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“I hope you get it,” he said.
“Oh yeah? Why is that?” I questioned him.
His voice dipped a bit lower when he replied, “Because I would like to come and watch you.”
With that confession in hand, I knew I’d start praying over the next few days that I wouldn’t be chosen. Even if I considered myself to be brave, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to perform if I knew that Jesse was watching me.
“Don’t get your hopes up,” I warned him.
He chuckled and returned, “Alright. Then, tell me what else is on there.”
“What?”
Jesse jerked his chin toward my journal and clarified, “Your list. What other things are you planning to do?”
I didn’t know what compelled me to do it, but I held the journal out to him. Jesse hesitated briefly before he took it from my hands.
After he opened it, I found my belly had started trembling. For some reason, I was worried about what he might think of me.
“Go skydiving,” he murmured, reading one of the items on my list. “Release baby turtles into the ocean, be part of a flash mob, go white water rafting… these all sound like a lot of fun.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I think so, too.”
“Oh, wait. This is interesting,” he declared.
“What?”
Jesse tore his eyes away from my journal, twisted his neck to look in my direction, and cocked an eyebrow at me. “Sunbathe topless?”
Heat hit my cheeks. I knew I shouldn’t have been embarrassed, but I couldn’t help it. The way he was looking at me made it impossible to feel any other way. And I realized that wasn’t his intention, but he was far more confident in this arena.
“I think that’s going to be one of the more difficult ones,” I reasoned.
“I’ll go with you for moral support and encouragement,” he offered with a smile on his face.
I shook my head in disbelief. “Yeah, I bet.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know. That’s just it.”
The silence stretched between us again. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but I definitely felt something pass between us. Something I couldn’t begin to explain.
“In all seriousness, Sawyer, this is an incredible plan,” Jesse eventually said. “You’ve got a lot of really cool ideas on here, and some of them are particularly bold. I’d find it very impressive if you attempted even a small fraction of them.”
“I’m going to do them all,” I assured him.
“You think?”
I dipped my chin. “I know.”
Jesse handed my journal back to me just as I saw my mom’s car pull into the lot. “If you ever want someone to do any of these with, especially the sunbathing one, I’d be happy to join you. You know I’m always up for a challenge.”
“I do, and I’ll keep that in mind.”
Jerking his head to my mom’s car, he asked, “Is this your ride?”
“Yeah.”
