This is So Happening (So Far, So Good Book 2)

by Amelia Kingston

  “Another few years and it will be worth a whopping three thousand dollars. Give me a call sometime if you want to take her for a spin.”

  He looks around as realization sets in. “Why did we circle the block?”

  “That’s me.” I point at the house on the end of the street. “You asked if I wanted a ride, not if I had somewhere to go. Life’s about the journey, not the destination.”

  I turn my face towards him, tilt my chin down to meet my shoulder and bat my eyelashes. I know for a fact I look adorable. He glares at me, dumbfounded. I crank it up with an eyebrow wiggle and a wink. He looks away with a soft groan that says he’s more annoyed than entertained. This guy’s a master at non-verbal communication. He’s got more groans than Eskimos have ways to say snow.

  He pulls over in front of my house, turns off the engine, saunters to my side of the car and yanks open my door.

  “Such a gentleman, Big Man,” I tease, patting his chest as I slip out of the car. I let my hand linger on his firm pec while I stare up into those dark eyes of his. The cool night air turns molten between us. I’m desperate for him to kiss me and I have no doubt he knows it. My heart is racing, but his face is stone. I slide my hand down his stomach, delighting in the feel of his abs tightening at my touch, before letting it drop between us. We’re rooted in this standoff, a silent war raging between two near strangers. I break first. Letting out a puff of air, I shake my head and turn to walk up the path.

  A deep grunt is my only warning before Devin’s firm grip spins me to face him, my chest crashing against his. He slips his arm around my waist, holding me there while his other hand slides to the nape of my neck in a gentle but possessive grasp. I pull in a ragged breath. Struggling for control, I grab the hard biceps of his arm around my back and hook my other hand on his wrist near my chin. If he lets go, I might crumble.

  “You talk too much.” Dark eyes lure me in and warm breath tickles my lips. Devin’s mouth is soft but demanding when it meets mine. He tightens his grip on me. I moan when he plunges his tongue into my mouth.

  His kiss consumes me. Every cell in my body explodes with sensation. The heat of his body pressing against mine scorches my insides. He devours every inch of my restraint and I melt into him. The world fades away and all I crave is more. I’m frantic. Desperate for more of this kiss. More of his touch. More of him.

  He breaks the kiss as fast as he started it. I’m still in a haze when he drives off without so much as a goodbye.

  Chapter Four

  Jessie

  “Better put that phone away before Mom sees you.” I skate past my brother Jake with a nudge. “No phones during family time.”

  “Better mind your own business before you fall flat on your face,” he snaps in return, but he’s searching the ice rink for Mom. He spots her glaring and tucks his phone away. He catches up to me and we jostle back and forth, testing each other’s balance in that loving way only siblings do. My skate catches and I screech, almost falling. Jake laughs beside me. Ah, the joy of having brothers.

  We straighten up and behave when we make it to the bench where Mom’s sipping hot cocoa, waving as we pass by. Her eyes narrow in suspicion. We giggle like we’re still adolescent idiots and skate away. Luckily, she’s too busy with her chubby and adorable newborn grandson to chase after us.

  Ice skating is a Christmas tradition for the Allen family. One of many. A mandatory event for all Allen children and any significant others.

  “Where’s…Nancy?” I ask, trying to remember his latest girlfriend’s name.

  “Natalie,” he corrects with a sigh. “She wasn’t comfortable with the meet-the-family moment. Said she isn’t looking for anything serious right now.”

  I wince. “Ouch. Sorry, big brother.” I give him a pat on the shoulder. “How about some cider? My treat.”

  “Special cider?”

  I turn my back to our mom and pull out my flask. “Of course.”

  Special cider is one of the newer Allen children traditions.

  “Sold.”

  We grab a bench and watch the skaters float by, sipping our warm apple and cinnamon deliciousness with an extra kick courtesy of my Schnapps.

  “How’s your last year going? Ready to be an adult?”

  “Bite me,” I scoff. “I’m more of an adult than you’ll ever be.”

  “Keep dreaming, Jessie Bird.”

  I shake my head. “School’s been a little crazy. I really needed this Christmas break.”

  “Pfft. You’re not getting any sympathy from me. Don’t even try.”

  “That’s why you’re my favorite brother. You really care,” I tease with my mock little-girl voice.

  “Whatever. You know you do it to yourself. Two letters. N.O. That’s all it takes, Jessie.”

  “I say no to tons of stuff.”

  He narrows his eyes at me and shakes his head.

  “Okay. Not tons.” He stares at me. I shove him with my shoulder. “We can’t all be cold-hearted jerks.”

  Jake lets out a hearty chuckle. He’s an attorney for Legal Aid. Some cold-hearted jerk.

  He hums and takes a sip of his cider. “I won’t apologize for going after what I want. You’re just jealous.”

  I let out a sharp laugh. “Jealous? You’re an idiot.”

  “You are. You’re jealous I know what I want in life and you’re too busy doing shit for other people to figure yourself out.”

  “Calm down. You’re an underpaid lawyer with an overused Tinder finger, not the second coming!”

  Jake and I share another laugh and I realize how much I’ve missed my favorite brother. I make a mental note to carve out time to talk to him more. Somehow.

  “Seriously, when was the last time you did something just because you wanted to and not because someone asked you to?”

  I wave him off. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Then you’re more delusional than Jamie thinking he’ll turn the music world on its head with his banjo skills.”

  Jake’s pocket vibrates and he pulls out that stupid phone again. The words New Match pop up before he starts scrolling through pictures of singles near us.

  “Jesus, give it a rest.”

  “Give what a rest?” he asks, oblivious.

  I snatch his phone and shove it into my pocket.

  “Hey!”

  “We’re all pretty sick of this revolving door of soulmates you keep dragging to family dinners.” I love my brother, but he is a serial monogamist, desperate to find love. His current strategy seems to be process of elimination, working his way through the fairer sex one by one.

  “Just because you hate love—”

  “I do not hate love!”

  “Bullshit,” he fake-coughs.

  “I don’t.”

  “Says the girl who’s never had a serious boyfriend.”

  “That’s rich coming from the guy who’s dated half the women in the damn state.” I take a breath and my mind drifts to Devin and that kiss. Thoughts of him have plagued me these past couple of weeks. There’s something alluring about someone who doesn’t want anything from me. “Maybe I met a guy,” I say before I can think better of it.

  “Oh, really?” Jake asks.

  I lean back. “Yeah. Really. He’s a friend of a friend.”

  “What’s this imaginary boyfriend’s name?”

  “He is neither imaginary nor my boyfriend. Yet. And his name is Devin.”

  “Holy shit. You’re serious!” Jake’s eyes go wide and his cider almost comes shooting out of his nose. “Hey, Mom!” he shouts.

  I slap a hand over his mouth. “Shut the hell up! Don’t you dare tell Mom.”

  He holds his hands up in surrender. “Must be serious if you don’t want Mom finding out about it. ’Cause you know she’ll flip, right?”

  “God,” I groan. “I thought finally being a grandma would satisfy her for a bit.”

  “Nope. It just kicked her need for grandbabies up to eleven!” Jake jo
kes.

  “You first. I’m not even a real adult yet, remember?”

  “Me? You’re the one with viable prospects.”

  I shrug, trying to downplay the unfamiliar warm feeling in my chest when I picture Devin. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I barely know him. But there’s just something about him.”

  Jake wraps an arm around my shoulder. “Then go get him, sis.” He holds up his cider cup. “To Devin, may he manage the impossible, making Jessica Bridget Allen fall in love.”

  I elbow him in the ribs and head back out to the ice. So what if I’ve never been in love? I’m sure I could fall in love if I wanted to. It’s no big deal.

  * * * *

  “Come on, Austin,” I plead, chasing after him.

  “Not happening, Jessie,” he answers over his shoulder as he charges through the quad. His pace doubles when he spots Elizabeth. She’s staring at the ground and tugging at the straps on her backpack. Her face goes from nervous trepidation to pure joy when she sees the hulking man barreling toward her. He wraps her in a massive bear hug and murmurs something that sounds like “missed you” in her ear before frenching the hell out of her.

  They are complete opposites, but they make the cutest couple. Elizabeth and I started off a little rocky. She was wasted the first time we met and nicknamed me Barbie. But I’m not one to hold a grudge. Plus, despite me being tall and blonde, the nickname didn’t stick and Elizabeth apologized, so we’re good now. She’s super sweet and adorably weird.

  “Oh, trust me. This is happening. You’re just delaying the inevitable.” I poke Austin in the shoulder to let him know we aren’t done. It’s been the same routine for the past month since we got back from Christmas break. I ask for Devin’s number and Austin refuses to give it to me.

  It’s been months since Devin kissed me and I still can’t get that brooding jerk out of my head. I’m not the type to obsess over a guy, but he’s gotten under my skin. He devastated me with that kiss then just drove off. Who does that?

  After admitting to Jake how much I liked him, I spent my entire Christmas break scouring social media to find Devin, but the guy is a ghost. He doesn’t go to our school and I don’t know his last name. All I know is he’s a friend of Austin’s. Which is why I’ve resorted to my daily harassment.

  “Give me one good reason. I just want his number, not a virgin sacrifice,” I deadpan. “Hey, Elizabeth.”

  “Hey, Jessie,” Elizabeth answers with a chuckle. She knows the drill. I badger Austin for eight minutes from the end of our Marketing Principles class until I have to jog across campus to catch my next lecture.

  Austin sighs. “Look, I like you, Jessie. But I’m not going to let my best friend be your next conquest.”

  “Conquest?” I scoff. “I want to date the guy, not plant a ‘Jessie was here’ flag in his ass.”

  “You know what I’m talking about. It’s a game to you.”

  “So what if it is? Games are fun, Austin.”

  “Games are drama. And not Devin’s style. So, for the hundredth time, I’m not getting in the middle of this,” Austin answers with an exasperated sigh.

  “Too late. You introduced us. You’re already in the middle.”

  “What if the situation was reversed? Would you want me giving your number out to strange guys?” Austin asks. He tucks Elizabeth in against his side and starts walking them towards the parking lot. Elizabeth wraps an arm around his waist and interlaces her fingers with the hand draped over her shoulder. They’re sickeningly cute.

  I let out a breath. I’ve never been jealous of someone else’s relationship before. I’ve always known that I want a marriage like my parents’, a partnership. But that has always been in the future. The distant, maybe-some-day, can’t-really-see-it-from-here future. I’ve got a lot I want to do before I settle down. Still, having someone look at me the way Austin looks at Elizabeth, like she’s his everything, might not be so bad.

  “It’s not the same thing. I’m not some strange guy. You know me. Devin knows me. He kissed me, for fuck’s sake!”

  “And yet he still decided not to give you his number. What does that tell you?”

  Ouch. Elizabeth comes to a screeching halt. She pulls away from Austin, crosses her arms and glares. She’s tiny and about as terrifying as a newborn squirrel, but I’m glad she’s on my side.

  “Sorry, but it’s the truth.” Austin holds his arms up in surrender.

  “Fine. Then, why don’t you give him my number?”

  “How do you know I haven’t?”

  My heart flutters. “Did he ask you for my number?”

  “No. He didn’t.” Austin gives Elizabeth a pointed look. “But he has it. If he hasn’t called you, it’s because he doesn’t want to talk.”

  “Talking isn’t Devin’s favorite pastime,” Elizabeth adds. “That doesn’t mean he isn’t interested.”

  I give her a quick nod. Austin gives her a WTF look.

  “You have a car, right?” Elizabeth asks, pointing off into the parking lot.

  “Yeah, why?”

  The mischievous glint in her eyes looks unnatural on Elizabeth’s sweet face. “Think it’s about time for a service?”

  “Elizabeth…” Austin grumbles.

  “What? I’m concerned about our friend’s safety. Car maintenance is serious.” Elizabeth reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses Austin on the cheek before turning to me. “And I happen to know the perfect place.”

  * * * *

  A quick lap of the auto shop parking lot confirms Devin’s old muscle car is here. Butterflies dance in my stomach when I open the door to the soft jingle of Christmas bells hanging from the inside handle. Christmas was a few weeks ago, but those bells look like they’ve been in place for the past dozen Christmases. The faint smell of gas, grime and sweat swirls around me.

  The quaint reception area is glassed-in, allowing me to peek out across the garage where guys in overalls are busy on a handful of cars. I examine each one, looking for Devin, but can’t see him. There’s a young guy, an old guy and a very angry looking woman. I bite my lip as disappointment trickles into my mind.

  “Can I help you, Miss?” an older man asks from behind the counter. He has kind blue eyes and a soft smile topped by a thick salt-and-pepper Ron Burgundy-esque mustache. I can’t help but smile back.

  “Hi, I’m Jessie.” I cross the small space and hold out my hand.

  “Rob. What can I do for you, Jessie?” he asks, giving my hand a firm shake.

  “Well, Rob, I’m looking for a friend of mine who works here. Devin?”

  A sly smile curls up the ends of Rob’s bushy mustache. He crosses his arms with a light chuckle, nods a few times then calls out, “Devin!”

  “What?” a gruff voice hollers from a back room I hadn’t noticed before.

  “You’ve got a visitor,” Rob adds in a singsong voice. A lesser woman would blush, but I have no shame.

  The sound of annoyed grumbling is accompanied by a chair scraping against the floor and paper rustling. I have a meager few seconds to prepare for the sight of Devin’s hulking body taking up most of the door frame. He’s even sexier than I remember. His tattoos peek out from under a gray shirt whose sleeves are pushed up to his elbows. Over that, he’s wearing a dark-blue collared shirt bearing the shop’s name on the breast pocket. It’s unbuttoned and frames his firm chest. His faded jeans have black stains across the thighs and his feet are clad in scuffed black boots. Combined with the five-o’clock shadow on his strong jaw, his messy black hair and the menacing look in those dark eyes, he belongs on the cover of a sexy workmen’s calendar, the kind that has burly half-naked guys in random themes for each month.

  Strip him down and hand him a wrench and he could be my Mr. January.

  Devin stops dead in his tracks when he sees me. I give him a wave. Rob looks back and forth between the two of us, that mustache twitching with excitement.

  “Hey, Devin.” I wait for him to respond. To show any sign of recognitio
n. “I’m Austin’s friend. Jessie?”

  He grunts. Was that a response? Ugh, this guy’s impossible.

  “I brought in the classic I was telling you about.” Rob’s ears perk up and he leans across the counter, scouring the parking lot.

  “2010 Civic,” Devin tells Rob flatly. So he does remember me.

  Rob cracks up laughing. I give a light chuckle. Devin doesn’t flinch.

  “She’s my baby,” I deadpan. I level Devin with the sexiest eyes I can muster. “Think you can handle her?”

  “What do you need?”

  “The full service. Just pop that hood and have at her.”

  “Keys,” he demands.

  I toss them at him, underhand but with gusto, aiming for his head. He catches them in his right hand, but moves them to his other and rubs the sting out. He’s shaking his head, so I can’t be sure, but I’d put money on him fighting back a smile. He brushes past me towards the parking lot. The telltale jingle of those Christmas bells tells me he’s through the door. I walk up to Rob, shaking my head.

  “I’ll tell you what, Rob.” I drop onto my elbows on the high counter in front of him. “That is one tough nut to crack.”

  Rob lets out a jovial chuckle. “He certainly is.” Rob leans forward too, matching me.

  I narrow my eyes and watch Devin working. He pops the hood and starts poking around at things I don’t care to understand.

  “Something tells me he’s worth it though.” I’m talking more to myself than anything.

  “For the right woman, I’m sure it is,” Rob muses.

  I nod a few times, making an impulsive decision that is going to make my busy life just a little bit crazier.

  “Okay, Rob. How about you help a girl out?”

  Chapter Five

  Devin

  After five minutes of trying to decipher the chicken scratch on the invoice in front of me, I call out, “Mikey, your handwriting is shit. What did you do on that Ford?”

  “The Focus or the Ranger?” he calls.

  “Focus.”

  “Replaced the rear shocks.”