“Nah,” I whispered right against her ear, sweet and firm at the same time. “Don’t run. Let me love on you right here. Let me take my time and make sure you remember you safe . . . You wanted, . . . and you mine to care for.”
I slowed down on purpose, pacing myself like a man with something to prove because I wasn’t trying to be first at anything.
I was trying to make sure she got everything she came for.
The sounds she gave me made a man feel picked, like heaven called his number on purpose, turning all that ego into pure patience. Her body finally surrendered, trembling like a secret that got tired of hiding, and I caught her mouth in a slow, claiming kiss, taking her name in like a breath.
My hands stayed steady, the way I steadied my swimmers when the deep started talking recklessly. The current tried to run off with her, but I was right there. Coach DeLane, locked in, guiding her through it until we weren’t fighting the water at all. We were just submerged in each other, letting love be the only deep we trusted.
My relationshipwith Roman had given me such joy, and now I had more than my NanNan and Mel. I had two teenaged little sisters I absolutely adored. Since Roman had set up that date for me, I had Jazz and Jonay as well. My little community had grown, and I absolutely loved it.
It wasn’t loud love, no fireworks or mess. It was quiet, like a warm kitchen light when the world went dark, loosening my shoulders before I even noticed they were tense. I’d been carrying life like groceries with no bags, palms burning, still swearing I was fine. Now I had people reaching for the weight without making me ask.
They were sweet. Jazz and Ahmad were hilarious, and I loved their banter. Their relationship was cute to see play out.Elias and Jonay were goals. He loved her with all of him, and I absolutely loved that for her. She had him gone in a good way.
Watching them felt like proof in motion, love that stayed sturdy. A man, gentle without shrinking, protective without controlling, devoted without making it feel like a debt. I studied their little moments like literature, hunting for the pattern that made the story work. And every time Elias looked at Jonay like she was home, my chest softened and ached, my heart finally admitting I deserved that love too, . . . and I was happy to be receiving it at last.
Now I just needed Mel and Bryce to stop playing in each other’s faces and get it together. My girl was giving him the blues. I knew she liked him, and I knew why she was guarded. Her ex had cheated just like mine, and she wasn’t ready to trust just yet. When she did, my boy was going to change her life.
I knew that guardedness. I wore mine like perfume, making it look light so that nobody clocked it was armor. I could laugh and still be on watch, smile, and keep one foot near the exit. Trust hadn’t just been broken; it had been handled carelessly, like it was disposable.
So, when I saw Mel holding the line, giving Bryce space but not access, I didn’t judge her. I recognized her. And it made me grateful I finally had somebody patient enough to help me take my armor off, and I prayed she’d let her knight find a place in her heart, too.
We laughed and talked as we walked in and out of different stores, trying to find some things for Nan and talking the twins out of grabbing outfits that were cute but a little too grown for their age. Reagan had the confidence of a celebrity with a stylist, and Reece had the quiet grace of a girl who knew she could outsmart a whole room without raising her voice.
My laughter was still warm in my throat when it happened, still sweet on my tongue like I’d been tasting joy and didn’t realize how fast it could morph into something else.
It should’ve felt normal. Easy. It should’ve been one of those afternoons you fold up and tuck into your memory.
I was still smiling at something Mel said, something about Bryce acting like he doesn’t want love, and evidence number one being his hoodie collection, when my whole body went quiet the way it did right before thunder. I felt a light tap on my shoulder. It was light and casual, but my body responded like it had been punched. That was the first warning. Not my mind, not my heart, but my body. My skin tightened like it was trying to pull itself inward. My spine stiffened. My breath thinned.
I turned around, and there was Harris Henderson. My stomach dropped so fast I swore my soul hit the floor first. He looked too comfortable, like seeing me in public was a privilege he thought he earned. His eyes did that thing I hated, sliding over me like I was something to consume instead of a person who had told him no in every language I knew. That gaze always made me feel like my kindness had been mistaken for permission, like my softness had been misread, mislabeled.
“Solè,” he said, smiling like we were sharing a secret. “Can we talk?”
My mouth went dry. My heart picked up speed like it was trying to outrun me. I tasted copper behind my teeth, the metallic edge that fear brought when it was trying not to look like fear.
I stepped to the side to get out of his way. “No.”
He slid with me, blocking my path like a petty little wall. “I just wanted to apologize,” he said, voice lowering into something fake-sincere. “For how things went at work. I shouldn’t have raised my voice. I was . . . frustrated.”
I didn’t answer. I tried to step around him again.
He sighed. “You always do that. You do this little . . . this little act where youpretendyou’re scared. But you’re not scared, Solè. You like the attention.”
My chest tightened. My face stayed calm because I had learned how to keep my fear tucked behind my teeth. I learned that as a girl, learned it as a woman, learned it in every room where men felt entitled to the parts of you. You never offered fear to them.
“Move,” I said again.
He laughed under his breath. “You don’t want ties to a co-worker, but you’re fucking another teacher,” he continued, head tilting, eyes narrowing like he was proud of himself.
My vision tunneled. I didn’t even realize I’d stopped breathing until Jazz’s hand slid into my arm. That touch was like an anchor. It reminded me I was not alone. I had a circle now. I had people who would step into the fire with me, not stand behind me asking why I was burning.
Jonay stepped in at the same time, her voice smooth but firm. “Hey, is everything okay?”
Mr. Henderson’s eyes flicked to her like she was gum on the bottom of his shoe. “This doesn’t concern you.”
Jonay didn’t move. “She looks uncomfortable. I was just checking on her to make sure she was okay.”
