8. OLIVIA
CHAPTER 8
OLIVIA
“What do you mean we’re viral?” I blurt out, staring at Ethan as we jog down the quiet, tree-lined street. Early morning sunlight filters through the canopy of leaves, casting golden shadows on the road, but I can barely take it in. I’m still wrapping my head around everything that happened with Jax last night, and now… this?
Ethan gives me a sheepish look. He looks almost boyish with his messy hair and that lopsided, “please-don’t-kill-me” smile, the kind that probably got him out of trouble a lot when we were younger. Today, though, it won’t work on me.
“You should come for a run with me,” he’d said earlier, not giving me much of a choice. And now here we are, jogging through the neighborhood where I grew up.
I stop in my tracks. “Ethan, seriously, what happened?”
He sighs, slowing down and coming to stand next to me. “Fine, fine,” he says, trying to hide his smile. “Okay, so… remember how we set up that date for you at the café last night?”
“Yes,” I say slowly, drawing out the word. I can already tell he’s about to say something I won’t like.
“Well… I might have accidentally left one of the cameras on,” he says, wincing. “And it was streaming live on WeTube.”
I stare at him, wide-eyed. “You what ?”
Ethan takes a step back, holding up his hands like he’s facing down a wild animal. “Look, it was a total accident, okay? I didn’t realize until it was too late. I swear. And then it was too late.”
I let out a groan, leaning against the iron fence of a house with a perfectly manicured lawn, trying to process this. “You’re telling me our entire setup last night—me waiting for a date who didn’t show up, the whole thing with Jax, and you three chatting around the table—that was all live?”
Ethan nods, his grin unrepentant. “For a while, yeah. But listen, Liv, this might actually be a good thing.”
“How on earth is this a good thing?” I demand, crossing my arms over my chest. The cool morning breeze sweeps through the street, but I barely notice. I’m too busy glaring at him, imagining all the ways this could blow up in our faces.
“Because people loved it,” Ethan says, his grin widening. He steps closer, like he’s trying to share a secret. “Liv, they ate it up. They saw you waiting there, looking gorgeous by the way?—”
“Flattery won’t save you right now,” I mutter, but he keeps going.
“Then Jax joins you, looking all charming and flirty, and then Marcus shows up, all serious and brooding. And when I walked over? It was like the perfect storm. Now the internet thinks you’re dating—or at least considering—all three of us.”
My brain short-circuits for a second. “Wait, what?”
“Yeah,” he says, nodding enthusiastically. “The viewers went nuts. They started commenting, speculating, making up all these wild theories. Our existing fans loved it, and then it started trending. Liv, our channel is blowing up right now. Everyone’s calling it the ‘Love Lab Experiment: Quad Dating Edition.’”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache forming. “So… people actually believe I’m dating all three of you?”
“Yep. And they can’t get enough of it,” he says, laughing like this is the best news he’s heard in years.
I look down the road, taking in the classic neighborhood scene—tidy houses with picket fences, flower boxes in windows, a dog barking in the distance. All of it feels surreal.
“So, let me get this straight,” I say, turning to him. “You accidentally streamed me waiting on a bad date, and now the internet thinks I’m dating all three founders of Love Lab?”
Ethan smirks. “Well, I mean, technically it’s not dating if it’s just one date. But they’re definitely intrigued.”
I groan. “I can’t believe this.”
He steps closer, dropping his teasing tone. “I know, Liv. But this could be huge for us. The channel hasn’t had this kind of buzz in ages. I’m talking thousands of new subscribers overnight, comments flooding in, people sharing clips all over social media. It’s exactly what we needed.”
I look up at him, taking in his expression. He’s genuinely excited, like a kid who’s just found out Christmas came early. It’s almost endearing. Almost.
“This wasn’t what I signed up for,” I say, shaking my head.
Ethan’s smile falters for a second, and he gives me a searching look. “Are you mad?”
I want to say yes. I want to tell him this is too much, especially after what happened last night with Jax. But then I see the way he’s looking at me, like he’s waiting for me to pull the plug on the one good thing that’s happened to him in a while.
I sigh, kicking a stray pebble down the sidewalk. “No, I’m not mad. Just… flabbergasted, I guess.”
If Heather were here, she would call me an idiot. Here’s my chance to get out of this.
The bigger part of me wants to throw in the towel, go back to my quiet tech world and leave all this drama behind. But the way Ethan looks at me right now, with so much hope in his eyes, stops me. I guess I’m a fool, after all.
“Fine,” I say, exhaling sharply. “I’ll go along with it. But only because I can see how much this means to you.” I point a finger at him, trying to maintain some semblance of control. “But you need to tell me what you have in mind.”
Ethan blinks, as if he wasn’t expecting me to ask. “What do you mean?”
I roll my eyes. “You know, to keep the viewers’ interest. You said the channel’s buzzing right now, right? That kind of attention doesn’t last forever. We need to come up with something fast to keep them hooked.”
His eyes light up like I just gave him a million-dollar idea. “Olivia,” he breathes, stepping closer. “You’re a genius.”
Before I can react, Ethan leans in and kisses me on the cheek, his lips warm and unexpectedly soft against my skin. I freeze, caught completely off guard. I’m aware of everything at once: the zing that shoots through my entire body, the way his hand rests on my arm, his thumb gently brushing against my skin. It’s such a simple gesture, but it feels like a spark setting off a firework inside me.
My body goes completely still, my heart hammering against my ribs. The warmth of his skin lingers even after he pulls away.
I can feel every nerve in my body suddenly buzzing. When I look up, Ethan is close—so close that I can catch his scent, something woodsy with a hint of citrus, completely disarming. His gaze shifts, locking onto mine, and his eyes seem to darken for a moment. His look grows intense, almost unreadable.
But then he takes a step back, breaking the spell, looking anywhere but at me. “Uh, sorry. Just got carried away,” he says, a bit flustered.
I laugh, though it's shaky. “Yeah, no, it’s... fine. Totally. No big deal.” I glance down at my feet, feeling suddenly awkward and very aware of the fact that I’m sweaty and out of breath from our run. My cheeks feel hot, like they’ve been lit on fire. Ridiculous.
He coughs lightly, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Anyway," he says, clearing his throat, “We’re definitely going to need to brainstorm some ideas. Maybe I’ll set up a meeting with Jax and Marcus for later today. They’ll be over the moon with this response.”
“Right,” I say, finally managing to pull myself back to reality. “Let’s… let’s do that. Maybe play up the whole ‘quad dating’ thing they think is happening.”
Ethan raises an eyebrow, smirking. “You’re really embracing this, huh?”
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “Might as well. It’s not like I have anything better to do.”
And maybe, just maybe, if Ethan sees me dating—even fake dating his friends, he might realize he likes me.
I scoop Clawdia into my arms, holding her up so Heather can see her on the video call. Clawdia looks absolutely done with me, her fluffy black-and-white tail flicking like an annoyed metronome.
"Here she is," I say, trying to sound cheerful. "The princess herself. Look at that face—she’s been glued to me since I got back."
Heather leans closer to her screen, squinting at Clawdia. "She looks like she’s planning your demise. Did you run out of treats again?" Then her eyes narrow as she studies me more closely. “Why do you look so flushed? Did something happen with Ethan?”
“No!” I’m quick to answer. Too quick.
Heather looks like she doesn’t believe me, tossing her auburn hair away as she continues to scrutinize my face. I try to hide behind Clawdia but it’s no use. She howls at me before shaking out of my grasp and walking away. I glare at the retreating cat before turning to my friend who’s now smirking at me through the screen. “Okay, so if it wasn’t Ethan, why do you look like someone who just had the best night of her life?”
I freeze for half a second, just long enough for Heather’s smirk to widen.
“You can’t hide that look from me,” she says, waggling her eyebrows. “Swear on Serial Killer Barbie’s honor that you’re not keeping secrets.”
I give her my best serious face, raising my hand like I’m taking an oath. “I swear on the honor of Serial Killer Barbie, nothing happened with Ethan.”
It’s technically true, but it feels like I’m bending the rules a little too much. My mind flashes back to Jax’s lips on mine, the way he’d kissed me like he couldn’t get enough, like he wanted to devour every inch of me.
Heather studies me, narrowing her eyes.
“Alright, I’ll drop it—for now. But mark my words, Olivia, something is going on, and I’m going to figure it out.”
I laugh, forcing the sound out. “Good luck with that, detective.” I swipe a hand over my forehead, pretending to wipe away sweat.
The last thing I need right now is Heather grilling me about Jax—especially since I’m still trying to wrap my head around it myself.
The second I hang up with Heather, my phone buzzes with a new text. It’s Ethan.
Ethan: Hey! Setting up your first date with Marcus. He’s free this weekend. You good with that?
Oh, hell. I completely forgot that he’s part of the deal as well.
I can’t help but laugh, the sound a bit manic. This is officially more complicated than I’d planned. It’s one thing to go on a fake date with Jax, who kissed me senseless last night and made me question all my life choices. It’s another to have a date set up with Marcus, who knows me in ways that most men never will.
And then there’s Ethan. I don’t even know how to categorize him. Friend? Crush? The guy who might have accidentally reignited all my old feelings just by smiling at me?
“Clawdia,” I say, collapsing onto the couch and staring up at the ceiling, “this might be a little more than I bargained for.”
She rolls onto her paws and headbutts my hand, clearly unsympathetic. I could swear she’s judging me. I don’t blame her.
I grab my phone and type a quick reply to Ethan before I can overthink it.
Me: Sure, sounds good.