Yes, I updated a few hours ago. No, I do not care that I'm updating again. I wrote this chapter pretty quick, and I had a lot of fun writing it so I thought I'd share with you all again to show how thankful I am for everyone that is reading!
Chapter Nineteen
Nathan sucked in a deep breath.
He couldn't believe the situation he'd gotten himself into.
Danielle, the other single mother in Nick's class, had approached him after school one day and said that Max had been talking about hanging out with Nick nonstop and thought they should set them up on a play date.
Nathan, in a shocked/panicked state agreed to it, thinking that he'd be able to put it off until she stopped asking.
Macey had somehow overheard the conversation and said that her and Nick were going to the park after school and that her and Max should join before Nathan or Haley could stop her.
Alternating between pushing Macey, Nick, and some kid he didn't really know on the swings, watching as the two mothers sat on the park bench that him and Haley usually sat on, talking away.
He could feel the tension from where he was standing. It was painfully awkward.
"Hey dad?" Nick said quietly to him, raising his eyebrows.
Nathan's eyes quickly shifted from the two women, down to Nick. "Yeah, buddy?"
"Can you push me a little higher?" He asked him, a small smile on his face.
Nathan grinned at him, nodding and giving him a little bit harder of a push than he previously had.
"Natey!" Macey cheered, gesturing for him to come down and push her once again.
He laughed, rolling his eyes and doing as she said.
He gave Max one more shove as well, before looking at the three kids. "Okay, you guys do it now. I'm going to go sit back down."
He shoved his hands into his pockets, walking back over to the two women.
There was room next to Haley, and there was room next to Danielle.
He knew who he wanted to sit by... But was that rude? Did he care if he was rude?
"Oh, Nathan!" Danielle said, a wide smile on her face. "Come have a seat," She said, tapping the bench next to her.
Well... That solved that problem.
He took a seat next to her, glancing across her to Haley.
"You are so great with the kids!" Danielle said, smiling at him and touching his arm lightly.
"Well... One of them is my own so I kind of have to be," Nathan said, clearing his throat.
Danielle let out a laugh, nodding quickly at him. "That's so funny."
"Yeah, Nathan. You're so funny," Haley chimed in, looking past Danielle at Nathan.
Nathan felt his breath catch in his throat, glancing over to where the kids were. He was suddenly wishing he'd stayed over by them. But curiosity had gotten the best of him. Dammit.
"I think it's so impressive that you do it all by yourself," Danielle said, rubbing her hand over his back lightly.
He wanted to jump up and smack her arm away from him.
"I don't do it by myself," He admitted, clearing his throat. "Nick's mother is very involved in his life, as well as a few other people that help me along. But it's not really a big deal..."
"Where does Nick's mom live?" Danielle asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Not too far from here," He said, letting out a sigh.
"Ah, my ex husband take Max every other weekend, but besides that..." She trailed off, shaking her head. "It can be so hard to be at times, you know?
"I do," Nathan agreed, clearing his throat.
He had no idea what to do. And Haley was not adding anything to the conversation.
"But... You know, you're a great mom..." Nathan said slowly, shrugging his shoulders. "All you can do is your best and try not to screw your kid up too much."
"Wow," Danielle said, fanning her face. "I think you just said exactly what I needed to hear. I was just telling Haley how great I think you are, and it holds true," She said, sniffling.
The next thing Nathan knew, his head was being pulled onto her shoulder and he was wrapped in a hug.
He made eye contact with Haley, panic written across his face.
'Help' He mouthed to her, his arms laying still.
Haley, on the other hand, could not believe how quickly things had unraveled like that.
Danielle had been raving about Nathan the whole entire time they'd been there. Nathan this. Nathan that.
She was almost sick of his name by the time he walked over there.
She didn't want to hear about him from someone else.
Haley knew Nathan way better than Danielle did but for some reason she was trying to prove something?
She hated the jealousy that overcame her. She hated even more that she really couldn't do anything about it at the moment.
Later she could kiss Nathan all she wanted, do whatever she wanted, but not right now.
So she shrugged her shoulders and looked back at the kids, letting out a deep breath.
"I feel so much better now," Danielle said, releasing him and letting out a deep breath. "It's so nice to talk to someone that understands."
"Anytime," Nathan said, sending her a tight smile.
"That means a lot," Danielle said, patting his leg lightly.
Haley shook her head, crossing her arms and letting out a small sigh.
"Something wrong, Hales?" Nathan asked her quickly, raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, Hales. This is a safe space. You can say whatever you'd like," Danielle said quickly, nodding at her.
This fake bitch. She'd never once called her Hales in her life.
Haley did not want to be catty, but she was afraid she was heading in that direction.
"No, sorry. I've just had a long day," Haley said, smiling at them. "Sorry, I don't want to bring down your moods."
"It's no trouble at all. We are here for you," Danielle said, placing a lot of emphasis on the word 'we'.
Nathan saw the annoyance flash across Haley's face. It was very subtle, and he was sure that Danielle had not seen it, but it was there.
"Or if you don't want to talk about anything right now, we can talk later," Nathan said quickly, smiling at her.
"You can call us anytime," Danielle said, nodding.
"Either of us," Nathan replied, rubbing his hand down his face. He quickly changed the subject away from Haley, looking at Danielle. "So, Danielle, what, um... What do you do for work?"
"You don't remember?" Danielle laughed, rubbing his shoulder. "I told you the first time we met. God, you're so forgetful," She let out a laugh, pushing on his arm lightly.
For some reason, that set a whole new annoyance off in Haley's head.
Nathan was only supposed to forget basic facts about her.
That sounded so stupid.
"Sorry, I have a marathon of things running through my head at all times," Nathan said sheepishly, wiping his hands on his legs.
"I'm a yoga instructor," She reminded him, smiling brightly. "I can show you all kinds of yoga moves."
"Oh, no, that's-" Nathan began to stop her, but instead she stood up quickly, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet.
What the hell was going on?
He sent Haley a panicked look, something he felt like he'd been doing a lot in the last few minutes.
She actually looked a little amused at what was happening.
"Let me show you one. It's called downward facing dog," She said, smiling sweetly at him.
He felt his mouth run dry at what was going on.
How had things escalated so quickly?
Was it suddenly getting really hot?
He let out a deep breath, shedding his suit coat off his shoulders, looking over at Haley, who raised her eyebrows in surprise at his action.
Oh no. She'd misinterpreted that.
Danielle had a content grin on her face as he shed a layer.
Of course, Danielle had misinterpreted that as well.
He set his jacket on the bench next to Haley, trying to ignore the hard stare she was giving him.
"Okay, Nathan. Why don't you try?" Danielle said, smiling at him. "Hopefully you don't rip your shirt or anything. If you do, I'll replace it."
"Here?" Nathan said quickly, his voice cracking.
"Well, you're more than welcome to come to my yoga studio tomorrow morning, I'm teaching a class at nine-thirty. Nick can come along too, Max does sometimes!" Danielle said, smiling at him.
This had gone downhill so quickly.
"That sounds like a lot of fun, Nathan. You should go!" Haley said, a tight smile on her face.
He could read past it though. If he went, he might not live to see another day. Or live to see Haley naked again. Both were equally as bad at this point.
"Why don't I just... Try it here?" He said, clearing his throat. "If I'm any good, I'll consider it. I can't do tomorrow though."
"You are such a busy man on the weekends, aren't you?" She teased him, shrugging her shoulders.
"I'm a busy man every day," Nathan said, clearing his throat. "So, uh, what am I doing?"
"So, a lot of it is in the pelvis," Danielle said, resting her hands on his waist, nodding at him.
Nathan could not believe this. He couldn't. They were in a park... Their kids were over there. Haley was right there.
And she was making move after move on him.
"In the hips, good to know," Haley said loudly, crossing her arms.
"And, it's also pretty great for tight shoulders... May I?" Danielle asked, raising her eyebrows and gesturing for him to turn around.
"Uh... I guess so?" He said, turning around.
Danielle placed her hands on his shoulders, digging her thumbs into his muscles lightly.
"Oh, yeah. This will be good for you," She said, nodding at him.
Something needed to happen so that he did not have to go through with this. To start... No, this was not interesting to him. He was not the slightest bit interested in this woman's career path. And second... No again. He could not sit here and let this girl paw at him while the woman he was sort of dating watched in fury.
"Oh, you know what? I just remembered, I have a really bad knee," Nathan said quickly, turning back around and looking down at her.
"You do?" Danielle asked him, raising her eyebrows.
"He does," Haley confirmed, clearing her throat.
Almost as if she was mocking the fact that she knew that and Danielle didn't.
"Blew it out playing basketball in college," Nathan said, clearing his throat. "So maybe you could email me some poses that will help my knee strength, if there are any. I'm afraid yoga doesn't work well with a fitted suit," He said, letting out a deep breath and taking a seat on the bench again, this time next to Haley.
He let out a relieved sigh once he was next to her, smiling at Danielle as she came to sit next to him.
"So, Haley... Any fun plans this weekend?" Nathan asked her, glancing over and raising his eyebrows.
"Not really, no," Haley said, shaking her head. "Just kind of hanging out. Might take Macey out on a hike somewhere," She said, clearing her throat.
"Very cool," Nathan said, rubbing his hand down his face. "Danielle? What about you?"
"Just a few classes tomorrow morning, then I'm free," Danielle hummed, "Max is going with his dad tonight."
"Cool," Nathan said, glancing at his watch.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" She asked him curiously, raising her eyebrows.
"I'm going golfing with my business partner," Nathan answered, nodding at her.
"Here's something so crazy, Danielle," Haley said, grinning at her. "Nathan's partner is actually married to my sister but we didn't even know each other before the business moved here. Isn't that so crazy?"
"That is so strange! You never told me that, Nathan!" Danielle said, smacking his arm lightly.
He was going to explode. Everything was a competition.
Please, something good happen. Something that will get him out of this.
As if the world was on his side, Danielle's phone started ringing.
"Oh, it's Max's dad. I better get this. I'll be right back. Do you two mind keeping an eye on him?" Danielle asked, nodding over to Max.
"Not at all," Haley answered quickly, smiling at her.
Nathan visibly relaxed once Danielle was gone, leaning back against the seat.
"Are you sure you don't want to watch her ass as she walks away?" Haley asked him quietly, raising her eyebrows.
Nathan waited for her to laugh, but she never did. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Maybe," She responded, tearing her gaze from his, letting out a deep breath.
He shook his head, sighing softly and focusing his attention on the kids.
When Danielle came back, she let out a dramatic sigh, taking a seat next to Nathan once again.
Nathan wanted to pull his knee from hers quickly when their legs touched, but he didn't.
"It looks like Max and I are going to have to cut the day short," Danielle said, shaking her head. "Why don't I grab your phone number from you really quick, Nathan? That way we can set up another play date. I have Haley's number already."
"Uh, sure," Nathan said, shrugging his shoulders. He told her his phone number quickly, shifting slightly in his seat.
"Awesome," Danielle said, smiling at him. "This was fun. Talk soon?"
"Sounds good," Nathan said, nodding at her.
Danielle rested her hand on his shoulder, standing up slowly and walking over to get Max from the other two kids.
She gave the pair another wave as she walked by them, heading to her car quickly.
"Isn't she just the best?" Haley said sarcastically to him, shaking her head.
Nathan chuckled quietly, letting out a sigh. "Haley, you're being ridiculous," He said softly, looking over at her.
"Save it," She mumbled, standing up slowly. "Macey, come on!" She called out, gesturing to her daughter. "Time to go."
"You're leaving?" He asked her, standing up quickly and stepping up behind her.
"I am," She confirmed, adjusting her purse on her shoulder, waving for Macey to come over again when she sent her a confused look.
"Can we do another sleep over?" Macey asked quickly as she approached Haley, eyebrows raised.
"It's alright with me," Nathan jumped in quickly, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"If it's alright with Nathan, then it's fine with me," Haley said, sighing softly.
"Nick! They said yes!" Macey screamed across the playground, waving Nick over to them.
"Nice!" Nick said once he approached them, giving Macey a high-five.
"Why don't we go home and get your stuff?" Nathan said, raising his eyebrows.
"Wait a minute," Macey said, looking at Nick. She leaned over and whispered to him quietly.
"We spent the night at their house last week. We want to sleep at our house tonight," Nick said, nodding at him. "And night swim."
Nathan looked at Haley, who shrugged her shoulders in response.
"Um... Okay," Nathan said, clearing his throat. "Why don't you two run home, grab your stuff, and then meet at our house in... An hour?" He said, raising his eyebrows at Haley.
"Works for us," Haley said, letting out a deep breath. "Come on, Mace. Let's go back to the car."
Nick waved at Macey as she ran ahead of Haley, looking up at Nathan. "Is Haley okay?" He asked, frowning at his father.
Nathan nodded, kneeling down so Nick could jump on his back for a piggy back ride. "She's fine," He responded, smiling slightly.
"You should make her laugh," Nick suggested, smiling. "She looks pretty when she laughs."
Nathan's smile grew at his suggestion, nodding his head. "I'll keep that in mind, but I think she'd like it even more if you made her laugh."
"Good idea," Nick said, dropping down once they reached the car.
xxxx
Haley watched as Nathan tossed Nick and Macey around in the pool, unable to keep the small smile off her face.
She'd been pretty stand-offish to him since the events at the park today.
In her logical brain, she knew that she was not mad at Nathan. He did nothing. He'd been so confused the whole afternoon, and Danielle was giving him practically no choice.
But she couldn't exactly treat Danielle like she was mad at her, so unfortunately the blame and the jealousy had been placed on Nathan.
She'd had her hands in places that only Haley had touched in the time they'd known each other, and Haley did not like it one bit.
If she could, she would've grabbed Nathan and kissed him right in front of Danielle.
Nathan had been pretty confused at her actions the rest of the night, and truthfully, she felt bad.
But she couldn't help herself from being irritated at him. The jealousy had taken over her.
She raised her eyebrows when Macey tugged Nathan down, whispering in his ear.
She watched as his eyes swiftly moved over to where she was sitting with her legs dipped in the water, before back to Macey and nodding slowly.
Within seconds, his strong arms were pushing through the water and he had a hold of her, pulling her in with him, lifting her into his arms and tossing her across the pool.
"Nathan!" Haley laughed once she resurfaced, shaking her head and splashing water towards him.
"It wasn't my idea, I swear. Blame those two," He laughed, pushing water back at her.
"Not me!" Nick argued quickly, paddling to the edge of the pool and grabbing on.
"Yes, you!" Macey giggled, shaking her head. "You told me to tell him!"
Haley gasped, shaking her head. "Nicholas Scott!" She laughed, swimming over to him quickly.
"No, no! Please," Nick laughed loudly as she gathered him in her own arms and tossed him.
"Nathan is the one that actually did it," Macey pointed out once Nick resurfaced, and all three heads turned to Nathan.
He raised his eyebrows, shaking his head. "Don't come near me. I will throw all of you in the blink of an eye."
Haley looked over at the two seven year olds, nodding her head. She picked each of them up individually, tossing them in the direction of Nathan to get them closer, before swimming over herself.
"I'm warning you," Nathan said, raising his hand above the water, preparing to splash.
"No, we're warning you," Macey countered, giggling.
"Oh, is that some sass that I detect?" He asked, grinning at her.
"My Grandma Lydia says I'm full of it," Macey responded, scrunching her nose at him.
"Get him!" Nick yelled, beginning to splash Nathan quickly.
Since it was three against one, Nathan surrendered quickly, laughing.
Haley smiled as he conceded, letting out a deep breath as he dunked his head under the water and resurfaced next to her.
"You guys are winners," He informed the kids, his hand resting on Haley's back for just a moment, before he put a little bit of distance between them.
"We're a dream team. That's what Mrs. Baker told us," Nick said, grinning at them.
"Are you now?" Haley said, raising her eyebrows at the kids.
"We are," Macey confirmed, swimming over to where the rubber basketball was floating in the water, looking at Nick. "Want to play?"
Nick nodded, hurrying to where the hoop was on the opposite side of the pool, sticking his hands up for Macey to pass it to him.
Nathan made himself comfortable on the bench seat across from the kids, smiling slightly as he watched them.
Haley sighed, swimming over to sit next to him, keeping her eyes on their kids.
One thing she'd learned about Macey over the years is that she got bored easily. With friends, with places, with games.
And while she still liked those things, and she still liked her friends, she was just bored. She'd consistently want to hang out with someone, and then she'd make a new friend just as easy and continue on without skipping a beat.
But not with Nick. When they weren't with each other, which wasn't often, she was talking about him. Whether it was repeating a joke he told her, which a lot of times Haley had already heard because his father had the same humor, or she was expressing a concern about the young boy, or telling Haley something that Nick did that Macey was proud of. Macey loved him. They couldn't get enough of each other.
It made her feel happy to see the two of them being best friends and enjoying the others company so well.
She was brought from her thoughts by a hand resting on her back where there was a slim space between her swimsuit top and bottom.
"So what's the game plan for tonight?" Nathan asked her quietly, raising his eyebrows.
"We already talked about it. My house only at nights," Haley said, looking over at him and shrugging. "I just don't know how we can make it work at your place."
"How far can you jump?" Nathan asked her, grinning at her.
"How far can I jump?" She repeated the question back to him, laughing. "That depends, running start or no?"
"I mean, you could have a little bit of a running start..." He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.
"This is a weird question. Why are you asking?" She laughed, shaking her head.
"Well you could jump out the window into the pool," He joked, his fingertips slipping underneath her top briefly, before removing his hand from her back all together.
She rolled her eyes, laughing again. "I'd rather just go home, I think."
"You can't," He said simply, smiling at her. "Please."
"We're setting an alarm for 6:45 then, and I'm going to go home but I'll come back at like 8:30, okay?" She said, raising her eyebrows at him.
"Okay," He replied, grinning at her and standing up. "Give me the ball, Nick," Nathan said, holding his hands up.
Nick quickly passed it to him and Nathan shot it towards the basket, grinning when it sailed through the net.
Haley looked up at Nathan, before at the kids faces.
She could definitely get used to this.
xxxx
Haley let out a loud sigh as she brushed her teeth, causing Nathan to quickly meet her eyes in the mirror, before looking over at her.
"What?" He asked her, raising his eyebrows and laughing.
"I'm sorry," She mumbled through her toothbrush, shaking her head.
"For what?" He questioned, shrugging his shoulders.
"I've been kind of rude to you tonight," She reminded him, rolling her eyes. "I'm just so annoyed at Danielle. I mean what the hell?"
"That kind of rhymed. You're good at this whole jingle thing, aren't you?" He laughed, rubbing his neck.
Haley sent him a small smile, shrugging her shoulders.
"Tell me," Nathan urged her, smiling.
"I mean it was like she was using the fact that you're both divorced as a pick up line? That was weird, right? And she totally didn't have any tears in her eyes but she was pretending to be crying!" Haley said, it being muffled by the toothbrush in her mouth.
"Weird," He confirmed, shrugging. "And when she put my face in her shoulder, also weird."
"I wonder if she thinks I like you or something and she was trying to rub it in my face," Haley grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"You do like me," He reminded her, chuckling quietly.
"Well, yeah, I know that, but she shouldn't," She said, shaking her head.
"And don't even get me started on the whole yoga thing," Haley grumbled, finishing up brushing her teeth and cleaning her tooth brush under the sink, placing it in the protective container and back in her night bag.
Nathan cringed in the mirror, shaking his head.
"What even was that?" Haley asked, scowling at him. "That was such a joke," She mumbled, beginning to angrily floss her teeth.
"Don't take it out on your gums," Nathan laughed, resting his hand on her back, cleaning off his toothbrush.
"You know what she was doing, Nathan? She was putting her claim on you! Trying to tell me that you are hers. She is so competitive, it hurts," Haley said, letting out a sigh.
Nathan definitely wasn't going to say anything about how competitive she was being herself.
"As if you are a prize to win! You aren't a trophy!" Haley said, rolling her eyes.
"Tell me more," He said sarcastically, laughing at her.
"You know what I mean," She mumbled, rolling her eyes. "I'm just so mad. She did that yoga pose in front of you and you took off your jacket. Ugh, you know she thought that was because of her. Was it because of her?"
"It was because of how tense the situation was. It was weird, Haley," He said, shaking his head and smiling at her.
"Exactly. And then she thought it was because of her and thought you were into it and she put her hands on your waist and told you about how yoga is all about the pelvis, and massaged you shoulders, I mean-"
"You know that I just had sex with you in my bed and then again in the shower, right?" Nathan reminded her, pouring some mouth wash out and swishing it around his mouth.
Haley nodded quickly, "If only there were some way for me to tell her that, without telling her directly."
Not her. Haley James was NOT competitive at all.
"Stop giving me that look," Haley grumbled, mimicking his actions with the mouth wash.
"I don't know what you're talking about," He said, turning her towards him once she was finished, resting his hands on her sides.
"Look, I just didn't like it, okay?" Haley said, looking up at him.
He smiled, kissing her briefly. "Well you have nothing to worry about, okay?" He said softly, nodding down at her.
"I know," Haley assured him, "I just let my jealousy get the best of me."
He smiled, grabbing onto her hand and leading her back into his bedroom, turning off the light and getting situated in his bed.
"I have to admit, your bed is pretty comfortable," Haley responded, cuddling into his side.
"It's not the bed, it's the TV," He joked, gesturing to the television in his room, turning it on quickly. "I skipped a game tonight, so I'm definitely watching the highlights. You're more than welcome to join me."
"Okay," Haley mumbled, nuzzling her nose into his neck, letting her arm lay across his stomach, lightly stroking her fingers down his side.
Within two minutes, Haley had fallen asleep.
He smiled slightly, shutting off the TV and relaxing into her.
The highlights could wait until tomorrow.