Page 72 of Stepbrothers with Benefits
“And that I have every intention of having more sex with you?”
“Noted and adding a notation to the bottom of how fucking exciting that is.”
“And that I’m definitely spending the night here?”
“Fuck, yes, you are.”
“Good.”
With that, he flopped onto the bed next to me, and I instinctively rolled to wrap my arm around his waist and lay my head on his chest. It wasn’t the first time we’d cuddled in bed, but this was different. Not just because he was right andI had his cum inside me after he’d fucked me good and hard, but because our cuddling had always been intimate, but...not this kind. There had been comfort and security when I touched him, but now there was a new, warm edge to it, a gentle sort of happiness that made me want to kick my feet like an idiot, curl up into the source of that comfort and never let go.
It was the first step to loving someone, which was kind of funny because I already loved him, with what I had thought was all my heart. It might still be all my heart, but now there was a new tone to it, a different shade that was growing. Before all this, I would have been confused how anyone couldn’t fall in love with someone like Eli, but now I realized that for all my previous feelings toward him, they were nothing compared to what was forming in the depths of my heart.
Then his arm wrapped around my shoulder and pulled me tight, and I realized I could hear his heartbeat thumping steadily against my ear. I breathed deep, taking in the smell of him, the woodsy body wash still clinging to his skin, the fresh smell of sweat and sex that was starting to fade, and I let my meandering thoughts go. It felt like nothing could touch me, and I let the comfort it offered wrap around me as tightly as Eli was, closing my eyes and waiting for him to start talking or for sleep to take hold of me.
Either was fine.
ELIJAH
Eva gave me a sidelong look. “I’m just saying, it’s not like you.”
I rolled my eyes, handing her a beer. “Have I ever told you that you read way too much into things? To a concerning level.”
“There’s a possibility you’ve mentioned it once or twice,” she said, taking a drink of the beer and setting it on the end table closest to her. Her legs were curled under her since there hadn’t been a coffee table in front of the couch sinceThe Incident.“But even if I occasionally look too deeply into things, that’s not always the case.”
“Sure,” I told her amiably enough as I dropped into the armchair beside the couch. “If that makes you feel better, be my guest. Ignore the sense of self-delusion while you’re at it. That isn’t a helpful feeling.”
“Asshole,” she muttered, but I could hear her grinning as she took another drink. “But you have to admit, it’s weird as hell for you to go two weeks without hitting me up to hit this.”
She slapped her ass for good measure, and I shook my head. “You know, there’s more to this friendship than sex. At least that’s how I feel.”
Eva snorted. “Are you trying to use girl logic on me? I’m not falling for that trap, we both know there’s more to this friendshipthan sex, just like there was more to our relationship than sex...really great sex.”
“So that’s why you’re being needy and weird,” I said with a laugh as I crossed my legs under me. “Your boy toys aren’t scratching your itch.”
“They’re not boy toys...but maybe,” she said, looking away shiftily. After a moment of silence, she let out a beleaguered sigh. “What do you want me to say, Eli? That you’re the best sex I’ve ever had? That anyone else I’ve slept with, even guys I went on dates with, are basically only there for their own nut, and then look at me like I’ve grown a third arm when I expect them to help me along? You’re the only asshole who actually cares about what I need when there’s fucking involved. You fucking ruined most guys for me, and I hate you for it.”
I blinked. “I feel complimented and slightly objectified here.”
“How does that work?”
“Because you’re seeing me through the lens of the sexual pleasure I give you. Might as well call me a vibrator held in skilled hands and move on.”
Eva scoffed. “You’re so sensitive sometimes, you know that?”
“Not often I get accused of that.”
“Well, that’s because the only people who see that about you are related to you...and me.”
“Aren’t I lucky?”
“Don’t be an ass.”
I gave her a helpless gesture. “What do you want me to say, Eva? I just haven’t felt like hitting people up for sex.”
Which was about as far as it got from the truth without being an outright lie. I had a reliable and steady source of sex living in the apartment, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. Milo and I hadn’t said we wouldn’t mention the recent addition to our shared lives, but I knew we agreed. There were just too many ways telling people the truth could go wrong,especiallywith ourfamily. They might have teased and joked, and at times, tried to express that they would be alright if something like that was going on between Milo and me, but I was reluctant to test it.
Which was even more true when it came to anyone outside the family, even those we were supposed to be close to. In truth, I knew there wasn’t anything morally wrong with what was going on between us. There wasn’t a drop of shared blood between Milo and me, and we were less than a year apart in age. That wouldn’t stop people from looking askance at us, though, because ‘step’ or not, people would see the ‘brother’ at the end and...well, there were just some judgments in life that you didn’t want to deal with.
