Page 87 of Tell Me I'm Enough

I laugh. “Something like that.”

She leans her chin on her hand, studying me. “I’m trying to picture it. You…smiling in those underwater documentaries…next to whales.”

“More like the sharks,” I say. “I’d be a pretty badass marine biologist.”

She laughs, and I can’t help grinning, watching her. “What made you want to do that?”

“I grew up near the water. It was always my escape. Naples is all coastline. Surfing a lot, going out on boats. I was always in the middle of the ocean. It was the only place that didn’t feel like I was drowning, ironically. Especially when shit was bad at home.”

She nods slowly and then hums. “Boat-money rich,” she teases, trying to lighten it. “Love that for you.”

I smirk over at her. “Maybe I’ll take you one day. Ever been on a boat?”

“Does a kayak count?”

I shake my head, laughing. “No.”

“Then nope. But I would love to.”

“You have to experience it. I’m even PADI certified.”

“What the hell is that?” she asks.

“Deep diving.”

“Ah, fuck.Thatwould terrify me.”

I chuckle. “It’s so beautiful. I promise there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“Umm, did you forget about the sharks?”

“I’d fight off all the sharks for you,” I say, winking at her. “You’d be safe with me.”

She looks down at the book again. “Okay, so why don’t you do that? Be a marine biologist?”

I mindlessly flip the pages of the book in front of me. “I told you, I’m taking over my dad’s company.”

She looks up, confused and a little annoyed for me. “But you don’t want to?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Okay, so what am I missing?” she asks. “If you hate it…why is it the plan? I know he wants you to, but like…why not just tell him no?”

“Everything kinda depends on it,” I say, shrugging like it’s no big deal.

“Like what?”

I look up at her. “Money, college tuition…my brothers.”

She looks even more confused now. “Your brothers?”

I nod. “Yeah…not only would he try to keep me away from them if I went against him…but the company is for them too, to set them up for success in life. Basically, I do everything he wants me to—I grow up without a real childhood, I do football, I get good grades, I go to the school he wanted, I get a business degree so I can take over Sinclair Real Estate Investments. He pays for college and my life, and in return, my soul goes to the family firm…blah, blah, blah. At this point, it’s more for the boys, but I’ve always known it’s what I’d do, even before they were born.”

Her nose scrunches. “That sounds…horrible, like you’ve been groomed since birth to be his replacement.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” I lean back in the chair. “But what other choice do I have?”

She twists her pen between her fingers, thinking. “We always have choices.”