Chapters (48)
- 1. One
- 2. Two
- 3. Three
- 4. Four
- 5. Five
- 6. Six
- 7. Seven
- 8. Eight
- 9. Nine
- 10. Ten
- 11. Eleven
- 12. Twelve
- 13. Thirteen
- 14. Fourteen
- 15. Fifteen
- 16. Sixteen
- 17. Seventeen
- 18. Eighteen
- 19. Nineteen
- 20. Twenty
- 21. Twenty-One
- 22. Twenty-Two
- 23. Twenty-Three
- 24. Twenty-Four
- 25. Twenty-Five
- 26. Twenty-Six
- 27. Twenty-Seven
- 28. Twenty-Eight
- 29. Twenty-Nine
- 30. Thirty
- 31. Thirty-One
- 32. Thirty-Two
- 33. Thirty-three
- 34. Thirty-Four
- 35. Thirty-Five
- 36. Thirty-Six
- 37. Thirty-Seven
- 38. Thirty-Eight
- 39. Thirty-Nine
- 40. Forty
- 41. Forty-One
- 42. Forty-Two
- 43. Forty-three
- 44. Epilogue
- Afterword
- Also by
- Acknowledgments
- About Author
Good. Distractions were good. Olive shrugged and tried to take a sip of her drink before she realized it was empty. She grabbed mine instead and finished it off. “I edit podcasts from my laptop. It’s freelance so I work wherever I need to.” I waited for her to ask me what I did for a living, but being the brat that this chick was, I was sure she wasn’t going to. Considering how thrilling my job was, I couldn’t understand the appeal of a desk job, much less sitting around editing podcasts. Listening to the same voices over and over sounded miserable.
“Well, I am a kid’s ski instructor.” That was usually the line. The one that caught women by surprise and always had them climbing all over me. Working with kids and having professional snowboarding and skiing skills had certainly never given me trouble with women in the past. But Olive’s reaction was a huge disappointment. She looked up and crooked her brow as if to say “Okay…and?” At this point, I was desperate to find out what did impress this little scrooge.
Olive drained my drink and after watching her guzzle down drinks like water, she had to be full-on wasted. She increasingly got louder, but it was clear she was a “friendly drunk,” which was a nice alternative from the rude stranger I had first sat with. She would whisper jokes in my ear that didn't make sense and mess with the volume on my headset for fun. Her version of a whisper after a few drinks was a sober person's version of talking normally. She would also tell me I smelled nice when she leaned too far in my direction and would eye my dimpled cheeks when I smiled. It did wonders for my ego.
Olive pointed down to the snacks I ordered, which had yet to be eaten.
“Psssstttt, Finn. Hand me the thing of penis. Peanus. Peanuts.”
I let out a loud laugh, my deep chuckle filling the aircraft. Maybe we're both loud drunks.
“Shhh!” The older woman seated diagonally from us whisper-yelled in our direction. I turned my head to reply but Olive beat me to it. She leaned over my lap and obnoxiously pushed a finger to her lips. “You shh!”
I snorted at her brazen attitude, and I wondered if she was going to get us in trouble with the tiny flight attendant. I turned my head back to her a little too fast and my eyes seemed to lag from my brain.
“You’re gonna get us in trouble.” I scolded my newly found friend.
“Shh. You’re being too loud, Finland.”
Maybe I should have taken a different flight.
3. Three
