Page 7 of Mine to Gain

“Yeah,” Madison answers matter-of-factly, like I should just know what she’s talking about.

“You don’t have a list of things you want to try?” Wren looks up at me.

“Should I?”

“Not necessarily a literal list. But what about a mental one?” Madison presses.

“I have no idea what you two are talking about. Like sex stuff?”

They both laugh, and Wren shakes her head.

“It doesn’t have to be sex stuff,” Wren explains. “It can be just things you’re challenging yourself to try. A bucket list or whatever. But it can include sex stuff. Especially if you’re single and trying to figure out what you want next time so you’re not stuck with someone who doesn’t have patience.”

“Right. Things that turn you on. Things you want to try. Things you have tried and definitely want to do again?” Madison’s looking increasingly concerned about my lack of list.

“I can’t say that’s a thing I have. No.”

“Oh. We need to make you one. Stat. Get your phone out.” Madison swallows the rest of her drink and motions toward my purse.

“I think we also need to just get her back to having some fun. It’s almost summer. I know there so many things to do with the team, but you should have some fun. Get out and, like, go to the pool or take a hike or visit a museum.” Wren looks at me. “You’re all work and no play. That’s not healthy.”

“The fact that you two workaholics are lecturing me about my workaholism has me worried.”

“Well, we can all be better about it. Support each other in taking some time off and just enjoy life instead of always being on to the next. Right, Mads?” Wren looks between us.

“Sure. Just as soon as I unload the biggest pain-in-the-ass client I’ve ever had.” Madison holds out her hand for my phone.

“You secretly love torturing him,” I tease her about Quentin.

“I mean, I don’t hate it. I’ve been pushing him to work on his lists too.” Madison watches as I search for my phone, which I just put back in my bag and somehow immediately lost.

I extract and unlock it before I hand it over to its fate. She opens the notes list where Wren had given me her secret recipe for the Better Than Sex cake, creates a blank list, and then grins deviously as she starts to type away.

“Her obsession with lists is definitely a kink, right?” I ask as I flash an amused look at Wren.

“It wouldn’t surprise me.” The corner of Wren’s mouth quirks up in a smirk.

“All right. We’ll ease into the kinks. Let’s just make you a list of things you want to try this summer in general.” Madison smirks as she adds a couple of stickers to the note before titling it. “We can call it the Better Than the Ex List.”

“Oh. I love that.” Wren claps her hands together and grabs another cookie off the veritable tower of snacks she made for us. “What’s up first?”

“I don’t know. Now you’ve given me way too many possibilities.” I look to Madison for guidance.

“Okay, so let’s start with something you’ve never done but have always wanted to try.”

“Stargazing?” I shrug.

“Stargazing.” Madison presses her lips together and tilts her head in thought. “I’ve honestly not tried that either. See, that’s a good start. What else?”

“Camping? Maybe? I’m not sold on that, but theoretically, the nature and the s’mores sound like fun.”

“You’ve never been camping?” Wren presses her hand to her chest in surprise.

I shrug sheepishly. It wasn’t exactly high on the list of things to do in the Xavier household where things like fundraising dinners and golf outings with business associates took precedence.

“All right. Well, at the very least, we can set you up out here in the woods with a tent. We have half a dozen because East keeps deciding he needs the latest model. Whatever that even means when it comes to tents. Like… as long as it doesn’t leak and there’s enough room, I’m not sure why it matters. And yet every summer, like clockwork…” Wren shakes her head in disbelief, and Madison and I both laugh.

“Married life sounds like fun,” I muse.

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