Page 134 of Fielder's Choice

I already regret my decision…

“Okay,” Violet says, setting our drinks down on the table between Harvey and me. “A black coffee for Harv, a caramel latte for Liv, and a flat white for me.” She slides into the seat next to Harvey so they’re both sitting across from me. “Now, what’s this about you dating Lane?”

“Wow, we’re starting in on this right off the bat,” I laugh uneasily.

“‘Off the bat,’ huh?” Harvey teases.

I just roll my eyes. “You both know Lane and I have been seeing each other for a couple months.”

“Unofficially,” Vi smirks.

I sigh. “Fine, we were unofficially seeing each other, but we kind of always acted like a couple. We spent as much time together as we could, we went on dates, we kissed quite a bit…”

Vi raises her eyebrow knowingly. “Anything else?”

I feel my cheeks flush. “And there have been some… other things as well.”

“Do I want to know what theseother thingsare?” Harvey asks, a disgusted look on his face.

“No, I don’t think you do,” I chuckle. “But seeing as I have you guys here to help me, you’re going to learn anyway.” I take a deep breath to steady myself. “We haven’t had sex, but we’ve done just about everything else.”

Harvey scrunches his face up. “Ireallydidn’t need to know that.”

“Oh, come on,” I chide. “Don’t act like I don’t know what you get up to with Michelle.”

“What makes you think Chelle and I do anything?”

I look at him in disbelief. “You live together, Harv. I might be a bit naive, but I wasn’t born yesterday.”

“She isn’t taking your shit, Harv.” Violet elbows him, laughing while she does.

Harvey rolls his eyes and moves on. “As much as I like Lane, I also know what you’ve been through, Liv. He isn’t forcing you, right?”

“Oh, God no!” I reply emphatically. “Lane is extremely patient and understanding. He knows everything that happened. We, uh, actually ran into Jake a few weeks ago.”

“And you didn’t call me to come kick his ass?” Harvey says, offended.

“We had it taken care of,” I shrug. “Lane immediately came in to defend me, and then I stood up for myself after that.”

“You did?” Violet’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Yes. I wasn’t going to let him gaslight me into thinking that was sex, which is exactly what he tried to do.” When I think of what happened after, I have to bite back my grin. “And then I had him cowering when I told him he’s the reason I can’t have kids.”

“You told him about that?” Harvey asks.

“I did. He never has and never will face repercussions for what he did. I want him to be haunted by the damage he caused me. And it feltsogood to get it off my chest.”

“Oh my God, Liv!” Vi exclaims. “I’m so proud of you.”

“I’m proud of me, too,” I admit. “I’m tired of living with the memory looming over my head. To move past it, I have to be able to let it go, and I can’t let it go if I’m still keeping it all in.”

“What did Lane have to say after all of this?”

“He tried to apologize,” I chuckle. “He said he doesn’t normally act like that. Then he told me how he loved watching me stand up for myself and tell him everything I was thinking. After that, we talked about what he had said to Jake.”

“What did he say to him?” Harvey looks at me curiously.

I smile widely. “When Jake asked how we knew each other, he told him I was his girlfriend. We hadn’t discussed that yet, but as soon as he said it, I knew that there was no reason to holdback anymore. I could tell he wasn’t saying that just to get Jake to back off. In his mind, it was true.”

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