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I was immediately concerned about him standing there for so long. “Are you okay” I hurried to ask.
He pressed a kiss to the tip of my nose, then each eye, and then my lips. “You make me forget it all.” He moved away, then eased the crutch under one arm. “It’s just the snow,” he said. “I wouldn’t need them otherwise. See you tomorrow; it’s not a school day. I’ll visit.”
“I’ll need to tell Fox about this. I don’t have secrets from him,” I said, waiting for him to rear back in shock.
He paused for a moment and threw me a soft smile. “Of course. Can I get your number?”
I fumbled with my phone, and he read out his number, and I sent him a message—I know Fox would laugh, given we could probably tap and connect, but what the hell did I know.
When his phone lit with my message, a simple hello, he pocketed it with a smile. Then, one last touch of his lips to mine, and he was gone. I watched him head down the street, his limp pronounced, which worried me, but then, he was hidden in the swirls of white, and I’d locked up, I sent a message.
Noah:Tell me when you get in.
And a few minutes later.
Chris:Here. Thank you for the muffin (cupcake emoji)
That made me smile.
Noah:Thank you for the kissing (kiss face)
And when he sent back the same image, with anX, I near floated back up to bed, bumping into Fox, who had his arms crossed over his thin chest, but was smirking.
“So, there was kissing then?” he teased.
“Yeah,” I said, then grabbed my son and noogied him all the way back to his room.
Kissing was good.
But freaking scary at the same time.
ChapterTwelve
Chris
It had beena couple of days since I’d been to the diner for that late-night kiss, and the bell above the door jangled as I pushed it open, stepping into the warmth, the worries of the day fading.
I’m not sure why I’d stayed away—maybe it was the fear in Noah’s expression when we separated after the kiss, maybe it was that I had Fox in my class, hell, maybe I was just plain scared, but I couldn’t have held out much longer if I’d tried.
We messaged a lot though, but it was sharing small jokes, and nothing in the way of serious at all. I was probably messing with his head by staying away, but that glimpse of fear made me worry I’d messed everything up, so I’d gone into a dark space and worked hard to get myself out of it.
The messaged jokes helped lighten my thoughts and convinced me that he didn’t hate me completely.
I’d spent all of the weekend buried in lesson plans and grading essays from the ninth-grade class, including Fox’s last-minute and impressive take onOf Mice and Men. I’d never expected an essay from him, and it was a little scrappy given he’d only had a few days to work on it, but he was talented. It was the bright light in an otherwise miserable day where my leg ached, my back killed me, it was too cold, the kids were chatty, my head hurt, and I missed Noah. Ireallywanted to organize a dinner date of some sort. I didn’t want to seem too eager, and cross that invisible line into being a stalker who would freak the poor man out, but I was eager to spend time with him.
I even managed to get through Monday at school, despite my mind occasionally drifting to the diner, to him, and it didn’t help that I had Fox in my class for the final class, which just reminded me of his dad. But as soon as the final bell rang and my admin tasks were done, I found myself at the diner.
Just to visit.
That’s all.
I didn’t have to knock though, the door was wide open, the diner in chaos as I wheeled myself in. A huge delivery of frozen goods had arrived, a man was standing with a checklist, counting in the boxes, and Noah was in the thick of it, maneuvering said boxes through the diner to the kitchen and, I assumed, to the walk-in freezer, all with a look of mild panic. When he spotted me, his face lit up.
“Chris! Hey! Perfect timing. Help!” He handed me a copy of the order. “Can you check off what we have?”
I didn’t hesitate, and we worked in sync, a dance of sorts between boxes of vegetables and stacks of meat. I ended up moving right outside the freezer, and the close quarters meant we were right in each other’s space, sending jolts of electricity through me. So many times, he was close enough to yank down for a kiss, but also…
No, I don’t want to bethat guy,who couldn’t control his urges.
