“Oh. My. God.” Jasper did a fake swoon, which was pretty fucking gratifying, even as my heart still pounded. “This is incredible. I had no idea you’d kept working on your art and become this good. Have you been in shows? Were you an art major?”

“Slow down.” I gave a shaky laugh. “Like this right here? This is the first I’ve shown something to someone since my dad had opinions on why I wanted to take art instead of shop in high school.”

“Uh, because you’re good at it? Seriously, you’re way too good at this not to show it off.”

“Feels weird,” I admitted. “And I’m not that good. Watching some tutorial videos isn’t the same as being art-major talented. It’s just something I do when I’ve got restless energy.”

“Well, I disagree. Keep doing it.” Jasper nodded like he’d made a royal proclamation as he turned on the car. “And maybe some time you’ll let me see more?”

“Maybe.” After I purged all my doodles of him from my sketchbooks, perhaps then I could find the courage to show him more. He did seem to like it at least and wasn’t actively laughing at me.

We headed back downtown toward the university and the little shops that lined the streets closest to campus. Jasper drove like zombies were chasing us.

“I’m reconsidering teaching you to drive a stick.” I chuckled as my teeth rattled. “Where did you learn to drive, anyway?”

“My mom.”

“Explains a lot.” For a nice lady who drove a minivan, Jasper’s mother tended to drive like she was going for a personal best. “And I’m kidding. I’ll teach you, but my baby doesn’t like rough handling.”

“Oh?” Jasper’s voice dropped. Fuck. I hadn’t meant to make a dirty joke, but now here I was with more thoughts about his hands and where I’d like them.

I made a choking sound right as he parked—an adventure in and of itself. “Careful.”

“You forget I’m a math genius. Estimation and rapid calculations are strengths of mine.”

“Maybe so, but I saw the dings on your bumper,” I retorted, laughing again. I’d forgotten how fun he could be to joke with.

“Those were there when I got the car.” His eyebrow wag made my face heat, and I wasn’t entirely sure why. “Come on. Let’s get some food.”

The small pizza place was between a barbershop and a coffee shop packed with students.

“Almost forgot to ask. What’s your test in?” I asked as we walked up the sidewalk from where we’d had to park.

“Stochastic processes. It looks at mathematical modeling including discrete and continuous-time Markov chains and Poisson processes.”