“She’s cool and hip. You’re old and go to bed at nine p.m. No offense,” she adds, and I wave her off. “What if she meets someone while she’s out? What if he flies her to Paris or wants to take her to all the cool F1 races?”
“Hannah doesn’t like F1.” I frown. “At least, I don’t think she does.”
“These are important things to know!”
My stomach twists. I imagine Hannah’s bucket list and all the things she wants to do, and I hate that Liv called out our age difference so easily.
I don’t care about her actual age. The shitty part about life is we’re constantly getting older. Young today doesn’t mean young forever.
I just don’t want to be the reason why she doesn’t do something she loves.
“I’ll find out about F1,” I say, and Liv claps.
“Good! I’m so excited for you, Dad. She should come over and have dinner with us sometime. Like, tomorrow. And the day after.” Her excited yelp has me covering my ears. “I amsoa matchmaker.”
“Hey. I know you’re happy about this, but can you do me a favor, Liv? Can you keep this to yourself? You know i’m a private person, and I don’t want this getting out to the world before I’m ready to share her with everyone. I’m telling you because I love you, and I don’t want any secrets between us,” I say.
“I promise.” Liv’s face softens. “But you shouldn’t wait too long to talk about her. If you love someone, you should want to show them off to the world. If not, someone else might,” she says, and I wonder how the hell she got so goddamn smart for her age.
With Livin her room and the kitchen cleaned up, I climb in bed and grab my phone from the nightstand. I debate texting Hannah again, but that seems too casual.
The last thing I want is for her to think this is casual.
I settle on the pillows with an arm behind my head, waiting for the FaceTime call to connect. It doesn’t take long for Hannah to answer from her own bed where she’s propped on her side.
“Hi,” she says, blinking at me like I pulled her out of a dream.
“Hi.” I smile at her messy hair in a bun on the top of her head and the crease on her cheek from her sheets. “I woke you up again.”
“Why does that keep happening?” Hannah yawns and cradles her chin in her palm. “How did it go with Liv?”
“I hate to be the one to break this to you, Hannah,” I say, and her eyes widen. She sits up, pulling to her chin. “But Liv was ecstatic, and she claims sheknew it all along. Whatever that means.”
“Really? She doesn’t care that it’s me you’re seeing?”
“Her exact words consisted of how nice and cool and pretty you are.” I smile at the camera. “All true, I’d say.”
“That makes me so happy.” Hannah blows out a sigh of relief. “I can’t believe she knew.”
“I’ve made it obvious for her, apparently. I used to wait in the car during her lessons, but now I wait inside so I can have a chance to talk to you.” I chuckle. “Hearing it all back makes me sound pretty pathetic, and she’s claiming to be a matchmaker.”
“Without her, this wouldn’t have ever happened.” Hannah gestures between us. “Aren’t you glad you have a daughter who loves figure skating?”
“Very. And I’m even more glad her previous coach got pregnant. Hey. Question for you,” I say, switching gears. “Do you like F1?”
“That… is not the question I thought you would ask. I do not like F1,” she says, and my shoulders loosen. “Why? Doyoulike F1?”
“Not particularly, no. Just going off of something Liv said. She mentioned how you’re young and hip?—”
“True,” Hannah agrees.
“And I’m old and like to be in bed early,” I finish.
“They do say opposites attract. Are you afraid I’m going to run off with an F1 driver, Brody?”
“No.” I rub my jaw. “I just want to make sure I’m not holding you back from doing things you want to do.”
“I don’t have a ton of relationship experience, but from what I’ve heard, communication is pretty important.” Hannah slinks down her pillows, nestling back under her covers. “And when two people care about each other, they communicate. Is that right, ole wise one?”
