Page 137 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“I am as appalled by the suggestion as I am interested,” Dom said with a strangled laugh. “Please?—”
“This family, I swear to God,” Moira muttered.
“I...we, don’t need details,” Marty said quickly, and at least my sarcasm had roused something out of her besides shock. “I’m just trying to understand.”
I could only drain the last of my drink and get up for another one. Only to stop when Mason waved me off and slid over to the bar, clearly not as pissed at me as I’d originally thought, as he began making me another drink. I sat back down and cleared my throat. “If you understand it, you’ll have beaten Milo and me to the punch because I don’t understand how it happened myself.”
Looking back, it was probably the first significant thing in my life that had happened, and I hadn’t bothered to really analyze it, which just...wasn’t me. I had acknowledged that the whole thing was a little odd, especially the part where I found myself not only interested in sex with another man but was enthusiastic about it from the get-go.
“And no, there was never any sign that I should have picked up that this was a long time coming,” I said before the next question could be thrown at me. “I never had any secret feelings for other guys, not even the slightest...twitch. I was completely and absolutely straight as far as I knew, and never had any reason to believe otherwise.”
“I can think of one,” Dom said, glancing at Milo, who, while not raising his head, moved his eyes to show he was paying attention.
I sighed. “Look, I know everyone joked and made comments over the years about us, and ha ha, very funny, look at them being all couple-like together...but it wasn’t like that. Not forme. We were just close, really close. Close in the way that makes people question things, and honestly, I thought it was stupid at the time. Two guys, one of whom is gay, should be able to have a close bond without being called a couple. That isn’t how it worked out, but my point is still valid.”
“You sit there and say you were just friends, but that’s not what you are now,” Dom pointed out, leaning back in his seat. “What changed something you had no idea could change in the first place?”
More or less accidentally sexually touching Milo without acknowledging that’s what I was doing. Followed by surprise that I was actually into touching him. Followed by literally screwing around with him that first day and discovering there was a lot of fun to be had, and though it made no sense, there were no barriers in my mind to prevent me from wanting more.
“Uh,” I said, swallowing hard as I tried to figure out a way to say ‘basically it was sex’ without actually...saying that...in front of my family.
Moira sighed after a few moments silence. “After Milo’s outburst, the band-aid has been yanked off, Eli. Just say you two slept together the first time, and that’s what did it.”
“I was trying to be tactful,” I told her through clenched teeth, leaning over the table to glare at her.
She smirked. “How do you think Mason and I figured it out the first time? And apparently Jace, for that matter. Sometimes you have to be thrown into the deep end to figure out that, hey, not only do I like swimming, but I might be pretty good at this.”
It wasn’t the worst metaphor I’d ever heard, and I grunted to signify I understood what she meant. “Sure, fine, go with that...I guess. And I just want to say, everyone knows thatthingsjust happen around Milo. His very existence seems to summon the weird, wacky, crazy, and impossible. And I want to point out that every single one of you has made comments over the years, evenArlo, though less invasive...and less of a jackass than a couple of you.”
No one needed to look at Dom and Mason; they knew I meant them.
“Now, hold on a second,” Mason began, looking around curiously. “Am I allowed to speak now? Or am I still in time out?”
“Time out is for children. Are you admitting you were being childish?” Moira asked smugly.
“I’m admitting I’m being treated like a child, yes,” he said with a grin. “Not everyone can have a stick jammed up their ass like you, my dear sweet, loving, compassionate, warm, and cuddly sister.”
“If I had a stick lodged up there, I would have taken it out years ago to beat you into a coma.”
“Aw, not dead?”
“Look here, asshole, I told you years ago, if I have to be stuck on this miserable ball of spinning dirt, then so do you. You can off yourself when I die first from the heart attack this family is going to give me one day, but not a second sooner.”
He clicked his tongue, cocking his head. “And people say we don’t act like the close-twin cliché everyone expects. You really do love me.”
Moira sighed. “I’d ask Jace to help me shut you up, but considering how he used to shut me up, I don’t want to encourage him. Knowing it happens is hell enough without my instigating it.”
Mason made a face, as the reminder that Jace had once been with Moira and was now with him was one of the few things that could make Mason genuinely uncomfortable, which was tragic, really, not because he was literally the only person who cared about it, but because it was now a card I couldn’t use quite as freely. If I pointed out that he was sleeping with his twin’s ex, hewould point out that I was sleeping with my stepbrother. Sure, neither of us was doing anything wrong technically, but there was a great deal of discomfort attached to the whole thing, and he and I would be at a stalemate forever.
“Damn, Jace,” Dom laughed. “Why is it whenever anyone takes a shot at Mason, you’re always caught in the crossfire?”
“Because you need a bomb to get through his thick head,” Jace grumbled. “Anyone nearby is going to get some splash damage. And I’m crazy and stupid enough to choose to be close to him.”
“You love me,” Mason said, not smugly, but a statement of fact. Which was given more weight when Jace shot him a dirty look and turned away as Mason arched a brow, and his cheeks began to color. They were, by far, thestrangestcouple I had ever witnessed, yet I’d be hard-pressed to deny it worked for them. They irritated the piss out of each other, and yet the more time went on, the more I suspected they were giant, cuddly, gay teddy bears behind closed doors.
Marcus sighed. “Mason? Didn’t you have something to say before you decided to antagonize people...again?”
Mason winked at him. “As a matter of fact, dear stepfather, I do indeed. See, I have an issue with what Eli said before I spoke up. Or should I say, the way he said it.”
