“The bastard—no other name was necessary, from now on the man formerly known as J.D. would simply be called The Bastard, The Prick, or The Shithead.”

“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.?”

“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.”

“We're out of time, Payton. You said it yourself: the only way we'll make it is for us to go into this together. I know we can do this. But I need you to believe it. You need to believe... in us."Peyton didn't say anything for a long moment, and J.D. could literally hear his heart beating. Then she finally answered."It would have to be called Kendall and Jameson."It took J.D a moment to catch on. Then he grinned. "No way. Jameson and Kendall. It's alphabetical.""You told our boss that you banged me on top of your desk.""Kendall and Jameson sounds great”

“I’m not sure I trust myself around you I liked you from the start, J.D. I really wish things had been different, that's all.”

“J.D. nodded. Yes, yes, fine, thank you. Nice attitude, by the way. Like boss, like secretary.”

“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.”