I pause in front of her door to gather up a little courage.

This kind of thing has never happened before. Haley and I are thick as thieves, so to speak, but there’s always been an unwritten law of silence when it comes to my personal life. We live in a nice father-daughter bubble and I don’t like poking at it without her input first. This time, however… I got a little too selfish.

I knock twice on the door and wait. After a few seconds, I knock again, this time just a little bit louder. There’s a soft shuffling on the other side before the knob turns and Haley opens the door.

She pulls the earbuds out of her ears, grimacing hard. Her jeans and shirt are gone, replaced with her red flannel loungewear and a pink tank.

“So, how badly did I mess up your date?” she asks.

“It wasn’t a date,” I say. “It was a work... thing.”

She steps back and lowers into her desk chair as she sets her iPod down on her open textbook. “Well, she was very pretty,” she says. “For a work thing.”

I nod. “She was, yeah.”

“And I know that whenever I have work things over on a Saturday night, I always whip out the good silverware.”

I flex my jaw. “Uh-huh...”

“And candles.”

“Hal.”

“Dad.” She grins. “It’s fine. This doesn’t have to be weird.”

“It doesn’t?”

“You’re an adult.” She shrugs. “I’m an adult. And it’s not like you’re ancient. You’re still a young man. Well, not young, but... you know. Not old.”

I snort. “Well, thanks for that.”

“Dad, I’ve always been cool with you dating. You know that. It’s just been a while and I didn’t expect... I should have called when the plans changed. I’m sorry.” She glances behind me into the hallway. “Did she leave?”

I nod. “She did.”

“Are you gonna see her again?”

“I don’t know. It’s kind of complicated, actually...” I exhale a bit of tension. “You’re being very mature about this.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of always been our thing,” she says with a smile. “I assess the situation in a calm, level-headed manner and you make fart jokes.”

I laugh. “True.”

“Dad, it’s cool. Just, you know... stick a sock on the door next time or something.”

I raise a brow. “A sock?”

She reaches for her iPod again. “Yeah.”

“You know, I’m starting to get a little nervous about what they’re teaching at that school of yours. Do I need to have a talk with the Dean?”

“Pretty sure your generation invented the sock thing,” she argues.

I scratch my cheek. “Actually, I picked that up from your grandpa, so let’s blame him for this. Deal?”

She laughs. “Deal.”

I nod. “All right. We still cool?”

“Of course.”

I feel a twitch of immaturity. “Because if you have any questions...”

She groans. “Dad...”

“About what you almost walked in on...” I lay a hand on my heart. “You can talk to me.”

“I think I’m good.”

I smirk. “I don’t want you picking it up on the streets, you know what I mean?”

She shoves a bud in her ear. “I got it.”

“So, you just let me know...” I take a step back into the hall. “Do they still do the banana thing in sex-ed?”

Her jaw drops. “For god’s sake, Dad!”

“‘Cuz I went shopping earlier and I can demonstrate the correct way for you.”

“No, you can’t.”

“Oh, come on,” I tease. “What says your old man can’t teach you a thing or two about safe sex?”

“My existence.”

“Well, that’s...” I clear my throat. “A fair point, actually.”

She nods and shoves the second earbud in.

“Oh!” I say, drawing the subtle roll of her eyes. “I saw someone this week who wanted me to say hi to you…”

“Who?”

I smile. “Max.”

Her head instantly turns up. “You saw Max?”

I notice the sudden pink her cheeks. Haley and her puppy love crush.

“He stopped by to assist me with a case he has some experience with,” I say.

“Is he still in town?”

“No. He was only here a few hours.”

She frowns in disappointment. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s…” My throat clenches. “He’s living a normal life with his girlfriend out in New York. Very normal. Nothing out of the ordinary there.”

Haley squints for a second. “Okay… Cool. If he comes back through, we should hang out.”

“I’ll let you know when he does.” I nod, lingering on her doorknob. “Anyway, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

“Love you.”

She returns her focus to her book. “Love you, too.”

“You’d make a good lawyer, you know that, kid?”

“I know.”

I close the door behind me and exhale. “Yeah, she knows.”