The Match: An EXTENDED edition rom-com from the author of the TikTok sensation THE CHEAT SHEET! (It

Chapter 27

Evie and I pull up outside of Jenna’s house, and the door immediately flies open. Out come Sam and Daisy, waving to Jenna’s parents, who are decked out in ugly matching robes and slippers. They have their initials monogrammed on them (the robes and slippers), and they are giving Sam a pitying look as she barrels toward my truck.

I open the door and get out to help Sam and Daisy in and then wave back at Will and his wife, Beth.

Beth calls out, “So sorry you had to come all the way here in the middle of the night, Jake.” Okay, well, it’s ten o’clock, so not exactly the middle now, is it, Beth? “We tried to get her to stay, but she wasn’t having it.” Beth’s voice annoys me for some reason. I think it’s because she’s looking at Sam like she thought it was a bad idea to invite her in the first place. It’s a pitying I-told-you-so look. As if my daughter is the first young girl in the history of girls to want to leave a sleepover early.

“No problem, Beth. I was glad to come get her.”

“Oh,” she says suddenly, tilting her head to get a better look inside my truck as I hold the door open for Sam and Daisy. “Sorry, I just noticed you have a friend with you.” She’s squinting hard, trying to get a good look at Evie, but I just shut the truck door so the tinted windows will cut off her view. Not because I’m in any way ashamed to be seen with Evie but because I’ve always found Beth—queen of the school rumor mill—obnoxious. I don’t want her to have access to my life and twist what’s been a perfect night with Evie into anything other than that when she blasts out false information on her PTA group text.

“Night! Thanks again,” I say, opening the driver’s-side door and slipping in quickly.

The moment I pull away from the curb, Evie leans over to me and says quietly, “Silly robes, right?”

I wish I could kiss her right now, but I don’t know how Sam would feel about that. “You don’t like the matchy-matchy couple style?”

She grimaces and shakes her head before turning her whole body around in her seat to face Sam like she always does. It’s not safe in the least, but it’s sweet, so I don’t say anything about it. “How’s it going, darlin’? Everything okay?”

I was literally opening my mouth to ask that very question. Why do I like it so much that she beat me to it? I close my mouth and look in the rearview mirror to catch Sam’s answer, but her downcast expression worries me.

“I’m sorry, Evie. I tried. I really thought it would be fun. But . . . I just couldn’t stop feeling scared and wanting to go home.”

“Oh, Sam. Why are you apologizing to me for that?”

She shrugs. “Because I know that that’s why I have Daisy—to make me feel more comfortable and keep going on with my normal life like you do with Charlie. But even though I had her by me, and I knew she’d do her job, I just kept feeling scared that I would have a seizure while I was sleeping. I felt nervous and didn’t like it.” She pauses and looks at me now. “I’m sorry I put up such a big fight to go, Dad.”

Her words pierce me. She thinks I’m going to be disappointed that she came home?

No way. I think she’s brave as hell for even fighting to go in the first place. Once again, I’m about to say all this when Evie unclicks her seatbelt and climbs over the center console to get in the back with Sam. For a split second, her butt is in the air beside me, and I have to remember to concentrate on the road.

She settles in beside Sam and wraps an arm around her shoulders. The sight shakes me. I’m speechless.

“Listen to me, hon, and remember this for the rest of your life: it’s always okay to go home. Anytime you feel uncomfortable or scared, never worry about what anyone else is going to think if you call your dad and have him come get you. Your house is a safe place, and you love being there, and that’s something to be proud of, not embarrassed about.”

A car honks at me, and I realize I’ve sat through most of a green light listening to Evie give my daughter the best speech I’ve ever heard. I kind of just want to roll down my window and wave the jerk behind me to go on by. I’m clearly having a moment.

“You’re not disappointed in me?” Sam asks Evie, not me.

It also strikes me that Sam is not even questioning why Evie is in the car. It’s like she knew she would be. Like she’s a part of our life now. How do I feel about that?

Evie squeezes Sam. “Never. I’m so stinking proud of you for even giving it a try. Do you know that it took me a whole six months with Charlie before I felt brave enough to go anywhere without a friend with me? But there was nothing wrong with that either. We all find our bravery at different times, and that’s perfectly fine.”

Sam smiles and settles her head on Evie’s shoulder. Evie kisses the top of Sam’s head and brushes her hair away from her face.

The sight is tearing me up inside. In my little rectangular mirror, I see the most perfect picture of a woman who doesn’t have to be here, caring for my little girl who adores her, and their service dogs on either side of them.

Evie connects with Sam in a way that I will never be able to. This should upset me, but for some reason it relieves me. Maybe I won’t have to do everything on my own after all. Maybe Sam will get to have a mother who cares for her like she deserves.

And dammit.

Those thoughts do not sound casual. They sound a lot like commitment.