Page 65 of Dead Serious with Benefits
As the pot gurgled and spat, I stared out the kitchen window. Nothing demanded my attention in reality or in my mind. I drifted through my thoughts, vaguely aware I was feeling...good. I wasn’t over the moon or prepared to dance in the street, but I was good. Content would work as well, as if all the frantic, wild things inside me had retreated to the back of my mind, and there was a peace I hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Arlo!” a sharp, deep voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and I twisted around to find Dom standing at the door leading to my backyard. I blinked at the dirt on his clothes and hands.
“Morning, Dom,” I said slowly. “How long have you been there?”
“You mean how long have I been standing here seeing you lost in your own little world?”
“Yes.”
Dom smirked. “Long enough to see you were trying for the astronaut program from how far out in space you were. Good night?”
I sighed. “Yes, it was.”
“I hope so,” he said, walking over to the sink to wash his hands and scrub his nails. “After what I was forced to see last night, it better have been good.”
“Keep complaining about it, and I might worry that you’ve spent too much time with Milo at the school of melodrama,” I teased softly, cringing. Thirty-one years, and I had never been witnessed by my siblings in anything resembling a compromising situation. That had changed last night. I suspected Dom hadn’t actually seen much; it was too dark in the house. But he had seen enough to know what was going on, and considering his timing, he had clearly heard Ward’s...compliment. “Though I hope you’ve not forgotten the art of discretion.”
“If that’s your way of telling me to stop being a baby and not go blabbing, you don’t have to worry,” he said, looking at me and shaking his head. “I can’t make any promises about the first thing, though.”
“Well, if I were forced to pick one, that would be the one I’d choose,” I said.
Dom flipped the water off and looked around. “He gone?”
“No, Ward is currently sleeping, peacefully,” I said.
Dom must have caught the faint note of pride and grinned knowingly as he snatched the towel from the rack. “Oh? Well, don’t you sound smug? Sounds like you’ve been spending extra time around Mason.”
My face warmed, and I snorted. “Hardly. I was simply saying that he was sleeping peacefully.”
“Meaning you wore him out,” Dom said as he hung the towel back up and squinted at me. “I notice you’re not sleeping peacefully, though, did, uh?—”
I stared at him before realizing what he was trying to ask and coughed. “No, no, that...there are...no worries there, I promise you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“There were no dreams.”
He paused, considered that, and grunted. “Alright, that’s good enough. I guess he ran you ragged too.”
“Nowyou’rethe one sounding like Mason,” I complained.
“Not really, because I’m not going to ask for details, and if you start giving them, I’m going right the fuck back outside and spend the next few hours pretending I didn’t get even more scarred than I already was.”
“It would take an expert team of torturers to pry the details from me.”
“Good,” he said with a smirk. “And he stayed the night.”
“I think that’s self-evident.”
He rolled his eyes. “Yeah, well, you suddenly go on a date, bring him back here, and he stays the night. That’s a big deal for you.”
“I think more impressive would be ifyoudid something like that,” I said with a raised brow. “Since I can’t remember the last time you had someone.”
“Says the man who gives me shit for being a man whore.”
“I still am, because I know you’re still having sex, but I don’t get to see the people. Not even a glimpse or a hint. Which means they spend even less time around you than usual.”
His nose wrinkled. “I hate that you spot stuff like that, I really do.”
