Page 80 of Neighbors With Benefits

Shaking it off, I hurried inside. I changed out of my clothes—which I had chosen for sex appeal, not comfort—and into sweatpants. Even ignoring that Aiden and Bash had been lying to me, I was overwhelmed by everything I had just learned. It was ridiculous. It was insane. It made me think it was all some prank.

The worst part was that I was starving. I usually went grocery shopping after work on Mondays, but I had skipped that today since I had a date with Aiden. So there was nothing good to eat in my house except pickles, cheese, and half a bag of Triscuits.

Girl dinner.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I wanted to ignore it, but I certainly didn’t have the willpower.

Aiden: I’m really sorry you had to find out this way. I know it sounds convenient, but Bash and I had actually agreed to tell you everything tonight. But you blew the secret before we could. Take as much time as you want to process everything. We will give you your space. You don’t even have to respond to this text. I just wanted to let you know how much I like you, and hope that we can keep seeing each other in some fashion.

Aiden: Oh, and I dropped off some food on your porch. Including dessert.

I practically ran to the front door, pausing only to make sure Aiden wasn’t still on my porch. Waiting on the doormat were two Tupperware containers of food, and a full pie wrapped in tinfoil.

As I wolfed it all down, it was tough to be upset at Aiden. The eggplant parmesan wasphenomenal. Much better than the attempt Bash and I had made.

Bash.

Aiden.

And Dante, apparently.

They wanted to find a woman to share. Three men, one woman. Sex, and maybe some kind of a relationship.

I laughed out loud at my kitchen table. It was insane! That’s not how relationships worked.

But I was already sleeping with two of them. Hell, I had spent the majority of today freaking out about that fact! Suddenlydiscovering that they were not only cool with it, but had hoped it would happen…

I didn’t know how to feel.

The pie wasreallygood, though.

I slept fitfully, tossing and turning. Every time I woke up, I re-remembered what I had learned, freaking out about it all over again.

My eyelids were heavy as I walked out to my car the next morning. There was a rumbling sound that I couldn’t place until I walked down my driveway to where my car was parked. That’s when I saw the motorcycle next door.

Dante was straddling the chrome-and-black bike, with his helmet resting on the handlebars while he texted on his phone. He looked the part, wearing a leather jacket and a backpack, with heavy black boots that looked way too big for any normal guy’s feet. His face was pinched in a scowl, but that only accentuated his strong facial features. Even with his rusty-black beard, his strong jawline stood out.

He was, if I had to describe him, sexy. Undeniably so.

That only enhanced my annoyance at the entire situation.

Dante glanced over, noticing me for the first time, then rolled his eyes and shoved his phone in a pocket.

“Hey,” I said, walking over to the fence that separated our two properties. “About what happened last night…”

“I give exactly zero fucks,” he replied in a deep, rough voice.

“I just want to make it very clear,” I insisted, “that I haven’t agreed to whatever insane arrangement Aiden mentioned. So if you think—”

“Doesn’t matter,” he interrupted, putting on a pair of riding gloves and then his helmet. “I’m not into blondes. Sorry.”

He slammed the visor down, rolled out onto the street, and shot away at a reckless speed. I could still hear the rumble of the bike long after he was out of sight.

“Not into blondes?” I muttered. “Yeah, right.” The rejection stung more than I expected. He didn’t really mean what he said. He was just trying to reject me before I had a chance of rejecting him. I was certain that was the truth, but it still felt like there was an itch under my skin I couldn’t scratch.

Halfway to work, I gave myself a mental shake. What the hell was I doing? Two men were already too many to worry about. I didn’t need to get upset because mythirdhot neighbor wasn’t into me like the other two.

I had an early meeting with my employees, which helped distract me from my personal issues, but once that was over I went right back to obsessing over the situation next door. How could I not? This was the craziest thing to ever happen to me. It didn’t feel real.

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