Page 46 of Until Forever

“Actually.” He scratches his eye. “I opted for college. After getting my GED, I went for my degree. I took the scenic route, but in the end, I now have a bachelor’s in Informational Technology.”

“That’s amazing. So how did you start your business?” I reach for the bottle, pouring the rest of the wine into my glass. I go to stand, but Jasper stops me.

“Where are you going?”

“To get the other bottle from the fridge.”

“I got it.” He pulls me down and stands, disappearing into the kitchen before I can get the words out of my mouth.

“But I enrolled at the local community college and transferred to the university,” he yells from the kitchen. “I got a job in IT at a major company, handling their cybersecurity, and before I knew it.” He’s back in the living room now, holding the corkscrew and wine bottle in the same hand. “I was doing work for friends, then strangers, and here I am.” He flops down beside me.

“I’m not really surprised, but I’m happy for you.”

“What do you mean?” He pops the cork and pours more of the sweet red liquid into his stemless glass.

“You’ve always been good with computers, too damn good.”

He laughs. “You remember when Mr. Campbell suspended me for hacking the final exam answers?”

“Oh my God, yes. That was the first day we met with you shoving your printed evidence inside my jacket before the security officer caught you. I should have steered clear then,” I quip and maneuver so that I’m sitting cross-legged with my back against the arm of the couch.

“Why didn’t you?” He leans into the sofa and sips his drink.

I stare at him for a second, searching my mind for an answer. “I don’t know. I guess you just wormed your way into my heart.” I sip.

“Good thing I did, otherwise we wouldn’t have JJ.”

I nod. “How long have you been in business?”

“Three years. I run my own Cyber Security consultant firm. Things have been great, and it’s allowed me freedoms I never had before.”

“That’s impressive and honestly makes me proud. We talked about all the things you wanted to do, but this is way beyond any of that.” I glance down at my drink, only to bring it to my mouth.

“What about you? We always knew you were going into nursing then eventually on to be a doctor.”

“Yeah, well, parenting made it a little difficult to go to medical school. Nursing is my first love, so I’m pretty happy where I am.”

“What about dating? Have you been seeing anyone?”

I chuckle and drink more wine. “You think I would have left you in my house overnight if I had a man?”

He laughs. “Fair enough. So, dating. Have you been doing it—a lot?”

I shake my head. “Not really. I’ve dated, but I don’t have the patience.”

“When was the last time you’ve been out with someone?”

“Gosh, I don’t know…about a year ago.”

He raises a brow. “A whole year, wow. What happened to that guy?”

I inhale and bring my hand to my mouth as if to hide myself. “It was someone I worked with, one of the nurses, and we hung out for a while, but it was…a lot. We were not compatible at all. He was a few years younger, pretty immature, and I tried to overlook it, but then he shit on my sheets. So I ended that rather quickly.” I let the tail end slip from my lips casually and cover my expression behind my glass.

“Wait, what? What do you mean he shit on your sheets?” He frowns and leans toward me, a smirk forming a second later.

“Exactly what I said.”

“No.” He shakes his head. “You’re fucking with me?”

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