Page 28 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“No, I uh, was just texting my boyfriend,” I said and then blinked. “Wait, uh?—”
“It’s okay,” he said with a small smile. “I kind of already knew. But even if I didn’t... Well, I wasn’t going to say much. That kind of thing doesn’t bother me.”
“Oh...that’s good,” I said. “I mean, I wouldn’t have cared if you cared, but it’s nice not to have to deal with that.”
“You wouldn’t?”
“What?”
“Care if I cared?”
“I mean, no. I don’t know you, so I won’t get too caught up in what you like and don’t like about me. But I’m definitely not going to give a shit about if you have a problem because I like dick.”
He blinked, and for a moment I thought I might have pushed it too far, but a startled laugh burst out of his lips and he eased back into his seat. “Alright, that’s fair...on both counts. I guess I forget that kids nowadays aren’t as worried about being out.”
“I’m trying to figure out if you think that’s a good thing or not,” I admitted, squinting at him.
“My best friend was gay,” he told me, eyes softening slightly. “So no, I’m not bothered at all.”
“Was?” I asked.
“Heh, everyone likes to think the AIDS crisis was just a Reagan-era thing, but it went well into the Bush era too,” he said with a sad smile.
“Oh,” I said, staring down at the table. “I uh...forgot about that.”
“It’s alright,” he said quickly, sitting up and laying his arms on the table, clasping the beer in front of him. “It was...a long time ago. And it’s good that you don’t have to worry about that. Does, uh...but you have a boyfriend?”
“Yeah,” I said, hoping my relief at the topic change wasn’t obvious. “We’ve only been together for a few months, so it’s not like...super serious, but yeah.”
“Really?” he asked, sounding surprised. “You guys seemed to be pretty close from what I saw.”
Confused, I stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh. “Oh...uh, no. The guy you saw me with was Eli, not my boyfriend.”
“Oh...I mean, I kind of wondered if...he...well then, I guess I read that wrong,” he said with a nervous laugh.
“You wouldn’t be the first,” I told him. “He’s my stepbrother.”
Marshall’s eyes went even wider. “Oh wow! When I get it wrong, Ireallyget it wrong, don’t I?”
I laughed at the color rushing to his cheeks. “Don’t feel bad. I wasn’t kidding when I said you wouldn’t be the first. But I have to admit, most people don’t make that leap after only seeing us spend...maybe a few minutes around each other.”
“Hmm,” he said, taking a deep drink. “I don’t know. It was the feeling I got from you two. Intimate, I guess. But if you’ve been brothers long enough, and you’re close, that would do it.”
“Stepbrothers,” I corrected automatically, trying not to wince. It was a correction I’d done so many times without thinking, and I couldn’t help but hear how suspicious it sounded. God, we’d known each other since we were in single digits, of course, I should think of him as my brother. I didn’t need to tell someone my secret to know it was because I felt guilty. After all, my feelings for him were most definitely not brotherly. My only consolation was that Eli did the same thing, and I was confident he was not suffering from the same conflicted feelings.
Which was probably a good thing. It would have been rough if he’d grown up to be even a little interested in guys. That would have fed the hungry little part of me that craved to touch him in ways that it hoped would make Eli’s toes curl and his eyes roll up. But if he had some sexual attraction toward me? Man, Iwasn’t known for my impulse control as it was. I knew full well that my self-control would never pass that particular test.
I cleared my throat, pushing the thoughts away as I’d done dozens, if not hundreds, of times. “My mom and his dad married when we were pretty little.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Marcus, right?”
I blinked. “Oh...I guess you’ve done your homework.”
“Not much,” he said with a shrug. “Just enough to know she got married and had my...had you. I already knew about Moira and Mason.”
“I guess you would,” I said thoughtfully. “How did you find out about me?”
He took his phone from his pocket, setting it on the table. “You’ve got...quite the following.”
