Page 35 of Neighbors With Benefits

“You didn’t even drink any of your coffee.”

“I need my full attention for this.” She leaned across the table. “Tell me everything. How big is he, exactly? Was he a generous lover? Where did it happen? Bedroom? Couch? That dilapidated greenhouse in your backyard?”

“Answering your questions in order: very big.Extremelygenerous. And it started in the kitchen before ending in the bedroom.”

Cat clamped a hand over her mouth. “I’m this close to making a scene that gets us kicked out.”

“Oh, and then round two was in the bedroom again,” I added.

A peacefulness came over Cat. “One moment, please,” she said with the calmness of a Buddhist monk. Then she stood up, carefully pushed her chair in, and walked outside.

There, in full view of the window, she started jumping up and down, and screaming excitedly. Everyone in the coffee shop turned to stare, including two baristas. The tirade lasted ten seconds, and then Cat calmly walked back inside.

“Sorry about that. I had to take care of something,” she said while sitting back down. “Two rounds? He couldn’t satisfy you the first time?”

“Oh, he satisfied me the first time,” I replied. “Twice. But it was so good that we had to do it again after a short snack break.”

“Enough with the vagueness. I need specific details about your night.”

“Did you know that when you eat cookie dough, it’s the raw flour that makes people sick? Not the eggs?”

“If you make one more joke without giving me thejuicydetails,” Cat threatened, “I will get us permanently banned from this coffee shop. And I know you like to come here.”

By the time I was done telling her all about it, she had to make two more scream-trips outside.

“And you think you can keep it casual?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Why not?”

“Because you have a habit of catching feels.” Cat put her palm on her chest. “As an enlightened bisexual goddess, I’ve learned to separate the act of sex from a deeper emotional connection. But I don’t think you’ve ever had sex outside of a relationship.”

“You make me seem boring!”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “Have you ever had a one-night stand? No? Then I rest my case.”

“Okay fine, I’ve never done anything like this before,” I admitted. “But that’s part of what makes it so exciting! For the first time in my life, I have a friend with benefits. A booty-call that lives thirty feet from me at all times.”

“But again: you don’t think you’ll catch feels?” Cat asked with concern in her eyes.

The same question had been running through my head since the moment I woke up this morning. It was easy to agree to it when Aiden and I were eating cookie dough nude in the kitchen, but now that the post-sex glow had faded and I actually had to make good on my promise…

“Honestly, I don’t know,” I admitted.

The concern left Cat’s face and she waved a hand. “That’s fine. As your best friend, I was legally obligated to ask you. But that’s enough over-analyzing. We should be celebrating! Let’s go get mimosas.”

“It’s Monday morning! We both have to go to work,” I reminded her.

“Ugh, you’re no fun.” She leaned across the table. “Does Aiden have a sexually-curious sister you could hook me up with?”

“He actually does have a sister of unknown sexual orientation.”

“That’s your homework for the next week,” Cat said. “Hook me up with his hot lesbian sister.”

“I don’t actually know if she’s a lesbian,” I reminded her. “Or if she’s hot, for that matter.”

“For the purposes of my fantasy, I’m choosing to believe she’s hot and queer.” Cat sighed wistfully. “Tall and slender, but with strong thighs. The kind that can really squeeze my head when I’m—”

“Cat!”

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