Neighbors With Benefits: Chapter 31

I woke up slowly, becoming gradually more aware of everything around me. Warmth first: I was bundled up, and lying on something soft, although I wasn’t particularly comfortable. My lower back ached, and there was a crick in my neck.

Then came light. Natural light. The sun was up. That seemed strange, but I couldn’t really place why. My mind was soft and squishy, like an overripe orange.

Orange. That made me aware of the taste in my mouth, sour and acidic and foul. I rolled over, groaning as I did so, and tried to open my eyes.

Light was streaming through my windows, light that immediately felt like forks were being jammed through my eyeballs and directly into my brain. I let out a hiss of pain and turned away, burying my face into a vertical cushion.

I wasn’t in my bed. I was on my couch. Or at least a couch.

Tentatively, I squeezed open one eye. Yeah, the fabric one inch from my retina verified that it was my couch. But I was sleeping on something silky and slippery. I couldn’t place the material.

Morning. It was morning. Which meant last night was over. Time had passed.

What did I remember?

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 with Aiden on 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, means puke resistance.”

“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 a lot,” 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.”

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 up very thirsty, 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.

Bash: I think I found the problem. No wonder you were throwing up nothing but wine.

Me: Please refrain from describing my puke in any amount of detail ever again.

Bash: Sorry!

Aiden: Also, it wasn’t yesterday. It was two days ago, on Tuesday. Today is Thursday.

Me: Right. My internal clock is all messed up. Tuesday Jazz was an idiot. Fortunately, Today Jazz is older and wiser. And since it’s Thursday, I want to have you both over for game night again. Maybe sans-alcohol.

Me: Okay, even typing the word alcohol made my stomach lurch. I will be drinking Sprite tonight.

Aiden: Yeah, about that…

Bash: I can’t do game night tonight.

Me: What? Why not?

Bash: I’m in Iowa.