6. The Way You Look at Me #4
Her sweater shifted at her waist. The rack scraped faintly under her weight.
“Let me,” Trevor said softly from behind her.
Before she could move away, he stepped closer.
His chest aligned with her back as his arm lifted past her shoulder.
His presence filled the narrow space in a way that stole the air from her lungs.
He reached easily for the chains and brought them down, the metal clinking lightly in his hand.
But neither of them stepped away. The chains hung loosely at his side.
Her body was acutely aware of him. The steady rise of his chest against her back. The warmth through layers of fabric. The quiet strength in the way he held himself. The smell of his cologne surrounding her.
Why did he have to smell so damned good?
The silence did not feel accidental.
It felt suspended. He spoke without shifting away.
“I need to say something,” he murmured, his voice low enough that it settled along her spine instead of ringing in the air. She did not turn yet. She could not trust her balance or her heart.
“I’ve been thinking about that night in the parking lot,” he continued. “About how you felt in my arms. I walked back to my car and sat there longer than I meant to because for the first time since everything fell apart, my mind went quiet.”
Aniyah’s breath caught at his confession. Trevor was not dramatic when he said it. He was not fishing for reassurance or empty promises. He needed to free himself of the torment his memory was doing to him with its constant replay of that moment.
“It scared me,” he added after a beat. “Not because it was wrong. Because it felt steady and I haven’t felt that in a really long time.”
Slowly, Aniyah turned within the small space.
The movement forced him to step back only slightly, but there was nowhere real to go. The shelves pressed behind her.
She looked up at him searching his eyes for a hint of dishonesty but found none. They were clear, searching and vulnerable in a way that made her chest tighten.
“You’re still healing,” she said, her voice quiet but anchored.
“You just signed your divorce papers not too long ago from a woman you’ve been with since we were sixteen.
Your daughter is in my classroom. I don’t cross the line with my student’s parents.
And I won’t blur them just because it feels good in a moment. ”
“I know that,” he said. “I respect it. I respect you. I’m not asking you to ignore any of that.”
“Then what are you asking?” she asked gently. Trevor inhaled slowly, choosing his words.
“I’m asking you to believe that what I felt wasn’t desperation.
It wasn’t me reaching for the nearest warm body because I’m lonely.
It was something that felt… grounded. I was finally back in my body, not suspended between time trying to figure out what the hell I was doing.
” The vulnerability in his voice made her throat tighten.
“This is complicated,” she whispered.
“It is,” he agreed. “I have work to do. I’m not pretending I don’t.
I’m not in a place where I can promise anyone anything beyond honesty.
I just can’t stand here and act like I don’t feel this, like I don’t feel you.
” Aniyah knew this was the moment she needed to walk out that closet and away from this man.
Neither of them moved .
The air between them felt charged. She searched his face, looking for recklessness. She didn’t find it.
“You don’t get involved with parents,” he said quietly, reminding himself as much as her.
“No,” she replied. “I don’t.”
“And I don’t want to lean on you while I’m still learning how to stand on my own,” he added. “I also don’t want to walk away from something real just because it doesn’t make sense on paper.” Her pulse thudded against her ribs at his confession.
“You are asking for a lot,” she said. “How do you even know it’s something real here and not just two people who are tired of being lonely? We haven’t had much interaction since high school and then you show up here all jaded and fine. I’m supposed to believe you're serious?”
“I am,” he answered. “I would never rush you into anything. I know what I felt when we were alone together and I know what I’m feeling now. I won’t pressure you.” The chains slipped from his hand and clinked softly against the rack, forgotten.
The distance between them was barely inches now.
He did not grab her although his hands were itching to do so.
He did not corner her. He simply stood there, close enough that she could feel his warmth, waiting for her to decide whether the space would close.
Aniyah’s fingers rose almost without permission and rested lightly against the center of his chest, his heartbeat firm beneath her palm.
“You make this hard,” she murmured.
A faint smile touched his mouth, not playful but knowing, “You make it worth thinking about.”
Something in her chest gave way. The lean happened slowly.
So slowly it almost felt inevitable. Their foreheads brushed first. Breath mingled.
He paused there, giving her one last chance to pull back…
She did not. Their lips met softly. The first kiss was gentle, almost reverent, like they were confirming that th is was real and not imagined.
When she didn’t retreat, his hand found her waist carefully, fingers resting there as though asking permission even in contact.
She answered by drawing him closer. Their lips touched lightly and Aniyah felt the electricity shoot up her spin.
Why are his lips this damn soft? She thought to herself as she got lost in the feel and taste of Trevor.
The kiss deepened gradually, unhurried but unmistakably hungry. It was filled with weeks of tension. Days of replaying one another in quiet spaces.
Her hand slid into the back of his head, pulling him closer. His breath shifted, breaking against her mouth before he steadied himself and kissed her again with more certainty feeding her his tongue which she eagerly responded by giving him her own. A moan escaped her lips as the kiss deepened. .
The shelving pressed lightly against her back.
His thumb traced a slow arc against her waist as though memorizing the shape of her.
The world outside the closet dissolved. The hum of the gym.
The scrape of chairs. The murmur of PTA parents.
It felt suspended. Out of body. Like something that had been building long before either of them admitted it.
When they finally pulled apart for air, neither of them stepped away immediately. Their foreheads still rested together.
“This is reckless,” she whispered, though her fingers had not left his sweater.
“Only if we pretend it isn’t happening,” he replied softly before going back in for another quick kiss. Before it had a chance to deepen a voice cut through the door.
“Ms. Henderson? We need the chains.”
Reality returned to Aniyah like a bucket of ice water was thrown on her.
They separated quickly, though not clumsily.
She picked up the chains. He ran a hand over his fade and stepped back, putting distance between them that had not existed seconds before.
When they stepped out into the gym, the lights felt brighter.
Aniyah resumed her role without faltering, directing children and cueing lines with the same composed authority as before like she wasn’t just wrapped around that man like a snack moments prior. She worked hard the rest of the rehearsal to not look at him.
Trevor for his part, gave Aniyah space. He did not hover.
He did not look for her eyes every few seconds.
He understood that whatever had just happened required air because he too was shook by that brief encounter.
When he went to the closet with Aniyah, kissing her was not a part of the plan.
He just wanted to check on her and make sure she wasn’t overwhelmed.
Yet…now all that he could think about was her lips on his. But he knew this couldn’t be rushed.
During a break, Zara drifted toward Aniyah and leaned against her side while practicing her lines under her breath.
Aniyah bent slightly to listen, her hand resting lightly at Zara’s shoulder as she offered a quiet note of encouragement.
Trevor watched them from across the gym, a feeling of calmness washed over him seeing his little girl be her once animated self.
She had been a recluse since her mom’s departure.
So much so that Trevor was starting her in therapy soon.
Watching them now brought joy to his heart.
He knew he was not ready to build something new at full speed.
He knew his heart was still tender in places he had not yet examined.
But he also knew that what had happened in that closet was not a distraction.
It was the beginning. And this time, he would take his time.
Their eyes met once more across the gym floor.
The spark was still there, waiting to burn bright.
Aniyah for her part tried her hardest to act as if she hadn’t just been lip locking with Trevor Porter while on the clock…
not even thirty feet away from the kids?
! She may have had a crush on him back in the day, but she couldn’t let puppy love cloud her judgement.
Wa s the kiss everything she wanted and more?
Yes, but it couldn’t let happen again. If it did, she would just be setting herself up for heartbreak.
She couldn’t bear anymore than what she’s already endured.
From this moment forth, Trevor Porter is just an associate.
No more getting to know him as an adult and definitely no more kissing.