Page 52 of Neighbors With Benefits

“I know,” he said with another laugh. “I meant it as a compliment.”

Sighing with relief, I felt glad that Bash wasn’t angry with me. I resolved to never keep anything like that from him again. And he was right about what he’d said; if Jazz found out that first textwasfrom me, it could ruin everything.

But I couldn’t help but wonder…

18

Jazz

Bash and I had another game night on Thursday, this time at his place. It was a little awkward at first; he was quieter than usual, and I wondered if something had happened at work that was affecting his mood. But after a few beers, both of us relaxed and were teasing each other while playing Candyland.

When I got home from work on Friday, there was a package waiting on my front porch. Unlike most of my deliveries, it wasn’t from Amazon; it was one of those flat-rate boxes from the Post Office.

And the sender was Aiden Rush.

I ran inside and ripped it open. Inside was a gallon-sized Ziploc bag filled with cookies and a hand-written note:

My first attempt at guessing your favorite chocolate dessert: fudge-filled chocolate chip cookies. More guesses to come.

“Oh, you’re good,” I said out loud. I took a bite—the cookie was crispy on the outside, with a soft fudge filling. I immediately texted Aiden while still chewing.

Me: I just made a sound that usually only comes from a penis.

Aiden: …a sound that a penis makes? Huh?

Me: I mean I made a sound that is usually CAUSED by a penis. I bit into a cookie and moaned for about ten seconds.

Aiden: Oh! The cookies arrived! You like them?

Me: I’ve eaten five already. This is going to be my meal tonight. Girl dinner.

Aiden: That’s one of my favorite recipes. They’re better fresh, but you can microwave them for ten seconds to get the same effect.

Me: I don’t have the patience to wait ten seconds before stuffing these into my mouth.

Aiden: There’s a joke about making you moan by filling your holes, but it’s been a long day and my brain is too tired to think of it.

Me: I’m eating a sixth cookie now. These things are SEXUAL. 10/10.

Aiden: So did I nail it? I guessed your favorite chocolate dessert on the first try?

Me: These might be my NEW favorite, but no. You’re going to have to keep guessing.

Aiden: You just want me to keep sending you baked goods.

Me: Also yes.

Me: Give me ten minutes to change and I’ll reward you with a sexy strip tease over Facetime.

Aiden: Damnit. I can’t. I’m stuck working at the branch late tonight. I’m training the overnight warehouse workers on our new system. Our break is almost over, actually.

Me: Then I’ll send it to you as a video, and you can enjoy it whenever you get back to your hotel room. And I’ll take immense pleasure knowing that you have to sit there in front of all those workers while the unread text burns a hole in your pocket.

Aiden: It’ll give me something to look forward to :-)

I picked out a nice corset from my lingerie drawer and then made a sexy strip-tease video. Normally I would feel too self-conscious to do something like this, but the cookies werethat good. Plus, there was less pressure on me because this was a casual relationship. I didn’t have to worry about looking silly because the stakes were so low.

I woke up the next morning with a text from Aiden, sent around midnight. There were no words—it was just a series of Bugs Bunny GIFs where his eyes are popping out of his head. It put a smile on my face while I drank my coffee.

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