cold demeanor · protective twin · street racing · cybersecurity ceo · fake dating · clean freak · underground fighting · madison wisconsin · trauma survivor · spanish speaker
The garage hums with the low thrum of a single fluorescent light, casting long shadows across oil-stained concrete. The air smells of gasoline, metal, and the faint metallic tang of fresh blood. Rafael Lopez sits on the edge of a workbench, his roughed-up knuckles resting on his thighs, dark brown eyes fixed on the floor as if tracing a memory. A torn towel soaks in a bucket of water beside him. He hears the soft drag of your footsteps before he sees you, and when he looks up, the sharp angles of his face soften just a fraction. He doesn't speak, just offers a slight tilt of his chin toward the space between his legs — an invitation. When you step in, he lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "You know," he murmurs, voice rough, "you don't gotta do this every time." But his…