Page 19 of Neighbors With Benefits

“I know.”

“Don’t make it weird, dude!”

“I know!” he insisted. “I told you we didn’t kiss. I stopped myself.”

I sighed. This was typical for Aiden. Our prospects with Carmen had fallen through, so he was jumping on the next woman who he came across. Which was a mistake… even if they were perfect for each other.

There was a reason we were looking for women on that polyamorous dating site. All of us traveled way too much to hold down girlfriends. Our relationships always failed. If we found a woman who wanted to date all three of us, a woman willing to be shared by three men, then we could juggle who was with her depending on who was in town at any given time. It was the best possible scenario for the future.

Not to mention trying to recreate that hot night of passion from last year, when the three of us hooked up with the woman who was in town from New York…

“What about the dating site?” I asked. “Have you found any other prospective women?”

Aiden hesitated. I knew him well enough to know that was his tell. He was hiding something.

“I’ve messaged a few girls,” he said carefully, “but nobody has responded.”

I stared at my best friend. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”

He furrowed his brow. “Of course.”

I waited. That’s something I had learned in my time negotiating store acquisitions: sometimes it was best to let a silence stretch. People hated quiet. The other person would eventually cave and say something. And I was certain Aiden was hiding something.

But Aiden just stared back at me.

I guess he didn’t want to share whatever he was hiding. That was fine. We all had our secrets. I just hoped this one didn’t bite us all in the ass.

“Don’t let it bother you,” I said. “Keep messaging people on the dating app. Eventually we’ll find the right person. Everything will work out.”

“You keep saying that.”

“Because,” I replied, “it’s true!”

Aiden pushed back his chair and stood up. “It may be true for you, but most of us aren’t so lucky.”

He left the room, and I thought about what he’d said. Then I thought about Jazz. From my seat at the kitchen table, I could look out the window behind me and see across the fence to her house. The lights were on in her kitchen, but the blinds were drawn, and a shadow moved on the other side of them. A shadow that must have been Jazz. I wondered what she was doing. What did she think about the almost-kiss with Aiden?

Shaking it off, I put my headphones back on and went back to putting out fires.

7

Jazz

I paced around my kitchen like the house was on fire.

Had that really just happened? Play-wrestling on the floor of my living room liketeenagers?It felt so normal and natural at the time, teasing and joking about our Bananagrams rivalry. I didn’t even notice when it turned more… romantic.

But Aiden must not have noticed either, because he seemed totally caught off guard when he pinned my wrists to the side, smirking down at me in victory. I could still see his face drawing serious as he realized how close we were. The way his thighs were nestled between my own legs, lips mere inches away.

For a split second, I wascertainhe wanted me. His dark eyes couldn’t hide it. He even leaned toward the kiss, drawing me in.

And then he changed his mind and ran away.

Both of us had been drinking. Not anywhere close to drunk, but inebriated enough to lose some inhibition. I groaned and wished there was more wine in the bottle they had brought over. Ialmostopened another bottle—I had been gifted at least a dozen at my housewarming party—but it was a Sunday night and I didn’t need to go to work with a hangover tomorrow.

Instead, I did the emotional version of binge drinking: I texted my best friend.

Me: I’m going to tell you something, but you have to promise not to freak out about it.

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