Jae:Uh-huh. I believe you.
Dillon:I’m glad Xander’s taking care of you. Say hi to him from me.
Jae slipped his phone into his pocket and turned to face me. “You’re taking care of me all right.”
I almost choked. “I’m not sure that’s what he meant.”
“Probably not.” Jae raked his teeth over his lip. “Table tennis?”
We took our chalk back to the bar and swapped it for two paddles and three balls.
“Do you know how I said I couldn’t draw?” I asked as we found an empty table tennis table.
“Yup.”
“I can’t play table tennis either.”
“I’ve never tried.”
We found somewhere to put our drinks and then attempted to play. That meant that we failed to hit the ball more often than not, and even when we did, it went massively wide so there was no hope of batting it back. We spent most of our time chasing after the small white ball. I laughed so hard that my cheeks started to ache.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m debating a career change,” Jae said.
“Oh?”
“Olympic table tennis player. What do you think?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Do they even play table tennis at the Olympics? It doesn’t sound like an Olympic sport.”
“I have no idea.”
“Modelling is the right career for you.”
Jae came around the table to kiss me. “And being a True Fans star is the right career for you.”
We took our bats and balls back to the bar, ordered burgers and chips, and then found a table to wait for our food. Our terrible drawings were still on the blackboard, but now they were surrounded by lots of other doodles. Some were as amateurish as ours, but plenty of them had been drawn by people with serious skills.
“Do they clean the boards at the end of every day?” I mused once we’d finished eating.
“They must do.”
“There’s a spare bit of board.” I pointed to the very top. “You should draw something.”
“I can’t reach up there!”
“You could if you sat on my shoulders.”
Jae stared at me. “Are you serious? You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“I’m not that much shorter than you. Are you sure you can lift me?”
“I’m sure.” I flexed my arm muscles, making Jae laugh, and then squatted down. “Get on.”
Jae straddled my shoulders and clung to me, shrieking as I stood. “I don’t have any chalk!”
“No problem.” Holding on to Jae’s legs, I walked to the bar and asked the bemused staff for some chalk, which they gave to Jae.
