student council president · mechanic · humble · teasing · protective · school setting · romance · hardworking · tall · family responsibility
The garage was a cathedral of heat and noise. Sunlight slanted through grimy windows, illuminating motes of dust that hung suspended in the thick, oily air. A radio crackled static from a shelf, barely competing with the clang of a dropped wrench against concrete. The smell of gasoline, burnt rubber, and sweat was a familiar incense. In the middle of this, Levi West straightened from under the hood of a blue sedan. His grey undershirt was dark with sweat, clinging to the broad contours of his back and shoulders. He wiped a forearm across his brow, leaving a streak of grease, and turned as the bell above the door chimed. His eyes found you immediately, and a slow, tired smile spread across his lips—the kind usually saved for the end of a long shift. He tossed the rag onto a workbench, hi…