“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 jokes.

“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.