Page 89 of Double Fault

“They’re my friends,” she says as she bounces to the nightstand. “I got this for you.” She picks up the neon-green ball wearing a smile that dangles from a keychain. “For your tennis bag.”

Noah’s eyes soften, and I swear his bottom lip trembles almost imperceptibly as he reaches out to take the keychain from his daughter.

“Thank you, Mads.” With a thick swallow, he clears his throat and says, “I’ll leave you ladies to your sleepover.”

Maddie launches herself at him and grasps his wrist. “You gotta have pizza with us first.”

“I…” His brows furrow. “Y-You want me to stay?”

My heart pangs, and if I’m not careful, there’s a good chance there’ll be hearts dancing in my eyes. Flustered Noah should not be this adorable.

“Yeah. I mean, you can’t sleep over. That’s for girls, but pizza is fine.”

He rubs his jaw, clearly trying to hide how her invitation has affected him.

“I’ll grab the plates. Ebba, want to help me?” I ask, hoping to give him a moment to gather himself.

I picked up pink plates and napkins while we were out. Maybe I went overboard, but I can’t help it. I’ll do everything I can to make this experience special for Maddie. This is the kind of normal kid thing I never got to be part of when I was a girl. There was no way I’d invite friends to my house. The place was always too volatile. And for the longest time, I worried other parents behaved the way mine did, and I was wary of staying in a place where I might be caught off guard.

“There are cupcakes in the fridge too,” I say, filling the momentary silence when Ebba pauses the movie.

“Cupcakes?” Noah muses.

I spin around, confused by the mirth in his tone.

Eyes twinkling, he says, “I think I prefer cheesecake.”

A tiny gasp escapes me. It’s quiet enough that if the movie were still playing, it would have gone unnoticed, but I’m not that lucky. Beside me, Ebba looks up from pulling the stack of cups out of their plastic sleeve, one brow cocked.

Shit. I aminterestedin spilling the details about the night of our first kiss and what followed.

Noah appears at my other side and takes the plates from me. “All right, ladies, what kind of pizza do you want?”

Maddie throws a hand up. “Cheese!”

We all settle on our respective sleeping bags with our food, except Noah, who silently shoos me to one side of mine and plops down so we’re knee to knee.

Ebba sends me another look that tells me I’m going to be grilled the moment we’re alone.

With one more glance at us, she hits Play on the remote, and the four of us chow down while we watch. Even after Noah finishes his dinner, he stays, remaining focused on the movie. About halfway through, he slowly stands and stretches his arms above his head.

“I’m heading to my room. Have fun, Mads.” He crouches beside her and kisses the top of her head.

He silently holds his hand out for her plate, then gathers mine and Ebba’s. Once he’s tossed them in the small trashcan beneath the desk, he slips through the adjoining door, but not before we make eye contact.

I instantly look away, cheeks heating.

When the movie is over, Ebba hops up. “It’s time for facials.”

Twenty minutes later, the three of us are wearing face masks and Maddie has talked us into manicures.

When she clambers to her feet to find the container we stuck all the nail supplies in, Ebba cringes silently.

“She’s pretty good,” I whisper. “Don’t look so scared.”

When our little friend reappears wearing a smile, I can’t help but match her expression.

“Who do you want to do first?” I ask her.

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