Page 145 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“I do...and I don’t.” He laughed, and I rolled my eyes.
He was teasing me, which meant my job here had been accomplished. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to get back before?—”
The door crashed open, and we spun, Eli leaping back from me with a cry of alarm. What should have been a vision of white lace was instead a horrifying visage of rage in a beautiful dress.
“Whatdo you two think you’re doing?” Eva raged. “You were supposed to stay away from each other so my goddamn best man could get through this ceremony without getting groped!”
“We were hugging,” I protested because hey, as far as things looked, that’s what we were doing. She didn’t need to know what had happened moments before...and if we wanted to live, then we didn’t want her to know.
“I am getting married in...twenty minutes, and you two took a snuggle break?” she demanded, her eyes wide and blazing with a fire that made me really, really pity her soon-to-be husband. Then again, I’d watched him whisper to her quietly during one of her rages and turn her into a soft, gooey puddle of kittens andpuppies. A puddle that would probably rip my skull out through my asshole if I were stupid enough to comment on its puddle status...but still.
“Hey,” Eli told her with a frown. “Look at us. Our hair is perfect...or his is as good as it ever gets. Our clothes are unwrinkled, not astainto be found. Nothing.”
“Exactly,” I assured her, thinking there were no stains because I hadn’t wasted a drop, but again, not something I was going to mention. I liked living. “C’mon, Eva. I was just making sure he was okay, you know how wound up he gets when something is important to him, and your wedding definitely counts.”
She continued to glower, but I thought maybe her fangs were retracting. “Fine.But Milo, you need to get your ass out there with the rest of the bridal party, and Eli? Stay here, I need to freak out. You have three minutes, hear me? Three minutes!”
I winced when the door slammed as she left, and I turned to him. “And that wasn’t her freaking out?”
He chuckled. “Personally, I think she’s doing great. No one’s bled yet.”
“Yet,” I emphasized.
Eli smiled, smoothing my collar and giving me another kiss. “We should probably get moving before she turns three minutes into one.”
“I guess,” I said, sidling closer and squeezing his waist. “You, me, a secluded spot at the reception?”
“I suppose that’s only fair after what you just did,” he smirked. “I wonder if we’ll manage to get through our own wedding without needing to get naked.”
I kissed him and stepped back with a grin. “I guess we’ll find out next year.”
He froze. “What?”
“Did I stutter?”
“How did...who told you?”
I frowned. “Told me what?”
He squinted. “Told you I was going to propose!”
“You were going to propose?” I asked in shock, my heart thumping furiously.
“I...then why did you?” He straightened, his eyes lighting with realization. “Fucking hell, Milo?”
“What?”
“Was that your version of proposing to me?”
“Sort of, the ring was going to happen after we left, or maybe in the morning.”
“You...that is the most?—”
My eyes stung. “You were going to propose?”
“Yes!” he groaned. “This weekend. I had a whole...thing planned, and then you shot that in the foot by doing your not proposal.”
“I didn’t know how else to say it,” I admitted sheepishly.
