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He started to smile but his gaze drifted past her and he frowned.
She twisted back around as Ryan returned with more beer.
He offered her and André a cup but they both declined and then watched in silence as he chugged all three beers, one after the other.
André hummed and Nikki pressed her lips together.
The home team (the one Ryan was rooting for) hit a home run and the stadium exploded in cheers as the sky lit up with fireworks.
“How long are baseball games again?” Nikki asked André.
He looked around at the people around them, checked his watch, looked at Ryan. His jaw firmed and he frowned at Nikki. “His team is up by five. Ryan,” he called.
Ryan was still standing and cheering. He swung around and almost lost his balance.
André stood and grabbed Ryan by the shoulder and spoke into his ear. Nikki could tell the shoulder grab was one part being friendly, but also to keep Ryan from falling into the stands.
Before she knew what was happening, André was hustling Ryan toward the steps. He jerked his chin, indicating that Nikki should come along.
She checked the seats and made sure she hadn’t left anything behind, saw André’s phone on the ground, grabbed it, and hurried after them.
André kept one strong arm around Ryan as they made it from the stadium to the parking lot.
“I love baseball!” Ryan yelled. “Wooooo!”
Oh boy.
“I know you do, buddy. And baseball loves you,” André said, keeping Ryan on his feet.
He made it look effortless—carrying a full-grown man upright—even though Ryan was doing hell all to make it any easier.
They made it to Ryan’s car and somehow André already had the keys. He clicked the unlock.
“Back seat, Nik,” he instructed with a grunt.
Nikki opened the door to the back seat and André carefully laid Ryan inside. André backed out of the car and stretched his arms over his head and then arched his back.
“I think he may have changed the shape of my spine.”
Nikki chuckled and shook her head. “He owes you a professional massage for that. Thank you for getting him out here. I would not have been able to do that by myself.” She frowned, realizing that if André hadn’t crashed her date, she’d have been in a bad way.
The stadium cheered again and André closed the door of the back seat. He opened the front passenger door and rounded the hood to the other side. “Get in. If we hurry, we can get out of here before the worst of the traffic.”
“I—what?”
He lifted his chin at the open door. “Get in. I’ll drop you off and then take him home.”
“You don’t have to do that…” She said even though she had no idea how she was going to get Ryanoutof the car.
“Get in, Nik.” This time he said it in his bossy teacher voice that she liked more than she wanted to admit.
She got in the car.
“Ryan, buddy,” André called when they exited the parking lot.
“Yup,” came from the back seat.
“Where do you live?” André asked.
