Page 19 of Fielder's Choice

“Enough talk about Ari,” Rory interjects. “I want to talk aboutyou,”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 Imighthave 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’dlikeher. 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 Ilikeher. 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.

eight

Olive

ForaThursdayeveningin mid-November, it’s unseasonably warm. It’s always nice to not have to bundle up, though.

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