Page 114 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
Eva leaned back, now looking at Milo with a curiosity I knew signified the worst was over. “You love him, huh?”
“I’ve loved him for years,” Milo said steadily. “And he’s loved me.”
“That isnotwhat I was asking, and you know it,” she said, eyes narrowing.
Milo sighed, giving a helpless little flop of his hands. “What do you want me to say, Eva? That I’m in love with him? Because I am. That I’m pretty sure I’ve been in love with him since we were teenagers? That I didn’t say anything because why the hell would I admit that to someone straight, and not just that, but my straight brother, as far as the world was concerned? That he’s always been so much more than a brother to me, and not just because I wanted to sleep with him, or because I wanted to have the chance to be in love with him? That the only reason I never ‘allowed’ myself to be in love with him was that I knew it was a road to making myself miserable and that I needed to let myself love other people instead?”
“So, you tried to love other people while being in love with him?” she asked, and her tone was so damn neutral I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely asking or if she was being skeptical. She had always been free-spirited when it came to sex, but she’d always been...old-fashioned when it came to relationships. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was genuinely skeptical of what he was saying, even though I knew he was speaking the truth.
Milo gave another little gesture. “I mean...yeah. Do we...stop loving our family because we fall in love with someone else? Do our friends stop mattering because we get a boyfriend or girlfriend that we fall for?”
“Those are three different types of love,” she said, raising a brow.
“I know,” he said with a sigh. “And maybe I’m just talking out of my ass, or out of a hope or delusion that I pushed ontomyself years ago, but...I don’t think the heart just magically has a capacity for love, even the romantic kind.”
Eva turned her gaze to me, her lips giving a wry twist. “I’m sure this is absolutely fantastic for you to hear, considering you’re probably trying to date this idiot. Please tell me that you’re actually trying to make something serious out of this and that all this bullshit isn’t just because you discovered a new and interesting way of getting your dick wet.”
“It’s serious,” I told her with a roll of my eyes as Milo’s shoulders tightened and then eased as he followed my lead. As much as I wanted to tell him we were probably in the safe zone and didn’t have to worry about what she would say or do, that was also a good way to get right back into the danger zone. Her temper was cooling down, and her heart was warming up to what we were saying, but being stupid enough to say that out loud when she probably didn’t want either of those things to happen yet was a quick way to shoot ourselves in the foot. “I know I haven’t exactly won myself a lot of trust points right now, but you can trust me. Trust that I’m not just screwing around.”
“Right now, I’m not exactly feeling charitable with the trust,” she said with a sour look.
“Eva,” I said, torn between emphasizing my exasperation at her stubborn refusal to let go of her anger, letting it get the better of her, and trying to plead with her better nature to get her to calm down so she could hear us out.
Her expression twisted before her eyes rolled up to the ceiling and held there. “Fine, fine, I may not feel charitable about whether you’re trustworthy forme. But I know when it comes to Milo, you’re not going to fuck around. That last fight we had wasn’t just because I was pissed; I was being honest. Well, I was pissed and being honest, but whatever.”
Milo’s brow pinched together. “What does she mean? I thought you said your last fight before you broke up wasbecause she accused you of being emotionally unavailable and intentionally keeping her out. You accused her of being dramatic and overly demanding of your space.”
I watched Eva’s frown return before she gave a huff. “Well, that pisses me off. But it’s fair to say that the jury found usbothguilty on those charges. There was a little more than that, though, so apparently I’m not the only one who gets locked out of parts of his life.”
“I don’t need to be involved in every part of his life,” Milo said softly, turning toward me. “But this feels like something that has to do with me.”
“It didn’t involve you, or shouldn’t have,” I told him, frowning at her. “That was an argument between us, about us, your name shouldn’t have come up, which is what I toldsomeoneat the time.”
She rolled her eyes. “Actually, I believe your words were that it was fine if I was a bitch to you, but I didn’t need to be a bitch about Milo.”
“You were being a bitch.”
“And you were being an obstinate prick.”
“Mm, true.”
“Great, you’ve both made peace with the fact that you’re not very nice people when you’re pissed off and frustrated,” Milo said in annoyance. “Congratulations, you’re like everyone else on the planet.”
“Not often I see him get testy,” Eva remarked, looking Milo over in what looked like positive appraisal. If there was one thing Eva could be counted on to enjoy, it was a good dose of bitchy snark from someone, which Milo was starting to radiate.
“It happens,” I said with a sigh when he turned his newfound annoyance on me and narrowed his eyes. Great, I had already caught hell from her, and now if I didn’t start talking soon and explaining, I would catch it from Milo. Why the hell was it thatthe person who was the least prone to losing control of their emotions ended up being the target of those who did? “Look, it was just...something she said during the argument. I don’t remember the exact words, but?—”
I tried to remember because fuck, if I got it wrong, Eva would be all over me with corrections, and it would frustrate Milo even further.
“I told him,” Eva said with a shake of her head, “that it was kind of fucked up that the only person who seemed to have access to his stupid head other than him was you. Everyone else gets locked out, even when they’re supposed to be the girlfriend he loves and talked about the future with. That all there’s ever been for him was you, which is really weird when it’s his brother we’re talking about...and he’s straight.”
“I might or might not have asked if she was jealous of you.”
“And I told him damn right I was, because if it weren’t for the fact that all evidence pointed toward dipshit here being completely hetero, I would have wondered if there was something else going on between you two other than a bromance that still outpaced any real romance.”
Milo cocked his head at me, frowning. “And why wouldn’t you tell me this?”
“Because it was a fight between the two of us, and it wasn’t the first time we’d argued about something like that.”
