Chapter Eight
Shaw
I did sleep. Very well, in fact, and woke up with that vague feeling that follows pleasant dreams. Stretching, I climbed out of bed and padded to the shower.
With a whole day off ahead of me, I had errands to run, the apartment to clean, laundry to do, and a son I hoped to take somewhere fun in the afternoon.
Quite different from the life I’d lived pre-dad, but I loved it.
Showered and dressed in jeans and a T-shirt from a concert I’d attended at least a decade earlier, I peeked into Bastian’s room to make sure he was still asleep before deciding what to do next.
My little sleeper was curled up with his teddy, and my heart swelled with love.
He was so adorable but also smart and funny and loving.
What daddy could ask for more? I’d decided before he made his entrance into the world that my son would be enough.
I’d met my mate and he wasn’t interested or maybe didn’t feel the same way I did, and I wasn’t going to settle for less.
At least not while Sebastian was so little and needed me.
Thus the reason I had been considering joining Cuffed.
I could go scene or spend time with like-minded people and then go home.
No strings attached if I preferred it that way.
But then…oh hell.
I stepped back into the bedroom and got my phone from the charger.
Not only had I run into Gatlin at the club, I’d texted him.
He’d replied. Said he’d also been glad to see me and invited me to come again as his guest. Told me to sleep well.
Which had made me way too happy. I couldn’t let this happen.
He was Sebastian’s bio dad, and I might have to accept that he would want a part in his life.
“Daddy!” The call of my son pulled me from any more deep thoughts about the future.
“On my way, Bastian.”
By the time I got him up and dressed and ready for the day, I realized how little breakfast food I had in the house, so I hustled him outside and into his car seat. Then I climbed behind the wheel. “We’ll have a store breakfast, okay?”
My son met my gaze in the rearview mirror, a big grin lifting his lips and lighting up his eyes. “Cheese.”
“Of course. What a good source of protein. And what else would you like?”
We went back and forth as we drove while Sebastian considered other options, his teddy tucked into the car seat with him.
A “store breakfast” was something that happened when, like today, we ran low on things he liked to eat for breakfast. Most days, he ate at my dads’, but on the weekend, we got to have breakfast together.
Usually at home, but occasionally I goofed, and luckily my son loved getting to pick out his food and eat it on the spot.
I wasn’t sure it was 100 percent okay, but when I presented an open cereal box or maybe one of granola bars, the checkers always smiled and scanned it without any comments on how much might already be in the little boy. Rather, they were generally asking if they could give him candy or something.
We were early enough that there were no big lines at the checkout stands when we went in, which was great, and Bastian held up his arms to be lifted into the seat in the cart. “Up, Daddy.”
Dropping my canvas shopping bags into the bottom, I swung my boy up and into the seat, his teddy swinging out as he dissolved in giggles. “What did we decide to have again?” I settled him in and buckled the seat belt. “I think it was cheese and onions.”
“Nooo…” His giggles grew louder, and a passing older lady gave him a warm smile. “Cheese and nanas!”
“All yellow food? Nothing red or blue?” I pushed the cart into produce, grabbing a bunch of bananas first and starting the peeling from the top.
It was a tricky choice to make sure we paid right, since we wouldn’t know the weight of his snack, but the checker would work it out.
The advantage of going to the same store all the time, we knew all the employees, at least to say hi to.
“Daddy, blue? What is blue?”
“Blueberries?”
He twisted his face up. “They are purple. Why do they call them blue berries?”
“That’s a good question.” I added lettuce, tomatoes, and a bunch of broccoli to the cart. Sebastian had no argument about eating the “little trees.”
“Gonna ask Miss June at the liberry.”
A few more items and we moved to the deli where I picked up a package of sliced cheese and gave one slice to Sebastian. He’d go through a few before checkout. “Here is the rest of your breakfast. You good?”
A bobbing head and chomping teeth were my answer.
While Sebastian was busy eating, I picked up speed and zoomed up and down the aisles, loading milk and juice, chicken patty and hamburger buns, everything a busy dad and his son would need for dinners and snacks and a breakfast or two.
I was nearly finished when I came around a corner and nearly crashed into another cart.
“Oh, I’m so sorry…” I began then ran out of words. Except one. “Gatlin.”
“Hi, Shaw. I’m sorry. I almost knocked you down.” He waved his phone at me. “Distracted driving, I was glancing at a text.”