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Judah smiles sheepishly. “Thank you again for coming. I’m sure this isn’t how you thought your night would go.”
I shake my head. “No. It’s even better.”
* * *
Judah has spread out the topping options on the kitchen counter for us so we can make our own pizzas. There’s pepperoni, ham, pineapple, three kinds of cheeses, mushrooms, and more.
Busy spreads the sauce over her crust and I do the same.
“So, Coach Nora,” Judah says, preparing his pizza, too. “What do you do apart from substitute coaching?”
I smile. “Well, I’m a teacher actually. I teach sixth grade science.”
Busy lights up. “Maybe you’ll teach me one day!”
I layer the pepperoni on my pizza. “That would be great. Do you like science?”
“I don’t know,” Busy says.
And I remember she is only four.
“Well, maybe one day you will,” I say.
“So, you spend all day around kids, and then you volunteered to coach, too? That’s pretty admirable,” Judah says.
I sprinkle cheese on my pizza now. “Yeah, well, my brother didn’t give me much of an option. I’m grateful though. I would be spending the night alone, otherwise.”
Judah glances up at me. “Does your boyfriend work nights or something?”
I try not to smile too widely, but I can’t help it.
He turned the tables around on me.
I know he’s single. Now, he wants to know the same.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” I tell him, my eyes locked on his, challenging him to do something about this information.
“I’m done!” Busy exclaims.
We break eye contact.
It’s funny. This feels like a date, but I have never been on a date with a kid tagging along. But Busy is no ordinary kid. She’s special.
I look at Busy’s pizza.
She has so much cheese packed onto the crust that it’s surely going to melt right off the sides.
“Wow,” I say. “You really like cheese.”
Busy smiles, proud of herself. “Yes, I do.”
Judah takes her pizza and tells her to go find something good to watch on TV while she waits for the pizza to bake.
When she’s far enough away, Judah leans in and whispers to me, “I knock off some of the cheese. Her stomach will thank me later.”
He picks off almost a full layer of cheese and I laugh.
“So, you’re a ham and pineapple kind of guy?” I ask him.
