You Did A Bad Thing

Chapter 4: Shelf.

Chapter 4: Shelf.

Getting off the elevator, I turn left dragging my suitcase along the floor. When I get to my apartment, I try to open the door and it's unlocked.

This means Julia is inside.

"Yeah, exactly. It should look like that." I hear her talking to someone in the living room.

"Ahem." I cough as I take in the sight before me.

There's brown paper all over the floor, measuring tape and paint.

"Nova!!!" Julia screams as she runs towards me.

There's a tall muscular dude staring at me from the window where they were working at.

Julia pulls me into her warm embrace and I pat her back while still staring at the boy who is also looking at me.

"You look so refreshed. It's that LA sun huh?" Julia says, pulling away.

"I could say the same about you." I tell her.

"Nah, I literally spent the entire spring break stuffing my face with hot Cheetos and playing games with Sawyer over here." Julia says, pointing at the dude staring at me.

"Hi, I'm Sawyer." He says, giving me a boyish grin.

"Nova." I reply, extending my arm out for him to shake. He shakes my hand and takes a step back.

"How was your trip? You must be so jetlagged." Julia says, dragging me towards the sofa.

"My flight was nice." I reply as I stare at Sawyer as he takes his shirt off.

"Stop checking my friend out." Julia whispers.

"I'm not." I tell her.

"He's helping us fix that book shelf beside the window." She tells me, still whispering.

"I can see that. Why is his top off?" I whisper back.

"He's about to paint the shelf." She replies.

"Sawyer is a hottie, that's for sure." I point out as I stare at his toned back.

"Someone's smitten." She says and I wave her off.

"I want some Mexican food. Let's go to Taco Bell." I tell Julia.

"We should. I've been craving their bean burrito all week." Julia says and I smile.

"Sawyer, would you like to come with?" I ask him.

"I'd love to but I have a long way to go with this shelf." He says, politely declining.

"Would you like me to get you something?" I ask him.

"One Crunchwrap Supreme and a soda please." He tells me and I nod.

"Alright, and away we go." Julia says, grabbing her car keys from the coffee table as she heads for the door.

Trailing behind her, I steal one more glance at Sawyer who is dipping the paintbrush in the paint bucket as his biceps contract. Turning my eyes away from him, my forehead almost hits the door due to lack of concentration.

Forty minutes later, we're back at the house lounging in the balcony with Sawyer. He's done with the shelf and he has a shirt on now.

Bummer.

"So what's your major, Sawyer?" I ask him.

"Mechanical Engineering." He tells me as I stare at him.

"That explains why Julia solicited you to fix the shelf." I tell him.