Callie
“What the hell?” I say to myself the next morning as I hear loud noises outside my window. I get out of bed and shove the drape aside and my mouth drops open.

It’s like three male fitness models have descended on my lawn and taken up residence. Tall. Muscular. Tan. Shirtless. Holy shit. Am I dreaming this? I look back at my bed. I’m not in it, so I must be awake. My room is bright from the sun and I go over to check the clock. It says it’s eight-fifteen.

I return to the window and gaze out at the scene on my lawn. I spot Nash walking over from his house, carrying a bag of something over his shoulder. Hot man number four. He, too, is shirtless and I’m reminded of how his chest felt when I ran my hands over it the other night as he kissed me. How his body felt when it pressed up against me. How it felt when his mouth—  

“Callie!” I hear my name and it jars me from my thoughts. I look out and see Nash waving at me from my lawn. Shit, he can see me. He knows I was staring at him from the window.

I quickly back away from it but hear his voice again.

“Callie, get out here and meet my brothers.”

Is he kidding? I can’t go out there! I’m not even dressed. My hair’s a mess. I have no makeup on. And he expects me to go out like this and meet his super-hot brothers? There’s no way that’s happening. I’ll just ignore him. He has work to do. He’ll forget about me if I hide in here.

“Callie?” I hear his voice but it sounds clearer, no longer muffled by the window. “Callie, are you in your room?” It’s louder now. What the hell? Is he in my house?

I open my door and am met with the sight of his tan, muscular chest.

“Hey. Come outside and meet my brothers.”

“How’d you get in here?”

“I walked in the front door. I assumed you unlocked it just now to let me in after I waved at you.”

“No. I must’ve forgot to lock it last night.”

“You were in here all night alone with the door unlocked?” He sounds angry.

“This isn’t Chicago. It’s a safe town and nobody even comes out this way.”

He holds my shoulders, his eyes fixed on mine. “You always lock your doors. Even during the day. Got it?”

I nod. “Yeah.”

I just met this guy and he’s already looking out for me, caring about me, worrying about me. I wonder if he’s like that with everyone. He seems like he would be.

“Did you just wake up?” Nash removes his hands from my shoulders and stands up straight. Man, he’s tall. I have to tilt my head back just to look at his face. Otherwise, I’m staring at his chest, which isn’t a bad view.

“I woke up when I heard your brothers. What are they doing out there?” I cross my arms over my chest when I notice Nash’s eyes going to my breasts. He’s already seen them so I don’t know why I care.

“They’re chipping away the loose concrete,” he says. “You’ll be hearing that sound for a few hours, then we’ll break for lunch and start sanding down the rough edges. That’s even louder so you might want to go somewhere if you don’t want to hear it.”

“That’s okay. I don’t mind. Besides, I have to mow the grass today so I won’t hear anything over the lawn mower.”

“Why don’t you wait until Monday and I’ll do it for you?”

“Do what?”

“Mow the lawn. You shouldn’t be doing that when your knee’s still not a hundred percent.”

“My knee is fine. You need to get outside. I don’t want your brothers thinking we’re doing something in here.”

“And what exactly would we be doing?” He leans against the door frame, smiling.

“Things we shouldn’t be doing.” I put my hand on his chest, trying to push him out of the way but he doesn’t move. He’s a solid mass of muscle that I couldn’t move even if I put all my weight into it.

“They could just think we’re in here talking, which is what we’re doing.”

“I’m sure you told them about us, which means they’ll think we’re doing more than talking.”

“I didn’t tell them anything. I don’t tell them that kind of stuff. It’s private.”

“You told them to stay away from me.”

“Yeah? So?”

“That tells them there’s something going on between us.”

“Would you stop worrying about this and get dressed? I got breakfast and we’re all waiting to eat.”

“You don’t have to wait for me. Just go ahead and eat.”

He pushes off the door frame and stands up straight again. “Get dressed. And hurry up. You got three hungry guys out there and another one right here.” He walks off. “By the way, I like the pajamas.”

I look down and see that I’m wearing my monkey pajamas; yellow shorts and a white tank top with monkeys and bananas printed all over it. I wear this every Friday night because it reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons, which I used to love when I was a kid. I’d look forward to it all week, and on Friday nights, I’d always wear pajamas with cartoon characters on them, getting ready for my Saturday cartoon marathon. It became a tradition, and although I no longer watch cartoons, I still wear goofy pajamas on Friday nights.

How embarrassing. Nash saw me in pajamas that look like something a kid would wear. They’re not the least bit sexy. That should kill any prospect of us having a physical relationship.