The Problem with Sports

by M. E. Clayton

  “And this morning?”

  “I was working all morning, final edits and stuff, and…”

  “And?”

  “Well, he sent me another text, telling me he was going to go check on his parents water line again, just to double check in the light of day that it was fixed, and I got back to work.” It was like a bad movie where everything was going wrong, but Nathan could still have picked up the phone or sent me a text that we needed to talk. Something. Anything.

  “Where are you now?”

  “Justin’s got some new items on the menu tonight, and so I stopped by to wish him luck,” I replied. “I’m at the bar.”

  “And no calls or texts from Nathan?”

  “Just a text earlier that he’ll stop by tonight,” I muttered, feeling more and more foolish by the second. How could he have a conversation like that with my son, after telling him I wanted to take things slow, and not tell me about it? Not make the time to tell me about it?

  “Look, Andie,” Steven started, and I knew that tone. However, I wasn’t sure I didn’t deserve whatever he was about to say to me. “I’ve done my best to respect you and your choices. It’s my fault we’re divorce, and I own that. I’ve swallowed that bitter pill and it sits like a rock in the pit of my stomach every fucking day. However, part of taking responsibility for what I’ve done is moving on and allowing you to move on, too. I want you to be happy, Andie. I swear to God, I do. I know there will still be these pockets of nostalgia that will cause some tender aches from time to time, but I want us to both be happy. For Grant’s sake, if nothing else.” I could feel the pressure behind my eyes because I knew where this was going, and I did deserve it. “But I am not going to stand back and let your boyfriend, or any of your boyfriends, should this thing with Nathan not work out, overstep and start making decisions that affect Grant’s life.”

  “I know,” I muttered pathetically, but Steven wasn’t feeling charitable at the obvious distress in my voice.

  “He has been overstepping since the very beginning, and I won’t stand for it any longer, Andie,” Steven continued. “Grant is our son. Married or divorced, he is ours. And even if you were to marry Nathan tomorrow, Grant is still our son. I am not an absent father and you are not a neglectful mother. Nathan fucking Hayes does not need to step into our dynamic and turn it upside down. And he doesn’t get to start deciding what is best for Grant.”

  “I know, Steven,” I repeated because I did know. Nathan overstepped in a way he never should have.

  “When are you going home from the bar?”

  “Uh…now,” I replied, still…shocked. “Uh…I just…let me tell Justin goodbye and…and I’ll head home.”

  “Text me when you get there and Grant and I will head over,” he said. “We can talk to him together and…see what we’re dealing with.”

  “O…okay.”

  “Okay.”

  “Steven?”

  “What, Andie?”

  “I’m sorry,” I said softly. “I…I never would…I didn’t mean for this to…to happen. I-”

  “Andrea, you didn’t do anything wrong, except trust someone a little too quickly, maybe,” he graciously replied. “I’m not mad at you. There’s only one person I blame for this clusterfuck, and it’s not you.”

  “I’ll see you when I get home,” I said simply. I didn’t want to get into that conversation until I knew what I was dealing with. There was a good chance that Nathan would win a physical altercation between him and Steven since he was taller and more muscular, but Steven wasn’t soft either. Steven would give as good as he got if it ever came down to that.

  After telling Justin I had to go home, I had driven home in a bit of a fog. I probably hadn’t been in the condition to drive, but I had made it home safely and hadn’t mowed anyone else down in the process.

  I had texted Steven, and he and Grant had come over immediately. Together, we had asked him about his conversation with Nathan, and while Grant hadn’t thought anything of it, with every word out of his mouth, I had become angrier and angrier.

  The second Grant had asked him if we were dating, Nathan should have walked him back to my place and let me deal with it. He never should have discussed anything about the nature of our relationship with Grant. Especially, after having made it clear that I had wanted to take things slow. If I didn’t want our parents know just yet, it should have been easy to deduce that I hadn’t been ready to let Grant know just yet either.

  When Grant was done telling us about his conversation with Nathan, I had racked my brain with the best way to explain how Nathan and I were just friends, because, though that was a lie, moving forward, we were going to be just friends.

  I hated lying to Grant, but better than let him believe he messed things up between me and Nathan. There was no way I was going to let Grant think he broke us up.

  The only person who had broken us up was Nathan.

  I was furious, but I couldn’t deny how disappointed I was either. I had let my guard down and trusted the wrong man again.

  How could I have been so stupid?

  Chapter 20

  Nathan~

  You have got to be kidding me.

  Andrea hadn’t been answering my texts all afternoon. And while I knew she had a tendency to get absorbed in her work, she usually sent a text when she took a break. She hasn’t replied to a single text since this morning. And I missed her terribly.

  Last night had been a fucking disaster when Sayer had called me to tell me the water line in Mom and Dad’s backyard had busted. Now while my dad and Gideon were perfectly capable of handling the issue, since they were the construction engineers in the family, Sayer and I didn’t get down like that. Dad was sixty-five, and while still in good shape, he had three strong, young sons for the hard shit.

  Sayer and I had arrived just as Gideon had finished digging up the grass over the break, and even though it was already heading towards darkness, Dad had brought out a flood light from the shed, and we had worked by that light alone. Gideon had run to the hardware store before it had closed and had gotten everything we might need, and then some.

  After working close to ten, we had fixed it, and by the time Mom had fed us a very late dinner, it had been midnight by the time I had gotten back home. I had fired off a text to Andie with the small hope that she might still be up, but when she hadn’t responded, I had showered and had fallen out.

  This morning I had woken up to a text from Gideon, saying he and Sayer were heading over to Mom and Dad’s to double check our handiwork. I, too, had gone over this morning in case our work by flood light had sucked.

  After checking on everything, Mom had insisted on a big breakfast for us all, and since Dad would kick our asses if we were to upset his wife, we all stayed and had eaten breakfast. Even Sayer had stayed, knowing it was going to make him late to the firehouse. But since everyone at the firehouse has met Louise Hayes, even his chief would make this one allowance.

  Again, Mom was batshit crazy and everyone knew it but Gideon.

  So, not having seen Andie since the other day, and her not returning my texts or answering my calls, I came downstairs to her condo to see if she was okay. What I hadn’t expected to see was an older version of Grant answering her fucking door.

  And I certainly hadn’t expected the steel in his voice when he asked, “Can I help you?”

  Now, I wasn’t a complete idiot. This was obviously Steven, Grant’s dad and Andie’s ex. It was uncanny how much Grant looked like him, but then, me, Sayer, and Gideon all looked like Dad. None of us had inherited anything from Mom.

  I reined in my immediate reaction to puff my chest out, and said, “Is Andie home?”

  Steven surprised me when he shut the door behind him, forcing me to have to take a step back out into the hallway. I was taller than he was by about three inches, or so, and I also filled out a little more than was his stature, but none of that really mattered. This man was the father of Andie’s child and the only man she’s
ever pledged to spend her entire life with. Right now, he was more important than whatever it was that we were beginning to build between us.

  “I’m Steven Hansen,” he started. “I’m Grant’s father and Andrea’s ex-husband.”

  I arched a brow coolly. “I gathered as much.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Meaning?”

  “Well, it seems to me as you if you like to pretend that I don’t exist,” he replied smoothly. But then his tone took on a hard edge when he added, “But I do.”

  “Not sure what you mean by that, but I’m very well aware that you exist,” I told him. “Grant and Andie talk about you all the time.”

  “Then, maybe, you can answer something for me,” he smirked, and I was starting to really not like the man. He looked like he had an ace up his sleeve he was dying to play.

  “Oh, yeah? What’s that?”

  “Why would you take it upon yourself, when Grant has two very involved parents, to tell an eight-year-old boy how you like his mother when she specifically asked you to take things slow?”

  My heart skipped before beginning to beat painfully in my chest.

  How could I have forgotten about that?

  I donned my best poker face. “With all due respect, that’s a conversation that needs to be had between me and Andie.”

  “It’s a conversation that should have been had with Andie before you had taken it upon yourself to have it with Grant,” he shot back.

  “Whatever you think happened, it didn’t happen that way,” I replied, hating that I had to explain myself to this man.

  This time, he was the one who arched a brow. “Really? Because the way we heard it was that Grant asked you if you were dating his mother, and instead of sending back home to have that conversation with Andie, or calling Andie to tell him Grant was asking those important questions, you just went on to talk to him about something that Andie informed you she was sensitive about.” The fucker shook his head. “Are you telling me that’s not how it happened?”

  “Where’s Andie?” I asked. I wasn’t saying the man didn’t have the right to be annoyed with me, but this was something between me, Andie, and Grant.

  “She’s inside with Grant, trying to answer any questions he might have about what’s going on between the two of you,” he replied, and I immediately felt like everything was crashing down all around me. “Why the hell do you think I’m answering her door?”

  “Because you’re a dick?” The words came flying out, but I wasn’t going to apologize for them. My soul was feeling chaotic, and I wasn’t sure if I could control my emotions right now.

  Steven smirked. “Not denying that, but that’s not why,” he said. “She asked me to please answer the door because, suspecting it might be you, she’s pissed the fuck off, and she’s trying to hide it from Grant. So, better for me to answer the door, and deal with you, than chance her losing her shit in front of her son.” I clenched my jaw. “Do you think she wants Grant to witness a fight between the two of you?”

  “So, I take it I’m not allowed inside?”

  He surprised me again when he shook his head. “Actually, you’re more than welcome to come inside,” he said. “But, trust me when I tell you, that’s not actually a good thing.”

  Steven turned back to open the door and I following him inside. Whether or not shit was going to go sideways, I wasn’t a coward. I had no problem admitting when I was wrong, however, I didn’t feel like I was. I might have handled Grant’s questioning wrong, but my intentions hadn’t been bad. I hadn’t wanted to lie to the kid, and my feelings for Andie were the real thing. We were going to have to tell Grant the truth at some point.

  I followed Steven into the living room, and Andie was sitting on the couch with Grant. When Grant saw me, he smiled and said, “Hi, Nate.”

  “Hi, Kiddo.”

  “Did you meet my dad?”

  I smiled a forced smile. “Yeah, I did.”

  Steven and I stood almost next to each other behind the couch, while Grant rambled on. “I was just telling my mom how you said you wanted to be her forever boyfriend. That’s okay, right?”

  The tension in the room was thick, but everyone was doing their best not to let it touch Grant. “Of course, it’s okay,” I told him. “But…I probably should have told that myself, yeah?”

  He chewed on his lower lip a bit, and I hated putting that look on his face. “Well, I told my dad, and he said I needed to tell my mom, so she can decide if she wants to be your forever girlfriend.”

  Fuck it.

  I walked around the couch and sat next to Grant. “Your dad is right,” I told him. “It is up to your Mom, and I should have asked her first, instead of saying anything.”

  “But you guys can still be friends, right?”

  My heart dropped.

  “Uh, of course,” I said. I had to clear my throat for a second. “It’s important to be friends.”

  Grant looked like he was giving it some thought, then gave a small nod. “Well, Mom says you guys are just friends, but that’s fine because you’ll be able to find another forever girlfriend.”

  And then my saving grace came from the last place I would have ever expected.

  “Hey, bud,” Steven said, calling to Grant’s attention,” why don’t we get going before it gets too late for Friday Fries.”

  Grant’s face lit up. “Okay.” He went and hugged Andie before turning around to hug me. “I gotta go,” he said. “It’s time for Friday Fries.” I had no idea what that was, but I smiled anyway.

  “Call me if you need anything, Andie,” Steven said before grabbing Grant and taking off. “Nice meeting you, Nathan,” he lied as the door shut behind him and Grant.

  Fucking asshole.

  Chapter 21

  Andrea~

  One of the hardest things to do was listen when you were in the right.

  And pissed off.

  When I had heard the knock on the door, I’d known it was probably Nathan. Rachel and my parents always texted when they were going to stop by. Especially, on the weekends because they knew that’s when I put in my most work hours. But because I had been upset and angry, I had asked Steven to answer the door because I hadn’t been able to trust that my emotions wouldn’t get the better of me. This entire thing was a mess, and I wasn’t going to add to it by fighting with Nathan in front of Grant and Steven.

  And now, Steven and Grant were gone, leaving me alone with Nathan, and I. Was. Pissed.

  “Andie-”

  “Don’t, Nathan,” I said, interrupting him, and it was a miracle I could get those two little words out with how clenched my teeth were.

  “I was going to tell you,” he said, ignoring my command. “But it slipped my mind with that mess at my parents last night. I-”

  “There never should have been anything to tell me,” I snapped, my composure lost. “The second Grant asked you if we were dating, you should have walked him back home, so we could have that conversation together.”

  “I didn’t tell him we were dating, though,” he argued. “I just told him I liked you.”

  I scoffed.

  Was he really so clueless?

  “You’re Nathan Hayes,” I reminded him incredulously. “You tell a little boy, whose entire life is sports, that you like his mom, and you don’t think he’s going to get excited and hopeful?” I shook my head. “Breaking up with you isn’t like breaking up with some unassuming insurance salesman, Nate. Grant adores you. He adored you even before we met because you represent everything that he loves in life. What in the hell did you think he would think if you told him you liked his mother?”

  “I was blindsided, okay?” he said, trying to excuse his error in judgement. “But I never told him we were dating. I just-”

  “But you might as well have,” I argued. “A famous professional baseball player tells him that he like his mother, and Grant couldn’t see past the excitement long enough to understand the difference. He’s eight-years-old, N
ate, not twenty-eight.”

  “Look-”

  “From the beginning, you have been coming into our lives with all the finesse of a wrecking ball,” I continued. “I’ve had to tell you, several times, to back off when it came to Grant, and you’ve completely disrespected my wishes.” He went to open his mouth, but I didn’t stop. “I’ve been completely honest with you about being gun shy and wanting to take things slow and why. I have made myself as clear as can be with my situation and my demons, and you just don’t care.”

  “That’s not fair!” he exploded. “How can you say I don’t care? Because of one little fuck-up?”

  “One little fuck-up? Are you serious?” I seethed. “This wasn’t just one little fuck-up, Nathan. Disrespecting my wishes is not some minor offense that can be waved away. Especially, when it involves my son.”

  Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. “Is that you talking or your ex-husband?” he asked coolly, and I could feel my entire body lock up.

  “Excuse me?”

  “I mean, he is your ex, right? Because, I gotta tell you, it sure doesn’t seem that way with all the liberties he takes and how chummy the two of you are.”

  If I thought I was seething before, that was nothing compared to the rage boiling in my veins right now. “Chummy?”

  “Yeah, chummy,” he repeated. “It seems like all your objections are his objections.”

  “Just because you and your ex-wife can’t get along for the sake of your children, doesn’t mean men and Steven aren’t allowed to be friends,” I snapped.

  Nathan’s arms dropped to his side and confusion marred his perfect face. He shook his head, and his forehead furrowed as he looked at me. “What are you talking about? I don’t have an ex-wife or any children.”

  “Exactly,” I snarled. “You stand there, judging the type of relationship I have with Steven, when you have no fucking clue what it’s like to be divorce and have to make things work for the sake of your child’s happiness.” I could feel my nose tingle with the onset of some tears, but I was so livid, I didn’t have enough control to stop whatever tears might escape. “Your parents are still happily married, and neither you nor your brothers have ever gone through their own divorce. But you’re going to stand there and spout bullshit like you understand what it’s like? You’re going to comment on mine and Steven’s friendship when you have no idea the pain, regret, and torment we went through to be able to be the friends we are now?” I let out a deep sigh of disgust. “Would you rather we hated each other, and Grant be left to lead a life where his parents used him as a bargaining chip, or shattered his innocence with fights and name-calling?”