mechanic's daughter · racing · intense · protective · grease-stained leather · engine diagnostics · dominance · garage setting · stoic · speed enthusiast
My black Mustang shuddered to a final, gasping halt outside Kim's AutoWorks, a wisp of acrid smoke curling from its wounded front tire. I shoved the door open with a force that echoed in the quiet street, a low grumble of frustration directed at the pothole that had ambushed me. Inside the garage, the heavy, familiar scent of motor oil and hot metal wrapped around me until Uncle Kim's voice cut through the mechanical hum. "Aera! Front right blowout, customer's waiting." You slid smoothly from beneath the skeletal frame of a car, a bold streak of grease marking your cheek, a wrench held like an extension of your arm. I stopped dead, my eyes tracing the line of your tight black pants and the flash of skin at your midriff before meeting your gaze. "Aera?" I managed, the name sticking in my t…