Page 89 of Neighbors With Benefits

I let out a deep breath. “Did I embarrass myself last night?”

“You were… entertaining,” Aiden said, picking the word carefully.

“Did we… you know.”

He shook his head. “We did not have sex. We made out a little bit on the couch, but that was it.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, hanging my head. “You’re so freaking nice, watching over me like it’s your job. And you didn’t even get any sex out of it.”

He shrugged like it was no big deal. “That’s what friends do for each other. Even if we weren’t having sex.”

“I’ll make it up to you later—”

Aiden immediately put a finger to my lips. “You don’t owe me anything.” He glanced at his watch. “I have to get ready for work. You good now?”

“I wouldn’t say I’m good. But I’m alive.”

“Good enough for me.” He hugged me, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek—I was glad he didn’t go in for the real thing—and then put on his shoes. “There’s a Gatorade in the fridge with your name on it. We can talk more later.”

And then he was gone.

I felt marginally better after chugging the Gatorade and taking a shower, so I drove myself to work. But after two cups of coffee and an hour of paperwork, I started feeling nauseous again.

“I’m not feeling great, so I’m going to take a sick day,” I told Brandi. “Can you make sure the shipment of women’s golf clubs gets delivered at three? They’re for the bays on the second floor.”

“No worries, boss. I’ll take care of everything.” She gave me a reassuring hug.

Right. Because she thinks my grandma is sick.

“And, uh, thanks for the flowers,” I told her. “That was really sweet of you.”

“It’s the least I could do! You’ve been such a great boss and mentor to me.”

I have?I thought while walking to my car.I guess I’m better at my job than I thought.

I did feel like an asshole for lying about my grandma, though.

As soon as I got home, I put the clean sheets on my bed and crawled under the covers. I didn’t even bother undressing. I hadn’t been this hungover since college. A little nap would set me right, so I put my phone on silent and closed my eyes.

That little nap turned into an eighteen-hour deep sleep. My usual alarm woke me up on Thursday morning, a full day later. I woke upverythirsty, but with a clarity that only came from a two-day hangover.

I liked both Aiden and Bash.

There was no way I could choose between them.

But that was the crazy part about all of this:

I didn’t have to.

After downing three glasses of water and six frozen waffles, I checked my phone. I had a lot of missed calls and texts, mostly from my neighbors checking to make sure I was okay. I responded to both of them in a group text.

Me: I’m awake and alive. I’ve been asleep since noon yesterday.

Aiden: Holy shit. That’s a long time to be passed out.

Bash: Oof. Reminds me of my college days. Drink on Saturday night, sleep all day Sunday, then go to class Monday morning.

Me: I needed the sleep. I feel a lot more like myself today. And along those lines… I want to apologize to both of you for getting sloppy drunk yesterday. I was nervous about everything, so I had a drink before you came over, but that turned into several drinks. And I forgot to eat dinner.

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