Neighbors With Benefits: Chapter 27

The stranger standing in the living room was wearing work boots, faded jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather jacket. His tousled hair was jet black, but his beard was mixed with rusty red. He had strong cheekbones beneath intense eyes, eyes which widened when he saw me.

Jesus, I thought. All three of them are hot? I won the neighbor jackpot.

“Huh,” he said, allowing the duffel bag to slide off his shoulder and onto the floor. “You must be the neighbor. I heard you were friendly.” His lip curled into more of a sneer than a smile.

“I was just…”

“Don’t care,” he replied bluntly, pulling his smoldering gaze from mine. “Just got off a red-eye. I’m hitting the sack.”

“Welcome home, Dante,” Bash said behind me. He’d managed to pull on a pair of sweatpants, but his chest was bare. “Didn’t know you were coming back today.”

“Didn’t know myself until they called me from the standby list at midnight,” the man—Dante?—replied. “Didn’t realize I’d be interrupting.” His dark eyes rolled over to me for a moment, then turned back to Bash. “By the way. The Davenport branch got sniped by WalMart. You ought to check your email.”

“Shit,” Bash hissed, rushing back into his bedroom.

Dante—why was that name so familiar?—sneered at me again, then carried the duffel bag down the hall.

“Seven missed emails…” Bash muttered, staring at his phone while rejoining me in the living room. “I’ve got to deal with all this. Can I make you breakfast another time?”

“Um, yeah, we’ll see what happens,” I said.

He folded me into a hug and kissed me on the cheek. “Talk to Aiden, then we can all have a chat.” He dialed a number on his phone, and then was in the middle of a heated discussion five seconds later.

Nobody saw me slink back to my house in the same neon clothes I’d worn yesterday, for which I was grateful. The last thing I needed was Karen the Snoop spreading gossip about me.

Yet even though I wasn’t spotted, I was filled with shame by the time I hopped into my shower. Not only had I slept with Bash, but the third member of their house caught me. His sneering comment echoed in my mind: I heard you were friendly.

Yeah, that was probably the worst first impression I could have made.

After getting dressed for work, I peered out my window at the house next door. There was a motorcycle parked to the side, but that was it. Bash’s car was gone. He must have left for work.

Great. Now I was so uncomfortable around them that I was afraid to go outside and bump into them.

Relieved that such a run-in wouldn’t happen, and upset at myself for being relieved, I got in my car and drove to work.

Halfway there, I called Cat. “Hey, you got a second?”

“I’m at that conference downtown,” she replied. I could hear the buzz of a crowd behind her. “Can it wait until later? I’m with my boss and a bunch of coworkers.”

It couldn’t wait until later, but there was no way I could tell Cat about everything that had happened while she was with people from work. If I told her I’d slept with Bash and then gotten caught by the third hot neighbor, Cat wouldn’t have enough self-restraint to avoid screaming and shouting until her voice was hoarse.

“I’ll tell you about it when you’re back tomorrow. Have fun!” I hung up before she could sense that anything was wrong.

When I got to work, I had a pair of texts waiting for me.

One from each of my neighbor lovers.

Bash: Sorry I had to say goodbye so quickly. Shit just hit the fan at work. But I want to reiterate how amazing last night was. I hope it’s not just a one-time thing. Let’s sit down and talk about it later 🙂

Ugh. He was so goddamn nice. Nothing but green flags. In another context, I’d be giddy with sex endorphins.

I switched over to the other text:

Aiden: I’m at the gate for my return flight! I know Monday isn’t one of our usual nights, but I really want to see you. Can I make you dinner at my place tonight? I found a new eggplant parmesan recipe I want to try.

Oh for fuck’s sake. Eggplant parmesan was one of the meals Bash and I tried making while he was gone. This was like a cruel joke. Mind racing, I tried to think of an excuse.

Me: I want to see you too! But I’m hoping to have some alone time with you.

Aiden: Oh, don’t worry! Bash has to go into work tonight. I heard Dante came home early, but he usually keeps to himself. He’ll probably go out tonight.

Me: Okay, sure! I’ll see you tonight.

All day I thought about what I was going to say to Aiden. Ultimately, I had to tell him the truth. Even though we weren’t exclusive, and even though he’d reiterated that I could sleep with whoever I wanted, this was Bash. His best friend. Aiden deserved the truth as soon as possible.

I didn’t bother putting on my sexy panties. Aiden wasn’t going to want to have sex with me after learning the truth. Even if everything ended up okay, he would probably need some time to process everything.

As I walked next door, I felt like an inmate heading to the electric chair. Or a French aristocrat facing the guillotine. Whatever grim metaphor I chose, it felt like this was the end.

“Jazz!” Aiden said, hugging me warmly after opening the door. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too,” I replied. The hug went on and on; he didn’t want to let go. It felt good to be in his arms again, like everything was going to be okay. Maybe he didn’t need to know. If we kept this secret…

No. Absolutely not. He deserved to hear about it without delay.

“Dinner will be another few minutes,” Aiden said, hurrying back to the stove. “The eggplant parm is still baking, but I’m sautéing white asparagus as a side.”

“It smells great. I didn’t know there was such a thing as white asparagus.”

“It’s a delicacy in Europe. You have to try it. Sorry about Dante; he’s blasting music in his room right now. Have you two met yet?”

“We, uh, bumped into each other this morning,” I replied.

“He can be blunt sometimes, but he’s a good guy once you get to know him,” Aiden explained.

“Listen,” I said. “I was going to wait until we were seated at dinner, but I don’t think I can wait that long. I have to tell you something.”

“Oh?” Aiden glanced over his shoulder at me. “That sounds serious.”

“It kind of is…”

A key scratched at the lock, and then the front door flew open. Bash came striding in, throwing the door closed behind him. He saw me and almost lost a step.

“Bash,” I said. He was wearing a full suit, which of course made him look even sexier than ever before.

“There he is!” Aiden called. “I thought you were working late.”

“I just came home to get my work laptop. I was in such a rush this morning I forgot it.” He disappeared into his room.

The room where we’d slept together, figuratively and literally.

“I heard about Davenport,” Aiden shouted. “I really thought we had that acquisition locked up.”

“So did I,” Bash muttered while exiting his room. “This is going to fuck up my entire schedule.” He held my gaze a moment, then glanced at Aiden. “See you guys later.”

“Later!” Aiden chuckled. “If he’s wearing a suit, it means he’s in a meeting with the president of our company. That’s not good.”

“Yeah, I bet,” I said. “As I was saying…”

“Help me with this?” Aiden asked. “I need you to keep stirring the cream sauce while I take the eggplant out, or the sauce will burn.”

I helped him finish prepping dinner, and then we sat down at the table. Aiden opened a bottle of wine and began filling two glasses.

“Just a small pour for me,” I said.

He put the bottle down. “So. What did you want to tell me?”

It would have been so easy to put it off. To pretend like nothing was wrong, have a nice meal with him, and spill the beans later. But I couldn’t delay anymore. I had to tell him now or I was going to explode.

“Bash and I slept together.”

The words hung in the air. Aiden’s eyes widened slightly, but otherwise he remained surprisingly calm. I knew that would change once he fully processed the information.

But then he did the last thing I expected.

He grinned.

“I was hoping that’s what you were going to tell me,” he said.

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

Aiden’s smile never wavered. “Bash was acting strange all day, like he was hiding something. I’m guessing you asked him not to say anything until you could tell me?”

“Uhh…”

“Sebastian is a great guy,” Aiden said. “And he’s liked you ever since the housewarming party. He was kind of jealous that I…” He trailed off. “Well, I might as well tell you since we’re revealing stuff. Bash knows we’ve been sleeping together. I didn’t tell him on purpose—I don’t kiss and tell. It was an accident. But regardless, he was kind of jealous that I hooked up with you first, since he’s been crushing on you for so long.”

“I… he told me he knows,” I said faintly. This night was not going the way I expected. “Back up a minute. You’re okay with the fact that I slept with Bash?”

“Of course. That’s why I texted you the other day to reiterate that you could do whatever you wanted.”

“But Bash… he’s your roommate. He’s your best friend!”

Aiden looked puzzled. “So what? If anything, that’s better than if you hooked up with some random guy. I know Bash.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m really confused,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “When you texted me to reiterate that we weren’t exclusive, you were trying to get me to sleep with him specifically?”

“Well yeah, but I didn’t want to say it outright.” Aiden ran a hand through his dark hair and then reached across the table to hold my hand. “This is actually a perfect segue, because there’s something else I want to tell you. Bash and I were hoping to tell you together, but he’s at work, and you look flustered, so I’m just going to say it.”

A door down the hall opened, and the sound of heavy metal drifted out into the living room. Dante appeared, wearing the same jeans I had seen him in this morning but a tank top that revealed a sleeve of arm tattoos.

“We’re kind of in the middle of something,” Aiden said.

“Can you text me the number for that new Thai place?” Dante asked in a rough, gravelly voice. “I can’t find it on Google. Then I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” He gave me a wink that didn’t feel very friendly.

“Yeah, sure.” Aiden tapped on his phone. “Sent.”

“Thanks…” Dante started to walk away, then frowned. “This number is you?”

“It’s my work phone,” Aiden replied.

Dante gave him a funny look. “Since when do you use your work phone for personal shit?”

Aiden opened his mouth, closed it again, then glanced at me. In the blink of an eye, the vibe had changed. He was hiding something.

And with a flash of insight, it all came together.

The roommate named Dante.

The wrong number after my housewarming party.

The strange text message response I had received.

The reason Aiden was okay—and even delighted—that I had slept with Bash.

I pulled out my own phone and scrolled down my text history. When I found that wrong number from almost two months ago, I hit the Call button.

The phone in Aiden’s hand didn’t ring, but another one did. A phone in his pocket.

I gasped. “It was you!”