Page 62 of Break

Waving my hand in the air, I start to list off ideas. “Anything you can think of that you’ve always wanted to do. You could choose skydiving, bungee jumping, travel to a specific country, go to the beach, fishing. It all depends on what interests you.”

Her body tilts forward, closer to me, and she seems very intrigued. “I don’t know about some of that, but I’ve never been fishing before.”

My mouth falls open. “I was just joking about the fishing thing. You’ve seriously never been? It’s like the first thing a dad ever does with their kid.”

I know I’ve embarrassed her when she tucks her chin down to her chest. “Well, going to the beach sounds… fun.”

Narrowing my eyes, I realize that I’ve just caught this woman in the first lie she’s ever told me. I jab the pen at her and, maybe a little too loudly, yell, “Liar!” She flinches at the sound of my voice, so I quickly soften it. I can’t hold back my laughter. “Wilhelmina… wait, what’s your middle name?”

“Uhh… Joyce?” She sounds like she’s asking me, but I know it’s because she’s not used to my personality yet. She’ll figure it out soon enough.

“WilhelminaJoyceBardot, because fuck calling you Reed. I do believe that I’ve caught you in a lie.” Grinning, I lean as far forward as I can without my ass lifting from my seat. “You hate beaches, don’t you?”

Her shudder answers for her. “I don’t really know. I haven’t been to one, but they don’t sound enjoyable. Sand everywhere, seagulls eating your food,thingsin the water…”

I bark out a laugh at her worry over ‘things’ in the water. “Well, I can assure you, beaches are awesome, but we won’t add it to your list. Fishing, though? That’s going down.” As I write it across the top line, I shake my head at the men she’s had to deal with her entire life and want to smack them.Who doesn’t go fishing?“Max and Ethan are big into going down to the lake when they have a morning off. We’ll schedule it soon.”

“Oh, I don’t want to be a bother-”

I cut her off before she worms her way out of it. “Absolutely not. Seriously, they’ll be like excited little puppies. We’ll all go. It’ll be awesome.”

It’s obvious she wants to go because she doesn’t continue arguing and moves on. “I’d like to sleep outside.”

“Like camping?” This time I make sure I don’t make a comment about her wanting to do something that most people have already done. She nods sharply, eyeing my pen as I write it down. “Camping it is. That shouldn’t be too hard to plan out. But, and I gotta be honest here.” I cup my mouth to whisper, like I’m letting her in on a secret. “Ethan is a fucking pussy when it comes to sleeping outside. We’ll need an air mattress or something.”

My breath stalls when she silently laughs, an almost full smile breaking out.Jesus, her smile is radiant.

“Bullshit. I sleep on the ground just fine.”

Both Mina and I turn our heads quickly to find Ethan walking in with her lunch. He moves over to her desk and sets the tray down. Then he grabs the fresh bottle of water to loosen the cap for her before picking the whole thing back up and bringing it over to the bed.

“Oh, I could have come downstairs. You really don’t need to keep bringing this up to me.”

“Don’t mind,” he says, and I roll my eyes at his inability to engage in conversation using full sentences.

She thanks him as I look back over the list only containing only two things. “Alright, let’s get back to this. What else is popping into that pretty little head of yours?”

Mina blushes, flashing a quick look at Ethan when he lets out a small rumble. “List for what?”

“We are making a list of things that she’s never done. A bucket list of sorts,” I inform him.

“Tattoo.” He’s quick with his answer and I arch a brow at Mina.

“You want a tattoo, sweetness?” I ask her.

Shrugging, she picks up a chip from the plate with Ethan watching her every moment. He’s been obsessed with making sure she eats three full meals a day, along with snacks. I’m also pretty sure he’s counting her empty water bottles to ensure she’s getting enough fluids. After swallowing her bite, she tells me, “I’m not sure. I wouldn’t even know what to get.” Looking up at Ethan where he’s hovering, she asks, “Would it hurt?”

Slowly shaking his head, he looks down at his arms. “Not bad. Just more like an itch you can’t scratch for a while. It can be uncomfortable, though.”

Writing down ‘tattoo’, I can tell she had wanted me to wait. I gently reassure her. “I’m just writing it as a maybe. You don’t have to do all of this. It’s just ideas for now.” Once I’m done, I look back at her and find her staring right at me. My stomach does a little turn and I look away this time, a bit unnerved that her attention has me feeling…things.

“I’d like to get drunk.”

Both Ethan and I stare at her in surprise, my mouth dropping open once again. “Really?”

She looks at the ceiling for a second before confidently nodding. “Yes. At a bar, too. I’ve never been to a bar.”

My thoughts race as I write this one down. Looking over her list, I realize that everything she wants to do are things that literallyeveryonehas experienced at her age. It’s like her parents and then Danny locked her up and threw away the key, never letting her out to live her goddamn life. Every fucking one of them should be ashamed of how they’ve treated her and restricted her. Christ, what a lonely life she’s had. It only makes me feel more determined to get her out to try new things. To bring a fucking smile to this woman’s face.

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