Page 32 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“Your mom made you do housekeeping as a punishment?”
“Oh yeah. When you were on punishment housekeeping duty, you got the worst rooms to clean,” I said with a smirk. “Weird how that worked out, huh?”
“I’m sure it was a coincidence,” Marshall said with a snort. “But it sounds like Marcus wasn’t quite as upset about it.”
“He wasn’t like...jumping for joy, but he wasn’t as mad, that’s for sure,” I said with a shrug. “I think part of him was happy Eli was willing to defend Mom. Maybe it’s a guy thing, or maybe he was reminded how much Eli didn’t like Mom early on, and it was a reminder that things had changed.”
“Could be both, or it could be...well, it was probably good to know that his son was willing to fight for something he believed in. Plenty of people act like they’re willing to fight, but when the time comes, they find out they don’t have claws or fangs. Everyone learned that Eli has both that day, but he doesn’t use them.”
“He sure did that day.”
“Well, sure, but since then?”
“Nah, he’s been a good boy.”
“I bet there’s been plenty of times he wanted to use them, though. But chose not to. Someone capable of violence gets to choose if they’re a good person or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“Try to bust up a car with your bare hands, and you’ll find out real fast that it’s not easy. But if you have a bat? You can bust that thing up good. More people than you think are the ones with bare fists, but people like Eli are the ones with a bat. But the first type of person can’t choose not to bust up the car, because they don’t have what’s needed. People like Eli do, though, but choose not to. Maybe because they don’t want to be that person, or maybe because they know the damage and hurt that can cause and don’t want to add that sort of thing to the world.”
“Ohhhh, I see,” I said, the idea delighting me as it trickled through my brain with all its implications. “It’s easy to call yourself a good person when you can’t do real harm.”
“Exactly. And I think highly of people like Eli, who know they have violence in them but keep it under control. They choose every day, or at least every time something pisses them off, not to add that kind of pain and violence to the world. And there might come a day when he and maybe you are glad he has that kind of potential.”
The idea was interesting, and I couldn’t help but lean forward. “Sounds like you know something about that.”
“I might,” he said with a smile. “And maybe I could tell you a thing or two if you want.”
“Oh God, do I ever.”
“Got anything planned for the day?”
“Not really,” I said with a shrug. Embarrassment kept me from admitting I had cleared my entire day and most of tomorrow. I didn’t know how our meeting was going to go. Having time meant I could mentally recover if it was bad, and if it went well, I would have plenty of time to spend with him. “Got something in mind?”
“How about a refill and a couple of extra things?” he asked, eyeing my glass.
Oh. He wanted to have actual drinks with me then. Alright, I was good with that. “Sure.”
“Let me think,” he said, frowning as he looked over my face. “Alright, I think I know.”
“Know what?”
“You’ll see, and I’ll get my answer.”
And with that mysterious statement, he slid from the booth, taking our glasses to the bar. I was still a little confused, but I decided he was right. I’d find out eventually. It meant I probably had a few minutes while he waited for the bartender, and Ipicked up my phone. I knew it was probably a good idea to call Raf first with the news; he was my boyfriend after all. Yet my first instinct was to call Eli, who I knew would be patiently waiting to hear from me with an update.
Of course, I was less likely to catch shit from Eli if I took my time telling him, he was used to how distracted I could get, how caught up I could be with things, that I forgot about the rest of the world. Raf, though...well, sometimes he didn’t really get it, and as busy as he was, he didn’t get distracted like I did; he was just plain busy. Could I be blamed if it was Eli, who I’d known since we were in single digits, that I turned to when something big was happening in my life? Well, your partner was supposed to be the person you called when big things happened too.
Taking a breath, I opened my phone and decided that whoever had texted me back was the one I would call first. If they’d both texted, I would go with whoever’s name was first. And if that person didn’t answer, I’d call the other.
Both had texted me back, but Raf's name was first. I tried not to feel too disappointed, especially because it brought up a well of guilt that I wasn’t excited to message my boyfriend. The only way to deal with the guilt was to push aside the disappointment and open the message. I meant to hit the phone button at the top and stopped when I realized he’d sent a picture. It was another nude, and I felt my heart race.
Sure, it wasn’t exactly original as nudes went, but that didn’t matter. I was nowhere near a virtuous soul, and quite frankly, I was easily turned on; I could admit that. Add whether there was anything long-term in the relationship between Raf and me; the man was good-looking, especially naked.
Smirking, I hit the button and let it ring. It rang for long enough. I huffed and began to pull it away when his deep, rumbling voice answered. “And how long until I see just how you reacted to my text?”
I chuckled. “Not sure, I’m still here.”
