Page 135 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“Stop,” Dom said, but he was trying to cover his mouth to hide the laugh and was doing a horrible job.
And Dom.
“Both of you quit,” Moira ground out. “Leave them alone.”
Them? Okay, and Moira knew too.
Dad leaned over to Marty and loudly whispered. “You ever feel like something is going on and you’re the odd man out?”
“We’ve raised six children who keep a certain level of closeness that any parent would want them to have, we’ve spent years being the odd ones out,” Marty told him, squinting.
“Can we...save talk about my personal life for after dinner?” Milo asked, his eyes bouncing nervously around the people at the table. “I’d like to enjoy my food.”
“Yes,” Arlo agreed. “Personal talk is for dessert. Or after dinner drinks.”
So Marty and Dad didn’t know, and...Arlo probably didn’t either, but he was and would forever remain the hardest sibling to read. He looked completely unbothered as he began scoping out a steaming pile of mashed potatoes and grabbing some chopped chives to sprinkle on top. Meanwhile, Dom was busy cutting his meat while shoving pieces into his mouth in a way that did not hide his laughter, and Mason kept shooting looks to our end of the table until Moira hissed, and Mason jumped right after a slight jerk from Jace.
“Someone please pass me the Brussels sprouts before I commit a crime at the dinner table,” I said in a tired voice. I loved my siblings and would do anything for them, but sometimes they really were assholes.
The next few minutes were filled with the sound of silverware scraping against plates and bowls as everyone got their food and began eating. Marty’s eyes couldn’t decide whether to glare at Marshall or glance down the table toward Milo. I could practically see the wheels in her head turning as she tried to connect the dots of Marshall’s appearance, Milo’s recent disappearance, and now the news that Milo was no longer with Raf. That some of her kids were in the know was probably not helping.
“Do I at least get to ask what happened to your face?” she asked after a lull in conversation.
Milo sighed, and I waited to see what he would go with. “I got stupidly drunk and got into a fight with someone at a bar.”
Marty was aghast. “Milo!”
“Did you win?” Dom asked.
“Dominic!”
“What? I’m a professional fighter, Mom. That’s a totally normal question for me to ask.”
“Well, I hope you’re keeping your fighting to the ring and not some random bar!”
“You don’t know that, and for obvious reasons, I wouldn’t tell you if I was.”
“I have no idea if I won,” Milo said with a sigh, poking at the last bits of meat on his plate. “I was...pretty drunk.”
“Oh, Milo,” Marty sighed heavily. “That is not like you. Disappearing on everyone, even poor Eli, getting drunk and fighting?”
“I can promise you, it definitely wasn’t on my bingo card for the year,” Milo said, stuffing the last bit of meat into his mouth. “Shit happens, Mom.”
“And where were you?” Marty asked me, and I frowned at the tone of accusation. It wasn’t like people didn’t treat me like I was Milo’s keeper, but that didn’t stop it being irritating. As he had pointed out more than once, he was an adult who could take care of himself just fine without needing me to follow behind him. Plus, it wasn’t like I didn’t have my own life. We were close, but I wasn’t his keeper, and neither of us wanted me to be his keeper.
“Looking for him,” I said, because there was no answer that wouldn’t involve more questions. Evading wasn’t going to help when Milo and I came here to lay everything out for the family. If I avoided answering her question honestly, she would have thirty more ready until we were left with little room but the truth.
Marty tossed that around in her head for a while. “It’s just...strange. You two have never needed time apart before, but suddenly Milo disappears for days, and even you don’t know where he’s at?”
“Mom, he knew,” Moira said with a sigh.
“How do you know he knew?”
“Because he told me he knew where Milo was and that he was going to leave him alone for a little while. Something all of us would expect if we had to take some time to ourselves.”
“Fine, butwhydid he need time from everyone? Especially Eli?”
“There have been some...developments,” I said, choosing my words carefully and glancing at Milo, who was staring at his plate, not moving. “Things we didn’t see coming that...changed a lot for us.”
