We pile into the gas station, and I lead Nora to the back where the bathrooms are. She goes in, and Salem slips past us into the men’s bathroom.
Leaning against the wall, I wait for them, yawning my head off the entire time.
Jasper walks to me, an energy drink in his hand. I nod toward it. “Not as awake as you’d like me to believe, huh?”
“I’m okay, baby boy, I promise.” He grins. “Just a little pick-me-up to get us through the last couple of hours.”
“I want one too. I want to stay awake with you.”
He shakes his head, his blue eyes sparkling. “Not necessary. I’d rather you get sleep.”
I sigh. “Fine. I’m not gonna argue.”
Eyebrows drawing together, Jasper presses the back of his hand to my forehead.
“What are you doing?”
He grins, dropping his hand. “Checking your temp. Thought maybe you were coming down with something. You? Not arguing?”
I scoff. “Just for that, I’m going to get a damn energy drink.”
I start to walk past him, but he steps in front of me, chuckling. “I’m kidding, baby boy. I want you to rest. Please?”
He blinks down at me, his bottom lip sticking out. “Ugh. Hate when you pout at me. It’s unbecoming of a man your age.”
Jasper barks out a laugh, then dips his head to kiss me. It’s short and chaste, which is for the best since I have no clue where the fuck we are, and not everyone is accepting.
The door to the bathroom opens, and Salem walks out. He glances between Jasper and me, then leans in close to me.
“I’m hungry,” he whispers.
I fucking knew that single bag of chips wasn’t going to be enough.
Jasper glances at his phone. “It’s breakfast time. Do you wanna hit a drive-through and pick something up?”
Salem looks up at him, but I’m too tired to figure out what his facial expression means.
“I think that sounds good.”
Nora walks out of the bathroom, wiping her wet hands on her pants. “Hey, Nor, you want breakfast?”
She nods. “Yeah, I’m super hungry.”
Jasper smiles. He’s enjoying this, I think. I need to have a talk with him later to be sure, but it really seems like he’s…happyabout having Salem and Nora. I’m not sure why that surprises me, considering how hard he worked to help me get them.
“Do you need to use the bathroom?” I ask.
Jasper shakes his head, then tosses the keys to me. “You guys go ahead back outside, and I’ll be right there after I pay for this.” He waves his energy drink in the air.
The kids are quiet as we walk to the truck and climb in, and Jasper comes back just as I’m settling into the passenger seat.
There’s a McDonald’s across the street, and Jasper pulls out of the gas station and into the drive-through.
“What does everyone want?” he asks when we get to the window.
“I want pancakes,” Nora says. “And bacon.”
I turn in my seat. “It might be hard to eat pancakes in Jasper’s truck without making a mess with the syrup, Nor.”
