Page 61 of Promise Me Not

The radio flicks on, and I jolt in my seat, my eyes snapping forward, finding Mason staring at me with a blank expression. Slowly, his eyes slide to his friend outside the car, and I take that moment to sink farther in my seat.

Thankfully, everyone piles in, and I focus on giving Deaton all my attention. We play peekaboo and tickle monster. He spends at least ten minutes holding on to my finger, lifting and lowering it over and over again as his little arms flail.

I clap a few times, and he smiles, sticking his fingers in his mouth and making a little squeal. I laugh and hold my hands before him. It doesn’t take long for him to understand, and he grabs my fingers, pushing them together, helping me clap.

“Your turn, mister man.” I take his hands and clap them together.

He kicks his feet with excitement, making soft cooing sounds. I let go, hoping he’ll finally figure it out on his own, but he just reaches for mine again. We go back and forth for several minutes. Trying something new, I clap his hands a good five times, making animated smiles and sounds as I go. On the last clap, I let go but leave my palms hovering close to his own, and he instinctively follows the rhythm, his hands meeting in the middle with the softest littleclap.

His blue eyes widen, as does my smile. He tries again, missing the first time and then again,clap, clap, clap.

“You did it!” I shout, my heart freaking melting when a laugh bubbles from his throat.

Both Chase’s and Mason’s heads whip around, both men pushing up in their seats to get a look at his face. I spare them a smile, quickly looking back to Deaton.

He claps again, so happy at the sound he’s creating that he keeps laughing, his little face turning red.

“How is this the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen?” Mason stares intently, his best friend chuckling at his side.

“’Cause it is.” Chase reaches back, brushing his fingers along Deaton’s curly hair.

Mason watches his friend’s every move, his frown deepening by the second. He, too, reaches back then, the frown wiped free when Deaton instantly wraps his fist around Mason’s pointer finger. He drags it right into his mouth, slobbering all over him before Mason can pull back.

“Always straight to the mouth, huh, my man?” Mason laughs, retreating slightly, and then he’s on his knees in his seat, stretching his torso over me.

I press against the seat, trying to disappear, but there’s nowhere to go, and then he’sright there, his face inches frommine, brown eyes as stormy as ever. I hold my breath, shocked at what he’s doing, panicking over the others seeing. But then his hand comes back up, and in it is the little plush football Deaton tossed a while ago.

Eyes still locked on mine, he passes the toy to Deaton. “Here you go, little man,” he murmurs, finally pulling back.

He spins in his seat, and I sink in mine, my cheeks burning. I don’t have to look up to know someone’s eyes are on me. I don’t know whose, but I feel them.

I peek to the screen on my phone.

Only four more hours.

Fuck my life.

It’safter dark when we pull up to the pump at the gas station. Ahead of us, everyone piles out at once, stretching and walking our way.

My brother gets out to pump the gas, and the others peek in, whispering when Kenra puts her fingers to her lips.

“He’s sleeping?” Ari coos, cupping her hands to look at him through the far back window before sticking her head back in her brother’s door once more. “How’s he done on the drive so far?”

“He’s been fine,” Mason answers before I can, and I frown.

“If crying for forty minutes until he was hiccupping in his sleep and freaking Mason out meansfine, then he did perfectly fine,” Chase teases, leaning away when Mason reaches over to punch him on the arm.

“I did not freak out,” he snaps.

“No? You only stared at him for fifteen minutes after, checking his pulse when he got too still.”

Cameron and Brady laugh at him, but his sister practically has hearts in her eyes.

“Hey, his head kept falling over!” Mason defends. “I had to make sure.”

“His mama was right beside him.” Chase fights a smile. “You were being ridiculous.”

“It was sweet.” The words leave my mouth before I realize I’m speaking, and Mason’s head yanks my way.

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