Page 14 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“I’m thinking of when you played games that didn’t involve other people.”
“Well, that player was an idiot too.”
I set my glass at the back of the bar so Roland could grab it and slid a five next to it. Just because the family got drinks for free didn’t mean the man didn’t deserve a tip, paid extremely well by the hotel or not. I leaned over, hugged Marcus, and gave a peck on the cheek to my mom. “You two kids behave.”
“How is he going to tellusto behave?” my mother asked with a snort.
“Probably because he knows what his mother is like,” Marcus answered, and I rolled my eyes when I heard her giving him another swat.
I left the bar to cross the lobby, smiling when I saw Moira bent over the front desk, talking to the woman working there. She saw me, then narrowed her brow, which told me she had something on her mind, which, considering the way her eyes lingered on my cast a little too long, I had a good idea what it was. Shaking my head, I made the sign of the cross because no, thank you, I did not need another lecture today. She scowled, and I grinned, picking up my pace when it looked like she mightcome after me. The problem was that she could move quickly even in heels, and I wasn’t near enough to the door to get away if she was determined, unless I was willing to break into a full sprint.
Which I absolutely was, dignity be damned.
Thankfully, a couple of loud voices broke through the noise. Elation shot through me as Jace and Mason came through the main doors, and from the sounds of it, Mason was irritating the living crap out of Jace. I glanced over my shoulder to see Moira come around the corner of the desk and stop with an exasperated look as they got closer to me.
“I’m just saying, not everything needs your stupid attempts at humor,” Jace growled, glaring daggers at Mason.
“And I’m saying that having a sense of humor once in a while wouldn’t actually kill you,” Mason said, winking at me when he spotted me. “Isn’t that right?”
“Leave me out of your foreplay, thank you very much,” I told him with a shake of my head.
Jace came to a stop, staring at me. “What did you say?”
Jace was abigguy. I was pretty tall, which meant that having a few inches was significant, but the man was built like he had a bear somewhere in his ancestral line. He’d been a cop for years, and I couldn’t begin to imagine what kind of terror he instilled in the people he’d busted. The thing was, I had seen the way he had hearts in his eyes when he looked at Mason. It was hard to be intimidated by a man who was clearly over the moon about one of the most frustrating people on the planet, so he wasn’t really going to unnerve me all that much.
I shrugged. “Maybe you want to pretend that this bickering you two do is anything but foreplay, but I’m not going to give in to your delusions.”
“What is wrong with this family?” Jace demanded, stomping off toward Moira, who looked as thrilled as he did.
“I don’t think he has enough time for the list of things wrong with all of us,” Mason said with a snort. “Heading out?”
“Yeah, going home,” I said, glancing at Jace. “Is this foreplay, or are you being an asshole?”
“Foreplay.”
“You guys are so weird. Why can’t you flirt like normal people?”
“Because it works for us. Probably not going to do great things for his blood pressure, but the sex is great.”
Anyone else in the family would have been disgusted to hear that from him, but I took it in stride. Mason and I were the only family who weren’t squeamish about that sort of thing. Mason was probably just...well, Mason, it was hard to faze him with most things, and so far the only people who could get under his skin were Moira and, as of the past year, Jace. I was perfectly fine with the idea of my family being sexual creatures, not just my siblings or my parents. It was hard for most people, but I had long since made peace with the fact that I was always going to be an oddball. Then again, our family didn’t exactly produce people who weren’t weird as hell.
“You know I have to ask,” I began, glancing over at Moira and Jace, chatting quietly at the desk. The lobby was practically empty since people were either in their rooms, at the bar, or out in the city. I glanced back at Mason with a meaningful look and held my hands out, facing each other and starting to spread them. Mason stared as I continued spreading them apart. At first, I thought he didn’t understand what I was trying to get across. Then he gave a little twitch of his nose when I was getting ready to stop, and my eyes widened, spreading them even further.
Then he gave a thoughtful expression and nodded, and I looked down at the gap between my palms and muttered. “Jesus Christ and...?” He cocked his head and held up his hand to showa circle with his fingers and thumb, and my hands dropped to my side in a mixture of horror and...well, being downright impressed. “Good God, is a future relying on a colostomy bag really worth it? Because goddamnI know you two aren’t gentle.”
He grinned. “Oh, it’s definitely worth it.”
Jesus, that explained Moira’s comment to Eli the other day. Length was one thing, but girthy too? Sheesh.
“Whatare you talking about in my lobby?” Moira called out in irritation.
“The aerodynamics of bees in flight,” I called back, and she gave me a dirty look, which she turned on Jace when he snorted.
“What?” he protested loudly. “That was funnier than anything Mason has said in the past week.”
“It’s so cute how hard he tries to deny that he likes me,” Mason chuckled. “So, what’d you do to your arm? One of those good ideas of yours with really shitty execution?”
“The plan was a good one with Eli’s help, but we forgot to account for what would happen at the end of the trick. Turns out that physics is a cruel and unforgiving mistress.”
