“J.D. cleared his throat and pushed the button on the intercom.“Uh, Payton, hi. It’s J.D.”Dead silence.Then another crackle.“Sorry. Not interested.”Cute. But J.D. persisted. Again with the button.“I want to talk to you.”Crackle.“Ever hear of a telephone, asshole?”Okay, he probably deserved that.”

“What? I took it because of the girls in the class. Anyway, I see a bit of a P and P dynamic going on between you and Payton."J.D. didn't think he wanted to know. Really. But he asked anyway. "P and P?"Tyler shot him a look, appalled. "Uh, hello--Pride and Prejudice?" His tone said only a cretin wouldn't know this."Oh right, P and P," J.D. said. "You know, Tyler, you might want to pick up your balls--I think they just fell right off when you said that.”

“The tannoy is crackling but I can only hear heavy breathing and snuffling. ...Uh-oh, the tannoy is crackling again."Sorry about that, ladies and gentlemen, I momentarily lost hold of my pie.”

“I’m a bit of a novice myself.” She smiled. Then she turned back to Jasper. “And please, call me Payton.”Like one of my favorite quarterbacks,” Jasper grinned.Only with an a instead of an e. And slightly fewer yards in passing,” Payton said. Damn—now she’d already blown one of the three measly sports references she knew in the first two minutes.Jasper laughed. “Slightly fewer yards in passing—I like that.” He turned to J.D., gesturing to Payton. “Where have you been hidin’ this girl, J.D.?”

“maybe you’re sleeping and I suppose I could just say this in the morning, but now I can’t sleep and I’m just lying here so I might as well get it over with, and well . . .I’m sorry about this afternoon, J.D. The first spill honestly was an accident, but the second . . . okay, that was completely uncalled for. I’m, um, happy to pay for the dry cleaning. And, well . . . I guess that’s it. Although you really might want to rethink leaving your jacket on your chair. I’m just saying. Okay, then. That’s what they make hangers for. Good. Fine. Good-bye.”J.D. heard the beep, signaling the end of the message, and he hung up the phone. He thought about what Payton had said—not so much her apology, which was question-ably mediocre at best—but something else.She thought about him while lying in bed.Interesting.Later that night, having been asleep for a few hours, J.D. shot up in bedHe suddenly remembered—her shoe.Oops.”

“Good. Or instead, what if I just told you that I love you?” Payton gazedinto his eyes. “What would you say, J. D. Jameson, if I told you that?”J.D. smiled. He touched his forehead to Payton’s, closed his eyes, andanswered her with one word.“Finally.”