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This is literally a lose-lose thought process. If Danny had treated her like the fucking gift she is, they would still be happily married and together. Or we are reaping the benefits of the abuse he inflicted on her for years, forcing her to leave him, and now we all get a chance with her. I can’t keep cycling through this in my head. I just have to realize that we are here now because we can’t change the past.

Mina’s voice jolts me out of my swirling thoughts, which I think have kept me silent for a few minutes.

“Did you know that there’s a tree on a college campus that has been grafted so many times, there are like forty different stone fruit tree limbs growing on it?”

I blink down at her, thrown off by her random statement. “What?”

Laughing, she shakes her head, ignoring her blushing cheeks. “I was thinking about how pretty it is here and then got sad that we missed when they were blooming. It reminded me of a photo I saw online where this Syracuse college professor experimented with grafting branches on to trees. He grafted forty different types of stone fruits onto one trunk, so when it blooms, it’s this massive array of colors. It’s one of the most beautiful trees I’ve ever seen.”

“What’s a stone fruit?” I ask, still trying to pull myself out of my dark thoughts and focus on what she’s saying.

She turns to look up at me, seemingly excited that I’m interested, instead of brushing her off. “Stone fruits are fruits with pits. Things like cherries, plums, peaches, and so on. When you graft a tree, they must be similar enough to take. So, in the same type of family. You couldn’t graft an apple tree to a peach tree, but you could do an apple and a pear, if that makes sense.”

“Huh. That’s pretty interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever heard about grafting trees. What made you look into it?” I like this side of her. Sharing her random thoughts out loud instead of keeping them to herself.

Smiling, she turns away from me. “There was an apple tree in our backyard growing up, and I tried to look up if it was an eating apple or cider apple. Some are really bitter, and some are sweet. The bitter apples tend to be used more for cider and distilling into alcohol. I went down the rabbit hole and read all sorts of fascinating things about grafting and how to produce the most fruit possible when growing them.” Shrugging, she tries to brush it off.

“Is that something you’re interested in doing? Growing fruit trees?” Mina has been held back by her parents and Danny for so long that I know she feels directionless.

She considers my question. “Sure. I suppose it would be fun. I think it’d be nice to grow a little orchard and make pie fillings and apple butter. I’d love to do what that professor did, graft a few trees together into one.”

Mina and I shove the board game to the side, then lay down and spend the next hour discussing her fruit trees and other facts that she’s stored in her head over the years.

She’s a fascinating woman, and I’ve loved every second of her very first date. I can’t wait to take her on the next.

Chapter 44

Being Followed

Max

Am I jealous?

I’ve been watching Ethan and Mina on their date for the last two hours while they eat, laugh, and share stories with each other. I knew I wouldn’t be able to be the guard who stayed closest to them because Mina wouldn’t have ever been able to relax enough with Ethan while I watched.

At least I don’t think she would. She seems to have been comfortable kissing us in front of the others, so maybe this sort of arrangement isn’t something she’s going to shy away from.

Vincent has been really great for her with getting her to open up and letting her relax around us. He’s gotten her to laugh more times than I can count now, playing around and teasing her, bringing her out of her shell. I know if he had planned a date for our girl, he would have planned something flashy and extravagant to wow her. Something to knock her off her feet.

Mina is good for him as well. She keeps his feet on the ground and pushes him to stay focused on what’s important. I wouldn’t call Vincent a player, but out of the three of us, he’s always had more casual hookups than me and Ethan. But with her, he’s entirely devoted, and it didn’t take him long to get there. She grounds him.

Ethan is the one who surprised me the most. He’s always been distant, especially with women. I can’t honestly remember a single serious girlfriend he’s ever had. It’s like he’s always been waiting for ‘the one’ to come along. That guy is loyal to a fault and has been since the first day I ever met him.

He has this uncanny ability to know exactly what Mina needs before even she does. When Vincent and I both flounder, Ethan steers us in the right direction. Of all the people to make it look easy, I’m shocked that it’s the guy who has literally zero experience.

It’s obvious that she’s gotten under his skin as well. Ethan has always been quiet and introverted, grunting more often than using his words. With Mina, he’s opening up more and more, even sharing his thoughts with us more frequently. It’s like she unlocked something inside of him and gave him a reason to speak.

Where I struggle with is what do I give her? It’s hard to self-critique.

I know what she gives me. Fucking purpose. I’m not just talking about providing her with a safe place to live and protection, but purpose to make her happy. A purpose to make her feel loved, special, and wanted. I always thought I knew what I’d want in a woman when I finally settled down. Someone who was independent, beautiful, and let me live my life without interference.

Mina changed that for me. Don’t get me wrong, she’s one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen in my life, but she’s so much more than that. She made me realize that what I want is affection, companionship, someone who makes me feel needed. There’s this need to wrap her up and shelter her from the world that’s growing exponentially within me every day, and I want to give her only the best parts of the world.

She makes me want to be better, todobetter. I want to be that for her.

So, the original question remains. Am I jealous?

No, I don’t think I am.

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