessarily against the idea.
“Oh my God,” I whimpered, covering my face. “I know I deserve to suffer, but does ithaveto be watching you flirt with my dad?”
“Which one?” Raf asked, and I groaned. “Because I would also hit on Marcus if I didn’t think your mom would break my fingers. She bagged herself a good-looking man.”
“He is handsome from what I’ve seen,” Marshall agreed, and I had to wonder if it was punishment for what I’d done, what kind of punishment awaited people who did truly heinous stuff?
“And he looks like Eli the same way I look likeyou,” I told Marshall because I could direct my frustration at him without feeling guilty. “Not as bad, but still!”
“Yeah, and the first time I saw Eli, I thought he’d look good naked,” Raf said, raising a brow. “Now, I’m admitting that partially because it is really funny to watch you dramatically squirm, but it’s also because as a single man, I’m allowed to talk about who I find hot.”
“That never stopped you before,” I muttered, not sure why it stung for him to say he was single. Probably because we’d never talked about breaking up, even though I knew it was coming. He had clearly figured out the same thing or decided he didn’t want to be involved with me after hearing the news.
Damn it, I should have spoken to him before I locked the world away.
“True, but now I don’t have to worry about freaking you out because I was talking about Eli...well, I guess there is just Eli now.”
“I might regret this,” Marshall said. “But, uh...why was I not included in that?”
“Because I already ‘joked’ that a threesome with you and Milo here would be fun.”
“Ah, I see. I’m flattered. Absolutely the fuck not, I have stories that would horrify Milo with how degenerate they are, but absolutely not. I appreciate the compliment, though.”
“This is either hell or a drink-induced nightmare,” I said with a sigh, reaching for the bottle anyway and taking another drink, only for it to be snatched from my hands. “Hey!”
“You’ll live,” Raf said as he settled back into his spot and glanced at Marshall. “You’re driving.”
“Fair enough,” Marshall said as Raf took a drink of the tequila and set the bottle down beside him. “I see the alcohol isn’t on your list of things you don’t want to touch in the room.”
“Shitty liquor is a classic for any person, no matter how former their formerly poor is,” Raf said with a shrug. “Now...you seem decently sober, or at least not so trashed that you can’t understand important shit, but I’ve also never seen you where you were drinking all day.”
“I’m just,” I cut myself off, realizing that if I played drunk, I might get out of having to have whatever ‘talk’ Raf was looking to have with me. I would not be surprised if he was here to chew me out and leave Marshall to play nice cop and make me feel better. “Very fucked up.”
“Well, we know what that means,” Raf said, and I looked around in alarm as he and Marshall got to their feet.
“What the fuck is this?” I asked, warding them off with my hands.
“I think I can get him up, go get the water going,” Raf said as he reached for me.
Oh hellno.
“I’m not that drunk!” I yelped, scrambling across the bed to get away before he actually got hold of me. If years of grappling with Eli had taught me anything, it was that I wasnota good wrestler. I didn’t know how good Raf was, but I knew how lacking I was, and that was more than enough. “I lied, I lied!”
“That’s what I thought,” Raf said with a snort. “Now sit there and get ready to deal with shit, because you’re long overdue.”
“God,” I groaned. “I know I’m an asshole.”
“You are,” Raf said simply, glaring at me. “You’re an ass for how you handled this, you’re an ass for how youdidn’thandle things with me, and you’re an ass for making everyone who cares about you freak out because they don’t know where you are. And when you catch holy hell from your family because you got into a bar fight, then you’re going to shut the fuck up, stand there and let them give you shit because you deserve it.”
“I’m a grown man,” I muttered, knowing I sounded like the very child I was protesting not to be, but I couldn’t help it. “If I want to take a break from everyone and everything, I should be allowed to.”
“You can, but you can’t just disappear without a word after big, devastating news drops. And you sure as shit can’t do it with only a message thrown at Eli that just says ‘I’m alive’ and that you’re going dark,” Raf said, narrowing his eyes. “This is selfish, beyond selfish. It iscruelto people who care about you.”
