Chapter 2
Jeremy was shelving books the next day in the library. He was in an even better mood than he had been yesterday – although you still couldn’t tell. The scowl grimly planted on his face was not conducive to making people think that he was one step away from breaking into song. This great mood hadn’t just been caused by the fabulous sex of last night. It was also due to the fact that the glorious Byron Nadjami had come into the library a bit earlier with a rather muscular young man with a head of startlingly red hair and grey-green eyes. He’d introduced this person to Jeremy as his boyfriend Jason Bayler. The librarian could admit that he’d given Byron’s boyfriend a once over, but who wouldn’t? The man had a great smile and a great body both. Plus, he was clearly very into Byron. Jeremy had been VERY pleased to meet him, although he didn’t say so.
So now he was shelving books. But as he got up to take another stack form the cart, he heard a familiar voice. “Hey, Jeremy, are you ready to go shopping?”
He turned to see Jessa standing nearby. He frowned at her. “I’m working,” he pointed out acerbically.
She shook her head. “No, you’re not; I asked Megan to watch the place while I took you to get an anniversary gift for Travis. She said she would. So come on, Jer. Let’s go to the mall!”
He stood there wishing he could think of any excuse not to go. But he knew there wasn’t one, not where the determined Jessa was concerned. He sighed in disgust. “Fine. Let’s go and get this over with.”
She giggled. “You act like we’re going to your execution. Although I suppose it’s the same thing to a guy like you.” She twined her arm through his and dragged the reluctant Jeremy out of the library, proving that she was way stronger than she looked.
Two hours later, he had a headache that made him feel like his skull was going to explode at any moment. Jessa had dragged him to every store in the mall, and they still hadn’t found anything that she deemed good enough as a gift for Travis for their anniversary. They’d looked at clothes, shoes, jewelry, video games, CDs, DVDs, you name it. He would have taken any one of a number of things, just to get this done with. But Jessa insisted that it should be something romantic and special, which made Jeremy want to strangle her. Geez, he was starting to think that he should just break up with Travis so that he didn’t have to go on shopping anymore.
Jessa cooed as she picked up a porcelain figurine of two lovers standing under an umbrella. Jeremy rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “This is so cute!” she enthused.
“No, Jessa,” he sighed. “I will NOT buy him that.”
“Spoilsport,” she groused as she set it down.
He sighed, rolling his aching head on his neck. “Can’t we just try this again some other time?” he demanded. “I’m getting hungry.”
“We’ll eat in the food court,” she replied firmly.
Well, excuse number 12 down the drain. He considered screaming at the top of his lungs, but knew that would hurt his already throbbing head. He grumped along behind her as Jessa headed out of the store and toward the food court on the first level. But as they passed by some display windows, something caught his eye. He stopped and looked at it intently, and Jessa finally stopped and came back to see what had caught his attention.
“Wow,” she breathed when she saw what he was looking at.
He didn’t say anything, but he agreed with her. His eyes were fixed on the beautiful case of drawing pencils. The case was made of mahogany, and the inside was lined with velvet. There had to be at least a hundred drawing pencils in it, and even he recognized the brand as being the best there was. There was a silver sharpener tucked into its own custom-made space within the case, as well as a small assortment of erasers. He just knew that Travis would love this, would treasure the case. He looked at the price tag on it and grimaced in horror, but it would definitely be worth it.
“You should get that,” Jessa said next to him. “He’d love it.”
“I know,” he replied, pulling out his wallet. “I’ll just have to eat ramen for the next month.”
She snorted delicately. “Just put it on that credit card your dad gave you. He should definitely help to pay for your happiness, Jer.”
He had to agree with her. He pulled the credit card out, and they headed into the store to but the case. It would give him a good feeling to see how happy his gift made Travis – and to know that his father wouldn’t be pleased when he got the bill this month.
Jeremy emerged from the store with the exquisite case in a bag. He’d had it gift-wrapped, and was contemplating where to hide it from Travis’s (surprisingly sharp) eyes. Not that the artist would open it even to peek, but Jeremy thought that he should just pretend that he hadn’t gotten Travis a gift at all. Then he could really surprise ol’ Long Tall Drink-Of-Water when he presented his lover with the drawing case on the day of their anniversary.
He ignored Jenna’s chatter as they walked along. But she was used to his sullen silences, so it didn’t deter her from talking away a mile a minute. Jeremy decided that he couldn’t hide the gift anywhere in their dorm room; Travis was sure to spot it. He’d have to stow it at work somewhere. Maybe behind the counter. But what to do about the fact that their anniversary fell on a Saturday? That was the day they’d first had sex together, and that was when their relationship had really begun. Before that it had just been Travis bugging him until he reluctantly went out on dates with the artist. Saturday was one of his days off. He supposed that he could swing by the library to grab the gift and just tell Travis that he’d left something at work. Which was the actual truth anyway.
“Hey, Earth to Jeremy! Are you in there?” Jessa called.
He looked over at her in irritation, which made her roll her eyes. “What are you thinking about so hard? This is our escalator,” she pointed at the moving stairs in front of them, which he’d almost walked right on by.
“Oh,” he said. He stepped onto the escalator, followed by Jessa. “I was just thinking that I’ll have to stash this gift at the library until Saturday. I don’t want Travis to know that I got him anything – he won’t expect it, so it’ll be a total surprise. And there’s nowhere in our dorm room to stash it.”
She laughed. “That’s cute. But if you want to stash the gift somewhere, Jer, I’ll old onto it for you. I can bring it by on Saturday morning for you.”
Her generous offer rather took him aback. “You don’t have to do that,” he began.
She grinned. “I want to. What are friends for, anyway?”
Silence. Then, said tautly: “Why exactly are you my friend, anyway, Jessa? I don’t even know why Stretch puts up with me, but at least he’s getting sex out of the deal. Why do you, since you’re not getting anything?”
She stared at him. Then she sighed. “Jer, you honestly have the lowest self-esteem I’ve ever come across. I’m friends with you because you’re funny, sweet in a strange sort of way, smart, and really romantic, although you hide it under that façade of nastiness and indifference. I’m friends with you for the same reason that Travis goes out with you – because we both know that there’s a great guy in there…” she used a finger to tap his chest lightly, “That you just hide him away because you’re so afraid that he’ll get hurt. I can understand that, and its fine. Snarky Jeremy is just as much fun, and the glimpses I get of the sweetie hiding in there just take my breath away. You’re never dull, Jer, I’ll give you that,” she added with a crooked smile. “So do you want me to hold onto the gift or not?”
He stared up at her on the stairs above him, feeling tightness in his chest (That he chose to put down to an impeding heart attack). Then he handed her the bag. “Yeah, Keep it for me,” he said. “Thanks,” he added rather stiffly.
She giggled. “Did that hurt? It looks like it did. And you’re welcome, Jer. I’ll swing by about ten o’clock on Saturday and deliver it. I know better than to arrive early on a weekend, you’d probably flay me.”
“Maybe only a little,” he replied, which made her laugh again.
Travis sat on a straight back chair in the art room with his shirt off. He was fervently glad that there was a lock on the door – if anybody walked in and saw him like this, they might tell Jeremy. And he felt cold apprehension over even the thought of his lover hearing about how he’d posed for Byron half-naked. He couldn’t explain unless he told Jeremy about the anniversary gift he was having commissioned, and he really didn’t want to do that and spoil the surprise.
Byron himself was busy with a large lump of clay, his slender fingers moving precisely as he worked. An easel with one of Travis’s charcoal drawings of a naked Jeremy sat nearby, and his dark eyes flicked to it every once in awhile. Travis spoke, since he knew he could do so without breaking Byron’s concentration. Most artists learned how to work and talk at the same time. “Are you ready to go home with Jason this weekend?” he asked quietly.
Byron snorted elegantly. “Yeah, sure. I’ve only sweated buckets so far even thinking about my parents meeting him. It took them forever just to accept the fact that I’m gay – and they’re still not happy about that fact. But if I brought home some devout Hindu boy I’m sure that they’d be more resigned to it. They are NOT going to be happy at all that I’m bringing home a white boy – and worse, a white boy that I’m really serious about. It could be worse though, at least we’re not Muslims. Homosexuality is illegal in that religion, not just immoral. You can be killed for doing it under the religious laws. I wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell of even having a family anymore if we’d been Muslims. So I guess I’ll take parental disapproval over being completely disavowed. And at least Jason is confident enough that he can handle them not liking him. Things like that just roll off of his back. I’ve teased him before about it being because he has a head like a stone block, but I’m really glad this time.”
Travis chuckled a little. “Hazards of dating a jock?” he asked.
Byron smiled widely, displaying two rows of pristine white teeth. “Yes. Honestly, I NEVER thought that I’d hook up with a jock. They’re such pinheads most of the time, and they have the emotional maturity of two-year olds. That’s why I pretty much told Jason to hit the road when he first asked me out. But he shares a quality with you, Travis – he’s very persistent. He wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed to go out with him. Which was weird, since I could have sworn that he was straight back then. I’m glad I finally agreed, though. Jason is wonderful,” his already pretty face glowed, making him truly lovely as he thought about his lover.
Travis stared at him. “Can I draw you after you’re done, Byron?” he asked hopefully.
“Sure,” the sculptor replied. “As long as you don’t require me to be nude, and you make a copy for Jason.”
“I will,” Travis said. Then silence fell in the art room once more, as Byron turned all of his attention on the sculpture forming between his skilled fingers.
Jessa breezed into the campus cafeteria and plopped down in a chair next to her boyfriend. She leaned forward to collect a kiss before he asked: “How’d the shopping trip go?”
She grinned. “Great! Jeremy found an awesome present for Travis. It’s going to be so much fun, watching them surprise each other,” she added, bouncing in her seat.
He grinned. “And then Jeremy’ll get yet another surprise, courtesy of you,” he said.
She nodded firmly. “That’s right. I think every couple who lasts for the first year should get a party. Especially one like Jeremy and Travis, since I never thought that Jer could find a guy who’d put up with him for that long,” she said wryly. “I think his good luck should be celebrated.”
“So how are the plans going?” Brad asked as he sipped at a bottle of water.
“Well, I’ve got all the party preparations done, and I got my mitts on Jeremy’s gift so I’ll have a good reason for going to their dorm room Saturday to deliver it. And since my wonderful boyfriend delivered all the invitations to Travis’s friends among the art students…” she smiled at him.
He nodded. “All done. There was some disappointment that it wasn’t BYOB, but since these are art students and not athletes, the fact that it’s not a kegger won’t deter most of them.”
Jessa giggled. “Okay. I invited Megan, the girl who works with Jeremy in the library. Unfortunately his side of the guest list is going to be a little thin…”
Brad snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
She slapped his arm lightly. “Hey! Jeremy can’t help the fact that he’s anti-social!” she protested.
His eyes twinkled. “That’s one way to put it, yeah,” he agreed.
Jessa sighed. “Oh, well. I don’t think that he’ll care that tons of people aren’t showing up at the party for him. Quality over quantity, right?” she went on with a preen.
Brad chuckled. “Sure, babe. That’s exactly right. He’s got you, so why does he need anybody else?”
She melted, leaning forward to kiss him again for such a sweet statement. “Mm, you’re good for my self-esteem,” she told him when their lips parted once more.
He shrugged. “Just telling the truth,” he replied.
Jessa shook her head. “Stop that, or I’ll have to do something totally inappropriate to you right here and now. And then we’ll get arrested by campus security, and we’ll be horribly embarrassed when everyone discovers WHY we were arrested. So behave and stop being so charming.”
Brad looked disappointed. “I wouldn’t be embarrassed,” he said hopefully.
She gave him a severe look. “But I would. There’ll be time for that later. I promise,” she added with a rather sultry look at him.
Brad squirmed in his chair, clearing his throat. “So the party’s ready to go?” he asked rather hoarsely.
“Yes. I asked for permission to have it in the rec room of their building, since their dorm room is too small to fit everybody in. They said as long as it doesn’t get too loud and rowdy its okay. I just have to think of a reason to lure Jeremy down there Saturday.”
“You could say you want to challenge Jeremy to an intense game of ping-pong,” Brad teased.
Jessa giggled. “Oh, God, I’d love to! But he doesn’t play ping-pong. I’ll think of something – or have Travis help me drag him down there forcibly if I have to, although that would kind of spoil the surprise. I hope I can come up with something.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to. I have faith in you, babe,” Brad said.
Jessa patted his arm. “Thank you. I don’t want to let Travis down, because he was nice enough to introduce me to you. I want this party to be perfect.”
Brad put his hand over hers. “I do too, because if Trav hadn’t brought you to meet me I don’t think we’d have ever done so casually. And I would have missed out on something great,” he said softly, looking into her eyes.
She melted yet again. “Sweet talker,” she whispered.
"Only for you, Jessa. Only for you."
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Jeremy was shelving books the next day in the library. He was in an even better mood than he had been yesterday – although you still couldn’t tell. The scowl grimly planted on his face was not conducive to making people think that he was one step away from breaking into song. This great mood hadn’t just been caused by the fabulous sex of last night. It was also due to the fact that the glorious Byron Nadjami had come into the library a bit earlier with a rather muscular young man with a head of startlingly red hair and grey-green eyes. He’d introduced this person to Jeremy as his boyfriend Jason Bayler. The librarian could admit that he’d given Byron’s boyfriend a once over, but who wouldn’t? The man had a great smile and a great body both. Plus, he was clearly very into Byron. Jeremy had been VERY pleased to meet him, although he didn’t say so.
So now he was shelving books. But as he got up to take another stack form the cart, he heard a familiar voice. “Hey, Jeremy, are you ready to go shopping?”
He turned to see Jessa standing nearby. He frowned at her. “I’m working,” he pointed out acerbically.
She shook her head. “No, you’re not; I asked Megan to watch the place while I took you to get an anniversary gift for Travis. She said she would. So come on, Jer. Let’s go to the mall!”
He stood there wishing he could think of any excuse not to go. But he knew there wasn’t one, not where the determined Jessa was concerned. He sighed in disgust. “Fine. Let’s go and get this over with.”
She giggled. “You act like we’re going to your execution. Although I suppose it’s the same thing to a guy like you.” She twined her arm through his and dragged the reluctant Jeremy out of the library, proving that she was way stronger than she looked.
Two hours later, he had a headache that made him feel like his skull was going to explode at any moment. Jessa had dragged him to every store in the mall, and they still hadn’t found anything that she deemed good enough as a gift for Travis for their anniversary. They’d looked at clothes, shoes, jewelry, video games, CDs, DVDs, you name it. He would have taken any one of a number of things, just to get this done with. But Jessa insisted that it should be something romantic and special, which made Jeremy want to strangle her. Geez, he was starting to think that he should just break up with Travis so that he didn’t have to go on shopping anymore.
Jessa cooed as she picked up a porcelain figurine of two lovers standing under an umbrella. Jeremy rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest. “This is so cute!” she enthused.
“No, Jessa,” he sighed. “I will NOT buy him that.”
“Spoilsport,” she groused as she set it down.
He sighed, rolling his aching head on his neck. “Can’t we just try this again some other time?” he demanded. “I’m getting hungry.”
“We’ll eat in the food court,” she replied firmly.
Well, excuse number 12 down the drain. He considered screaming at the top of his lungs, but knew that would hurt his already throbbing head. He grumped along behind her as Jessa headed out of the store and toward the food court on the first level. But as they passed by some display windows, something caught his eye. He stopped and looked at it intently, and Jessa finally stopped and came back to see what had caught his attention.
“Wow,” she breathed when she saw what he was looking at.
He didn’t say anything, but he agreed with her. His eyes were fixed on the beautiful case of drawing pencils. The case was made of mahogany, and the inside was lined with velvet. There had to be at least a hundred drawing pencils in it, and even he recognized the brand as being the best there was. There was a silver sharpener tucked into its own custom-made space within the case, as well as a small assortment of erasers. He just knew that Travis would love this, would treasure the case. He looked at the price tag on it and grimaced in horror, but it would definitely be worth it.
“You should get that,” Jessa said next to him. “He’d love it.”
“I know,” he replied, pulling out his wallet. “I’ll just have to eat ramen for the next month.”
She snorted delicately. “Just put it on that credit card your dad gave you. He should definitely help to pay for your happiness, Jer.”
He had to agree with her. He pulled the credit card out, and they headed into the store to but the case. It would give him a good feeling to see how happy his gift made Travis – and to know that his father wouldn’t be pleased when he got the bill this month.
Jeremy emerged from the store with the exquisite case in a bag. He’d had it gift-wrapped, and was contemplating where to hide it from Travis’s (surprisingly sharp) eyes. Not that the artist would open it even to peek, but Jeremy thought that he should just pretend that he hadn’t gotten Travis a gift at all. Then he could really surprise ol’ Long Tall Drink-Of-Water when he presented his lover with the drawing case on the day of their anniversary.
He ignored Jenna’s chatter as they walked along. But she was used to his sullen silences, so it didn’t deter her from talking away a mile a minute. Jeremy decided that he couldn’t hide the gift anywhere in their dorm room; Travis was sure to spot it. He’d have to stow it at work somewhere. Maybe behind the counter. But what to do about the fact that their anniversary fell on a Saturday? That was the day they’d first had sex together, and that was when their relationship had really begun. Before that it had just been Travis bugging him until he reluctantly went out on dates with the artist. Saturday was one of his days off. He supposed that he could swing by the library to grab the gift and just tell Travis that he’d left something at work. Which was the actual truth anyway.
“Hey, Earth to Jeremy! Are you in there?” Jessa called.
He looked over at her in irritation, which made her roll her eyes. “What are you thinking about so hard? This is our escalator,” she pointed at the moving stairs in front of them, which he’d almost walked right on by.
“Oh,” he said. He stepped onto the escalator, followed by Jessa. “I was just thinking that I’ll have to stash this gift at the library until Saturday. I don’t want Travis to know that I got him anything – he won’t expect it, so it’ll be a total surprise. And there’s nowhere in our dorm room to stash it.”
She laughed. “That’s cute. But if you want to stash the gift somewhere, Jer, I’ll old onto it for you. I can bring it by on Saturday morning for you.”
Her generous offer rather took him aback. “You don’t have to do that,” he began.
She grinned. “I want to. What are friends for, anyway?”
Silence. Then, said tautly: “Why exactly are you my friend, anyway, Jessa? I don’t even know why Stretch puts up with me, but at least he’s getting sex out of the deal. Why do you, since you’re not getting anything?”
She stared at him. Then she sighed. “Jer, you honestly have the lowest self-esteem I’ve ever come across. I’m friends with you because you’re funny, sweet in a strange sort of way, smart, and really romantic, although you hide it under that façade of nastiness and indifference. I’m friends with you for the same reason that Travis goes out with you – because we both know that there’s a great guy in there…” she used a finger to tap his chest lightly, “That you just hide him away because you’re so afraid that he’ll get hurt. I can understand that, and its fine. Snarky Jeremy is just as much fun, and the glimpses I get of the sweetie hiding in there just take my breath away. You’re never dull, Jer, I’ll give you that,” she added with a crooked smile. “So do you want me to hold onto the gift or not?”
He stared up at her on the stairs above him, feeling tightness in his chest (That he chose to put down to an impeding heart attack). Then he handed her the bag. “Yeah, Keep it for me,” he said. “Thanks,” he added rather stiffly.
She giggled. “Did that hurt? It looks like it did. And you’re welcome, Jer. I’ll swing by about ten o’clock on Saturday and deliver it. I know better than to arrive early on a weekend, you’d probably flay me.”
“Maybe only a little,” he replied, which made her laugh again.
Travis sat on a straight back chair in the art room with his shirt off. He was fervently glad that there was a lock on the door – if anybody walked in and saw him like this, they might tell Jeremy. And he felt cold apprehension over even the thought of his lover hearing about how he’d posed for Byron half-naked. He couldn’t explain unless he told Jeremy about the anniversary gift he was having commissioned, and he really didn’t want to do that and spoil the surprise.
Byron himself was busy with a large lump of clay, his slender fingers moving precisely as he worked. An easel with one of Travis’s charcoal drawings of a naked Jeremy sat nearby, and his dark eyes flicked to it every once in awhile. Travis spoke, since he knew he could do so without breaking Byron’s concentration. Most artists learned how to work and talk at the same time. “Are you ready to go home with Jason this weekend?” he asked quietly.
Byron snorted elegantly. “Yeah, sure. I’ve only sweated buckets so far even thinking about my parents meeting him. It took them forever just to accept the fact that I’m gay – and they’re still not happy about that fact. But if I brought home some devout Hindu boy I’m sure that they’d be more resigned to it. They are NOT going to be happy at all that I’m bringing home a white boy – and worse, a white boy that I’m really serious about. It could be worse though, at least we’re not Muslims. Homosexuality is illegal in that religion, not just immoral. You can be killed for doing it under the religious laws. I wouldn’t have stood a chance in hell of even having a family anymore if we’d been Muslims. So I guess I’ll take parental disapproval over being completely disavowed. And at least Jason is confident enough that he can handle them not liking him. Things like that just roll off of his back. I’ve teased him before about it being because he has a head like a stone block, but I’m really glad this time.”
Travis chuckled a little. “Hazards of dating a jock?” he asked.
Byron smiled widely, displaying two rows of pristine white teeth. “Yes. Honestly, I NEVER thought that I’d hook up with a jock. They’re such pinheads most of the time, and they have the emotional maturity of two-year olds. That’s why I pretty much told Jason to hit the road when he first asked me out. But he shares a quality with you, Travis – he’s very persistent. He wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed to go out with him. Which was weird, since I could have sworn that he was straight back then. I’m glad I finally agreed, though. Jason is wonderful,” his already pretty face glowed, making him truly lovely as he thought about his lover.
Travis stared at him. “Can I draw you after you’re done, Byron?” he asked hopefully.
“Sure,” the sculptor replied. “As long as you don’t require me to be nude, and you make a copy for Jason.”
“I will,” Travis said. Then silence fell in the art room once more, as Byron turned all of his attention on the sculpture forming between his skilled fingers.
Jessa breezed into the campus cafeteria and plopped down in a chair next to her boyfriend. She leaned forward to collect a kiss before he asked: “How’d the shopping trip go?”
She grinned. “Great! Jeremy found an awesome present for Travis. It’s going to be so much fun, watching them surprise each other,” she added, bouncing in her seat.
He grinned. “And then Jeremy’ll get yet another surprise, courtesy of you,” he said.
She nodded firmly. “That’s right. I think every couple who lasts for the first year should get a party. Especially one like Jeremy and Travis, since I never thought that Jer could find a guy who’d put up with him for that long,” she said wryly. “I think his good luck should be celebrated.”
“So how are the plans going?” Brad asked as he sipped at a bottle of water.
“Well, I’ve got all the party preparations done, and I got my mitts on Jeremy’s gift so I’ll have a good reason for going to their dorm room Saturday to deliver it. And since my wonderful boyfriend delivered all the invitations to Travis’s friends among the art students…” she smiled at him.
He nodded. “All done. There was some disappointment that it wasn’t BYOB, but since these are art students and not athletes, the fact that it’s not a kegger won’t deter most of them.”
Jessa giggled. “Okay. I invited Megan, the girl who works with Jeremy in the library. Unfortunately his side of the guest list is going to be a little thin…”
Brad snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
She slapped his arm lightly. “Hey! Jeremy can’t help the fact that he’s anti-social!” she protested.
His eyes twinkled. “That’s one way to put it, yeah,” he agreed.
Jessa sighed. “Oh, well. I don’t think that he’ll care that tons of people aren’t showing up at the party for him. Quality over quantity, right?” she went on with a preen.
Brad chuckled. “Sure, babe. That’s exactly right. He’s got you, so why does he need anybody else?”
She melted, leaning forward to kiss him again for such a sweet statement. “Mm, you’re good for my self-esteem,” she told him when their lips parted once more.
He shrugged. “Just telling the truth,” he replied.
Jessa shook her head. “Stop that, or I’ll have to do something totally inappropriate to you right here and now. And then we’ll get arrested by campus security, and we’ll be horribly embarrassed when everyone discovers WHY we were arrested. So behave and stop being so charming.”
Brad looked disappointed. “I wouldn’t be embarrassed,” he said hopefully.
She gave him a severe look. “But I would. There’ll be time for that later. I promise,” she added with a rather sultry look at him.
Brad squirmed in his chair, clearing his throat. “So the party’s ready to go?” he asked rather hoarsely.
“Yes. I asked for permission to have it in the rec room of their building, since their dorm room is too small to fit everybody in. They said as long as it doesn’t get too loud and rowdy its okay. I just have to think of a reason to lure Jeremy down there Saturday.”
“You could say you want to challenge Jeremy to an intense game of ping-pong,” Brad teased.
Jessa giggled. “Oh, God, I’d love to! But he doesn’t play ping-pong. I’ll think of something – or have Travis help me drag him down there forcibly if I have to, although that would kind of spoil the surprise. I hope I can come up with something.”
“I’m sure you’ll be able to. I have faith in you, babe,” Brad said.
Jessa patted his arm. “Thank you. I don’t want to let Travis down, because he was nice enough to introduce me to you. I want this party to be perfect.”
Brad put his hand over hers. “I do too, because if Trav hadn’t brought you to meet me I don’t think we’d have ever done so casually. And I would have missed out on something great,” he said softly, looking into her eyes.
She melted yet again. “Sweet talker,” she whispered.
"Only for you, Jessa. Only for you."
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