Free Life Support (The Breathe Series Book 2) by Zoe Norman

friends and family believe.” I plead.
    There is a pause. A very, very long pause.
    “I believe you,” Olivia murmurs quietly. “I’m just tired of feeling like I’m going to lose you to a firehouse groupie or…now a cocktail waitress in Vegas. It makes me feel inadequate and like I’m not enough for you.”
    “Olivia, baby, please get those crazy thoughts out of your head. You’re more than enough for me. So much so, I feel like I don’t deserve you. I love you…only you. I’m not who I was before. I’m better…so much better and that’s all because of you.”
    “I love you too.” Olivia exhales loudly, seemingly satisfied and reassured. “What are you guys doing tonight? More of the same?”
    “Once I kick Travis’s ass, we’re going golfing and then out to a nice dinner tonight. Then tomorrow, I’m on my way back to you.”
    “Okay. Good.”
    “I’ll talk to you later today, okay baby?”
    “Okay. I love you, Owen.”
    “Love you too, sunshine. Bye.” I hang up the phone and stare at it in my hand, plotting my revenge on Travis.

THERE ARE A FEW moments in life you never expect to witness—like seeing a baby being born, a celebrity robbing your bank, or digging in your backyard and finding a coffee tin with gold boullion inside. But that’s just where I find myself. My best friend, Travis, is getting married in a few days. Married! This is the same asshole who came in his pants the first time Becca Montgomery kissed him in seventh grade. The same guy who was caught by campus police climbing down the lattice of the Chi Omega fraternity house at the University of Washington at three a.m. The same guy I rode bikes with around the neighborhood when we were kids—putting on mile after mile, making our legs week from exhaustion. The same guy who was at my door forty-eight hours after my dad passed away from cancer. Travis is my brother from another mother, and the fucker is getting tying the knot.
    Both my mother and Olivia spent the night at my place in preparation for our flight out to Seattle today. On my growing list of things I’m learning about my Olivia is that she gets very horny when she knows other people, namely family, are around and in earshot. I found that out last night. You’re not hearing me complain though. Taking her from behind and covering her mouth with my hand to muffle her screams as I pounded into her was the perfect way to stave off any anxiety nightmares for me and we both slept like the dead.
    I’ve successfully managed to get both women out of my apartment and to JFK airport in a timely fashion. If I was able to do that, this weekend should go off without a hitch. On the ride to the airport, I told my mom that I had upgraded her seat to join Olivia and me in first class. She, of course, was very grateful for the surprise and is currently enjoying a mimosa with Olivia at the bar inside the United Club Lounge. I watch the women interact and laugh as they continue to get to know each other.
    Checking my watch, I realize that our plane will be boarding in ten minutes. I save the speech I’m working on for Travis’s wedding on my MacBook and pack the laptop away before heading over to my favorite women.
    “Ladies.”
    Wordlessly, they both know that it’s time for us to leave, so they down the last of their drinks. I leave a generous tip for the bartender and gather all of our bags as we walk toward our departure gate.
    A few moments after we arrived at the gate, our seating section is called and we stride down the gangway to settle in for our six-hour flight. Olivia helps my mom get situated and shows her the various functions of the first-class seat while I stow our bags. As I close the overhead bin, Olivia slides into our row and takes the luxurious, leather seat by the window. She pulls her Kindle out of her purse and puts it in the seat pocket before tucking her bag under the seat in front of her.
    When we’ve both ordered a beverage, I take hold of Olivia’s