“That he’s a client of mine and nothing else for right now. It’s the truth so …” I shrug, then sigh. “I’ve never done this, Sasha. Funny thing is, he’s the one who brought it up—about Nolan, I mean. I guess his sister was a single mom, so he said he understands how things need to go slow.”
“Then there you go. Stop overthinking it and go have fun.”
I purse my lips and nod just as Nolan comes running out of the house.
“Mommy!” He’s carrying his backpack over his shoulder, and it’s bouncing from one side to the other, almost knocking him over since it’s so much bigger than he is.
Sasha moves to the side so I can open the car door, get out, and hold my arms out for him to jump into. “Hey, buddy!”
He hugs me tightly. “Hi, Mommy. How was your day?”
I chuckle at how cute he is when he asks me things like this, acting like a little man. “It was amazing. How about yours?”
“Eh. Nothing special,” he responds, making me laugh out loud.
“Well, how about I tell you that the guy we met at the ballpark the other day is getting us opening day tickets? Will that make your day better?”
He bounces on his feet. “Really?” He looks at Sasha. “Did you hear that, Auntie? I get to go to the game!”
“Sure did, baby!” Sasha holds up her hand to high-five Nolan, which he does with the biggest smile on his face.
Then he turns back to me, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the car. “Let’s go. I got to get ready!”
“The game isn’t for two days.” I laugh.
“Yeah, but I have to get a new Terrors hat and a ball for everyone to sign.”
He opens the car door and jumps inside, quickly securing his seat belt and motioning for me to get in the car so we can go.
“He does realize all the stores are closed now, right?” Sasha asks with a chuckle.
I turn to her so fast that it catches her off guard. “What am I doing?”
She places her hands on my arms. “Whoa. Hold the phone. What’s this all about?”
“Look at how excited he is.” I point at him, then bring my attention back to her. “What if Evan and I turn into nothing, and Nolan gets crushed?”
She lowers her head to look straight into my eyes. “He doesn’t know you spent the day with Evan. You told him Evan is a client of yours, remember? Treat it that way, and Nolan won’t have a clue what’s going on.”
I inhale a deep breath and nod.
“Don’t worry. Let the boy be excited about going to a game. It’s no big deal.” She says the last part slowly, making me feel better about the situation. Then she says flippantly, “Once you officially start dating, then you can worry about breaking Nolan’s heart if it doesn’t work out.”
My jaw drops at her comment, but she’s quick to wrap her arms around me and laugh.
“I’m kidding! Stop overthinking it. Go have fun.” She pulls me back and looks in my eyes again. “If it’s meant to be, it will be. Until you know either way, just enjoy the ride.” She leans in to whisper, “And I hope you know what I mean byride.”
I push her away from me as we both giggle. “You’re horrible—you know that, right?”
“Yep. But that’s why you love me.”
“Bye,” I say with a roll of my eyes.
“Love you, sis.” She waves with a cheesy grin on her face.
I can’t believe how excited Nolan is to go to the game. Getting him to go to sleep last night was next to impossible. I feel bad that we don’t go more often. The stadium is only fifteen minutes from our house, and they have kid days, where tickets are only fifteen dollars. I just don’t think about bringing him unless he asks to come.
When I go into his room, I automatically turn to leave to get my phone, knowing I need to take a picture of him before I wake him up. I enter the room again, snapping a photo of the cutest little boy ever, who’s asleep with his arms wrapped around his baseball glove like it’s a teddy bear.
