20. Ben
“Yo, Ben!”
“Hey!” I yell from the back deck as both Jason and Troy walk outside, having let themselves into the house.
“We’re ba-ck!” Troy yells, a huge grin on his face as they drop their bags by the door and grab beers from the fridge. “Whatcha doing?”
I take a sip of my beer as I look over the list I’ve made. “Just finalizing shit for tomorrow.”
“Cool, what do you need us to do?” Jason asks, flopping into the seat across from me.
My eyes scan the list again, knowing that pretty much everything is sorted and all that’s left is the last-minute set up before everyone shows up tomorrow. “So, I just need someone to go get the ice in the morning and then I just gotta finish the last of the decorations.”
“I’ll do the decorating with you,” Jason says, taking a long pull of his beer. “I picked up some awesome fireworks in Florida, so we should definitely get those set up before everyone arrives.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, smiling at my friend. “You cool to get the ice?” I ask, turning to Troy, who has taken the seat next to me.
“Yeah, no worries,” he says with a grin. “We expecting the usual huge turn out?”
Chuckling, I glance over at Aida’s place. I haven’t seen her since I ran into her in the hardware store yesterday and she put a pause on this thing that’s building between us. I’d been caught off-guard at first, until she basically said the fourth was the finish line and after that, all bets were off.
Which I’m totally taking to mean it’s the day we get down and dirty with each other. Something I have literally been thinking about twenty-four seven, especially after that sleep over at my grandma’s.
“Well, yeah,” I start, sitting back in my chair. “I mean Aida is also throwing a party, but I’m not worried because obviously no one’s going to go. Well, maybe that dickhead Weston, but fuck him, he’s not welcome here anyway.”
“Wait, I’m sorry, Aida is throwing a party?” Troy now asks, a shocked look on his face as he glances at Jason before turning back to me. “What the hell is that about?”
Laughing, I shake my head. “It’s nothing, just this friendly little rivalry thing we’ve got going on. She heard about my party, and she thinks she can outdo me. It’s no big?—”
The rest of my words are cut off as both Troy and Jason burst out laughing. “Fuck, you can tell she’s new to the island,” Jason says, a huge grin on his face. “How come you’re not pissed about it?”
Now it’s me grinning. “Because one, she’s going to lose and two, I really fucking dig this girl.”
“What?” Troy blurts out. “You dig her?”
“Uh huh,” I say with a nod. “A lot.”
He glances at Jason quickly, the two of them sharing a knowing look before he turns back to me. “So what, you hooked up with her?”
Chuckling, I shake my head. “Not fully, no.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Jason asks, laughing.
“It means we flirt like hell, we’ve kissed, a few times, and we’ve shared a bed. Just no sex yet,” I say. “Oh, but I have seen her naked and she’s watched me jerk off.”
My friends say nothing, the two of them literally rendered speechless at what I’ve just told them. I kind of get it though, because this isn’t my usual MO, preferring to hook up with a chick, close the deal and then move on.
With Aida though, everything is different. And even though I have no idea if this thing between us will last past the summer, I certainly want to spend the rest of it making the most of it with my seriously hot neighbor.
“Okay, I have so many fucking questions right now,” Jason eventually says, shoving a hand through his hair. “But I’ll start with the easiest. How the fuck are you okay with the girl you like throwing a party the same day you are?”
Laughing, I take a sip of my beer. “Because the whole competition thing is how we flirt,” I tell him. “I know she’s gonna lose and come crawling over here when no one shows up to her party, so I’m not worried. But it’s fucking turning me on competing with her like this.”
Troy slow blinks at me as he says, “I feel like I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
“What are you talking about?” I ask with a laugh. “I’ve always been competitive.”
“Yeah, I know,” he says with a nod. “But you don’t act like this over a girl.”
I shrug, not wanting to over-analyze this right now. “What can I say, Aida is different.”
“I’ll say,” Jason mutters.
The next morning, the three of us wake early. Ordinarily, I’d be heading to the beach for some morning yoga with Aida but considering the pause that’s currently in place with us, I’m not about to subject myself to that cock-tease when I can’t do anything about it.
Still, my body is practically humming with excitement at the thought of what’s going to happen tonight when her party fails and she finds herself not just over at my house, but also in my bed. And even though I know it’s probably going to be a loud and messy night, in many ways, I have zero plans for tomorrow.
Well, except for spending it in bed with her.
“K, I’m heading out to get ice,” Troy yells as he grabs his keys. “Text me if you need anything else.”
“Later,” we yell.
Jason and I are out on the back deck, going through the boxes of fireworks he’s brought from Florida. I picked up some myself, but he’s definitely brought some good additions.
“You want me to set these up down on the beach?” Jason asks, holding up a bunch of the skyrockets and bottle rockets.
“Yeah, sounds good,” I say, grabbing the cakes to string along the back deck.
Jason takes the path down to the beach area in front of the house, while I get to work tying the cake fireworks to the deck railing. As I work, I risk a quick glance over at Aida’s house, grinning when I see her walk out onto her back deck carrying a cooler of what I’m guessing are drinks.
“Sure you don’t wanna just bring them over here?” I call out to her. “You know this is where you’re going to end up?”
She puts the cooler down before straightening, holding a hand up to block out the sun as she looks over at me, a smile on her face. “Nah, I’m good,” she says. “But I’m looking forward to seeing you over here later.”
Laughing, I shake my head at her. “Aida, I’ve told you, my parties are legendary. This is where you want to be.”
“We’ll see,” she says, a teasing note in her voice.
“We will indeed,” I say, a huge grin on my face. “But either way, at the end of the night, we are ending up together.”
Aida’s smile widens as she licks her bottom lip. “Better make sure you don’t get too drunk then,” she calls. “Wouldn’t want to miss out on all the fun. Again.”
I walk over to the side of the deck closest to her house, chuckling. “Oh, don’t you worry about that, beautiful. There will be no missing out. You might be walking funny tomorrow, but I promise I’ll make it worth it.” I wink at her and Aida laughs.
“Awfully confident there, Benji.”
“Yep, and with good reason too.”
She steps closer to the edge of her deck now, hands on her hips as she says, “So the sex is turning into a competition too?”
“No, well, maybe,” I say with a laugh. “But either way, we both know the sex is just going to be fucking awesome.”
“I’ll hold you to that.”
“Please do,” I reply, just as Jason walks up from the beach, a smirk on his face which tells me he’s been listening to this entire conversation.
“Hi, Aida,” he says, waving.
“Hey…”
“Jason,” he prompts with a laugh.
“Right, sorry, hi, Jason.”
He grins at her, hands in his pockets as he rocks on his heels. “So, word is you’re trying to give our buddy, Ben, a little run for his money today?”
She crosses her arms over her chest, her smile widening. “Yep, sure am. You’re welcome to come to my party instead, you know, it’s going to be amazing.”
Jason laughs, his hand now on my shoulder as he says, “No can do, I’m afraid. Ben here’s my boy and I’m staying put.”
She sticks her bottom lip out in an adorable pout that has me wanting to march over to her place and pull that fucking lip between my teeth. Pause be damned.
“No fair,” she replies.
Now it’s me laughing as I say, “Pretty sure that’s gonna be a common theme today, Aida, people coming here instead of to yours. You sure you don’t wanna just call it and come party with us? Promise it will be fun,” I add with a wink.
She hits me with a look that’s part feisty and part fucking hot. “No chance, Ben,” she says, a huge smirk on her face. “And we’ll see who wins this party off.”
Jason lets out a loud laugh as I grin at my sexy as fuck neighbor. “Well, game on then, beautiful. Game on.”
We spend the rest of the morning getting everything set up. All the decorations and fireworks are done, and Troy has returned with the ice, which we’ve put into coolers all around the back deck and pool area. After I queue up some tunes on the outdoor speakers, I head inside to change, knowing most people start to show up around two.
The party is sort of open-door, sort of invite-only. Every year I pass out invites, but every year I usually get one or two new faces who I don’t recognize. But I also don’t get certain faces too. Faces like the one that belongs to that dick Weston because he knows better than to show up to my house.
Once everyone starts to arrive, the drinks start flowing and anyone who feels like helping gets on the grill to cook the food I’ve brought and the food my guests bring with them. Then it’s drinks, barbecue and the pool until the sun goes down.
The second it’s dark, that’s when the fun starts, with the fireworks and even more drinks, pretty much guaranteeing this to be an epic party that lasts well into the night.
Upstairs, I take a quick shower, having worked up a sweat getting everything sorted, before pulling on my American flag boardshorts and a matching pair of sunglasses. I also grab a Brooklyn Nets baseball cap, putting it on backward, before I head back downstairs.
Troy and Jason are both in the kitchen, beers in their hands. Troy is dressed in an American flag onesie, while Jason is wearing American flag boardshorts like mine, and weirdly, a bikini top.
“Looking good, boys,” I say with a laugh, taking the beer Jason hands me.
“So we good to go?” he asks, as we all wander out to the back deck.
The whole place looks amazing, the entire backyard decorated in red, white and blue. The pool is filled with floats, most of which will be flat by the end of the night and there are coolers of drinks, bowls of chips and chairs everywhere.
There’s even a cornhole game set up at the back of the yard.
I glance over at Aida’s place, smiling at the decorations she’s also put up. Her place looks good, even if no one’s going to get to appreciate it.
“Think she’s gonna come?” Troy asks, nudging me with his shoulder.
“Oh, I know she will,” I say, taking a sip of my beer. “It’s just a matter of how long it takes her.”
“You’re pretty confident about this girl, huh?” he now asks.
Jason snorts out a laugh. “Dude, you should’ve seen them earlier. They were practically eye-fucking each other across the fence. Girl’s definitely hot for him.”
I chuckle, taking another sip of my beer just as the doorbell rings. With a huge grin, I turn to my friends, holding up my beer as I say, “Let’s get this fucking party started!”