Page 48 of Double Fault

Laughing, he grasps my arm, stopping me. “Don’t feel like talking, huh?” He arches his brows in question but goes on without giving me a chance to respond. “Don’t worry about it. Go rest up. I just wanted you to know I’m proud of you.”

Once he’s released me, I fish my phone out of my pocket and text Sabrina.

Me: Where are you guys?

I step out of the building as her reply comes through.

Sabrina: Outside where Fisher told us to wait.

Before I can tell her I don’t know where that is, a loud “Daddy!” pierces the air, and then a little body is throwing itself at me.

“Maddie Girl.” A calmness settles over me the second she’s in my arms.

This little girl—who really isn’t so little anymore—grounds me. When we’re together, the world makes sense.

As I set her on her feet, she holds out a sticker for me. It’s yellow and orange and saysYOU ROCK!with a picture of a rock in sunglasses.

“I love it.” I peel the backing off and slap it to my chest.

Sabrina stands back, letting me have my moment with my daughter. As much as I don’t want to appreciate anything else about her, she’s so good at sensing what Maddie and I need.

“Can we go out to eat to celebrate?” Maddie asks, eyes round and eager.

“You know I haven’t won the tournament yet, right?”

“Close enough. You’re one away! Please?” She sticks out her bottom lip.

More than anything, I want to go back to the hotel and lie around, but I can’t deny my little girl. “Sure.”

“Can Sabrina come?”

“Oh, no.” The woman in question swipes her arms through the air. “I’m good. Go have a fun dinner with your dad.”

Maddie frowns and her shoulders sag. “But I want you to come too.”

Lips pressed together, I survey Sabrina. She’s dressed in a tight-fitting floral dress that hugs her curves deliciously. It has my mind spinning with thoughts about what it would feel like to rest my hand in the crook of her waist.

“What do you say? How can you say no to this?” I frame my little girl’s face with my hands, and on cue, she juts out her bottom lip again.

“All right.” She sighs heavily, only the sound quickly turns into a laugh. “I’ll come.”

“Yay!” Maddie jumps up and down, nearly crushing my foot in the process, then darts over to Sabrina.

“Where do you want to eat?” I ask as I pull up the Lyft app.

Glowering, my daughter whips around and plants her hands on her hips. “Cheesecake Factory, duh.”

Sabrina looks back at me, brow arched and suppressing a smile.

Head hung, I chuckle. “I should’ve known.”

Thirty minutes later, I help the girls out of the Lyft in front of the restaurant. As Sabrina adjusts her dress on the sidewalk beside the car, I can’t help but drink her in. The combat boots on her feet are at odds with the girliness of the dress, but somehow, the look works.

I can’t help but linger on the shapely curves of her legs. They’re strong. Toned.

Just like in Australia, we’ve been running together every morning.

Most of the time we don’t talk, though on occasion, we exchange playlists.

---