Page 8

seven

Lane

“Sagie!” Cole yells, running up behind my daughter, where we’re with his wife, waiting for our table to be ready.

“Unky Coe!”

“You look like a little ballerina!” he says, scooping her up into his arms.

Sage looks at him so happily. “Me ballwina like Owive!”

I rub my hand over the top of her head, mussing up her soft waves. “Exactly like Olive, Lovebug! You’re doing so well.”

“I swear your daughter is obsessed with Olive,” Rory laughs. “It’s kind of adorable.”

“Hey, that’s fine by me. She’s so happy right now. That’s all I ever want for her.”

We’re interrupted by the hostess letting us know our table is ready, and we follow her through the restaurant to a secluded booth on the back wall. Sage sits on her booster seat beside me while Rory and Cole sit across from us.

When the waiter comes by, we place our drink and food orders. All four of us choose pasta dishes—my daughter’s refined palate, though, means she goes with macaroni and cheese.

No shame, though. Mac and cheese is fucking delicious.

“So,” I say, leaning back against the booth while Sage colors her placemat next to me. “How was Aruba, Cole?”

“Incredible,” he smiles. “Aruba is absolutely beautiful. Perfect honeymoon location.”

“Gotta get married before I can use it as a honeymoon location,” I chuckle.

Rory smirks. “I caught the vibe that you might be interested in someone already.”

I roll my eyes, but I don’t deny it. “I’m definitely interested in getting to know her better.”

“You realize she’s almost a decade younger than you, right?”

“Well aware,” I sigh. “Ari, though, loves the age gap trope.”

“Of course he does,” Cole chides. “That man is all for romance books but refuses to settle down himself.”

“He’s going to eat those words one day,” I reply.

“That’s what I told him. So, to mess with him, I just tease him about Lucia.”

I almost choke on my water as I imagine that.

Lucia Torres is one of the team’s athletic trainers and part of the girl group composed of Rory, Harlow, and Ella, Josh’s wife. She also seems to be the bane of Ari’s existence, and the feeling is mutual.

Those two bicker every time we’re all together. It’s awkward as fuck, and we still have no idea what the hell even happened between them.

I swear they argue even more when Lucia’s boyfriend Matt is with us, too. But I kind of get that. Lucia’s happy, but there’s something about Matt I can’t put my finger on, and I don’t like it.

I just get a weird vibe from him.

“I’m pretty sure Ari would rather run naked through a field of cacti than get close to Lucia,” I laugh.

“Enough talk about Ari,” Rory interjects. “I want to talk about you,” she says, pointing directly at me. “What’s going on with you and Olive?”

I groan. “Nothing. Honestly. I’ve only met her three times. But I really do want to know her better.”

“Three times?” Rory asks. “Sage only had one lesson last week.”

I rub the back of my neck sheepishly. “Ari and I might have run into her at Urban Grind last Monday. But she told me her name was Liv, so I didn’t realize she was Olive.”

“She didn’t recognize your name?” Cole questions. “It’s not like Lane is very common.”

“I, uh… didn’t tell her my name. I kind of told her I’d tell her the next time I saw her…”

Cole throws his head back and laughs. “God, I forgot how cocky you are when you flirt.”

“Wait,” Rory says, “you guys actually met before that lesson then. And you flirted with her?”

“She flirted with me first.” I throw my hands up in surrender. “She approached me, and I sure as heck wasn’t going to not flirt back. She’s flipping gorgeous.”

“I figured you’d like her,” Rory states, “but I didn’t think you’d like her. Especially when she’s so much younger.”

“I didn’t know she was twenty-three when we met, to be fair. But I’m also not sure I like her. I hardly know her.”

Cole eyes me with a wicked grin. “You know, Ari told me something that could absolutely refute that.”

I groan. That fucker can’t keep a damn thing to himself. “I got ahead of myself with that.”

“What are you talking about?” Rory asks.

I sigh and cover Sage’s ears. “I may have said I met Sage’s new mom…”

Rory’s smile is bright enough that not even the hands she’s using to cover it mask the joy. “No, you did not!”

“I did.”

“Like I said—cocky,” Cole smirks.

“It’s not like anything is happening on that front,” I admit. “She seems so uncomfortable around me.”

“She’s been through something,” Rory says. “I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think she opens up easily. It was probably easy to flirt with you when she didn’t think she’d see you again. But let’s not pretend she has no interest in you, Hotshot.”

Rory looks at me mischievously, and I can’t bite back my grin. “Maybe she does. But I don’t even have her phone number. I won’t see her again until next week’s lesson.”

Cole leans across the table and snags one of Sage’s crayons, helping her color in the bunny she’s working on. “Well, then get her number next week. I don’t think you’d be hard-pressed to have your daughter want to see her if she likes her as much as you say she does.”

Rory looks at me now. “And you’ve mentioned how you want to settle down. Don’t rush anything, and take the time to get to know her. Maybe she’s the one you’ve been waiting for.”

“Okay,” I smile. “Next time I see Liv, I’ll ask for her number. Maybe we can be friends to start.”

Cole looks at his wife with hearts in his eyes. “The best relationships start as friendships.”

Considering he and Rory were friends for nearly four years before they finally gave in to their feelings, I’d say he has room to talk here.

So maybe a friendship with Olive is exactly what I need to start with.