Enemies With Benefits (Loveless Brothers, #1)

by Roxie Noir

I did have to check the men’s room for a dead body, but even that was a false alarm.

It’s on Violet, and the twenty grand, and Violet. It’s on how if Violet wins it, I may as well move out of Sprucevale again because I’ll never hear the end of it. Right now, I know two things. One, that money is mine. And two, Violet is going down.

“Good,” Daniel says. “I think denial’s really healthy.”

And I haven’t thought about the kiss at all. Not once. Certainly not a hundred times a day when I should be doing something else.

I’m blindsided by a sudden, irresistible thought: I want to leave here and take her with me. I want us to leave Sprucevale behind. I want to bring her somewhere new, somewhere exciting where she’s never been. I want to take her breath away and make her giddy with happiness, just like this.

“It’s the feeling that everything around you is slightly wrong and you can’t fix it,” I say, still staring at her. “It’s a bone-deep desire to bury yourself in the familiar.” She turns and looks at me, her face unreadable. “It’s wanting what you already know and can’t have,” I finish.

What am I supposed to say to my mother about that? Don’t worry, we’re just fucking? I can’t say that to my mom.

I kiss her long and slow. I kiss her like we’re in love. She kisses back the same way, her hand soft against my face, her lips gentle.

To my great relief, I’m having a lovely time. Not that I thought I’d have a bad time at Clara’s house, but I did have some concerns. It’s hard not to when you spend time with the mother of the man you’re banging like a screen door.

“Eli,” I say. He stops tapping for a second, his eyes flicking to mine. “Violet. “I like you,” I say.

“I like you, too,” he whispers back, his eyes crinkling with a smile as he brings my hand to his lips and kisses it. “A lot.”

“But I want to be someone you can always trust. I want to always have your back. I want to always be there, behind you, and I want to be so constant you never have to think about whether I’m yours or not. I just am. I’m there. I’m there and I always am and you never have to wonder whether I’d hurt you, and can you believe I rehearsed this?” he asks.

“You’re it, Violet. You’re all there is for me. It’s you or a life of austere hermitude. Let me be yours.”

That night, I just hold her. It feels important, somehow, just being there. Just being with her. Just being hers.

This is love. I’ve known it for a while but the understanding flashes through me again as I move inside her, as I feel her body underneath me and worship it with my own.

“But mostly, I wanted to remember the moment I realized I was in love with you.”