Page 88 of Neighbors With Benefits

Opening a bottle of wine before the guys came over.

Opening another while we played Candyland.

Wolfing down a handful of chips because I had skipped dinner.

Making out with Bash on the couch.

No, making out withAidenon the couch.

Maybe I had made out with both of them? That kind of sounded right.

I lightly touched my temple, which seemed like the source of my pounding headache. I couldn’t believe it. My first threesome and I was too drunk to remember it.

After several deep breaths, I sat up on the couch and opened my eyes.

The first thing I noticed was a bouquet of flowers in a vase on the kitchen counter. Where the hell had those come from?

The second thing I noticed was Aiden, sprawled across my loveseat with his legs hanging off the edge.

“The hell are you doing here?”

He bolted upright like a soldier ready to march off to war. “Jazz! You’re awake!”

Groaning, I said, “Please don’t shout.”

“Sorry,” he said in a whisper.

“What are you doing here?”

“Making sure you survived the night.”

“I kind of wish I hadn’t survived.” I touched my temple again and winced. “Why am I on the couch?”

Aiden came over and sat next to me. “You got sick last night.”

“Yeah, I can still taste the vomit inside my mouth. It feels like my tongue took a bath in vomit. But I have a bed.” I pointed behind me. “Back there. In the bedroom.”

“Don’t freak out,” he warned, “but you threw up all over your bed.”

“Shit.”

“We got you cleaned up and put fresh sheets on the bed,” Aiden added, “and then you threw up a second time.”

“I think that’s enough information for today.”

“That was the worst of it!” he said a little too loudly. When he saw me cringe, he lowered his voice. “Your sheets are in the dryer. We were afraid you might throw up again, and we didn’t want you to stain your mattress, so we put you out here on the couch. It seemed like the least-bad option.”

I touched the layer underneath me. “What is this?”

“My sleeping bag. We put it down, just in case. It’s water resistant. Which, in this context, meanspukeresistance.”

“Please stop talking about my puke,” I said, closing my eyes. “I’m already extremely close to dying of embarrassment. I can’t believe you stayed here with me all night.”

Aiden shrugged. “I’ve been in your position before. It’s always good to have someone watching out for you. Besides, I haven’t seen you in weeks. I kind of, sort of, miss you.”

“Kind of, sort of?” I asked.

“Okay, I missed you alot,” he admitted. “But mostly I wanted to make sure I was here when you woke up, so you didn’t immediately freak out and wonder what happened last night.”

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