Page 69 (1/2)

And it wasn’t difficult to care about a kid like Sophie Breslin For the next thirty irl They were sprawled on the living room floor on the brand-new hardwood that sparkled froh theSophie had brought out half a dozen dolls, along with tiny doll accessories--hair elastics, little pink hairbrushes, barrettes and clips of all shapes and colors

If any of the guys had asked, he would’ve said it was the la he’d ever done in his life

The truth?

It was pretty frickin’ fun

As his huge fingers tried to grip a teeny hairbrush to brush the silky blonde hair of an anato at hiers!" Pure glee radiated from her little body

"I can’t help it," he said defensively "Okay, new plan You do the hair brushing, I’ll braid this foxy mama’s hair" He reached for the voluptuous Latina doll in the hot-pinkBarbie

They were so absorbed in their respective tasks that their heads jerked up in surprise when they heard the front door fly open

"I’ roo when he noticed what Seth and his sister were up to "You’re playing with dolls?"

Seth couldn’t have answered the question if his life depended on it The second he laid eyes on Jason, his throat closed up to the point that he couldn’t suck in a single breath, and he felt like he’d just gotten knocked in the gut with an iron bea to have a panic attack His heart raced so fast that all he could hear was its frantic beating in his ears, and his pal Black dots appeared in his vision--he actually welcomed them, because thatin the doorway The white-and-blue-striped uniform and blue baseball cap and little black sneakers

The hat was the wrong color though It was supposed to be red

"--fun and you don’t hafta" Sophie’s haughty voice broke through Seth’s anxiety attack, but it sounded tinny and incredibly far away "Me and Sef areEmily and her friends pretty You can play with Sef after"

"Can we? Can we play after?"

Seth felt a pair of eager brown eyes boring into hiain or else he ht pass out

Jason

Shit That wasn’t Adam It was Jason

He bit hard on the insides of both cheeks, doing his best to breathe, to control his dangerously fast heartbeat

"Can we play catch outside when you finish playing dolls?" Jason asked