Page 86 of Faking with Three

The drive back to the city feels like a slow transition from paradise to the chaos of reality. I hate being back already, and we’re already even there yet.

Ethan’s behind the wheel, his hands drumming idly against the steering wheel as we weave through light traffic. Olivia and Marcus are quiet in the back seat. The day is dreary and grey, a stark contrast to the good weather we’ve had for the last couple of days. It feels almost ominous.

We’re just a few blocks from my place when Ethan’s phone buzzes on the console. He glances at it briefly, the name on the screen making his jaw tighten. He swipes to answer, his tone casual but strained. “Kara, what’s up?”

The rest of us sit up a little, catching the change in his energy. He’s listening intently, his expression darkening with every second.

“She’s onwhatchannel?” Ethan’s knuckles whiten as he grips the wheel tighter.

“What’s wrong?” Olivia asks.

Ethan doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he pulls the car to the curb, his jaw clenched. “Yeah,” he says into the phone. “Send me the link. We’ll deal with it.”

“It’s Charlie Green,” he says, and just hearing her name is enough to set me on edge. “She’s found out about our new segment.”

Olivia’s eyes narrow. “How? We haven’t even announced it yet.”

“Doesn’t matter how,” Ethan snaps, frustration lacing his voice. “What matters is she’s already spreading shit. She’s going to be on some local WeTube news channel, no doubt trashing us. She’s already talking shit about us on her stories.”

My gut tightens. “What’s she saying?”

Ethan runs a hand through his hair, his irritation barely contained. “The usual bullshit, but she’s targeting the polyamory angle. Saying we’re promoting ‘immoral lifestyles’ or some crap like that. Kara said she’s making it sound like we’re out here corrupting kids or something.”

“Goddamn it,” Marcus mutters. “What’s her play? I thought we gave her a good reason to shut the hell up with her nonsense.”

“It obviously didn’t work,” Ethan says. “Let’s go to my place and figure out how bad this is.”

By the time we pull up to Ethan’s apartment, my jaw aches from how tightly I’ve been clenching it.

Inside, Ethan heads straight for his laptop while Olivia perches on the arm of the couch, her arms crossed.

“Can we do something to stop it?” Marcus asks.

“I can’t catch hold of my lawyer,” Olivia says, biting her tongue.

“I can call my lawyer, and have it taken down,” I say. “It’ll probably be quicker that way since he’s local.”

“Okay,” Ethan says, nodding.

I call my lawyer, Ronnie, and he picks up on the second ring. He’s aware of Love Lab, and I previously talked to him about Charlie Green once so I give him a quick rundown of the situation with her.

But his answer leaves me dismayed.

“There’s nothing we can do?” I ask.

“Not in the time we have,” Ronnie, sounding more apologetic than I need him to be. “If it’s a public opinion piece and not an outright defamation, it’s tricky to get an emergency injunction.The segment will have already aired by the time we push anything through.”

I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to throw my phone across the room. “So that’s it? She gets to say whatever she wants, and we just have to take it?”

“For now,” he says cautiously. “But if anything she says crosses the line into actionable territory, we’ll go after her. Document everything.”

I hang up without bothering with pleasantries and toss my phone onto the table. The sharp sound makes everyone look at me.

“Well?” Marcus asks, his tone clipped.

I shake my head, running a hand through my hair. “He can’t stop it. Not in time.”

Olivia’s leg stops bouncing, and she leans forward, her brows furrowed. “So what now? We just sit here and watch her trash everything we’ve built?”

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