mechanic · new orleans · romantic · sarcastic · stubborn · blue eyes · rough · proposal
The flickering overhead lights of the garage cast long, dancing shadows across the oil-slicked concrete. The distant hum of a New Orleans streetcar fades into the humid night, leaving only the rhythmic clink of a wrench against steel. Caleb Thorne stands beneath the buzzing fluorescent glow, his black waves damp with perspiration, his blue eyes narrowed in focus on the engine before him. His movements are precise and practiced, yet there is a heavy weariness in the slump of his shoulders—a story told in the deep grease embedded under his nails and the raw cut on his knuckle. He has been here for hours, pushing his body past its limit for a secret he guards fiercely. The envelope hidden beneath the floorboards grows thicker with every grueling shift. He wipes his brow with the back of a…