Part 15 (2/2)

”And I'll have a bottle of Michelob Light,” Rheyna said.

He placed the menus on the table. ”Okay, I'll be right back with your drinks and give you a chance to look at the menu.”

”So, how have you two been since the last time we saw you? Staying out of trouble, I hope?” Phil teased after the waiter walked away.

”Now Phil, you know I'm a good girl,” Caroline chided back.

”That's not what I heard,” Jesse continued the tease.

Caroline pretended to be hurt. ”Ah, come on, Jesse. I thought you were on my side.”

Jesse put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. ”You know that you're my best, best, bestest friend in the whole wide world,” he said as he planted a big, juicy kiss on her cheek, complete with sound effects.

She playfully pushed him away. ”Jesse, you just aren't right.”

”You think that's bad, wait until I tell you my latest joke.”

”Oh no, Jesse, not that one again,” Phil said, rolling his eyes heavenward.

”Come on, Phil, honey. You know it's not that bad,” Jesse teased his lover.

Rheyna laughed at the playful banter going back and forth between the two men. They fit together like a pot and lid, and she loved it.

She shook her head at Jesse. ”Okay, Jesse, the suspense is killing me. Will you please tell us the joke?”

He waited for Josh to set down their drinks. ”Nope, I'm not going to tell you now.”

Caroline shook her finger at him. ”Jesse, you can't string us along and then not tell us.”

He looked at Phil.

”Oh, go ahead and tell them,” Phil said in resignation.

Jesse smiled and then leaned in closer to the table. ”Okay, here goes. A woman went to see her doctor and said, aDoctor, I have this terrible rash.' She raised her blouse to reveal a large aT'-shaped design on her chest. aNow, that is the strangest rash I've ever seen,' the doctor said as she examined her. aIt's from my boyfriend,' she explained. aHe goes to Tennessee and refuses to remove his letter jacket when we make love.' The doctor took out her pad and wrote out a prescription for a tube of ointment.

The next day, a different woman came in with a very similar rash in the shape of an aO'. aHow did you get that?' the doctor asked. aMy boyfriend goes to Ohio State and won't take his letter jacket off when we make love.' The doctor smiled and wrote out another prescription for ointment.

The next day, a very beautiful woman came in to see the doctor. She also had a rash on her chest but in the shape of an aM'. So the doctor took one look at it and said, aLet me guess: your boyfriend goes to Michigan?' The woman shook her head, smiled, and said, ”No, actually, my girlfriend goes to Was.h.i.+ngton.”

Rheyna looked at Caroline and Caroline looked at her and then they looked at Jesse. The look on his face was priceless. He looked as is if his joke was the best thing since the invention of the wheel. Rheyna and Caroline lost it. Rheyna was laughing so hard, that she had to use her napkin to wipe away the tears. Phil's face was dead serious and that made them laugh harder.

”You know, when he first told me that joke, I didn't get it. I couldn't figure out how she got the aW' to look like an aM' if she went to Was.h.i.+ngton,” Phil said.

”Please, please, you two have got to stop. I can't take anymore,” Caroline begged as tears ran down her cheeks.

”No, he's right,” Jesse nodded. ”Would you believe that I actually had to draw him a diagram?”

”No, you didn't!” Rheyna managed to get out before another fit of laughter took hold.

Jesse hung his head in a solemn fas.h.i.+on. ”I'm afraid so,” he said. ”Yep, I had to explain that it had to do with numbers, the numbers of six and nine.”

If Rheyna laughed any harder, she thought she would break a rib.

They were still laughing when Josh reappeared to take their order. ”I must have missed a really good conversation,” he said as he replaced their drinks with fresh ones.

Rheyna nodded her head. ”You sure did,” she said, trying to pull it together.

”Well, in that case, I'm sorry I missed it.”

”Oh no, be glad you did,” Phil said with a grin.

Josh pulled out a pen and paper pad. ”Okay, then. Have you folks decided what you'd like to order?” he asked.

The four of them looked at each other and busted out laughing.

Jesse was the first to recover. ”I think you might have to give us a few more minutes.”

”All right, but next time, you have to let me in on the joke.” He looked directly at Rheyna and winked before turning away.

Phil slowly peered over his menu. ”Ooh, Rheyna. I think he likes you,” he teased.

She found the mere thought disturbing. ”I think not,” she said, and then turned to Jesse. ”So Jesse, have you been working out?” she asked.

”Oh no, Rheyna, of all the things you could have asked him and you had to ask that!” Phil said, shaking his head. He and Caroline both buried their face in their hands.

Rheyna looked at them. ”What? What did I say?”

Caroline busted out laughing.

Jesse ignored them both, turned to look at Rheyna, and said, ”As a matter of fact, I have. Did I ever mention that physical fitness runs in my family?” He ignored the laughter coming from Phil and Caroline. ”I mean it. It runs all the way back to my great grandfather. He started jogging ten-miles a day five-years ago when he was eighty-five and we haven't seen him since.”

Caroline was practically rolling out of her seat from laughing so hard.

Rheyna tried to look at him with her most serious expression. ”Jesse, I can honestly say that I have never met anyone like you in my life.”

”Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” he asked.

”It's definitely a good thing,” Rheyna laughed.

Phil cleared his throat and held up the menu. ”I guess we better order before they decide to kick us out.”

The rest of the evening went smoothly. They ate their dinner and chitchatted about Phil and Jesse's party. Before Rheyna knew it, they said their goodbyes and made plans to take a trip together up the coast on Phil and Jesse's boat.

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