Page 14 of Neighbors With Benefits

“They had a day game against the Mets,” Aiden replied.

“Ah, okay.”

A silence stretched, but I couldn’t think of any other reason to make him stay.

“Hey, is that Bananagrams?” Aiden pointed to a shelf behind me.

“Yes! I love word games.”

Aiden refilled both of our wine glasses until the bottle was empty. “Wanna play a few rounds? I need an excuse to stick around and drink the rest of the wine.”

I tried to suppress my happiness, but I ended up grinning anyway. “Let’s play on the floor in the living room. The rug makes it easier to pick up the tiles.”

“Smart. Speed is of the essence.”

I sat cross-legged on the living room rug, and Aiden stretched one leg out to the side while he sat. It wasn’t obvious while we were eating, but he was wearing the same sweatpants I’d seen when he was taking out the trash. Although baggy around the waist, they were more snug against his thighs and calves, accentuating the lean muscle. The blue T-shirt was like a highlighter for the muscles in his upper body while he dumped out the Bananagrams tiles.

“Any house rules?” he asked.

“If one of your words is incorrect, or misspelled or something, you automatically lose the game,” I said.

Aiden frowned at me. “Damn, Jazzy. That’s harsh.”

“You’d better make sure your words are correct before playing them, then,” I said primly.

I had a super power: I wasamazingat word games like Bananagrams or Scrabble. I had been playing them with my parents since I was old enough to read.

But I didn’t want to totally destroy Aiden. I wanted him to like me. Just in a friendly, neighborly way. Nothing more. I couldn’t get involved with a guy who literally lived next door to me.

Yet, Cat’s teases from yesterday echoed in my head: “It’s only fair that you taste his pie before he tastesyours.”

“What’s so funny?” Aiden asked.

I shook off the thought. “Nothing. Ready when you are.”

The objective to Bananagrams was to make a bunch of words that connected, like Scrabble. Except each participant played at the same time, and the first to use all their letters won. I went easy on him the first game, taking my time between words.

“You’re a Phillies fan?” I asked while moving tiles around on the rug.

Aiden nodded. “Phillies, Eagles, Fliers, Sixers. In that order.”

“So you’re from Philadelphia?”

“Born and raised.” He played a word and flipped over some new tiles. “Lived here my whole life, except four years when I was at Boston College.”

My eyes cut up to him. “No shit? I went to UMass.”

Aiden chuckled. “Small world. I dated a UMass girl. She was…” He glanced up at me before looking back at his letters. “I won’t tell you what I thought of her.”

“I dated a guy at Boston College. He was actually great. He lived in Greycliff Hall.”

“Hah! I was next door in Vanderslice Dorm.”

“Very small world,” I said.

“What happened to Mr. Greycliff?”

I shrugged. “We only dated a month.”

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