It wasn’t too long ago that I would have told you I was too smart to fall for the friends-with-benefits okie doke. I would have said it was a setup that was doomed to fail each and every time. I had friends who had been there, done that, and got the keyed car and broken windows to prove it. I didn’t need to experience it for myself to know that I was good on that. That’s what I would have said before if anyone wanted to know my opinion. In a way, I still thought like that, except… I’d known Aisha since I was thirteen years old and if you would have asked me, I would have said I knew her pretty well. That couldn’t have been further from the truth, and when she revealed some things to me—things I had somehow missed over all these years—I found myself uttering words I never thought I’d say. It was just an agreement. You could almost call it a selfless act on my part. I was just being a good friend. The thing was, I forgot who drew the lines in the sand and before long I found myself caught up in the more-than-friendly benefits with my very good friend. Author’s This is short, steamy read featuring explicit language and situations. If either of those offend you, this might not be the story for you.

There wasn’t too much in my life that I could complain about; I had a career that I loved, a group of friends that I would do anything for—who had my back in return—and my family wanted for nothing. Most importantly, I was content with pretending that I didn’t want something that I couldn’t have anyway. The desire was always there, but there were rules in place that were never to be broken. But then those rules were shattered when two of my friends hooked up, and my world instantly tilted on its axis. Once Shad and Aisha became a couple, the urges that I’d suppressed for years not only resurfaced but demanded that I take action. With my number one excuse no longer viable, the only thing standing between me and the woman I love is the fact that she doesn’t take me seriously. I’ve never backed down from a challenge in my life, and I’d be a fool to start when what I want is so close that I can taste her. Instead of trying to explain to Monie that we were perfect for one another, I was going to convince her of it by showing her that I’d always been the man she needed.