Another night, later.

.

a breath

Another night.
Your eyes stayed on me
long enough
that my body stopped asking
what this meant.

The space between us
tightened —
as if his breath had already decided
what his body knew

You looked at me
like leaving
had already been forgotten
As if the only nearer would be breath.

“Wait,”
you whispered in my ear.
You didn’t step closer.
You waited.
And my body
closed the distance for you

I felt warm
in places
I wasn’t thinking about.
Places that were long out of memory.
Where secrets are kept

My pulse changed tempo,
as you tilted your head,
listening to my heart,
as if wanting a shared truth,
yet we stayed there,
balanced on the almost,
long enough,
something closer

A pause.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened. Again.

Except the certainty
that it could

---

a pause

Later,

you didn’t move away.
You adjusted.
Close enough
that distance became
a courtesy.

I felt your gaze over me,
my body staying angled toward you,
as if it hadn’t been told
nothing was happening.

You lifted my chin
with two fingers —
not guiding,
just asking.

I answered
by not moving away.

You breathed out slowly,
deliberately,
and something in me
answered
before I could stop it.

The kiss was brief.
Almost too brief.
Yet careful.

As if we both remembered
this was the point —
not the beginning.

Your mouth lingered
long enough
to leave a question behind.

A question my body had already answered.

I felt it, everywhere.

You rested your forehead
against mine,
breathing steady now,
as if you were anchoring us
back into ourselves.

That was when you smiled.
Small. Certain.

Something had happened.

Desire didn’t surge.
It settled.
Low. Certain. Inside.
Like it knew time
was on its side.

Your mouth came close again —
not to speak.
Just close enough
that my pulse
lost its discipline,
that my skin felt something it had missed.

We stayed there.
Still.
Silent apart from,
the sound that restraint
was costing us.

Then you stepped back.
Just enough
to make the absence
felt.

Nothing happened.

Which meant
everything
was still waiting.

---

a choice

You lifted my chin.

The kiss wasn’t careful.
It was brief —
but it pressed just hard enough.

Your hand found me.
Not searching.
Not to steady me.
Just certain.
As if it had already remembered
where I would answer.

I didn’t move away.
I moved closer.

Breath tangled.
Pressure built.

You pulled back first.
Forehead to forehead.
A choice made
at the last possible moment.

–––

Something happened.

And because it did,
it will never be nothing again.

---

I’m always open to thoughtful writing collaborations.

Other prose and poems.

One Step Is Enough

The Sun Said Hop

She Arrives in the Pause

Not All Love Is Meant To Be Found.

🌈 When Rainbows Speak Back

Nothing truly leaves — it just changes how it stays.

If something moved in you — a silence that whispered — I’d love to hear it below, or in my DM’s.

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All artwork courtesy of NDjin Gallery