Page 49 of Definitely Not a Thing

He wasalwaysworking out, like he was training for something. Even since the hardware store, nearly a week ago, it seemed like he was ramping up his conditioning.

I wasn’t into sports, not even in the slightest, and still I could tell – he was made for this. He was fast, fluid, but always in total control. His shots slid through the creaky hoop like butter, he seemed to always know exactly where the ball was going to go.

All this while shirtless.

Nice.

“Enjoying the show?”

My eyes went wide when I realized he was talking to me – apparently he’d stopped moving, had the ball tucked under his arm, and was standing right in front of me.

Grinning.

Oops.

Guess I’d locked in a little too hard on that one particular titty-sweat trail dripping down his rib tats.

“Yes, actually,” I answered with a shrug.

That grin of his stretched even wider, and he leaned in, probably about to say something that was going to make my face hot.

But… his phone rang.

A very corporate-sounding tone I wouldn’t have expected from him.

One that made the humor immediately dropped from his face as he pawed at the zippered pocket on his shorts to retrieve the device.

A glance at the screen shifted his expression again – panic, relief, uncertainty all at once – and he gestured for me to hold on while he hit the button to answer and raised the phone to his ear.

“Tell me something good, Boss Lady,” he greeted – there was nothing flirtatious about the tone, but still… interesting way to open a phone call. I couldn’t hear the other end, but then Calvin spoke again. “What about the contract?”

Ooop.

This is not my business at all.

I was up on my feet in record time, giving Calvin a wave to acknowledge that I was going upstairs instead of hanging around.

I didn’t want to be nosy.

So as soon as I was settled at my counter with my plate, I googled my neighbor.

I’d called the man things that weren’t his given name over this time.

Noise Violation.

Big Dick Calvin.

This Motherfucker.

And apparently, the internet had another name for him.

Crossover.

Calvin “Crossover” Cross.

Headlines.

Stats.