I frown at the screen in my hand.Three missed calls.No voicemail.No message.
Just the kind of vague, disquieting pattern that makes the hairs on the back of my neck lift.
I tap the side button, sending the call to voicemail without answering.
Whoever it is, they can wait.
I’m working for Pete’s sake.
I look up and turn my head so I can see through the glass windowpane on the classroom door to the hallway.
That’s when I see him.
Theo.
He’s crossing the hallway back to his station near my classroom, tall and broad and all in black.
He’s not even looking at me yet, and still—my body responds.
God, that walk.
Like he owns the ground under his boots.
My whole chest exhales, the tension in my shoulders melting the second I lay eyes on him.
He’s back.
And everything feels right again.
It had been tricky for a second when Kai first showed up.
Same height, same muscles, same face—hell, even the same no-nonsense body language.
But all it took was a moment more, even before he spoke, and Iknew.
He wasn’t Theo.
Kai didn’t look at me like I was gravity.
Theo does.
And now he’s here again, and I can breathe.
I grab the walkie off my desk and begin gathering my class for indoor recess, raising my voice slightly to wrangle the post-art class chaos.
"Okay, my little loves, line up!Recess is in the gym today—jackets not needed, just your inside voices and walking feet!"
Which, of course, is met with squeals and a few rogue chortles.
But hey, I’ll take it.
We shuffle out into the hallway, and as I pass him, Theo shifts to block me playfully, that familiar smirk on his lips.
“Where’re you going, Angel?”he asks, voice low, warm.
“The gym,” I answer, beaming up at him.“Winter break makes these kids nuts if they can’t run around a little.Recess is first today, then lunch.”
“It’s the superhero!”Manny Ortega shouts, interrupting us and I grin.
