My Best Friends Brother

Chapter 16

JOSH P.O.V.

I’ve only had that cafeteria food for like two days but I’m already ready to marry this pizza. It might be the best thing I’ve ever had against my tongue, and after today I really needed it. 

The waitress comes to clear away some dishes, those two bloody animals seem to be bottomless fucking pits, I’m finally starting to see what my mother meant about me eating her out of house and home while I was playing on the team. They’ve demolished three full pizzas, two portions of fries, more chicken wings than I could possibly count and are now devouring an entire cheesecake.

How the fuck the two of them look like insta-models is beyond me, they should be the size of houses.

“We’ve got the team from Pembrode tomorrow right? The one who’s captain got his nose broken last year?” Eli asks though a mouthful of cake, strawberry sauce leaking from the corner of his lips.

Miles nods, wiping his own mouth with a napkin. I think he might finally be done. “Yeah, they’ve got a strong offence so Coach said we’re going to swap out Luke and Bonnie for Gareth and Jeremy to make up the size. We’ve still got the stronger team either way and the scouts aren’t flying in until later this week so they won’t be here for that match anyway. We just need the points.”

Eli nods, the two of them talking amongst themselves as my phone starts to ring.

‘Your favourite bitch is attempting to video call.’

Brie really needs to stop changing her name in my phone.

I answer it quickly, even the noise of the restaurant can’t shield me from the shrieking of the two girls on the other end of the screen. Al and Brie smiling at me widely whilst clapping.

“About bloody time! We’ve been trying to call you for hours!”

“How’s everything?”

“Milo okay?”

“Meet any cute guys yet?”

Jesus, which one of these questions do they want me to answer first?

Milo’s head shoots up, I’m not sure if it was the mention of his name or the fact he recognises Al and Brie’s tandem talking.

“Everything’s fine, signals shit there and the food is worse so we’re just getting some pizza. Milo’s here, want to talk to him?”

They both nod and I hand my phone over to the less than eager looking man before me. It’s weird, Milo used to be so close to everyone, I thought it was just me that hadn’t seen him for a while but now I come to think about it he hasn’t been in a lot of other people’s stories either. Whenever Al brought him up as of late it was either about basketball or when he had the crash, nothing else.

“Hey Lee.” The two of them talk but it’s just pleasant at best. They were really close when he was younger but I guess things change. Brie talks to him and I watch how uncomfortable he gets, I don’t blame him, even I can hear how much they speak to him like he’s still a kid. He’s two years older than Al was when she met Jayce and even back then she would’ve hated someone talking to her like this.

Suddenly his whole face changes, a light in his eyes as he smiles down at the screen. I glance over the top to see Heather has stolen the phone and is now running up the stairs with it laughing, she’s talking so fast I can hardly understand her but clearly Milo can because he’s laughing along with every word.

They’re really sweet together, Heather has made no arguments that he’s her favourite uncle no matter how many Hello Kitty teddies I buy her.

Eventually Al gets her phone back, wrestling it from her mini me and returning to the screen just in time for Miles to give it back.

“So, you didn’t answer the question. Meet any cute guys?” I roll my eyes at her, where the fuck would I meet someone here? Unless one of those tag along Dads has a very big secret I’m out on a deserted island by myself.

“Yeah, come on Josh. Loads of those boys are over eighteen, packed with hormones and ready to experiment. You’re hot and rich. You could be someone’s sugar daddy!”

Brie. I love her, but I will still kill her.

Eli chuckles to himself, grabbing a slice of MY pizza when he clears off his cheesecake, but Miles stays unusually quiet. I think this conversation has been enough for one day.

“Going now. Give Heather a kiss for me.”

I hang up before either of them can say another word, the only good thing about the lack of signal in this place is that I can escape those two for a while, they’d be happy to marry me off to the highest bidder if it meant I wouldn’t be their sad single friend anymore.

Eli smirks at me after I hang up the phone. “Those two have a point, I’ve had like three guys ask if I can get your number for them since you’ve been here man.”

Seriously? Do I give off a ‘I’m desperate’ vibe that bad?

“Flattered but I’m good, I’m not really looking for something right now.” I pick at the last slice of pizza but I’m not even hungry anymore with the turn this conversation has made. The truth is, I don’t know when I’ll ever be looking for something.

“That’s when they say it happens, when you’re least expecting it.” Milo’s deep voice cutting through the static of my mind. Looking back at the boys, Eli is engrossed in his phone but Miles... he’s looking right at me. His bottom lip trembles slightly, heavy, steady breaths escaping instead of the words weighing down on it that he refuses to speak. When did he get like this? The tension under his glare is suffocating. I can’t deny his presence, he’s like someone you just want to fucking submit to.

I’m not used to this, in every other step of my life I’ve always made myself Alpha. At this table I can sense the competition.

Least expect it... I guess there’s some truth to that; Al and Jayce, Brie and Steve, hell even Hannah and Lisa – all people who found each other right at the moment they were least looking for them.

A small smile crosses my lips, one he instantly matches.

“Perhaps...”

The guys finish up their food, the three of us practically rolling to the car. I was going to hit the gym tonight but right now all I want is my fucking bed and two hours of car crash TV.

Driving back, it’s quiet. The lane leading to the camp is dead except for the owls hooting in the trees above us. Eli is engaged in his food coma, zoned out on his phone as even the radio turns to white noise whilst we come through the forestry.

“Miles.” Milo looks back at me, his focus has been solely on the sky since we left the restaurant. It’s not hard to see why, when it’s this clear the stars are practically in arms reach. “Look, about earlier. I appreciate what you did, putting that twat in his place and all that shit, but I don’t want you doing that again.”

Milo turns in his seat, his broad shoulders are hardly contained by the belt as it is but now it’s stretched to the limit.

“What the fuck do you mean you don’t want me doing it again? I couldn’t just let something like that go, I won’t let someone talk about you that way. If someone says anything like that again, I’ll react the exact same way I did.”

He’s angry, I get it. He just doesn’t understand that this is part of the package we signed on for to love openly.

I reach over, resting my hand on his knee and forcing him to focus on me, all whilst trying to ignore the fact every inch of his skin seems to be softer than cashmere.

“I get what you’re saying Miles, it’s shit but I’m used to it. If you think that’s the worst I’ve heard you’re having a laugh. People like him, they can’t be changed, that crap is built into them. It’s fear, they may not admit it but it’s what it is. They’re afraid of people who won’t live within the limits they’ve set, people they can’t control.”

“He’s right man.” Eli’s voice coming from his semi-conscious body in the back seat. “I’ve seen it with my Dad loads. It’s shit but it still happens.”

His dad?

Eli reads my confusion. “My dad’s gay, still lives with his husband in London. He’s in the military so I only see him a few times a year but Craig is like a second father to me anyway. They got together when I was three so I don’t really know anything different. I’m just the result of him experimenting with straight-hood in college.”

I can’t help but laugh, Eli chuckling along as well. “You’re mum was always okay with that?”

Eli nods. “Yeah, they weren’t together long and he told her straight away. They’re good mates now. Craig even lived with us for three months when we moved here so he could help me settle in, it’s dysfunctional to some people but it’s our family.”

I get that, my family isn’t exactly conventional. That’s why I created one of my own, one with people I love just as much as my own flesh and blood.

“They’re lucky, not everyone gets that sort of understanding. Too many people are still denied the freedom to be happy. I was really lucky too, everyone in my life was always super supportive. Now it’s just the odd dickhead like earlier but I’m used to it.”

Milo stiffens, clearly unhappy with my words. “You shouldn’t be used to it Josh, it shouldn’t still be happening. I thought people like him were living under rocks somewhere or back in their caves being fascinated by the creation of fire. I didn’t think... I just couldn’t let him talk about you like that. You’ve been good to the team and everyone really likes you, you don’t deserve that.”

He really means that, he wasn’t doing it to prove a point, he just genuinely didn’t want to let someone talk about me like that. It’s really fucking sweet.

I graze my thumb across his knee gently, I want him to know I appreciate what he’s saying. Goosebumps appear under the surface of my touch, so I hit the heating to warm him up.

“Just, let me deal with that stuff if it happens, okay? Coach could’ve thrown you out for reacting like that and you need to see those scouts because I’m not sure a Tara is going to give you another chance to resit this year again.”

I’m joking with him but I can see he’s still unsure. It’s that protective instinct, Jayce has it too, this need to keep the people you care about safe. I think it comes from watching their birth father abuse their mum for so long, both of them never want to see someone struggle like that again.

We pull into the carpark, the lights outside have dimmed now and the place is almost completely clear of bodies as I turn off the engine. Eli steps out of the car, and it’s at this very moment I realise my hand is still on his knee. Fuck, what’s it been? Like two miles?

I snap my hand back quickly, completely unsure why the hell he didn’t shove me off earlier, or why it took me so long to notice I was still touching him.

“Sorry.” Fuck, why did I say that? Now you’ve gone and made it super fucking awkward.

Milo glances down at his knee then back at me, the heat in this car is sweltering now so I don’t understand how he still has those bumps on the surface of his skin when it’s this far from cold.

Unless the cold isn’t what they were reacting too...

He pulls open the door, stopping just before his feet hit the floor. The moonlight bounces off the side of his jaw as he tries his best to keep facing away from me but the sparkle in his eyes can’t be hidden.

“Don’t be.”

With that he gets out, chasing after Eli and leaving me sitting here not knowing what the fuck to think. Is he just being nice? Of course he was just being nice you dick. Get your head out of your ass.

Coach catches me as I enter the building and we come up with a quick plan for tomorrow before I slowly make my way back over to my room, the hallway’s clear as I finally manage to open the stiff door. I hear another one open further down and notice Miles coming out to dump a bag in the trash shoot. His grey sweats hanging low on his hips and you’d never know he just ate his weight in pizza with how flat and toned everything still looks.

Fuck.

He catches me looking at him, my heart pounding against my rib cage full force as our eyes lock and that sexy fucking smirk comes across his face. No, not sexy. Shut the fuck up Josh.

I pull open the door quickly and throw myself inside the room, this is getting fucking ridiculous. It’s like I’m drawn to him and I can’t fucking stop it.

This can’t keep happening. You can’t keep thinking this shit.

Stripping down to my boxers, I forgo the shower completely before crashing into the sheets and pulling up the first movie I see on Netflix – Brie has been using my account again because it’s all mushy romance crap that I know Steve hates but she’ll make him watch anyway.

The last thing she was watching fills my screen but as the title credits roll I can’t actually stop the smile on my face – Love, Simon.

It’s actually one of the better ones she’s made me watch, and it’s not an 80s classic like most of her choices.

My phone buzzes just as I get myself comfortable.

‘Direct message TheBetterThompsonBrother’

My fingers float across the surface of the screen, my blood flooding around my body so quickly with the beat of my heart that its making my head dizzy.

Just fucking open it you pussy.

I read the words over and over to process them, my stomach filling with tiny flutters of emerging butterflies.

‘I think you do prefer me this way...’

How the fuck do I respond to that? Yes, obviously? Although the way looking at you makes me so fucking stiff is messing with my head so I’m trying to ignore it?

Cool Josh, be fucking cool.

‘Think so, do you?’

There. That’s fine, absolutely fine. You have neither confirmed or denied anything. Good Josh, that’s good.

My phone buzzes quickly and the thing tumbles out of my fucking hand I’m so nervous.

‘Know so... Unless you always stare at a guys abs like that? 😉’

To be fair, I don’t think I’ve ever stared at a guy like that before.

‘Well, they’re kind of hard to miss..’

There’s something fucked up about this, but I can’t stop it. The film keeps playing in the background but I can’t hear it, all my focus on the screen in my hand waiting for it to light up again. This is asking for trouble Josh...

‘They are... Probably why you couldn’t keep your hands off them all last night.’

Fuck.

He remembers me holding him, he remembers my hands touching him. It wasn’t conscious, it was just how we ended up. Shit.

I should like apologise or something, right? He may have laid on me first but I could’ve shoved him off or put him back on his side... I just didn’t want to.

‘You should’ve told me you didn’t like it...Sorry.’

There’s an uncomfortable amount of time between messages, a sudden horrible thought comes to me that maybe this was just a bit of a joke but then I remember how he reacted earlier with that bloke and I know he isn’t that type of person.

Finally my phone buzzes and I flip the message open, my heart completely leaping a beat at the words before me.

‘I never said I didn’t like it..’

Oh fuck. I’m flirting with Milo Thompson...

Worse... He’s flirting back.

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