Page 21 of Neighbors With Benefits

Cat: Easy. Things are weird now, and they’re only going to get weirder the longer you wait to talk about it. So you should text him right now.

Me: What am I supposed to say?

Cat: Tell him to come back over and jam your clam.

Me: That’s worse than gash smash. Besides, I told you I don’t want to get involved with my neighbor.

Cat: UGH, fine. Just be chill about it. Tell him it wasn’t a big deal. You know, pretend to be cooler than you actually are.

Me: Gee, thanks, Cat.

Cat: Any time!

Me: That was sarcasm.

I pulled up Aiden’s number—hisrealnumber that I had called while we were standing around the trash cans before dinner. How would a cool person react to this situation?

Someone cooler than me would shoot off a text without thinking about it, so that’s what I did. And just as I hit send, I received a text from Aiden.

Me: I had a lot of fun playing Bananagrams. Sorry if it was weird afterward. I don’t really want to get involved with someone who lives next door, you know what I mean? But if you ever want to play a word game, I’m your girl!

Aiden: Thanks for dinner, we had a great time. Sorry about what happened after the game. You’re really great, but since we live next to each other I would rather just be friends.

Aiden: LOL, jinx!

Me: That’s twice tonight we’ve jinxed each other.

Aiden: I’m still certain that I yelled BANANAS before you earlier.

Me: I can’t believe you would come into my house, eat my pasta, and then cheat at a friendly game.

Aiden: I don’t need to cheat, I won fair and square! I’m glad you texted, though. I didn’t want to go to bed wondering if things were weird between us.

Me: Same!

Aiden: Let’s make a deal.

Me: I’m listening.

Aiden: Let’s forget all about how the game ended. We had a wonderful night, shook hands, and then I went home.

Me: I like that plan. Although one thing I can’t forget is how we tied the final game.

Aiden: Fine. It was a tie. We both shouted BANANAS at the same time. Happy?

Me: I’ll be happy when I beat you next time.

Aiden: You’re on, Jasper ;-)

Me: Wow, low blow.

I grinned at the exchange. Suddenly, all the awkwardness was gone. I switched back over to my texts with Cat.

Cat: Tell me how it goes

Cat: Did you text him yet?

Cat: Uh, hello? Don’t leave a girl hanging!

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