Page 223 of Force Play
“I’m still surprised by how much you want kids right now, Knox,” Lo says, shaking her head.
Our entire friend group is thinking about families.
Knox and Lo are deciding on when to try, but they clearly both want it.
Cole and Rory are trying soon.
Josh and Ella are halfway through their pregnancy.
Lane and Olive have Sage, which is everything they want and need.
Ari and me? Well, we’re still trying. I got my period last week, so I’m not pregnant yet, but we’ve barely even started. I know we’ll be joining our friends sometime in the not-so-distant future.
“Would you like a drink, love?” Ari whispers in my ear, and I can’t help but smile every time he calls me that.
“A drink would be perfect. You know my favorite.”
He gives me a quick kiss before walking off to the bar with the rest of the guys, leaving me with just the girls.
Well, I thought it was just the girls.
“Are you dating Ari Morgan?!” a voice exclaims from behind me, and I turn around to find Nathan and Greg staring at me, mouths agape.
I lightly laugh. “Yes, I’m dating Ari.”
“I didn’t think he dated anyone,” Greg says, apparently baffled by what he saw.
“Sometimes you just need to find the right person to change your mind,” I reply, glancing over at my boyfriend at the bar and smiling.
“I didn’t realize dating was allowed,” Nathan adds.
“The Stars don’t have anything in place that says we can’t,” I shrug. “And I keep professional in my job, so he doesn’t get any special treatment. If anything, I’m harder on him than I am anyone else.”
Dr. Coltrain gets their attention now, so they say goodbye to me and head off to meet him. I turn back around and find my boyfriend coming back with my drink.
I take my vodka soda with lime from him and take a sip. “Thank you, baby.”
“Time to mingle, sweetheart.” He holds his arm out. “I’d like some arm candy while we have to suck up to the donors.”
I smile and link my arm with his, and we walk off to the floor.
“I think this has been a successful night so far,” I say, leaning with my back against one of the terrace columns.
“I’ve gotten to introduce you as ‘Lucia Torres, my girlfriend’ all night, so I’d say it’s been perfect.”
Ari smiles at me, and I kiss it off his face.
“Well, I’ll be damned.”
We turn and see Paul walking over to us and chuckling.
“Hey, Skip,” Ari says.
“Good to see you, Paul.”
He shakes his head in disbelief. “When did this”— He gestures his arms between Ari and me. —“happen? Last I heard, you two didn’t even like each other.”
“We didn’t,” I admit. “But when I needed a place to live, Ari was kind enough to let me move in with him. From there, we became friends.”
