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I holdwith her My parents hate havingthat they are stillcare of me I simply smile and nod at the the reservations before she can get a chance to and beat her to the punch

"HeyI, umwanted to let you know that Iher now," I tell my mom hesitantly I've always been able to talk to , but this little admission doesn't roll out so easily I suspect because the concept is just so foreign to me

"Really?" rantedI deserve that My parents have long since given up on irl for them to meet

"Really," I tell her assuredly "Her name's Olivia"

"Is she pretty?" ly "I bet she's really pretty"

"Yeah, Momshe's beautiful"

I hear h in happiness on the other end, and that makes me smile "Tell me more," she says dreamily

"She has cancer," I say bluntly, and asps

"Oh, my God I'm so sorry What can I do to help?"

That's so my momready to rush in and help save the day, and I love her to pieces for it "I'm not sure Just be there for memaybe to talk This is kind of newboth the relationship and finding out about the cancer"

"HoneyI know this is probably really overwhel, but you haveyou can't handle, and I know youtime to find that special wo to make her deliriously happy"

"Thanks, Mom," I say on a breath of relief "I needed to hear that I'm scared for Olivia, and hellI've known her a little less than a week, but I really, really like her"

"Okayspill everything about her,"herself on our faossip

I unload onthat turns me on about Olivia From her beautiful face to her love of dirty jokes to her talent with floral arrangements to her kindness to others I leave out how hot she is in bed, because moms don't need to know that shit

I tell my o, and how Olivia was going to hide the cancer fro I didn't hesitate to even tell s, but that I patched things up with them Well, with at least Alex I haven't seen Sutton since the day she brought Olivia home from her second chemo visit

When I'm done, my mom whistles low "You've had quite a week, haven't you?"

"That's an understate late, but I had oneI wanted to ask you"

"Sure, baby What is it?"

"Alex questionedinvolved with Olivia He's worried abouttied up, and then if she were to die" I pause for aover those words "You knowhow hard that would be on et involved"

My mom is silent for a moment, then she says, "Garrettthe worst pain a parent can feel is watching their child in pain No mother ever wants her child to suffer, and she would do absolutely anything to protect them from that However, in this instanceI think it's worth the risk You don't knohat's going to happen to Olivia, and she could lead a long life Hellyou two could break up for so before you ever have to worry about whether she'll beat the odds The point isif this isyou happy, then I'd rather you pursue that happiness at the risk you could get seriously hurt one day Life is too short to worry about that stuff, and you should not let this pass you by"

I didn't realize how h of relief gusts out over my lips "Godthanks, Mom That's exactly what I needed"

We talk for a fewclub, which causes me to repetitively yawn, but, hey, she listened to me, so now I need to listen to her

When I finally hang up the phone, I'm filled with a little bit of peace over my decision to press forith Olivia I think htshe is definitely worth the risk

Chapter 14

Olivia

"I was thinking," Imy feet deeper into the hot sand

"Seethat's a problem for me," Garrett ru, so quit exhausting that brain of yours"