Page 1 of Neighbors With Benefits

1

Jazz

“Do we have enough glasses?” I asked, frantically opening cabinets in my new kitchen. “We’re good on wine glasses, but if a lot of people drink beer…”

Cat, my best friend, opened the drawer next to the sink. “I brought two dozen beer koozies. They can drink beer out of the can.”

“You don’t think that’s too casual?”

Cat threw a koozie at me like a Frisbee. “You do this every time. You’re great at planning and preparation, but then spend the final hour before guests arrive freaking out about every little detail.”

“But what if—”

Cat gripped me by the shoulders. “If something goes wrong, it will be fine. This is a housewarming party. The stakes are as low as they could be. Besides, you know everyone coming. They don’t care about the details.”

I took a look around the room. The kitchen was a big space that opened directly into the living room, and my huge dining room table—currently covered with charcuterie and other appetizers—separated the two spaces. Beyond the living room was my massive screened-in porch; the weather outside was so nice that I had the door open, allowing even more people to mingle out there without feeling excluded.

All in all, I loved my new house. It had been a week since I’d moved in, and I was still constantly enamored with every part of it. It was smaller than what most of my friends had, but I didn’t need a lot of space. Two bedrooms were plenty for me.

The important thing was what this house represented: independence. I didn’t have any roommates or landlords to answer to. Just a mortgage.

For the first time in my twenty-seven years of life, I felt like a real adult.

“But what if nobody comes?” I asked.

Cat grabbed another koozie, but before she could throw it at me, the doorbell rang. “Problem solved!” she said, grabbing my arm and practically shoving me toward the front door. “Time to play host!”

When I opened the door, I was greeted by five of my coworkers: Angie, Samantha, Liz, and Gregor with his boyfriend Parker.

“Oh this place isamazing,” Gregor said while admiring the house.

“Point us in the direction of the bar,” Parker said while kissing me on both cheeks. “We’ll make the drinks.”

“It’s your day off! I don’t want you to have to work,” I replied.

Gregor wagged a finger in my face. “It’s not work, sweetie. Drink making is anart, and I am Michelangelo.”

Parker gave his boyfriend a pout. “Why doyouget to be the Ninja Turtle?”

“You can be one too, you know.”

“But Michelangelo is the best.”

“Shut up and help me slice limes.”

More people arrived soon after that, and I began to relax as the party got underway. Cat commandeered my speaker system and played some music while I mingled with the guests. Two of my friends from college drove an hour to be here, so it was nice to catch up with them.

Cat was right. Why had I ever worried? I was a real adult, hosting a real adult party.

An hour or so after the party began, Cat tugged on my sleeve and pointed across the house. “How do you knowthatguy?”

It wasn’t hard to see who she meant. There was a man chatting with Liz in the living room who I had never seen before. With his dress slacks and button-down shirt, he looked like he had just come from an office job.

“I don’t know him,” I replied.

“Maybe he’s a housewarming party crasher,” Cat suggested. “Like a wedding crasher, but for this kind of party.”

“I don’t think that’s a thing,” I told Cat. “I put invites in all the mailboxes on my block, so he’s probably just one of my neighbors.”

---