“Anything else you want, Dad?” she asked as she got up.

“Beer, hot dogs and nachos sound like just the ticket.” Don’s gaze came to Axl. “Thank you, son.”

So fucking weird.

“Yeah,” he grunted, grabbed Hattie’s hand and all but dragged her up the steps from their seats he paid a fucking fortune for to get on the first-base line.

Things did not start out weird.

They met Don at a handicapped parking spot and Don was as Axl would have expected. Guarded and reticent.

The vibe was awkward and stilted as they hit Will Call, went in, got their programs and found their seats.

Through warm-ups, the same.

Before the game started, Axl headed up to get them their first round of beers, and when he got back, that was when it happened.

No longer stiff and uncomfortable, it was a father out with his daughter and her boyfriend, kicking back, watching a ball game and having a great time.

Don thanked him for the tickets and said next time, it was on him.

Don asked him how his job was going.

Don asked him how he felt about the Rockies’ stand against the Mets from which they just got home.

Don asked him if he’d ever been down to Arizona to catch spring training.

Don told him he’d followed Smithie’s Instagram and saw Hattie dancing, “And maybe you and me can take in a show sometime, if that isn’t too weird.”

And no, that wasn’t weird.

The rest of it was.

He stopped his woman in a concession stand line, let her go, got in front of her and looked down at her.

“What the fuck?”

She was very bad at trying to look innocent. “What the fuck what?”

“What’d you say to him?”

“Um…”

That gave him nothing and she didn’t expand.

“Hattie,” he prompted.

“Okay, so maybe I told him that your dad called you stupid and a pussy and that you found out today your mom was leaving him. And he was really flipped out about your dad calling you stupid and a pussy. He said, ‘Jesus, barely know the guy, and still know he’s far from stupid and for sure, he’s no pussy.’ Then he got kinda…angry on your behalf.”

For the second time that day, Axl couldn’t believe his ears.

“Let me get this straight, your whole life, he is not cool with you. He hears about my dad not being cool with me, and he’s angry on my behalf?”

She shrugged.

“Jesus,” he muttered.

“Hattie?” they heard.

They both looked in that direction.

And fuck him.

Automatically, his jaw tilted sharply, and his back went straight.

A dude was looking Hattie up and down, smiling, and getting in their space.

“Jesus, Hattie, hey,” the guy said, the smile going broad.

And then he went right in.

Right…fucking…in.