Page 77 of Neighbors With Benefits

“Oh?” Aiden glanced over his shoulder at me. “That sounds serious.”

“It kind of is…”

A key scratched at the lock, and then the front door flew open. Bash came striding in, throwing the door closed behind him. He saw me and almost lost a step.

“Bash,” I said. He was wearing a full suit, which of course made him look even sexier than ever before.

“There he is!” Aiden called. “I thought you were working late.”

“I just came home to get my work laptop. I was in such a rush this morning I forgot it.” He disappeared into his room.

The room where we’d slept together, figurativelyandliterally.

“I heard about Davenport,” Aiden shouted. “I really thought we had that acquisition locked up.”

“So did I,” Bash muttered while exiting his room. “This is going to fuck up my entire schedule.” He held my gaze a moment, then glanced at Aiden. “See you guys later.”

“Later!” Aiden chuckled. “If he’s wearing a suit, it means he’s in a meeting with the president of our company. That’s not good.”

“Yeah, I bet,” I said. “As I was saying…”

“Help me with this?” Aiden asked. “I need you to keep stirring the cream sauce while I take the eggplant out, or the sauce will burn.”

I helped him finish prepping dinner, and then we sat down at the table. Aiden opened a bottle of wine and began filling two glasses.

“Just a small pour for me,” I said.

He put the bottle down. “So. What did you want to tell me?”

It would have been so easy to put it off. To pretend like nothing was wrong, have a nice meal with him, and spill the beans later. But I couldn’t delay anymore. I had to tell him now or I was going to explode.

“Bash and I slept together.”

The words hung in the air. Aiden’s eyes widened slightly, but otherwise he remained surprisingly calm. I knew that would change once he fully processed the information.

But then he did the last thing I expected.

He grinned.

“I was hoping that’s what you were going to tell me,” he said.

I blinked. “Wait, what?”

Aiden’s smile never wavered. “Bash was acting strange all day, like he was hiding something. I’m guessing you asked him not to say anything until you could tell me?”

“Uhh…”

“Sebastian is agreatguy,” Aiden said. “And he’s liked you ever since the housewarming party. He was kind of jealous that I…”He trailed off. “Well, I might as well tell you since we’re revealing stuff. Bash knows we’ve been sleeping together. I didn’t tell him on purpose—I don’t kiss and tell. It was an accident. But regardless, he was kind of jealous that I hooked up with you first, since he’s been crushing on you for so long.”

“I… he told me he knows,” I said faintly. This night was not going the way I expected. “Back up a minute. You’re okay with the fact that I slept with Bash?”

“Of course. That’s why I texted you the other day to reiterate that you could do whatever you wanted.”

“But Bash… he’s your roommate. He’s your best friend!”

Aiden looked puzzled. “So what? If anything, that’s better than if you hooked up with some random guy. IknowBash.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m really confused,” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose. “When you texted me to reiterate that we weren’t exclusive, you were trying to get me to sleep with him specifically?”

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