enthusiast

After your last class, you caught the bus back to the house you shared with your roommates, making it back just in time to meet the pickup truck that pulled up in front of the house. A tall, brown-haired guy with big, dark eyes hopped down and walked around the front of the truck to meet you on the sidewalk. 

“Are you the one who called about a smoking car?” Up close he was even cuter than you’d originally thought. You really hoped you weren’t blushing.

“Yeah, that’s me. I’m guessing you’re here to take a look at it?”

“Right on.”

“It’s the one right behind you.” You gestured to the slightly rusty and slightly beat up grey hatchback that he had just parked in front of. He turned and gave out a low whistle as he took it in. It wasn’t necessarily a sight for sore eyes, but it had certainly seen better days, most of which you hadn’t even seen since you’d bought it used two weeks before you came out to Briar for your freshman year.

He gave it a walk around, tracing parts of it with his left hand as he looked it over.

“How long you had this thing?” He looked to you as he asked.

“Three years now. I bought it used.” He nodded along.

“It’s definitely been used, you could say that again.” He snatched a ratty looking rag from the back of his truck and clutched it in his right hand as he popped the hood open. A cloud of smoke appeared as soon as he did so, causing the both of you to cough.

“Looks like an engine problem. It’ll have to come into the shop so we can look at it there.” He shut the hood, the rest of the car creaking as he did so.

“Fuck,” you cursed under your breath, already tallying up how much this would end up costing you. Even with the rising bus rates it would probably still be cheaper than maintaining this piece of junk. The guy looked at you, appearing to study your face.

“I can drive it to the shop for you, if you want. It’s not too far and it should hold up,” he suggested, catching you off guard with the offer.

“Is it even safe to drive at all?”

“Probably not, but I’d rather drive it than have it blow up with you in it.”

“How likely is it to blow up?”

“Three percent. Maybe five.”

“And what’s your history with luck?”

“Depends on who you ask.”

“I’d feel really bad.”

“About watching me blow up?”

“Yeah, you probably have a lot to live for, I’d hate to be an accomplice to your life coming to an early end.” 

“And I’d feel even worse if I had to watch a pretty girl blow up in her car right in front of me just because she didn’t want it to be me in that car.” You smiled and looked away at the compliment. “It’s a five minute drive. I can manage.” You sighed, running your hand through your hair as you looked up to see him opening the driver’s side door and begin to climb in. Before you knew it, you were climbing into the passenger seat beside him. He looked at you with what you admitted to yourself was a really cute smile as he clicked his seatbelt into place.

“Are we making a suicide pact here?”

“Hopefully not,” you sighed, fishing something out of your backpack on your lap. “But, you probably need these,” the keys to the car dangled from your hand.

“Actually no, those are irrelevant,” he deadpanned, taking them from you and turning them in the ignition. You held your breath as the engine coughed to life, more smoke leaking from under the hood. You clutched the ‘holy-shit’ handle as if it might actually save you if the car were to blow up, which was seeming like more and more of a possibility.

“Are you sure this is safe?” You couldn’t tear your eyes from the gray smoke coming from the front of the car, as he began to reverse out of the spot.

“It’ll make it to the shop.”

“You didn’t actually answer the question.” He glanced over at you as he shifted the car to drive.

“What? You don’t trust the complete stranger you just met five minutes ago?”

“Can’t say I do, stranger.” He let out a short laugh as he pulled onto the street, the car so far staying together.

“So, do you go to Briar?” he asked moments later as he pulled up to the stop sign at the end of your street.

“Yeah, I’m a junior,” you replied, gripping the holy-shit handle even tighter as he made a left turn.

“No shit, me too. What’s your major?”

“English. You?”

“Business.”

“Really?” He looked over at you momentarily, a smile back on his face.

“Yeah, is that surprising?”

“Kinda. You don’t seem like a business guy.”

“Must be hard to figure out someone’s whole life path in less than fifteen minutes.” There was a hint of amusement in his voice, letting you know that he was joking.

“Even harder, when I don’t know their name.” 

“It’s John.” You couldn’t help the laugh that escaped your lips, which caused him to look at you with a smirk.

“Okay, business makes sense for you now.”

“Oh okay, English major and what’s yours?” You told him your name and he sighed.

“Yeah, I can’t say that I know what would qualify as an English major’s name anyways,” he replied, which made you laugh again. “Do you do anything outside of school?”

“I work at the bookstore in town.”

“You like it there?”

“Yeah, it’s great. Do you like working at Logan & Sons?”

“Well, I kinda have to, considering I’m one of the sons.”

“Ah, so you’re a nepo baby.” John let out a low laugh.

“Oh yeah. Working at the middle class mechanics shop my dad opened thirty years ago has really gotten me places.”

“Then we’re in the same boat, ‘cause going with my mom to her salon job when she couldn’t afford a sitter has gotten us to the same place.”

“Working middle class jobs that our far more richer classmates will never have to work because they can afford to go to our school without a full-ride scholarship?”

“Exactly!” You both laughed. You were surprised to find that you were already pulling into the Logan & Sons yard. John killed the engine, taking the keys out of the ignition and presented them to you in the palm of his hand.

“See? Made it safe and sound.” You took the keys from his hand, a small shock passing between the two of you as your fingers lightly grazed. “You can hang out at the desk if you want while I take a look. It shouldn’t take too long to diagnose her.” You tugged your backpack out behind you, figuring that you could get some homework done while you waited. You followed John around to the desk at the back of the shop and took a seat on the stool there while he rifled through a few drawers, pulling out some miscellaneous tools.

You tried really hard to focus on the homework you’d pulled from your backpack, but your eyes kept flicking towards the guy hunched over the front of your car. His arms flexed as he fiddled around within the car, causing you to put in real effort to drag your eyes away from them whenever he turned to grab a new tool. You had just done so when he fully stood, closed the hood and walked back towards you.

“So good news,” he started, wiping his hands on a rag he had procured from somewhere. “I can fix her up. Bad news is I’ll need a few days to do it.” You nodded along, internally crying at how much your car’s stay at the shop would probably end up costing you.

“Great, thanks.” You stood, beginning to pack your backpack and mentally trying to figure out when the next bus would be.

“I can give you a ride back to your place.” John announced, tapping his hands on the desk.

“Oh, that’s okay. You’ve already done more than enough for me, honestly,” you waved him off, not wanting to take up any more of his time.

“I actually need to grab my truck,” he said with a small smile. “So too bad.”

“Alright, I guess I don’t get a choice then,” you replied with a matching smile.

“Hang tight, I’ll be right back.” He walked past you on his way to the staff room located behind you, a whiff of his - what you could only describe as intoxicating - cologne surpassed the overwhelming smell of motor oil and grease of the workshop. He emerged from the room a minute later with another person following behind him.

“Jules here is gonna drive us back to yours so I can get my truck, if that’s okay.”

“Yeah, of course.” The drive back to your house passed practically the same as the drive to the shop had, this time with Jules asking you the questions about your job and studies, intercepted with your directions on where they should turn. You thanked Jules once they had pulled to a stop behind John’s pickup, both you and John climbing out of the car. 

“Y’know I was gonna say that I’ll give you a call once I’m done with your car, but I realized I don’t have your number.” John noted once Jules had pulled away back towards the shop, holding out his phone in your direction.

“Well, that would’ve just made your job that much harder, wouldn’t it?” You joked back, taking his phone and creating your own contact. You typed in your number and nicknamed yourself ‘english major📚’ before handing it back to him. He smirked as he read it, typing something in himself before returning the phone to his back pocket. Your own phone buzzed with a new notification. Taking it out of your pocket to see that you had received a text from an unsaved number that read ´business major john📊.’ You laughed as you returned your phone to your pocket, meeting John’s amused doe-like eyes. 

“There, now your job is the slightest bit easier.”

“Thank god. Otherwise I’d just have to show up to your house again.”

“And that would just ruin my day, honestly.” You sighed jokingly, gaining a laugh from John. “Thank you again for everything, I really appreciate it.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem. It’s actually kind of my job.” You laughed, eyes closing momentarily and keeping you from noticing the look in John’s eyes as he watched you. “Hey, I should get going. But I’ll keep you updated on the car and-” he paused, one hand on the driver’s side door handle. “If you ever need a ride anywhere just let me know.” You thanked him again as he swung up into the truck. He flashed you that smile that you’re sure you’ll never be able to get out of your head before he pulled away from the curb and onto the road, his left hand waving out his open window.

“Oh, I’m screwed,” you thought to yourself as you turned to finally go into the house.

business major john📊: i’m thinking it’ll be about five days to fix your car up btw

business major john📊: but again if you need a ride at all until it’s done just let me know

english major📚: wow do all your customers get the uber option??

business major john📊: only the english majors

english major📚: well i’m a lucky gal then

english major📚: and thank you but i’ll probably just borrow my roommates’ cars if i need :) 

business major john📊: offer still stands for whenever :)

english major📚: you’re a hockey player?

business major john📊: maybe

business major john📊: stalking much?

english major📚: my roommate informed me actually thanks😁

business major john📊: that scare you off?

english major📚: i’m canadian if anything i’m scared in

business major john📊: so you know puck then?

english major📚: a little

business major john📊: you got a favourite team?

english major📚: will my favourite team make or break my car?

business major john📊: depends

english major📚: big oilers fan over here🧡💙

business major john📊: woof we can work on that🫩

english major📚: and yours is??

business major john📊: bruins all day baby🐻🐻

english major📚: yikes

english major📚: looks like we both got some work to do

hockey boy john🚩: how many packs of tissue do you need in your glove box?

oilers girl😬: i’m not paying you to snoop in my car🤨

hockey boy john🚩: i needed to check your registration for smtg

hockey boy john🚩: was definitely not snooping☝️

oilers girl😬: uh huh i’m so sure

hockey boy john🚩: still don’t trust me?😪

oilers girl😬: we’ll see how my car turns out

tissue hoarder🤧: is phil graham your friend garrett’s dad??

car snoop🫵: how are you a hockey fan at briar and only just realizing this?

tissue hoarder🤧: why would i pay any attention to the rangers?

car snoop🫵: fair point

hockey snob🫩: i should be finished with your car tomorrow :)

#1 Rangers fan😰: great sounds good!

Hockey snob🫩: if you don’t wanna take the bus i can pick you up after class tomorrow and you can wait around the shop while i finish up

Hockey snob🫩: only if you want tho👍

#1 Rangers fan😰: that’d actually be great if you could thanks!! :))

Hockey snob🫩: like i said any time :) 

Hockey snob🫩: where’s your last class tomorrow?

#1 Rangers fan😰: in the english building at the far west side of campus

#1 Rangers fan😰: if that’s too far for you tho i can meet you at your last class

Hockey snob🫩: don’t even worry about it

Hockey snob🫩: see you tomorrow :) 

#1 Rangers fan😰: see ya :)) 

Leaving your last class of the day usually presents no surprises, except for today, which featured John Logan waiting outside the English building. He didn’t notice you at first which was great as you hastily brushed your hair behind your ears as you made your way towards him. The sun was hitting him at the perfect angle, highlighting his strong features. You were luckily able to close your mouth just in time before he turned his head and met your eyes. That smile that you had in fact not been able to get out of your head for the past few days adorned his face.

“Hey, Rangers fan.” He greeted you, causing you to roll your eyes.

“Don’t say that, anyone could hear you!” The sarcasm is clear in your voice as you hurried down the steps ahead of him. His long legs easily caught up to you, joining you stride for stride. “You didn’t have to come down, y’know? Your truck isn’t that hard to spot.”

“Just in case you forgot what it looked like,” he shrugged. While it had been a week since you had last seen each other in person, the two of you had been texting practically nonstop since then, allowing you to fall into easy conversation about how your days had been. You told him about how your classes had gone and he told you about the jokes his friends Dean and Tucker had told at practice that morning.

“Y’know you should come to a game sometime,” John suggested as your seatbelts clicked into place almost simultaneously. “I bet you’ve probably got some fun chants from back home to share with the crowd.”

“Yeah and some my dad taught me that probably wouldn’t go over well with the NCAA.” The drive from campus to the garage was filled with talk of hockey and your families, exchanging the different ways in which you had gotten into the sport.

“My dad always taped Oilers games, still does, and since I barely saw him during the week because of his crazy work schedule I would sit and watch them with him,” you shared. “I’ve never seen him more excited than when McDavid was drafted in 2015.”

“That’s like my brother when I got into Briar for hockey. He’s the reason I started playing in the first place.” You noticed the shift in John’s grip on the steering wheel at the mention of his brother. His eyes kept straight ahead at the road so you couldn’t be sure, but you had a feeling that there was something about his relationship with his brother and hockey that was a touchy subject.

“Are you two close?” He looked over at you, almost taken aback, as if you had taken him out of a trance.

“Yeah, sorta. Our parents weren’t really around so we kinda had to fend for ourselves. Take care of Jules and each other. We bonded over that stuff.” He cleared his throat after sharing, as if airing out his relationship with his siblings had dislodged something for him.

“Sounds like you guys really care for each other.” The ends of his mouth quirked up in that smirk you’d come to memorize.

“Yeah, I guess so.”

As John’s truck pulled into the Logan & Sons lot you noticed that your car had been moved to a different spot since you’d brought it in a week ago.

“I wouldn’t let anyone else work on it so my brother told me to move it so he could still take on new clients,” John explained, noticing my confusion.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do it all yourself, I wouldn’t have cared if someone else had worked on it.”

“I would’ve.” John climbed out of the truck, leaving you dumbfounded in the passenger seat. Shaking yourself out of it, you followed him out and back around to the other side of the desk in the corner of the shop. “It shouldn’t be too long, but make yourself at home.” Once again, you pulled a notebook and pen from your backpack, attempting to start the assignment you’d been assigned earlier today. But yet again you found yourself getting distracted by the contracting muscles in the arms of the guy working on your car. It really was embarrassing how many times you caught yourself practically drooling instead of planning out your essay.

“All done!” John called out about forty-five minutes later, slamming the hood closed. You had actually managed to get yourself to focus on your essay this time around and you looked up to find him dangling your car keys from his pointer finger in your direction. “Wanna take it for a test drive?” You practically ripped the keys from his finger, grinning at the idea of being able to drive your own car again instead of one of your roommates’. You felt almost shy as John climbed into the passenger seat beside you, your cheeks and tips of your ears going red. You twisted the key in the ignition and watched as absolutely no smoke emerged from under the hood and no clunking sound interrupted the purr of the engine.

“Oh we’re so back, baby.” John laughed at your reaction. You couldn’t help the grin on your face caused by your freshly working car and the guy in the passenger seat who you hadn’t been able to stop thinking about for the past week. You slowly pulled out of the garage, guiding your car around the side of the building and to the front of the lot. John pointed you to a spot for you to park, which you do, sighing as you shifted into park. “You brought my girl back!” You exclaimed, grinning at John who returned the expression. “You’ve got the magic touch, Johnny.”

He chuckled at the nickname. “Johnny, huh?”

“What no one calls you that?”

“My mom did when I was younger. But I like it better coming from you.” The ease with which he expressed this caught you off guard, losing your breath momentarily. His eyes were soft and your heart softer as you shared a moment in the calm silence. You could’ve lived in these few seconds forever if it were up to you.

Back at the desk you were mentally cringing while waiting for the total price of getting your car’s engine fixed dumped on you like a bucket of cold water. Except when John told you the price it was nowhere near as much as you expected.

“Wait, are you sure?” 

“One hundred percent,” John replied, even handing you the printed bill listing the cost of everything. “Briar students get a discount.” You scanned the bill over and over again, making sure that he had charged you for everything. Obviously you didn’t want to pay what you had expected, but you also didn’t want to accidentally scam the guy after he had gone above and beyond for you. After having read the bill at least three times over you decided that it was real and you wouldn’t be as broke as you expected.

“Alright, I guess ring me up.” You handed the bill back over to John who took it with a smile and began to ring up the price. When he turned the machine over to you, you made sure to leave a sizable tip.

“If anything ever happens to it again, you have my number,” John said, ripping your receipt from the machine. “And even if you ever need anything just give me a call.”

“I definitely will. And thank you so much again. For everything, honestly, you’ve been great. You should get a raise.”

“Would you mind telling my brother that actually? He might listen to you instead of me.” Your heart squeezed at this last joke between the two of you, the last laugh you two might share. This past week had been one of your best since coming to Briar and even though it was now the weekend, you didn’t want it to end.

“Bye, Johnny.” You turned your back on him to walk back to your car, secretly hoping that he would run up to you and ask you out, not wanting this to be your last interaction either. You looked back at him once more as you reached the driver’s side door, surprised to find his eyes were still on you. You gave him a smile and a wave, both of which he returned, before climbing in the car. As the air conditioning kicked in you caught a hint of his cologne, flipping your stomach in the best way possible. You snuck a glance at your rearview mirror as you pulled up to the stop sign at the exit to the lot, seeing that John had been joined by Jules behind the desk.

“You know Briar students don’t get a discount, right?” Jules asked their brother as they watched him watch your car begin to leave the lot. He looked at them with a quizzical look on his face, one eyebrow slightly raised.

“Friends and family discount, remember?”

“Didn’t you just meet her this week?” 

“You can become friends with someone in a week, Jules,” John said, exasperated, escaping into the staff room behind them.

“Yeah…you have her number! Don’t let it go to waste!”

Your phone had chirped on the drive from the garage to your house, but being a responsible driver you didn’t check it until you pulled into your normal parking spot on the street in front of the house and had shifted into park. You had to read the message three times to make sure that this wasn’t your delusional mind playing tricks on you and that the text from John was in fact real.

Hockey snob🫩: did you maybe want to go get coffee together some time soon whenever we’re both free?

Obviously you said yes.

~~~