early because he couldn’t hide it from them anymore.
“He’s my friend,” Nathan insisted like a petulant child. “If you’re going to rob me of the experience of taking him to his first ballgame ever, then the least you could do is let me take him to his first baseball game ever.” He looked like he was on the verge of a legit tantrum. “You guys can have football,” he grumbled.
“How do you even know we’ve talked about taking him to a game?” I asked, wondering if the man has planted bugs in my house.
He immediately looked guilty and bugs were suddenly a real possibility. He grimaced a bit as he said, “He kind of overheard you and your ex-husband talking about it Sunday when you guys were out on the balcony,” he informed me. “He knows you guys are thinking of taking him.”
My heart sank at the news.
I threw my finger up to stop Nathan from speaking and pulled out my phone. Steven answered on the third ring. “Hey,” he said. “You okay?” I rarely called when he had Grant because I didn’t like intruding on their time together.
“Yeah,” I assured him quickly. “I just wanted to warn you that Grant overheard some of our conversation, Sunday. He knows we’re thinking of taking him to a game.”
“How do you know?” he asked, concern lacing his question.
“Nathan told me,” I admitted. “I guess Grant told him.” There was some heavy silence on Steven’s end, and I didn’t like the anxious feeling it gave me. “Steven?”
“I’m getting really tired of hearing Nathan Hayes’ name when it comes to making decisions about Grant, Andie,” he said, and I really couldn’t blame him. Hadn’t I just been thinking and saying the same thing?
“It’s not like that, Steven,” I semi-fibbed. “Grant told him what he overheard, and that’s it.” I could feel Nathan tense next to me, but I paid him no mind. I had bigger issues to deal with.
Steven let out a sigh. “Give me a sec,” he said, then I heard him telling Grant he was stepping outside for a second. After hearing a door shut, Steven said, “I plan on telling him this weekend that we’re taking him to a game.” I couldn’t help my smile. “I looked up the season openers and the Raiders are playing the Chargers for their first game of the season.”
“He’s going to love that,” I said, knowing Grant was going to be over the moon when Steven told him.
“We’ll talk about it more when I drop him off on Sunday, okay?”
“Okay,” I replied, realizing now was not the time to discuss this, with Nathan standing only a few feet away from me. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Talk to you later, Andie,” he returned before hanging up.
“Problems?” Nathan asked and I side-eyed him. “What?” Yeah, that innocent act was not working.
“Look, Nathan, I really appreciate you taking an interest in Grant, but you’re crossing lines,” I told him. “I have no problem you befriending Grant, but you have no rights to him.” My brows drew downward. “And you do realize how bizarre this all is, right?”
“Because I want to take him to a game?”
I shook my head. “Because you’re insisting on taking him to a game,” I corrected.
Nathan went back to being serious. “Look Andrea-”
“Andie is fine, Nathan,” I graciously allowed. We might not be friends, but we were becoming something.
Nathan smiled, and he really was too good-looking for any woman’s peace of mind. “I just really like Grant,” he said. “I’m not trying to be a dick, I swear. I just find the kid so goddamn interesting, and I really like hanging out with him.”
I thought about that, and while I still believed he was being overboard, I also believed Steven was being overly sensitive about Nathan Hayes befriending Grant. Grant loved sports. They were his number one passion, and while Grant loved Steven, Steven was probably feeling threatened by Grant hanging out with someone who Grant hailed as a hero. It was hard for a parent to compete with their child’s hero.
“I’ll talk to Steven, but you have to promise to stay on the side of respectability, Nathan,” I warned him. “If we don’t want Grant doing something, I expect you to honor that.”
I watched as he chewed on his bottom lip. He looked to really be thinking about it, and it made me wonder if we really did live next to a madman. Who didn’t think they needed to respect a child’s parents’ wishes?