Page 23 of Fielder's Choice

“Good to see you, too, sis,” a blond man chides. That must be Cole. “I’m heading over to Ari’s now, though.”

“Ew.” That came from the woman with silky black hair sitting on the sofa. “Why the fuck do you want to see Ari?”

“Because we’ve been friends since before we were in Kansas.”

“I like Ari,” says another woman, this one with light brown hair falling well past her shoulders. “Maybe one day you two will tell us why you hate each other so much.”

“I don’t hate him,” the first woman groans. “He’s just pushy and irritating.”

“Only to you, babe,” Harlow says, taking a seat next to her on the sofa.

Rather than just awkwardly standing here while waiting for Rory to get a chance to introduce me, I decide to make my presence known. “Ari seemed nice enough to me when I met him. He was with Lane when we ran into each other at Urban Grind.”

“See, Luc,” probably-Cole prods. “You’re the only one not in the Ari fan club.”

Rory crosses her arms. “Can we not show Olive our true selves yet? She needs to like us before she learns how batshit crazy we all are.”

“My sister asked me if Lane was a porn star when I told her about him,” I laugh. “Believe me, this is nothing.”

“Okay,” Harlow interjects. “I need context here becausewhat?”

“My sister Violet doesn’t have a filter. Honestly, her wife Luna doesn’t have much of one, either. But when I met Lane and Ari, Ari told me they worked in entertainment. They didn’t explain what that meant, so when I told Vi about it, she asked if he was a porn star. When we met again at Sage’s ballet lesson the next day, I learned entertainment just meant baseball.”

Probably-Cole rears his head back and laughs. “Sounds like Ari. The fucker probably said it like that on purpose.”

“Before we get too far into this,” Rory steps in, “let me introduce you to everyone. You met Harlow earlier. The blond man who looks just like her is her brother and my husband Cole. The brunette in the chair is Ella. And the Ari-hater is Lucia.”

“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Olive, but you can call me Liv.”

“Cole,” Rory says, looking right at her husband. “I love you very much, but this is girl’s night. You gotta go.”

Cole gets up and wraps his arms around Rory’s waist. “First, my sister. Now, my wife. I’m not feeling the love right now.”

“I’ll show you the love later tonight, Sparrow.”

“Rory Elizabeth Pierce!” Harlow yells. “We agreed you weren’t going to talk about fucking my brother in front of me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she chides before pecking Cole’s lips. “Have fun with Ari, baby. I’ll see you later.”

“See you later, Starlight.”

Cole waves his goodbyes before grabbing his keys and walking out the door, leaving us girls to ourselves.

As soon as the door closes, I realize my situation, and the nerves start. The only woman I know here is Rory, so I feel completely awkward right now.

“You said there would be wine, right?” I ask.

Harlow laughs and stands up. “Oh, you’re going to fit in with us just fine, Liv. Follow me.”

Harlow leads me to the kitchen, where I pour myself a generous glass of Cabernet Sauvignon before we join the girls back in the living room.

“I’m so glad you made it tonight, Liv,” Rory smiles.

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Ella grins at me. “We’re a welcoming bunch. Lane’s girl will always be welcome.”

“Oh,” I blush. “I don’t think you could say I’m Lane’s girl. We’ve only met a few times.”

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