Milo #4
Not a lot, that’s what. Which meant paying in cash, which he didn’t need, but would give him a moment of delight, or owing him a favor, which was a tricky proposition with Mason.
A favor owed could be cashed in for something as simple as filling in for the night at his club or involve something really embarrassing.
Looking at the way Moira was homing in on me, I had to bite the bullet because the last thing I wanted was to be delayed another hour while Moira read me the riot act.
I spotted a blond head in the crowd by the front doors, and my resignation was replaced by elation: Kayden, Jace’s former work partner and best friend in the world.
The only man on the planet who could make Moira relax came strolling confidently through the door.
It was almost an arrogant swagger, but there was a bright smile on his face, the kind that said he was friendly and would make you feel good about yourself. It made him approachable.
Well, that and the fact that he was damn handsome didn’t hurt.
“Kayden!” I called, waving him over.
The cop perked up, wandering over to us with a smile. “Well, if it isn’t my favorite people.”
“Your favorite people are standing behind the front desk, glaring at Milo. The other is over there, glaring at me,” Mason said with a smirk.
“Wow, you’ve pissed off Jace and Moira,” Kayden said, chuckling fondly. “So, just another day, right?”
“I know you’ve only been a member of this family for as long as Jace…” I began, looking at Kayden, who snorted.
“Buttering me up by reminding me I’m considered part of the family? This should be good.”
“Would you mind pretending you’re super-duper-happy to see the sour expression on Moira’s face?”
“That implies I’m never happy to see Moira’s face.”
“Look,” I said. I’m glad you’re so in love with my sister, and she’s so in love with you. How wonderful it would be if you reminded her of that.”
“Uh-huh,” Kayden said, with a knowing smile. “And this sudden interest in Moira’s happiness wouldn’t have anything to do with the new cast on your arm, would it?”
Perish the thought!” I said, wide-eyed, which I hoped looked innocent.
“If you’re smart, you’ll make him owe you,” Mason said with a shrug.
“Oh, I’m well aware. I’ll cash in that IOU when the time is right,” Kayden said with a wink, making his way to the desk.
Moira had started to walk over, but stopped when she saw Kayden coming.
Maybe it was because she really was that crazy about him, or just that he was still in uniform, which hugged his body very nicely.
Either way, her scowl disappeared as he approached.
“Melted like butter left in the sun,” Mason noted with a laugh.
I almost mentioned that he wasn’t much better when it came to Jace…
on their good days, but bit the comment back before it left my treacherous mouth.
Taunting Mason was a good way to invite him to screw up my plan or owing him for keeping his mouth shut.
Better to count my losses and run. Owing Kayden couldn’t be that bad, could it?
Which is precisely what I did as I stepped away from Mason and hurriedly made for the door through the crowd. I knew better than to look back to see if Moira noticed my escape. Her eyes could paralyze faster than Medusa’s.
Opening my phone, I looked for a ride and grinned when I saw one would show up within five minutes. It gave me a chance to grab tacos from a food truck just down the sidewalk, probably parked there to take advantage of the hotels in the area, before I was alerted that my ride had shown up.
“Hello,” I said happily as I slid into the backseat, carefully tucking the food onto the seat next to me so it didn’t spill. I’d once had to pay for the cleaning of a ride share when my curry had exploded after hitting the floor, and I didn’t want a repeat.
I settled back into my seat as the driver pulled away from the curb. I could be chatty, as pretty much everyone in my life liked to remind me, and I was trying to be better about not talking everyone’s ears off.
Instead, I settled in and put my headphones in to blast music.
I texted Eli to ask if he was up yet, and then texted Raf.
He had gone in today to make some extra money at the club where he was a bartender, to do some deep cleaning for his boss, who was apparently too cheap to hire a service.
Raf responded before Eli, his texts brief, which told me he was busy, but he was texting at least. Sometimes he could be a little slow to text back.
While that usually made me worry, I had to remind myself that people used to date without a source of constant contact and did it without having self-conscious meltdowns all the time.
Eli hadn’t gotten back to me by the time the car pulled up to the curb outside our apartment building, so I assumed he was still sleeping.
The smell of tacos would be a perfect way to wake him up because I knew he wasn’t the best at eating.
It was funny, I could forget so many different things, but eating?
I didn’t forget to eat...most of the time.
Ironically, it was Eli who forgot to feed himself, and God save me, the man was useless in the kitchen if it involved more than microwaving or boiling water.
I might be a mess in the kitchen, but that was just what I left behind.
I was actually pretty good at cooking, so long as someone was willing to clean up after me, which Eli did in exchange for food.
Humming, I mounted the stairs to the fifth floor since I hadn’t bothered to go to the gym, and I’d been too lazy to walk to the apartment.
I paused and noticed the handle jiggling more than usual as my key slid in.
Raising a brow, I twisted it, sighing when I found it was unlocked.
I knew Eli had come in late last night and had gotten up early, hence why he was probably taking a nap, but damned if his sleep-deprived forgetfulness wasn’t going to cause us to be broken into one day.
I closed the door behind me gently so I didn’t wake him up.
I was going to wake him up anyway, but it was better to be woken up with the smell of good tacos rather than the front door being slammed like the FBI had broken it down.
Kicking off my shoes, I walked into the living room, lurching to a stop hard enough that I almost flung the bags onto the floor as there was a flurry of movement from the couch.
My eyes were wide enough to drop a teacup onto them as Eli jumped to his feet to face me, and the person under him snatched the blanket from the back of the couch.
Dimly, I recognized Eva, Eli’s ex-girlfriend, turned friend, turned on-again, off-again friends with benefits.
My attention, however, was locked on Eli, who was staring at me with a look of shock and then embarrassment as he realized it was me and not some random person wandering in off the street.
Now, I had seen Eli in different states of dress over the years.
I’d seen him wander around shirtless so many times my eyes didn’t even linger on the sight despite it being a good one.
..most of the time. He wasn’t quite as liberal about wandering around in his underwear, but even then, I had gotten quite good at not noticing his almost naked state.
The one thing I had been really good at was avoiding seeing him naked, averting my eyes on the rare occasion the chance presented itself, which was really rare because, as comfortable as he was with me, Eli was exceptional at not being naked around other people unless he was sleeping with them.
As a matter of fact, it had only happened once, when he’d been fifteen and I’d been just shy of it.
Much like today, I had wandered into his room not realizing he was coming out of the shower, and he hadn’t known I was coming because I was supposed to be at a soccer practice that was cancelled.
I had stopped, face burning at the sight of his body still wet from the shower, and every teenage hormone in me had fired off at once.
It was a miracle I didn’t drop on the spot, blood leaking from every hole as my blood pressure surged to unhealthy levels.
But that was then, and I had seen enough and looked away.
Eli hadn’t been fully grown or developed, and he had been soft .
There was nothing soft about Eli now, considering I had interrupted him in an.
..intimate moment. It wasn’t nearly the monstrosity Mason said Jace had, but it was definitely enough that anyone with an appreciation for dicks would nod their approval.
..and maybe lick their lips unconsciously.
His chest and stomach had a faint shimmer, and I felt the insane urge to run my tongue over the fresh sweat and enjoy the taste of salt on his skin.
Aw, hell, it had been almost two years since I’d gotten hard at the sight of Eli, and all of that was utterly ruined.
I briefly wondered if there was a stepbrother fuckers anonymous out there for me to look up.
Would they have tokens for people who managed to go years without thinking about sleeping with their stepbrother?
Would they be the type to forgive someone readily for relapsing?
Would it just be for people with the thoughts or those who’d actually done it?
Would I be more forgiven if they saw Eli and realized that the quiet man was stupidly hot and that God clearly hated me if he was going to give me someone like him in my life and make it oh so bad to even think about touching him?
What was my life?
“Milo?” he barked, embarrassment making him sound harsher than usual. “What are you doing home so early?”