Page 103 of Faking with Three

I let out a breath, running a hand through my hair. “First of all, we need to make sure Olivia’s okay. That’s the priority. Everything else comes second.”

Marcus nods, his expression serious. “Agreed. But what happens to Love Lab? Do we want to get the baby involved in this?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean?—”

Ethan shoots him a look. “You think we don’t know that? We’ll handle it, but let’s not turn this into a PR meeting. This is about her.”

Olivia raises a hand, cutting them both off. “Guys, stop. I don’t want this to turn into an argument. I called you all here because I need you. I can’t do this without you. I’m terrified, okay? I don’t even know where to start, and I’m scared I’m going to lose all of you because of this.”

The words hit like a punch to the chest, and for a moment, none of us say anything.

“You’re not going to lose us,” I say. “We’ve been through too much for that.”

“I’ll be honest. I didn’t expect to feel this way when we started all of this. But somewhere along the line, it stopped being just about the project for me,” Ethan says.

“What do you mean?” she asks.

“I mean I care about you,” he says. “More than I thought I would. More than I was ready to admit.”

Marcus lets out a low whistle, shaking his head. “Well, guess we’re putting it all on the table, huh?”

Olivia looks at him, her brows furrowed. “Marcus?”

He leans back, his lips quirking into a faint smile. “I thought I was just along for the ride. I didn’t expect… this. But yeah, Liv, I care about you too.”

I swallow hard, my hands tightening into fists. “I thought staying away was the right thing to do,” I admit, my voice rough. “For Adam, for you guys, for everyone. But the truth is… I’ve been miserable. Because I love you, Olivia. I have for a while. And I’m done pretending I don’t.”

Her breath catches, her eyes wide as she looks between us. “You… you all feel that way?”

“Yeah,” Ethan says softly. “We do. Liv, I love you. I didn’t think it would happen. Hell, I tried to fight it. But it’s true.”

“I love you, too, Olivia. You’re one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

Her eyes turn glassy as she looks at each of us in turn. “I don’t… I don’t know what to say.”

“Say whatever you feel,” I tell her, stepping closer. “There’s no wrong answer.”

She lowers her hands slowly, her lips trembling as she speaks. “I love you. All of you. And it terrifies me.”

Marcus puts an arm around her waist, cocooning her belly. “It’s okay to be scared, Liv. We’re all a little scared.”

“But it doesn’t change how we feel,” Ethan adds.

“Or how much we want to make this work.”

Olivia looks down, her hands twisting in her lap. “I don’t even know where to start.”

I crouch in front of her, taking her hands in mine. “We start here. Together. One step at a time.”

She nods slowly, her gaze lifting to meet mine. “Okay.”

“So, uh, can we all agree to avoid any more grand dramatic revelations for at least a week? My old heart can’t take it,” Marcus says.

I roll my eyes. “Come on, Marcus. Not the time for that.”

“Just imagine, by the time the kid is in kindergarten, Marcus is gonna be at parent-teacher conferences with a walker, or worse, a motorized scooter.”

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