Page 65 of About That Night

I could just haul him up myself, but he seems determined to do it, and I don’t want to squelch his independence.

Chastity keeps throwing her arms out repeatedly and stepping forward like she’s afraid he’s going to fall. Considering I’m still bent down, he’s going to fall all of about twelve inches, but her expression indicates she’s convinced he might sustain internal injuries or head trauma at any given second.

“Hey,” I murmur to her. I want to tell her to relax, but no one benefits from being told that, unless they’re getting a full-body massage. Besides, she’s been on her own for a long time with no help. She doesn’t need my childless opinion. “Do you want us to just stay here?”

She sighs. “No, of course not.” She bites her fingernail and finally gives into the urge she’s clearly been fighting to help Josiah wrap himself securely around me. “Just be careful.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I put my hand on the small of Josiah’s back to hold him in place and stand up. “Okay, kiddo, we’re ready to roll. Do you want Mama to come with us, or stay here?”

“Mama, stay!” he yells gleefully.

Chastity looks offended.

“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “We’re just going to have a little man-to-man hangout time, skip some rocks, eat this candy that’s in my pocket. We’ll be back soon. The game starts in twenty minutes.”

“He’s not wearing a life jacket.” She gives every appearance of assuming I’m going to let her child drown in the pond.

“We’re not swimming.”

“Mama, stay!” Josiah yells again.

I can see his arm pointed at her out of my peripheral vision. I might have started something I didn’t mean to because he looks downright thrilled to be ditching her overprotectiveness.

“Fine.” She relents, but she does lean over and kiss Josiah repeatedly on the cheek and head until he pulls away.

“Kiss Hank,” he demands.

I suspect it’s to take the heat off of himself. Just a diversionary tactic to slide his mother’s attention onto someone else so he doesn’t have to endure any more maternal smooches, but I’m not above taking what I can get.

“Yeah, kiss Hank,” I say with a smirk.

Chastity pulls away from her son and shoots me a look. But she kisses me on the cheek, her soft lips lightly brushing my cool skin. That’s two cheek kisses now. Whereas I once had her planting her naked butt in my bed like a sexy stalker, now I get the kind of kiss from her that my mother would give me.

So yeah, in case there was any doubt about it, the friend zone is bullshit.

I’ve never been in it until her, and I don’t like it. It’s stupid and dumb and I want to find the exit door immediately.

“Don’t be gone long,” she warns.

“We won’t.” I start walking, holding onto Josiah. He has a decent grip on my neck, though, so we’re all safe and secure.

“Are you excited to watch football?” I ask him.

“Yes.”

Josiah has the tiniest of lisps so that his s’s have a little hiss at the end, like a baby snake. It’s adorable. The kid is pretty dang cute, I have to say.

“Are you excited to play football when you get to school?”

“I guess. But I don’t know if I’ll be good at it.”

“You never know unless you try. I’m just fine at football. Nothing amazing, nothing terrible. I play okay, but that doesn’t mean I have any less fun doing it.”

He makes a noncommittal sound. Then he asks, “Is this your house?”

“It’s my mom and dad’s house. I live in an apartment, remember? Where we ate the oysters. I can’t have big parties like this at my apartment.”

“I don’t have a dad.”

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