Page 19 of Please Save Me

Nope. There is no way in hell we were having this conversation right now. Shehadto know I was Calvin Waters, and that’s why she was being so weird.

I shot up into a sitting position. Mason’s eyes widened a little as she propped herself up on her elbows.

“Hey–I’ve been fixing up the nursery, and we’re missing a couple of things.” I rushed through my words, causing each syllable to match the beat of my heart. “I uh–Do ya wanna go out and get it? Together?”

Mason blinked, and it was obvious she was taken aback by the change in topic.

“Cameron…” She started, and I was so afraid she’d keep pushing that I hopped out of bed and immediately headed toward the door.

“It’ll be good for us to get out of the house. Plus, weneedto get the stuff anyway.” I urged, my voice sounding oddly cheery. “I saw an ad for a place calledTiny Tots Emporium, and it looked like they had just about anything we’d need. They’re only about forty or so minutes away.”

That seemed like it’d be far enough away for us to shop uninterrupted and away from prying eyes.

Mason hesitated, her eyes still laser-focused on mine. But, after a moment, she sighed.

“Fine, let’s go.” She relented.

But something in the way she spoke made me realize that I may have dodgedthatbullet, but thegunwas still loaded, and worse, it was pointed right at me.

Chapter 6

Mason

The fluorescent lights flickered above us, buzzing incessantly. People’s voices hummed in the background, and the seams in my shirt felt like sandpaper against my skin. I was one sensation away fromexploding, but I couldn’t do that. Not now, not here. All I’d wanted was to stay home, but Cameron had been so excited about going out.

I’d never actually set foot in a store like this before. All my shopping for Rosie had been done online; it was just easier that way. As we waded through aisles of pastel fabrics and the latest gadgets, I found myself unable to focus. Instead, I kept stealing glances at the father of my child.

Sure, what we needed to talk about earlier wasn’t super important, but it was something that Rosie could inherit from me, and I thought he’d want to know. But, when I brought up the idea of a secret, he seemed to get defensive…why? I scratched my head as I thought about everything that’s happened between Cameron and I now.

Maybe he had a kid somewhere in… wherever he was from that he didn’t stick around to raise.

He seemed excited about Rosie. He had started feeling her when she kicked, and every time my pregnancy app compared her size to a new vegetable, hewanted to be the first to know. Now that it was coming down to the wire, he seemed scared.

Part of me wanted to chalk it up to new dad jitters, but if that had been the case, I’d like to think he would have come to the hospital with me. After all, if he wanted to be the first to do everything else, why wouldn’t he want to be the first to hold our daughter? After me, of course.

Plus, Cameron never talked about his past. I had never seen photos of him from when he was growing up, even though I had been begging to see him when he was my age. I asked Lucian about this, and he said Cameron never really wanted to talk about himself. All the information I could get on him was when Sophia told me Cameron apparently had a dad he didn’t speak to.

I studied Cameron as he pressed the black plastic lid of his coffee cup to his lips. His throat bobbed as he swallowed.

“You look tired today,” I told him.

A smirk pulled at his lips. “It’s comforting to know you’re too honest to lie to me.”

Lying and addiction were the two awful traits I failed to inherit from my parents, and I was thankful. I just wasn’t sure what the point of lying even was.

“Have you ever lied to me?” My question slipped before I could stop it.

Cameron choked.

My muscles tightened as I reached up to pat him on the back. He leaned over the cart slightly as he covered his mouth.

“I’m so sorry.” I rushed through my apology.

“Ain’t a thing to be sorry about.” He coughed before straightening back up. “It just went down the wrong pipe.”

Maybe it was just me being paranoid, but I was pretty sure he was hiding something with that cough. Was he trying to derail me? Would I be in the wrong if I pushed him a little further?

The cart stopped in front of a sea of very soft-looking clothes, all in various shades of pink. Instantly, Cameron picked one up and laid it across my stomach.

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