Page 67 of Falling Back to You

Methinks the lady protests too much.

NOELLE:

How are you still so annoying from 2,500 miles away?

MACY:

It’s a gift.

I say kiss him.

Ruby sent me the photos of you two. Nothing pretend about that.

Ten bucks says you made that picture of him hugging you from behind your lock screen.

NOELLE:

. . .

My sister is a traitor.

Can we talk about literally anything else?

MACY:

You should have seen the abscess I found yesterday.

NOELLE:

NO

Mace, you need to put a warning before you talk about that.

MACY:

And suddenly kissing talk isn’t so bad.

NOELLE:

Gotta go. Little Miss found a lightsaber and a jar of peanut butter. Tell me why that combo scares me.

Chapter twenty-two

Noelle

“It’s simple, Noelle,” I lectured my reflection in my bathroom mirror. “You take Khia to the game, cheer the team on, come home. So simple.”

Today, on my first official day as nanny, I was taking Khia to the Chargers home game at Cal’s request. I was aware that literally any other family member could have taken her, but he asked me specifically. That meant something, right? Oh, wait, most of them were sick and literally could not take her.

This means nothing. You’re nothing special. It’s just your job.

Out of time to weigh the pros and cons, I straightened my navy Caldwell Chargers ball cap over my ponytail and grabbed my purse. Khia was waiting in the living room, occupied with the puzzle still on my coffee table.

“You ready to go, sweetie?”

“Yup!” She jumped up. “I already went to the bathroom.” Eyeing me with enough judgment to make Edna Mode jealous, she frowned. “Why aren’t you in Daddy’s jersey?”

Guilty. Cal’s old jersey hidden in the back of my closet flashed through my mind. No way I was wearing that. “I . . .”