Page 59 of The Challenge

“I got three bras!” Effie announced.

“You did?” Chloe’s eyes widened. I was happy she was pretending to be surprised. The least she could do after torturing me was let me take the credit.

“Yeah. Daddy changed his mind and took me shopping after school.”

“I’m so glad he came around.” She winked, and God help me, I had the urge to kiss that smirk right off her face.

“He bought you underwear like you asked him to,” Effie added.

Chloe’s mouth opened and closed before she turned to me. “You did?”

“Here you go.” I cleared my throat, fishing the panties out of the bag, rolling them up in a ball, and handing them to her.

She unfolded the bright yellow underwear. They looked about three sizes too big for her.

Chloe drew in her brows. “These are supposed to be for me?”

I glared at her, hoping she didn’t make an issue of it. “I’ll explain later,” I mouthed.

“Wanna see my bras?” Effie interrupted.

Chloe’s confused expression transformed into a smile. “I would love to.”

My daughter happily unveiled her three new bras, one white, one pink, and one white with little multicolored flowers. I hadn’t really taken a good look at them back at the store, and I was relieved to find that they looked pretty innocent—like she was. They were basically cut-up undershirts.

“What does yours look like?” Effie asked Chloe.

“I can show you one of mine, if you want.”

“Yeah!” My daughter nodded.

Oh, boy.

“Be right back,” Chloe said as she disappeared.

The next thing I knew, Chloe had returned to the kitchen with a light purple bra.

She handed it to Effie, and my daughter held it up.

Then Effie placed one of the cups over her head. “I could fit two of my heads into each of these.” She looked up at Chloe. “Are mine gonna grow this big someday?”

God, help me. I opened the fridge to distract myself from this scene.

“There’s no way to know,” Chloe answered.

“My mom has big ones, so maybe there’s hope.”

“Effie!” I whipped around. “Enough with the bras. Why don’t you go get ready for dinner?”

“Okay, Daddy.” She handed Chloe back her bra before heading to her room.

The second Effie was out of sight, Chloe propelled her bra at me like a slingshot. It nearly landed on my face before I caught it.

I fisted it in my hand before throwing it back to her. “No, thank you.”

“You’re no fun, Evan.” She chuckled, tucking the bra under her arm. “What’s the deal with the granny panties anyway?”

I looked past her shoulder to make sure Effie was out of earshot then whispered, “I used them to wipe sweat off my forehead after your texts, if you must know. Couldn’t just leave them there. Had to buy them.”