Page 15 of Definitely Not a Thing

Lord it felt good.

I forced myself not to close my eyes, giving myself – completely inappropriately – over to the feeling of being touched by someone who wasn’t Hunter.

A practical stranger, but still.

“You good sweetheart?” Calvin asked, lips brushing my forehead to really sell… whatever story he was painting right now.

I… was too shocked to do anything but nod.

He looked right at Hunter, who’d stepped into the elevator now, and said, “What’s good, man? What floor you on?”

Six.

“Uhh… six,” Hunter answered, and Calvin nodded before he pressed it.

I didn’t dare look at his face, but his shoes were still facing us as the door closed.

Slow as hell.

“Just moving in?” Hunter asked, and Calvin was quick with the answer.

“Nah, I been here for a while, on and off – she is, though. Couldn’t let her bring all this in by herself with the week she’s had, you know?” Calvin replied, giving me a little squeeze before he took the box I was holding and stacked it with the ones he’d sat down.

Oh my God.

“Is that right?”

I could feel Hunter’s eyes on me, feel the questions radiating.

Thank thelordwe were on two.

Those doors couldn’t open soon enough.

I shot past him without looking, not caring how crazy I likely appeared. Behind me, Calvin was moseying off the elevator, boxes stacked three high.

“Hope to see you back on the court,” Hunter called after him, and Calvin gave him a head raise in return for whatever the fuck that meant, and then… the elevator chimed and moved on.

I got my door unlocked and held it open for Calvin to put my boxes down, and as soon as he had, he looked at me with a grin.

“So… who was that?”

4/

amelia

“Now you knowgood and goddamn well who that was!” spilled from my lips before I could help it –notthat I was trying to help it.

I was holding on to sanity by the frayed, tattered edges right now, and didn’t have the bandwidth for much of anything else.

Calvin grinned harder.

Okay… I had the bandwidth fornothingelse, because – “okay, thanks for your help, but I need you to immediately get outta my face, cause what’s funny, huh?”

“I didn’t say anything was funny!” he claimed, tossing up his hands.

Stillgrinning.

“I’m just a jovial kinda guy, what’s wrong with that?”