Page 39 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“Milo.”
“Whaaat?”
“Quit whining at me.”
“Rude.”
I sighed heavily, rolling my eyes again. My annoyance at being scared awake and at his state was disappearing. God save me, but I couldn’t help but find drunk Milo endearing. He was stupid as hell for getting so drunk, but it seemed like he’d been having a good night. When Milo was having a good time, he didn’t pay attention to how much he was drinking, and unless someone was there to remind him, he could go overboard. Plus, he’d been so stupidly nervous to meet his dad that I could see him starting with a few drinks to calm his nerves, and then if it went well, which it probably had, he got rolling on more drinks to enjoy himself.
“Were you out this whole time with your dad?” I wondered, trying to keep him from drifting off since he still hadn’t opened his eyes.
“Who?”
“Your dad. Marshall?”
“Oh! Yeah! God, we had a...had a blaaassst.”
“Clearly.”
There was no hope for me because I found this shit cute. It wasn’t good, but it was understandable, and a sufficiently drunk Milo was like a half-trained puppy; he was doing his best but kept forgetting what the best was. He differed from the puppy in that he wasn’t likely to piss on the rug. Not likely, but it had happened once before, and he was going to live that incident down about the same time as the death of the universe.
“Don’t you dare pass out,” I told him, reaching down to pat his face with enough force to jiggle his head slightly. “Because I know your ass needs to take a piss.”
“Yeah, but I’m comfy,” he grumbled, and I sighed when he rolled over, using my shoe as a pillow.
“Absolutely not, get up,” I snorted, pulling my shoe out from under his head.
“Rude,” he groaned, rolling onto his back in a starfish pose.
I waited a few seconds before growling and poking his head with my bare foot. “Milo!”
His eyes flashed open in annoyance, then his brow furrowed as he peered up at me. I raised a brow, and his face split in a wide grin. “Hi!”
“Hello,” I said in amusement. “Are you conscious now?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, delighted as he awkwardly twisted his arm around himself to push up into a sitting position. “How long have you been there? I’ve got soooo much shit to tell you.”
And if I was tempted to stay annoyed with him, it would have been destroyed by how delighted he was to see me while he was drunk off his ass. Maybe I was just a sucker for him, but I would challenge anyone to look into his dopey as fuck face, see how overjoyed he was to see them, and not be charmed by it.
“Well, why don’t you tell me about it when you’re not sprawled in our entryway like the world’s ugliest rug?” I asked him.
“I’m not an ugly rug,” he snickered as he tried to push himself up. His arms and legs were on two different frequencies, sprawling everywhere. Well, and his cast wasn’t exactly helping. Even sober, he wasn’t careful with that arm, but drunk? The damn thing was flying all over the place, and if I didn’t step in to help, it would be a miracle if he didn’t injure it again.
With another roll of my eyes, I bent down, hooked an arm under his armpit, and helped him until he got his legs under him and could get to his feet. I held him as I eased back, ensuring he could stand before stepping back completely. Triumph flashed over his face before creasing into a frown. “I have to pee.”
“Kind of figured you did,” I said with a shake of my head. “You do remember where it is, right?”
He laughed. “C’mon, I only pissed in the hallway that one time.”
“Once was enough. I can lead you to the bathroom if need be.”
He snorted as he stumbled past me, realized how his legs were supposed to work, and made his way down the hallway. “What, you wanna hold it for me too?”
The thought sent an odd zing through me. “What, do you want me to? Or do you need me to?”
Milo gave a little chuckle, and I watched as he ran his hand along the wall, not quite leaning against it to keep steady but using it as a guide. “Temptiiiiing.”
Good Lord, he was making dirty jokes at my expense? That was a whole new level of drunk for him. “Get your drunk ass in there and quit trying to be funny.”
