Page 124 of Neighbors With Benefits

“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 aboutme.

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.”

“Idohate 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 thinkof something to say, but my mind was blank. The longer the silence stretched, the more awkward it felt.

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