Page 122 of Neighbors With Benefits

“All right,” he said one evening after hooking up at his place. “You should get going.”

“So you’ve had your way with me, and now you’re kicking me out?” I asked with mock offense.

Dante nodded once. “I’ve got shit to do. This is still just casual, right? Or do you want to cuddle?”

“Just casual,” I agreed while putting my clothes on. “You don’t seem like the cuddling type, anyway.”

He rose from the bed, still nude, and gave me a kiss that was softer and more sensual than I was used to from the hard-edged man. “I like to cuddle. Sometimes.” Then he smacked my ass. “But not tonight.”

It was relieving hearing my boundaries reiterated by him. This was just casual. Nothing serious. We were neighbors, and lovers, but that was it. I liked how clear-cut the relationship was.

Yet I couldn’t help but wonder…

We made a lot of progress on the greenhouse the next day. At this point we had enough planters for all of my plants and the ones he wanted to move over. Now we were just building the rest of them so we would have room to expand. “Might as well finish all of them while we have the tools out,” he explained while wiping sweat from his forehead.

“You just want to stare at my ass some more,” I teased.

His eyes drifted down and stopped on my tight leggings. “Fuck yeah I do. It’s making me think about what I want to do to you, later.”

I slowly bent over to pick up an empty planter. “I’m listening.”

“Well,” Dante said in a lusty voice, “I’ll hold you down on the bed and spend a while devouring you. Licking every inch of your body until you’re putty in my hands, and onlythenfucking you.”

“Mmm.”

“Or maybe we’ll skip the foreplay tonight,” he said, stretching his arms over his head. They glistened with sweat. “Maybe I’ll ripyour clothes off, bend you over the couch, and pound you until you’re screaming.”

I grinned at him. “I kind of like that plan. The only problem is waiting until we’re done.”

He put down the tool that was in his hand. “I could be done right now.”

A car door slammed, and both of us perked up. Dante left the greenhouse first, so I followed, walking around the edge of my house so we could see toward the driveway.

An Uber was driving away, revealing a tall, blond-haired man with a huge grin on his face.

“Bash!” I exclaimed.

He hefted his suitcase. “I’m home.”

48

Jazz

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.”

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