Page 75 of Neighbors With Benefits

“I have not told Aiden we slept together,” he said. “But Jazz—”

“Promise me you won’t tell him,” I said in a rush. “I know you two are best friends, but let me tell him first.”

“I’m glad you want to tell him,” Bash said, “but—”

“Promise me!” I insisted. It felt like I was having a panic attack.

Bash wrapped his arms around me and held me in a tight hug. Slowly, all the tension left my body and my pulse returned to normal.

“I promise to let you tell him first,” Bash said, pulling back slightly.

I sighed. “Thank you.”

“But there’s some information you need first.” He braced my arms and smiled at me. “It will set your mind at ease.”

I couldn’t imagine what might set my mind at ease. Not after I had slept with one man, and then his best friend—both of whom were myfreaking neighbors.

“Aiden…” Bash began.

A door slammed somewhere else in the house, and the unmistakable sound of footsteps moved through the living room on the other side of the wall.

I gasped. Aiden wasn’t supposed to land until this afternoon. He must have come home early!

I scrambled to don my neon workout clothes and then threw open the bedroom door, rushing out into the living room. Maybe if I intercepted him before he saw anything scandalous I could soften the blow, maybe…

But the man standing in the living room with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder wasn’t Aiden.

27

Jazz

The stranger standing in the living room was wearing work boots, faded jeans, a T-shirt, and a leather jacket. His tousled hair was jet black, but his beard was mixed with rusty red. He had strong cheekbones beneath intense eyes, eyes which widened when he saw me.

Jesus, I thought.All three of them are hot? I won the neighbor jackpot.

“Huh,” he said, allowing the duffel bag to slide off his shoulder and onto the floor. “You must be the neighbor. I heard you were friendly.” His lip curled into more of a sneer than a smile.

“I was just…”

“Don’t care,” he replied bluntly, pulling his smoldering gaze from mine. “Just got off a red-eye. I’m hitting the sack.”

“Welcome home, Dante,” Bash said behind me. He’d managed to pull on a pair of sweatpants, but his chest was bare. “Didn’t know you were coming back today.”

“Didn’t know myself until they called me from the standby list at midnight,” the man—Dante?—replied. “Didn’t realize I’d be interrupting.” His dark eyes rolled over to me for a moment,then turned back to Bash. “By the way. The Davenport branch got sniped by WalMart. You ought to check your email.”

“Shit,” Bash hissed, rushing back into his bedroom.

Dante—why was that name so familiar?—sneered at me again, then carried the duffel bag down the hall.

“Seven missed emails…” Bash muttered, staring at his phone while rejoining me in the living room. “I’ve got to deal with all this. Can I make you breakfast another time?”

“Um, yeah, we’ll see what happens,” I said.

He folded me into a hug and kissed me on the cheek. “Talk to Aiden, then we can all have a chat.” He dialed a number on his phone, and then was in the middle of a heated discussion five seconds later.

Nobody saw me slink back to my house in the same neon clothes I’d worn yesterday, for which I was grateful. The last thing I needed was Karen the Snoop spreading gossip about me.

Yet even though I wasn’t spotted, I was filled with shame by the time I hopped into my shower. Not only had I slept with Bash, but the third member of their house caught me. His sneering comment echoed in my mind:I heard you were friendly.

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