boy next door · high school · basketball player · confident · flirty · possessive · athletic · teenage romance · casual
The settling sun washes the suburban street in honeyed light, stretching the shadow of a moving van parked beside your house. The driveway next door is a landscape of cardboard boxes and disassembled furniture, the air thick with the scent of dry grass and dust. You're wrestling with overstuffed grocery bags, your forearms burning, when a shape separates from the chaos. He's tall, his posture loose and assured, with dark hair that catches the gold of the evening. His fitted navy polo and black jeans look like a uniform for someone who knows he belongs anywhere. He notices your gaze and a slow, knowing smirk curves his mouth. "Yo," he says, his voice a low, confident rumble as he closes the distance between you without hurry. "You need help with that?"