Page 140 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“There it is,” Dom said, obvious in how he scooted his chair closer to me.
“Every single one of them...except maybe Arlo,” I said, because I was done being in the spotlight, let someone else take the heat for a while.
“Really? Every single one of you?” Marty demanded. “And no one thought to tell me?”
“It wasn’t our business to tell,” Arlo said, and I pinched my nose because, of course, Arlo knew too. The guy didn’t even use social media, and yet he knew. That told me just how far-reaching that goddamn video was. “It wasn’t our business to know until they wanted to tell us, but the world is full of cruel people, and the internet is their favorite weapon.”
The way Marty’s anger deflated, I thought perhaps everyone else had been smart enough to let Arlo do the talking. The guy could be weird and morbid, but his logic and reason were impeccable whenever he decided to speak.
“Is that what made you disappear off the face of the Earth?” Dad asked.
Milo squirmed in his seat. “Yes. We...found out what was going on from Eli’s ex, and she showed us the original video.”
“Let me see that video,” Marty said, leaning forward.
“No!” everyone but Arlo and Dad exclaimed loudly, making Marty and Dad jerk back in surprise.
“OhGod,” Milo groaned when he realized. “They’ve all seen it.”
“At least it didn’t show anything important,” I muttered, feeling my face warm.
“Showed more than any of us wanted to see,” Dom said and smirked when I shot him not one, but two birds.
“Okay, I don’t want to see the video then,” Marty said, gesturing toward Milo. “Go on.”
“I...freaked out...okay fine, I fucked up and completely flew the coop, alright? Both Eli and I were freaking out, and I was the one who bailed because I couldn’t deal, and I left him to deal with everyone freaking out on him, while I should have been there. Instead, he had to have Raf and Marshall come and get me to make fucking sense again.”
Mason stared at me. “You sent his ex after him?”
“I didn’t send his ex after anyone. Raf volunteered.”
“When did Raf find out?”
“About us? Uh, about the same time everyone else did.”
“So...he finds out Milo cheated on him and?—”
“I didn’t cheat!” Milo protested hotly. “I did some fucked up shit recently, but I didn’t cheat!”
“He didn’t,” I promised them. “I’m not going to go into detail about his and Raf’s relationship, but he didn’t break any relationship rules.”
“Still...he volunteered to go after Milo for you?”
“Yes,” Milo said with a grumble. “Because Raf is a good guy who cares, and he wanted to help. He’s an idiot for doing that for us, forme, but he did. Both he and Marshall came for me and helped me. Otherwise, I might still be in that shitty motel room, drinking myself stupid and feeling sorry for myself.”
The part about Marshall was emphatic and aimed directly at Marty, who looked up and scowled at the mention of the name. Poor Marshall did not seem to enjoy the spotlight any more than I did when the whole family turned and looked at him in curiosity.
There was silence, and then Dad nudged Marty, giving her a frown. She glared at him before letting out the most indignant and offended huff I’d ever heard. She cleared her throat. “Marshall?”
“Yes?” he responded, probably trying not to sound like he was expecting a gunshot, but you could hear the wariness in his voice.
“Thank you for helping my sons and talking sense into one of them,” she said, and although it sounded pained, I had to give her credit; she sounded like she meant it.
“Yes,” Dad said, sounding amused. “Thank you for helping our sons, including yours.”
Marty looked like she’d swallowed a lemon dipped in sour powder but said nothing. It was an absurdly lovely gesture on my dad’s part, not only thanking Marshall for what he’d done but also specifying that Milo was also Marshall’s son, even if the man had missed out on so many years. Perhaps it could, and was even meant to be taken as an acknowledgment that Marshall would stick around in Milo’s life instead of disappearing again.
“Of course,” Marshall said stiffly. I felt Milo shift next to me and smiled when I saw him take Marshall’s hand, smiling when Marshall gave him an uncertain, wobbly smile.
