Choosing You (JJ Watt)

Prologue

Facing the entrance, Justin James Watt sat at a table set for two, alone as he nervously glanced from the door to his watch and back to the door again. Not that he would know when she got there; he had no idea what she looked like. J.J. nervously ran a hand through his hair. He didn't understand these nerves. It was only a blind date. There were literally zero expectations, no pressure, and yet, his heart was beating out of his chest and his palms slick with sweat.

As J.J. looked down at his watch for the 50th time. 6:02. She should be here by now, right? They were supposed to meet at six. He was being stood up. There was no doubt about it. Of course, he knew traffic was bad at the moment and it was only two minutes.J.J. shook his head. This was ridiculous.

Looking down, he noticed his leg shaking involuntarily. Quickly, he placed his hand on his knee to get it to stop shaking. The only problem was that as soon as he moved his hand, it started again. Sighing, the man looked up to find the hostess leading a woman over to his table.

Taking a deep breath, Justin stood. Wiping his hand briefly across his dark, denim jeans, he flashed his award-winning smile and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm J.J."

The woman nodded in thanks to the hostess before shaking the man's outstretched hand. "It's nice to finally meet you, J.J. I'm Levya, but everybody calls me Levi." She said, returning his smile. 

J.J. nodded, feeling his nerves settle slightly as they sat down. "Rachel has been relentless about me meeting you."

"Same here. I don't typically do this kind of thing, but she wouldn't shut up about it."

"So you and Rachel are close?"

Levi shrugged, settling into her seat. "I guess that's the word for it. I dated her brother for a couple years. After we broke up, Rachel kept in contact. What about you?"

"I met Conner in college. When I moved to Houston, he showed me around, got me familiar with everything, and you know Conner and Rachel, wherever one of them is, the other isn't far away," J.J. laughed and Levya joined in. "Rach said you're in grad school?"

"Yeah, I just started my Masters in Social Work."

"That's really awesome. I didn't finish college."

"And yet you made more your first day than I will probably ever make," Levi joked. J.J. laughed, blushing slightly. "Oh, gosh, that was probably a totally inappropriate thing to say on a first date, much less in the first five minutes." The woman buried her face in her hands.

"It's ok. Really. It just takes some getting used to. Not you, of course," He began to ramble nervously. "Just the idea of having so much-" J.J. stopped himself. "This is coming out all wrong. Can we start over?" He let out a nervous chuckle.

"I would like that very much," Levi nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself. 

"Hi, I'm Levya, but you can call me Levi," The woman laughed, holding out her hand as she felt herself start to relax. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"It's nice to finally meet you too, Levya," J.J. returned reflected her friendly demeanor, shaking her hand. "I'm Justin, but you can call me J.J."

"Hey, if you call me Levya, I'm calling you Justin," the woman teased.

"Ok, Levi." He emphasized her name with a smart, but charming grin. In a second, Levi knew she was putty in his hands.