Page 51 of Neighbors With Benefits

“Because we’ve had a good thing going,” I explained. “Game nights, Sunday dinner… it’s all really nice. Especially while Dante has been gone. I thought that if you knew Jazz and I were sleeping together, you would feel like a third wheel.”

Bash’s laugh held only a smidge of bitterness. “I should have known something was going on. There was a vibe in the roomlast week. I thought Jazz maybe had a bad day at work, but now I see that it was sexual tension.”

“Yeah, there’s been a lot of that,” I said.

“Wait. Have you guys been, like, fooling around while I’m in the room?”

“That depends on your definition of fooling around,” I replied.

“Forget I asked.” Bash sighed again. “So you two have been sleeping together for a while now.”

“Well… we haven’t done any sleeping,” I said.

The line was silent.

“Still too soon to lighten the mood with humor?” I asked.

“I suppose it’s fine. Have you two talked about it? Is this a real relationship?”

“We agreed to keep it casual. The most important thing for both of us is to maintain good neighborly relations. So whenever this ends, we intend to stay friends. That’s the most important thing.”

“If you end things, and she lights our plants on fire…”

“I already told her about that,” I said with a nervous laugh. “She promised not to do anything like that. And I think we’re both on the same page. This is just a casual fling. No feelings.”

Bash was my best friend. I knew he was going to call me out on it. He would ask if I was capable of keeping it casual, I would say yes, and then he would disagree.

But he only said, “I hope so, for everyone’s sake. And seriously, she had better never find out that first text came from you.”

“I know.”

“We all have a nice friendship. She’s an A-tier neighbor. Hell, she’s in a tier above that. If she discovers you sent that text, it will ruin everything.”

“I know,” I repeated. “Relax. Everything will work out!”

Bash groaned. “I don’t like having my own phrase used against me.”

“Now you know how we feel,” I replied. “And I really am sorry for not telling you. Honestly, I’ve been dying to say something for the past month.”

“Apology accepted,” Bash said. “You can make it up to me by giving me all the hot details. At least the ones you’re comfortable sharing as a proper gentleman.”

“I promise I will give you sometastefuldetails on a different night. But right now, I’m kind of in the middle of something.”

“Is it work related?” Bash asked.

“…no.”

“Oh God. You’re texting her right now, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. You kind of interrupted some sexy texts.”

Bash’s laugh was normal again. “Fine. I’ll let you get back to your evening of long-distance sin. Wait! Before you go, should we let her know that I know?”

“Umm.” I thought about it for a moment. “That might make things awkward. If you find a good opening, sure, go for it. But I vote keeping it to yourself until I get back.”

“Good plan. All right, I’ll leave you to it, you big pervert.”

“You’re more perverted than I am!” I replied.

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