Chapter 294: Laughter Between the Lines

Wyatt said, “She dropped out of high school. What kind of ideas could she possibly have? I probably know more vocabulary than she does.”

Jordan went quiet.

Yunice glanced at Wyatt, hesitated for a few seconds, then blurted out, unwilling to back down, “I speak seven languages.”

Jordan laughed. “Mrs. Cooper, come on. Don’t try to bluff us—we know your background. You spent three years in a psych ward, not a language institute. There’s no way you know seven languages.”

Yunice went silent. To prove she wasn’t lying, Yunice replied to Jordan in six different languages.

Wyatt frowned and asked through the phone, “What’s she rambling about?”

Jordan was stunned for a second before replying, “She said I shouldn’t look down on her. And that if she had a college degree, she would’ve passed the certification exam for translators by now.”

Wyatt glanced at Yunice. “That confident, huh?”

Jordan added awkwardly, “But I didn’t catch everything she said.”

Even someone like Jordan wasn’t fluent in all seven languages. He caught bits and pieces, but a few lines were totally lost on him.

Yunice idly played with her utensils and said calmly, “The rest of what I said was, even though I never formally studied foreign languages, I grew up reading original medical texts from all over the world. I used dictionaries and looked up every word one by one. By the time I was a teenager, I could hold full conversations without a problem.” She looked straight at Wyatt, full of confidence. “Which language are you struggling with?”

Jordan jumped in before Wyatt could answer. “Mrs. Cooper, you probably don’t know this, but Wyatt’s never spent a single day in school. Honestly, it’s a miracle he can even read. Aside from his native language? He’s hopeless.”

Wyatt frowned but didn’t argue.

Yunice paused for a second, then said, “Let me handle it.”

Wyatt gave Yunice a look. “When will you have time?”

They were both always busy—sometimes they went days without even seeing each other. They were always on different time clocks.

And she meant what she said. Whenever they were together, she kept him close, pointing out things around them and naming them as they came up. She kept it simple—just starting with whatever was right in front of them. After all, vocabulary was the first step to learning any language.

Yunice had a feeling Wyatt wasn’t going to be great at this—but she hadn’t realized just how rough it would be. He gave it his best shot, mimicking her pronunciation with full commitment, even if the results were…questionable.

She rubbed her temple, starting to feel like she was tutoring a kindergartener.

Wyatt let out a slow breath and glanced at her. “Ms. Saunders, are you starting to question if you’re even qualified to teach me?”

Yunice blinked, surprised by how bold he was. Wow. He’s not even embarrassed about how bad he is—and he’s questioning me?

Yunice kept her cool. “Everyone starts out rough. Trust me—you’ve got plenty of room to improve.”

Wyatt raised an eyebrow. “Is that just a nice way of saying I can’t possibly get any worse?” He smirked. “You’ve got a real talent for encouragement, Ms. Saunders.”

Yunice sighed, rubbing her forehead again before heading to the study to find a language book. If she was going to teach him, she might as well start with bedtime reading.

By the time she returned to the bedroom, Wyatt had already showered. She handed him the book, then grabbed her towel and pajamas. “Flip through it for a bit. I’ll read it to you when I’m done.”

Wyatt was just about to complain that he wouldn’t understand a word—but when he opened the book and spotted a few of her handwritten notes, his eyes lit up.

She climbed onto the bed, turned to Wyatt, and asked, “So…did any of it make sense?”

Wyatt nodded seriously. “Pickle—tastes good.”

“Bug—squash it.”

“Lobster—crazy expensive.”

“Squid—my favorite:”

Yunice stared at him, completely speechless. He was reading word for word, totally straight-faced, quoting the ridiculous notes she’d scribbled in the margins to help him remember things. She didn’t say a thing.

Wyatt glanced sideways. Yunice had her head down, and her shoulders were shaking slightly under her silk pajama top.

“You’re laughing at me.”

“I’m not,” Yunice said, trying to lift her head—but she couldn’t hold it in. Her face dropped again as she burst into laughter, shoulders shaking even harder.

Wyatt watched her for a moment, then, seeing she had no intention of stopping, leaned over and poked her in the side. “Still laughing, huh?”

Yunice practically jumped. She was insanely ticklish—especially around the waist. One poke was all it took to make her jolt.