Edge of Desire | Part One
pairings: post defending jacob!andy barber x fem teacher!reader
warnings: none
word count: 1.7k
summary: Reader is doing her best to not let her feelings for her favorite student's dad grow any more than they already have, but it proves difficult when said dad has his eyes on her.
A/N: APT 10 B PART THREE COMING TOMORROW! I REPEAT IT"S FINALLY HAPPENING :) Thank you to everyone for their patience, I appreciate it more than you know.
“He sure is handsome, that’s for sure.” Your ears perked up as you took a sip of your morning coffee. The teacher’s lounge at Crestview Elementary was about as gossip filled as a middle school locker room, if not more. You peeked over the top of your mug to see two of your colleagues, Samara Timm and Kathy Bridges, staring out the window that overlooked the drive where parent drop off was happening.
You could only assume they were talking about Andy Barber. The hot and single parent of Kacey Barber, one of your kindergarten students.
“There’s conferences tonight, Y/N. Are you excited to have some one-on-one time with Andy?” Samara turned to you, confirming your suspicions. “I can’t wait until Macey is in second grade.”
“Kacey.” You corrected, standing up and walking over to the sink to rinse out your mug. “Her name is Kacey. And I’m as excited to talk to Mr. Barber as I am for all seventeen other parents I’ll be talking to.”
Samara and Kathy both looked a little taken aback by your snarky response but you didn’t care. You and every other teacher in this school knew what Andy had been through. You hated that these women only saw him for his looks. Of course he was good looking, you weren’t going to try and deny it, but after having Kacey in your class for the last six months you’ve come to know him as a wonderful person as well.
Without another word you left them in the lounge, making your way down the hall towards your room. You smiled at some of the older students you had previously throughout the years. It was your favorite part of being a kindergarten teacher was the ability to see your kids grow right in front of you, at least for a couple years.
When you turned the corner to your classroom, your smile grew. Kacey Barber stood at the door with her dad, a shiny red apple looking ginormous in her tiny hands.
“Miss Y/L/N!” She waved eagerly, the apple wavering as it tried to now balance in just one hand.
Kacey was as cute as her dad. She had his piercing blue eyes and rosy complexion. Her hair, brown like his, was always pulled into the cutest pigtails.
“Good morning, Miss Barber,” you laughed, crouching down to her level. “What have you got there?”
“Daddy and I watched this movie last night and all the kids brought their favorite teacher an apple.” She leaned forward and cupped a tiny hand around your ear, her voice now coming out in a tiny whisper. “You’re my all time favorite.”
You chuckled as you copied her motions. “Don’t tell anyone, but you’re my all time favorite too.”
She pulled away giggling.
“I also think she’s trying to get into your good graces so you talk her up at conferences tonight.” Andy’s deep voice vibrated through your body. You glanced up at him from your lowered position. You felt the weight of his stare as his eyes never left yours as they crinkled in amusement.
“No need for bribery for that, Mr. Barber.” You chuckled, attempting to stand up.
Quickly his hand wrapped around your upper arm helping you up. You shot him a grateful look before taking a step back.
“Please call me Andy. I feel like we’ve known each other long enough now.”
“Okay...Andy.” You said tentatively. His smile grew as he opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by his daughter.
“Yeah, daddy. I’m a good girl at school.” Kacey said proudly.
“Oh really? So why does all that change when you get home?” Andy teased, reaching down to lift her easily into his arms.
Kacey gave her father a shocked look which only made him smile more.
“Miss Y/L/N! Trevor put glue in his hair again!” A tiny voice called from inside your classroom.
Fucking Trevor.
“Duty calls.” You sighed. “I will see you tonight for conferences Mr.-“ Andy raised his eyebrow in your direction. “Sorry. Andy.”
“I’ll see you tonight, Miss Y/L/N.”
“Y/N.” You responded.
“Y/N.” You couldn’t help but love the way your name rolled off his tongue. He gave Kacey a quick kiss before sending her off with you.
You took her hand as you walked into the classroom. You were about to walk over to where Trevor was sitting playing with the glue in his hair when you felt a tug on your hand.
“You should marry my daddy.” Kacey said easily.
You let out a tiny cough before shaking your head. “I don’t think I’m going to be marrying anyone any time soon, sweetie.” You said half joking, half serious but she wouldn’t know the difference. “Now do you wanna help me with Trevor?”
You laughed as she made a face but nodded nonetheless.
“Boys are kinda dumb.” She said more to herself than to you.
“Just wait, they get worse.”
- - - - -
You had time to kill before your first conference started. You knew you could start the grading you would inevitably have to do over the weekend but throwing your feet up on the desk and watching an episode of New Girl just seemed like a much better idea.
You let out a laugh as Nick Miller made a very Nick Miller comment, once again boosting your levels of serotonin.
“Should I come back?” You jumped as Andy knocked lightly on the door.
“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry, Mr. Barber. I didn’t even notice the time.” You scrambled to get your feet off the desk and fix yourself up. You could feel your body heat up from embarrassment as Andy just laughed and walked into the classroom.
“If I have to keep telling you to call me Andy, I might need to send you to the principal's office.”
You felt yourself relax at his teasing nature.
“I’m sorry, Andy. I don’t want you to get the wrong impression of...well me I guess.”
“The impression I get from you is that you are a very hardworking, dedicated teacher. One who my daughter absolutely adores.” He said sincerely. “We all need to toss our feet up sometimes. Lord knows I should give it a try.”
“Thank you.” You motioned for him to sit down in the chair across from you.
You wanted to laugh at how his large frame looked in the tiny chair. You hadn’t been able to find a good grown up chair anywhere so you were reduced to using one of the ones from a third grade classroom. Bigger than your chairs in your room but still tiny in comparison to an adult.
“Mind if I just sit on top of one of the desks?” Andy laughed as he tried to get comfortable.
“Please.” The laugh you were holding in finally coming out. “I’m 0-2 right now.”
“Nah. You’re still batting 1000.”
You cleared your throat, trying to hide your blush as you looked down at your notes you had prepared.
“So um, like I said this morning. Kacey is amazing, as you know. She’s so smart for her age and the little social butterfly of the classroom. I think she’s friends with everyone.” You gushed.
Andy’s face glowed with pride. “She never ceases to amaze me.”
“And academically she’s doing great. We have some trouble with math, so I tend to help her a little more one on one with that and that always seems to help.” You ran your finger over the page. “I mean there’s really not much else to say. She’s fantastic and I’ll miss her when the year is over.”
“And she you. She never stops talking about how much fun she had with Miss Y/L/N in the car on the way home.” Andy laughs. “I don’t know if I should be happy she has such an amazing teacher or be nervous I’m not her favorite person in the world. Which I can’t be too upset about, I suppose.”
“And why is that?”
“Well you are pretty great. If I need to come in second place to anyone I’m glad it’s you.” The sincerity in his voice caught you off guard and you once again felt your body getting hot.
“That’s some high praise.” You countered.
“But very well deserved.”
“I already love your daughter, there’s no reason to butter me up. It’s great for my ego but completely unnecessary.” You joked.
Andy let out a boisterous laugh that caused you to laugh too.
“I can keep going if you’d like.” He joked back.
“I’m afraid you’ll run out of material soon. There’s only so many ways you can call me a good teacher.”
“Well I guess we’ll have to get to know each other on a different level.” Andy leaned forward on the desk. “Are you fr-“
“Oops! Sorry!” You and Andy both turned to see Trevor’s parents standing awkwardly at the door. Like their son, Mr. and Mrs. Randall were a little spacey but kind all around. “If you still need to talk we can just wait!”
“No worries, Heather.” Andy waved. He hopped off the desk and you figured he would just walk out but he walked up to you holding out his hand. “It was lovely chatting with you, Y/N. Let’s do it again soon?” He said the last part quietly. You looked down at where his much larger hand was encasing yours.
“Andy...” you glanced past his shoulder at the Randall’s who were making their way towards the two of you. You reluctantly pulled your hand from his grasp.
“Think about it.” He said simply. He chuckled as he tapped his fingers on the apple on your desk before turning around to greet the Randall’s properly. You watched him walk towards the door and looked away quickly when he turned back around to give you a wink.
“My oh my, he is one fine looking man.” Mrs. Randall fanned herself as she giggled like a schoolgirl.
“Heather, please.” Mr. Randall rolled his eyes.
“Oh I’m just looking, Mark.” She scoffed before winking in your direction.
You and me both, Heather.