Page 64 of Please Save Me

“How was the, uh, how was your appointment? With the baby?” he babbled.

Mason held up a finger as she braced herself against the door and struggled with her shoes.

“The appointment went fine.” Sophia’s tone was unusually short. “We are officially T-minus twenty-eight days until baby girl is here.”

I scratched my chin as I tried to think about how far we were from Christmas. “No? Soph, that wouldn’t even take us to December.”

Mason continued to struggle with the laces on her high-top tennis shoes. Sebastian seemingly came to his senses and motioned for her to come near. She breathed a sigh of relief before making her way to one of the nearby chairs. Sebastian took a knee in front of her, and I felt a small pang of jealousy.

Did things like this always come easy to them?

“Your daughter is huge and they want to induce Mason at thirty-seven weeks,” Sophia explained as she came closer and rested her hand on the crook of my elbow.

She inched in, and I braced myself for a kiss. Instead, she tipped her head forward, refusing to look away.

“What’s going on? Two days ago, you and Seb couldn’t stand each other?” she hissed.

“What do you mean?” I tried to laugh off my nerves. “He’s been sleeping in my bed the last few days.”

“When he realized you two were holding hands, he literally threw himself out of the bed.”

The weight of Sophia’s anger was new and unwelcome, and I would have done just about anything to make it stop.

“There was some uh… unresolved tension between us.” I scratched my head and looked away.

But, she was having none of it. Sophia grabbed me by the chin and forced me to look at her.

“I just want to know what’s going on,” she promised. “I’ve had time to think, and I won’t be mad.”

The fact she had to tell me she wouldn’t be mad made me think that was a lie.

A laugh from Mason drew my attention, and I looked over to see Sebastian still on one knee, holding her hand as they talked.

I couldn't hear what they were saying, but if I didn’t know Sebastian was a creep, I’d like the way he looked at her. It was warm and loving, and from anyone else, it would have been enough to make me swoon. Unfortunately, as much as I needed Sebastian, I couldn’t trust him—but I wanted to.

“Sophia, nothing is going on.” I forced myself to hold her gaze as I spoke. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about getting fired from the church. Truth be told, I didn’t want to think about it.”

She studied me for a moment. “And Seb?”

I looked back over to see him helping Mason to her feet before smoothing her pink sweater.

“I’m still trying to figure him out. He’s…different.”Fucking crazy.“And we’ve been trying to keep our… whatever we are to ourselves.”

Her face softened just enough to let me know she bought my story, even if it was begrudgingly.

“Do you promise?”

I nodded. “Cross my heart.”

Before she could push me any further, I pretended to stifle a yawn.

“I’m sorry for bein’ weird. I’m just tired,” I explained.

Sophia knew I was prone to bouts of insomnia, so she appeared to just accept that at face value.

“Fine. Just remember, if you have a secret, I’ll find out.” She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. “If you’re tired, why not get some rest?”

My mouth went dry, and I nodded. I should have argued and told her I was fine, but I just wanted to get away from everything going on today.

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