Page 104 of Break

I laugh at his eyeroll and continue. “Second, and correct me if I’m wrong, but when I came home last night, Imayhave heard a little something going on upstairs. I’m certain that it was Ethan’s date yesterday, which means you essentially poached her right out from under him. That’s an instant red flag and should immediately put you at the back of the line.”

Max blushes.Holy shit, Maxwell Bennett is standing in front of me and blushing.When he sees me fighting off a grin, he flips me off and says, “Fuck. Off. I didn’t poach her. I’d also make the argument that what happened between us should be the reason Igetto take her out next.”

This motherfucker looks proud, but he doesn’t know what hand I’m holding. Shrugging away his counterargument, I tell him, “Maybe. If you hadn’t alreadyhada date with her. Right now, it’s Ethan—one, you—one, and me at a whopping zero. So, logically, it’s my turn. That’s reason three, and to use your original statement. Fair is fair, buddy.”

Max’s arms fall to his sides, and his mouth drops open before he quickly snaps it shut. “How the hell do you figure I’ve taken her out on a date?”

“Is everything okay?” Mina’s sweet voice rings out into the kitchen. Max and I whip our heads around to see her standing in the doorway. Ethan is standing behind her, a look of recrimination.

“They’re fine. Just idiots.” His reassurance doesn’t alleviate any worry from my sweetpea. Glancing down her at body, I see that she’s got her shoes on, and I quickly formulate a plan.

Turning back to Max, I raise a brow and whisper, “Prom.”

I should feel bad when Max’s shoulders slump as he realizes that I’m right. Even though I don’t really think it should count as a date when they went to prom together, they did technically go as dates. She went with him just as a friend and favor so he wouldn’t be alone. But I’ll use it to my advantage today.

Glancing over my shoulder at Mina, I ask, “Got any big plans this morning?”

Shaking her head, still not following what Max and I were discussing, she indicates that she doesn’t.Perfect.

“Wonderful!” Spinning on my heel, I stride toward her and barely slow when I wrap my arms around her and gently hoist her over my shoulder. “We’re going out, sweetpea!”

“Wait,” Ethan says at the same time Max calls out, “Hold up, fucker!”

Sighing, I turn, loving the sound of Mina’s giggling as she hangs over my shoulder, hands bracing herself against my lower back. “Yes?” I ask them as they storm after us.

“You can’t just go out. We have to call the station before we go anywhere. Or did you forget Coop wants extra eyes in public?” Thankfully, Max isn’t going to argue about who gets the next date in front of our girl. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter in the long run. I just wanted to fuck with him. But Idohave something planned for her.

“Guys.” I wait until I have both of their attention, then continue. “We’re just going into the backyard. Chill out.”

I leave them to stew, turning back around and heading outside. With Danny missing, I know our options are limited for taking Mina out, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improvise for now.

“What are we going to do?” she asks breathlessly, probably more from the way she’s hanging rather than my romantic gesture.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, sweetheart.” I quickly pull her down and hold her hips until she’s steady on her feet. Then, turning her around, I show her my truck parked in the middle of the yard, the bed facing the back of Max’s detached garage. I let her take in the view before asking, “What do you think?”

Mina cocks her head to the side, trying to figure out why I have a truck in the middle of the yard and nothing else. Stepping around to her side, I look down at her and grin when she narrows her eyes on the black box sitting on the tailgate. “What is that?”

Grabbing her hand, I walk her closer. “It’s a projector. Ever been to a drive-in?”

“Like they used to do back in the fifties? Drive-in movies?”

“Exactly like that. Perfect for snacks, snuggling, and snogging,” I tease, giving her a wink.

Mina’s eyes crinkle when she grins up at me, squinting her eyes against the sun. “Very presumptuous, but I’m excited. I’ve never done anything like this.”

“Well, I’ve got it all set up. There’s a pile of blankets so our butts stay comfortable, pillows, snacks, and the movie is cued. I figured since we were going to do something classy, we could watch a classic movie as well.”

Gripping her around the waist, I help her into the bed and watch as she crawls on hands and knees over to the pillows. Sitting cross-legged, she peeks into the cooler as I push play on the projector, and then propel myself up and step carefully to where she is.

“Stand up for a second.” Holding my hand out, she grabs it and lets me shift her around until I’m behind her. Then, sitting down, I guide her between my legs so she can lean back against my chest. “This is the snuggling part; in case you were curious.”

“Noted. So, what do we have for snacks?” Mina pulls the cooler between her legs and shifts around to get more comfortable on the blankets. Her ass bumps against my lap, and I look up to ignore the contact. It’s not really classy to get an erection within the first five minutes of our date.

Leaning forward, I rest my chin on her shoulder and peer down, pointing out what I’ve packed. “Mainly just finger foods. There are a few different types of sandwiches, grapes, pretzels, cheese, carrots. Nothing fancy, just what I could find in Max’s fridge.”

Mina twists around to face me, her smile filled with affection. “It’s perfect. Thank you for this.”

Inching my face closer, I press my lips to hers. Nothing invasive, but a small kiss to let her know that I don’t want to hold back from her. “My pleasure. Now, how do you feel about terrible, scary movies?”

---