Page 88 of Double Fault

“Stay away from her.” The growl has only grown more sinister.

Elias straightens and, fighting a grin, says, “You know that just makes me like her more, right?”

“Don’t fucking care. Come on, Curls, before I kill my hitting partner.”

Too surprised by that statement to object, I follow Noah to the elevators. We step inside and turn to face the front. As the doors slide shut, Elias winks at me.

“You were practicing with Elias?”

“Yeah. Our coaches thought it would be good for us. My strengths are his weaknesses and vice versa, so we might as well learn from each other.”

“And you didn’t kill each other?”

He shoots me a droll look. “We’re both still alive, aren’t we?”

His irritation is more amusing than it should be. I lift one shoulder playfully. “For now.”

Noah shakes his head as the doors open on our floor.

“By the way.” He clears his throat. “Thank you for doing this for Maddie. It means a lot to her, experiencing these kinds of normal kid things. I think she needs the girl time too. She spent so much time with her mom, and now all she’s got is me.” Deflated, he sighs. “So often I wish I was the one who’d gotten sick. Maddie needs her mom more than she does me.”

Intense pain blooms in my chest, absolutely obliterating my heart.

“Noah. No. She needs you too.” The words aren’t anywhere near adequate enough, but they’re all I’ve got. I’m still too stunned by his confession.

“That might be so,” he says, his voice devoid of all confidence, “but not as much as she needs her mom.”

I wish there was a magic solution here, one that would instantly make him feel better. That would allow him to understand that he’s exactly what his daughter needs. But nothing I can come up with seems even remotely adequate.

“Do you want to join us?” I ask.

He shakes his head. “I’ll take the pizzas in for you, and then I’ll hang in my room. Maddie doesn’t need her dad crashing her first sleepover.”

“Noah—”

Before I can argue against the statement, he swoops down and captures my mouth with his own. Caught off guard, I stand frozen for two or three heartbeats before I practically melt. If it weren’t for the pizza boxes, I’d probably throw myself at him.

All too soon, he pulls back and regards me. The soft brown of his eyes is darker than normal.

It’s on the tip of my tongue to beg him to do that again, but I swallow the words down. I’d like to say it’s because I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing how viscerally he affectsme, but mostly it’s because Maddie is on the other side of the door.

From the heat in his eyes, he wants more too, but he’s holding back.

God, this is so complicated.

It was obvious the first time we met that there was a mutual attraction, but with his bristly personality, I never in a million years thought I’d end up developing feelings for him.

With a deep breath, I swipe my key card, put my game face on, and push the door open so he can enter with the pizzas.

“Look who I ran into in the lobby.”

“Daddy!” Maddie hops up from her sleeping bag.Parent Trapplays in the background. “Look! We’re having a real sleepover!”

He sets the pizzas on the desk. “I see that, kiddo.” He ruffles her hair affectionately. “And look at all these.”

He surveys the line of stuffed animals on the bed and all the other junk we purchased.

The lucky stuffies will sleep well tonight while my back will be screaming tomorrow. Camping out on the floor wouldn’t have been my first choice, but the aches and pains will be worth it if it means Maddie is happy.

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