Page 43

forty-two

Olive

“Holy ships, you look hot, Liv!” Lucia yells when I walk into Lane’s penthouse.

“Owive!”

“Hey, sweet girl,” I smile before turning to Lucia. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m watching this little lady tonight. I came to pick her up.”

“It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, though.”

She shrugs. “Matt and I are going out tomorrow night. Besides, Valentine’s Day is actually next weekend.”

“Well, yeah,” I reply. “But you and the guys all leave for Spring Training on Monday.”

“Which is why we’re going out tomorrow,” Lucia laughs. “Hoping for some action finally, too. Aunt Lucia wants to get laid.”

“Careful, Torres,” Lane chides as he walks into the room, and God , does he look good right now.

White button-down with rolled-up sleeves, charcoal gray slacks, and black Oxfords.

Damn. “I don’t need my daughter asking what that means.

” His eyes rake over me now, and his throat bobs. “Wow, Ballerina.”

I smile shyly, but I enjoy his attention.

I’m wearing a skin-tight, long-sleeved red dress.

It falls just above my mid-thigh and has a heart cutout on the chest, showing off some cleavage.

That’s something I never do, but as I watch Lane lick his lips, it seems like it was the right decision.

Combining all of that with the strappy red heels I’m wearing, and I feel good.

I finally have enough confidence to embrace myself, and I’m absolutely loving it.

Lucia smirks when she sees how Lane and I won’t take our eyes off each other, so she clears her throat and speaks to Sage. “Well, Sagie, you ready to come hang out with me tonight?”

“Yes,” she smiles, sporting her famous toothy grin while Lucia grabs the bag Lane packed for her, grabs their jackets, and walks to the elevator.

“Have fun, kids,” she teases as they step into the elevator car. “Play safe tonight,” she winks right before the doors close.

As soon as they do, Lane is on me, draping his arms around my waist and pressing my back to his chest. “Goddamn, baby. You’re fucking stunning.”

“Thought I’d look nice for you today,” I sigh as Lane places soft kisses down my neck.

“Never dress to impress me, Livvy, because I’m always fucking impressed by you.

In your leggings and oversized sweatshirts.

A T-shirt and jeans. Your tight ballet leotards.

When your shirt is off.” He slowly drags his hands up the front of my body, resting them on the underside of my breasts.

“By the way, I like getting a little tease of these.”

“You like me teasing?” I question curiously.

Lane’s response is to press his hips into my backside so I can feel for myself. “Yeah, baby. I fucking love it when you tease me.”

“Lane…” I softly moan.

He groans into my neck. “Don’t say my name like that, or we aren’t leaving. I’ll carry you to my bed right now.”

“Dinner first, Hotshot,” I chuckle. “I was promised dinner.”

“But then you came in here with your tits showing in a hot as fuck little dress, and you just moaned my name. I’m more than ready to throw that plan out the window.”

I laugh as I turn my face to kiss him. “If you can wait until we’re back, I can promise I’ll take care of you tonight, baby.”

Lane flicks his tongue over his bottom lip. “Mmm, I think I like being your baby.” I give him a soft peck in response. “Come on, Ballerina. Let’s get the hell out of here so I can get you home sooner.”

He grabs my hand and leads me to the elevator, and I smile the entire way.

“Hey now,” I laugh, swatting Lane’s spoon away. “You finished yours.”

“You not gonna share with me, Livvy?” he pouts, pushing out his bottom lip.

“There’s only one bite left,” I reply, gesturing to the single bite of my strawberry sundae. “And it’s mine.”

Before Lane can protest, I shove my spoon into my mouth and grin around it. When I pull the spoon out, I see a mischievous look on his face before he quickly leans in, sealing his lips around mine. He swipes his tongue inside, and I get caught up in the moment, melting into him.

When we break apart, Lane licks his lips with a smirk. “Delicious.”

“That was dirty,” I chide.

He brushes his lips over my ear, the contact sending a fire blazing through me.

“I can think of far dirtier things to do with ice cream than just lick it off your tongue, baby.” I immediately blush, and he takes note, cupping my jaw with his hand.

“Love that I still have such an effect on you,” he chuckles.

“I’m pretty sure that’s not going to change,” I sigh.

“It’s cute,” he replies sweetly, leaning in for a kiss. “I’m going to find a trash can for these containers. I’ll be right back.”

I watch as Lane stands from the bench we’re sitting on and disappears around the tree-lined path in Central Park.

Today has been unseasonably warm, so after a lovely dinner at my favorite French restaurant again, we grabbed ice cream and strolled around Central Park until we found a bench to rest on.

It’s not even Valentine’s Day, but it’s still the best Valentine’s Day I’ve had.

I keep my eyes trained ahead, waiting for Lane to come back, and I don’t hear when somebody jogs up the trail behind me.

“Olive?”

Instantly, my blood runs cold, and I gasp because I know that voice.

It’s the same voice that’s haunted my nightmares since I was seventeen.

Jake.

It doesn’t matter how much strength I’ve gained recently when I turn to face him, visibly shaking.

“Holy shit, it is you!” he smiles like we’re lifelong friends.

“What are you doing here?” I manage, trying to feign some semblance of nonchalance.

“Out for a jog,” he replies, gesturing to his running attire. “What are you doing here? I haven’t seen you since we were teenagers.”

Yeah, and there’s a damn good reason for that.

“Out for an early Valentine’s Day.”

Jake raises his eyebrow. “You’re alone right now, Liv.”

“Olive,” I correct him. “You can call me Olive.”

He rolls his eyes. “Really? That’s how it’s going to be?”

I don’t get a chance to reply before I feel a strong, comforting hand on my shoulder, and I look up to find Lane standing behind me. I stand up from the bench and let him wrap his arm around me, needing to feel his calming embrace. “I’m back, Liv. Who is this?”

Jake’s eyes practically bug out of his head. “You’re Lane Brooks!”

“Uh, yeah…” he replies, not impressed by the man before him. “And you are?”

“An old friend of Olive’s.” He sticks his hand out. “I’m Jake.”

Immediately, I feel Lane tense, and I can see rage boiling beneath his skin.

“Jake? You’re Jake?”

“Yeah,” he shrugs like he can’t see Lane seething right now. “How do you two know each other?”

“I know Olive because she’s my fucking girlfriend,” Lane bites.

“Whoa, man. What’s with the tone?”

“The tone is because I know all about what a pathetic waste of fucking space you are, Jake. You have the audacity to say you’re an old friend after the hell you put Olive through?”

Jake shakes his head. “We were seventeen. I think she can move on from our time together.”

Our time together?!

If Jake still thinks I’m the type to let somebody fight my battles for me, he’s sorely mistaken. I’m not the girl I used to be.

And that’s all because of what he did.

“We had no time together,” I yell, and I see Jake take a step back in surprise. “You assaulted me.”

“Oh, come on,” Jake chides. “It was sex, Olive. Don’t act like it’s a big deal when I’m sure you have no problem fucking your boyfriend here.”

Lane is on him before I can comprehend what’s happening. He has Jake by the collar of his shirt, looking down at him with murder in his eyes. “Not that it’s any of your goddamn business, but she’s not ‘fucking’ me. Because I know what it means when a woman says no.”

“Don’t you have a fucking kid?” he scoffs, but I can see how nervous he is as Lane towers over him. Jake isn’t much taller than me—Lane probably has five to six inches on him.

Lane grips his shirt tighter. “Don’t ever even fucking mention my daughter, asshole.”

I rest my palm on Lane’s arm. “Don’t hurt him. He isn’t worth it.”

“He deserves to be hurt,” Lane argues. “He never paid for what he did to you.”

“He didn’t,” I shrug. “And he does deserve to be hurt.” I turn to look Jake right in the eyes as he trembles in front of me.

“But I don’t want you to hurt him. He knows what he did, and he can have it eat at him for the rest of his life.

He can see me now, living my life in spite of him and the trauma he entrenched me with.

” And then I say something to him he never knew, hitting him low because I know this one will leave a mark.

“And he can live with the knowledge that the infection he gave me when he took what he wasn’t given changed the entire course of my life since I’m now completely infertile. ”

Jake gapes at me as Lane lets go of his shirt. “W-what? I didn’t know that…”

“Well, now you do,” I shrug, standing tall and letting myself say everything I’ve wanted to say to him. “I can’t have kids, Jake, and that’s a direct result of what you did. All because you couldn’t wrap it up while you assaulted me.”

“Olive…” he chokes.

“Save it.” I hold up my hand to stop him.

“I’m not interested. Your words are hollow anyway.

If you actually meant them, you would never have done what you did.

” I step forward now, not letting myself back away and instead stand taller than him thanks to my heels.

“Don’t talk to me, Jake. I don’t ever want to hear another word from you or about you.

It’s taken me six years to get where I am, and I will be damned if I let you ruin all the progress I’ve made forgetting about you.

” I spin around and look at Lane, who’s just staring at me with pride on his face. “Let’s get out of here, Lane.”

Lane quickly entwines his fingers with mine, and we head down the trail away from Jake, leaving the worst parts of my past behind us.