It had been nearly three months since Jer had left for Alaska. After David had put Steph on the spot, Jer and Steph had decided to try dating, but not until Jer returned to Utah.
Well, Jer wasn't due back for another couple weeks, but they just couldn't wait to be official anymore.
"So what happened to your missionary?" Neil asked after ordering his food. They were at Olive Garden with a large group of friends for Neil's birthday dinner.
Steph was, of course, sitting between a good number of her male friends, many of whom had stopped asking her on dates because they found out how serious Steph was about Will.
"He's still in the picture," Steph responded, avoiding the stares of her friends. "Jer and I are just testing this out. If we get to the point of talking about marriage...we'll just cross that bridge when we get there."
Suddenly Roxie poked her head out to see Steph. She was sitting at the opposite end of the table and having an entirely different conversation.
"You can't get married! Me and Charles have been dating for way longer! You cannot get married first!"
Steph just stared at her roommate. They had talked about her relationship. Roxie was jumping to conclusions again.
"That's not what I said," Steph said. Roxie looked relieved. The rest of the table was laughing.
Dang it, now I really want to marry Jer, Steph thought. It's just because you were told you couldn't. It's just because you were told you couldn't. It's just because you were told you couldn't.
---
Jer wasn't due back for another week and now Steph had a conundrum. She had an extra ticket to the concert that she had helped produce as part of her Philosophy and Sociology of Rock and Roll class. This would be great, but it was for a former member of The Misfits and none of her girl friends would want to go. The only people she could think of that might enjoy the concert with her were Jer and Taft. But Jer wasn't here and she didn't want him to think she was going on dates behind his back or something. She clearly would not consider it a date. Taft most likely wouldn't consider it a date. But would Jer? She'd just have to call and ask.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Jer." Steph was nervous. "I have an extra ticket for that concert I was telling you about. The only person besides you I could think of to give it to is Taft. Would it bother you if I took him?"
"Why would it bother me?"
Steph felt such a weight lift off of her. Jer didn't have an ounce of jealousy in his voice. It felt so good to have a boyfriend who didn't care who she hung out with. Will was never like that. It had been the source of most of their arguments just a year earlier. Steph still hung out with the same people, and Jer was even aware of who in their friends group had ever been interested in her, yet he didn't seem to mind.
She was especially relieved because she had told Jer that she had had the most fun on a date with Taft that she'd ever had just last semester. Of course, the following date pretty much solidified that there was no spark, and they would only ever be just friends, but if it had been Will that she was talking to, that would have been a much longer conversation, full of reasoning and probably some pleading.
This is so relaxing, Steph thought as she continued to enjoy her conversation with her new boyfriend.