Page 18 of Neighbors With Benefits

Our gazes remained locked together as his smile faded. I could tell what he was thinking because it was theexactsame thing going through my head.

He leaned down, and I pushed my lips up to meet his, desperate to feel them…

Before we could connect, he let go of my wrists and sat back on his haunches. There was definitely a bulge in his sweatpants, which matched my own lady-wood.

“I, uh, have to go,” he suddenly said.

Aiden rushed out of my house, leaving me confused on the rug.

6

Bash

I was having agreattime with the new neighbor.

Aiden did most of the cooking in our house. He was a better chef than me by a long shot, and abilliontimes better than Dante, so it just made sense for him to make most of the meals. He actually enjoyed it, too.

But I still felt guilty about how often he cooked for us, so it was a delight when Jazz invited us over for pasta. It helped that the food was delicious, too.

Yet as good as the food was, the company was better. I liked this girl, despite the bathroom intrusion when we had first met. And not just because she was an attractive woman with a killer smile. She was fun, and didn’t take herself too seriously. It was also really chill of her to invite us over for a spur-of-the-moment dinner. Most people I knew neededdaysof notice before having guests over. I liked that it was all so casual, eating pasta and drinking wine. And beneath the casual company, I felt the spark of something. Maybe it wasn’t anything… but maybe it was.

Until my work call ruined the night.

I rushed home, turned on my laptop, and hopped on a Teams meeting. “Sebastian Harley here. Just catching up on all the emails, but it looks like they’re unhappy with the supply chain requirements we’ll have after the acquisition?”

The timing was really shitty, but I actually enjoyed this part of my job. I was at my best when I was rushing around, putting out fires. It focused me in a way that I rarely felt with my other job responsibilities. It made me feel sharp, like an athlete in his prime.

In the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed and Aiden was walking through the door. I raised a hand in greeting but didn’t say anything since I was focused on the data on my laptop screen.

“You got a second?” Aiden asked me.

“Aiden, I love you like a brother, but I have zero seconds to devote to you right now.”

“Jazz and I almost kissed.”

I removed my headset and leaned back in my chair. “Forget what I said. You now have my full, undivided attention.”

Aiden spent a few minutes describing how the rest of the evening had gone after I left. I hung on his every word, my work long forgotten.

And deep down I felt something close to jealousy. I pictured myself play-wrestling with Jazz, pinning her to the ground and hovering above her gorgeous body. If I had been in that position, would I have been able to stop myself?

I didn’t know.

“I can’t believe you played her in Bananagrams and she still wanted to kiss you. You usually destroy everyone so badly in that game that they refuse to talk to you for a few days.”

Aiden sat at the table where I was working and shook his head. “You don’t understand. She’s great at it. She won half the games we played, before we tied the last game.”

I blinked in surprise. Aidenneverlost at word games like Bananagrams or Scrabble. It was his super power. He had to stop going to local tournaments because he always won. But if this woman was somehow a match for him…

“She’s our neighbor,” I said. “You can’t date her.”

“I know,” Aiden whined, resting his forehead down on the table. “You told me after the housewarming party.”

Ihadtold him after the housewarming party. Sure, I was projecting my own desires onto him. Telling myself that I couldn’t date her because she was our neighbor. It was good advice.

“I kept thinking about it while I was over there,” Aiden said. “But knowing that I can’t go out with her makes me want to even more.”

“Don’t ruin this,” I said, poking the top of his head. “Our last neighbor sucked. We finally have someone who seems cool. If you guys hook up and make it awkward, then we’re stuck in a bad situation until one of us moves.”

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