Enemies With Benefits (Loveless Brothers 1)

I shrug and knock, because the last twenty-four hours have thrown everything pretty askew, and whatever happens, I’m just going to roll with it.

I wait. Footsteps. Someone hollers.

Then the door opens and Eli is standing there, the screen separating us.

I hold up the pie.

“Hi,” I say. “By the way, your mom invited me for dinner.”

He pushes open the screen door and holds it for me as I step through.

“So she told me about an hour ago,” he says. “Here, I’ll take that.”

Eli takes the pie from me. He glances around, craning his neck to see down the hall and into the kitchen.

Then he kisses me hello. It’s quick, familiar, a nothing kiss, except that his brothers and mom can’t be more than a hundred feet away.

“Sorry about this,” he says.

“Sorry about what?” I ask.

He sighs, pushing a hand through his hair. There’s a streak of something down his forearm, and it suddenly occurs to me that it smells amazing in here.

“This whole Sunday dinner rigamarole,” he says. “I know it’s not your thing. Come on, I’ll show you in.”

He turns away before I can ask him why he thinks I don’t want this whole rigamarole, padding down the hallway with bare feet.

“Everyone is on the back porch,” he says when we reach the kitchen. He puts the pie on a sideboard, tucking it neatly away next to a bundt cake. “You want a drink before you head out?”

My stomach recoils at the thought.

“I’m good,” I say, and finally, Eli cracks a smile.

“Yeah, thought you might say that,” he says. “You ready?”

“I don’t know why you’re acting like I’m about to face the inquisition,” I tell him, leaning one hip against the sideboard. “You know I know your family already, for Pete’s sake.”

He folds his arms, looks away for a moment.

“I’ve never brought a girl home before,” he admits. “I moved away when I was eighteen and I never exactly introduced my family to any of my girlfriends.”

“You didn’t bring me home either,” I point out. “Your mother invited me. You found out about this an hour ago.”

I leave unspoken and I’m not your girlfriend, but I know we both hear it.

“They all know,” he says, keeping his voice low. “Well, I think they do. My brothers know. I’m sure Charlie knows. I don’t know what my mom knows.”

“Charlie’s here?”

Charlie — Charlotte — is Daniel’s best friend and has been since they were kids. I don’t know her all that well, but she’s always been nice.

“Yeah, she comes a lot,” Eli says.

“Eli,” I tell him, putting a hand on his arm. “Chill out. It’s fine. I’m a big girl. What do you think is going to happen?”

“If I knew I wouldn’t be so worried,” he says, half smiling.

Before I can do anything, he leans forward and kisses me. It’s brief, sweet, over in a second, a calm down your girlfriend before she meets your family kiss, though neither part of that applies here. I’m not his girlfriend, and I’ve met his family before.

“They can be a lot,” he says. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”Chapter Thirty-FiveEliI open the sliding door onto the back porch and step out, Violet trailing me.

Six sets of eyes turn our way, and silence falls over the group.

I already wish I’d told her not to come.

“Violet’s here,” I say, as casually as I can. “Everyone, this is Violet. Violet, you remember my brothers Levi, Seth, and Daniel, his daughter Rusty, Charlie McManus, and my mom?”

Seth, Daniel, Charlie, and my mom are sitting in a semi-circle, a low table in front of them, beers on Loveless Brewing coasters atop it. A few feet away, Levi and Rusty are playing some sort of card game, sitting on the wooden planking of the back porch.

“Violet!” my mom says, standing and coming over. “I’m so glad you could make it. Eli, you didn’t get her a drink?”

“He offered,” Violet says as my mom envelops her in a hug. “I declined.”

“Are you sure?” my mom says. “We’ve got the boys’ pale ale that they just finished bottling, we’ve got lemonade and iced tea…”

I glance over at the chairs. All three of my brothers are staring at me, varying expressions of amusement, interest, and just general nosiness on their faces.

Charlie’s also looking, but she’s very nice and not related to me.

For a moment, I’m just glad that Caleb’s off in California, doing his thing, instead of also sticking his nose in my personal business. If I had to deal with all four of them right now, I might actually lose my shit.

“You’re sure? You know what, just come look,” my mom says to Violet. “I don’t even remember what all we’ve got right now…”

“I’m fine, really,” Violet says, but moments later my mom’s leading her back into the house so she can read the contents of the fridge aloud to her.