It had been Mikey’s idea to get the ink—something they could share to honor the innocent and deviant in all of them, and show their commitment to one another. They’d kept it a surprise, wanting to show Rafe in person next month.
“I hope so,” she said. “You look ridiculously sexy, by the way.”
It wasn’t just the tatt, the new do, or the glasses, or the stubble he’d let grow along his jaw. Mikey had grown into himself somehow in the last four and a half months, turning into a happier, more secure version of the guy he’d been.
“You always look sexy.” Mikey ran his fingers through her hair, now dyed back to its original jet black, and put the truck in drive.
When they arrived at his house, Mikey’s friends and parents were waiting. Even though he’d been paying the Queens apartment’s rent since January, he’d chosen not to move right away, transitioning his students to a new instructor and helping his parents with the remainder of winter. Spring could still mean plenty of snow for southern Maine, but he’d gotten a job, and it was time.
“So tell me about this new gig,” Dean said as they started heaving boxes into the truck. “You’re like some kind of Jesus Christ Superstar?”
“You know that show?” Krissy asked.
Jamie cackled. The large box she was carrying was labeled books but her swimmer’s arms could handle it. “He became a huge fan of Broadway when we were in New York. I think he might want to go back and visit more than I do.”
Mikey shoved his bike to the far corner of the truck, his guitar case nestled next to it.
“I’m the musical director at a Progressive Christian church. It’s paying, because I’ll be working with the kids as well as the adult choir. I’ll be doing outreach too, volunteering at an inner-city school to work in their community garden.”
Krissy’s heart swelled. It had taken some time, but Mikey had found a way to combine the things he was passionate about. He’d also come to the decision that God wasn’t only found in the Catholic Church or the Bible. God was everywhere—in nature. In music. In laughter.
In love.
“And what about your roommate?” Dean asked Krissy. “He looking for a new place now that you guys’ll be moving in?”
Mikey put an arm around Krissy. “No.”
His simple and confident answer had Krissy blushing and leaning into his side. Dean’s brows crept upward as he and Connor exchanged surprised and amused looks. Off to the side, Jamie, and Connor’s fiancée, Gabriella, grinned widely.
Connor cleared his throat. “Damn, Mikey. Didn’t know you had it in you.”
They returned to packing, stopping when Mikey’s parents brought in lunch. They sat down at the table together, a final supper before hitting the road. Mikey hadn’t told his parents about Rafe, although he’d hinted at it. It wasn’t something they needed to know yet. Krissy had plans to explain things to her family with her therapist present. She wouldn’t be sharing all the details—just that come summer, she’d be moving in with two men who made her incredibly happy.
It was the middle of the afternoon by the time they’d finishing loading the truck. An eight-hour drive was ahead of them. Rafe had prepared a playlist to keep her and Mikey alert, as well as to “do something about Mikey’s taste in music”, as he’d put it. Krissy plugged her phone into portable speakers and cued up the first song. Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” started playing.
Dean coughed out a laugh. “Least it’s better than country.”
Oh yeah. When the time came, he and Rafe would get along just fine.
She and Mikey exchanged quick hugs with his parents, Krissy promising to let them know when they’d reached their destination. Gabriella embraced Krissy with a warm squeeze, something Krissy wouldn’t have expected given the fact that they’d met that morning.
“We’ll see you all in July for the wedding, right?” Gabriella asked.
“Of course.” Mikey was one of Connor’s groomsmen. And all implied that Krissy and Rafe would be invited too. “Wouldn’t miss it.”
The guys hugged quickly—manly holds that ended with a few hard slaps on the back—before Krissy and Mikey headed for the cab. Jamie told Krissy not to be a stranger, then tucked herself against Dean’s shoulder. Connor pulled Gabriella close, and the four of them waved from the driveway as Mikey backed down it.
“They’re really nice,” Krissy said when he started down the road. “I feel a little bad that Rafe and I are stealing you away from them.”
“Don’t worry. You’re not stealing anything.” He smiled as he glanced in the side-view mirror. “I’ll always be one of the Portland rebels.”
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About the Author
Rebecca Grace Allen holds a bachelor of arts in English with a double concentration in creative writing and literary comparison, as well as a master of science in education, both of which seemed like good ideas at the time. After stumbling through careers in entertainment, publishing, law, and teaching, she’s returned to her first love: writing. A self-admitted caffeine addict and gym rat, she lives in upstate New York with her husband, two parakeets, and a cat with a very unusual foot fetish.
You can find Rebecca online at www.rebeccagraceallen.com, on Twitter at @RGraceAllen or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rebeccagraceallen.
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Sometimes A + B = O. Yes. Oh, yes. Just like that.
Portland Rebels, Book 1
Gabriella Evans’s life exists in terms of logic and definitions. She’s holed up in Portland, Maine, for the summer to work on her PhD thesis, but something is screwing up her concentration: the rumble of a motorcycle every time the embodiment of her rough-and-tumble fantasies rides down her street.
When her best friend talks her into a blind date, she finds herself out with the opposite of her fantasy. He’s polite and well-mannered, yet something behind his crisply tailored shirt doesn’t add up—a rebellious gleam in his eye that piques her curiosity.
Orphaned at fifteen, Connor Starks has finally put the years of failing grades, breaking laws and breaking hearts behind him. The only holdover? His penchant for getting down and dirty in public places. But Gabriella makes him want to prove he’s become a better man.
Nothing intrigues Gabriella more than a problem she can’t solve. But the more Connor tries to bury his past, the more determined she is to uncover it. And what she finds makes all her trusty logic begin to fail her…
Warning: This book contains a summer romance, dirty talk, dockside kissing, motorcycles and tattoos. Features a rebellious nerdy girl with an appetite for outdoor sex and light spanking, and a bad boy who’s turned good…or at least he’s trying.
Once you figure out what you want, it’s impossible to ignore what you need.
Portland Rebels, Book 2
Jamie Matthews is stuck in a rut. After hitting a wall with her dream career, she’s back in her hometown, living a life as monotonous as swimming laps in the neighborhood pool.
Being surrounded by her perfect brothers is a painful reminder of her failure to launch. The last bonfire of the summer is an ideal way to let off steam, especially when she runs into Dean Trescott, the playboy friend she had one hot-as-hell night with back in high school.
Since the day Dean met Jamie, he’s loved her beauty, talent, and smile that lit up the whole damn block. But dating isn’t an option. She has a bright future ahead of her, and he refuse
s to chain her to his—helping run the family business that’s barely staying afloat.
A “what-happens-in-Vegas” weekend was supposed to get their craving for each other out of their systems. But neither counted on the past repeating itself, drawing them together in even hotter and dirtier ways and dangling the possibility they might both be able to get exactly what they need…
Warning: A friends-to-lovers twice over story that contains some hot ’n’ heavy kissing in the waves, hair pulling, and a man who knows how to use his hands. It may also feature a few practical jokes—only the fun kind, of course.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
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The Theory of Deviance
Copyright © 2016 by Rebecca Grace Allen
ISBN: 978-1-61923-282-2
Edited by Jennifer Miller
Cover by Kanaxa
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
First Samhain Publishing, Ltd. electronic publication: August 2016
www.samhainpublishing.com
The Theory of Deviance: Portland Rebels, Book 3 Page 17