18. Stephen
18
STEPHEN
I paced in front of the full-length mirror in my bedroom. The light gray of the edges matched the furniture. When we first moved in, Gisela preferred the warm oaks and cherrywoods. After she left, I felt like both the house and myself needed something new, something fresh. A beach theme throughout the house seemed like the obvious choice, and I hadn’t regretted the color scheme since.
Tonight, however, the color of my furniture was the last thing on my mind. Jansen was on his way over to pick me up for our first official date. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going, only to dress casually. I looked over my khaki shorts and polo shirt. Not one to normally stress so much, I did one last glance then forced myself to walk away from the mirror.
If it wasn’t for Peter’s voice in the back of my head, I wouldn’t have worried about what I’d chosen to wear. Even when he told me to dress casually, he would complain about the collared shirts or button-downs. Clothes I was comfortable in. I’d never been big on the gym shorts and T-shirt look. It just wasn’t me.
Would Jansen be offended I’d chosen to not dress more casually? No. No he wouldn’t.
I had to remind myself over and over again, he’d made it clear my interests and likes were okay. That we didn’t need to enjoy the same things all the time. Our differences made our time together more fun. We both got to try things we hadn’t before.
The doorbell rang as I was halfway down the stairs, interrupting my pep talk. Hustling down the last few stairs, I went directly to the door and pulled it open. Jansen stood on the other side with flowers in his hand and a pink stain on his cheeks, something I’d never imagined seeing. I stepped back to let him in.
“For you.” He held the flowers out to me, looking a little sheepish.
“Thank you.”
“I wasn’t sure if you would like them. Or if I should get them because you’re…” he trailed off. His nerves were written on his face.
I pressed my finger under his chin, lifting his gaze and pressing my lips to his. “They’re perfect. I take it my daughter wasn’t so appreciative of flowers.”
“Not exactly.” He smiled, but it was brief.
I set the flowers on the table next to us and took his hands in mine. “I had you back for a second, then you disappeared again. Where did you go?”
“You know we’re going to be photographed tonight, right?”
“I imagined it would come with the territory of being on a date with you.” I’d thought a lot about it over the last few days. A little publicity wouldn’t stop me from seeing where this would go.
“You’re not worried that I very publicly dated your daughter?”
I sighed. “The media doesn’t know me as Serilda’s father. As much as it pains me to say, she hasn’t wanted to acknowledge me in public. She’s my daughter and I love her. I also understand she’s spoiled and sees the world from a place of how she can benefit from it, instead of the love she could receive.”
Jansen frowned. “It took me a long time to realize that. I’m sorry I helped her with that.”
I shook my head and moved my hands down his arms, slipping my fingers through his. “You didn’t. To those she takes an interest in, she knows how to show them the side she wants them to see. It’s why she spends most of her time in Europe. Her mother is usually focused on her family’s company, while I’m the one who calls out Serilda’s poor behavior.”
“That explains why it was so easy for her to sell her condo in the city.”
I briefly pressed my finger over his lips. “We’re not going to let Serilda ruin our night. She made her choices and now we get to make ours. Let me put the flowers in water, then we’ll enjoy our date.”
Jansen pressed his lips lightly to mine. “Sounds good.”
With the flowers safely in a vase on the kitchen counter, I let Jansen lead me to his car. I leaned back in the seat and let Jansen take me wherever the night was going to bring us. I was surprised to see him pull into a space a little way down from O’Malley’s pub.
He must have noticed the surprise on my face because that sheepish smile was back. “I thought a night of Quizzo would be fun.”
He was right, it did sound fun. “I think it’s a great idea.”
I climbed out of the car and waited for Jansen on the sidewalk. He stepped up next to me and slipped his hand into mine. Searching his face, I looked for any signs of discomfort. His smile was nothing short of incredibly happy.
“I’m counting on you to help us win.” He winked and started toward the door.
The smell of fries and burgers hit my nose as soon as we walked inside. My stomach growled loud enough for Jansen to hear it.
“Hungry?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t really have time for lunch. Too many meetings today.”
We found a high-top in the bar area, close to the table where the game would be held. “You need to make time to eat during the day. It’s not good to skip meals.”
“Maybe next time you can come by and have lunch with me?” I’d never known myself to be so bold, but something in Jansen brought it out in me.
“I like the sound of that.”
We’d barely picked up our menus when I saw a phone out of the corner of my eye, no doubt raised to take a picture. Jansen might have let go of my hand to sit down, but he immediately covered it on the table. I pushed the phone out of my head. We were going to enjoy our night, no matter what people thought.
It wasn’t long before a server came to take our order. After beers and burgers were ordered, I watched Jansen.
“How was training?”
“The same as it always is. I’m more interested in hearing what happened that kept you from eating lunch today.”
“Well, it started with a phone call that one of our professors wanted to drop a course they were teaching and have another professor pick it up.”
“Why would they want to do that? What would they teach instead?”
The server came back with our drinks. I waited for Jansen to finish swallowing before I answered his question.
“Apparently, he started dating one of the students over the summer. The student needs the course to graduate.”
Jansen’s eyes widened. “Wait… Isn’t dating a professor against policy or something?”
I chuckled. The entire situation wasn’t even close to funny and had taken up most of my day. I didn’t know how else to react. The whole thing was insane. I’d been so absorbed with our date after I got home, I’d pushed the day out of my mind. “Not exactly.”
“It’s not? I figured they’d lose their job.”
I took a sip of my own drink. “Well, that’s the point. The student is not his student. It’s a student at the college but he’s never taught them. After hours on the phone, scouring the faculty handbook and contracts, it turns out that it’s only against the rules to date your own students.”
Jansen chuckled. “I’m sorry,” he said shaking his head. “I don’t mean to laugh at your day, but what a loophole.”
“Tell me about it.” The server brought our food, which made my stomach growl again. When we assured them we didn’t need anything else, they left us to our food. “I’m sure there will be a rule change soon. But for now, I switch his and another professor’s classes load.”
“Lots of crazy dating stories lately, but I guess when you meet the right person, it doesn’t matter how you know one another.”
It wasn’t hard to see the line Jansen had drawn from my day to our own unique connection. A smile still graced his face as he picked up his burger. I followed suit, my empty stomach dictating food was more important in the moment.
The buttery brioche bun and melted cheddar hit my tongue, making me moan. Jansen’s gaze snapped to mine, his pupils dilating. Instantly, I was transported back to the other night when I had his dick in my mouth. I swallowed hard, trying to get my dick, that was very much trying to spring itself to life, under control.
The corner of Jansen’s mouth kicked up; his eyes still locked on me. “Later,” he mouthed.
With promises of not going home alone, I focused on my meal. We ordered another drink each when we finished, while we waited for the game to begin. When the announcer sat down at the table, Jansen jumped up before I could say a word to sign us up.
He came strolling back and I knew I was in trouble. Trouble that was confirmed when he set down the answer sheet with our team’s name on it.
“Bed, Bar, and Beyond?” I lifted a brow.
“If you’re lucky, all three.”
I laughed. Jansen knew how to make me forget about everyone in the room but him. I almost jumped when the quiz host announced the category for the first round. Wars.
“Well shit, I’m a damn expert.”
“Then we better win this round, Professor.”
I picked up the pencil and waited.
“Question one. Who were the Axis powers in World War II?” the quiz host announced.
When I started to write Japan, Jansen took the pencil from my hand. He scribbled an answer onto the paper. I glanced down and saw Japan, Germany, and Italy.
“I remembered it from that documentary.” His cheeks pinked, like they had when I first opened my door tonight.
I leaned over to whisper in his ear, “That’s sexy as hell.”
The chatter around us increased. I thought it might have been the next question, but when I sat up there were people around us taking pictures. There was no longer a doubt that we’d end up all over social media before the night was over.
Who gave a shit?
I was done pleasing other people. We ignored the cameras and continued playing, winning the round with ease.
It wasn’t until the next category popped up that we paid any attention to the people around us.
“The next category”—the quiz host started—“local sports.”
“No fair.” Someone from the table next to us called out while laughing. “Jansen McKenna is playing.”
The quiz host shrugged. “Guess he gets all the Jetties questions right.”
Everyone in the bar laughed.
“I sure as hell hope I do, otherwise it’ll be embarrassing.”
I nudged him with my elbow. “Just a little bit.”
Between the two of us, we were able to answer most of the sports questions. The questions about the Sandpipers were a little harder.
But it was the final bonus question that had Jansen jumping out of his seat.
“Who scored the final goal in game five of the Jetties’ Stanley Cup win this past season?”
Jansen had Hayes Garner written down before the host even finished the question.
He turned our paper in, and we waited.
“With the extra points from the bonus question, the winner is Bed, Bar, and Beyond!”
Jansen grabbed my hips, pulling me to him, and pressed his lips to mine.
I lost myself in the kiss, even as the voice in the back of my head told me this was only the beginning.