Neighbors With Benefits

38 - Jazz

38

Jazz

No way.

There was no way.

I carried my groceries inside, sat down at the couch, and stared at the address written on my hand. I could still feel his touch, the way he’d gripped me possessively but not too strong. Enough to let me know he was in control.

A sex club.

What did that even mean? A club where people hooked up with random strangers? Or one of those places where people had sex on stage in front of an audience? My instincts assumed the latter, but if that were the case, why did he tell me to wear something sexy? Maybe that’s just how things were there. Everyone dressed scandalously to set the mood, like Rocky Horror Picture Show .

But when I looked up the address on Google, there was nothing there. Just an empty warehouse next to a soccer field. Dante was fucking with me.

Unless it was a secret sex club. It’s not like those kinds of places advertised on Google. Honestly, a deserted-looking warehouse was the exact place where a secret sex club would be located.

Remembering my groceries, I hurried back into the kitchen and began putting food away. I’d been sitting on the couch thinking about it for so long that my ice cream was starting to melt.

Not sure what else to do, I texted Aiden and Bash separately to ask if they were around. Neither of them responded. That didn’t surprise me—they had warned me they would be working late tonight. So I turned to Cat.

Me : Hey. Have you ever been to any sex clubs?

Cat : JASPER BARNES. I’ve been trying to get you to come to a burlesque show with me for YEARS. Are you finally ready to trust your best friend?

Me : Sorry. I shouldn’t have led with that. I don’t have any intention of going to a sex club. But you’re involved in that scene, right?

Cat : Ugh. Give me a minute to cry after getting my hopes up.

Cat : Okay. I’ve recalibrated my expectations for this conversation. Yes, I’ve been involved in the sex club scene in the past. It’s been a while, though.

Me : I’m sending you an address on Google Maps. Do you know if there’s a sex club there? Someone told me so, but I don’t believe them.

Cat : Hmm. I’m not familiar with any there. It’s just a soccer field and a warehouse.

Me : Yeah, I know. I was wondering if it was a secret or something.

Cat : Not that I’m aware of. But I haven’t done anything like that in a while, so my info is probably out of date. Want me to put some feelers out? Who told you about this mysterious sex club?

Me : I’ll tell you all about it the next time we get lunch. But I promise it’s not an interesting story.

Cat : Ugh. You’re a tease. It’s probably because both of your fuckboy neighbors are out of town

Me : Yes! I’m going CRAZY without them, and I’m not even joking. It’s been like a week since I had sex!

Cat : A week? I’m so proud. We’ll turn you into a nymphomaniac yet.

Cat’s text confirmed it for me: Dante was just fucking with me. Which of course he was.

But my certainty soon faded back into doubt and curiosity.

Dante had written down the address so confidently. And it was a real address, not just something he made up. Why would he write it on my palm if it didn’t mean something?

At seven-thirty, I heard the familiar rumble of his motorcycle. Feeling like a stalker, I went to the window and peered through the blinds in time to see him drive away. I couldn’t tell if he was still in his polo shirt; he was wearing protective motorcycle clothes, the kind with padding on the knees and elbows.

I made it ten more minutes before I couldn’t stand it any longer. I needed to know .

And just in case he was telling the truth, I wanted to be prepared. So I picked out something sexy from my lingerie drawer: a black corset, hose, and garters. Then I put regular clothes on over top: jeans, tennis shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt that concealed my sexy secret. I felt extremely silly wearing it, but then again, nobody would know but me.

I was practically vibrating with anticipation as I drove to the address that I had scrubbed off my palm. It felt like I was doing something wrong, or at the very least something naughty . This was way outside of my comfort zone.

Then again, I had done a lot of things outside my comfort zone since buying that house.

The late-summer sun was just beginning to set when I arrived. That felt wrong; places like this should only be visited under the cover of darkness. There was a soccer game or something happening at the field next to the warehouse, with a dozen fans in a stand cheering along. I hoped none of them were looking at me while I walked to the warehouse.

I arrived at what looked like the entrance to the building. It was chained closed. I peered through the windows, and walked around the other side, but there wasn’t any other entrance. Whatever this warehouse was for, it was definitely deserted now.

Yep. Dante had just been fucking with me.

Part of me was relieved. As daring as I felt tonight, my nervousness at walking into an actual sex club—whatever that entailed—was high. I could already feel my heartbeat returning to normal as I walked back to my car.

A few cheers drifted over from the soccer field, and someone shouted, “Shake it off, Dante!”

I stopped dead in my tracks. Dante? There was no way…

As if my feet had a mind of their own, I walked over to the soccer field. It wasn’t soccer they were playing, though—they were using something similar to a football. They were playing rugby, I realized.

I took a seat in the first row of bleachers and scanned the field. Dante was easy to pick out—he was the one with the ball tucked under his arm, barreling over the other players like they were hardly more than an inconvenience. He reached the end of the field, spiked the ball, then jogged back to the rest of his teammates to celebrate.

One of the opponents he had ran over had a bloody nose. The referee called a timeout so he could be attended to by someone on the sideline.

Hitting people. Bleeding. I guess Dante had been telling the truth about the sport he played.

It was infuriating that he did it in as few words as possible, though.

The woman sitting behind me leaned forward and asked, “Who are you here for?”

“Oh. Um, that one there.” I pointed. “Number twelve.”

Another woman quickly climbed down two rows to sit next to me. “You’re with Dante!”

“He’s so hot!” the first woman said wistfully.

“Dark and brooding!” agreed the other. “You’re so lucky.”

“Oh, I’m not, like, with him,” I clarified. “He’s just a friend. We’re neighbors.”

“Even better,” the first woman whispered. “I wish Dante lived next door to me. I would let him borrow a cup of my sugar.”

“Shut up Marlene, you slut!” the second woman teased.

“Don’t act like you wouldn’t do the exact same thing.”

“I’d be the one knocking on his door asking for sugar,” she replied. “In my nightgown.”

“You’re dating number nineteen.”

“Sure… for now.”

Both of them laughed, but my eyes were still locked onto Dante. The player on the other team with the bloody nose was still being tended to, so Dante and the others walked over to the sideline to get water. His gaze swept across the stands, sliding past me like I wasn’t there.

Then they locked back onto me with surprise.

“Here he comes,” one of the women said.

Dante was grinning by the time he reached us. “Jasmin.”

It still pissed me off that he called me that, but the way he pronounced it sent a shiver up my spine. “Dante. I see you weren’t lying about the kind of sport you play, even if you lied about everything else happening at this address.”

His smirk deepened. “Couldn’t resist fucking with you. Thanks for coming.” He gestured. “Careful around these two ladies. They’re sharks.”

Both women giggled like it was the funniest joke they’d ever heard. “You don’t know the half of it, Dante!” one of them said.

The two of them hopped down and sauntered away, likely to give Dante a view of their short shorts. But he barely glanced at them before turning back to me. He smiled at me a moment longer, then his eyes drifted down to my chest. They remained there a heartbeat before he reached out and brushed the collar of my shirt back, revealing the edge of the corset.

“Little warm out for long sleeves,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice.

I had forgotten all about my hidden wardrobe until that moment. I shivered in spite of the warmth. Dante’s grin remained the same, but there was an intense sparkle in his eyes.

He leaned in close enough for me to feel his hot breath on my collarbone. “It can be our little secret.”

Only when he was back out on the field did I exhale.