Page 112 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“Kind of already feels like it’s just shy of too much,” Milo admitted, his shoulders sagging. “There’s so many things to cover, to worry about, and I’m terrified that there’s...something hanging over us. A blade we can’t see until it’s down around our necks, and then what?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, though I hated hearing the words from my lips. It wasn’t like I had a choice but to be honest. I couldn’t hide from Milo like that, not just because he knew me too well for me to pull any wool over his eyes, but because...itwas Milo. “I had a whole lot of freaking out happening on my way back to the apartment. All that stress and guilt and...everything was building up, and it made me think...well, a bunch of weird, wild, and kind of stupid shit.”
“Stuff like people being able to read your mind and know?”
“Uh...can’t say that was one of them. Not the mind-reading part, but definitely that they knew more than I wanted them to.”
“Oh...well, mine keeps coming up as mind-reading.”
“You’re worried about...mind readers?”
“No! Well, notreally. Just...find myself thinking about everything that’s going on and what we might have to deal with, and then my brain will be like, hey, what if there are mind readers? Now they know, and you just told them.”
“I...that sounds like a very you thing to worry about, no offense.”
“It does,” he said with a laugh, as nervous as he was relieved. “But I guess it comes down to the same thing, doesn’t it? The fear is that people have already figured us out, and we’re just too stupid to realize it. Even made me want to call people up and start blabbing about it.”
“Rip the bandage off,” I said, reaching out, taking his arm, and squeezing it. “Not exactly a strange thought. Kind of expected. It builds up inside you, and there must be a way to get it out, right? Might as well go for the most direct way possible.”
“Yeah,” he said, looking up at me hopefully. “We’re stuck in this shit together, neither of us knowing what the hell we’re going to do and both freaked out by it.”
“That pretty much sums it up. Stuck in the boat together, and I don’t know if we’re supposed to prepare for a storm, make sure there’s no leaks, row for shore, row for open water, or just hunker down and hope everything passes us by.”
“Which should freak me out more than it does, which is saying something because I’m pretty damn freaked out. But...Iguess it’s nice to know I’m not alone. Especially because it meansyouare in the boat with me.”
“I’m not sure I’m feeling quite that sentimental, but if there’s anyone I’d rather be lost at sea with, literal or otherwise, it’s you.”
“Very comforting.” He chuckled and then stiffened when a knock came at the door. “That must be the food. I didn’t realize they would pound on the door like the police. Jesus, what kind of rush is the guy in?”
“I...don’t think that’s the food,” I said slowly as the harsh knocking became a pounding and I felt my phone buzz in my pocket.
From the other side of the door came a familiar, harsh voice. “Correct! Now let me in you fucking idiots. I have several bones to pick with you, and I’m still deciding where I want to start!”
“Eva?” Milo asked in confusion.
“And I have your food; they left it outside your door.”
“Wonderful,” I muttered. “I thought I had more time.”
“More time for what?” Milo asked as Eva gave an impatient growl from the other side of the door.
I knew our time to let her in before she started truly trying to get in was running out, and I walked to the door with a scowl. “She’s known something was going on with me and wanted to talk, and I kept putting her off. I talked a little with her, and I thought I was going to be given until the weekend to talk about this.”
The last was said between clenched teeth and extra emphasis so Eva would know I was talking about her as I opened the door. Her hair was tied into a messy bun that looked ready to fly away at a moment’s notice as she stomped into the apartment, barreling right past me with a bump of her shoulder that might have been intentional, but I knew it wasn’t. Eva had one hell ofa temper when she got worked up, and something like that was just a byproduct rather than intentional.
“Well, that was before you idiots decided to be...well, fucking idiots,” she said, shoving the box of food into Milo’s hands. “I expect you to be an idiot, but you, Eli? Come on, you have to be smart.”
I blinked. “Are you going to tell me what the hell you’re going on about, or am I supposed to play one of your lame ass guessing games again? You promised you wouldn’t do this shit anymore.”
“Andyoutold me that if you were seeing someone else, you’d tell me,” she said with a glare at Milo as she finished.
Color drained from Milo’s face, and I tensed. I would have to be just as stupid as Eva was making me out to be, not to understand what she was getting at. I could also see the panic behind Milo’s eyes, and I sighed, knowing that if I didn’t get more out of Eva than her angry, stilted words, we would have her foaming at the mouth and Milo completely losing his mind. There was no way in hell I was going to have the mental fortitude to deal with both problems.
“Eva,” I began, stepping around her to take the food from Milo before he dropped it. I kept her in sight as I leaned around the corner into the kitchen and dropped the food onto the counter, wondering when we would get a chance to dig in. “Please start making sense, you’re going to give Milo a heart attack and me a stroke.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’m talking about the fact that you two are fucking and have been for who knows how long,” she growled, jamming her fists against her hip and glaring at us.
“I need to take a seat,” Milo muttered, going over to the recliner and sitting down hard on the arm.
