Chapter
13
“I try! I try!” Sam squealed happily as he watched
Justin blow bubbles in his coke through the straw.
Justin had laughed at the expression on Josh’s face
when he’d told him he wanted coke for breakfast, he’d given him a mischievous
smile before ordering it himself. He liked coke and yes it wasn’t really
healthy and of course weird to drink in the morning but hey who cares? Besides
who knew when he would get the chance to buy it again.
Justin giggled as he saw the happy smile on Sam’s
face and the playful scowl on Josh’s face as they both watched his bubble
blowing trick. He saw Josh’s embarrassment but he also saw he was enjoying
himself; he was just pretending to be angry to keep up his father act and
Justin found that very sexy. He passed the glass to Sam with a mischievous
smile to Josh, settling it in front of the little boy and guiding the straw to
his lips.
“Now blow” Justin told him gently, his arm around
Sam’s chair. And Sam blew, carefully at first but when he saw the effect he
pressed more and more air into the straw making larger bubbles in the glass of
coke. He giggled happily as he saw the effect and clapped his hands
enthusiastically, satisfied he could do that too just like Justin. Josh finally
lost it and smiled fully at the happiness of his kid. Justin noticed it and
smiled at him, his eyes lit up and giggles erupted from him.
Justin tensed; his smile slid off his face quickly
and he swallowed his giggles at once, his eyes darted away from the door and he
made himself as small as possible as to not to be noticed.
Josh looked at him strangely; what was wrong with
him? He tried to make eye contact but Justin avoided it, he glanced down at his
hands in his lap. Josh furrowed his eyebrows, confusion apparent in his eyes.
He was sitting with his back to the door and hadn’t seen what Justin had.
Justin, who was now looking around him frantically searching for an escape
route if the situation called for it. The ding of the diner door drew his
attention to the door as he saw Justin shrinking further in his seat out of the
corner of his eye. Josh turned in his seat, looking straight at the door where
two cops on a pit stop stepped in.
“Eddy, 2 coffee please” one of them ordered. Justin
jumped when he heard the voice, he closed his eyes tightly thinking they would
arrest him any minute now and he almost had a heart attack when someone grabbed
his hand. His eyes flew open but it wasn’t a uniform he was met with; it were
the calming steel blue eyes of the stunning man on his left.
“Calm down” Josh soothed softly, bending towards
the distraught young boy. He’d seen the cops come in and understood why Justin
was so nervous all of a sudden. Justin tried to take deep calming breaths but
the prospect of jail was working against him.
“They’re not here for you, calm down” Josh repeated
in soothing tones but it didn’t work. Justin continued to gaze wildly at the
two officers at the bar who were drinking coffee, sure of the fact they would
get up and arrest him any minute now. The diner was almost empty making it even
worse for Justin.
“Can we go” Justin whispered urgently, his eyes
pleading with Josh to say yes, the calming breaths were not working for him; he
needed to get out of there. He needed to get as far away from those cops as
possible but Josh shook his head no.
“We can’t just get up and leave, it will look
suspicious” Josh told him softly but determined and Justin knew he was right
but that didn’t mean he wanted him to be. Justin eyes were wild, he was
terrified and Josh noticed it, the cops didn’t seem to leave. Josh rummaged
through Sam’s changing bag till he found what he’d been looking for.
“Read Sam a story” Josh offered as he pushed a thin
book into Justin’s hands, urging him on with a quick nod. Josh always brought a
couple of items to keep his son entertained if it were necessary and he was
grateful he took the bag with him. Although it wasn’t really to keep Sam
entertained this time.
Justin looked at him strangely, had he lost his
mind?
“What?” he asked incredulously.
There were cops in here; only 30 feet away from
him, ready to bust him and throw him into jail and Josh wanted him to read?!
Was he nuts?
Josh saw the look in Justin’s eyes.
“Trust me” he whispered before nodding once again,
urging him to start. Justin’s hands shakily opened the book and he slowly began
to read. Sam gave him his full attention and listened intently; it was his
favorite book. Justin’s frantic, wild and panicking attitude slowly
disappeared, he was calming down with every line he read out loud and Josh
watched satisfied. Justin continued to read and although he was still more than
aware the cops were there, Sam distracted him just enough to not be noticed by
his nerves. He was half way through when a hard laugh made him jump which was
followed by a friendly,
“Thanks Eddy, see you later” Justin glanced up
nervously and followed the two officers with his eyes as they walked towards
the door. The cops left without a second glance to the two young men and the
kid in the corner and Justin breathed a sigh of relief. He stood to leave
immediately but Josh stopped him.
“Wait a little while, you’re safe. Trust me nothing
is going to happen, you’re safe” he talked into him and Justin sat down slowly;
he trusted him. He did. He’d only known the man for a couple of days but he
trusted him so he stayed where he was. They waited a couple of minutes, making
sure the cops had left before they asked for the bill. Josh paid quickly,
lifted Sam out of his seat and went for the door. When they got outside Justin
couldn’t help but quickly look around him to make sure the cops had really left
and luckily they did. He didn’t spot the police car anymore and now… now he was
safe. Sam was twisting in Josh’s grip to see everything around him but Josh
kept his eyes on the young man walking beside him as they walked back to the
car.
“Thank you” Justin told him seriously as he looked
him straight in the eye.
“Sure” Josh smiled, happy his little plan had been
successful. Josh continued to watch Justin, hoping for signs but Justin kept
his eyes ahead and would occasionally glance over his shoulder to make sure
there were no cops following him. The silence stretched till they were halfway
to the car. Justin looked up and twisted to see Josh.
“How did you know what to do?” he asked curiously,
still in awe Josh had come up with an idea like that and that it had actually
worked.
“I saw something about shoplifting once and they
said that cops always pick out the nervous people. I just wanted to make you
seem relaxed so you wouldn’t be noticed” Josh explained with a shy smile before
he shifted Sam on his arm.
“Thanks” Justin said seriously.
“Your welcome” Josh said, the smile still present.
He was happy it had worked, he didn’t want Justin
to go to jail; not now….. not ever.
