Page 66 of Heart Match

Lifting my head from my palms, I nod.

She jumps off the island and says, ‘Damn you, Olivia Charlton, you fucked Lucas Lamaire on your damn kitchen island.’

I give her my best eye roll.

‘I can’t believe you let him stay over,’ says Lexi, with two coffee mugs in her hand, the steam dissipating in the air just under her nose.

‘Worse. I asked him to stay, and when I did, we hadn’t even had sex yet,’ I speak burying my face in my hands once again.

‘Who are you?’ Naomi bumps her shoulder against mine.

‘Good for you,’ says Lexi, innocently, as if forgetting one tiny detail.

‘Is it?’ I ask, lamely, lifting my gaze at them.

They exchange glances.

‘How in hell didn’t you know who he was and for what plausible reason didn’t he tell you when he realised you didn’t know?’ asks Naomi the question of the week.

I let out a long and slow exhale.

‘I don’t watch tennis, I don’t follow tabloids or social media. The famous people I know are the ones on TV Series, in movies and fashion. Maybe if he had been on a scene playing tennis with Daniel Craig in the last James Bond movie I’d have recognised him. But …’

They watch me attentively, sipping from their coffee at the same time, waiting for me to continue.

‘As for the reason he didn’t tell me, according to him, it felt good to get involved with someone who doesn’t know who he is,’ I say, rolling my eyes.

‘That makes sense,’ says Lexi, getting a stern look from me.

‘What?’ she asks as I give her my laser eyes.

‘Are you on his side? He lied to me. He’s a selfish bastard.’

‘Technically it wasn’t a lie,’ points out Naomi, of all people.

‘Oh my God, you’re defending him. Both of you.’

‘We are not defending anyone, but the guy must be good to be able to mess up your perfectly controlled world. He deserves the credit, besides, he’s fucking hot,’ says Naomi, her terrifying eyebrow raised again.

‘Naomi!’ I scold her.

‘Just stating the real facts here,’ she says.

‘Is that how you two describe my life when you talk among yourselves? A “perfectly controlled world”?’

‘That’s not the point,’ says Lexi setting her coffee mug on the kitchen island and pulling her golden hair into a ponytail.

‘Exactly. The point is, he’s the only guy you’ve opened up to since Josh. This is a huge thing. So what if he omitted what he does for a living? It’s not like he’s a gangster or something,’ says Naomi matter-of-factly.

Now it’s my turn to raise an eyebrow at her, but I get the feeling it’s not as intimidating as when she does it because she ignores it completely and says, ‘Besides, he’s sorry, he came to apologise.’

‘As if an apology would make any difference right now,’ I say.

When I tell them he said he didn’t regret not telling the truth from the start because otherwise I wouldn’t have given him a chance, they almost melt like butter. I lost the battle, clearly.

‘Okay, we definitely want to know more about your sex life with the tennis star, but right now, my friend, we need to talk about your face being all over the news,’ says Naomi.

‘Livvy, everyone is wondering who you are. It won’t take long until they find out,’ points out Lexi.

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