Once I made it to my classroom, my students came in, and I got started with my day. The hours moved in their usual rhythm, full of questions, side conversations, and the constant effort of keeping young minds focused and fed with confidence.
During lunch, I walked to the teacher’s lounge to heat my food. The hum of the microwave filled the space as I pulled myphone out to check my texts, and my eyes widened when I saw I had several from Roman.
Roman-My Porch :
Your man is about to be your co-worker, Connie
Let them know you’re not available.
Anybody watching you too hard can look elsewhere.
You and the new swim coach tied in real tight.
We go together real bad.
That’s established. You’re mine, baby
Hope your gorgeous ass is having a good day.
If it gets heavy, call me.
I bent over laughing because his ass meant every single word. It was the audacity and certainty, the way he spoke like he already had both hands on my peace and planned on keeping it guarded. I felt my freckles light up, as he would say, before I could stop it, and my heart did that embarrassing little flutter like it was auditioning for a romantic comedy. He wasn’t just flirting. He was claiming responsibility of me. He was saying,I see youandI’m not letting the world treat you carelessly.Mel came into the breakroom to heat her lunch, and I could not hold it in.
“Girl, look what this man texted me,” I said quietly, holding up my phone.
Mel leaned in. “Let me see.”
I angled the screen toward her, and she read it aloud. “He said, anybody watching you too hard can look elsewhere.” Mel’s mouth fell open. “Oh, he talking reckless-reckless. I know that’s right, new brother-in-law. Look out, Harrison!”
I laughed, trying to hide my excitement at her words and his. “He’s so dramatic.”
Mel slid her plate into the microwave. “I love it. He is applying pressure, as he should. You a damn diamond, sis. I saw yo’ boo by the gym earlier, too,” she said, lowering her voice.
I felt a smile tug at my lips. “You did?”
“Yep,” Mel said, nodding like it was obvious.
A couple of teachers walked in, still talking like they hadn’t had a full breath since first period. Their conversation was loud, careless, and full of staffroom gossip and banter.
One teacher stated while fanning herself, “Girl, I’m telling you, that new swim coach is fine as hell.”
“Unnecessarily fine, because why is it legal to look that good?” The other one agreed.
I shot my eyes at Mel and smirked as I ate my homemade chicken pot pie. I was trying to act normal, like my heart wasn’t palpitating in cartoon rhythm. The irony of it sat right in my lap. I had been avoiding attention, ducking it, dodging it, keeping my head down for years, and now the building was buzzing about the same man who was claiming me so fiercely.
Roman walked into the teacher’s lounge, and the room shifted.
His presence demanded our attention. He was tall, fine, dark skin gleaming, broad shoulders, muscles bulging through his shirt, and he smelled amazing. His calm energy made people straighten without even knowing why. Conversations lowered on instinct. Eyes followed him, but his didn’t. His eyes found me and stayed there, steady and sure.
“Good afternoon, ladies.” He addressed everyone, but he kept his eyes solely on me. It was as if nothing or no one else mattered. The quietest part of myself that had been starving to be noticed by someone like him without admitting it, the partthat wanted to believe I could be chosen on purpose, not just stumbled upon, ate his attention up.
“Can I sit with you, beautiful?” he asked.
Oh, so we’re doing it like this then?
Heat rushed up my neck. I knew I was as red as the damn cardigan I wore.
I looked up at him and smiled. “Yes.”
