“Well, it’s my last record, Nikki,” Johan continued. “It means a lot to me. I don’t know if I want him to break it.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew that Johan’s affection and approval meant so much to Danny. If he were to withdraw it right before the 3×3 championships, I had no idea how that would affect him.
“So if I’m going to be a gracious loser,” Johan said, lowering his voice. “I just thought we should talk about my incentive.”
Beneath the table, he reached out, putting his hand on my thigh.
“We are in public,” I hissed, peeling his hand off my leg. “And I am not talking about this with you.”
“Then we need to talk later,” he insisted, holding onto my hand. “In private.”
“We absolutely will not,” I shook my head.
“Don’t you want to know why?” he whispered, still holding onto my hand.
“Why what?” I said, pulling my hand away.
“Why I wanna fuck you so badly,” he whispered.
“You–you can’t talk to me like that,” I said, sliding my chair away from him and looking frantically over at the bathroom as Danny re-emerged.
“Come on, honey,” I said as he returned to the table. “We should head home before it gets too late.”
“Can Johan come?” Danny asked.
“Sure, buddy,” Johan said, patting my son on the back. “Your mom and I will hang out while you get ready for bed.”
Danny smiled. My heart fell into my stomach.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said to Danny. “You have your routine, honey.”
“Please, Mom,” he whispered.
Getting him to remember to use good manners like this had been such an uphill battle, and now here he was, asking politely to hang out with his friend on the last night of his big tournament. It seemed like such an innocent request, but I knew that it wasn’t.
“Just the walk home, honey,” I said. “Then we have to go to bed!”
“Yes,” Johan said, gently putting his arm around me as I tried to shrug him off. “We have to go to bed, Danny.”
My mind was a blur the entire walk back to the hotel. When we arrived back on our floor, I told Danny it was time to say goodnight to Johan.
“I thought maybe I’d come back to the room with you,” Johan said. “We can help Danny get ready for bed together.”
“That’s not a good idea,” I said. “Danny doesn’t need extra excitement at bedtime.”
“But you do,” he said, leaning in close to whisper in my ear. “I can tell.”
“Goodnight,” I said, stepping away from him and opening the door to our room. “Say goodnight, Danny.”
“Goodnight,” Danny said, walking inside.
“Goodnight, bud,” Johan called.
Before I could follow Danny inside, Johan put his hand on the door.
“Nikki,” he said softly. “Do you want your son to break my record tomorrow?”
“I need to help him get ready,” I muttered, trying to step past him into my room.
“I can make tomorrow very confusing for Danny,” he said coldly. “Or I can make it a day he’ll remember fondly forever.”
“What you’re doing is wrong,” I hissed. “Wrong to me, and wrong to my son, who is supposed to be your friend.”
“I’ve been a good friend to your son, and I apologized for what happened,” he said. “I just want to explain myself.”