This is a Valentine's Day story for everyone, young or old, straight or gay, romance-inclined or not. Teenager Jordan takes a chance on his first love while sixty-seven-year-old Benjamin rediscovers his first love (who happens to be Jordan's grandma), but both stories feature a journey toward self-discovery Because all kinds of love are valid, because self-love is the most important of all, and because everyone deserves a wonderful Valentine's Day.
This story was inspired by a group effort from our book club, Flirtingwith30s. We created a six-person collaboration called "Love and Geckos" which centered around various couples finding love in a food court on Valentine's Day (see the comments on the right if you're interested in reading more fun short love stories). Since our two stories were conceived as companion pieces from the start, we decided this dual-story deserved a standalone makeover (including performing gecko removal—no real geckos were harmed during this process).
While we collaborated on all of this, Jordan's chapters were written primarily by lisa_london_, and Spelunkadunk is the primary writer on Benjamin's chapters.
Happy Valentine's Day to all reading!