Neighbors With Benefits: Chapter 48

I ran up the driveway and threw myself into Bash’s arms. He grunted, then hugged me back almost as tightly.

“I’ve missed how you smell,” he said.

I giggled. “I probably smell like fertilizer and sweat.”

“No,” Bash said, smiling and resting his forehead against mine. “You smell like you. Like home.”

We kissed, and although it was the first time in a couple of weeks, it felt like no time had passed at all. Like we were picking up right where we left off.

“Got any plans tonight?” he asked.

“I can think of a few things that have jumped to the top of my list,” I said, pushing my hips into him a little bit.

He responded with a grin. “A few things? There’s only one thing on my mind right now.”

“About time you came home,” Dante said behind us. “Was beginning to think you’d never clean up that mess in Davenport.”

Bash chuckled and they shared a bro-hug, clapping each other loudly on the back. “Missed you too, buddy.”

“Don’t get all sappy,” Dante complained. “Been keeping your girl warm for you.”

“Apparently so,” Bash said. “

“So this—” I said, pointing from Dante to myself, “—was just to keep me busy until Bash got home? Meaning your job is done here?”

Dante’s lip curled in a half-smile. “No. My job definitely isn’t done yet.”

“Good,” I replied, remembering how we had been flirting just moments ago in the greenhouse. And based on Dante’s expression, he was thinking about it too.

Bash cleared his throat. “Do you, uh, have dinner plans? How about we get a pizza?”

“That sounds great,” I said, glancing at Dante.

“I’ll let you two spend some alone time together,” Dante said. “You have a lot of catching up to do.”

“We’ll have plenty of time for that later,” Bash insisted. “You don’t need to leave. I’ll grab some beer, too.”

Dante glanced at me, then shrugged. “I won’t say no to free beer.”

“I need a shower, first,” Bash said. “The AC was broken on the plane, so me and everyone else spent the whole flight sweating.”

“Regroup at my place in half an hour,” I said.

As I took my own shower, I couldn’t stop smiling. Bash was home! For the first time in weeks, two of my lovers were in town at the same time.

But the longer I thought about it, the more I started to wonder what was going to happen tonight.

Bash. Dante. Me. In the same room together.

Was I finally going to have a real threesome?

I didn’t know if Dante would even be into that. Sure, we’d had sex on camera, but that was slightly different than having sex with one of his friends. Maybe he wasn’t as comfortable with that as Bash and Aiden were.

But if that were the case, then what would happen tonight? How would we decide who got to sleep with me? Bash seemed the obvious choice since he was finally home, but Dante struck me as the kind of possessive guy who wouldn’t care about that.

Before they arrived, I poured myself a glass of wine. I didn’t want to get drunk like in my first threesome attempt, but I definitely needed a little liquid courage.

I finished the glass right as the doorbell rang, but then Dante opened the door and let himself in. “We come bearing pizza,” he said.

“And beer!” Bash added.

“Three of my favorite things,” I said with a nervous giggle. “Pizza, beer, and good-looking men.”

“One good-looking man, at least,” Dante muttered.

Bash elbowed him in the ribs.

“We’re almost done with the greenhouse,” Dante explained while they arranged the food and drinks in the kitchen.

I handed out three plates and said, “It looks great! We have so much more space.”

“Glad you two finished it together,” Bash said.

Dante carried his pizza and beer into the living room, so we followed. Both of them sat on the couch, so I took the adjacent chair.

“Don’t be jealous,” Dante said. “It proves I’m more of a man than you are, but other than that, it’s no big deal.”

Bash flipped him off, which made Dante chuckle.

“You sorted out everything in Iowa?” I asked.

Bash groaned. “I did, finally. That whole situation was a mess.”

“Did you figure out what made the original chain change their mind?” Dante asked.

“Hell if I know,” Bash said. “Our offer was competitive with the group that swept in. No matter how many times I pressed them about it, they just kept saying we had a different work culture.”

“I’ve seen that shit before,” Dante said around a mouthful of pizza. “The CEO probably got a back-room kickback if he went with the other buyout. Corrupt bullshit.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” Bash grumbled.

“But the backup acquisition is good?” Dante asked.

Bash nodded and swallowed his pizza. “Better than we could have hoped for. I spent the last two weeks begging, trading favors, and threatening people. But I got it done. They’re ready for Aiden to go in and train them.”

I nodded along, but I was kind of annoyed. They were talking as if I weren’t even there. Of course they were friends, and wanted to catch up, but I selfishly wanted tonight to be about me.

Maybe the threesome wasn’t going to happen after all. Part of me was disappointed, and part was relieved.

“Oh man,” Dante said, “I got Jasmin really good the other day.”

“Who’s Jasmin?” Bash asked.

“That’s what I call Jazz. She hates it.”

“I do hate it,” I insisted.

“I had rugby last Tuesday,” Dante went on. “Jasmin was nosy as fuck about it. Wouldn’t let it go. So I told her I was going to a sex club, and that she should join.”

Bash snorted. “No way.”

“She showed up to the rugby game with a corset on!”

Bash turned to me. “Really? Everyone at the game got to see your sexy corset except me?”

“I wore something over it!” I replied. “It’s not like I was strutting around with my tits out!”

“It was fucking hot,” Dante said, winking at me. “I couldn’t focus on the game after that.”

“I didn’t know that,” I said.

Dante nodded. “You probably didn’t know that I jacked off as soon as I got home. Didn’t even need porn. Hope that doesn’t weird you out.”

“No!” I quickly said. “I like hearing about that.”

“Speaking of hot,” Bash said, “the show you two put on for us was incredible.”

I felt my cheeks redden. “It was hot knowing you and Aiden were watching.”

“We all like to watch sometimes,” Dante said. “Not as good as participating, though.”

“Definitely not,” Bash agreed.

We had all finished our pizza, I realized. Now we were just sitting in the living room, looking back and forth. I tried to think of something to say, but my mind was blank. The longer the silence stretched, the more awkward it felt.

“Well,” Dante finally said, eyes settling on me, “if Bash isn’t going to make a move, then I am.”