Page 124 of Fielder's Choice

Lucia lets out a breath. “Thanks, Lane. Let’s focus on something else. Like how Friday night went…”

I chuckle because I’m not at all surprised by how Lucia is now redirecting this conversation. “Friday was great,” I answer. “Bit of a rough moment when we ran into someone in Central Park, but otherwise, we had a perfect night.”

“What happened in Central Park?”

“We just… bumped into someone Olive knew back when she was seventeen.”

Lucia thinks that over before I see understanding wash over her face. “Seventeen? Oh my God, did you guys run into Jake?!”

That takes me by surprise. “You know about him?”

“Yeah,” she breathes. “Olive opened up at our last girl’s night. She told us that you already knew, but she filled us in on all of it. Harlow was ready to lead a mob that night.”

I laugh at the thought of Lo leading an angry mob at Jake. But I’d love to see that.

“Don’t say anything to Olive,” I say, “but yes, it was Jake. God, I wanted to hurt him, but she made sure I didn’t. Honestly, she stood up to him herself. He was practically cowering in fear like the little bitch he is.”

“Way to fucking go, Liv,” Lucia smiles. “I want you to know that we all adore her, and if you ever hurt her, the girls are taking her side.”

“Wow, thanks,” I laugh earnestly. “I have no plans to hurt her, though. We’re actually dating now.”

“Wait, really?” she asks excitedly.

I can’t hide my grin. “Yeah. Imighthave told Jake she was my girlfriend, and we talked about that after. It’s official now.”

“I love her for you, honestly. She’s such a sweetheart.”

“She is,” I reply. “And Sage just fucking adores her. She doesn’t know we’re together, though.”

“You’re still new,” Lucia shrugs. “You don’t need to rush to tell Sage about it. She’s only three.”

“I know. How was your weekend, though? Did Aunt Lucia get some action like she wanted?”

She laughs, but it doesn’t sound genuine. “It was fine. We went out to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Saturday, and yes, I did, in fact, get some action after that.”

I’ve known Lucia for nine years, and the way she’s acting now is off. She’s not smiling and happy the way I expect her to be, and I don’t like it.

“I know we’ve all tried to stay out of this, but we canalltell that something is off between you and Matt.” I flash her a friendly smile. “You know you can talk to any of us, right?”

She takes a deep breath and lets it out. “Things just don’t feel like they used to. I hardly get to see him because he’salwaysworking. We barely have sex anymore, and when we do, it’s not at all how it was when we first got together. Matt is still great, and I do love him, but I miss the way things used to be.”

“He should be making time for you,” I assert. “Don’t let him push you to the side, Luc.”

“I just… don’t want to give up, I guess. We’ve been together for a year now. I don’t want to just throw that down the drain, you know?”

“I don’t think you’d be throwing anything away.” I sigh. “You deserve someone who will make you a priority. And give you consistently good sex.”

Lucia finally laughs now. “I’m hopeful that will get better after some time apart. Things should be better after I get back to New York.”

“I hope you’re right.”

The doors open again, and the team starts filtering in.

Lucia helps me through the conditioning plan she put together for me, and she looks a bit brighter as we go.

Hopefully, Matt will either get his head out of his ass, or she’ll ditch him.

I’m okay with either of those.

---