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twenty-seven

Olive

What is that sound?

It’s like a loud banging.

Wait…

It is a loud banging because someone is knocking on Lane’s door.

Why is it so loud then?

I lean up to stretch, and in doing so, I fall to the floor.

Ah.

Now I know why the door knocking is so loud. Lane and I apparently fell asleep on the couch last night.

The resounding thud from my ass hitting the floor causes him to jolt awake.

“What are you doing on the floor, Olive?” His voice is still rough from sleep, and the timbre sears through me, landing between my legs.

Awesome. Even his voice will turn me on.

“We fell asleep on the couch,” I groan as I stand up. “Someone is knocking on your door, and I need to hide because I’m not wearing pants. I need to stop falling asleep here when I’m not planning on it.”

Lane stands and stretches himself out, still in the suit pants and button-down he wore on our date last night. Scrubbing a hand down his face, he says, “This is probably Josh and Ella with Sage. You might just have to wrap the blanket around you for now.”

I sigh and grab the blanket from the floor, tying it around my waist so it looks like a maxi skirt.

When Lane opens the door, Sage comes barreling in with Josh and Ella trailing behind her.

“Morning, man,” Josh says as he sets Sage’s things down by the door. “How was the da—” He cuts off abruptly when he notices me in the living room. “I’m going to guess it went well,” he smirks.

“Nothing happened,” I rush out before lowering my voice. “We fell asleep on the couch.”

“Why are you in his shirt?” Ella questions. “And why are you wearing a blanket?”

“The shirt is a long story. But the blanket is because I’m in just the shirt. It’s long enough, but I’d rather not accidentally flash someone.”

Ella throws her arm around my shoulder and leans close to my ear. “I have leggings in the car. We’re the same height, so they should fit you just fine, Liv.”

“Thank you.”

Sage finally takes notice of my presence. “Owive here, Daddy!”

“I am, sweet girl,” I say with faux happiness, trying to not let on to anything that happened last night. We already agreed we’re not going to be too close in front of her. “I, uh…”

“Olive came over for a tea party, Lovebug!” Lane chimes, sweeping his daughter off her feet and plastering kisses all over her face.

“Yes! I’m here for a tea party.”

“What a coincidence,” Ella smiles, mussing up Sage’s hair. “Uncle Josh and I are here for a tea party, too!”

“We are?” Josh asks, looking confused.

Ella sighs in exasperation. “He’s so clueless sometimes,” she mutters under her breath. “Yes, we are, Joshy.”

Lane sets Sage back on the floor. “Why don’t you go set up the table in your bedroom, Sagie?”

She sprints down the hallway now, disappearing into her bedroom to set up a tea party.

Josh looks right at us now. “Lane, you’re still in last night’s clothing.”

He rubs the back of his neck. “Like Liv said, we fell asleep on the couch. I didn’t change before we sat down, so I must have fallen asleep in this.”

“How was the date, though?!” Ella asks excitedly.

I bite down a smile. “The date was great. We had a very nice time.”

“Yes, we did,” Lane grins, wrapping an arm around me, tilting my chin up, and kissing my lips softly.

Ella looks giddy as she watches us. “Oh my God, are you guys together now?!”

“We’re not putting a label on anything,” I answer quickly. “We’re going to just keep doing what we’re doing.”

“And we’re not doing any of this in front of Sage,” Lane affirms. “I’ll tell her about it if we get to that point. But for now, don’t say anything to her.”

“Your secret is safe,” Josh states, clapping a hand on Lane’s back.

“We won’t breathe a word of this to Sage,” Ella says. “We promise.”

Before the tea party starts, Ella grabs the extra leggings she had in her car and lets me borrow them. I’m incredibly grateful right now that we’re the same height and size, so I don’t have to keep wearing a blanket like a skirt.

Lane changes out of his date clothes as well. He’s dressed casually now in a pair of dark jeans and a white henley.

He looks so good.

We all don our boas and hats as we sit around Sage’s small purple table in her bedroom.

I love this side of Lane. The side that dresses up to bring joy to his daughter. He’s an incredible dad, and Sage is lucky to have him.

I’m lucky to have him as well.

I also love the way Josh and Ella are getting into this. Josh didn’t bat an eye when Lane brought out the boas. He just immediately reached into the box and threw two of them around his neck. Ella asks Sage for her opinion on every “tea” we try. It’s all just water, but Sage loves it all the same.

Lane and Sage have such an incredible family in their friends, and I’m so honored to be part of that now.

“Liv,” Lane says, capturing my attention. “This tea has a nice floral undertone, wouldn’t you say?”

I choke down a laugh. “Yes, I’m getting a lot of floral in this one.”

“It’s yummy,” Ella declares. “What do you think, Sage?”

“It good,” she smiles. “Unky Josh?”

Josh beams at her. “I think this tea is lovely, Sage. You have impeccable taste.”

“Daddy,” Sage says, looking right at Lane now. “We need snacks.”

“Alright, Miss Sassypants,” Lane grumbles. “What would you like?”

“Sammiches!”

“Ooh, good choice, sweet girl! Sandwiches sound perfect to pair with this tea.”

“Sandwiches it is then,” Lane says, standing himself up and adjusting the boa around his neck. “Come help me, Garro.”

“How did I get roped into this?” he laughs.

“Your niece is demanding sandwiches, and we guys gotta take care of our girls.” Lane looks right at me when he says the last part, winking and shooting me a flirty smile.

Josh chuckles as he stands up, and he and Lane are off to the kitchen now.

I turn back around to the girls. “Oh, your hair is falling out, Sage,” I state, referencing the pigtail braids Ella fashioned in her hair this morning. “Here, let me fix that.”

Sage plops herself up on my lap, and I get to work, fixing the braid that’s falling out and tightening the other one.

“Me see!” Sage says excitedly.

“Of course, sweet girl.” I grab my phone and pull up the camera, switching it to front-facing.

Sage looks at herself on the phone screen, a smile lighting up her face. “I pwetty!”

“You are so pretty, Sage!”

“Owive and Ann Ewwa pwetty, too.”

Ella and I collectively melt. “We’re not as pretty as you, Sage,” Ella states, bopping Sage’s nose, and she breaks into a fit of giggles before sliding off my lap and returning to her chair. Now, Ella stares right at me.

“What?” I ask.

“You’re incredible with her, you know.”

“I love kids,” I smile. “I always have.”

“Do you want kids of your own one day?”

I can’t control the pang in my chest. “I’d love to, but I can’t,” I say quietly. “I, uh… can’t have kids.”

Ella gasps. “Oh, I’m so sorry for asking, Liv! I had no idea.”

“No, it’s okay. You didn’t know. What about you, though?”

“I’m not answering that now!” she says emphatically. “I’d sound like a b-... witch.”

I chuckle. “It’s okay, really. Just because I can’t have my own doesn’t mean I don’t want to hear what you dream of.”

She smiles softly. “Then yes, I want kids. So does Josh.”

“When do you think you’ll have kids?”

Her smile is brighter now. “As soon as he’s ready. I’d have them now if he wanted to.”

“Oh my goodness!” I exclaim. “You’d probably be the cutest pregnant lady ever.”

Ella laughs heartily. “Thanks, Liv.” Her face turns more serious. “Did you tell Lane about… that?”

“Yeah,” I sigh. “We talked about it last night. He knows that I can’t.”

“And since he’s Lane and like the sweetest guy ever, he doesn’t care at all, does he?” she laughs.

“He doesn’t,” I smile. “He’s a pretty great… friend,” I say, remembering that Sage is sitting beside us.

“Daddy best!” Sage smiles.

“Your daddy is the best, sweet girl! He’s so nice.” I pinch her cheek, and she giggles loudly.

“Ballerina,” I hear Lane gasp from the doorway, his voice nothing but dramatic. “Are you torturing my daughter?”

My hand to my heart, I scoff. “My word, I’d never do such a thing.”

Lane and I are both laughing as he and Josh come back into the room, carrying sandwiches for all of us.

The tender look in his eyes, when they catch mine, lets me know he saw at least some of that talk with Sage. And I hope he knows it was honest.

Lane is the best of the best, and I’m so fortunate that he’s focusing his attention on me.

I flop onto my bed, irritated and annoyed.

I’ve tried and failed yet again.

I must be broken because I can’t even give myself an orgasm.

I don’t even know if I’m capable of having an orgasm, honestly. My reproductive system doesn’t work for reproducing. Maybe it doesn’t work for that either.

I groan with my head in my hands, frustrated.

What do I do to see if I can make this happen? How can I make it happen?

I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m so damn clueless when it comes to this.

But then, an idea pops into my head because I know someone who isn’t clueless.

Maybe that’s weird, though.

I’ll just push that thought to the back of my head. We’ll see if it ever sees the light of day.