The Problem with Sports - M.E. Clayton Page 0,40

it’s like to be a professional athlete, so why don’t you refrain from judging?”

That was it.

That was all.

No apology for judging something he couldn’t possibly understand.

No apology for overstepping again.

Just a small acknowledgment that he may have fucked-up, but it wasn’t that big of a fuck-up because he hadn’t told Grant we were dating, just that he liked me.

I didn’t need this shit.

No matter how much I was beginning to care for Nathan, I didn’t need this shit.

I took a deep breath and did the same thing I’d done when my marriage was falling apart; I did what was best for Grant.

“Look, if you still want to be friends with Grant, I’m fine with that-”

“Are you fucking serious?” Nathan growled, and he looked pissed, but what did he have to be pissed about? I wasn’t the one who betrayed his trust.

“If you still want to be friends with Grant-”

“I will always want to be friends with Grant,” he interrupted. “But are you seriously breaking up with me over one mistake? No grace period? No second chance? No nothing? It’s just over because I fucked up once?”

“Once is one time too many if it involves my son,” I shot back.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Andrea,” he snapped. “I told Grant I liked you. It’s not like I told him it makes you wet when I choke you with my cock-”

And that was my limit.

That was my limit, and it was obvious that Nathan knew it, too, because his blue eyes widened as he abruptly stopped his rant.

The fact that it was true, and it had been something that I had expressed during the heat of passion, was like a slap in the face. It was a harsh reminder of all the things I had trusted Nathan with, and proof that I really was stupid with it came to men.

“Get out of my house,” I told him. No screaming. No crying. No anything.

“Andrea-”

“Get. Out. Of. My. House,” I repeated a little bit more forcefully.

He stared at me for a few tense seconds, then said, “Okay. Maybe we both need to cool down-”

I shook my head. “You don’t understand,” I interrupted. “I won’t object to your friendship with Grant, but I want nothing more to do with you, Nathan.”

He quickly stepped towards me. “Andie-”

“Get out of my house, Nathan.” He looked like he was going to argue, so I hit him with something I knew he couldn’t risk, considering who he was. “Or I will call the police.”

His head reared back, and he’d just taken a physical blow. “Andie…”

“Andrea,” I corrected, and I didn’t utter another word as I watched Nathan take a deep breath before turning around and walking out my front door.

The tears didn’t come until around midnight.

Chapter 22

Nathan~

One of the hardest things to do was listen to all the ways you were wrong.

And I was wrong.

On so many fucking levels.

I was so fucking wrong that Gideon had even toned down his dickish ways because the asshole was feeling so sorry for me.

“I have to admit, I’m at a bit of a loss here,” Sayer mumbled helplessly.

After Andie-or Andrea-kicked me out of her condo, I wasn’t too proud to admit I had been a fucking mess. I fucked up, and I had fucked up bad.

However, the magnitude of my fuck-up hadn’t really registered until I had shown up at Sayer’s, and he hadn’t automatically jumped in to defend me or side with me. After I had shared with him the clusterfuck that I found myself in, he had grabbed me a beer, told me to sit down, and had called Gideon. And the fact that he had called Gideon to help with mess was also telling. Gideon didn’t throw his punches. He told you what he thought and why and you just had to deal with it. If Sayer called Gideon, that meant we were going to need a referee. Gideon was logic and facts, while Sayer and I were more prone to reacting emotionally. Sayer from being spoiled as the first born, and me from being spoiled as the baby of the family. Gideon…Gideon wasn’t spoiled.

“What exactly are you confused about, Say?” Gideon asked. “Nate was a fucking asshole to her.”

See?

“I wasn’t an asshole, per s-”

Gideon looked like he wanted to deck me. “Dude, instead of just going over there and apologizing for not staying in your lane, you insult her by downplaying something that’s obviously important to her, and then attack her relationship with her ex-husband,” Gideon scoffed. “And as