Page 17 of Neighbors With Benefits

He smirked. “Be careful what you wish for.”

We divided up the tiles, stared at each other, then began the next round. My hands were a flurry of activity as I flipped over the tiles to reveal the letters, organizing them into words andpotential words. I tried not to glance at Aiden’s tiles, but it was hard not to glance up and see how he was doing.

I created words, tore them down, made new ones. When I got stuck, I exchanged one tile for three more. All I needed was an S and I would be able to…

There.

I slid the tiles into place.

“BANANAS!” we both shouted at the same time.

“Was that a tie?” I asked.

“I think I was a split second quicker than you.”

“No way! We said it at the exact same time!”

He leaned forward and examined my tiles. “You could have won if you used the S from this word over here. You would have finished ten seconds ago.”

“I won anyway!” I said.

Aiden shook his head. “Nope. I was first.”

“You were not!” I replied, half playing and half angry.

He pointed down at my words. “You also should have done this instead…”

I playfully slapped his hand away. “Don’t you dare touch my tiles!”

He laughed along with me. “As the winner of the game, I’m trying to show you how you can improve.”

I scoffed and reached past him to maneuver his own tiles. “I think you would have done better if you didthis.” Then I scrambled them all up chaotically.

“You’re ruining my flawless word tree!” he complained.

I mimicked his voice and said, “As the winner of the game, I’m trying to show you how you can improve.”

Aiden grabbed my wrist, and I squealed as we play-fought. I swung a leg out and kicked him in the side. He grunted and fell sideways, giving me enough time to really mess up his tiles.

“How dare you!” he exclaimed with faux-outrage.

“Oh, I dare!”

He pushed me backwards until I was on my back on the rug. Then he grabbed both of my wrists in one strong fist and pinned them above my head. With his free hand, he started grabbing tiles off the floor next to me.

“Here’s a good word for you,” he said, carefully placing the tiles on my forehead. “L-O-S-E-R.”

I shook my head, sending tiles everywhere. Aiden sighed. “Now I have to start over. I bet I can spell out a more offensive word.”

“No!” I squirmed in his grasp, almost freeing my wrists, but then he gave up on trying to spell a word and used both hands to pin my wrists out to either side of me.

Aiden was on top of me now, leaning in and sneering wickedly. “Admit I won.”

“Never!” I declared. “You’ll have to kill me.”

“That can be arranged.” His dark eyes scanned the ground next to me. “I see two Ds and an A. All I need is an E and I can spell DEAD across your forehead…

I wriggled and fought against him, but Aiden was too strong. He barely seemed to be trying to hold me down, that’s how easy it was for him. Being under his control caused a tingling feeling in my stomach, and I stopped fighting. He was gorgeous as he stared down at me, eyes shining in victory—both at the game and in our play-wrestling match. His scent filled my nose, stirring something deeper inside of me. And I could feel something warm within his sweatpants pressing against my thigh…

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