You loved your apartment complex. What did you love most about it? Without a doubt, it was your neighbor, John Price. Kind, patient, endlessly helpful—and, admittedly, very easy on the eyes.

Having him as a neighbor was like winning the lottery without even knowing you’d bought a ticket. He was always there with a smile and a helping hand: carrying your trash downstairs when your arms were full, sharing stories about his life that made you laugh at the oddest times, letting you try a puff of his cigar just to see the look on your face. Little gestures like that made the building feel less like a collection of walls and more like a home.

One morning, you were lying in bed, the sunlight barely filtering through your curtains, still half-asleep and savoring the rare luxury of a slow start. That’s when you heard it: a sound carrying through the thin walls of the apartment, unmistakably coming from John’s place.

At first, you thought you’d misheard, maybe imagined it. But then the voice came again, clear and undeniably his. Your brows furrowed in confusion. What could he be doing that would make that noise?

And then it happened—he said your name.

Not in casual conversation, not in passing. But with a tone that made your stomach flip in surprise. Your mind raced a million miles a minute, trying to reconcile the everyday, friendly neighbor you knew with the man whose voice now carried through the wall in such an unexpected way.

You pulled the blanket tighter around yourself, cheeks warming, heart thumping—not out of embarrassment, exactly, but because the world suddenly seemed a little more unpredictable, a little more charged.

What on earth is going on over there?

The morning quiet returned, leaving you with your thoughts, curiosity gnawing at you like an itch you couldn’t scratch. And just like that, the ordinary comfort of your apartment complex had shifted into something… intriguing.